All Done

What a night. 

The gales blew relentlessly across the Devon coast. The Gorse Fox slept through the storm but at one point the balcony furniture was upended with a crash that woke the Silver Vixen. When we got up this morning the gale was still full of fury as it whipped up the waves and hurled them against the breakwaters and beaches.

Today was check-out day. We had most of our packing done before breakfast. That way we could take our time and enjoy a leisurely feast before setting off. That was another lovely break at the hotel that is rapidly becoming one of our real favourites. The Gorse Fox has no doubt that we will be back before too long.

He should mention the lengths to which the hotel have gone to protect their guests and staff from Covid-19. As you enter there is a sanitiser station and the reception desk is protected by a large perspex screen. All of the staff wear face screens. Wherever you go in the hotel you must wear a mask (though you can remove it if your are sitting down to eat or drink), and further sanitiser stations are available on entry and exit of every public space. Meals are taken in three sittings to enable social distancing. In the suites, you have to ensure that all personal items are packed away before leaving you room so that the staff can service and re-sanitise the room. As you occupy any table that contains a blue "sanitised" label, the label was removed and swapped for a red "Requires Sanitisation" label. As you left the table (be it in restaurant, the bar, or one of the lounges) the staff descended on the area and sanitised the table and the chairs, then replaced the blue "Sanitised" label. It really was a very well-oiled machine.

Finally, with the car loaded, we hit the road. The car's SatNav suggested it might take about 3 hours. The car's SatNav needs to get its act together! It was a Friday in August. The traffic was going to be foul... and certainly was! Bridport, Dorchester, West Moors, and Ringwood were all snarled up. Even Chichester had almost gridlock on the bypass. The Gorse Fox nipped round the back, through the town, and out the other side. It probably took us less time than it would have to get to the first roundabout. That was a result, but even still the whole journey had taken us about four and a quarter hours.

It was nice to get home and have Ellie leap on us. She was clearly very pleased to see us and was very chatty and playful. She and Urban-Cub are off to stay overnight with Cousteau-Cub tonight so the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen have the place to ourselves.

Drying Weather

Today has been, what Nan Mac would have called, good drying weather. A stiff wind has swept the cobwebs from every nook and cranny throughout the day. It has meant that clouds came and went in quick succession. When the sky was clear.it was lovely and warm, but when there was cloud cover the wind felt a bit cool.

The question for the day was “What should we do?”. We decided that we would start by walking off breakfast with a wander up to the Connaught Gardens. The gardens have, year after year, won awards for Britain in Bloom (or something similar). The Gorse Fox noticed that it hasn’t won for the last two years. It was not really surprising. Whilst it was still nice for a stroll, and offered some wonderful views, the gardens were neat and tidy but hardly a riot of colour. 

We sat for a while, looking out over the beach to the west as families set themselves up for the day, and frolicked in the edge of the surf. As you look west you can see a number of stacks that have been created by the sea breaking through the soft Triassic mudstone (which also accounts for the reddish brown colour of the sea). 

We wandered back along the Jacob’s Ladder walkway. It was clear the beaches would be well used today. We returned to the hotel to get the car.

The Gorse Fox had an urge to explore Seaton, about 10 miles to the east. He had a vague recollection of driving through it once, many years ago. We found our way across and parked in the short stay car park. The village seemed rather quaint as we made our way down to the promenade. 

The sea was totally different at Seaton. Obviously there was a pocket of chalk, and the sea was no longer discoloured. The wind continued to blow and cast a fine spray across the pebbles as we walked along the front. Deciding after a while that there was very little else to see, we turned back and looked for somewhere to get a coffee.

Seaton has a tramway. This drew us to find out more. There is an impressive tram terminus where you can get tickets for a 25 minute journey along the banks of the Axe, through the wetlands, to Colyton. We thought about taking the return journey, but there was a bit of a queue and it did look a bit “cosy” on the tram. Whilst masks were mandatory, there really was no opportunity for social distancing. We decided this would be a trip for another time.

Overall, there are parts of Seaton that were quite pleasant and the seafront was quite nice, but it seemed to lack the charm of Sidmouth. We hopped in the car and returned.

We had planned to sit on our balcony and soak up the sun. As soon as we got settled, the clouds swept across again and it was too cool to stay out in shorts and light t-shirts. We are now sitting in “our” prime position in the lounge enjoying an afternoon cream tea.

Anniversary

At least the weather was lovely 47 years ago when the Silver Vixen was silly enough to marry the the Gorse Fox. Today it should have emulated that day, but no. Today we are locked in the horned of Storm Ellen (the remains of Tropical Storm Kyle). The rain is almost horizontal as it it blasted across the the beach and into East Devon.

We had a hearty breakfast at the hotel and then decided that we needed to find an indoor venue for the morning. Several years ago Barney Rubble took the Gorse Fox to an impressive farm shop in the area. The Gorse Fox could not remember where, but looking back through old photos from that trip, he found a relevant photo that had been GPS tagged. A minute later the SatNav was programmed and we were on our way to Dart’s Fram. I seem to remember it as being a bit larger, but it was still impressive. We wandered round the Cotswold Outdoor shop first, but we didn’t buy anything. Then we went to the main entrance to the farm shop and joined the queue to go in. (They were managing the flow of people in order to maintain some social distancing). We found an interesting bottle of Coconut Rum so had to grab a bottle to try.

We headed back to Sidmouth then wandered down into town. The rain had let up, but not stopped. The wind, however, had really picked up. Once we left the Esplanade and headed into the lanes we were well sheltered. We started with a coffee at Costa, which because of the Government Eat Out to Help Out scheme only cost £2.75 for the two of us. We then wandered around the shops, stopping finally at Crew Clothing where we finally had a suitable credit card melt-down.

Back at the hotel it was time for afternoon tea as we sat perched in to prime spot of the lounge looking both out to sea and down across the town.

Time passed and the Silver Vixen wanted to shower before dinner so we returned to the room (showering in the Lounge is frowned upon). The Gorse Fox spent a quiet hour reading until she was ready and then we pottered down to the bar for a pre-dinner drink. Dinner, at our usual table, was excellent. The Silver Vixen had prawns to start and then plaice, the Gorse Fox had mackerel to start and then liver. For dessert we both had panna cotta which was served up on plates with “Happy Anniversary” scribed in dark chocolate. A nice gesture.

Rain

The rain has been hammering across the seafront all morning. What a change from yesterday when we arrived.

Back in Sidmouth

The Silver Vixen spent the morning packing and then we headed off to Chichester where she had a dental appointment. The Gorse Fox waited in the car until she was finished and then we headed west for a short break in Sidmouth.

It was a very easy drive across and whilst Google suggested it would take three and a quarter hour, we were there in an easy and relaxed three hours.

The Covid precautions that the hotel had put in place were excellent, even to the point of ensuring the pen we signed in with was taken by the Gorse Fox from a sanitised envelope and then given to him to keep. Everything is sanitised and then as soon as it is touched or used, it’s red flagged for sanitisation. We unpacked in the room and then headed out for a walk along the Esplanade. (The forecast for the next few days is dreadful, so it was good get out while the sun was still shining).

The Gorse Fox took lots of photos as we strolled around. It was good to see people enjoying the beach and swimming in the sea. The Silver Vixen commented that she wouldn’t be in the slightest bit tempted. The water near the shoreline is a browny-red from the underlying rocks, and there was a fair bit of seaweed. Neither would encourage her to dip her toes in. Similarly, neither would stop the Gorse Fox.

We returned to the hotel and sat on the terrace in the afternoon sun. It seemed like the ideal time for a rum & coke and glass of beer.

Returning to our room, we changed for dinner and headed down to the bar. In a change from previous trips, they actually took our dinner order while we were enjoying a pre-dinner drink. We had a prime table at dinner, and our waitress from a previous trip, which was nice. The food was, of course, excellent and we are now sitting in the lounge enjoying an after-dinner tea/coffee.

A short break

It's nice to be back in genteel Sidmouth for a few days. Weather forecast isn't great but we'll make the best of it.

At Last

The Gorse Fox has just heard from Virgin Holidays. They have just started to process our refund. It should be with us in the next couple of weeks. It's been a long wait, but it will be nice to get the money back.

Preparation day

 (It's a bit like Celebration Day, but getting ready for it).

It had clearly been wet overnight and was quite grey at first. It soon got its meteorological act together and brightened up. In fact it got quite hot. The Gorse Fox started today's activities with a trip to get some petrol ready for tomorrow's journey, and to get some sacks of cat litter. Once home and the cat litter stored away it was time to clean the inside of the car. It's not that it was too bad, but there was dust and debris in the boot from our trip to Winkworth a couple of weeks ago.

