David's blog

I’ve ordered a new pair of Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, which should arrive this week. I went for the new ones because the Gen 1 version was a bit bulky. I didn’t expect to wear them as much as I do, so comfort wasn’t a big deal at first, but now it is. I chose the Blazer style this time—they fit better with no sliding down my nose.   The new glasses are a bit pricier than the Gen 1s, but they have a better camera, improved microphones, and, of course, a better fit. I’m not sure what to do with the old pair—maybe just keep them in case the new ones break.   I mostly use the glasses for the camera, capturing short videos and posting them on Facebook for the village diaspora to enjoy. Originally, I bought them to use the AI “look and see” command, but I haven’t used it much for that—except maybe for improving recipes. The glasses are also handy for making hands free phone calls and listening to podcasts and -some music sometimes and getting messages from whatsapp, I gue...

I went for a swim in the river again yesterday, having gone a couple of days before. It wasn’t quite as warm this time—the weather, not the river—so I didn’t stay long. The pool isn’t very big and it’s not always easy to find space to swim. The cold water really focuses your mind and keeps you from thinking about all the other stuff going on, and I noticed that when I got out, my head felt clearer. I can’t exactly go to the river every time I want to clear my mind, and today it’s cooler and cloudy. The heat is still lingering in the house, but I guess it’ll fade over the next couple of days.  It is nice to have warm house to get up to for a change though, as its usually cold Regarding heating I am expecting some solar panels well they have said they will give me some we shall see, this company is not the most reliable and can mess you around big time. I would not be able to go swimming this week as its wintery again all of sudden the weather has gone from one extreme to the other. ...

It’s been nothing but chaos on public transport these past few days. Yesterday, we were delayed for about half an hour due to a fire at a petrol station—some campervan had caught fire, and it could have been far worse if the petrol had ignited. Today brought yet another delay thanks to roadworks starting on a bank holiday weekend, which is a ridiculous decision that only adds to the mess. On the way back from the next stop, a woman refused to give way to the bus and eventually had to be persuaded to move—still no idea what her issue was. With the weekend only just starting, who knows what else might happen on this unreliable public transport. I went to the next town to speak with the council about applying to have a piece of land designated as a public right of way. There’s a lot of form-filling involved, and at the moment the access is far from acceptable.  The local councillors are not interested, the parking issue has got a lot worse due to the issue with land too. I have decide...

 I go swimming on a monday morning to a session which is designated as being for the disabled.  I have been going to this session for years and it suits me as I can get there on time and go and swim at the side of the pool which is easiet for me.  Over the last few months the session is not empty when I get there there is overflow from the from the previous session and the centre is not getting rid of the people from that session when they should so I am not able to use the wall, Also other people who are disabled are nto able to use the session as the overflow is clogging up the pool. I went swimming today and nothng had changed but I saw one of the people who work at the centre todayh, he said something about changing the timetable, so I will have to wait and see for a couple of weeks I suggested they could change the wording as they have different wording in the diffedrent centres.I did not think it was going to take this much of an effort to sort things out but it is ...

I went for a walk yesterday along a local river I had not been up and down it for a couple of years, its quite hard going going back up it but it was a nice walk, I was looking also for pool that is quite iconic round here as it is where a lot of local children go swimming in its called Llyn Sgowt, its not a lake just a big pool in the river. I think I might have found it but I am not too sure, it was made famous round here by the children of the Summer Hill school which here over the years of the second world war, they made it famous by going swimming naked in it, and it shocked the local community. Summerhill School really was evacuated to Ffestiniog, Wales during the Second World War, and it spent several years there. The move was disruptive, emotionally difficult, and marked by illness, loss, and the challenge of running a radically “free” school inside a small, traditional Welsh community.   

Last week I got a text from the housing association saying someone would be coming round to do some plastering, which I assumed was to deal with the damp in the living room walls. I wasn’t looking forward to the disruption, but figured it had to be done, so I agreed. I remember someone coming over to talk about the damp problem, explaining what they planned to do, and we both agreed there was no point plastering until the issue was fixed. On the day the plasterer arrived, I told them they needed to sort the problem first.  They eventually agreed and left, but came back a few minutes later claiming someone would be coming to fix some slates and put something on the roof, and that the boss would call me. I let them go ahead as they sounded plausible enough, but later it hit me they were probably just messing me around. I haven’t heard from the boss or seen anyone working on the roof, which is frustrating and makes me feel conned by these cowboy builders.  Now the job is done, an...