Many harsh ballet

I remembered something that I had intended to report previously re my last posting. Nothing over extraordinary only that the last couple of occasions that Bethany has been to nursery they have started to integrate her into the older section for children over 2. So far they have taken her over for an hour at a time to get her used to what will be her new surroundings in a couple of months and when they first told us it was one of those realization moments that she is no longer a baby. She is of course still very young and you hear people constantly comment about how they grow up so fast but dismiss this as fanciful as time grinds it inexorable way forward. There is the perception that as you grow older you have more time to reflect back on than when you were younger so that childhood memory when you were 10 seems like yesterday when you were 15 and also when 35 but the 20 year gap makes the reflection feel almost like time has somehow contracted. Anyway she does seem to be growing up quickly but again children tend to have quite a rapid rate of growth as my arms can testify when she gets tired of walking and wants carrying.

   This she did this afternoon after subtly indicating that she wanted to go out by putting her wellies on, pointing at her coat and standing by the front door. After waiting for the rain to ease off I took her out believing some fresh air and a run in the park was what she was after. We managed to walk around the corner before she started to cry, wanting to picked up which I complied with thinking it for the best by the road side and thought to put her back down in the park. Once in the park she did not want putting down and pointed back at the gates to leave. Our short lived excursion was over with only a small detour to the shop for some wine and a magazine for Bethany before we went back home.

   Speaking of which - time for a top up: Later.

Thrale balsa hymn

I keep getting sidetracked with one thing or another and with the developing news stories at the moment giving the lie to the summer being a quiet news season that is proving harder to stay focused than normal. I hoped to use this blog to chart Bethany's development amongst other things and, naturally enough, I found myself commenting on other things which is why I tried setting up other blogs to demarcate various topics but time constraints meant that it was unfeasible to continue like this and I no longer blog solely on here as often as I used to with overtime and Twitter bleeding into the quotidian household stuff.

   The upshot of this is that after noting something that I deem worth mention on here it may be a few days before I get around to posting anything by which time I have forgotten what it was I intended to write. Shifts ensure that I don't set aside a specific time in the evening when I type up the days occurrences and such a system is not always practical as e.g. Bethany may need something, I don't make notes of anything as it does not seem that important and to be honest I may have forgotten the incident by the evening anyway.

   In the back of my mind I know there was something that Bethany did that I thought deserved mention but all I can recall was of her playing outside last night with us and Helen who came round for tea. She was particularly pleased with herself whenever she kicked a ball off the decking and came to me for a high five. This was something I had jokingly shown her the week before but had not repeated it since so was quite surprised that she had remembered it. Her memory is certainly better than mine appears to be as she demonstrated on a couple of occasions earlier in the day. At my parents she was running around one of my dad's many sheds when she patted a tree stump as she circled which my dad informed had been the game she played a few weeks ago. She also outsmarted my mam who double backed to catch her coming round but Bethany had done the same and surprised my mother by coming up behind her.

   She also went to their midi hifi and opened it up remembering where the eject button was. After rejecting a number of CDs to play she picked the one that had been in there in the first place (without knowing what it was) and went to press the play button demonstrating a greater knowledge of the CD player than my father who was less sure as to the button's location.

   As is the way of things I will no doubt remember whatever incident I intended to report in a couple of hours, but Bethany will be back from nursery, I'll be trying to get ready for work and events in Libya will most likely be coming to a conclusion making anything else redundant as the news again interferes.

Ha, ran sly meth lab

Time constraints have meant that I have been a bit tardy of late on this blog and as such certain things I may have intended to write may not be quite so current but instead afford for some reflection after things have died down. Specifically the recent riots have seen plenty of column inches and items on news programmes filled with enough conjecture as to the reasons behind the disturbances but without any definitive answers. Now, in the aftermath, the human cost of those affected becomes more palpable as the reporting dies down a little but people are left to pick up the pieces of the damage caused whilst in an attempt to appear to act tough, but in reality making up for being slow to react, politicians seem to be making examples of those found guilty.