While out there, Pistol Pete arrived with Ellie. It is always lovely to see her after she has been away. She was lovely and chirpy and was very pleased to see us. She had had a good time with Daddy, but wanted to see Nana. With that she charged indoors. 

Tinkerbell came out for a chat while the Gorse Fox was cleaning the car. She is having a bit of a tough time at present and her cataracts have been deteriorating. She can, however, get no sensible response from the hospital regarding when they can see her. The Gorse Fox mentioned the Hampshire Eye Hospital that the Silver Vixen had visited three years ago. Tinkerbell was interested in perhaps taking the private route, so the Gorse Fox went got the details for her.

The rest of the day has been fairly low key, making sure that all the right technology, cameras, and all the charging cables were prepared and the suitcases were readily available. In the end, the Gorse Fox to pack  his suitcase. There's something nice about preparing for a short break, but knowing that the house will still be occupied and that Jasper is being looked after.

(Just as an aside: today would be the Gorse Fox's mother's 94th Birthday).

Monsoon

Monsoon may be a bit of an exaggeration. It has rained a bit, however. That's two days running. If we had wanted rain we'd have moved up north, for goodness sake.

It's been another quiet day. The Silver Vixen has been sorting her wardrobe and checking she has everything ready for our forthcoming trip. Urban-Cub has also been sorting her wardrobe and Ellie's and taking some stuff to the lockup.

The Gorse Fox has done a little coding but has then switched to spreadsheets and has been refining a sheet that he keeps such that out automatically adjusts and prints nicely even when new items are added. It's funny how quickly you forget some of the more obscure (but useful) functions you need to use when reformatting. Never mind, the Gorse Fox now has a working version, though he would like to refine it further. The problem is that the command he wishes to use keeps throwing an error. He'll sleep on it.

Now it's time to start on the roast dinner.

No fun refund

It's grey and damp today, but that's a small price to pay for the exceptional weather of the last few weeks.

The Gorse Fox received an email overnight. He had chased "VIP Attractions" in Jamaica for the refund he had requested 142 days ago. This morning's email assured him that they had processed said refund at the end of July. Well it hasn't arrived on his B/card. They commented that it could take 5 business days to go through and he assumes that as it's international that may take a little longer. The Gorse Fox has concluded, however, that it has been long enough. He will be phoning B/card on Monday.

Urban-Cub has taken Ellie across to spend the weekend with Pistol Pete. The Silver Vixen is still working on her sewing project, but it's nearly finished now. The Gorse Fox has been doing some more coding. Other than that, it's been a fairly quiet day.

On the Edge

The last few days have seen some spectacular rainfall in parts of the country. Even the M25 and M23 were closed for a while yesterday, due to flooding. We are clearly right on the edge of it. We had some rain this morning, but whilst heavy, it didn't last too long. It's now very humid but the temperature has dropped.

It's been a fairly uneventful day. The Silver Vixen has been sewing, and the Gorse Fox has been coding. (His friend in Austria pointed out that he could improve the program with a deeper analysis of certain types of program statement - this kept the little grey cells spinning all night, and today he completed the task). He must say that he's very satisfied with the program.

Urban-Cub took Ellie out to the park to meet with her friend from LA. It clearly wore her out as she has come home and crashed out on the floor of the Orangery. 

Let's hope that she doesn't sleep for too long so that she gets a good night's sleep tonight. She's off to spend the weekend with Pistol Pete in the morning.

Stalking

These tropical nights continue. Some of the larger predators are nocturnal. As we lie under our mosquito nets we have to keep watch to make sure the camp fire does not die down. Some of our beaters keep watch at the edge of the camp to ensure we stay safe. The howling of some of the hyenas as they close in on their prey is quite eerie.

The Gorse Fox is sorry. It must be the heat. What he meant to say is that the CCTV round the corner caught a theft from a car, our CCTV keeps watch over us, and some little twerp with a noisy motorbike or scooter keeps disturbing our evenings. This morning we had a PCSO patrolling the Crescent so the Gorse Fox went out to say hello and to introduce himself. (It's so nice to see a beat police presence).

We had a fairly typical Thursday with our shopping arriving with the man from Ocado. Once that was stashed away the Gorse Fox had a load of admin to complete before returning to his code. The code has taken up much of the rest of day.

Urban-Cub took Ellie to Chichester for some shopping during the afternoon. Then, after dinner, Cousteau-Cub popped round with Tyson and to take Ellie out for a walk around the lake.

 

Big Five

The heat continues. A couple of safaris were launched in the area. We have the CCTV set up so that if any of the big five go past we will get pictures.

Urban-cub took Ellie to see the Princess today and to have lunch at Gunwharf Quays. The Silver Vixen made the most of the time and had her Zoom Pilates session. The Gorse Fox retired to the study. As usual, on diversion lead to another and the program he had set out to write just ended up as a testbed for some other programs. In the end, he was at the code-face most of the day.

After lunch, the Gorse Fox did whizz round to Sainsbury's. He was pleased to see that the mask-wearing hasn't worn off. The only dissenters were some knuckle-dragging, slack-jawed youths. The sort who think it appropriate to wear singlets when shopping. The sort that you might expect to see when they are sentenced.

Urban-cub and Ellie got home late afternoon. The latter has been a little "challenging" since dinner, but is up in bed now.

Serengeti

The heat continues. Again, the temperature has been hovering in the low 30's. At lunchtime a vast herd of wildebeest(*) wandered past the front of the house looking for a watering hole(**). Jasper was intrigued and spent some time deciding whether any of them would make a decent lunch. In the end he yawned, turned over, swished away some flies, and went back to sleep.

Urban-Cub has been out since mid-morning and is not expected back until the morning. G-Force had stepped in to take care of Ellie. We kept her out of the sun and amused and she has been an absolute  charm all day. As the Gorse Fox writes, the Silver Vixen is just giving her a bath. From the study, all the Gorse Fox can hear is laughter and the sound of splashing.

There was an incident a couple of nights ago when several cars were, again, targeted overnight. Again, the perpetrator was caught on CCTV and then caught using the credit cards she had acquired. The police checked the evidence, arrested the perpetrator, and she appears in court tomorrow morning. It is immensely satisfying that the police have acted so swiftly, but unfortunate that the person in question was the same person that attempted to get into our car last year. Clearly, her brief imprisonment was not sufficient deterrent to overcome her habit.

At this time when so many of the "woke left" are so eager to pillory the police, it's nice to be able to provide some support.

(*) That may have been an exaggeration, but there was a chap with a pushchair.

(**) The nearest watering hole is probably the Pink Pub, but they don't serve wildebeest

Celebrating

 It's Urban-Cub's Birthday. It's one of those events we don't forget. Not just because it was a moment of joy when she came along, but also because she has had the habit, in her formative years, of reminding us every few minutes that her Birthday was approaching. She no longer needs to do this as it is so ingrained into our collective psyche that we have started to remind her!

The plan was for us to go out for lunch together. While the girls were getting themselves together this morning, the Gorse Fox took the opportunity to nip round to the village and get his hair cut. It was almost the full McCoy... clippers trimming, scissors cutting, razor cleaning up, blowtorch singeing, and hair wash dripping. 

It was at that point he said "Nose wax?" the Gorse Fox declined. 

"It is all part of the service" he insisted. The Gorse Fox firmly declined. Upset at not being able to induce pain, he shrugged and wrapped the Gorse Fox's face in a red hot towel and started to massage his delicate features. Finally, released from what he was convinced would become water-boarding, his hair was blow-dried (a totally fruitless exercise), smeared with some perfume, and he was released. It was a very pleasant and relaxing 30 minutes.

We headed into Chichester. We had a booking at Giggling Squid. We were shown to a corner table, away from anyone else. Ellie was very good throughout the meal, though she didn't really eat much from her plate. Urban-Cub enjoyed her Chicken Penang and some cocktails, the Silver Vixen had her usual Thai Red Curry, and the Gorse Fox had Chicken Gra Pao (with an extra bowl of chillies). It was excellent, as usual.

This afternoon, Urban-Cub had to meet up with Pam from the Sales Suite on the development. It was time for her to make her kitchen choices for the new house. The Silver Vixen went along with her (and Ellie). It didn't seem to take too long, but she's very happy with the choices she has made and proudly took the Gorse Fox through the photos of her selection.

Sizzling

The temperatures were, again, sizzling in the 30s. It was a cracking day. We had a BBQ planned so that Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit could join us to celebrate Urban-Cub's birthday (a day early).

The Gorse Fox started by preparing a marinade for some pork steaks and then squirrelling them away in the fridge while he invented another marinade for the chicken, Again the chicken was set aside in the fridge to pick up the marinade. Then he started to retrieve the sausages, the burgers, the bacon, and the salmon ready for pre-cooking. (The Gorse Fox always starts the food in the oven before finishing it in the BBQ). Next on the agenda was a huge bowl of fresh salad and then the Gorse Fox went and plugged in Metal Mickey.

