Author Archives: essiep

Argo

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16ºC,clear.
Film: Argo, tense, but not that tense, likable characters, but not that likable. A film worth seeing but don’t go out of your way, there are other films available.
Despite rather an ill weekend, I have done stuff- the garden table is finished, with dry varnish this morning. On this weekend, with no travelling, my todo list is much shorter. The daytime routine is job then nap, then another job…

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I spent money yesterday, some went on a cordless drill. The old one one is shagged out, though was never great to start with. Now I want to find something to fill with holes. If there are enough holes, might the thing cease to exist?

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Help! I need a mathematician.

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17C, rain later,
Are you a game theorist? If you design a game where you gain points for finding things. The aim is to collect a score but I want to be able to work out the identity of the original finds from the value of the score.
Perhaps, the scores should each be a prime number. Then, somehow adding them up will give values that reveal the identity of the component values.
It could be applied to something like a treasure hunt or maybe, spotting driving offenses.
Today I passed a woman driving while applying nail-varnish. That should get a lower score than applying makeup in the sun-visor mirror.
Anyway, can it be done? The score identification system I mean.
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Posted on my phone.

Lost child.

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17C, windy light cloud.
Queueing in the supermarket we noticed a fat kid noisily climbing over a plastic child’s ride. He grunted, gasped and shouted as he heaved himself over its shiney yellow surface for what seemed like ten minutes. The woman next to me remarked: “you wouldn’t loose that one would you?”.
My answer-
“I’d loose him right away! When he isn’t looking, I would run for it”.
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14,207 calories!

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18C, Easterly, sunny.

Total miles this week is high and I only felt the miles in my legs on steep climbs. These after-work extensions are wonderful. I only remark on them because I will have to scale them back soon as the nights draw in.
weeksRIDE

Look at that- fourteen thousand calories!

Weeford mushrooms.

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11-18C,dry light breeze.

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Most nights after work, I ride the scenic route home. This adds about 2,000 kCals to my daily expenditure. With about 3,000 cal per day, for a chap my size I could work out my consumption of food. My weight stays about the same, so I must eat 5,000 a day. Is that right, have I missed something?

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Dragonflight.

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22C, light W. 1/5 cloud.
CR: 81 miles, 6,044 kCal.
Ideal day for a ride: in the sunshine. Plenty of whiz in my legs and only some work stuff to get back for.
Roads are quieter than normal but still. I have picked routes along lanes. Nearing the St. Harold estate, I rode alongside a dragonfly going in the same direction. We travelled in parallel for a while before she turned hedgeward. If they didn’t have compound eyes, I imagine she would have winked before going off alone.
It was an honour to travel with such a noble creature- they have been around since carboniferous times, if not before.
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Suit of armour at Bosworth battlefield cafe, 2nd stop on the day’s ride.
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Make table.

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22C, sunny.
Today, I made a table. It’s made from a fork-lift pallet and a bed-headboard. So far it has cost nothing. All the wood and fixings I had hoarded already. There is four hours’ work in it so it so far. I had to stop at 7pm because, once hungry, I started making mistakes.
Now, it stands outside unvarnished and unprotected, but the forecast is good for tomorrow.

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The idea is to use it for gardening tasks. It needs to be substantial and weather resistant. To finalise it, I need to add bracing to make it more rigid.
I will have to search out something to brace corners, there should be something in the shed I can use.

Posted by mobile phone.

Get up!

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11C, nice day to come.
Woke early: an unusual cause this time- hunger. Maybe it’s these extended commutes and all those extra calories. The extensions may only be 25-35 miles but they are a bit faster than average at 16-17 mph too. That’s not bad with a work bag on the back and a day’s work done.

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Ride home profile.

You know you’re a teacher when…

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12°C,light NE.
Riding in, on the last leg, I have to pass slow moving traffic. Then there is a BMW weaving slowly. It sweeps slowly to close the passing space by a bollard. Luckily the car moves away again, then I can pass. Typical! She’s on her mobile. Without thinking, I shout-
OI! PUT THAT MOBILE DOWN! ON WONDER YOU CAN’T DRIVE IN A STRAIGHT LINE.
She immediately snatched her mobile off the steering wheel and avoiding eye contact hid the phone like a naughty pupil.

What can be done about this? Increasing the fines has changed nothing. Despair.
Extended the ride home with 25miles. Very nice except the narrow lane where I faced an on-coming tanker lorry. There is no escape, the driver was talking on his mobile. He did stop when I shouted and let me gingerly ease past his Halso tanker that filled the lane from side to side..

A rather shouty day.
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