Menomboling; Just A Mumble Or Two

Forgive this post, for it may ramble as I mumble. Am a bit Olympiced, you see. The curling matches have tended to start at 0100h, then 0600h and then a midday match. I have missed none of those. Though that is not to say, either, that I have actually seen them all - there were a few blank ends* from unannounced ninja-snooze attacks...[*that's an 'in-joke' for those who follow the curling]...) I take my zzzs where they come. Slightly annoying that the ninja-snoozing has almost always taken place on the final end, and I have had to look up the results after all! Hey ho. But mostly I've stayed with them. In fact, as I prepare this post, I am watching the 0100h women's match between GB and China on Wednesday morning. [oi! They've shunted the curling offscreen to make way for Alpine skiing...sigh... oh well, I'm sure it will turn up again later...] Yes, I've got it bad. Blame the fact that for peculiar reasons (and I have moaned about this before) known only to the telly gods, here in the home of curling, we do not get to see anything of it between Olympics. I envy my Canadian pals who have league access. 

Now pardon me for being a tad excited at sharing this atrocious image with you. It's just that I thought, on writing the first paragraph, that you might like to see a 'spur of the moment' view from the Hutch. So I experimented with the camera on OctoKan. As a viewer for vid calls (one of which I did with Aitch the other day), it seems pretty good. As a camera... meh... Good enough for this purpose, though. I was also happy to find that I could do basic editing directly - not able to load up my usual watermark, though, so I made use of the write-on-screen option. Only have my finger for that at the moment, but that's a fun thing!

The other day I wrote of how Fear-buary (thanks Weim-bros for that one!) is my least fave month. A day later, I spotted this article about a journalist in St Louis who may feel the same way!

Then on Tuesday, I shared some shoreline views from oor own wee West Bay... then came across this article about the shoreline around Mumbai. What beauty is to be found in the most unexpected places if we take our time...

Back to the sport. As much as possible, I have also been keeping tabs on the snowboarding events, the sliding events (the new mono bob run is a thrill ride!), and both the speed and figure-skating disciplines. I worry for the teenager who finds herself at the centre of a doping storm. I also find myself questioning the ages of some of these team members. Does there need to be a youth Olympics, a need to say that for the traditional Os, nobody can be younger than 18? That is, after all, the age most of the world recognises as the lip of 'maturity' ... 

image source

Another reason to dislike Fear-buary is the financial aspect. Due to timings not entirely under my control, I landed up in the Hutch this month of 2014 (one positive at least!), but that means TV tax/licence and Home Insurance both fall, too. The licence thing I solved by changing to monthly payments. Spread the pain, as it were. Last year for the insurance, I did something I have rarely done in life for fiscal matters - I shopped around, searched the net, hunted the deals. Needless to say, I found a deal that could not be missed, so I changed providers. That same provider's renewal came through last week.

Now, I know there are increases against the introductory amounts... but 110%?! I kid you not. A full doubling + of the original amount. Even with the current inflationary nature of the economics in the UK, that was just too much. So, having done it once, I did it again. Oops. And yes, I've changed providers once more. Even with the £35 cancellation fee (what do they need that for - does the computer need a new chip?) from last year's one, I am still a healthy fifty quid better off than if I'd sat still on it. That's nearly a month's worth of groceries for me!!! No longer the stay loyal and be rewarded situation my parents were used to. Swap horses as much as you like in the insurance race, m'dears.

By some fluke, on Tuesday night, I hung my head through the drapes to view the early-morning sky. There was a full moon. Having had so much cloud, I'd lost track! It was at a surprisingly high angle, too. This is what it looked like through the double glazing to the lens of the Hisstix...

...was that menombolly enough for you? More nonsense tomorrow. Hooroo the noo.