General - More tripping around the North

I have a few hectic days lined up.  Today I’m in Manchester then Preston, Leeds and Bradford on Thursday and then I’m up  to Newcastle on Thursday evening.  I’ll tootle up and across to Glasgow on Friday evening and then make my way back to Epsom on Sunday.  
Oh, I have a quick trip over to Darby on Monday too!!  Jaid and I will take on Ireland and south Wales in September so its all rather exciting.  I’m not exactly jet setting but it beets sitting in an office all day.

I’m travelling between Manchester and Preston at the moment with a gaggle of snotty nosed brats from Bolton.  They’re talking about the olden days and how ancient the mobiles that ver parents ad when they were even more little and possibly abhorrent than they appear to be at the moment.  Oh, those Nokia  5110s and the old MR1.  The memories.  Makes me feel so old though.

Its now even later and I’m on my way to Leeds.  After a nice day yesterday I went to Preston and met my friends new guide dog then went to a few pubs with Phil and Donna, many good pints were slugged and then Donna and I went for a curry which was super.

No rest for the wicked!  More later.

Whisky - Highland Park 1966 Cask 4638 41.5%

This venerable HP was opened with friends in Epsom the evening before the derby It is 37 years old and probably from a bourbon cask.

Nose: aniseed, oak with some tropical fruits.

Pallet: immediate smoke to the front and a lovely honey burst sweetening it up. Fresh and not too old. Oak

Finnish: lingering smokiness, simply lovely.

Comments: this has improved since opening. I have decanted he other half of the bottle in to a 35 ML sample bottle for safe keeping. A little cracker to be opened once more on a special occasion.

Score: 91%

Music = new DT Book and Score Update

The new dream Theater live cd and DVD are out in a few days in the UK so I’m looking forward to them.
I’ve also just received word of a new DT book chronicling the last 20 years of the band.  Check out http://www.dreamtheaterbook.comm for more info.  Riches blog is also worth a look as its full of interesting interviews and quotes.

General - Winchester Wonderings

I went over to Ipswich on Sunday to introduce Jaid and Malone.  I think she was a little none plussed by his play methods as he barks in joyful abandon at the thought of a good romp which is so cool.  He’s a lovely dog and very tall though not as well built as his height would at first make one think.  He’s all leg and tong and neck and happiness.

Clare and I had a smashing takeaway Indian meal from a Bangladeshi restaurant called the  Jorna.  The JALFREZI was especially good and one of the best I have eaten full stop.  ‘These are cooked with diced onion, green and red peppers and green chillies.
A delicious dish which is hot and spicy.’ Though I added some tomatoes to mine.

Yesterdays work was centred around the historic city of Winchester.  True to form the cathedral bells were wringing on my arrival and after a pleasant demo I took a walk through the busy city streets full of bank holiday tourists.  After putting the Trekker through its paces I made my way to the Mash Ton a public house owned by the blind broadcaster and journalist Peter White.

Though a little quiet the spicy beef and chicken fajitas were splendid and the pints of Hogsback and Ringwood beer I slugged were also not too shabby.  We didn’t see Peter but the food and ale more than made up for that.  If you’re in the city go for the  food.  

General - The Last Sunday Afternoon in the Riser

On arriving at the Riser at around 4 in the afternoon I witnessed the wreckage of the night before.  Not physical wreckage but people determined to have a final few beers knowing that really they were in no state to.
The prices of the beers both bottled an cask had dropped by over half in an effort to clear the shelves and this was definitely achieved with the cask offerings.  When these had been depleted we set to with a will on the stronger Belgium and other continental bottled products.

As befitted the sombreness of the occasion a huge thunderstorm broke at around 6 forcing most of the more feeble punters inside the building.  It was rather strange watching fittings and fixtures being loaded on to a van as we drank our last few ales under Dave and Ruth’s management.  

The time of shutting up finally came around and Dave and Ruth made a short speech after which they were both overcome with tears as the 50 or so of us sang the theme song from the TV hit cheers.  Rather than chuck out they basically let us have a free for all at the beers and wines ETC left and I finally staggered home around 10 knowing that I would regret my actions first thing on Monday.  Oh I did pull a pint or at least attempt the poring of one behind the bar before I was removed.

So what of the Riser now.  Well I’ll give Young’s a chance.  They are still going to let us have dogs in the pub, keep it none smoking and have some good ales on tap though mainly from the young’s stable.  They have also mentioned Thatcher’s cider and one or two continental beers .

