1st November 2026 A computer without a memory?

 ~?~

  Sunday 1st 48F/9C [8.50] A grey day with possible light rain or showers. Temperatures hovering just below 10C/50F all day. Light SW winds.

 Up at 8.10 after earlier practice sessions. More weird dreams.  23C/73F in the room.

 It suddenly occurred to me that I haven't looked at my blog stats [views] for [literally] years. I type away at my "cycling" blog every day without ever questioning why. Or whether anybody actually reads my nonsense. I check and recheck my spelling and grammar as I go along. Constantly updating without worrying about the consequences. Standards have to be maintained. 

 I try to be interesting without a clue if my inane ramblings hold the slightest interest for others. I now see my cycling blog as a sort of diary. Yet only rarely look back. Except perhaps to find a picture. When Google Pictures can't find it. [As usual]  I've had lots of blogs over the years. Covering a few of my interests and lifelong obsessions. 

 Each has fallen into abandonment as my interest waned or expired. My late wife called me a  butterfly. It was perfectly apt. I could so easily become obsessed in a new subject and be taking thousands of pictures, doing research. Buying books, new toys and/or tools. Or raiding the local reference library for more information. Now suddenly it's all on the Internet. The information itself. Not necessarily my own minimal contributions. To any particular subject matter. 

 I had the advantage of multiple, manual skills built up over the long years. A lifetime collection of tools. So varied in nature that was usually something I could use. I always preferred to a buy a necessary tool. Rather than pay somebody else to do a job. Other people always seemed to need to make a profit at my expense. They had to live. I only needed something doing. So I would do my homework in the library and get on with whatever it was. 

 Photography has been another lifetime interest. Which encompassed landscapes, architecture, astronomy, bird watching, clocks, DIY and cycling of course. I'll stop here. I need a walk. Listing my interests could easily cover several pages. As would listing my endless creations. Which would seem like bragging. Rather than an attempt to explain my lifelong behavior.

 I was born with just enough intelligence to be dangerous. Sadly somebody left out the memory chips. When I was assembled. Hence my several thousand, non-fiction, book collection. Which I simply cannot give away. 

 My mastery of maths does not even extend to adding up a short shopping list and getting the same answer twice. Yet I used maths extensively for many of my technical hobbies and interests. Including writing BBC Basic, Trigonometrical, optical design software.  

 11.00 Back from my walk. It is cool but almost still. Heavily overcast but dry so far. No guard dog again. Though "Fluffy" the long haired Alsatian nodded as I passed. The Husqvarna robot mower was doing a great job again. Achieving perfect lines on a steeply, lateral sloping bank. With rises and falls along the length of hundreds of meters. 

 Today I could see more of the fallen branch of my huge willow through my binoculars. The fall had broken large branches high up on an adjoining plum tree. I'll let nature take its course. Too risky to get involved. Unless the neighbour forms an HOA and elects himself as chairman. 

 Will I go for a ride today? The stillness is encouraging. The very dark skies anything but.

 I just climbed a stepladder. To trim a branch. Which was dancing in front of one of my security cameras. 

 Moving onto a second camera. Which stopped working during the recent storm. Despite facing north in southerly gales. The plug had pulled out. So I tied a not in the cable to stop its weight from dragging on the connection. Problem solved. 

 I brought the indoor recycling tubs out and loaded them into their matching wheelie bins. Then delivered the relevant bin to the end of the drive. For emptying early tomorrow morning. 

 

  ~?~

31.10.2026 Branching out.

 ~?~

  Saturday 31st 47F/8C [8.20] Another grey day. Peaking at 11C/52F. Light northerly winds.

 Up at 7.45 after earlier awakenings and dreams. A hot 23.5C/74F in the room. The heat pump remote has been reduced to 20C/68F.

 Ideal conditions for another ride? 

 10.00 Back from my usual walk. Traffic very light. No dog. 

 Oh, the irony! After being told off for felling a withered little tree on my northern border. The vast willow we inherited, 30 years ago, has dropped a huge branch. Silvery and dying and very obviously wrong. It's left a nasty gap in the treeline. Impossible to see any of this from inside the garden. 

