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1. Not a good day at work, very frustrating and busy and annoying amounts of stuff to do which was a pain in the arse and which prevented me and my colleague from doing important stuff. It's irritating to feel all you are doing is cleaning up people's laziness and incompetance. I'm out of the office half of tomorrow and all of Wednesday, I don't really have the time.
2. I got given a free Chelsea bun this evening, which I had for pudding with my tea. The man in the shop said he'd only chuck it at the end of the day anyhow, nice of him to give me it. I had frozen yoghurt too this evening.
3. Fifty years ago today, Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission. According to the 1998 book 'Starman' (by Jamie Doran and Piers Bizony) as Komarov sped towards his death, U.S. listening posts in Turkey picked up transmissions of him crying in rage, "cursing the people who had put him inside a botched spaceship". His funeral was open casket, as were his wishes - I've seen pictures of his charred corpse and it's a powerful image of the risks that space explorers took willingly and forcedly.
4. Watched a bit of snooker, and an old episode of Mock The Week, and I drank cider. I'm not a big fan of cider, but it is pretty alcoholic, and that's why I bought it. During the Holocaust in Italy, doctors at Fatebenefratelli Hospital protected Jews from the Nazis by diagnosing them with a fictitious disease called "Syndrome K".
5. Newcastle have returned to the top flight after a 4-1 victory this evening over Preston. Fair play, it looks like their geographically closest rivals next year will be Hull, what with Sunderland and Middlesbrough sinking. Or maybe Leeds will go up through the play-offs? Elsewhere in football, Liverpool's women forgot their kit before their game against Yeovil this weekend - I think they should've been made to do it in their pants, but they borrowed the Somerset side's away clobber.
6. A network of Brisbane tramways substations, supplied from the Brisbane Powerhouse, were developed by Brisbane City Council after they took over the Brisbane Tramways system from Brisbane Tramways Company (BTCo). The new powerhouse and substations were needed, as BTCo had not adequately invested enough into the electricity network to keep the system running efficiently. Brisbane City Council maintained this electricity network from 1927 until 1969, when the decision was made not to have Trams in Brisbane, and the network was shut down and decommissioned.
7. I hit a bit of a wall this evening on the way home. Having finished reading my current novel, I had a half hour wait and a forty minute train ride home, and also planned to go to the supermarket either in Crewe or back in Shrewsbury. In the end I didn't do any of the sketching or reading of ebooks I have on my phone, and I basically stard into space for the best part of an hour, tired as I was. No energy to go to the Tesco either. There were men and women running about in pink and yellow fluorescent running club tops this evening in town. It's a bit nippy. I'm not sure what smart shirt and tie to wear tomorrow. I have a choice, as most of my items of this ilk are clean and hung.
8. Five years ago today? I had just started a new job and was somewhat struggling with the mind-fuck. I was in a fairly similar place to that which I am still in - wondering a bit about the meaning of it all, talking about the things which distract us from how pointless it all is, making some points about novelty being of less value objectively than it is subjectively (i.e. the appeal of something 1% better or 1% different is much greater than that, just because it isn't the same).
9. Varpa is an old outdoor game. The game dates back to the Viking Age and survived in Gotland together with several other medieval or Viking games. No official nationally sponsored Varpa teams exist, however unofficial leagues are growing in popularity among youth in suburban areas. It is similar to boules but played with a flat and heavy thrower known as "varpa" instead of balls. These used to be well-shaped stones, but nowadays aluminium is more popular. "Varpa" is an old word which simply means "to throw". Varpa is one of the disciplines at the annual Stånga Games (Stångaspelen).
10. Eyes still a bit sticky. I should probably get up and do a bit of prep in the morning, I should have time between seven-ish and half eight-ish in the morrow, get my head round the bullshit I'm supposed to be spouting. Right, I think I'll read a bit of my Will Self book before bed.