What of Dave and Ruth?  I’m unsure at the moment, plans are being whispered around Epsom and if I have anymore information I’ll print it on the blog.

Beer - Town's new brewery has big ideas

From the East Anglian Daily Times

'The seven-vessel plant is the brainchild of Frank Walsh, a Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) member, science graduate Colleen Seymour and master brewer Andy Harvey. The original idea, which has been in the pipeline since December, was for the trio to produce enough beer for their own consumption at the 19th Century redundant building, owned by Mr Walsh. But with the closure of the Tolly Cobbold brewery after 279 years and with pubs crying out for locally-produced ales, they realised there was a gap in the market. “We have had quite a lot of interest in it so far”, Miss Seymour said. “We will brew our own recipe beers and the plan is to have a blueberry beer, which will be a fruitier beer. Because it will come out blue and will be the only blue beer in the town we are trying to get Ipswich Town Football Club interested.” The plant will be able to produce up to 125 barrels a week as well as the sale of bottles.

Named after St Jude, the patron saint of workers and one of the 12 apostles, the plan is for the brewery to produce six ales to start with followed by another six later in the year. They hope the first will be ready for the Ipswich Beer Festival at the end of September.'

'Miss Seymour explained her own interest in brewing comes from the fact that women were originally the first brewers, know as brewsters, as well as her knowledge of chemistry. “Females used to collect local ingredients from the land to brew ale at different strengths for the whole family,” she said. “The water wasn't safe enough to drink so everyone would have ale as their main source of nutrition. It is packed full of vitamins and fibre from the natural ingredients
used in the recipe.”'

General - Weekend Plans

Well I’m still in Epsom.  After demos yesterday I couldn’t bring myself to go over to Ipswich as one of my eyes was really giving me some jip.  I’ve slept since 6 or so last night and have only just woken up apart from a half hour when I fed the dog ETC.

I’ll give Robin a call today and find out if he’s still up for the Metallica tribute, if not I’ll wait and go over on Sunday.  I’m actually working on our bank holiday as I( booked a demo in by mistake but I’ll be able to take the day off later so that’s worked out rather nice for the move in November.

I’m off to get some breakfast.

Cream Crackers - Waitrose Food Illustrated

I’m jus enjoying a supper or maybe even early breakfast of Cheshire cheese pickled onions and cream crackers.

I don’t remember them for the reasons given below, but for trying to eat as many in a minute as I could as a kid. Daft really.
‘while guests tucked into something creatively constructed out of
artificial cream and glace cherries, a rustling could be heard behind the scenes.
For there was one other ingredient that no self-respecting chiffon-clad hostess could
do without: the Jacob's Cream Cracker.
Jacob's crackers were to the cheeseboard what Peters was to Lee. And the familiar
orange packet was as common at formal dinner occasions as the prawn cocktail and
talk of David Essex's chest hair. By the end of a successful evening of entertaining
there was not a moist mouth left in the house. At the height of their popularity
they were the UK's top cracker, commanding a 50 per cent share of the market. The
brand has proved such a hit with the British public that it's packaging has remained
virtually unchanged for more than a century.
But why - when the French have always done it with a crusty baguette, the Greeks
with nuts, and the Italians prefer it solo - do we have our cheese with a square
of dry, hard wafer? One possibility is that our passion for the cracker stems from
the days of Victorian restraint, when spicy foods were commonly believed to lead
you to the heights of depravity. Evidently, tastelessness was next to godliness.
Combine a bit of feisty Cheddar and pickle with something bland and you staunch the
swelling tide of immorality, perhaps?’

Whisky - Aberlour A'bunadh Batch16 59%

A'bunadh is Aberlours cask strength offering.  Vatted slightly differently each batch it uses first and second fill sherry casks and is meant to represent the malts of old.  The whiskeys are generally between 8 and 14 years of age.

Nose:  Mint toffee, raisin Demerara sugar.  With water black current emerges.

Pallet:  at full strength smoother than expected  with praline and sharp orange, chewable clawing and oily.  Adding water brings out some oak and the mint I love so much in standard Aberlour 10.

Finnish:  warming and a little bitter but long and rich.  Bitter in a nice way.

