No.22 Friday 2 December 2011
Winter seems to be upon us now, certainly it is chillier now and forecast to get quite cold next week. I hope we don't get any snow because it makes getting around in a wheelchair that bit more difficult. Last year, on the odd occasion when we had some snow, I stayed on the road rather than the footpath because the roads were either clear or gritted. This year I may well travel a bit more by taxi because it takes me half an hour to get wrapped up for a wheelchair journey. That said, if I take the trouble to pile on the protection it is adequate and stops the weather getting at me!!
On Tuesday (6th) I will be operating a sort-of Desert Island Discs (in reality a glorified request programme) at a cafe in Stroud. This is for a new company which recently started up in Gloucestershire with the aim of helping people, who would otherwise not bother, to do things that they would like to do. They seem to think that as I can provide music I am going to be an asset!! At least this first effort will give them an idea of what is possible. They have rounded up a few requests - 14 so far plus one that I have added to improve the mixture a bit. Apparently the idea is that each person who has requested something will stand up and give a few reasons why they chose it. I'm not sure how this will work out but it's worth trying.
I have solved the problem of sorting out my paperwork (see blog 21); a lady comes once a fortnight to go through it for me. This means sorting it into four piles, Important, Shred, Chuck and Brochure. The poor old shredder worked overtime yesterday when the first attack on the accumulated paper was made. The lady is one who does jobs for the company for which I am playing music on Tuesday.
When I go shopping I sometimes encounter freestanding baskets with special offers in them. This is, I realise, a good way of attracting people's attention, but it doesn't help if the freestanding basket is right in the way of somewhere I want to get to because I can't reach over it. Sometimes the basket is positioned in such a place that it obstructs my access to a particular item although generally I can find a way of managing (usually by using the wheelchair to shove it out of the way). Another disadvantage of modern shopping systems is that frequently offers involve buying two or more of an item. It is often the case that if I bought two of something the second one would be past its expiry date before I could get around to using it. Luckily if I'm careful about the dates on packages I can sometimes take advantage of these offers. Some many weeks ago there was an offer, which was too good to refuse, for three bottles of washing-up liquid for the price of one. I am still using the first one and I reckon the other two should last me until well past next Easter!!
In sorting through my CDs to find various tunes I found that I have all sorts of gems about which I had forgotten. One in particular is called ‘20 Gramophone All-Time Greats’ and the title doesn't disappoint. It has such people as Rachmaninov playing one of his own compositions and Elgar conducting one of his. A number of the artists on this CD have faded from modern memory in many cases. Another CD I have is of music hall artists from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. One section of my filing system for CDs is what I call Chronological which covers the period roughly from 1900 to the 1970s. Even that excludes some which are filed under other headings like Traditional Jazz or Dance Bands. I suppose it's a good thing that I am the only person using this filing system because I think it would baffle anybody else!!
Mike
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