miscellany

10 december 2020

SO HOW DID WE GET TO HERE ?

THESE

WISH I’D WRITTEN THESE

All original writing

2014, 2015, 2016,

2017, 2018, 2019,

2020, 2021, 2022,

2023, 2024

Dr Ian McLauchlin

MISCELLANY

This is my Mum, Thora West. I think the photo was taken when she was a bridesmaid for her sister Marion’s wedding. It would be about 1940. She was an avid cyclist and member of the local Cyclists Touring Club and cycled very long distances now and then.

<This is me not in sailing gear.

And this is me in sailing gear.>

This is Manarola on the Italian Ligurian Sea coast. It first came to my notice as a photo on a box of tissues and I’ve thought it not-to-be-sneezed-at ever since.

This is what my mobile phone screen looks like under an anglepoise light.

This is my Dad Tom. He taught us by example that you didn’t have to pay someone to do the building, plumbing, shoe repairing, car mechanicing, hair cutting, electricianing, wallpapering, painting, woodworking, metal working, fetching and carrying. You could do it all yourself.

A while ago I thought it'd be fun to enter a caption competition in the magazine Practical Boat Owner. The cartoonist Mike Peyton used to draw a sailing-based cartoon for each magazine issue. He selected one of his cartoons, which already had his own caption, and readers were invited to submit their own. So I did, and won a copy of his collected cartoons!

My prize winning cartoon caption:

“It’s from the wife. She wants you to stay on till after New Year.”

Marina Pontoon steps. They help you get down to the water at low tide.

My boat “Nanny Ogg”. She sits in the water, which sits on the back of seven elephants, which all stand on a giant turtle. The turtle swims around a bit and that’s how the boat moves.

My perpetual motion machine. If you tie a rope to the leg you can use it to drive a generator so that you can still see the stairs in the dark.

If you’re unlucky I might add more stuff here . . . .

This is me in a former manifestation when suits-were-worn.

Early morning January moon

Had a routine medical at work once. Declared perfectly fit. One week later I couldn’t walk from car park to office. Serious heart problems. But do keep having medicals at work.