And so after hundreds of Covid shit test for work over the past two years, the most eagerly anticipated tonsil tickling took place this morning.
Negative, natch.
Thank fuck for that.
I’m finally free after TEN days of staying indoors, apart from a couple of walks to the end of the road to buy some veg for sale outdoors.
It’s been vile. Not so much the staying in - I can always keep myself busy. But the horrid, horrid nature of Covid shit.
Day 2 and Day 3 were not pleasant. Breathing became a little panicky. I couldn’t climb the stairs with confidence, even crawling up them. The dizziness was very disorientating.
Oh woe, pity poor me, etc. But my routine is based around fitness and getting out. I fear it will take some time to fall back into this.
I may be testing negative, but I’m completely flaked out. I haven’t got the energy for anything right now. I’m worried that the recovery will be worse than the actual condition.
The CTC WhatsApp group teased me. One fellow rider is after recommendations for cycling GPS devices. I had no hesitation in raving about the Beeline Velo 2. I hope to get to use it before the summer is out to plot some new adventures.
Some mails pinged back and forth with my host. Having set up the photoblog last night, I need Magick or Imagick to run as a PHP extension.
The PEN F software has the annoying habit of automatically adding metadata into the files by default. When you try and publish in WordPress, this data remains in the body of the file that you embed.
Arse.
There are workarounds of course. There are always workarounds in WordPress. I’ve found a plugin that will strip out this pesky data. But it needs Magick or Imagick to run. My host is not so keen. Removing the data manually could be a right bloody pain if I’m publishing a dozen or so photos.
Album of the Day: Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
Right from the opener you can hear the tension here: Bryan’s lyrics fighting for attention with Eno’s music. It’s a glorious clash of styles. This is such a cocky second album. Do The Strand swaggers along. It stalls a little towards the end. Eno seems to have won that battle for one final time.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
There’s been a bloody great run of albums served up of late with the 1,001 albums generator. I’m struggling to write anything new or witty for some of the offerings, But then it’s not about the words - its about the music, innit.
A definite trend is me leaning more towards jazz. No shit. This is an age thing, right? Plus it’s the ideal music to listen to whilst working. It’s not background music - I’m taking it all in. But the lack of lyrics doesn’t distract you from the work focus.
GP’s celebration of 50 years of hip hop continued. There was a play out of a great Roots Manuva session from Maida Vale. UK hip hop pissed all over the US during the early 2000’s.
Attention then turned to the Surrey stream from Guilford. We were shocking. Appalling. A complete no contest. That’s what happens when the ECB strips you bare of your squad for the horrid Hundred.
Spectators had paid a considerable amount to watch festival cricket at Guilford. Allowing such a one-sided contest to take place is taking the piss.
We’ve got a road trip planned for Chelmsford next week. I’m excited about this, especially so coming out of Covid. But I wonder what type of team and game we will see with Surrey struggling to even name eleven players.
To Lidl! Mid-afternoon.
Blimey. This was the first time that I have left the house in ten days, apart from a couple of walks to the end of the road.
There was much excitement as I was rolling out on my new Brixton hybrid bicycle. Ten days of no cycling is the longest time I haven’t ridden in over two decades. I’ve really missed it.
It was great to get the bloody Estuary Wilds air circulating through my lungs once again. The Brixton rode smooth and simple. Although geared, it has almost a fixie feel to it.
I worked my way up and down the gears, making sure that everything was fine. The disc brakes were sharp; the steel frame and forks were incredibly rigid and responsive.
The Knowledge Gateway at the University has come along since I passed through here almost a month ago now. There’s also a healthy number of new covered cycle racks around the University. We’re getting there.
I made it successfully to Lidl. I loaded up the panier with cheapo essentials - a brick load of cheddar, pesto, yoghurt and shaving blades. I decided against another pair of Lidl trainers that were on offer.
It felt good to be out and about again.
Surrey had lost miserably by the time I reached home once again. I listened to the latest Garibaldi Red podcast ahead of Sheff Utd at home tomorrow. This is already being billed as a must win game. No shit.
Thursday evening was spent following a lengthy Lambeth Scrutiny meeting. It all made sense, right up until the end. I was a little tired. I didn’t catch the outcome of the meeting.
Whoops.