I seem to be suffering from GOMS (Grumpy Old Man's Syndrome). Things that years ago wouldn't bother me now annoy me intensely. Things like.
People that use the word "like" in every sentence.
Eastenders
Buses that are cancelled without any warning
Adverts from betting companies telling us to gamble responsibly
The One Show
Facilities not matching development
People who seem to have no other topic of conversation than talking about their illnesses.
Giggling teenagers
We used to have four buses an hour go through our village. This got chopped to two an hour after the relaxation of COVID restrictions. Today we sat like a couple of lemons at the bus stop for over 45 minutes waiting for a bus that obviously got cancelled. Good job it was warm. I try to get the bus into Norwich whenever possible, preferring to cut pollution down by not taking the car. But to continue with that we need a bus service that does what it says on the tin i.e provide an efficient service.
There was some ugly rubbish in the bus shelter. Somebody had obviously bought a takeaway and just dumped the remains they didn't want in the shelter.
As for gambling adverts - well they suck (as Americans would say). I enjoy a small flutter but these adverts pretend that what they are doing is providing an exciting service. There's only one person getting rich from betting and it's not you. But they pretend to be caring and considerate. You'll know the phrase. "When the fun stops, stop." Then there's "please bet responsibly" and many more. Now if we all stopped and betted responsibly these companies would be much poorer. Do they really want us to bet responsibly and do they really want us to stop at any point? I think not. They trot out the rubbish in order to tick the "we are responsible people box." The real problem I have is that many of the people promoting these sites are retired sportsmen who have friends who have fought gambling addiction. But I guess the money they are offered for promoting betting companies hugely outweighs any social conscience they may have.
So what things make you suffer from GOMS or GOWS (Grumpy Old Women's Syndrome)?
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I can't say I was greatly dismayed or disappointed with the news that Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Lowestoft have failed in their bid to become the UK city or area of culture.
I love all three for different reasons (Great Yarmouth because my Ancestors lived there and I still love the place), Gorleston because I used to stay there when I was young and Lowestoft because that's where I had my first job. But no, I really couldn't envisage the trio being anything to do with culture.
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The new Sky Glass systems look intriguing. It's Sky television without the need for a satellite dish. The idea is no dish, no set-top box with everything being streamed to your television via Wi-Fi. The only thing that makes me dubious about this is what happens if your wi-fi goes down?
Over the years we have had considerable problems with our wi-fi connection, although much of this was due to BT Openreach. When we had Talk Talk internet it seemed to drop out more often than stay in. When we kicked Talk Talk into touch and went with Sky for our Broadband things improved remarkably and we haven't had any outage for some considerable while but it's always in the back of my mind. Mind you Sky Glass does sound well worth investigating.
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Today is my birthday but there won't be much celebrating as my other threequarters is going into hospital for a day procedure on Tuesday and so we have to isolate from tomorrow morning. Having recently come out of 11 days of COVID enforced isolation I'm getting used to being Billy No Mates.
Three days of being confined to home will give me the chance to paint the summer house, finish off a magazine for Norfolk Family History Society, prepare the next Hethersett Herald and do some more work on my book on Le Paradis Massacre which is now about half finished.
I certainly won't be idle or get bored.