Metal Mickey is a George Forman electric BBQ. Once plugged in in rapidly acquires the required temperature and then we just transfer the almost cooked meat to be finished on the BBQ. This started well. The chicken and sausages sat and sizzled. The meat probe confirmed that we had fully cooked everything and the first batch of food hit the table. Metal Mickey was loaded up again. It was soon after this that the Gorse Fox noted that MM was not coming back up to temperature. All was not well. Our normal George Foreman grill was retrieved from the drawer and plugged in. A few minutes later, the first batch of burgers were done. The feast continued and almost everything got cooked. Everyone ate their fill and we cleared away quickly to avoid inquisitive flies.

The afternoon was spent sitting and chatting in the garden and playing with the paddling pool. Ellie came back from Pistol Pete mid-afternoon and took control of the pool festivities. It really was a lovely start to Urban-Cub's birthday celebrations.

Hot or what?

The Gorse Fox must report that today is, officially, hot. Even here, near the coast, the temperature has hovered between 33 and 34C for most of the day. It's been lovely, not that the Gorse Fox is one to sit in the sun. He does, however, love the heat. 

We have a BBQ planned for tomorrow as it's the closest we can get to the Urban-cub's birthday where Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit can join us. The Gorse Fox needed to check the BBQ (known in the house as Metal Mickey), but that got a clean bill of health and is all set for tomorrow. Then he had to hit Sainsbury's - sausages, chicken, pork steaks, bacon, beef burgers, rolls, and some drinks were required. He had to queue to enter for the first time in many weeks. It wasn't too busy inside though, which was nice.

During the afternoon the Silver Vixen has been working on her sewing machine and Urban-cub has been helping Cousteau-cub dye her hair. Now finished, it looks very nice and is certainly a lot brighter and blonder than it was.

Sunny

The forecast was for high temperatures.  People flocked to the coast. People ignored the concept of social distancing. We stayed put and had a quiet day in the garden. During the morning Urban-cub and the Gorse Fox finished cleaning the last batch of cobbles for the rill, rinsed them, and returned them to their watery home. It was a bit messy, but it had to be done. 

Urban-cub had pumped up the paddling pool and topped it up. Ellie spent much of the day go in and out of the pool. This afternoon Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit came round and sat in the paddling pool with Ellie while enjoying the sun. 

By mid-afternoon, some cloud had bubbled up and provided cover for the rest of the afternoon. It's very still and muggy. Though none is forecast, the Gorse Fox wouldn't be surprised if we had a thunderstorm.

Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit left late afternoon. We did some tidying up and prepared tea for Ellie (which she didn't eat) and then Urban-cub took her off to Pistol Pete's for the weekend.

A Tale of Two Cities

Thursday has been a tale of two cities (hmm, that would make a good title for a book... but what the Dickens?). The Gorse Fox was up early, quickly followed by Urban-Cub. She had an early appointment in Angmering, but the Gorse Fox had cadged a lift to Bognor Regis station. He was, again, heading for the Apple Store.

The trains were busier than last week, but only two people failed to wear a mask. Both youngsters, of course. Like last week, the Gorse Fox headed down Queen's Road from the the station and diverted into Greggs for a bacon roll before continuing down to Churchill Mall. Again he was confronted by the phalanx of Apple drones and their security detail (SWAT squad). Again he had his temperature taken and was told to wait until called. Fortunately, he only waited a few minutes before a drone collected him and presented him with his MacBook with its brand new battery duly installed. It had all been nicely cleaned as well, and looked like new. Money was exchanged for the service and the Gorse Fox left.

He strolled back up Queen's Road with no particular train in mind, however, like last week, he strolled onto the concourse to see a train scheduled to leave in 3 minutes. He wandered up to a sparsely occupied carriage, sat down, and the train left. Perfect (if accidental) timing.

Back home there time for a coffee, some coding, and some lunch before the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed back out. This time Chichester was the destination. The Gorse Fox had to see the podiatrist for his regular check and the Silver Vixen wanted to get some cards, some presents, and some haberdashery. We were only there for just over an hour, but it was noticeable how much more busy it had become since our last trip (though everything is relative).

Loosening up

Today has been a very pleasant change from the general progress of the lock-down. Urban-Cub and Ellie went out to meet with one of Ellie's little friends in LA. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox had other plans.

At lunchtime we headed into Chichester and met up with Old Bill and Lady Penelope at Giggling Squid. It was so nice to go out for a meal after so long. We were greeted by the manageress like long-lost friends - though to be fair we have got to know her fairly well over the years. The food was excellent as usual, and the company was great fun. It was just a real shame that Tinkerbell is still so anxious about going out and that she and Two Hats couldn't join us. 

This "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme that the Government has developed is great. The bill for the four of us came to less than £40 all together. This is well worth exploring further.

Back home, the Gorse Fox did a little more coding, then he and the Silver Vixen took Ellie along to the local play area to let off some steam on the swings and roundabouts before bed.

Chaos resumes

The Gorse Fox started the day with a couple of coffees and a quick trip to Sainsbury's. Young Jasper was getting low on food and the Gorse Fox thought he's better remedy the situation. In and out in a couple of minutes thanks to their Smart Shop App.

Urban-Cub returned from her couple of days away soon after the Gorse Fox got home and by lunchtime Ellie had joined us, too. We were all back together and the normal day-to-day chaos resumed.

Cousteau-Cub has been having significant problems with forms of carpal tunnel pain. Today she had an appointment to get some treatment. Unsure as to whether she would be able to drive, the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox went across to Chichester to collect her and, in the case of the Silver Vixen, accompany her to the surgery. Let's hope the various injections that she was given will have the required effect.

The Gorse Fox has heard from Apple. His MacBook has been fixed and is ready for collection. He's not sure when he'll get the chance to collect it, but it's likely to be Thursday or Friday.

The rest of the day has been occupied with some coding. The Gorse Fox has cleared all of the known bugs in the code, but has realised there is a set of conditions that still needs some development. The problem is that, at this moment, he has no idea how he will handle them. He suspects he will have to sleep on it, but at this stage cannot perceive of a pattern that will unambiguously identify the condition.

Rubbish

It's been another very quiet day with both Urban-Cub and Ellie away. The Gorse Fox was wide awake by 05:30 this morning but managed to lie still for an hour before giving up and getting up.

The morning had the usual domestic items to address but once that was done the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen prepared the various piles of stuff that needed to be dumped. The Recycling chap arrived late morning and got stuck in. Some 30 minutes later everything was cleared and the Gorse Fox made use of the moment to move the cars so that he could squirrel some things away in the garage loft.

The rest of the day has been spent writing code. It's over 1500 lines long now but still remarkably quick. He's sent the latest copy to his Austrian friend (the Gorse Fox was wrong before, he is isn't German) for some further shakedown. (In saying that, the Gorse Fox has just thought of a condition that he hadn't catered for... that's on the "to do" list for tomorrow or later in the week)

Peace

Gosh it’’s peaceful. Urban-Cub slept-in then after a brief bit of scurrying around she settled down in the garden for a few hours before heading off to a friend’s until Tuesday. Cousteau-Cub popped in for a few minutes, but wasn’t here for long. That left the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox.
The Silver Vixen is working on a pattern for a blouse. It’s proving complex, but she’s now started to put the various pieces together, so the Gorse Fox suspects that it will be finished this week.
The Gorse Fox returned to his code. Reviewing some of the recent observations and returning to the language manual, he realised that there were several cases that he could handle in a different and more efficient way. This resulted in several hundred new lines of code being developed throughout the day. There are still several cases that he needs to consider and suspects that Monday will see some horse coding.
The Gorse Fox observed that today was a popular day in our extended family. He has no less than four cousins and aunts whose birthdays fall on August 2nd.

No much to report

It was a quiet day. Urban-Cub took Ellie to Pistol Pete's for the weekend, then came back to have a quiet time in the garden. The Silver Vixen got on with some sewing. The Gorse Fox returned to his code. He decided it was time to enhance the basic analysis to include identification and reporting on numbers that were expressed in exponential notation. This turned out to be a little more complex and more work than he had expected. He cracked it after a couple of hours and the code has gone back to a German colleague for testing.

Urban-Cub went to see Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit in the evening for a BBQ.

Fail

The Gorse Fox was up early to catch the train to Brighton. The Silver Vixen, kindly, gave him a lift to the station. He was delighted to find that the trains were almost deserted. It did become evident, however, that the only people not wearing masks were the indestructible youths who were just "too cool to care".

