test please delete

[NickFitz]

An excessively enjoyable night's entertainment tonight, opening with Hurricane (2018), being the story of the Polish airmen who made it to the UK and formed the most successful Hurricane squadron of the Battle of Britain. An excellent film in many ways, though various aspects nag; in particular, if they'd spent that much time flying straight and level, they'd all have been shot down on the first morning. But, as so often with war films nowadays, if one ignores such incongruities then it's worth a watch.

After that, a rewatch of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015). What a brilliant film, as I'm sure I've said before! The first three M:I films were good to extremely good, the fourth was excellent, and this one builds on that to achieve a phenomenal level of excellence. For the avoidance of doubt: I like it

And then I rounded things off with the final episode of the original and best House of Cards. Undoubtedly one of the finest hours of drama the BBC has ever produced, with sterling performances from the entire cast and, of course, the apotheosis of Ian Richardson's Francis Urquhart.

Goodnight all

[DoctorStrangelove]

Strangelove Pater worked with a Polish Gentleman who'd done something similar.

After the war he fixed radios & tvs and eventually ended up in Morris Motors in Llanelli, where he was familiarly known as "Stan the Pole" and renowned for working rather harder than the aboriginals* around him.

Morning.

Dry.

Grey. Very Grey.

Notsocold.

Grey.

Not windy.

Grey.

Jackdaws busily nesting in the chimbley from the noises echoing down the flue.


*The aboriginals in question being inhabitants of Llanelli and surroundings, just to keep things clear, like.

<brief interstitial hiatus with a pause built in>

Saturday morning shop done & dusted.

Aside from the essentials, another foot of dvds purchased, including one from 1927** and another from 1934***.

I'm expecting to be crushed to death by an avalanche of 2nd hand dvds any day now.

**The Jazz Singer (1927) - IMDb

***Strictly Confidential (1934) - IMDb

When I was touring in "Don Juan in Hell," we played a college town near New Orleans. Paul [Paul Newman] happened to be there shooting The Drowning Pool (1975), so I went to see him that afternoon.

I remember walking down a country road past every kid in town waiting to glimpse Paul Newman.

When he saw me he rushed over, threw his arms around me, and kissed me, eliciting a collective swoon from those kids, who were probably wondering, "Who's that lucky old lady?"

We went off and talked until they called him back to work.

<hiatus during which an interstitial pause happened like>

Lunch was poached tomato & poached egg on toast.

It was quite nice.

Not the same as it used to be of course since there's no fecking salt in anything, but acceptable despite that.

Followed by some mushrooms that I'm eating for some reason that I can't quite remember.

I'm sure they're supposed to be good for something or other.

And after I've done the dishes, the afternoon is free.

I wonder what I can do that's productive.

Maybe sort some of the junk out.

Or more likely: read a book.

As it transpires, her next door is working a 7 til 7 shift today.

I haven't worked one of those in 40 or more years.

A 12 hour shift on a Sunday meant you were really in the money, back in the days of double time.

The ITV engineers had a spectacularly wonderful overtime scheme where if you came back in after only 8 hours you stayed on the same rate that you were on when you left.

Which, for overtime hogs, must have added up to a fortune.

[NickFitz]

Afternoon denizens

Another grey, mild, calm day out there

[NickFitz]

Sausage and bacon baguette for lunch

[DoctorStrangelove]

It got vaguely sunny out there earlier, so for the sake of doing something useful, I sorted more crap from next door & took it down the dump.

[Scruff]

It's a hateful thing going from one kitchen showroom to another. Much furtive skulking, avoiding too orange salespeople in shiny suits / tight skirts offering free (home) consultation. Crikey, I bet they've never had to purchase more than a mobile phone contract?

Quick exit...

[NickFitz]

Off to the Chinese

[NickFitz]

In the Chinese

Usual lady isn’t here; probably having to cover for one of the drivers. I was able to tell the chef lady with the dodgy English how much my order came to, though

[NickFitz]

And home again

[NickFitz]

And very nice it was

The manager lady returned while they were cooking my dinner, as she had indeed had to go out on a delivery due to being short a driver. Then she had an argument in Chinese with the people in the kitchen, while the long-serving driver who'd also just got back (an older Indian gentleman) leaned by the counter out of sight of the kitchen, looking over at me with an amused grin and raising his eyebrows in mock horror at the more high-pitched outbursts