I’m trying to do my best to keep them in good shape Tabby, but it’s an uphill struggle these days…
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Had a great time at Scarborough celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. Just about all the family were there and most of them stayed for the two days that we were there. Nice to see Dex and Mrs Dex, had a long chat and managed to sort out most of the worlds problems - If only they would have listened to us, we could have avoided the war in Ukraine, energy crisis and the struggling economy. Very nice to meet him, such an interesting bloke.
My two mile jog/walks each morning seem to be paying off with a new personal best every couple of weeks. I’m still managing 15 miles on the bike twice a week, but as the days grow shorter and colder I might postpone my bike riding until next spring. I’ll see how long I can keep it going for now. Actually, I’ve just ordered a new bike computer to measure the distance and speed, so I’ll need to try it out…
It seems that every day there is something plugged into the mains on charge…My old phone battery is slowly giving up the ghost and needs charging more often, I had a shave and the battery in the shaver was ready for a top up, and I had to use a different socket because Mrs Foxes vacuum cleaner battery was already occupying it. We seem to be relying so much on lithium these days, even more than we used to do with coal and oil.
I hope the new electric car batteries last longer than the lithium battery in my laptop, I’ve only had it a couple of years and already it doesn’t hold its charge as long as it used to. Could end up being a costly business replacing a EV battery.
Done the Tesco shopping and my two mile jog/walk for today, and its Mrs Foxes turn to prepare the dinner and do the washing up, so it might be a relaxing Saturday afternoon, or find something to do in the workshop. There are plenty of jobs ‘in progress’…
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It was lovely to meet you and Mrs Fox too, along with so many of your family and friends who were so happily amused/bemused about our “relationship”.
Just to clarify though,…please don’t suggest that we agree on so many of the burning issues of the day (even though we did). I need at least a shred of credibility on here 
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Your reputation is safe with me Dex…
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We had a lovely walk along the front afterwards, and broke the journey home on Saturday by stopping off in York for a couple of hours. Weather was glorious. You struck lucky!
We even had a bit of excitement in the hotel in Scarborough…the fire alarm went off at about 2.30am. Luckily, by the time we’d thrown some togs on, the alarm was cancelled. Apparently due to someone having a ciggie in their room.
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A nice read Foxy, I hope you keep up the blog.
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Thanks Spitty… 
Had to wait until 7:30 am before I could go out for Sunday’s 15 bike ride. I really need to get some lights on my bike.
Set off at a cracking pace, but half way round as I turned to return home that dastardly west wind made life miserable…I did manage some good turns of speed, but the last mile was open road, and slightly uphill…
Mrs Fox visits a private clinic on Tuesday, courtesy of the NHS, for examination of her painful knee pending a replacement. Somewhere in Sheffield…If I can find it…
Back to run/jogging in the morning…
Foxy, I am still doing 30000 paces a day so, don’t think I need cycling exercise, that is why I have an Electric bike, I get to do miles without turning the pedals, I know you like electronics, why do you not do the same?
Good on yer Spitty, that’s very impressive…
I like the pain Spitty, I’ve spent most of my life hurting myself through strenuous exercise and being as I’m not fit enough to run properly anymore I have to get my fix from cycling. When I get old I’ll take your advice…“But not yet”…That reminds me of one of my favourite films…
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I have preemptive old, I know one day I will have to cycle home old style, still can do at the moment.
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I’ve got a good one for you.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.
“you can play it by rules… or you can play it by ear – WHAT COUNTS is that you play it right for you…”
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Thanks Mr Smith (was he a relative of yours?)
A good film and apart from his early criminal behaviour, his reasons for running were much aligned to my own…
Long-distance running gives the character an ability to escape from society without the pressures of a team, which may be found in other athletic stories.[2] Additionally, Sillitoe gave running a political perspective that changed the vision of a literary runner. Sillitoe’s character Smith uses running as a way to mentally reflect, allowing Smith to give clarity to his political insights and share them with the reader.[3] Through running, Smith begins to understand and become aware of the class divisions in Britain.[2][3]
The film opens with Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay) running, alone, along a bleak country road somewhere in rural England. In a brief voiceover, Colin tells us that running is the way his family has always coped with the world’s troubles, but that in the end, the runner is always alone and cut off from spectators, left to deal with life on his own.
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isn’t that truss lady one too!
As it happens cousin is a long distance runner. He is the business - a few days ago he posted up his 107 th. Not too shabby for a 66 year old!
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Afraid not.Actually I’m Psmith.My pee is silent.
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A silent Pee is one thing, but are you splash free?
I think my green suede shoes are very stylish.
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Say no more.
The weather forecast appears to be more conducive for outdoor activities today than the torrential rain I was faced with on my 15 mile Sunday bike ride yesterday. It continued to rain on and off for the rest of the day. I watched it through the window…
My prescription needs renewing today, so its off for a walk down to the surgery, about a mile away, and then a scenic meander along the canal towpath and home for lunch making the round trip four miles. The thunder and lightning forecast yesterday seems to have veered out into the north sea, and at a heady 13 deg C I think it is still okay to go in shorts.
Why don’t I get myself a smartphone?
A question that occasionally pops up now and then.
It’s a bit like watching TV. As a lad in the fifties and early sixties, we only had TV in the afternoon for children (watch with mother etc) Which I soon grew out of. So telly viewing was limited to evenings. Over the years, despite their now being 24 hour broadcasting, It doesn’t seem right to waste away an afternoon sitting comfortably watching TV, especially when the sun is out.
I also can’t be doing with music playing in the background while I’m doing something else. I do like listening to music, but there is usually a time and a place, and I like to sit and give it my full attention.
It’s the same with the internet, over the years I’ve used the computer for recording my running journals, and then as a self employed courier all of my invoicing, tax and VAT records were done on the computer, but it was always done at home sat in front of a screen and giving it my full attention.
Nowadays I use the computer and the internet for banking etc and browsing social media, among other things…But they are all things I prefer to do while sat at home.
The main benefits with smartphones come from the fact that you can take the internet with you, which in my world is a bad idea. The same as listening to music or watching a film while on the go. I prefer to live in the moment and save the internet until I get home.
Apart from needing to wear spectacles all the time so I can read the screen, and the fidgety little buttons on a touch screen, I’m usually driving anyway.
There are some features that I would enjoy to use while outdoors, ‘strava’ for logging down pace, speed and navigation, and I look at my drone idling away in the cupboard that I’m unable to fly without the use of the camera which requires a smartphone. I can fly the thing, but the novelty soon wore off when I couldn’t use the camera. But is it worth going to the expense of purchasing a smartphone and upgraded data service? I think not.
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