This particular blog entry is quite significant because it is celebrating a 'double' anniversary. As well as being St. Patrick's day, it is also the day when Meg suffered the episode a year ago that meant she ended up in hospital from whence it took about eight days to get her released back home again (and we had a chairlift installed in the meantime) But the other significant anniversary is that this blog is exactly five years old today, being started just before the lockdown for the pandemic five years ago. For those interested in numerology, this blog is [Day 1827] which is 5 x. 365 + one extra day for the 2024 leap year + one extra day for the fact the anniversary date is repeated (as the five years actually 'runs out' on the day before) On this particular occasion only, I am going to write a little about how this blog is written. When I wake up in the morning, I make myself a cup of tea and then sit down at my lounge laptop, Meg still being asleep. Here I 'FTP' i.e. File Transfer Protocol the relevant files from the day before. This includes the entry actually written the day before but with 'todays' date on it - this is why the blog typically starts off with the word 'Yesterday' These files which have to have the updated 'Back' and 'Forward' links updated are actually a backup text version kept on a different server to the official WordPress version but kept in case WordPress ever goes 'belly up' for whatever reason. Even the backup text version has its own backup as well in case a file ever gets misplaced. Once this has been checked over, the procedure taking about 5-10 minutes, I start to write today's blog which gets put into WordPress at about 5.00pm in the evening whilst yesterday's draft in WordPress is actually published. The writing of this log has evolved over the years because I have had to adjust to Meg's illness and the fact that I cannot spend too much time in each day blogging whilst Meg requires my attention. So now I write using the MicroSoft email program 'Outlook' because what I write is saved in the 'Drafts' section but not actually emailed to anyone and this means that the work in progress is accessible to me in either of my laptops in the Main Lounge/Meg's bedroom and also our Music Lounge. I set myself a limit of 1,000 words a day and try to write 400-500 words in this 6.00am start as it takes pressure off me to complete it later on in the day This explains why I now start off with political news as I see what Sky News and links has to offer being a bit more 'on the ball' than the BBC regrettably. When the blog for the day is complete, I then copy the entry over to another text editor when it is subject to another spell check and proof reading before it is finally posted to WordPress where it stays as a draft. Then at 5.00pm or thereabouts, all I have to do is get onto WordPress and click 'Publish' and so the day's entry (which actually refers to the day before) is published. But for regular readers, you now know what is going on.
Last night saw the culmination of the Six Nations Rugby competition. Everything depended on the last match, France vs. Scotland because, should France fail to win, then England would, quite surprisingly, have won the championship having actually demolished Wales earlier in the day. The Scots looked as though they were going to go into half-time leading France but a last minute try was eventually ruled void because a foot had been seen by the TMO (Third Match Official) to be in touch and so the try was disallowed. The French scored a try early in the second half from which the Scots never really recovered so the French added to their winning score and emerged as worthy winners of not only the match but also the whole Championship. The real surprise about this year's competition has been the performance of the England team for who it was predicted they would end up mid-table. But they won two matches by a single point and emerged, as we have seen, as runners up to France. My feelings of disappointment at this year's competition being over is assuaged by the fact that a Six Nations womens' competition is going to take over for the next few weeks and that, of course, takes us up to Easter.
It was a cold start to the day this morning with a temperature when I arose of -2° but the day would evidently be a fairly fine one. After breakfast and a quick dash into town to collect my newspaper, our University of Birmingham friend called around as is customary on a Sunday morning. After exchanging the week's news, we invariable find something that excites both of our minds and today we were exploring the different shades of meanings of particular words as well as the characteristics of various regional accents. As I have some mastery of Spanish, I enjoy the way in a different language 'cuts up' your experience of the world by perceiving things in a slightly different way. Our friend is a much better linguist than I being absolutely fluent in both French and German as well as some Spanish that he has taught himself. We finished off discussing the 'Sapir-Whorf' hypothesis that language helps to shape our perceptions of the world according to what is symbolically important (the Inuits having many different words for snow, for example, as it is a much ore important part of their environment) After I made a telephone call early in the morning, A District Nurse called around to make a check on the Deep Tissue Injury that Meg has on one heel and which may require a specialist dressing in the future - but not, fortunately as it turned out, just yet. Meg and I had a conventional Sunday lunch of beef, carrots/peas mixture and a baked potato after which we indulged in a further episode of the 'Pilgrimage' programme which we often view on a Sunday (as it seems so appropriate)
© Mike Hart [2025]