24 April 2019

Back

I'm Slim Shady (I'm back)
I'm back (I'm back) (Slim Shady!) I'm back
                                                    By Eminem
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How did I survive the last few days without internet access? Men made of weaker stuff would have surely crumbled but I girded my loins and battled through like a Canadian Mountie on a mission. 

After the long Easter weekend, I took this Lenovo laptop to a young fellow called Josh who manages a small computer business. I explained the problem and twenty four hours later the computer was fixed for £30 (US $40). Thanks to my friend Mick for pointing me in Josh's direction. There was no need to shell out for a new laptop after all. Fingers crossed, this repaired magic machine will now travel much further with me upon life's twisting journey. I hope so anyway.
Lyra McKee (1990-2019)
In those missing days, various things happened both in my life and in the world at large.  There was wicked mass killing by madmen in Sri Lanka and in Derry City, Northern Ireland poor Lyra McKee was accidentally killed by a mindless moron with a gun. In London, Extinction Rebellion protesters raised many questions and the amazing Miss Greta Thunberg was there to provide moral support. Meantime in Yorkshire we were bathed in Easter sunshine.

Travelling to Hull to watch my football team play Sheffield United, I made a special detour to photograph a certain geographical square. In 2011, the Ordnance Survey organisation declared that this square was the dullest, most boring square in the entire United Kingdom. It has no features - no roads or buildings or paths or hills. It is as flat as a pancake and doesn't even have any fences or hedgerows. There are just a few drainage channels and a couple of straggly bushes and in the south western corner there is an electricity pylon.

The square is situated just south of The River Ouse and the small ribbon settlement of Ousefleet that clings to a quiet lane, seven miles east of a town called Goole. It wasn't Mount Everest or The Gibson Desert but I got there...
Within the most boring square

30 comments:

  1. Welcome back! How nice you could get your computer repaired. I'm sure you saved a significant amount of money that a new one would have cost you. The most boring square in the UK! How sad! That would make me want to go there and add something special or at least plant something nice. You have now conquered it and can add it to your list. I hope you had a pleasant Easter.

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    1. The farmers who own that land are called Mr and Mrs Ella. It is their life. I think they were very bemused when their farmland attracted the attention and the label "boring". Thanks for dropping by again Bonnie.

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  2. The ordinance guys have never lived. Much of western Canada is flat and much of it doesn't even have a bus. If you been born and raised in this area it's what you are. It's why I liked much of the arctic as it was flat and treeless.

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    1. I can understand how growing up on a flat and vast plain might affect one's personality. I think you can see that in some of Anton Chekhov's plays - though of course he was writing from the plains of Russia and not Canada.

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  3. Welcome back! I'm glad you were able to keep your computer and did not have to fork out stashes of money for a new one.
    Boring? Nature is never boring! I bet the rabbits, mice, birds and insects that live on that square simply regard it as their entire world.

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    1. I wanted to prove that the square had interest in spite of its reputation but I saw no birds or small mammals. There was just that bush.

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  4. Intrepid! No doubt more memorable than being a Hull supporter at that game. Not to worry. We seem to be allowed only one Yorkshire team at a time in the Premier League these days.

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    1. Our lads played quite well against Sheff Utd. But good luck to The Blades!

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  5. That pylon looks pretty marginal to me!

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    1. If I had provided a more enlarged, detailed map the presence of the pylon would have been easier to confirm.

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  6. Well, if they think that is boring they should have taken a look at the gravel pits behind the house where I grew up. Except, now I come to think of it, they have built a new housing estate on it since I moved away.

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    1. Is it called The JayCee Memorial Housing Estate? I bet the houses have nice gravel drives. Thanks for calling by JayCee. I hope Greece isn't too boring for you.

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  7. You should have left a flag there or something to mark your visit.

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  8. Bob is going to have to rewrite your statistics now. Your average post rate will have changed.

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    1. I hope he does not plan to gather my most personal statistics.

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  9. I must admit I was worried about you. Glad all is well.

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    1. Thank you for your kind thoughts. The break gave me time to write a few new songs for The Blind Eagles.

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  10. He does not plan to do anything with your personal statistics, but he is relieved to learn that your five-day absence (5, count 'em, 5!!!!) was due to computer problems and not a fit of pique accompanied by a sheer determination to stay away as long as possible just to show us you could.

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    1. Your inquisitorial nature suggests that you should have followed a legal career Bob. I am innocent, innocent I tell you, of all charges.

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  11. Ha! That's hilarious, about the square. Although that bush looks perfectly acceptable to me and I imagine the bugs that live in it don't think it's boring at all.

    We're glad you're back! What was the nature of the computer problem?

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    1. The operating system refused to load up. The engine needed cleaning and the radiator had a leak. Fingers crossed it will give us a lot more service even though it is six years old.

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  12. The last time we attempted to get a computer repaired, we ended up spending half the cost of a new one getting someone to look at it, tinker a bit, pronounce it dead, and download our pictures and documents off of it onto a thumb drive. I told myself....never again! I'll just buy a new one. Which I hate (don't get me started on our "throwaway" society) but it's the most sensible course of action for us.

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    1. You and Gregg must be made of money!

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  13. It's always a good news day when a piece of electronic equipment can be fixed for a small price and thus avoid purchasing a new one.

    When I say the picture of the "most boring square" I thought to myself that it looked just like the hayfields where I grew up! To me it has a serenity that "exciting" places don't.

    Yes, there was a lot of sad and bad news during your unintended hiatus.

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  14. Great for you to be back in the land of the living, Yorkie...and it certainly didn't cost much to get you back here! That was a very fair repair charge.

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  15. Looks like Holland without black and white cows.

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  16. شركة تنظيف منازل بالخبر

    شركة تنظيف منازل بالخبر شركة المثالية هي افضل شركة تنظيف بالخبر يمكنكم التواصل معها للحصول علي افضل خدمات تنظيف المنازل والشقق والفلل والبيوت والمجالس والكنب والسجاد والموكيت والمفروشات بجودة عالية ومواصفات قياسية حيث تعد شركة تنظيف منازل بالخبر اولي الشركات التي التي تخصصت في مجالل التنظيف بالخبر ولديها خبرة كبيرة وعمالة ماهرة وادوات تنظيف حديثة وطاقم عمالة مدرب علي اعلي مستوى فلا تترددوا في الاتصال بشركة المثالية للتنظيف بالخبر وسوف تحصلون علي افضل الخدمات المنزلية من نظافة ومكافحة حشرات بارخص الاسعار

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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