Well my first comment has to be an update on the previous post.
Once I’d published it, I immediately saw that it reverted to the full size layout that it was before. I then saw there were 3 little icons relating to how I was seeing the post…….computer screen, tablet and smartphone. When I was creating the post, it was set to tablet format so….phew.
All is well.
Right, on to this diary entry.
First up, I have to admit I totally missed the New Year’s Eve countdown to midnight and the fireworks from London that followed. I don’t know when that last happened. I started watching a movie (The Martian) at about 10:30pm but planned on pausing it at midnight to catch the celebrations. Then at 11:20pm I got a Whatsapp message from a friend who was on her way down to Key West so I paused the movie and we “chatted” away and I lost all sence of time until she suddenly typed “Happy New Year” to me. I looked at my watch and it was after midnight !
Oh well, I did watch the fireworks later on BBC’s iPlayer.
====================
A lot of people use a new year to start a diet and I’m no exception. I don’t really diet as such but I just try to get rid of more calories than I take in and I do this by the simple method of eating smaller portions and exercising more. It worked well for me last year as I kept losing 1-2lbs or so every week and so by Week 27 (on 22nd May) I’d lost exactly 27 lbs. Then I went on a 3 week road trip around France, Portugal and Spain and was stunned to find that when I got on the scales on my return, I’d lost another 2lbs !
Who loses weight on holiday ??? Seems I do.
But then I lost focus and went back to my old ways and a lot of the weight went back on again and stayed on for the rest of the year.
So….. a new year and new focus. I got on the scales today to set the benchmark (I was 11lbs more than I was before that European trip last May) and every Friday I’ll be honest and post my loss (or gain) from the previous week.
====================
Do you use Periscope ? If not, it’s a phone app that lets you broadcast a live stream to….well to anyone who wants to watch. You basically install the app, hit the red button to initiate a broadcast, enter a title if you want and off you go. The idea is that you follow others and others follow you just like on Twitter and you get notified when they are broadcasting and vice versa.
Yes you can get a lot of wannabe celebs, people on ego trips, boring motivational speakers and probably perverts and flashers on Periscope but as always, you’d have to go looking for them if that’s your thing ! At the moment I have a small group of people I follow (and even some kind souls who follow me) and as they live all around the world from South Korea to Iceland, I’m learning about “how the other half live” much better than from any documentary on TV as these are real people going about their daily lives.
Best of all there is also a World Map option where you can see who is broadcasting live and simply jump in to their stream and see what’s going on……and jump back out again if you don’t care for what you’re seeing ! The streams also stay available for viewing for a few days afterwards so you can watch like it was a TiVo recording.
One area where Periscope will be revolutionary is live news streams from people who are actually there. I was watching a feed from someone on their hotel balcony across from that fire in Dubai on New Year’s Eve long before any station like CNN or the BBC picked up on it.
So go on, download the app and get ‘Scoping, as we young people call it !!
====================
Being a Friday, it was Chinese & Movie night at my friends house – a weekly event that we’ve been keeping for many years. I bring the movie and we have some sort of takeout meal, either delivered or picked up locally in the case of meals like fish & chips and it’s a lovely sociable end to the week.
Things didn’t go to plan from the start.
As soon as I arrived and was in their kitchen which overlooks their driveway, I noticed my car was missing the front right hub cap. Nooooooo. Few things look so bad as a car with one or more missing hub caps so with little hope of success, as I’d no idea when or where it might have come off, I retraced my drive from home.
Incredibly, after less than a mile, I saw it at the entrance to someone’s driveway. It was very unlikely that it had fortuitously rolled there so my feeling is that it had been in the middle of the road and some passing motorist or pedestrian had picked it up and tossed it onto the driveway just to keep it off the road. I didn’t care. I had my hub cap back, quickly replaced it and drove back to my friend’s house.
When it was food time we decided on fish and chips so I drove to our local chippie – completely forgetting the date ! It was closed. I drove on to another chippie. Also closed. Damn you selfish people who want New Year’s Day off !!
In the end I realised that fast food locations wouldn’t be closed so went to a KFC. Ok, ok. I’ll do a few extra miles on the treadmill this week. It was an emergency. Don’t judge me this early on !
When it was movie time I’d planned on watching “Room” which I’d enjoyed a few days earlier. Due to technical problems I won’t go into, we couldn’t watch it so ended up with “The Intern” instead. Yes I know….chick flick. Again, stop judging !
===================
When I left my friend’s house at about 11pm, I was really glad I’d brought my woolly hat with me because earlier in the day I’d cut my hair.
I know I don’t have much to start with but I like it short so no combing is required. When it gets to the length where I get pillow hair (hair sticks out at an angle upon rising), it’s time to cut it again. I usually use a No.2 guide but this time I used a No.1 guide but set the blades on their outer position……so I guess I’d call it No.1.5.
Then some sort of hirsute madness set in and I went over what was left of my hair using the No.1 guide but with the blades pulled back completely…..a full No.1.
A bowling ball has more hair than I have now. As a result I’m feeling the cold air more than normal and so it was that I was grateful for my woolly hat when I left my friend’s house. They say you lose most body heat from your head.
I can tell you that’s true !
So that was New Year’s Day. Exciting stuff eh ! Oh suit yourselves !
It’s only Day 1.
Retirement Rocks 