Value for money

Another glorious warm sunny day to enjoy after a good night's sleep. Clare's study group members arrived and before going into town to bank the fee cheque received yesterday, I renewed our TV license on-line. It's now £169, and nowadays the only age concession is for those on pension credit, whatever that is, I've never needed to find out thankfully. We'll lose the Winter Fuel allowance this year for the same reason, but that's fair enough when public finances are so grievously stretched. 

The TV license is one subscription I don't begrudge paying for, given the phenomenal amount of content delivered and consumed by us in the course of a year. Less and less on the telly itself, more and more on phone and laptop. The one constant is radio. Listening to a reliable source of daily news, informative and entertaining programmes is the sound track to our lives. Well worth paying for. in its own right, and all we had when I was a kid. Channels supported by advertising offer ad free subscription services, with speedier media consumption as a result. Ad repetition is boring often annoying, but programme breaks are a cue for exercise, a trip to the kitchen or toilet. What's not to like about that?

I walked to Cowbridge Road and picked up a late running 61 bus which arrived just after me. I saw two outbound 61 buses following each other as I walked, a common sight early morning and mid afternoon when schools are in session, but symptomatic of scheduling dysfunction at other times and not uncommon with drivers off sick or arriving late, and the occasional bus breakdown. On the return trip, after banking the cheque, I saw another pair of 61 buses in tandem heading for the new bus station. The bus information display at the Westgate Street stop wasn't working, and the one o'clock bus was nearly ten minutes late. The city has invested a huge amount in new electric buses and upgraded some of its legacy diesel powered fleet, but it seems to be harder than building and running a team of drivers to maintain a reliable schedule. Fortunately, I reached home just as Clare was putting lunch on the table.

After lunch I recorded and edited next Thursday's Morning Prayer, then went out for a walk in Llandaff Fields, then down to Tesco's for a couple of grocery items not on the regular shopping list. After supper another short walk around the park, taking a few photos of groups on the grass enjoying the evening sun. With nothing new worth watching, I returned to watching a couple of episodes of 'Bones'. Whilst there's variety in cases investigated, the general formula is much the same, incorporating a liberal dose of sexual politics. Like NCIS with its conservative patriotic flavouring, both series feel dated, no matter how much excitement they try to generate.