Tue 1: I tried watching BBC3's launch night, as I did 19 years ago, but this time I didn't make it past the first hour. Wed 2: They let me into Tate Modern without a timed ticket (because Wednesday mornings are quiet) but still insisted I picked one up from the information desk, despite the fact I'd already passed the only point at which tickets were checked. It was good to see some fresh art on the walls (and also much of the same old). Thu 3: I'm quite excited that interest rates have doubled because my additional savings income might almost be enough to pay for a day's heating. Fri 4: I always like to watch an Olympic opening ceremony for the sense of global togetherness, but I'm not convinced that one was worth hurrying home for. Sat 5: It's retirement day for one of my longstanding pairs of jeans which has passed from "slight hole" to "nobody'll spot that" to "I'd better never wear these outside the house again". Sun 6: I've lived for 81% of the Queen's reign, and she's ruled for 73% of her life. Mon 7: When you're walking through the Woolwich Foot Tunnel and nobody else is around, the last thing you want to see accelerating towards you is a moped. I suspect a restaurant needs to restrict its delivery zone to one side of the river.
Tue 8: After lightening the shade of the blog's template on Sunday, and nobody noticing, today I switched it back (for jarring legacy reasons) and again nobody said they noticed. Wed 9: I took three monthsworth of recycling out onto the pavement (in three bags). We Bow Road residents have to do this at very specific times, and I always worry the bags'll be ignored or thrown in with general rubbish and all my green efforts will have been wasted. Thankfully they were gone by the time I got back from the shops so my conscience rests easy. Thu 10: I thought I was expecting a visitor so I tidied up a bit and made sure I had the right biscuits this time. But they never came, indeed they were probably never intending to, which does at least mean I get to eat the entire pack. Fri 11: My phone rang and it was BestMate on Highway 101 in California wanting some up-to-date travel advice, so I checked my go-to sources and we came to the conclusion his satnav had an aversion to bridges. Sat 12: That doesn't happen very often any more. It made me feel ten years younger (and wish I was). Sun 13: I spotted some on-trend youth performing for a camera on a street corner in Fish Island, watched by a rapt and adoring posse, and were I more on-trend myself I might have some idea which channel the video'll appear on.
Mon 14: In sad news, Jess the missing black and white Albert Square cat won't be coming home. At least her microchip provided some closure. Tue 15: Exactly ten years ago I appealed for a proof reader to check what I'd written, first thing every morning, so I could update any glaring grammatical or spelling errors on the blog before breakfast. One of you kindly emailed in and, ten years later, is still performing this invaluable task on a daily basis. I sent copious anniversary thanks by email - the embarrassment you've saved me from! - and today want to reiterate those thanks in public. In a Schrodinger-style twist, I only discover what her cat's been doing on days when I make an error. Wed 16: I realised the library probably wouldn't allow me to renew Richard Osman's first whodunnit so I hurried up and finished it. It was more complex than I was expecting, and I think more satisfying, and nicely topped off with humorous observations. Thu 17: Ever since it was announced that face coverings would be mandatory I wondered how many days it would take for a public body to offer me a free one, and the answer was 583. My thanks to the Tower Hamlets team unloading stock on the street in Bethnal Green. Fri 18: Went out for a walk after Eunice had blown through and the debris was mostly broken branches (although later I'd discover half a dozen trees in Victoria Park weren't so fortunate, and many of the back fences in Beckton couldn't withstand the storm either). Sat 19: In my letterbox this morning is yet another plea from English Heritage hoping I'll renew the membership I took out for a single year in 2018, and now I worry how much of my annual subscription was blown on postage sending other people reminders. Sun 20: Thanks Dad! Mon 21: Watching a succession of planes taking off from City Airport's runway still gives me a thrill, partly from the sheer physical implausibility of massive objects leaving the ground, but mainly from knowing I don't live next to it.
Tue 22: While I was asleep BT switched off my landline and transferred me to Digital Voice. In the morning I unplugged my phone from the wall and into my Smart Hub, as directed, and hey presto my first digital phone caller rang in the evening. Unfortunately they rang at quarter past 10 and wanted to discuss deep philosophical matters so I totally missed celebrating 22.22 on 22.2.22, and that opportunity will never arise again. Wed 23: My new Santander debit card arrived in the post, and after always being Visa suddenly this year it's Mastercard with a completely different number and it just feels dirty. Thu 24: After two years of Covid restrictions it was great to get three hours of relative normality before Vladimir Putin kickstarted war in Europe. Fri 25: I've managed to extend my Wordle winning streak to 60. I'm also playing the 6-letter version, the 10-letter version, the ×2, ×4, ×8 and ×16 versions, the choral version, the arithmetical version, the world geography version and the local government authority version. Sat 26: I'd forgotten how muddy Epping Forest can be in the winter, even on its tamer fringes. I apologise for looking a bit splattered on the bus afterwards. Sun 27: The sad news has broken that TfL has failed to find a new sponsor for the Dangleway. Apparently absolutely nobody applied, perhaps put off by the £1m pricetag or perhaps because it's a white elephant project past its prime. Unless a potential suitor can be found, expect the Dangleway to be unbranded from the end of June. Mon 28: In numberplate-counting news, I once again tried spotting all the age identifiers in reverse order (from 2021 back to 1963). I started in October with '71', sped back to prefix 'A' (1983) within a fortnight, spent over a month stuck on suffix 'G' (1969) and finally finished yesterday with suffix 'A', one day before the new '22' plates would have invalidated my sequence.