    Whilst not seeking to condone the actions of those involved, some of the sentences that have been passed have been completely disproportionate to the crimes committed. In particular the two men given 4 year sentences for incitement after posting on Facebook encouraging people to meet and start a riot. Whilst they are idiots and the fact that nobody followed their advice should give some clue as to how dangerous they actually are making the punishment an example. They themselves were not prosecuted for causing any harm or damage and the freedom of speech, no matter how unpleasant, must take precedence in a civil rights issue.If we don't let people say things we don't like then you stifle debate and the really dangerous types go underground. As it stands the likes of Nick Griffin and the EDL can say their ridiculous things and we can point and laugh at them.

  Similarly harsh is the case of a man given 16 months for helping himself to some donuts in the melee, which is all well and good as a symbol of not standing for the riots but where were the similar stands against bankers and MPs who were equally guilty of institutionalised criminality and it will be interesting to see the sorts of sentences that get handed down to journalists guilty of phone hacking. Talk of withdrawing benefits of those found guilty also acts as a double punishment and assumes that all guilty parties are on benefits. This was not the case and this would mean that poorer people would then be dealt worse than someone not relying on benefits. Aside from that if you withdraw housing and money from people already struggling and in desperate straits then you are only going to exacerbate tensions by making them worse off.

   One thing that it has done is kick into touch the idea amongst the few that we were somehow different and more refined than other nations. News of atrocities in foreign civil wars are easily brushed aside as being so far away as not to be any concern of ours and that they can not be as civilized as us. Whilst the riots were in no way comparable to tribal warfare it does lift a lid on the human psyche and what perfectly civilized people are capable of when caught up in the moment.

   On a lighter note the England cricket team are now rated number 1 in the world (actually the best of just over half a dozen teams) and the realization that they are actually quite good. It does not seem so long ago that Jimmy Anderson was only good for carrying the drinks out on tour and is now ranked behind Dale Steyn in the fast bowler stakes. I still think there is room for improvement as Eoin Morgan has yet to convince at 6 with my preference still being for someone who can bowl to take the pressure of the 4 man attack. Granted he got a century in his last innings but he was lucky to be dropped a couple of times and he was facing a demoralized Indian attack at the time. Ironically the man most likely to replace him and who fits my bowl a few overs bill would be Ravi Bopara who failed in the same innings.

Harm by Thanes

So then Part II and all that of holiday goings on. I'll try and keep things short and sweet as it's Saturday night and I can at least pretend that I have better things to do. The pluses and minuses of the holiday can easily be categorized by whether or not Bethany enjoyed the experience for convenience sake with a third category of partial enjoyment which may safely be assumed that if we are relying on our daughter to judge probably means that we were not overly impressed. The first excursion involved going to Thrigby Hall which we thought would be a winner with the zoo knowing how much Bethany enjoys interacting with all animals. We and her were not disappointed with the crocodiles / alligators and big cats providing especial wonder for Bethany but we still felt slightly uncomfortable seeing such magnificent beasts in captivity.

The broads were a popular destination with an initial trip to Potter Heigham followed by my rekindling of old memories by venturing to Wroxham where as a student we had been to before and had hired a boat from to cruise the broads. Twenty years later and I did not recognize the place but the presence of Roy on the front of every other shop told me that I was in the right place place and that his grip on the local retail market was as strong as ever. Two further trips did nothing to rekindle old memories as we went back to take a boat cruise which Bethany (and therefore us) enjoyed and also the following day to take a trip on the narrow gauge railway that runs between Wroxham and Aylsham.

   This latter train journey can be filed in the fail column as we had called in the previous day before we got on the boat and realized that we did not have time for both so picked the water option as it was getting late and the last boat journey was the only 1 hour trip of the day which we thought best so as not to have Bethany confined for so long but found out that the train journey was 45 minutes. Once we were on the train overhearing a family behind us we soon discovered that it was 45 minutes each way. Added to that most of the scenery consisted of hedgerows and given the timescale we were obliged to have lunch at the cafe at Aylsham station in the half hour wait for the return journey after having already spent twice as much on tickets as we had for the boat (I was already mildly irked by having my vouchers declined as I had remembered them too late and he had rung it through the till but before I had paid). Too make matters worse Bethany was due a sleep after her lunch, being tired and howled for about 5 solid minutes (it felt much longer but that is probably more accurate) before she finally went to sleep causing us to apologize to the rest of the carriage. The other passengers were fine but I could definitely detect the smiles on one older couple who started admiring Bethany become more rigid as they tried to sympathise as she screamed her way through Norfolk. This relaxed once more when she did fall asleep and another couple also became friendlier as they told us not to worry in response to our apology saying that they had been there themselves.

