A Change

I have not been posting as much on my main blog , (that is this one), and that was my intention this year but thanks to me writing on Vocal my writing has actually gone up significantly.  The thing is there is no checking or approval needed on here and there is no need to hit a minimum word count so I can write as little or as much as I want and not have to  check whether it is OK for publication apart from my own visual and grammar and spelling checks.

With Vocal I do get paid for reads though it's a tiny amount but it is a different platform. The format is similar to how I post on here but I do write the initial post using Google Docs which I find a lot faster , more responsive and easier than Microsoft Word , and I am surprised on how slow Microsoft Office apps have become in general. They take an age to start, and sometimes decide to just freeze you out when you are in the middle of something. That is not very good.

I have just finished watching "The Haunting of Bly Manor" on Netflix and while episodes 1-7 were good I felt a little lost at times , but the final two episodes were amazing and the ending , if a little sad, was excellent. I now need to decide on what to pick up next.

I have just realised that my posts on here can be totally unfocused whereas Vocal needs them to be more to the main point to be approved. 

I am glad I have posted here and this morning while working have been listening to various things and the one that sticks in my mind is "All Through The City" by Wilko Johnson from the "Going Back Home" album on Chess with Roger Daltrey although it was a classic Dr Feelgood song , and I actually set and ran through the main riff and posted it in Instagram here, but will share with you.

Suddenly It's Christmas

Oh I do love Loudon Wainwright III, and this really sums up the commercialisation of Christmas and it's funny too. I mean you have those Coca Cola lorries, what really has that got to do do with Christmas.. but remember that Coca Cola stuck their brand on Christmas so well that Santa dresses in Coca Cola colours.

Christmas is a time for reinforcing good things , looking out for people , connecting with those you haven't seen , and spreading happiness, although personally I would like that to be permanent m, not just at Christmas.

At work they're doing a Secret Santa, but I have opted out of it , not because I'm a curmudgeon or anything , but I don't need anything and so I'm gonna spend a tenner on a bag of goodies and drop it it to the Food Bank in the Grainger Market (and I'd rather not be doing that but while we have this government it's one way of helping those affected by their spiteful bullying)

This morning I went to the post office to pick up a letter that contained a code for me to download Office 2016. It cost me a tenner off Amazon here and I had to contact support to get a link for the 64 bit version , but all seems to be good now.

So if you want the Loudon Wainwright song it's here, have a brilliant Saturday my friends.

Weatherbeaten

Today is the sort of day that will stop me hitting my walking target, biting cold , rain and wind that is just enough to make an umbrella almost unuseable. It's still raining outside, and today we even had some snow. Luckily for me I am 100 steps short of my monthly target so for November I will hit it, but December, January and February may be a little more difficult, although I knew that was a distinct possibility.

It's still raining outside, and it's still cold, getting into bed is definitely inviting as the heating shuts off for the night.

We even had a short snow flurry today, so we have had a lot of inclement weather.

Today I decided to check if my Office 2010 was 64 bit to go with my PC, it isn't and the official download image is only 32 bit , no option for a 64 bit switch. So that will have to wait.

There are cold drafts in the house, which are caused by the wather outside but feel like ghostly presences.

Anyway the latest album on the player has been Blue Oyster Cult's "Agents of Fortune", titled from a quote that stated that playing cards were fifty two agents of fortune. This was the band's third studio album although they had broken through with the excellent live double set "On Your Feet, Or On Your Knees", and the production on this was far superior to what had gone before.

The was polished heavy metal with a pop sensibility that took no prisoners. Opening with "THis Ain't The Summer of Love" , lulling us into a slight respite with "True Confessions" before hitting us with the tour-de-force of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" not letting up with "ETI" before bringing in Patti Smith on "The Revenge of Vera Gemini". By this time you know you have been hit.

Side two doesn't keep up the attack apart from "Tattoo Vampire" but it's still all high quality music.

So there is only one choice of song from this album (but you can easily check out the rest) , but it  really is time for bed now, see you tomorrow.