Days 2872 - 2899

Aka Monday 3rd October to Sunday 30th October 2022

I’m still really behind with this so this will be a whirlwind catch-up write-up, no detail, no fine comments, just a quick recording of these four weeks…which included much political upheaval. On Thursday 20th October 2022, Liz Truss, our Prime Minister, resigned after it had become crystal clear that she was an ideologue idiot, that her “ideas” (or maybe I should say ideas of the IEA) were ruinous for the nation, that she had no skill in presenting her “ideas”. At least when previous Tory PMs had introduced ruinous policies, they made sure to keep enough of the nation on side to carry on. But not Truss, she burned bridges with practically everyone!

So, there was a second leadership contest…almost. A few people expressed an interest in running, Johnson made pretty of noises about running again, but he suddenly pulled out of the contest on Sunday 23rd October 2022. This just left Rishi Sunak as the only person putting themselves forward for the contest. So, on Monday 24th October 2022 he became Tory Leader, and the next day he became PM, had a reshuffle, and started on tackling Truss’s mess and basically reversing every decision she had made. He also made some bold moves of his own, such as reappointing Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. Yep, the well-known security risk and neo-fascist Braverman was back! Ruining Sunak’s promise that “this government will have integrity, professionalism, and accountability at every level”. Like the saying goes, meet the new boss, same as the old boss…

…on a more pleasant note we had a hugely enjoyable works night-out at the local bowling alley: 

…I also got some quality comics:

…and watched some quality films and TV series:

…and got some quality stickers from the Kyle Starks Sticker Club stickers:

…got and enjoyed some quality music:

…I already have a copy of ’The Thing’ OST, but this version has some additional cues written by John Carpenter (because during the editing of the film, there wasn’t time to commission them from Ennio Morricone). Extra John Carpenter goodness! And ‘Music For The Stars (Celestial Music 1960 - 1979)’ is a collection for relaxing under the midnight sky and watching the Stars…

…and got some quality magazines:

...including some fun Lego:

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

…and Monday’s crossword gets the week off to a sweet start as we only had to cheat on one of the 22 clues! Yeah, boy! The little grey cells were super smashing through the clues today, only stumbling on getting ‘strategically’ from ‘in a calculated way’. Hopefully the rest of the week goes as smoothly…

..and Tuesday’s crossword was a right ache! Just a complete pain in the arse! We had to cheat on a fifth of the clues (five out of 26). Tots amateur hour! But we did learn that a ‘stem’ is a ‘skiing term’, that a ‘Teasel’ is a ‘tall plant with brown prickly stems and conical seed heads’, that a ‘sepal’ is ‘part of a flower enclosing the petals’ and that to ‘boil vigorously’ is to ‘seethe’…

…things tick up a little with Wednesday’s crossword. We only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues, it seems that the little grey cells may be picking up steam?!? We did learn that ‘igneous’ is a ‘kind of rock produced under intense heat’…

…and we’re back on top with Thursday’s crossword, as we only had to cheat on one of the 24 clues. The little grey cells just plain Pacman chomped their way through the clues. Only stumbling on not knowing that ‘vouchsafing’ is ‘granting graciously – revealing’…

…and we tale a wee tumble with Friday’s crossword. The little greys cells found it a little tough and we had to cheat on a seventh of the clues (three out of 21). Maybe it’s been a long week? Anyway we did learn that the ‘point on a plant stem from which leaves grow’ is called a ‘node’…

…and we end the crossword week on a fairly good note, we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 23). Looks like the little grey cells have managed to bounce back and get back on form. And we learnt that a ‘Viol’ is a ‘ore-violin instrument played with a bow’. Roll on next week…

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

…and we get the crossword week off to a miserable start as we had to cheat on a quarter of the clues (five out of 21). Maybe the little grey cells were too relaxed after the weekend? All I know is that we missed a couple of easy ones, but we learnt that the ‘part of a church at right angles to the nave‘ is called the ‘transept’ and that an ‘isthmus’ is a ‘narrow land link with water on both sides’. Hopefully things pick up for the rest of the week…

…and Tuesday’s crossword was an improvement over yesterday’s, we only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 23). I guess that the little grey cells have had a word with themselves and we’re getting back to our normal form. And we learnt that an ‘autocrat’ is a synonym for ‘dictator’ and that Benjamin Disraeli was the 1st Earl of Beaconsfield…

…and Wednesday’s crossword goes a tad better, we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 23). Ladies and Gentlemen, the little grey cells are back. And back on form! And we learnt that ‘Exeter’ is a ‘Oxford college founded in 1314 by a Devon bishop’ and that ‘Asdic’ was an ‘early form of sonar used to detect submarines’…

…and things take a little stumble with Thursday’s crossword. We had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 25), but we did learn that Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British film director and producer, who dies in 1956… 

