Spent the day at the Photography show at the NEC. Enjoyed it, and managed to avoid spending lots of dosh.
Back home now but knackered!
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Glad you enjoyed the show too much for my knees and back .
Managed to plant another salvia for my bee garden. A garden grown both for the bees and photography
(stock photo- not mine)
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First afternoon of 2024, here, on the terrace.
Plants all sorted, tiles washed, table out of hibernation.
The dog had a bone, and I had the new Private Eye crossword. And the sun was warm.
Of course Wolves managed - somehow - to lose a match (which they deserved to really) so you can’t have everything.
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Bottom end now done. All clearances ok and conrod bolt stretch checked. I did have one 'rod bolt that I wasn’t in spec (when the bolt is undone the gauge should return to zero) so had to use another new bolt from another set.
This one was OK though along with another six. 
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Another bike ride with Mrs. G.in the countryside near Salobreña. There’s still a bit of snow on the south side of the Sierra Nevadas, but spring has definitely arrived here with temperatures of 23°C.
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Had a look in on the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Munich but strangely drank a local lager instead of Guinness
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That’s not the Wolverhampton I recall!!
Had forgotten that several weeks ago I’d agreed to collect my son and some of his mates from Belfast at 1am today. He reminded me.
About 11:30 got a call that they needed collected sooner, like asap. Turns out that one of their number, let’s call him “Fred”, was rather the worse for wear. Seems that he’d worked out how much alcohol it took over the course of an evening to overcome his shyness and had decided to beat that into himself as quickly as possible. I would urge you never to repeat this experiment.
Hopped in Mrs Willy’s car and drove off. Some very strange, unpleasant, noises emanating from the front offside wheel area. After less than 50 yards I decided to change cars, executed a reverse three point turn into a neighbours driveway and then back into our own driveway. The reversing made things much worse.
Clambered into my son’s car and off to Belfast. Carnage. Much “pavement hugging” going on. By the time I picked them up 45 minutes of fresh air had much improved “Fred’s” condition. Dropped him off and they manhandled him into his house and put him to bed. Oh to be young again.
Meanwhile, in the clod light of dawn, one side of the X1 is sitting noticeably lower than the other so the suspicion is a broken spring. It’ll be collected a week today and should be ready the following day.
Meanwhile we’re down to one car, an 18 year old Peugeot 107. I think we really need some sort of backup convertible, sorry I mean car. 
Willy.
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I’m at the Wigmore for a recital by Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, an eclectic programme starting with German/Austrian Lieder, moving on to South African songs, then a couple of hymns, finishing with (sorry @Ian2001 it’s not Edelweiss but same film) Climb Every Mountain.
It’s a live broadcast at 1pm in Radio 3.
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This friendly guy appeared in the rafters of the Gothic Cottage at Stourhead this afternoon. Lovely conditions out there today.
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Hi Eoin
I hope you had a really good concert , sounds very eclectic
Best wishes
Ian
PS I am hoping to get to at least one concert in The Newbury Spring Festival , but at the moment cannot walk that far .
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I’ve spent 64 minutes on the phone to HMRC this afternoon, sorting out my tax code for 2024/25. An hour on wait and four minutes sorting it out. They were very efficient and hopefully it’s now good to go.
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I listened to the concert live on R3 while at work - beautiful singing
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She was stunning, I was really moved by her rendition of Abide With Me in her native tongue Sotho, an eye-wiping moment.
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Only 64 minutes! Lucky you!
Ah, the answer was on the Tv Programme Countdown a few tears ago , some products like hoovers are so generic that a product named after Mr Hoover becomes a simple hoover ( a generic name) Pilates comes with a capital and the contestant lost a round
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Got round to transferring my old Mac to the new. (Mac offered me a trade in ) No joy
Kept getting a message saying my old Mac had older software , and the two were not compatible, spoke to a lovely sounding Aussie young lady (gorgeous accent) and then another person who tried very hard to help.
No doubt about it my old Mac was up to date . It turned out it was the new Mac that had older software , updated the new Mac and away we went .
Doh
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IME, when you finally get through, things are very easy and reasonable. What isn’t, is their silly system of trying to guestimate your forward income (based on Y-1) and working out a tax code on this basis, with no recognition that things may have changed. And things like fixed cash deposits which deliver lumps of interest, which may not be repeated (and rates do change!), aggravate their estimates no end.
I really think HMRC and equally their lords & masters have created a monster of work creation for themselves and the affected public.
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A couple of years before I retired over the first 2 months of the FY I received 6 letters changing my tax code, a different one each time. Each time I rang the help desk to ask why and nobody could explain. The differences weren’t significant (although my take home reduced slightly on most) so I just sorted it out on my self assessment 18 months later.
The forward interest thing is interesting: next year a 5 year NS&I bond matures. While the bond was running NS&I changed the rules so that the interest only counts for tax purposes when it matures, rather than in each year as it did previously. So say you get £250 interest each year, it would previously not exceed the interest threshold, but now it does. So I’m quite pleased there is a forward estimate which means most of the tax will get paid in the year, rather than there being a lump to pay later. When it matures in June I’ll put the money in an ISA, which avoids the need to adjust tax codes.
It’s all very easy when you have a single source of income but when you have more than that, and there is interest and gift aid donations, and if you go through a tax band threshold, it all gets more complicated. I worked as an accountant so it’s not uncomfortable but I can see how for many it’s pretty scary.
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