-
Went on the bicycle to see my da. There were rain showers, so I wore waterproof trousers, which made me sweaty so perhaps I’d have been drier without the waterproof trousers. (But the main benefit of the waterproof trousers is protection not from rain but from the muddy splashes of passing lorries.)
Towards the end of my journey home, there was quite a lot of motor car traffic. One motor car did a dangerously close pass – you know, the sort of incident people like Jeremy Vine tweet videos of – and I wished I’d had the foresight to strap a GoPro to my head. Instead I just mealy-mouthedly mouthed “fucking hell dickhead” as it sped away. Then I passed a similar looking car coming the other way, and I glared at it, but it was probably not the same car, leaving the driver wondering why they were being glared at (or, more likely still, they didn’t notice my glaring).
(Those Jeremy Vine videos: I’m surprised I’ve never seen one where a confronted motorist goes “oh my god it’s Jeremy Vine from from off of Jeremy Vine.)
-
In the evening there were some commotions and flashing lights outside. I went to investigate and found gileted men wielding flamethrowers/great big blowtorches … making a great big crème brûlée/baked Alaska? No, they were using the fire to remove some road surface markings, and then repainting the markings. (Including a the outline of a bus stop, where no buses actually stop.) A fire was burning on the back of their truck and it looked very cosy.
-
The shop bought mince pies (“Christmas pies”) I have experienced so far, in chronological order:
-
Lidl “Favorina 12 Mince Pies”. Pastry a bit too soft. A lingering aftertaste, which arguably represents good value – the experience lasts longer. 👎
-
Sainsbury’s “All Butter Mince Pies, Taste the Difference x6”. A grown up flavour (there is some brandy in them). 👍
-
Morrisons “The Best All-Butter Deep Filled Mince Pies”. A pack of 4, “baked in store”. Maybe they are deep filled, but not deep enough for an agreeable pastry-to-mincemeat ratio – really, I think the pastry is too deep. 👎
I made a pleasing observation, which is that the most common number of pies per box, 6, is ideal for a “rule of 6” compliant gathering where everyone eats one pie and there are no leftovers. But there’s no such thing as an original thought, and it turns out that Alec Evans of getsurrey.co.uk made a similar point.
-
-
Taskmaster (Channel 4) is my cultural highlight of the week.