Comment:  Aberlour is up with the top draw sherried malts like Glenfarclas.  This isn’t as good as the latest Glenfarclas 105 or 15 but one hell of a lovely whisky.  I will put new notes for the 105 and 15 on these pages over the coming months and explain how and why they have changed.  One to drink on a cold day or with an after dinner coffee and dark chocolate.

Score: 89%

London Underground Tube Diary - Going Underground's Blog

This is the fab going underground blog all about the, um well, London Underground. Take a look.

Whisky - Waitrose 1981 21YO spayside port matured 40%

Supermarket malts are normally a bit of a hit and miss thing but this whisky matured exclusively in port pipes is a little star and more than worth its silly low price.

Nose:  Prickle at full strength, lots of fruits.  Opens up in to a burned Christmas pudding smell in time.

Pallet:  Succulent with the port coming through, a little hotter than expected.

Finnish: chillies, custard.

Score: 81 would score more because of the price and curiosity as whisky is normally matured in sherry or bourbon casks

Comment:  very interesting and rather nice with Christmas cake.  I’m just not getting it tonight.  This whisky is now a 23 year old version from the same 1981 vintage.  The people on whisky forums think this is Glenfarclas.

Music - Day of the Lone Woolf

The latest Astrid Williamson album ‘day of the loan woolf’ has been in my cd player for the last few weeks.  I didn’t much listen to it when first purchased but it really has grown on me.  

Astrid was strutting her stuff in the mid 1990s with the brit pop band Goya Dress) and has released 3 solo albums since they broke up.  I’ve purchased all 3 of them this being the latest and this Shetland singer/song righter is intriguing

The Guardian got it spot on with the tone of this cd. Its full of ‘brave and powerful confessionals of a lonely sexual
predator.’  From Tori Amos like piano with more guitars to pop and then radiohead  influences this album is a grown up cracker with a nice production.  From slow tracks to upbeat pop songs and lush instrumental soundscapes this disc has it all.    Her voice reminds me a little of a none country and less harsh version of Maria McKee but maybe a little lighter also.

Check out her myspace page.

Technology - Nuance Ships ScanSoft OmniPage Capture SDK 15, World's Leading Scanning, OCR and PDF Developer Toolkit

Lets hope some of these features make it in to the next Kurzweil 1000 version.

'OmniPage Capture SDK 15 delivers accuracy levels that can reach over 99 percent
for OCR, an increase of up to 36 percent over the previous version and a performance
that is up to 50 percent better than alternatives. Customers also benefit from the
built-in support for dual-core, hyper-threading and multi-CPU systems, which deliver
speed improvements of up to 32 percent. Application development has been greatly
simplified through the delivery of high-level function calls and support for C, C++,
COM, VB.NET and C# programming environments, as well as pre-made end user interfaces
that now include the OmniPage Workflow Assistant. The new release also includes features
not available from any other imaging SDK, including Logical Forms Recognition(TM)
and Form Template Editor, which simplify developing forms processing applications;
RealSpeak(TM) Text-to-Speech for converting documents into audio files; and robust
support for PDF, including new PDF/A and highly compressed PDF-MRC formats.'

General - Home Malone

I have 3 Trekker demos around London today and Friday then I’m off to have a word in malones ere.  I’ve pencilled in a gig in the Ipswich Railway too for Saturday night.  It’s a metallica cover band called ‘Sad But True’

Its been cold and rainy over the last two weeks in Epsom.  Is this really the end of our summer?  I’ll tell you what it appears to have just flashed by.  I’m rather sad about this really, its like returning from holiday, you know the feeling, you have just arrived home and reality is setting in?

This summer has been one to remember.  Yes I’ve had too much bbq and junk to eat, I may even have had too much to drink but this is my last summer in Epsom and I have been making the most of it with friends.  I can’t wait to move to Ipswich now even though I will be very sad to leave everyone behind in Epsom.  With the climate turning cooler I feel its time for a new start in another town.  Things are changing in Epsom.  One of my best friends is moving away, the riser always the heart of this community is changing, but more on this later and my rent has gone up by £50 a month this year.

I think we will have more warm barmy days and I hope they come along soon.

