David Jenkins' weblog

Life’s too short to drink instant coffee

Category: life

  • better than the alternative

    better than the alternative

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    It’s what they say about getting old when you’re inclined to grumble about aching limbs and forgetfulness. I’m prompted to write because I woke up one morning recently aching like I’d been on a 10 mile walk yesterday. I hadn’t, it didn’t ruin my night’s sleep and is largely dissipated through the day but it…

  • today’s gratitude list.

    today’s gratitude list.

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    I came across this blog today: https://heardandfelt.wordpress.com/ It’s got some good thought provoking content but I feel I’m being short changed because the author doesn’t tell me much about him/herself. I sense it’s a woman, apologies if I’m wrong, and she introduces the concept of her ‘gratitude list’. Nothing deep or profound about this but…

  • 1974: a big transition

    1974: a big transition

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    It began with the miners strike and it ended with me sat at a pool bar in Bali. It was quite a year. (the photo above is a passport photo I got taken early in the year in anticipation of what I would need for visas and the like later on) In summary it was…

  • 2023 in facts and figures

    2023 in facts and figures

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    Google provide a map of where I’ve been in 2023. It’s been a rather more expansive year with no limitations on travel. Internationally I went to Jordan in January and then we went to Piemonte in May and Rhodes in September. The former was rather wet, the latter gloriously sunny. Coincidentally my car goes in…

  • References in time

    References in time

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    People ask you. ‘What were you doing in 1994?’ for example and it’s generally difficult to answer. Our memories are good but they’re not stored in date form. But there are exceptions and these do enable you to work out an answer to the question. They’re the years for which you can always respond ‘yes,…

  • A picture for every year: 2007 to 2021

    A picture for every year: 2007 to 2021

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    Finally: fifteen years of digital and colour! Top left is me (front row next to Abi) at the Histon Station protest. Then it’s me with Juni in Hong Kong and, more travel, me in Cuba. Then it’s a first Hawarden Grammar School reunion with, L to R, Deidre Cartwright, me, Ron Liversedge (sadly died) and…

  • 5 highlights of 2023

    5 highlights of 2023

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    It’s been a full year but strangely I’ve had difficulty teasing out five particular highlights. However I do have a list even though number five is perhaps a bit of a cop-out. Three good holidays with eight excellent hotels. First my trip to Jordan, then Juni and I had a wet but nonetheless excellent week…

  • You get what you pay for: experience with osteopathy.

    You get what you pay for: experience with osteopathy.

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    Wednesday is the day I set my alarm and get up early, at 0730, for my weekly cardio Zoom. I neither enjoy the early start nor the Zoom itself but recognise that there is a benefit and I do go through the rest of the day feeling positive about myself.

  • 5 people who annoy me in the gym

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    I’m still a regular user of my local gym. It’s not called the Barn any more, it’s Vision Fitness, and although attendance has been down it’s slowly building up again. I like it when there are others in the gym, exercise seems to be a social event even if you don’t talk to anyone, but…

  • Three cheers for the NHS (again)! (Dupuytrens 1)

    Three cheers for the NHS (again)! (Dupuytrens 1)

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    The day started badly. OK I had to get up earlier than I like these days and there was slow traffic at first on the M11 but I arrived at Addenbrookes, Clinic 7 shortly after 0900 for my 0930 appointment. That’s when the receptionist told me that my appointment had been cancelled and rescheduled for…