Phil Banting

I'm seeing Instagram ads for wind-up radios. I thought they had all sold out? I hope they work better than the wind-up torch I once bought which gives about a minute of light for every minute of cranking. I'll stick with my portable solar panels.

I very nearly used an Oxford comma in a sentence but managed to stop myself in time. Think I might need to lie down for a bit.

It's 5.20 pm and, thanks to thick cloud and rain, rather gloomy outside. The weather forecast for tomorrow is much more cheerful, so at this time it will be... completely dark. Perhaps my least favourite day of the year. 🕰️

Well, what a highly profitable way to spend a wet Saturday afternoon: sorting several piles of read, un- and half-read books into different piles. A skeptic might say that I could have used the time to read a book, but - actually, come to think of it, I could have used the time to read a book...

"Your tax service - here to support", it says on the envelope. And the letter inside tells me, in a supportive way, that I have underpaid tax this year. But I don't have to do anything, because caring sharing HMRC will painlessly collect the shortfall over the coming year. Truly, they're on my side.

And, of course, she's done it. The youngest female ever to gain the open International Master title.

The first nuclear reactor in Western Europe was built in Oxfordshire, at the Harwell research site. I visited GLEEP when I was a student, gaining work experience on another reactor, DIDO. There's no more steam from the cooling towers; all the reactors on the site have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

I saw someone wearing a sweatshirt with the words "Hey Boo" on the front and wondered whether it was a literary reference to a line in "To Kill a Mockingbird". No, she said, it's for Hallowe'en. Not so much getting the wrong end of the stick as picking up the wrong stick altogether.

Earlier this week someone asked me if I had a daughter who goes to ballet. In fact I don't have a daughter, and the daughter I don't have doesn't go to ballet. But I've long suspected that I have a Doppelgänger, so if I ever meet him I will know what to ask.

However dumb I am, my kitchen appliances are even dumber. And it's staying that way. My "Internet of things" is no more than a bunch of mains leads.

Ruin a book by adding a word The Mysterious Affair At Harry Styles

If you see this we IMPLORE you to post a picture from whatever device you’re using without an explanation.

I spent two childhood years living in Nordrhein-Westfalen when my father was working for the British Forces. Living on a military base was a bit of an artificial existence, but we still got to see and enjoy a lot of the surrounding area, and I've been back many times since. Lots of happy memories.

It's a sign that things are not going well when you have to end an email "Sorry if I’ve left any footprints on your desk".

Family trip to Dungeness, Kent #Lighthouse #ECK #Photography

What an absolute legend www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

When our boys were small one of them advanced the theory that the dinosaurs died out because there were no people for them to eat. Quite hard to disprove really.

Freaky cloud formation spotted on the M6 approaching Birmingham (no, I wasn't driving)

Probably surprised how I had changed but also relieved that I’d muddled through. In truth, previous me would not have wanted to see the future. I’ve always hated spoilers.

Of course, if the Normans had won the Battle of Hastings, we'd all be speaking French now. Oh, hang on...

a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes

I used the word “pernickety” in a message and had to resist autocorrect’s attempt to change it to “persnickety” which is apparently the more common US version. I’m really quite pernickety about this kind of thing.

Nice to see the B's topping the poll. The last time I stood in a multi-member election I did indeed get the most votes of any of my party's candidates. On every other occasion the electorate has been singularly unmoved by my position on the ballot paper. ☹️

I'm a victim of ageism on a website. The login process involves entering my date of birth via drop-down controls and it takes a lot of scrolling to get down to my birth year. Anyone born before 1916 can't log in at all, so things could be worse.

It answers every question with "I'm on my tea break" or "It's more than my job's worth".

just stop oil protesters got five years in jail for *planning* to do this to the M25.

Stop the boats!

Exciting times in a WhatsApp group of which I am a (somewhat ill-qualified) co-admin. Someone has accidentally started a voice chat and is baffled by the stream of warning emojis being sent. Seems there's no way to forcibly end the chat. Smartphones make everyone so much more productive 🙂

Flying the flag for Crossroads in the spiritual home of Sale Of The Century #IYKYK

The church we visited this morning (which was fine in every other regard) had this rather distressing mat at the front. It was in my full view for over an hour. What kind of designer would skew one of the squares like that?

Make your favourite film sound as boring as possible without giving away the title: A black cuboid messes with an ape's mind, space and time. AI is revealed to be capable of making mistakes.

I bought a suspiciously cheap bottle of Sprite and failed to notice that it was mint flavoured. Mint sauce has its place, but mixed in with Sprite is not it. That's £1.70 put down to Experience.

PeachPuff Electricity-Board

The lady who approached me was very concerned: is that your wife? There’s a young man following her who looks suspicious. He might be trying to steal her bag. I thanked her for her thoughtfulness but assured her that our son is entirely law-abiding. It’s good to know that people are so vigilant.

Did someone say town halls? I snapped this magnificent municipal edifice in Hunstanton, Norfolk, in evening sunshine just today.

No cheating. Share the last picture of the sky from your camera roll.

This weekend has been an East Midlands extravaganza with visits to Nottingham, Melton Mowbray, Oakham and Rutland Water - all places with which I was previously almost entirely unfamiliar. Clearly, I need to get out more.

I’ve just written my nephew a cheque. I’m now thinking that it’s the equivalent of me receiving a postal order when I was his age.

Freshly marked hieroglyphics on the pavement, plus the presence of men and women in hi-viz jackets, suggest that something is Going On