The Gorse Fox strolled down to the Churchill Mall and wandered round to the Apple Store. He was greeted by a phalanx of Apple-droids and security guards. He paused. Had he stumbled through a wormhole into the protests of Portland, Oregon? He concluded that it was unlikely. There was no lingering smell tear gas, no graffiti, nobody (that he could see) being beaten with batons or nightsticks, and nobody being bundled into blacked-out vans for rendition or reprogramming. On the whole, it was unlikely that the idiot Trump and his goons were interested in the Apple store in Brighton.

A hand was raised. "Do you have an appointment?" the Gorse Fox confirmed his appointment and the time and begged forgiveness for being early. "We need to take  your temperature, sir?" The Gorse Fox was expecting this and started to bend over (Apple do tend to be thorough). He was delighted to find, however, it was a reading taken from his forehead. He was cleared. Being early, however, he was told to go and get a coffee or wander around until 09:35. Tugging his forelock, he backed away and wandered into Costa.

At 09:34 he returned. The phalanx of droids closed in again. "We must take your temperature". The Gorse Fox was expecting a rigid adherence to process, but when he explained they had already done this and sent him away for a coffee, they relented. He was instructed to stand on particular spot and not move until a droid came to collect him.

On time, the droid arrived. He asked what the problem was. The Gorse Fox explained that, as it said on the note the droid had in front of him, the MacBook needed a new battery. (The Gorse Fox knew this because he followed the Apple instructions to review the status of the battery). The droid plugged in the machine and ran some diagnostics. He looked up. "This MacBook needs a new battery" he concluded. (Sherlock would be amazed by the cleanliness of the road behind his horse and cart). "Yes" replied the Gorse Fox, that's what I said on the work order. "We do have to check" said the droid. Fair enough. He returned to his iPad. He tapped away for a few minutes. "We don't have one in stock" he said. "Isn't that exactly the point of me specifying the problem when I book the machine in? That way you can ensure you have stock." "No" he said we don't work like that.

Clearly.

The Gorse Fox left the MacBook with them to fix and he would collect it once complete. This will probably be next week, some time.

Frustrated he walked back up to the station. Droves of scantily dressed people were streaming down the hill from the London train. Clearly, with the good weather forecast, they were intent on having a day at the beach. The Gorse Fox climbed into the railway carriage just as the doors closed and the train set off. An hour later he was walking home from Bognor Station.

Strange

It seems strange getting on an early morning train again. The Gorse Fox has a quick trip to Brighton to get the battery replaced in his MacBook.

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink

We had plans for the day. Soon after eight they had already been changed. Urban-Cub wasn't feeling well and was unable to join us on our little jaunt.

We obviously had to wait until the Ocado chap had dropped off the week's shopping but then the Gorse Fox started to load the car. Some 74 trips later we were ready. The car was rammed full. Every sliver of storage space was occupied. Ellie was loaded into her car seat and the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox set off to the wilds of Surrey (with a couple of unscheduled potty-stops along the way).

The plan was to meet up with the Gorse Fox's little sister and young Trevor. We had chosen the Winkworth Arboretum as a spot that was about equidistant from us both. It took about an hour, but just as we started to unload the car the Gorse Fox's phone rang. It was the bank. His recent letter regarding the elaborate hoax they had set up (asking him to phone but not answering) had achieved results. He not only got a formal apology (also sent in writing) but they dealt with the original query there and then, over the phone.

Fully laden, like mules in the gold rush, we struggled through the car park and into the Arboretum where we met up with J&T. After a comfort break, we wandered off along one of the more accessible paths until we found a lovely spot in the dappled shade of some huge trees. 

We set out the picnic blankets, retrieved the food hampers and settled down for a lovely couple of hours of chat and play. It could not have been a more perfect afternoon. Great company, gales of laughter and Ellie at her most sociable and playful.

Eventually, it was time to move on. The hillsides were too steep for the buggy, and the wheeled cart that we had with us (the Gorse Fox didn't check with the rest of the wagon train). This precluded us from going down to the lake or seeing the Azalea Walk. We strolled back to the entrance and settled down for scrumptious ice cream before heading back to car park to load up. (The Gorse Fox had intended to pay some sherpas to help get everything to the car and get it loaded, but in the end discovered that they had the afternoon off.

The Gorse Fox's sister has a new car, so we had an opportunity to see the pearlescent, silent, approach of this futuristic vehicle. She's only had it since Monday, but loves it to bits.

Watch out

Well that was a peculiar day.

We were all up and about at our usual times, and the Silver Vixen went, with Urban-Cub and Ellie, to Urban-Cub's storage unit. It was time for a bit of tidying in order to make room for a new purchase (more on that in a minute). They were gone for several hours and managed to make a lot of space available by stacking and packing things differently.

They arrived home and Urban-Cub and Ellie did a fairly quick "volte face" and headed back out to see Cousteau-Cub and leave some stuff with her for storage. The idea was that Urban-Cub  would then call the Gorse Fox when she needed help with the new purchase.

It was while she was gone that the Silver Vixen realised that she wasn't wearing her watch. She is a creature of habit. The watch is taken off the charger and put on the wrist as she gets out of bed. It was not on said wrist. The Gorse Fox helped her search but then the call came in from Urban-Cub - she was ready for the Gorse Fox's assistance. He leapt in the car and headed for Fishbourne where she had bought an expensive glass table and four chairs from a very nice couple for a very small fraction of the original price. The Gorse Fox helped dismantle and load the cars then we headed to the storage unit to tuck the new purchases away.

We checked the cars. There was no watch. 

We asked the assistant. No watch had been found.

Urban-Cub and Ellie got involved. There was no sign of the watch. 

Back home "Find My Device" wasn't even registering the watch. We came to the conclusion that it was out of range from the phone. This meant it must be at the storage unit or in the car as they were the only other places the Silver Vixen had been. Armed with "Find My Device" we headed back to the storage unit. It took a while for the watch and phone to recognise each other but with a deft press of a button on the phone, the watch started to ping. Finding it was the next task. It was bit like a destroyer with a sonar target trying to home in on the submarine. I took a bit of delving and searching but we eventually found it inside a sealed plastic crate.

That was a relief. The Gorse Fox had feared a new watch would be needed. 

Released

Urban-Cub and Ellie had plans. They were meeting up with one of Ellie's friends in a local park. That left the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox to their own devices. The Silver Vixen pottered and completed the weekly shopping list (for the Gorse Fox to submit to Ocado). The Gorse Fox returned to the study.

As he said yesterday, he felt the new code was nearly ready for prime time. He spent a couple more hours tidying it, refining it, and testing it. Then he packaged it all up and released it. It's been a fun couple of weeks but it's time to let it go.

The Gorse Fox checked his tax account again today. The payment hasn't yet been transferred to the correct account. It was a bit optimistic to think it would happen overnight.

Big yell from downstairs a little while ago. Ellie had tripped and managed to smack her herself on the ground. She's feeling very sorry for herself at the moment having caught her upper lip, her forehead, hand, and foot. Oh well! it's all part of growing up.

The Gorse Fox is off out this evening. He's meeting up with the Arun Amblers committee to discuss how we move things forward with the football. It will be nice to see the others (at a 2 metre distance of course) after so long.

Keeping on top of things

It has been a day of "keeping on top of things". The first order of business was to accumulate all of our detritus ready for the trash recycling guy. Unfortunately, he couldn't take it there and then, but he gave us very competitive quote and will sort us out next Monday.

Urban-Cub had put our old recliner on Face-Ache's Marketplace. We had had a couple of false starts, but today a South African couple living in Wittering made contact, offered the full price, and came along to collect it. Finally, we have it out of the way.

The Gorse Fox checked hi online tax account. It claimed that the Gorse Fox still owed a sum of money. The Gorse Fox had, however, paid this off a couple of weeks back. It was time to give them a call. It took about 20 minutes to actually get to speak to someone, but he was very helpful. He tracked down the payment. It had been applied to the Gorse Fox's wrong tax account. He would have to escalate to get it switched to correct account, but assured the Gorse Fox that it would be sorted. (Once it is, it should significantly change the amount of tax he currently pays on his Starfleet pension).

Meanwhile, the Silver Vixen has been trying to get started on preparing some new patterns for her next sewing project.

The Gorse Fox also spent some time on his code. By now the primary focus is tidying things up. The code is nearly ready for prime time, but the Gorse Fox wants it to be an exemplar of how code should be written. Hence the tidying up.

Das what?

We had a lovely evening with the Silver Vixen's cousins in Brighton. Lots of chat and lots of reminiscences. We also had a take-away Indian and their unsurpassed hospitality.

This morning was a quiet start until the chappy arrived to talk about the replacement of our deck. It was quite fruitful and he will be providing us with a quote in the next couple of weeks. Let's hope it's not too extreme! Whatever happens, it will be October before he could hope to start.

