On the Road Again!

The usual start time of 10am. I left home around 9.40am and arrived just after 10am. Quite a few bikes on the recently concreted "motorcycles only" parking strip. I was at the end nearest the café . Cal already there with a tea. We went in and ordered.  Neil turned up and we ate, drank more tea/coffee and it rained. We've barely had anything for around 5 weeks! The problem we have, and no doubt other countries also have, is "summer ice". It's the rubber build up on the road surface that becomes slippery when wet. Just like the Bon Jovi song!!! Luckily, it wasn't too bad apart from the roundabout at Brenzett. More due to a diesel spill. You could smell it. We waited for the rain to pass and the sun came out again. Then left. So that's another 30 miles on the odometer.  July total 46!

With the weather being the unpredictable factor this summer, I have been looking at further north.  How about the Baltic? Germany? Denmark? It's an area that neither of us have been to before.  I started to look at the area where the "Riddle of the Sands" was staged around the German East Frisian Islands. For years I have thought about a trip to Peenemunde , where the Germans designed and tested the V1. It's on the German Baltic coast. Then I thought about Denmark, or a toe dip into Poland?  I discounted Norway and Sweden!! I tried to get ChatGPT to come up with a sensible idea but it seemed unable to come up with a plan that wasn't a rush there and back. The basic text I gave it was quite specific regarding some places to include but still it planned a whistlestop tour.... So back to the drawing board? Claire would prefer France, Normandy and Brittany.  All that's set in stone are the Eurotunnel dates. As I mentioned in a previous AT26 post, it pr...

Back in the top league again after a few years in the second tier. A win at home to Sparta Prague. What a great start to the new season. Zpátky v nejvyšší soutěži po několika letech ve druhé lize. Vítězství doma nad Spartou Praha. Jak skvělý začátek nové sezóny.

The last Yes album I bought was back in 2014 with "Heaven and Earth". I had pretty much given up on them after the clowns from the Buggles came and completely f*cked up one of the best bands ever. When Jon Anderson was sacked interest waned more. So why buy this? I heard a couple of minutes played on the radio. At least it sounded like we had turned back the clock. Aurora Tracklisting: Aurora (07:27) Turnaround Situation (05:50) Love Lies Dreaming (06:24) Countermovement (13:48) Ariadne (06:18) All Hands on Deck (03:04) Outside the Box (04:20) Emotional Intelligence (03:30) Jambustin’ (Bonus Track) (04:24) Watching the River Roll (Bonus Track) (04:42) It's a good album. Even those of us that go back to 1969 have been impressed.  Speaking about myself of course. My brother and I went to see Yes at the Royal Albert Hall in 2016. More classic stuff and pretty much the same lineup as today. We Are YES Other Yes blogs: Tales from Topographic Oceans Yessongs

.... it must be another bloodtest day! This is the third Friday out of four where I have had a blood test visit  This time my quarterly one for prostate cancer and another for diabetes.  At least only one hole this time.

I bought this t-shirt a while back from Steelhorse UK. It's XL but when it was a little tight. So today I tried it on, and miracle. It fits. Okay, I am not good at smiling....

I cancelled the appointment with Hidden Hearing a few weeks ago. When I was there the last time, the hearing test pretty much proved that my right ear is almost useless.  Their idea was a cross over system that would mean an aid in my right ear would connect by Bluetooth to another in my left ear and trick my brain into thinking I was hearing through both ears.   At £3500 it's a lot of money when my right ear would still be useless. On June 3rd I had an audiology appointment at the William Harvey. I last had an NHS test in 2021.  The audiologist showed me the graphs for both ears. The right showed the same drop off as Hidden Hearing. She also said that the aid I had was a waste of time and shouldn't have been prescribed at all. Imagine a line on the graph that looks like a side view of a ski jump.... Only certain frequencies make it through. When I listen music with my pods or full over ear cans, barely anything can be heard through the right, although it...