shouldn't have gone to specsavers

Late Summer or early Autumn?  Today, as I stepped out of the house quite early to wander up to buy a newspaper, I felt quite uplifted and ready to take on the world with some humour.  A beautiful clear sunny sky made me feel that I could walk up to the local Spar in just a T-shirt.  Still, common sense prevailed and I thought, as it's a small town, I should wear a pair of jeans too.

However, £2.20 for a Sunday paper soon wiped the smile off my smug face.  £2.20? Daylight robbery, obviously.  I guess The Observer will have to support their sister paper through the coming months, so I suppose we'll take the brunt*.  I must admit, it's been a long time since I bought a paper so I should have checked.  I hardly read it - it was more about the walk up to the shop - what's that old adage about the journey rather than the destination?

It has been almost exactly a year ago to the day since Mrs Dave and I went foraging for wild food.  We couldn't find any wild cherry plums but it seems that we were lucky last year - a late harvest, perhaps? Still, we collected lots of blackberries and sloes.  The afternoon was taken up making jam and such-like.  We were quite lucky with the harvest from the garden this year, too.  We're still getting loads of tomatoes and runner beans.

Well, lots has happened over the Summer, and there have been lots of changes, too.  Obviously, I now work at an Academy although nothing is really noticeable yet as far as changes go - a few different people about, especially on the management front.  My timetable is half sixth form this year which is good - but across the two sites but that's hardly a problem. there are bigger changes than that to consider.

It would seem that it's been two years since I had my eyes tested, so I went to get that sorted out.  Evidently, Specsavers don't do round glasses as, presumably, "There's no call for them around here."  So I had to get some oblong-type ones which I'm not totally comfortable with.  A friend has pointed out that there's a shop in Ipswich which is "full of round glasses - loads of them!" So I may have to buy yet another pair.  I also bought a pair of  reading glasses for a laugh but now regret.  See the pictures for this post for a hint as to why that may be.

The biggest change, though, is to using an iPhone.  What a wonderful invention!  I'm totally sold.  Not only can I now have "instant text discussions" (and believe me, my previous phone certainly put paid to any such interactions) but I can play with all the apps available - a compass? GPS? Fantastic.  Even better, though, is the Amplitube Fender app - I now have access to a range of Fender amps, effects, a tuner, metronome and all sorts of other devices which can be accessed via headphones or a speaker (such as the kitchen Bose system).  All I have to do is attach a guitar to my iPhone and mess about to my heart's content.  If I'd have got one of these when I was 16, I'd never have come out of my bedroom. Not that I did very often unless it was to go down the pub. It probably wouldn't have made much difference in reality but kids just don't know they're born these days.  I can now dial in a 1960's Fender Princeton amp and get Richard Thompson's tone for the opening solo to Calvary Cross.  Just the tone, though, because I can't play it, obviously. 

Still, now I can stand in my kitchen and do three of my favourite things.  I can drink beer, cook and play guitar all at the same time.  Who said men can't multitask?

* Today's news included a story on how after last weekend's hurricane, the power companies paid over £1 million to stop producing power - but the cost will be passed on to us, gentle readers.