   The added bonus of these trips to the broads was finding some nice country pubs for lunch on the way which were always welcoming with good food and real ale. In the case of our last full day it proved to be the highlight of the day after the morning train journey and a trip to Norwich after lunch. The pub on the road between Wroxham and Norwich even had a guitarist and another customer who came in after us got up and sang along. This separated my second slice of nostalgia with the trip to Norwich but we only looked around the city centre where we grabbed a few souvenirs as presents and aimlessly wandered without any real purpose. Alison did comment that a pub we passed on the way in looks nice only for me to recognize "The Artichoke" as a pub I had frequented a few times as a student as friends lived nearby but remembered as not the best in the city and not unknown for drug deals to take place therein. It may well have improved since then but it would not have been my first choice had we called in for a drink anywhere.

   Another mixed bag was Fritton Park which the tourist brochure led us to believe contained a farm as well as children's adventure park and soft play area. There was no farm but a pony riding area and duck decoy which Bethany again was happy to say hello to as well as the soft play area which she played in for a while as well as a go on the slide. However we walked around the rest of the estate which was fine enough but there was not quite enough for children of Bethany's age to do. She certainly was too young for golf and we did not relish going on the boating lake with her but looked forward to utilizing our free carousel ride vouchers that we were given on the way in. There was a queue for the carousel when we arrived so thought to have a go after walking round. When we got back to the starting point near the carousel it was running so again we decided to check out the ponies behind it, but by the time we came back it had shut for half an hour so just left.

   So as to actually feel seasideish we did do the usual holiday stuff in Great Yarmouth on a couple of occasions (amusements, walk down the piers) and took the local car train as well as calling back in after the boat to check out the nightlife on the pier as Alison wished to size up the entertainment which turned out to be non existent. The following night we could have seen Cannon and Ball had we so wished but for that evening, nada. Still it was better than being at work.

The marsh banally

We're back from our week long holiday, tired and not so hungry anymore after nipping out to the nearest gastropub. Whilst the weather was warm it was disappointing that the sun cream remained unopened and we spent the grand total of about half an hour on the beach at Great Yarmouth with a handful of other hardy souls who at least prepared better with a windbreaker or in one case flew a kite. We made the token gesture of tipping our toes in the sea and built a few sandcastles with Bethany before going for lunch.

   The campsite itself left us a little underwhelmed, not that there was anything wrong with it, only it was a lot larger than the John Fowler site in Ilfracombe we were at last year and it felt slightly impersonal. A number of other factors may have contributed to this as well as the Entertainment team not being able to spend as much time with the customers and Alison did point out that it was peak season so there were more school age children there as opposed to toddlers and pre teens who outnumbered teenagers in Ilfracombe. The "Showbar" was also dark and loud which Bethany found discomfiting and did not dance along as she had previously. The other bar contained the restaurant and TVs and tended to be a mix of teenagers playing on the pool tables and the parents relaxing having shook them off for a moment. That's not to say that there were no other toddlers only each family unit was busy doing there own thing with one eye on their own kids all the time.

   Ironically the last night we went for a meal in a nearby pub we had noticed and got on well with another family who had two young boys, the elder (2.5ish) of whom spent most of the night running around the pub with Bethany. After chasing each other all night he also guarded from going outside to the smoking area as she had taken off her shoes and when his mother called him to come back as they were going she mentioned about  not letting her outside and he led her back holding hands. He even gave her a goodbye kiss much to all our amusement and jokes of a holiday romance making it quite a pleasant night spoilt only by my gammon being burned to a crisp.

   That evening felt more relaxed being out of the camp environment which did give that surreal prison feel at times not mitigated by it being a forest based site but yet stuck in the middle of a housing estate and having to show our passes to get back in after 6pm. This early curfew almost made me feel guilty about going out for the day which may have been the idea.

