18 months ago I wrote this piece reflecting on the cost of a new charger for a Mac Book Pro, and the price of phone calls to Ireland from a landline. Both charges were far higher than I expected. Returning to the theme of how much things cost, I would like to report on something… Continue reading The price of things (May 2019, motor insurance)
Here, for the sixth month in a row, is a screenshot taken from the BBC website showing the top seven teams in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The first four screenshots all showed the team that I have followed since childhood, Leeds United, at the top of the table. Last month’s piece… Continue reading Precedents and omens as the football season comes to an end
Back in 2016 I had some phone troubles which resulted in me acquiring a new Windows Phone. It was during that brief period when such things were branded as Microsoft rather than Nokia devices. I wrote about it here, explaining why I had initially resisted installing WhatsApp, and why I would not be installing it… Continue reading A tentative return to WhatsApp
Here, as mentioned in this recent piece about Pop Master, is a round-up of the “3-in-10” questions for 2019. As you probably know, Pop Master is the mid-morning quiz on the Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2, and the final challenge for the winning contestant is this: in 10 seconds name 3 Top 75… Continue reading Pop Master: the “3-in-10” questions, 2019
Here, for the third year in a row, is a summary of my time spent listening to Pop Master, the mid-morning quiz on the Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2. This piece from 2017 (“100 Rounds of Pop Master”) explains the format of the quiz, and notes that this is the most listened-to slot… Continue reading One Thousand Rounds of Pop Master
Spoiler Alert: This piece reveals the result of the second semi-final in the current series of “University Challenge”, played on Monday 15 April 2019 between St Edmund Hall Oxford and Darwin College Cambridge. If you do not want to know what happened, look away now, and come back later, maybe when you have watched the… Continue reading Word of the week: meniscus
Here, for the fifth month in a row, is a screenshot taken from the BBC website showing the top seven teams in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The previous four screenshots all showed the team that I have followed since childhood, Leeds United, at the top of the table. As this image… Continue reading More twists and turns
Yesterday, 10 April, was the 22nd anniversary of my mother’s death. I wrote this piece in 2016 about how we usually commemorate the anniversary (“a mass for her intention and a day spent doing very little”) and this follow-up in 2017. Last year I did not write about the anniversary itself, but wrote this piece… Continue reading Two More Anniversary Days
If you learn to play guitar or piano you will probably end up with a repertoire, a set of songs that you can play for your own amusement, or to entertain others. It might consist of just two or three songs but it’s still a repertoire. If you can only play one song, then you… Continue reading Word of the week: repertoire
Today, for the first time since 1975, I watched the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race from the bandstands by Dukes Meadows. I have seen the boats pass by from many different vantage points over the last 43 years, always on the north side of the river, but never from here. Back in 1975 Cambridge (the… Continue reading Boat Race memories
The Compartments 