The Gorse Fox spent some time in the study. His code had reached a point whereby he could share it for comment. Needless to say he got some comments back immediately. The most puzzling of which was the fact that it had emitted some error messages in German! The Gorse Fox doesn't speak a word of German so isn't sure where the blazes that came from. It gives him some this to look at in the morning.

Urban-Cub went to collect Ellie late this afternoon, so now we are all back together.

Coming along

It's been a productive morning. The weather is wet and windy so there no excuse to get involved in anything outdoors. 

The Gorse Fox retired to his study and dived back into his code. There is some genuine progress being made now. The code successfully reads through source material, strips comments, then parses what's left through a little analytical engine. The results are collated and formatted for output. All of the mechanics of the program seem to work, the only outstanding development is the expansion of the analytical engine to cater for more cases. That will take a while as the Gorse Fox has to determine how each case can be identified.

We're off to Brighton to see the Silver Vixen's cousins and aunt this afternoon. A curry may be involved later!

Talking of Brighton, the Gorse Fox has arranged to have a new battery fitted in his MacBook next Friday. That will mean an early start to get to Brighton in time for the appointment with the "Genius Bar" at Apple.

Garage banned

It has been a mixed day. The weather has been lovely (as you would expect in this part of the country - though forecast is very Welsh for tomorrow and Sunday). The morning started with the realisation that a part of the Gorse Fox's little coding exercise could be done more efficiently with a slightly different approach. This meant reworking a chunk of the code. The Gorse Fox started that this morning, got distracted, and then finished it just now.

As for his distraction, the Silver Vixen and Urban-cub had decided that they wanted to tidy one end of the garage. This is where the Silver Vixen keeps some gardening bits, the Gorse Fox stores his tools, and we accumulate rubbish that needs to be taken to the tip. He had to help. He had to make sure the right decisions were being made! It took a couple of hours, but it's done now and we have contacted a company to come and dispose of the detritus.

The Gorse Fox also took a trip to Sainsbury's. He was delighted to find that everyone therein was adhering to the facemask requirement, including the staff. There are so many idiot poseurs on social media claiming they can't wear one for fear of infringing some civil liberty or t'other. In practice, it seems that most of the people in our area think that social responsibility is more important than their personal preferences. One responder on Face-ache said she couldn't wear one because he glasses steamed up... well the Gorse Fox has worn glasses since he was 11 years old and has learned that you have to adapt and if you wear the mask under the glasses they don't get affected so much.

Tape measure and space pressure

Today has been filled with little distractions. We started the day with the usual Ocado delivery and that was followed by some admin. It was time for the Gorse Fox to write back to the Insurance company and explain that it is no good asking for us to phone them if they aren't going to answer the phone.

Again, the Gorse Fox spent a stupid amount of time trying to find appropriate accommodation for a short break with Urban-Cub and Ellie. Clearly, we have left it too late for many of the prime spots. Our disappointment is eased by the fact that we have just heard that the cattery has no availability for the week that we would wish to travel, so that's that.

The Silver Vixen has had an idea about an incredible storage cabinet for her sewing and all its paraphernalia. This ended up taking a great deal of time as we measured and pondered various locations. Most of the preferred locations just wouldn't work as they were too small or just not suitable. There is a Plan B, but the Gorse Fox isn't sure whether the Silver Vixen is really convinced. Nothing is likely to happen until the New Year anyway, so we have time to think about it.

Booking

There has been some press recently regarding diners who have booked to eat at some venue or other and then failed to turn up. This is unconscionably bad manners and damages the establishment where they were booked. The Gorse Fox has a solution to this (assuming breaking their legs with a baseball bat is likely to be frowned upon). A deposit should be taken on a credit card, their name, and their phone number should be recorded. If they are a no-show, they should be immediately put on a "not welcome list" that is shared across all the establishments in a 10-mile radius. Additionally, the full value of a table d'hote should be charged the against the credit card.

Right, that's that sorted.

The Gorse Fox was irritated to see that a petition has been raised to oppose the development of new homes to the west of our development. This is something that the Gorse Fox feels strongly about, so he commented:

Our population is growing and our demand for homes is growing. Our population has grown by 17 million since the 1950s, (9 million since 2000). Families are not like “nuclear families” of the 1950s where they stayed as a unit until each child left to get married and often accommodated elderly parents. Young adults want to leave and get their own homes. Families break up and one family unit may become two or more - each requiring a home. People are driven to live where they can afford and where they can get to their place of employment. Young couples need homes in which they can settle down. 

We have a conundrum. Everyone wants a home. Nobody wants it developed near them.The government has made it clear that there is a quota of houses that must be built in each area. Councils have little or no latitude to change that. 

I think that if I am living in a nice area, or nice development, and oppose further much needed development then I am being hypocritical and anti-social. What I would lobby for, however, is to ensure that adequate infrastructure is put in place to ensure that any new development improves rather than blights our area.

He expects his views will be contentious!

Much of the afternoon has spent looking through web listings. We thought it might be nice to have a week away somewhere with Urban-Cub and Ellie (and possibly Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit). Selecting a suitable location with suitable accommodation has proved difficult. Indeed, at this point, though there is a "possibility list" there is nothing you could construe as a shortlist, let alone a decision. No bookings so far.

Chugging along

It's been a lovely day, weather-wise. Warm, sunny, but the odd clouds to give some relief. Urban-Cub and Ellie went out to Arundel to meet with some friends in the park and were out until early afternoon. The Silver Vixen was doing some dead-heading in the from garden and chatting with the neighbours. The Gorse Fox was back at the code-face.

Progress on the code is slow but it's very deliberate and very considered. There is still a way to go, but the Gorse Fox feels that he's making excellent headway. (It's a good job this is very much an intellectual exercise as opposed to being something that is required). He should be able to get another good run at it tomorrow.

Playground

The Gorse Fox took Ellie to the local playground this afternoon. She was a bit shy at first as their were other children there, but soon joined in the fun making friends with a girl called Alice who is four months older. The Gorse Fox got talking to Alice's Nan and Mum. They were astounded at how articulate Ellie is and how wide her vocabulary is. The Gorse Fox suspects this is because she spends so much time with adults.

Smug, again

The Gorse Fox has been struggling with a coding conundrum. The thing is that the problem must have been solved within the underlying coding language. He wrote to some of his gurus and asked if they had any clues. He received various replies but the one that matters was that received from Mike, the original author of the language itself. He used to work for Starfleet and the Gorse Fox considers him more of a distant friend than just an old colleague. He offered the Gorse Fox the original source code that handles the issue. It was written in 360/Assembler, but that's no problem for the Gorse Fox. In fact, when the code arrived, it provided a pleasurable hour or so just reading the code and remembering what a clean and crisp language it was.

Why is he feeling smug? In the code that he has already written he decided on a strategy that was very different from the code he had been updating over the last week. He decided he would break the code that was being examined into clauses and work on each clause separately. (The old code worked through the source character by character). When the Gorse Fox started to review Mike's code, one of the first comment block explains his strategy for parsing the code... he does it clause by clause. That made the Gorse Fox's day!

He still has a huge amount of research and thinking to do, but he feeling positive.

Wind up

The Gorse Fox has been the victim of an elaborate wind-up. We get travel insurance through the bank and, as a result of some recent health issues, we have had to take out a supplement. The supplement is about to expire and this needs a renewal. The travel insurers thought it would be funny to send him a letter reminding him that the upgrade was about to expire but in order to renew, he had to phone them. This is where the wind-up kicks in. When the Gorse Fox tries to phone the number given he's told how busy they are and unless he is travelling in the next three days, he should call back. This joke started last week, and he has fallen for it several times since. This time they took it a stage further and offered to call him back. Yeah! like that happened!

Football

The Gorse Fox received a call from Krakatoa Jack. It appears that Worthing have started playing football again, and have been playing for several weeks. Also, there has been a separate session for the older community up at Highdown. Jack suggested we should go along a watch, then decide what Arun should do. The Gorse Fox, as much as he wants to play, still thinks it is a bit premature. Particularly so as infection rates have increased significantly in Worthing over the past week. The Gorse Fox declined to offer for this week but may go and watch the following week.

Most of the day has been spent fighting through a maze of logic problems as the Gorse Fox starts to redevelop the code from scratch. He doesn't underestimate the effort that went into the original code, but feels there must be a significantly better and more elegant way to handle it. As one user put it "it is brutish in its approach". We have also managed to find a number of obscure test cases that it just could not handle.

Nice win for Spurs this afternoon (3-0 over Leicester).