General - passenger focus Blog

The railway watchdog passenger focus have a smashing blog written by a number of rail users from around the UK.  Ok, maybe a little sad but I use the train most days for work so this stuff is important to me, and in case you didn’t know passenger Focus ‘are :an independent public body set up by the Government to protect the interests of Britain's rail passengers. We are funded by the Department for Transport but our independence is guaranteed by an act of Parliament. Our mission is to get the best deal for Britain's rail passengers. With a strong emphasis on evidence-based campaigning and research, we ensure that we know what is happening on the ground. We use our knowledge to influence decisions on behalf of rail passengers and we work with the rail industry, other passenger groups and government to secure journey improvements.

Whisky - Glendronach 1990/2003 DT 46%

Glendronach distillery is now owned by Pernod-Ricard of France and a core malt of the Teachers blend.  I really like this distillery and its whiskeys.  Who knows what will happen to the distillery now they are part of a large group with many distilleries, there is talk of someone attempting to buy it and I for one hope this happens.

Nose: butterscotch, toffee with a few drops of water a little varnish.

Pallet:  macaroons, a little coconut and definite but gentle Smokey toffee.

Finnish:  harsher than expected from the age but gingery and sweet.

Score:  85

Comment:  nice, I love the toffee notes maybe coming from a bourbon cask?  Duncan Taylor recover some face after the poor Macallan I had the other day.

Beer - Tesco Gem

Praske Pivovar Vratislav Lager (Tesco)
This Czech beer can be purchased from Tesco for a quid a bottle.  It’s a little sweeter than Budvar and not as well formed but it still has a nice hoppy byte in the pilzna style and beets the vast majority of uk and brewed in the UK fiz.
If you’re on a budget it’s a nice drop to go for if you can’t find cans of Budvar and would hit the spot with outdoor eating.  Oh and its imported to the UK so a proper Czech product.

General - Political Correctness Gone Mad

These two stories on annanova snatched my attention the other day.  Its just symbolic of political correctness gone crackers.

According to the first story council workers in Newcastle are no longer able to use local terms when addressing customers over the phone or in person.  Those poor Geordies.

‘According to The Sun one employee said: "It's like they are trying to kill the Geordie
language. We are scared to talk to anyone now."
Tory Euro MP for the North East Martin Callanan said: "These are traditional North
East terms of affection. I can't believe anyone would be offended by them.’’

A Norfolk council is banning long service awards in case they are perceived as ageist.  This is barking!

‘Local Age Concern worker Luis Santos added: "This is totally outrageous - absolute
madness. If a person is 60 or 70 and going to get an accolade they wouldn't see it as being branded old. "It is very good for people when their contribution and achievements are recognised.’

Whisky - Ben Nevis 10 year OB 46$

This Ben Nevis uses a mix of sherry and bourbon casks and is far from a standard dram with marked flavours generally of chocolate evident.  The distillery is under Japanese ownership and is a pet favourite of mine.  According to Colin Ross the distillery manager they don’t use any artificial colouring these days though the whisky is lightly chill-filtered.

Nose:  White chocolate ‘’cigar box and a waft of bourbon lime skins.

Pallet: lovely bitter chocolate and sweet tobacco, vanilla and  a little orange.  

Finnish:  bitter coffee coco and a waft of smoke.  Robust.

Comments:  I’ve loved this particular malt for a few years now and am one of the few people I know that get in to it.  Its a rather heavy spirit and not the smoothest around but its taste captivates me and its individual in the same way in which Ardbeg or Pultany has its markers.  A special malt for an autumnal evening I can’t bring myself to slip in some water.

Score:  85$

General - Congratulations

Congratulations are in order.

Firstly Seann has got married to his long standing Girl-Friend Isabel in a quiet ceremony in Goldthorpe. It was sad I wasn’t there but they just wanted something quiet and intimate and I completely respect that and under stand after Ewans illness over the recent months. I guess they’ll want to have a wedding gift, but what to buy?

Also Clare is now training with her Guide dog Malone so Jaid will have someone to snuffle and play with when I move up to Ipswich in November.

I plan on taking it easy today, just mundane stuff like heading down to the shops for dogfood and milk. I’ll probably have a dram tonight to celebrate Seann and Isabel’s nuptials.

Music - Pink Floyd The division bell

Probably because of the MOTR ‘momentary laps of reason’ many of the bands fans had largely written off the post Roger Waters Floyd until this true return to form was released in 1994.

