I came out of my room to go down and have breakfast and a woman approached me and said, ‘you must be the author of one of the Alice in Wonderland follow up books. I gave it to my nephew and he did not put it down having read the whole thing at one sitting’. I did not tell her that I hadn’t got a clue what she was talking about but acknowledged gracefully and said that it was a pleasure.

I had a leisurely breakfast and I estimated there were only about half the number of people that there were on a Saturday night. I was approached by a chap I’ve known for many years called John Kitson who was very upfront about his Christian Faith and offered to help me with my website Home page / landing page. In the next breath he said he was going to see his girlfriend in the Philippines and would call me in a few days. At first I thought he was playing around but I realized that the internet is Worldwide and you can do whatever you want wherever you want so long as you have an internet connection. In that sense I am grateful for technology.

My friend lives near works for that amazing white elephant, HS2. They have been working in the same area for the last year now and goodness knows how many millions of pounds have been spent on the area that I can see with my own eyes. It must be about two miles in length. Recently they have cancelled the Birmingham to Manchester part with the sop* that they will develop local services. They do not expect the line to be operational until 2042 and even then it will end up at the west of London in Old Oak Common thus necessitating another journey to the Center of London. The whole thing is barmy and I wish they’d spend money on upgrading the salaries of teachers and nurses.
* sop = something unimportant or of little value that is offered to stop complaints or unhappiness:

My friend John is renovating his house to bring it up to standard, repairing the roof and making the house attractive to his wife who is not as mobile as she once was. When I am with John I’m very picky about words and phrases and we discussed the term ‘ beyond the pale’ obviously relating to people’s behavior.

We also had a lively discussion on what makes people boring so later on this week I will write an article on the definition of boring which I look forward to

We also discussed the meaning of the expression,

“beyond the pale,” is to describe the appalling actions of others. It’s a description that they took their actions or words too far, pushing the limits of acceptable behavior. It’s a popular term among politicians who use it to defame opponents’ actions. The origin of “beyond the pale” goes back to the 14th century in England and Ireland. The four eastern counties of Meath, Louth, Dublin, and Kildare were the “obedient shires” and the only part of Ireland remaining under the control of the English crown. People would mark the “King’s perimeter” using wooden fencing known as “pales.” The settlement would fortify the boundary over the centuries, providing protection against cattle and livestock feed ransacking.

And so to bed.