Ellie is back from Pistol Pete. It's always so nice to see her cheery little face as she gets back. She is always so excited to see Urban-Cub and the Silver Vixen and always has a chuckle with the Gorse Fox over some bit of grandpa's silliness.

Booked

A short break in Devon would be nice, though the Gorse Fox. With a Wedding Anniversary (47th) coming up next month - it seemed like a good idea. He raised the idea with the Silver Vixen. She leapt at the idea. The Gorse Fox phoned the Victoria Hotel in Sidmouth and 5 minutes later we were booked into our favourite Stateroom.

Sorted

Quiet Saturday

It was quiet. It was so quiet. Ellie is at Pistol Pete’s for the weekend, and Urban-Cub was away in Crawley overnight. We emerged gently as we woke. It was so quiet.

The Silver Vixen has spent most of the day at her sewing machine making a dress. The Gorse Fox spent the day at the code-face. A bug had to be tracked down, and proved elusive. It was eventually crushed, mercilessly.

The problem with debugging other people’s code is that it triggers a whole lot of “what-ifs” regarding coding technique. This drove the Gorse Fox down another path and he is now several hundred lines of code into a new program to replace the original. Needless to say, it is not straightforward. If it was, the original authors of the other code would have got it right. There’s still a long way to go, but the advantage of lockdown is that it affords time to indulge in the pleasures of life.

Progress

The Gorse Fox had the temerity to write to Virgin Holidays yesterday. He was very upbeat and polite:

Hello,

I am sure you are immensely busy, and I do hope you are keeping safe in these difficult times.

On 28th April you cancelled our holiday to Jamaica, offering a voucher and various rebooking options. I declined these and filled in the online form requesting a full refund. Since then I have heard nothing. There was no acknowledgement (though I have kept a copy of the form).

Reading on the Facebook Group it seems that people are seeing their invoices amended to reflect the pending refund. I have not seen this, and find that now, I cannot even get online to see my account/invoice.

Please can you confirm that I am in the queue for a refund, and some indication of how much longer I may have to wait would be appreciated.

Take care and stay safe

Having seen the hassle some people are having, he was delighted that this email received a full and personal reply this morning. All points were addressed and we now have a target date for our refund. The Gorse Fox is quietly satisfied that, as usual, a gentle and polite approach gets much better results than sarcasm, threats, anger and so forth.

(Talking of refunds, the second and final instalment of the refund of the State Pension came in this morning).

Windfall

The day started much as any other. Being Thursday, we expected Ocado (now that things are settling back down we have regained our usual slot), and Urban-Cub and Ellie had plans to meet up with the Princess and her brood at Fisher's Farm. It was all very routine.

There was a clatter as the post was pushed through the letterbox. The Gorse Fox didn't take a lot of notice. Most of his correspondence nowadays is via email. He was surprised therefor to find two letters addressed to him. Both were from the Department for Work and Pensions. He idly opened the first, expecting it to be a simple statement. Oh no, this was no simple statement. This was the sort of statement you would get if Carlsberg did DWP statements with M&S. 

It appears that DWP had been underpaying the Gorse Fox ever since he retired. They have just spotted it and will reimburse the difference. That was a result. He checked his bank. A payment had been made, but not the amount mentioned. The Gorse Fox phoned DWP and checked he wasn't dreaming. No. It was for real, and because of the amount they are paying it in two instalments so they didn't have to go and get separate authorisation.

An email arrived. It was HMRC suggesting the Gorse Fox should look at his Personal Tax Account. Sure enough they were very quick off the mark and had already calculated how much tax the Gorse Fox should have paid on the little windfall and said that, as a result, he had underpaid and please could they have some of their money back. The Government giveth and the Government taketh away. The Gorse Fox is not complaining. He is still gazing at a healthy pot (and that's nothing to do with weight-gain during lockdown).

With this money burning a metaphorical hole in his pocket, the Gorse Fox (always a romantic) suggested that he take the Silver Vixen out. So it was that we spent 30 minutes finishing the last few bits of shopping in Sainsbury's before coming home for lunch.

While thinking about money, he decided it was time to write to Virgin Holiday again, and to write to VIP Attractions in Jamaica. The latter promised a refund in 90 days... it has been 113 so far and no refund has appeared.

The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at a selection of paving slabs and tiles, trying to get some ideas for the back garden. We have a chap coming to give us a quote next week and it would be useful to have some idea what we want first!

That went well

Urban-Cub and Ellie were out for the day.

The Silver Vixen had her usual Zoom Pilates session throughout the morning, and spent much of the afternoon on the phone to a girl friend.

The Gorse Fox was left alone to play with his code. He finally got the cross-referencing program working properly and identically on each of the Windows, Linux, and Mac platforms. He went  back online to the forum where he asked his initial question and explained that we had found an old bit of code and the Gorse Fox had reworked it to run across all platforms (and, incidentally, sped it up considerably). Putting his head above the parapet may have been a mistake. There is now a steady stream of emails from people requesting a copy. Fame at last!

Sorted... well not quite

The code that the Gorse Fox has been working on has thrown up a surprise. It creates an intermediate work file. This file is then processed by the "sort" command in the host environment. The problem is that the sort on MAC and on Linux come up with totally different sequences. This, apparently, can be a by-product of the "Locale" setting. In this case, however, both are set identically. The Gorse Fox thinks that it may require Plan B, or C. One of which is to internalise the whole process so it is handled with Rexx, the other is to write a cross-system sort that uses an identical sort sequence (which he really doesn't want to do).

Tomorrow should be fun!

Getting Stoned

Urban-Cub and the Gorse Fox had a plan. Being Tuesday we were going to get stoned. It seems only reasonable after such a long lockdown, So it was that by mid-morning Urban-Cub and the Gorse Fox were separating the cobbles that had been in bleach for the past few weeks, then rinsing them with copious amounts of water and flushing it away down the drain. It was a long job, and even now we have only done about half of the total. Those we have done, however, have come up really well and there's no vesting of the old green slime visible on any of them. They are as good as new.

When we finished that we emptied the rill (again) and cleaned it out ready for the replacement of the stone when the other half are complete. It was a good, if messy, morning's work. 

After lunch the Gorse Fox took Ellie down to the local play park so she could let off steam on the swings and slides... and give Urban-Cub and the Silver Vixen a little respite.

Cross-platform

What a lovely day this has been. The weather has been perfect and we have all got on with different things.

Urban-Cub and Ellie headed up towards Crawley to meet with a friend in one of the parks. Unfortunately, Ellie managed to fall and graze her elbow and whilst trying to milk it for as much sympathy as possible, she virtually forgets about it as soon as she's distracted.

The Silver Vixen had her hair appointment. The plan was to get her colour re-done and start the process of reshaping the style. It can't all be done in one go as it is dependent on some parts growing longer. It does look very nice already... and the hours spent this afternoon with the hairdresser (her at home) were well worth the effort.

The Gorse Fox has spent the day on the code. Bit by bit it came together. It was soon working on both Mac and on Linux... Windows, however, would be the challenge. This afternoon the Gorse Fox fired up Osprey (the Silver Vixen's old laptop and only remaining Windows machine we have) with a view to testing what had been done. The first hour was wasted because Windows decided to download and apply some updates. Then the Gorse Fox realised he had to install the latest version of ooREXX as the version on OSPREY was well out-of-date. Finally he got to test. A few modifications were needed but by the end of the afternoon the code would run happily on all three platforms. A very satisfying day.

That is better

It's been a lovely day. The weather has been glorious (as you would expect on the South Coast) and we've had a nice day.

The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox went across to see Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit in Chichester this morning and to have a look at what they had been doing in their garden (while enjoying a cup of tea). It was a lovely hour or so and it was nice to see how well they are getting on.

Urban-Cub and Ellie stayed put. Ellie was told that unless she got washed and dressed she was not going out anywhere... and so it was! She refused to get washed and dressed so Urban-Cub refused to take her out. They had a quiet day in the garden, instead.

When we got back from Chichester, the Gorse Fox went back to his study and returned to the code he was sent last night. This, it was said, would cross reference a program and also reformat it to look nice. The Gorse Fox is not worried about the latter (he write pretty programs anyway), but the first bit was what he was after.

It took a lot of work. It was the sort of code that demands a smack round the ear for the programmer. Almost devoid of commentary, meaningless variable names, and a very peculiar structure. The Gorse Fox dug his heels in and started to rip it apart and rebuild it properly. By late afternoon he had a working version. There is a lot more commentary and documentation to write, but currently it does the trick. Tick for the Gorse Fox.

Refactoring

Urban-Cub and Ellie went out for the day. Silver Vixen spent the day with her sewing, finishing off a lovely top for Ellie. The Gorse Fox snuck off to the study.

