Days 3082 - 3109

Aka Monday 1st May to Sunday 28th May 2023

Still catching-up, so this will be another v quick rush through the month. For me the big thing that happened this month is that I, finally, got a new phone! I had my first smart phone for nearly a decade, and I’d been putting off upgrading as the phone worked fine and it was the perfect size. It was pocket sized and didn’t bulge out or get in the way. But it has been acting up a lot recently and the memory was tiny and constantly being used to the almost max. So, I got this phone:

…and it took me a while to get round to transferring stuff over and setting it up, but I did and it’s not a bad phone, it is bigger than I’d liked, but everything works first time and I’m not constantly having to sort out memory issues. And it means that I can retire my mp3 played and have everything in one device.

We also had Charles’ coronation, but as a non-royalist fuck ‘im. #ACitizenNotASubject…on a much more joyful note I got a load of Lego stuff, starting with these Disney 100th Anniversary Lego Minifigures, which I really want to get for the Robin Hood, Coco Musicians, Voodoo Man and Jiminy Cricket, and these are the ones I got:

…I also got some Lego magazines:

…and I picked up these New Comic Book Day beauties:

…including the gritty noir ’Stramash’ #3 and the latest gem from Rachel Smith, ‘Glass half Empty’. I also got some magazines:

…this month’s super duper Kyle Starks Sticker Club stickers arrived:

…and I got a load of great music:

…and during this month I went for a few Morning Walks, starting on Thursday 4th May:

…which covered 4.46km, in 51minutes and 18seconds, in 5,704 steps and burnt 429 calories…which was also Local Election Day, so I voted at the end of my Walk, slightly sweaty and tired! The next Walk was on Sunday 7th May:

…which took 51minutes and 6seconds and burnt 330 calories, not sure how much ground we covered, or how many steps, as the walking app kinda fritzed (I was still using my old phone as I hadn’t set up my new phone) and didn’t record that data…next Walk was Wednesday 10th May (including a slight stroll on the sand, burning a few extra calories):

…which lasted 52minutes and 46seconds, covering 4.53km in 5,838 steps and burnt 434 calories…Next Walk was on Sunday 14th May:

...which lasted 53minutes and 14seconds, covering 4.20km in 5,687 steps and burnt 394 calories…and left me feeling v tired and I fell asleep till lunchtime! Next Walk was on Thursday 18th May:

…which covered 4.25km, in 55 minutes and 3 seconds, taking 5,827 steps and burning 400 calories. The next walk was on Sunday 21st May:

…which covered 4.55km in 53 minutes and 46 seconds, taking 5,912 steps and burnt 434 calories. The next walk was on Tuesday 23rd May:

…which covered 4.53km in 53 minutes and 57 seconds, burning 431 calories in 5,913 steps. And the final walk was on Sunday 28th May:

…which took 5,997 steps, covering 4,57km in 54 minutes and 58 seconds and burning 433 calories. 

…I also collected some Lotto wins:

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..and I did the first week’s G2 Crosswords:

…and there’s not much to say about Monday’s crossed as…we got a clean sweep! We didn’t have to cheat on any of the 22 clues! There were a few chewy clues, but the little grey cells overcame them all! The hardest clue was ‘bona fide’, but we managed to get the answer, ‘echt’, in thanks to misremembering the Marvel comic ‘Not Brand Echh’. I hope, but doubt, that the rest of the crossword week will go as easily…

…and Tuesday’s crossword doesn’t go quite as well as yesterdays, we had to cheat on 7.69% of the clues (a la two out of 26). Especially as we really should have gotten ‘Goldeneye’ from ‘diving duck – Bond film’, but the only single name Bond film we could think of was Octopussy! And we maybe, possibly, could have gotten ‘blighters’ from ‘pests (informal)’ if we had a few more months to ponder it! But, all in all, not a bad performance today…

…Wednesday’s crossword went quite well, there were no particularly tricky clues, so we only had to cheat on 8.33% of the clues (also known as two out of 24). We should have guessed ‘prelude’ from ‘music that introduces an act in an opera’, especially with the intersecting letters, but we did learn that ‘Hugo’ was a ‘19th-Century French novelist and poet’…

