Yesterday Whilst In The Shop,

Graham asked if I could print a few things for him,

no sooner said than done, so back to the shop in the afternoon today, the cherry blossom now well past its best,

the antique shop closed for the day,

and here was a piece of luck, as I was there Steve called in for some RO water, so he dropped me off at home and called in for a coffee,

in the evening Steve and myself were out, we went to The Fox Inn at Keston,

we were going to watch a group we had watched a couple of times before, the Part Time Punks,

but this time with a guitar playing female singer,

and here they are,

the evening speed past, some songs I had not heard before, but in the second half lots of old favorites, we waited for our taxi out side, arriving home it was time for a coffee and a chat with Diana, and one from season one of Silent Witness before we were off to bed.

Do Not Mess With Fish 274,

and you thought fish were fun!

well they could be if only you could take them for a walk, that problem was solved when in May 2021 when we featured the “katsugyo bag” a portable fish tank, photograph katsugyo_bag/Instagram, but walking around with all of the weight of water is going to be tiring, but here is the answer to that problem,

a popular Taiwanese DIY youtuber called Huang Xiaojie, aka ‘Jerry’, on April 23rd, Jerry released a video showcasing his invention, calling it one of his toughest challenges yet, a mobile fish tank on wheels,

the acrylic tube is the actual fish tank, and it comes with a battery-powered filtration system, an air pump for oxygen, as well as a lighting system, if you really want to show off your fish at nighttime,

Huang Xiaojie took his three gold fish for a long walk and seeing as they all made it back safely, he declared the project a success, who knows the fish tank might actually come to be on sale one day, so we can walk our guppies!

although Huang’s video doesn’t come with English subtitles explaining the work that went into the project, the DIY expert basically welded a metal chassis as support for a sealed acrylic tube, put it on wheels and added a handle for pushing, I wonder what his next project will be?

Many Years Ago,

in my late teens and early twenties,

 I would go the Streatham ice rink to watch ice hockey, photograph Dan4th Nicholas/Flickr, I remember it for no other reason than the number of fights that took place on the ice, but with so much padding thankfully not a lot of damage was inflicted on either player, apparently the number of fights in ice hockey has not gone unnoticed, and so begins, Ice Wars, whose president A.J. Galante told Reuters that the popularity of such sports gave him confidence that he could turn his dream project into a success as well, Galante used to be the manager of the Danbury Trashers, a minor league hockey team so violent and controversial that it became the subject of a Netflix documentary titled “Untold: Crime and Penalties“,

yes that is correct, ice hockey but without the pucks, nets and sticks! “I’m calling it prizefighting on ice because, at the end of the day, there is no hockey being played,” Galante recently told Reuters. “There are no sticks, there are no pucks, there are no nets. So yes, it’s full hockey gear and it will predominantly be current hockey players. But it’s prizefighting with a purse on the line.” the fighters will be wearing full hockey gear and 4-ounce MMA gloves. They cannot intentionally remove their opponent’s helmet, but should the headgear come off due to a well-placed punch, the bout can continue, the rounds will feature ice hockey enforcers fighting for money. A match will consist of two, one-minute rounds with a 30-second “ice breaker” round in the event that the fighters each win one round,

although Ice Wars doesn’t currently have any ice hockey players from the NHL on its roster, it does have a number of players from the American Hockey League (AHL) as well as smaller leagues like the ECHL and LNAH. And some of them can’t wait to show off their skills, “As crazy as it might sound, this is something that I’ve always had in the back of my mind,” ice hockey player Daniel Amesbury said. “Six months ago I was saying to my buddy that it’s too bad there isn’t some sport where I can take advantage of this unique skill that I have.” so if you like the idea of ice hockey without nets, pucks and sticks, the first Ice Wars event will take place on May 21, in Edmonton, and will be live-streamed on FITE, I think I prefer the game with the usual accompaniments.

It Was Time For Some More RO water,

so off to the bus stop,

through the park,

passing the snail mail box, it was a bit of an overcast day,

I caught the number 54 bus to the Cromwell Road stop in Croydon Road outside of the antique shop,

if rabbits are your thing, there are plenty here,

then over the road to Kingfisheries,

I chatted to Graham who mentioned the outdoor pond section was now open at the rear of the shop, so I had a look,

I have to say that no garden for myself would be complete without a fish pond or at the very least a

natural pond for local wildlife,

lots of goldfish to chose from,

plus many variations of them,

even white ones,

and some a canary yellow,

these looked almost prehistoric,

sturgeon, as it happens they were once very common in the UK, but now they are endangered, just think, grow your own caviar in your back garden! going back to sturgeon in UK waters, remember if you catch one whilst fishing you must first offer your catch to the Queen, yes you really do have to telephone Buckingham Palace! if you want to buy one at Kingfisheries they will cost you £29.50 each or 2 for £55.00, after arriving home it was feet up for a chicken curry that Diana made, for the evening we watched tonight's edition of BattleBots, followed by a early screening of New Tricks, having found that all 24 series of Silent Witness were available BBC iPlayer, we decided to start with series 1 episode 1, it was nearly 01.00 am before we decided it was time for bed.