    I may save the joys of trips out for another day as it is getting on and I just want to sit down and vegetate / fall asleep on the couch.

Than by hall smear

The packing is almost done, the satnav ready with directions printed off to sneer at the satnav and sandwiches made for the journey. According to the map directions the journey time to Great Yarmouth is 5 hours which seems rather excessive as I'm sure it took me about 3 and a half to Norwich and it's only about 30 minutes further. Still that was nearly 20 years ago and there may well be more tractors about when I hit East Anglia.

   Further preparations have also seen me being dragged into the 21st century and get a smartphone on contract. Having only ever had hand me down pay as you go phones "in case of emergency" I thought it time to bite the bullet as there was a good offer on tying in with our landline. The wife was so impressed that she wanted one as well and seemed pleased when I told her I could have 3 accounts. Sure enough a couple of days later we walked out of the Virgin store with his and hers Blackberrys and after charging Alison's overnight she was piqued to discover hers not working. Wanting Bethany and myself out of the way whilst she awaited the hairdresser I walked into town and addressed the problem back at the store. I had noticed that the SIM card appeared to be damaged and they agreed but said that I had to phone the helpline in order to get a new one sent out. Leaving the store slightly bemused I called them on my phone but we seemed to confuse each other and it appeared to be a massive problem that I could not give her the phone number as the SIM card was faulty.

   The result was that I had one hand tied up on the phone whilst trying to take the SIM card out of Alison's phone with the other hand, dodging the showers in the entrance to the shopping mall whilst Bethany was starting to get fractious as we had not moved for a while and I was struggling to understand the woman on the other end of the phone due to a combination of a poor reception and a strong South African accent. We agreed that it was best if I ring back on the landline when I got home as I could not read my phone number to her at the same time as talking to her as the phone was new to me and she said that she would register the fault with the technical department with whom, it seemed to me, she wanted to transfer me to.

   When I did call later on I gave them the code number on the SIM card and after a few personal details they said they would send a new one out. Simple as that but, unfortunately for Alison, it is due to arrive after we have left.

   Frustrated by that encounter with a phone company I set out for another as Alison wanted to keep her old number meaning that she had to ask her current provider for a PAC number that could then be passed to Virgin. Seeing the Vodafone store over the road I thought to call in, get the number and when I called Virgin to re-report the fault give them the number - two birds and all that. Sure enough the store is nothing more than a 3D catalogue and was told that I would have to phone up for the number making me wonder what the point of the stores are.

   As Alison did not have enough credit on her phone I called from my Vodafone pay as you go to use up the credit hoping it did not confuse them. Again simply enough they said they would text the PAC number to Alison's phone and it should be about 30 minutes. After waiting longer I could not put off the call to Virgin any more and we are still waiting for the text the following day. Something to sort out when we return as there is little to do without the SIM card anyway.

   To cap it all Alison's hairdresser did not turn up. Christ I'm looking forward to this holiday.

Shan't rely lab ham

One of those regrettably ever rarer moments of good sportsmanship yesterday after MS Dhoni withdrew India's appeal against Ian Bell's wicket over tea after he was controversially run out from the last ball before the break. Bell was foolish to presume that the ball had gone for 4 and therefore dead as he prematurely walked off for the tea interval but it felt cynical and opportunistic to remove the bails as he did so. Hopefully the 22 extra rums he scored in the evening session before being dismissed do not make much difference to the result of the match.

   Further proof that I am not cut out for the world of business comes from the Twitter account that I set up to promote the Design a Rhyme website. Thinking that I would use it to advertise my wares as it were I've let myself down by not pushing it either. Looking at other accounts to see others with 1000 followers but following the same number just to boost their presumed popularity I then realise that I should be trying this tactic as I'm not trying to win friends but to make more people aware of my website. I've slowly started to increase the number of people I follow but again in no targeted way as it feels rude to follow someone I have no particular interest in and so follow similarly minded people who appear more literate and funnier than I am and would therefore be more than capable of composing their own poems should they so wish. To pester others would feel like spamming and I would not like to receive it myself so refuse to do so.

   I keep telling myself that as it's only a hobby and not receiving any orders is no biggie but after a couple of months of web silence it would be nice to receive another commission if only to keep my hand in.