…and this perk up with Thursday’s crossword as we almost got a clean sweep, but in the end we had to cheat on 4.17% of the clues (also known as one out of 24). And we’d argue that the clue we didn’t get, ‘snowflake’ from ‘overly sensitive person?’, isn’t right. We would argue that ‘snowflake’ is normally used to accuse someone of being overly sensitive when making a point someone doesn’t like or approve off, but cest la vie…

…and Friday’s crossword didn’t go well and we had to cheat on 19.05% of the clues (aka four out of 21). And it was all done to us being too sleepy! We really should have gotten three of those four! For ‘optician’ (from ‘eye expert’) we were thinking along the lines of optometry and the American spelling, we should have gotten ‘firewall’ from ‘computer security system’, especially as we had the intersecting letters, and ‘Inter’ from ‘Milan’s other footballers’. But, like I said, we were just too sleepy this morning and just couldn’t make that deductive leap. At least we learnt that ‘unco’ means ‘remarkable (in Scotland)’. Hopefully tomorrows crossword goes better…

…and like last week (and maybe before, maybe this is a trend?) Saturday’s crossword ends the crossword week on an ish note. Not terrible, but not great. As we had to cheat on 17.39% of the clues (aka four out of 23). I think that the little grey cells were a little tad and weary, as we missed a couple of easy ones, like ‘schmooze’ from ‘talk in a casual and friendly way’, but we did learn that ‘Edwin Drood’ is ‘Dicken’s last unfinished novel’…

…and I did the second week’s G2 Crosswords:

…and Monday’s crossword was a struggle, we just couldn’t get to grips with, and although we only had to cheat on 9.52% of the clues (a la two out of 21), that doesn’t reflect how long it took to get those clues solved. But we did learn that Handel’s Messiah is an ‘oratorio’. Hopefully it’s just a post weekend hangover thing and the rest of the week will go better…

…Tuesday’s crossword goes even worse! The grid was a toughie and we didn’t get any breaks and had to cheat on 21.74% of the clues (aka five out of 23). We just couldn’t get to grips with the grid and we missed some easy ones, like ‘avoid’ from ‘duck’, but we did learn that a set of ‘complete outfits of clothing and accessories for new babies’ are called ‘layettes’ and that ‘Kia Ora’ is a ‘Kiwi expression of thanks’, so not a complete loss…

…and Wednesday’s crossword goes damn well, especially compared to the start of the week, as we only had to cheat on 4.35% of the clues (one out of 23). And it would have been a clean sweep, if we’d known that ‘Hazlitt or Montaigne, say’ were examples of people who were an ‘essayist’. But it’s a big, big improvement on Monday and Tuesday…

… and the going dam well continues with Thursday’s crossword, we only had to cheat on 4.00% of the clues (or one out of 25). The little grey cells were on top form, only stumbling on not getting ‘meteoric’ from ‘spectacularly quick’. I guess we were stuck on the more obvious choices, like speedy, rushing, that kinda thing, but one lives and learns (and relearns the lesson of not getting stuck on the outward appearance of a clue and to think a bit deeper and broader)…

…and the going dam well continues to continue with Friday’s crossword, as we only had to cheat on 4.76% of the clues (or one out of 21). The little grey cells flew through the clues like lighting through a stormy night! We only got stuck on not knowing that ‘Lays’ are ‘poems intended to be sung’, which is nice. Hopefully the little grey cells are able to be as successful with tomorrow’s crossword…

…and there’s not much to say about Saturday’s crossword as the little grey cells aced it and clean sweeped it! We didn’t have to cheat on any of the 24 clues! It’s a kinda reversal of last week, starting out badly and ending on a KO! Roll on next week’s grids…

…and I did the third week’s G2 Crosswords:

…and Monday’s crossword gets the crossword week off to bumpy start, as we had to cheat on 16.67% of the clues (also known as three out of 18). It was a chewy grid and we just couldn’t a get grip of it. If there had been more clues, giving more intersecting letters we might have been able to guess the answers we missed. Either way we should have gotten ‘slipped disc’ from ‘cause of severe back pain’ and ‘waif’ from ‘street child’, but we did learn that ‘papal headgear’ includes a ‘tiara’…