It Is A Fact,

that over the years I have very bad luck with anything electrical,

especially computers and laptops, so this is a 'must have' for myself, a low-tech IT amulets that promise to keep computers from freezing and restarting randomly, as well as free from viruses and malware, the Kanda Myojin, is a popular Shinto shrine in Akihabara, Tokyo sells a variety of amulets and prayers, but none as intriguing as the “computer function amulet”. Consisting of a small, CPU-shaped sticker meant to be stuck onto the gadget in need of divine protection and a larger piece of cardboard meant to be worn by the computer operator, the amulet is one of the most popular items offered by Kanda Myojinm. If used correctly, the amulet will allegedly protect your machine from viruses, malware and random errors, as well as keep it from freezing up,

just the sort of thing that I need, the Kanda Myojin shrine sells its IT amulet for 1,200 yen via its official website, at today's rate £7.36 or $9.25, and offers domestic shipping as well, it sounds to good to be true, what is the catch?. unfortunately, there is no overseas shipping, so it means I will have to visit the shrine personally, I wonder how much a return ticket to Japan, is and the cost of a taxi to the Kanda Myojin shrine?

I Visited The Dentist So Many Times,

it does not faze me out at all,

photograph Ozkan Guner/Unsplash, I guess the same for Tom Jozsi, a 60-year-old man from Illinois, this month He was at the dentist getting a tooth filled, and the next thing he knows he is being told that he swallowed a drill bit, considering that the sharp metal part could have pierced his intestines, it was a worry, and if that were not bad enough a CT scan later showed that he hadn’t swallowed the drill bit, he had inhaled it, and it was now lodged in his lung! pulmonary experts initially tried removing the dental drill bit using normal scopes but it appeared to be lodged too deep in the lung. Obviously, Jozsi started getting worried, especially after being told that if the drill bit would be left there, part of his lung would probably need to be removed, “That foreign body was in the mouth and bacteria in the mouth is the most virulent and very aggressive bacteria, and if it’s sitting there it will create an abscess down the road,” pulmonologist Abdul Hamid Alraiyes told CNN. 

“That’s why you have to get rid of it as soon as possible.” as for the event itself, “I was at the dentist getting a tooth filled, and then next thing I know I was told I swallowed this tool,” he told WISN 12 News. “I didn’t really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough.” he added, “What happens if he can’t get it out? And the answer really was, part of my lung was going to have to get removed,” Tom Jozsi told People Magazine, at one point, the drill bit started causing the 60-year-old maintenance worker to cough up blood, so doctors started preparing him for intensive surgery. Luckily, Dr. Alraiyes and his team came up with a creative way to get the drill bit out, using a robotic bronchoscopy normally used to detect tiny lung cancer nodules. The 90-minute procedure went as planned, and the drill bit was removed, thankfully Tom Jozsi has since made a full recovery and he even has the drill bit on a shelf in his home as a souvenir to remind him of the time he nearly lost part of his lung, am I afraid to go to the dentist again? no, I mean what are the chances of swallowing a dentist's drill bit?

Diana Had Already left For Work,

as she was on a early shift,

and I was not far behind her as I was heading to the station to catch a couple of trains to visit Duncan,

I called by the snail mail box to put a few letters from previous owners that had moved with no forwarding address into it, I had written the message 'no longer known at this address' on them,

one home owner making sure nobody walks on the grass verge outside of their home, but here is the thing, is the grass verge owned by the homeowner or the council?

the same here, if a member of the public falls over one of the stones that the homeowner has put there to protect the grass verge and is injured, who do they sue for compensation, the homeowner or the council?

before going to the station I made my way past the green,

to Marks & Spencer's to buy some chocolates for Duncan,

as I was passing the station I thought I would buy the tickets for next week, as I was sort of sure the ticket office would be open, and it was!

tickets for next week purchased and I was on my way over the road bridge to catch the train to Bromley South, then a train change,

to Sevenoaks, now here is a thing, we have occasionally been asked by ticket inspectors to see out tickets, I was just thinking that in all of the visits to Duncan and back I have never been asked to show my ticket, not a minute later two inspectors walked along the carriage and asked to see my ticket! how uncanny that I had just thought that,

a quick look at the bee garden,

the tulips nearly past their best,

but the bluebells still looking fine,

I am not sure what this plant is, but it was not in flower last week,

and this week it is,

the hill is steeper than it looks!

I soon arrived at the nursing home, where we chatted away for a couple of hours, reminiscing about old times, as it happens we have been friends for over 50 years and had several marriages to chat about, so there were lots to talk about!

I then made my way back to the station past the flower beds outside of the home,

I only went as far as Bromley South, in the morning I called the dentist and there was a time slot in the afternoon, 

so a train to Bromley, 

then up the hill,

to the other end of town,

to the market square,

past Primark to the 227 bus stop,

to the Moon & Stars, I was a tad early, so a latté coffee it was then, I was surprised how inexpensive it was, being used to coffees in town being £3 or £4, sometimes even more, but here a mug of latté was just £1.20 and free refiles! a short walk later,

and my next stop, the dentist, £95 later and I was on my way, I could now smile without frightening the horses!

I walked past the Odeon to the pharmacy to pick up the rest of my prescription,

as I left the pharmacy my bus thundered past, so a walk it was then, as it happens the traffic was so bad I nearly caught the bus up as I passed the church,

Diana was already home and it was time for our evening meal, I may have mentioned Diana is still receiving free samples of make up, perfume and other odds and ends, and the good news, yesterday this mini bottle of wine arrived,

time for a read and a sherry,

followed by the mini bottle wine,

'Cheers!', and nice it was too,

for our starter,

garlic prawns,

and for this evening,

time for my birthday bottle of bubbly,

that Diana bought for me a couple of weeks ago,

easy does it,

all done,

so a glass each,

before our main course,

a wagyu steak with two huge mushrooms, asparagus, coleslaw and boiled potatoes, it was all delicious,

'Cheers!', from Diana,

for dessert, well I am not sure what Diana had,

for myself a frosted artic roll with strawberries, 'Cheers!', after our meal it was time for a couple of New Tricks followed by a Silent Witness before we were off to bed.