He spent a few hours tidying up some old code but then got thinking about all of the useful cross-referencing information that we used to get from PL/1 and Pascal compilers. Wouldn't it be nice if we had something like that for Rexx. So it was that he asked on the forum. 

Cyril responded with some code that would cross-reference every word in a file... useful, but not what was wanted. He, Cyril that is, then dug some code out of an archive that sounds as if it should do the job. The problem is that it is Windows-OS/2 only. The Gorse Fox looked at the basic framework and decided that this was worthy of some redesign. He now has several thousand lines of code to rework such that they will execute on MACOS or Linux. Seems like a worthy challenge for the little grey cells.

Result

Well it would appear that our CCTV did help. The Gorse Fox heard from our Neighbourhood Watch lady that the CCTV was forwarded to the Police. The miscreants were identified and the Police attended their school assembly to give them a lecture. The headmistress has also spoken to the lads and sent an apology. Whether it has a lasting effect, who knows? At least the lads will know that they are under surveillance when they are in this neck of the woods.

CCTV

We had a case, yesterday, of some anti-social behaviour. Some youths climbed on the roof of the Community Centre and hurled abuse at passers-by. Then they took over a playground, and then climbed the builder's scaffolding at Sonning Place. Police were called by the Neighbourhood Watch. Our doorbell rang. It was the Neighbourhood Watch coordinator asking if the Gorse Fox had any CCTV footage of the miscreants. He spent a while reviewing what he had, and eventually found the three youths running across the tree and down the road. CCTV has been sent, via Neighbourhood Watch, to the Police.

Jiggling Atoms

Yesterday the Gorse Fox spoke of tickling his little grey cells. He also watched a BBC Archive film from Richard Feynman call "Jiggling Atoms". Richard Feynman is one of his heroes. A truly inspired and inspirational scientist. Anyway, today his tickled grey cells started to jiggle. The work he had done for his "pre-processor" idea had started to bear fruit. Synapses were firing, grey cells were jiggling and his fingers were dashing across the keyboard as he spent the day in front of old code that could be adapted. That's not to say that everything went swimmingly... there were still bugs to drive out, but in general it was deeply satisfying.

You may have guessed that Urban-Cub and Ellie were out for the day, giving the Gorse Fox undisturbed time to code. Also, the Silver Vixen was on the phone for much of the morning and then sewing all afternoon. The Gorse Fox did have a fleeting trip to Sainsbury's to get some cat food. He was pleased to see more people wearing masks than he has done recently. They are still, however, very much in the minority.

Tickling the little grey cells

It's been a very quiet day with the exception of the Ocado delivery. Ellie is still with Pistol Pete. Urban-Cub spent the morning on the phone sorting out various cancellations for services at the old house in LA. The Silver Vixen spend much of the morning on the phone also.

The Gorse Fox squirrelled himself away in the study. There wasn't, at first, a clear objective, but he started to review some code. That always triggers ideas for improvements or even for different techniques. Sure enough it didn't't take long for him to find something into which he could sink his teeth. So it is that he has spent most of the day, so far, lashed to the keyboard while riding out a storm of ideas and experiments. It's been immensely satisfying as all but one of his experiments have worked.

Lazy

It has been a very lazy day. The Gorse Fox hasn't really been sparked into life by any particular task. He spent some time playing with some code this morning. He feels that however good the code is, there can always be some improvement. When he had finished he tidied up his code library and consigned a lot of old code to an archive folder.

The Gorse Fox then swapped to the video editor. He has started on a video of Ellie throughout 2018. This is time-consuming as is started with 84 separate video files last nearly 2 hours.  These have to be viewed and trimmed down so that we end up with a palatable 15-20 minutes. He will return to this another day as he's going boss-eyed from editing at the moment.

Ellie has just gone off with Pistol Pete for an overnight stay.

Going, going, gone.

Urban-Cub has been entertaining a friend and her daughter as a play-date with Ellie. (What a good job we built the Orangery when we moved in). In the midst of this, she received a call from her Solicitor confirming that the sale of the house in LA has completed. In the Gorse Fox's experience it's rare that these things go through smoothly so he was delighted to see and example where it went without a hitch.

We just have to wait for the new house to be built... but if that is on schedule she will benefit from the removal of stamp duty.

Fleeced

Sometimes you just get lucky. Certainly, the Gorse Fox didn't feel lucky when Jasper started to yowl in his ear at six-thirty this morning, but once up and on a full caffeine load he settled down (the Gorse Fox that is, not Jasper).

Urban-Cub and Ellie needed to go into Chichester for a card/present for one of Ellie's friends. The Silver Vixen went along for the ride. the Gorse Fox decided to chance his luck and went along to the barbershop. He was lucky, there was no wait. He just settled down while the guy masked-up and 30 minutes later he was surrounded by what could only be described as a sheep's fleece worth of hair. He had been shorn, hair, ears, eyebrows and even parts of his beard had been trimmed, washed and dried. It was a vey pleasant thirty minutes of pampering.

When he got back, he returned to his little coding challenge, or at least, Plan B thereof. This was to emulate the old PL/1 Macro Pre-processor which allowed programs to be constructed dynamically from pre-tested components. The Gorse Fox now has a tested and working version which he will use next time he needs to build a new routine. He will also start to file some useful macros and routines that can be invoked in the build phase by the pre-processor. Very satisfying.

This afternoon he took Ellie for a walk round to the West Meads pharmacy to collect some of the Silver Vixen's medication. Ellie was very good and walked for much of the way (though as it was 4km there and back, we did take the buggy for her to ride when tired). When we got back she wanted to go to the park, but when the Gorse Fox took her there it was clear that there was little or no attempt at social distancing and it was quite busy. He felt it wasn't safe, so we returned home with a promise of another try).

Finished

The Silver Vixen and Urban-Cub headed across to LA to finish the last bits of cleaning at the house. The Gorse Fox was destined to follow, but wanted to stop for some shopping (saffron) on the way. Just before he left home, the Silver Vixen called. The chap from the local barbershop was sitting outside his shop with no customers. Could the Gorse Fox get there in time? He headed off immediately. By the time he got there (which couldn't have been more than 3 minutes later) someone was just settling into the barber's chair. The Gorse Fox had missed his opportunity. He'll have to try again later in the week.

It didn't take us too long to finish up at the the house. The Gorse Fox helped by cleaning the garage, sorting out a light, fixing a venetian blind, and loading the car.

Back home he started on his planned lamb dish. The first problem was finding a cooking receptacle large enough to hold the lamb shoulder. Then he started to try and recreate the Moroccan lamb recipe he had seen on TV. Clearly they didn't show all of the steps as the final product wasn't quite what was expected. He started by creating a mixture of herbs and spices in warm water which was rubbed all over the lamb. The lamb was the immersed in the mixture and covered with chopped onions. This was simmered for three and half hours before being taken out, basted in ghee, then roasted. The sauce was further reduced... but that was the bit that didn't really meet expectations. The lamb was shredded and was so tender and moist, that it was irresistible. He must experiment further, so that he can get the sauce right. (P.S. We do have a huge plateful of shredded lamb that we can use over the next couple days).

Yuk

There is something both disconcerting and deeply unpleasant about being woken at 6 a.m. by your cat throwing up all over the bedroom floor.

Just saying!

Clearance

The whole family turned up. The Silver Vixen set about cleaning, Urban-cub set about cleaning and directing, Cousteau-cub helped pack and shift, the Coventry Hobbit brought a van and shifted and loaded, while the Gorse Fox dismantled, shifted, and loaded. It took many hours but the house in LA is virtually clear now. A brief session tomorrow should manage the last couple of items.

Once everything was loaded into the van we headed across to the storage facility. It was a good job that Urban-cub had switched to the larger unit. By the time we had shifted everything, you would find it a challenge to slide a sheet of paper into the unit. Lugging everything up from the paring area was hampered by the arrival of the family using the next unit to Urban-cub's. They blocked the corridor as they faffed about, and we had to find a more circuitous route to the storage unit. This was not easy as the trolleys we used were very difficult to manoeuver around the tight corners. Eventually, we were done.

Back home we settled for some lamb chops and a drink as Cousteau-cub and the Coventry Hobbit headed back to Chichester having been such invaluable help throughout the day.

Freedom

Of course today is Independence Day. For those of you who do not understand the historical significance of the day, the Gorse Fox will explain.

It is six years ago today that the Gorse Fox retired from Starfleet. Six years during which he has woken every morning hardly able to believe that he doesn't have to go to work... and is still being paid. Six years where the only travel he has had to do is for pleasure. Six years where he hasn't had to do then moderate staff appraisals. Six years where he hasn't had to deal with asinine project deadlines that bear no resemblance to reality. Six years where he hasn't had to fight his way through the Tube network or the main London train termini. Six blissful years.

