Saturday surprises

Weekend late lie-in, followed by pancake breakfast then a surprise present from Clare, a new Remington Electric shaver to replace the one I bought in a Chinese emporium in Nerja back in 2013, now incapable of holding a charge for much longer than it takes to do a rough shave. I'm delighted. It's so sophisticated compared to ones I've had in the past.

Before lunch, I edited next week's Morning Prayer sound files, recorded in bed last night. I decided to add a suitable short music clip to the end of the recording and went through the routine I normally follow, using YouTube and Audacity. For some reason I couldn't figure out, the sound quality was awful. After several fails, I did the same on my Chromebook but using the Chrome sound editing on line plug-in called 'Twisted Wave', which worked perfectly first go. 

The app was already attached to my Chrome browser ecosystem (reproduced on each Chrome using device), but I hadn't used it since installing it in Ibiza, where I used it very little, as the Chromebook I has with me was old and not really powerful enough. On the new Chromebook it works a treat, and transferring the sound file captured to Google Drive made it easy to send to any other operating platform.

After lunch, a walk into the city centre, busy and crowded with shoppers, more so than metropolitan media reports were alleging. Will there be added restrictions in the next few days avoid a catastrophic spread of omicron covid overwhelming hospitals? The German tavern and eaterie among the Christmas Market stalls were crowded, but more people were wearing masks on the street and in the shops than  previously. I took a few photos, bought some more Christmas cards, a new pair of shoes and Clare's Christmas present before catching a surprisingly empty 66 bus home.

Lord Frost, the government's chief negotiator with the EU has resigned, openly distancing himself from Boris Johnson's leadership on policy grounds, yet more evidence of loss of confidence in his leadership. This isn't the best of times for such a crisis, though I believe the country is better off without such a hard line anti-EU libertarian at the front line in relationships with our nearest continental neighbours.

Although Jasmine isn't coming over now, Clare is still diligently practicing piano accompaniment to the recordings Jas made for her, so this evening I joined in on guitar. For the moment my hands aren't too afflicted with rheumatic pains interfering with the physical recall of correct chord shapes when I play. It was fun. I miss playing, but for ages have been deterred from making the effort. But all is not lost.

In the evening, some preparatory work on a Christmastide audio reflection, then an hour trying to catch up on a Danish crime drama 'When the dust settles' about what happens before and after  a terrorist attack on a restaurant. It's very complex with eight (I think) overlapping story lines which observe a range of social issues that reflect contemporary society at close range. Not sure I can cope with this!