With division between people as its theme the album weaves beautiful melodies and spellbinding guitar work from David Gilmore to tell its tales of loss reconciliation and hopes for the future.  I must admit to be bias towards this particular album for reasons I wont divulge on this page.  It took me two or so years after this album was purchased in 1994 before I went in to the back catalogue of PF but I have a good few cds in my collection now.  Lets just say this would be one of my top 10 albums of all time.

‘cluster 1’ is the lead off track an instrumental with a rumbling which rises in to a piano and synth dominated passage which uses guitar licks and some clever but subtle drum work to soothe the listener.  The building organ is enough to shake the base cones of your speakers and this is a much under rated instrumental piece.  The track rather cleverly Leeds in to ‘What do you want from me’ probably the most aggressive piece on the album with Gilmore spitting out  his words of alienation.  This track also benefits from much   funk jazzy doodling from Richard Wright on the keyboards and the female backing singers ad texture to the conversation within the lyrics.

Track 3 is one of my favourites.  ‘Polls Apart’  is once again set on themes of division between people and the ever present acoustic guitar gives subtle texture to the verses until the  surreal instrumental which eschews them in favour of sound effects and strange dreamy strings, its all rather trippy actually.  We do get the first tones of the church bell which we here once more near the end of the cd.  Listen to the large vehicle drive across your speakers too.

‘Marooned’ is a showcase for the fretwork of Mr Gilmore and actually won a Grammy in the US.  Its rather good but I would sooner the first instrumental any day.

‘A Great day for Freedom’ appears to have the burl in walls destruction as its theme but could equally refer to the rift between the band members and the paring of the ways of Roger Waters.  It’s a piano dominated song with a heartfelt vocal that is in fact rather sombre and frankly beautiful.

‘We then come to Wearing the inside out’ which is probably just a tad too long and has sent me to sleep on occasion.  That’s not to say it isn’t good but its themes of depression and the dialogue between two people just don’t work for me.  This could be because David Gilmore hands over most vocal duties to Richard Wright and he is really not the same calibre of singer as David.

‘Take it back’ appears to tell the story of a relationship between a man and woman gone up the creak.  It starts off with much U2 style guitar work before exploding in to a rather catchy rocker which wakens one up after the initial quieter numbers.  Many like this track but I find it a little generic and listening back to it I don’t like it as much as I once did.

‘Coming back to life’ is probably my favourite track on the album and will sound fantastic on any well setup hifi.  Gilmore makes the guitar sing through out and after starting with a quiet passage of keyboards and guitar the band kick in to this powerful stomper.  The vocal is probably one of my favourites on the album and I can really relate to the subject matter of the song, just turn this one up and sit back.

‘keep talking’ is probably the most well known song on the disc and features the Dectalk Speech synthesiser uttering lines that would later be used in a BT advert.  This track about the breaking down of communication was played rather to often on the radio on he albums release in 1994.

‘Lost for words’ is for me the weakest track on the album with a riff almost stolen from ‘wish you were here’.  It does use the F word in an extremely natural way which I rather admire because it is just so in place once more sounds are used rather well within this track.

‘High Hopes’ ends this masterpiece on an optimistic note and is really Gilmore looking back on his life and then on in to the future.  The chiming of church bells start this track before the single tone of the division bell calls throughout the rest of the song.  following this insects and birds are prominent before the piano kicks in trailed by the rest of the band and a deep contented and weary vocal

This isn’t a cd your going to play if you wish to mosh, but its probably my favourite album from this legendary group and if they never record again it sent them out on a high.  The Braille on the cd cover makes a refreshing change also.  I won’t say what is written, buy a copy and find out.

Facts

From the Wikipedia entry on this particular album.

‘At the end of the album, Gilmour's step-son, Charlie, can be heard hanging up the telephone on Pink Floyd manager Steve O'Rourke, who had pleaded to be allowed to appear on a Pink Floyd album.

The division bell can also refer to  a tool of protocol used in the British government.
For more info on Pink Floyd check out the pages below.

www.pink-floyd.org/
http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/

General - at the BIB show

The x regulars of the Riser went out last night to the White Horse in Epsom.  It was great catching up with everyone in a different pub as our community is important to us.

Today finds me at an event organised by the good folks at Blind in Business.  This yearly event is a pleasure to attend such is the enthusiasm of the delegates for technology.  I attended the same two years ago when I first moved to Epsom so things are moving full circle.