 11.15 Off we jolly well go. 

 12.45 Back from a 27km ride. To a village charity shop. Then a detour to reach the cycle path for a stretch. The wind was light but it felt much cooler today. My nose kept dripping and I repeatedly tried to blow it with my finger. Not very successfully. 

 Until, that is, I ejected a pink worm as fat as my finger and 6"/15cm long! It was sitting in the palm of my glove but not sticking. I was so shocked I wobbled but managed to stay on the road. I have never, ever, seen anything like it in my whole life! I just hope it wasn't my brains falling out. Or an alien! I shook my hand and it flew off. No, not literally. Worms can't fly.

 Dinner was a salmon pasty, peas, pasta and mushy, tinned tomatoes. 

 

  ~?~

 

 

 

30.10.2026 45km Because I still can.

 ~?~

  Friday 30th 49F/9C [8.45] Thick mist. A cloudy day. Peaking at 12C/54F. A fairly light, westerly breeze. 

 Now that, is a proper sandcastle! The new High Speed rail track has been surfaced. Now looking just like a very large cycle path.  Lots of landscaping and drainage work still going on and much more to do. The motorway runs alongside. Over on the left.  

 With the vast new FTZ car spares building in the background. A claimed 3 million car spares in stock. 1000 staff spread across the country. This view is looking westwards on the road to Gelsted.  

 Rørup church no longer has its full onion spire. A more modest version was added after the original was absent for some years. It used to be a landmark from the motorway but the trees in the car park now block the view.

 Up at 8.10 after drifting for hours between weird, often repetitive dreams.   22C/72F in the room. The heat pump remote is set to 20C and lying on the coffee table.   

 Looking eastwards toward distant Odense. From the same, newly cast bridge. The motorway is more visible in this view. Over on the right.

 The ever expanding Grønnemose [Green Marsh] industrial estate is on the left. Once appearing almost disused. Even the roadside supermarket had closed. 

Now with new builds, parking, EV charging stations, recreation and many new businesses. Including popular takeaways. Several sites are actively under construction.   

 9.50 I've had a chat with my minder. 

 Then a brisk walk around the loop. No breathlessness. No dog. The mist is slowly thinning.

 13.15 Back from a 34km ride. Up to the new railway embankment above Aarup. Where the new embankments continues to rise and be compacted. I didn't take any pictures today because the sun was low and right behind the site of interest.  

 A short but steep section of the excellent cycle path above Aarup. A lovely, long climb or a speedy descent. Depending on one's direction of travel. Almost no other users to hinder the enjoyment. 

 Even though they made a deep cutting at the summit. It is still higher and steeper than the road running alongside. There is an ancient windmill to the right of the picture. A stately home [Erholm] to the left. 

 Mostly cloudy weather. I wore my hi-vis jacket. Just in case. Though the mist had soon disappeared. 60% battery charge remaining from 100% at the start. 

 I passed a vast field adjoining a wood. Where the hunters were practicing for a Russian invasion. There were hundreds of shots being fired. Local hunts rarely manage more than half a dozen. Before they get bored at the lack of prey. 

 16.00 Back for a chilly, shopping trip to the village. For a total of 45km today. It was Friday afternoon and the supermarkets were packed with shoppers. Many workers finish early on Fridays. Adding further to the numbers present. 

 I am noticing a distinct improvement in my cycling. As a result of the stationary exercise bikes. And the other exercise machines at the therapy classes. Where we are put through strenuous sessions under heavy pedaling loads. 

 Whether the exercises are called sprinting or hill climbing. The effect is much the same. My ability to climb hills faster and without pain is  noticeably better. Leg strength, lung capacity and stamina are all much improved. 

 Dinner was a chicken fry-up. With toast and tweggs. This time I managed to keep the eggs out of my lap. Not difficult, given that both yolks were broken before they hit the pan. I turned them to avoid embarrassment. 

 

  ~?~