…and Friday’s crossword goes okay. We had to cheat on a seventh of the clues (three out of 21), which is pretty average, pretty meh. And we did miss three (what should have been) easy ones, like ‘tres’ from ‘very French’, but c’est la vie…

…and Saturday’s crossword ends the week on a slightly better than okay, but only just, note. We had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 24). But we did learn that a ‘painter’ is a ‘line attached to the bow of a boat’, that ‘inveigh’ means to ‘speak bitterly (against)’ and that ‘Cordoba’ is an ‘Andalusian city with a cathedral (the Mezquita) that was formerly a mosque’. Not a great end to the crossword week, but not a terrible one either…

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

…and Monday gets the crossword week off to a flying start as the little grey cells ploughed through the 18 clues and we didn’t have to cheat on any of them…

…things take a little tumble with Tuesday’s crossword, but only a tad. We had to cheat on a tenth of the clues (two out of 19). We should have gotten ‘vicarious’ from ‘experienced second-hand’, but we did learn that a ‘bridleway’ is something that ‘one can go for a ride on it!’. Looks like we’re off to a damn fine start, but will it last…

…things pick up with Wednesday’s crossword. We still had to cheat on two clues, but out of a total of 24 (a twelfth). The damn fine start continues! The little grey cells continue to plough through the clues, like Mr Plow through snow! And we learnt that ‘buckshee’ means ‘free of charge (informal)’ and that ‘one from Kathmandu’ is a ‘Nepali’ (we also learnt that Kathmandu is in Nepal!)…

…and Thursday’s crossword tumbles, tumbles more than a tad. We had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 23). I guess the little grey cells are a little tired after the great start in the first half of the week. But we did learn that a ‘Coati’ is an ‘omnivorous mammal of Central and South America’ and that Alum Bay is an “Isle of Wright tourist spot, famous for it’s multi-coloured sand cliffs’…

…and the tumble continues with Friday’s crossword, even more severely. We had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 25), which is probably better than I thought that we would do! A right chewy grid! But we did learn that the ‘revolving spindle on a tape recorder’ is called a ‘capstan’, that a ‘Wyvern’ is ‘(in heraldry) a winged two-legged dragon’ and that a ‘Vicomte’ is a ‘French aristocrat’…

…and the week of two halves ends on a damn fine note, as we only had to cheat on a twelfth of the clues (two out of 24). Looks like the little grey cells have picked themselves up and thrashed through the grid. Learning that an ‘Eaglet’ is a young raptor’. A nice end to the week and recovery from the tumbling…

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

..and the crossword week got off to another damn fine start as we didn’t have to cheat on any of the 22 clues. The little grey cells were well rested after the weekend and smashed through the clues like they were paper mache…

…and as the country takes another tumble, so do we with Tuesday’s crossword, from yesterday’s clean sweep to having to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 26). With all the pressures coming down from the Tories it’s hard to escape into reprieves like crosswording. So we missed the obvious ‘Clay’ from ‘Ali’s original family name’ and ‘precipice’ from ‘steep cliff face’, but we did learn that ‘sine qua non’ means ‘essential’ and that ‘Adar’ is a ‘month in the Jewish calendar’, so not a total write off… 

…and things go a little better with Wednesday’s crossword, as we only had to cheat on an eighth of the clues (three out of 24). I guess we’re becoming used to the political turmoil going, that our little part of the country, our situation is kinda settled, that we should be able to maintain a reasonable live and that things (hopefully) can’t get worse. And we learnt that ‘Pilau’ is a ‘rice-based dish’ and not just a type of rice and that ‘composure’ is a synonym for ‘equanimity’…

…and Thursday’s crossword goes a little worse as we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 24). It was just too chewy for the little grey cells. But we did learn that ‘Fastnet’ is a ‘rock with a lighthouse off West Cork – UK shipping forecast area’, that an ‘awn’ is a ‘beard growing from barley or other cereals and grasses’, that Dame Sybil Thorndike was an English actress and that ‘Amontillado’ is a ‘pale medium-dry sherry’. This week had started on a tots positive note, but then quickly dive dived…will things improve? Let’s find out…

…and things really pick up with Friday’s crossword, not a clean sweep, bit not far off, we only had to cheat on a tenth of the clues (two out of 21). The little grey cells were on sparkling form (probably looking forward to going out tonight) and we only got stuck on not knowing that ‘tight’ is a synonym for ‘blotto’ and that a ‘spar’ is a ‘pole to support sails or rigging’…will this uptick continue…

…no, no it doesn’t. Saturday’s crossword ends the crossword week on a bit of a bum note as we had to cheat on a sixth of the clues (four out of 23) (again!!!). But to be the honest we were a tad hungover from yesterday night (and early this morning!). So we missed some obvious ones, like ‘campaign’ from ‘series of military operations’, but we did learn that ‘lugubrious’ means ‘morose’, that ‘inimical’ means ‘hostile – unfavourable’ and that ‘Holi’ is a ‘Hindu spring festival in honour of Krishna’…