On the sub-woofer front I’m going to demo the new small box from  SV Sound which is les expensive and apparently better than the Rel I was going to purchase.  Another contender is the BK XLS 200 which is probably third best but half the price of the others and hand built in the UK.

Whisky - Macallan 10 year 1993/03 Duncan Taylor 46%

This expression of Macallan was bottled by Duncan Taylor in the Whisky Galore series from a sherry cask and only cost £22.

Nose:  rubber sulpha and spices.  A poor cask or maybe second fill?  

Pallet: the rubbery impression clings on but not really unpleasantly but a fruitiness comes through bringing the sweetness of a good quality new make spirit and sherry.

Finnish:  a little tangy but not unpleasant.  I’d say refreshing.

Comments:  an inactive or poor first fill cask.  Could have done with a few more years.  I have a bottle of the standard 10 year old version in Ipswich and its much better than this.

Score:  69%

General - Preston and an update

Jaid and I went over to Preston for a Trekker demo lastThursday evening.  I stayed in an inexpensive but friendly hotel called the Ashwood whose proprietors  welcomed the dog with no problems.  I added over 40 points of interest around the city supped one or two beers and generally had a nice time.  I must admit to finding it a little sad though because the majority of my friends weren’t in town that night.

Clare Dave and I had a most pleasant Epsom weekend including one of the last visits to the Rising Sun in its current form and plenty of good malts laughs and haphazardly cooked food on the Foreman grill.  Dave has encouraged me o spend over my budget on a new Sub-Woofer for my hifi but after demming the little beast on Sunday even Clare thought it a nice underpinning of the sound for music and she will benefit from the extra wait in movie soundtracks.

I will post more on the Rel Strata 5 sub-woofer and my final drink in the best pub in Epsom on Wednesday I am in the mood to taste some whiskys and scribble some notes as I have some interesting stuff open.

General - Billy

Jaid and I spent last weekend in Worcester with dave.  We visited some new pubs and those of note were the Plow serving excellent food, the Cardenals Hat which specialises in Austrian beers and food, and the Pig and Drum a heavy metal music pub.  I wont go in to much detail on these places but they’re all worth a visit.

I hate it when people come up and pester the dog sometimes.  When I’m particularly fed up with this I change her name, especially if the person doing the annoying is rather drunk.  Take a listen to this rather funny incident recorded on my Del PDA and let me know what you think.

Its been a rather long day with demos in Wrexham and I didn’t get back in until 7 so I’m off now.

More soon

GPS - Trekker 3 Points of Interest

I’ve been having a cracking time over the last week or two with the betas of Trekker 3.  I can’t say much about features but it’s a big improvement to an already smashing product.  I am setting myself a little challenge to get 1000 useful points of interest added from now until January 1st, this should be possible as I’ve added 97 over the last two weeks.  Some of them require  street numbers but this will be rectified in time.  I will share all the none private POIs with our Trekker email list in January once I have finished collecting.  It will be possible for users of Trekker 3 to share points of interest with each other, this should be amazing and help us get a vast database of information over the next few years.  Trekker already has over 98000  points of interest for the UK but the more the better.  If anyone would like to help please let me know.

Beer - Misc stories

A beery post with the difference.  Anna nova has a nice story about probably the worlds smallest pub in Cleethorpes.  They also have another story about a brewery creating a beer from water melted from the arctic ice caps.

Its nice to have the Acorn brewery recognised for the fantastic Barnsley Best in the Camera champion beer of Britain 2006.  The worthy winner is Brewers gold for the second year running.

General - Short but packed with info

I’ve had a hectic few weeks.  Derry and Martha’s stay in Epsom was enjoyable but marred a little because I was unwell on the Friday evening, even so they had a good time as did both Clare and I.

On the Saturday Clare and I went to watch Lose Your Elusion a cracking Guns and Roses tribute band in the Railway Ipswich.

I took a few days off last week and we spent some lovely time on the east Anglia coast enjoying the sun and salty air.

I’m in the middle of setting up conciliation with a Chinese restaurant in Ipswich called Trongs who wouldn’t let us eat with them even though we booked.  Yep, it was because of the dog, so more on that as it develops.  The night was saved though with a smashing meal in another Chinese restaurant called East Ocean, and I will return for more such was the service and quality of food.

What else has been happening, Clare’s getting a guide dog called Malone, I’ve been overpaid by the tax credit people and am finding it hard to ascertain under which local authority I was registered blind.
More soon