…and Tuesday’s crossword soars the supersonic hypersphere, as we only had to cheat on 5.26% of the clues (a la one out of 19). The little grey cells gave a damn solid performance, masterfully chewing the clues and spitting out answers like a Catherine Wheel spitting out sparks! And we learnt that ‘Rembrandt ‘was the ‘painter of The Night Watch’…

…pretty damn solidness continues with Wednesday’s crossword. We only had to cheat on 8.33% of the clues (or two out of 24). And we learnt that ‘Louis Quatorze’ was the Le Roi Soleil aka The Sun King…

…and Thursday’s crossword continues the damn solidness of the week as we only had to cheat on 8.70% of the clues (also known as two out of 23).The little grey cells are just maintain a solidness, a ploughing thrown the clues leaving behind bales of answers. Although in hindsight we probably should have been able to work out ‘en bloc’ from ‘all together’, but we did learn that a ‘Vizier’ was an ‘important official of the Ottoman empire’….

…and Friday’s crossword gores a tad better, we just had to cheat on 8.00% of the clues today (or two out of 25), although today’s grid was a tad chewier. But by using our knowledge of how words are formed and pondering a bit more, we and the little grey cells were able to tame the grid. For example, we didn’t know an ‘Avocet’ is a ‘long-legged shorebird with a slender upward curving bill’, but with the intersecting letters we were able to working out/guess what the missing letters were. And we learnt that a ‘Hibachi’ is a ‘portable charcoal-burning brazier with a grill for cooking’…

…and Saturday’s crossword continues the damn solid streak. Compared to yesterday’s grid this grid was less chewier, more straight forward, helping the little grey cells to tame it and soar high above the Heavens. We only had to cheat on 4.17% of the clues (aka one out of 24). And we were reminded that a ‘ring thrown in a game to land on or near an upright peg’ is called a ‘quoit’. Will this damn solid streak continue next week, or will Sunday’s break leave the little grey cells a tad hung over… 

…and I did the fourth week’s G2 Crosswords:

…and Monday’s crossword gets the crossword week off to a damn solid start, as we only had to cheat on 9.09% of the clues (aka two out of 22). The little grey cells came out of the gates flying high smashing all the clues that we knew the answers to (or could guess). Which means that we learnt that an ‘Americano’ is a ‘Espresso diluted with hot water’ and that ‘neap tide’ is ‘when there’s the least difference between high and low sea water levels’. A great start to the crossword week, we didn’t miss any answers we knew and we learnt two new things… 

…and Tuesday’s crossword was a tad chewier than Monday’s. It took a little longer to get through the clues, we had to cheat on 11.54% of the clues (three out of 26), and we missed an obvious one, ‘herald’ from ‘foreshadow’. But we did learn that Flaming June was an 1895 painting by Frederic Leighton, and that ‘Kiel’ is a ‘German Baltic city, host each year to the world’s largest sailing event’… 

…things are back on track with Wednesday’s crossword. We only had to cheat on 8.33% of the clues (also known as two out of 24). Slightly annoyed that we didn’t get ‘swell’ from ‘fine – mushroom’, we got a little stuck on thinking it meant mushroom as a fungus, but we did learn that ‘pre-empt’ is a hyphenated word and not a single word as we had thought…

…and Thursday’s crossword goes nice and smoothly, with only having to cheat on 9.52% of the clues (two out of 21). Although we did miss an easy one with not getting ‘meddle’ from ‘pry’, but we did learn that the ‘rupee’ is the ‘monetary unit of Nepal and Sri Lanka’. Roll on the rest of the crossword week…

…and the damn solidness of the last few days continues, as we only had to cheat on 8.70% of the clues (two out of 23). But, again, we did miss an easy one in not getting ‘axel’ from ‘figure-skating jump’, but we did learn that the ‘Wash’ is a ‘bay and multiple estuary on the coast of East Anglia’, which is nice...

…and we end the crossword week on a damn solid note, as we only had to cheat on 8.33% (a la two out of 24). The little grey cells Bruce Lee’d their way through the clues, only stumbling on two clues that we did not know the answer too and we had no way of guessing the answer. So we learnt that ‘Utrecht’ is a ‘city on the Rhine, home to the largest university in the Netherlands’ and that the ‘Acacia’ is a ‘shrub or tree with clusters of white or yellow flowers’. A nice end to the crossword week…