Latest Posts

The old rusting bus stop

Published on 4 April 2019 in Transport, buses, old things

Rusted bus stop sign in the village of Curbridge, near Witney.

Just a short thing about an old, rusty bus stop.

Good gawd, what’s he going on about now?

Published on 2 April 2019 in Life, English language, swearing

It's not a phrase I have come across very much in my life. At least, not spelt out like that. According to Google's Ngram viewer, usage peaked in the 1920s. Perhaps everyone exclaimed it whilst doing the Charleston or something. I came across it many years later, in a series of Grange Hill novels stocked in my high school library. Books with stories of Ziggy and Whammo and loads of other characters who had long gone from the TV screen. But which I read anyway. And on every page there seemed to be someone whining "Oh Gawd", "Good Gawd", or perhaps just "Gawd!"

Sometimes you just have to buy an album that’s on clear violet vinyl

Published on 30 March 2019 in Music, HMV, The Prodigy, vinyl records

When she was 40, my partner Catherine was given a record player as a present. We had no records of course, but we began to build up a collection. And I'm loving it.

Why restart an old blog, rather than starting a new one?

Published on 28 March 2019 in Life, blogging

When I decided to start blogging again, I had to make a decision. Should I start a new blog and leave my old one where it was? Or should I restart the old one?

So I hear you’re a blogger now, Father Ted

Published on 27 March 2019 in Life

In 2013, I shuttered my blog. Well, okay, it went into indefinite hiatus. I decided to call it a day. So why am I restarting it?

Au Revoir, But Not Goodbye, Soldier Boy – Planet Bods Blog on hiatus

Published on 18 February 2013 in Planet Bods

After ten and a half years of blogging, I've decided to put the blog on indefinite hiatus. And I didn't want to go without saying something.

Supermarkets – and avoiding them

Published on 1 February 2013 in Food and Drink, Shopping, food, shopping, supermarkets

It is said that one in every eight pounds spent in shops in the UK, is spent in Tesco. That's 12½p out of every pound goes in to Tesco's tills. And that's just one supermarket. Don't know about you, but I think that's scary and have done for a while. Supermarkets in general are dominating our lives. And they're spreading out like wildfire.

Changing all my web passwords

Published on 25 January 2013 in Internet, internet, passwords, security

I don't know about you, but I use the same password for every website. I know, I know. I shouldn't. It's bad and wrong. One person could steal your password and get it in to all your accounts.

150 Years of the Tube: the tube station’s I’ve visited list

Published on 10 January 2013 in London, Transport, London, London Underground, trains

When I first moved to London in 1999 I had a tube map on the wall next to my front door. Every time I went to a new tube station I highlighted it on the map. The reason was because I was interested in where I'd been to in London; a city that I was, of course, exploring a lot.