(Oh, he should probably mention that it is a holiday in the US also, but they really didn't have to go to that extent)

Saffron

The best laid plans...

Despite the Gorse Fox's intention to get to the Cash and Carry this morning, domestic events got in the way and it was early afternoon before he was able to get away. By the time he got to the C&C it was closed. Pah! He tried two supermarkets on the way home. Nada. He will have to go further afield tomorrow.

Urban-Cub got back this morning and then took Ellie across to stay with Pistol Pete. She left a travel cot behind, which was being sold on Face-Ache's Marketplace... but the buyer never turned up. (The Gorse Fox could forgive this if she turns up later clutching some saffron).

Th Silver Vixen has been sitting at her sewing machine for mucho if the day, and the Gorse Fox is sat in his study. He's been doing a little research to satisfy a "programming itch" that he has. More about that later if he ever gets to a satisfactory conclusion.

Short report

It's been a windy, but pleasant day, without being too sunny or too cloudy. Urban-Cub was up early as she had to get across to LA to greet some chaps from a trash clearance outfit (fully licensed, of course). They came to see the detritus that Pistol Pete had left and quote for its removal. The quote was exactly what she had expected so she told them to go ahead and they cleared the lot, there and then.

She came back for a while, before heading up to Crawley where she was meeting with a friend. She won't be back until tomorrow, so G-Force are on duty. Other than a total melt-down when Urban-Cub left, Ellie has been as good as gold all day.

This afternoon the chappies from Reynolds arrived with the Gorse Fox's new chair. Bizarrely, it seems to make the room look a bit bigger. He must say that it seems very comfortable and he's looking forward to settling down in front of the TV this evening to  see how well it works out.

Not much else to report.

(P.S. The Gorse Fox was wondering where he could get saffron in sensible quantities. Usually you have to buy it with a mortgage and only receive a microgram. It occurred to him that we have an Asian Cash & Carry in the village, so he plans to pop along there tomorrow to see if they have any - at a sensible price. He wants it for a dish he is planning for Sunday involving a shoulder of lamb and a lot of patience).

Stress

Let us just say that Ellie has been at her defiant best today... and then draw a line under it.

Urban-Cub had to go across to LA to finish up some of the last bits in the old house. Unfortunately, that didn't go to plan as it is fairly clear that Pistol Pete hasn't done all of the things that were expected and has just dumped stuff that he doesn't want in the garden and garage, expecting some unknown fairy to come along and magic it away. It was also clear that some of the stuff he was taking, he is no longer taking. The upshot is that Urban-Cub had had to get a larger storage unit and move everything around from the old to the new and make room for the unexpected items. To say she has had a stressful day would be an understatement.

Talking of stress, the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox went into our local furniture shop and completed the transaction for the new "Stressless" recliner. It will be delivered tomorrow. The question we had to handle was regarding the disposal of the old armchair. Urban-Cub put it on the Face-ache Marketplace for £50. Two hours later it was sold and by early evening it had been taken. (Based on that success we will try and get rid of our old recliner) the same way.

Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit popped round in the early evening to walk Tyson round the lake and to see Urban-Cub and Ellie. The Gorse Fox thinks it was just the tonic that Urban-Cub needed.

Stop fidgeting

The Gorse Fox was in need of some more coding but couldn't think of anything new that needed doing. In the end, the best he could manage was a few tweaks to the code he wrote yesterday.

The Silver Vixen, Urban-Cub, and Ellie went out to HobbyCraft this afternoon. They came back clutching various craft bits for Ellie. Their trip gave the Gorse Fox a chance to settle down with some more videos. He started by condensing all of the videos taken of Ellie in 2017 (the year she was born) and several well chosen photos into a new single 15 minute video. That works quite well and is now nestling in the library. He then went to work on the last few unprocessed videos from 2004. These covered a holiday in Tenerife when, for once, both Cousteau-Cub and Urban-Cub were with us, along with Urban-Cub's friend, Tanya. Again, the processing of the video brought back memories and allowed the Gorse Fox to add some extra blog posts for March 2004 (in his private blog).

This evening we have put adverts for a couple of our chairs on various local sites. The idea is to sell them, rather than just ditch them. The plan is for the Gorse Fox to replace his current armchair with a Stressless Recliner as he fidgets constantly when in his current armchair It will be interesting to see if there are any takers. His new chair is reserved and waiting at our local furniture store. We plan to complete the transaction tomorrow.

Sometimes you need to code

The Gorse Fox was up long before the rest of the family and quietly sat and read the paper, Face-ache, and Twitter. Once everyone was up and about and we'd had breakfast, the Gorse Fox settled down with some ironing whilst the girls performed their interminable ablutions. By the time they were finished, so was he.

They say that a change is as good as a rest. Today, the Gorse Fox wanted to write some code. It's always a great pleasure to challenge yourself with a little bit of coding. This was hardly rocket science. This was not the sort of problem that would set Richard Feynman aflame. It was, however, something that he had been promising himself for several weeks. It was was just a basic housekeeping routine which would clear down old logs and old SQL backups, but it needed to be done. The Gorse Fox was bored with going in and clearing them manually. It didn't take too long to write and test and once done it was plugged into crontab on "peregrine" to run daily. Sorted.

The Silver Vixen, Urban-Cub and Ellie had gone out to do some shopping while the Gorse Fox was indulging his need to code. They got back in time for us all to have lunch together.

This afternoon the Gorse Fox returned to the videos from 1992. The Silver Vixen was sewing and Urban-Cub was having a quiet afternoon with Ellie. The Gorse Fox has now added a video of his business trip to South Africa in August 1992. He started off in Jo'burg where he called on several clients and gave several lectures; then we hit Pretoria for another lecture; finally we flew down to Cape Town. In Cape Town we, again, saw several big clients, and had one lecture to deliver. After the business side was done he had the chance to take a look around - Table Mountain, Hout Bay, Cape Point, and False Bay. It really was quite a trip.

On Charge

There's very little to report, but the Gorse Fox supposes that after 98 days of lockdown, that doesn't come as a huge surprise. The morning was taken up with various domestic tasks, with meter readings, with accounts and so forth. 

It was only after lunch that there was a modicum of excitement when the Gorse Fox realised that the battery on his MacBook Air was not really holding its charge very well and on running diagnostics he got the message that it needed servicing (i.e. replacing). The Gorse Fox spent some time looking for a local Apple Repair specialist and finally found one within a few miles. He called and spoke to the chap. He was assured that the only thing he couldn't do was replace the batteries in a MacBook. (It was at this point that the Gorse Fox remembered he had phoned him when the hard drive failed in his iMac... and was assured that the only thing he couldn't;t do is replace the hard drive in an iMac of this vintage). The Gorse Fox bit his tongue. It would obviously be a trip to the nearest Apple Store, which for us is Brighton or Southampton. That can wait fo now.

The Gorse Fox spent the afternoon finishing the video from our 1992 holiday in Cornwall and then correcting the dates on some old photos in Google Photos. (The timestamp from the vides gave him direct correlation with photos taken at the time and not previously timestamped).

Headlines

And the headline from the BBC says "Two households can join up in Wales from Monday". This begs the questions: which two households? and do they have to go to Wales?

Down and out

Pistol Pete brought Ellie back while the Gorse Fox was preparing dinner (lamb shanks, if you must know). As Urban-Cub and Pistol Pete were talking, she noticed the down-pipe of the (town)house opposite had come loose from the gutter and was waving about in the wind. The Gorse Fox was called.

The Gorse Fox went over to alert the neighbour. (This was not the first time she had a problem with the downpipes, but it had been "fixed'). We went and took a look. There was a wall fixing that had come away,  the pipe had detached itself from the roof gutter and also from the gutter over a bay window. Despite this, the joint seemed firm (if not actually glued) and the Gorse Fox couldn't lift the top section out. This was a real safety hazard as it was blowing about over a footpath.

Pistol Pete came over to help and held the bottom of the pipe while the Gorse Fox went and got a step-ladder. We tried to put the ladder somewhere secure and the Gorse Fox gingerly climbed to the top. He lifted the pipe out of the joint. It was at this point he realised that 20 feet of down pipe in a high wind was not conducive to balance. The pipe started to fall and the Gorse Fox tried to direct into the flower beds rather than the path. As the centre of gravity shifted the ladder toppled back, the pipe toppled forward and the Gorse Fox realised that not having wings was a serious disadvantage. He was flying through the air, but his trajectory was definitively downwards. He braced and hit the ground with his feet and by accelerating straight into a run, managed, after 20 feet or so, to regain his equilibrium.

He waited for the judges scores, expecting a full set of 10.0s; all he got was Ellie crying because Grandad couldn't fly after all. The neighbour was thankful and would contact the builders in the morning.