As usual in the UK, the authorities, to avoid upsetting business, once more have us 'celebrating' a National day not on the day itself but on the following weekend, today then, the National mourning for those lost and injured in military conflict kicked off at 11.00am this morning. I always try to observe the 2 minute silence, its not always possible but this year a pause in the day's DIY efforts was enoiugh to take part and to see those in power doing their symbolic wreath laying at the Cenotaph in central London.
So I'm back in Bristol, the travelling and possesion moving completed pretty much but i'm still not quite back into the groove. I did get a short ride in on Friday but yesterdays odyssey went pear shaped before I even departed!
Let me explain, being a 'serious' cyclist with a racing background, I use a cleated pedal system on my bikes of which there are 3 common types of which i use 2 depending on bike useage, the simple MTB/leisure SPD system and race orientated Look Keo arrangement. The problem is, that whilst some footwear can be used with either, the cleats are very specific which pretty much ties footwear to pedal systems.
Why is this pertinent? Well for the last few months i've been using the SPD set up with my touring bike but i've killed the matching footwear, broken the sole in fact so I needed to sort out different shoes to use. I have lots of cycling shoes, winter boots, summer weight race shoes and a variety in between, what i don't have is a supply of fresh cleats so the intention was to move the set on the broken shoes to a new pair. Despite my best efforts, this proved impossible, the retaining bolts stubbornly remaining in place, okay, plan B.
Plan B involved removing the pedals from one bike and moving to another so that i could use some shoes already fitted with the 'other' cleat system, well at least that worked but the whole process had cost me best part of an hour. It was still early enough to do my planned ride across the Severn so i set off into the mild morning but my mood was shattered when, after just 5km, the front tyre lost its air. The culprit was a slither of glass but now, without a spare tube, my enthusiasm for the ride died, I turned around and headed back to base.
I ended up doing a DIY ride with Bev which was longer than my 'real' ride and whilst I could have gone out today, I decided to rest my abused enthusiasm.
I've not been idle even if i've not been riding, between Bev and myself we've installed power to the storage building, we just need to sort lighting tomorrow and as we say in GOC, job's a good un.
As promised there is new Gaby today, New Reality is part 30 of Ontario, the reality of attending college becomes a steep learning curve, even on day one!
Hopefully i'll have my riding mojo back by the time i post again and the 'lock up' lighting will allow me to get on with some possesion sorting too. That's all for today though, time to start on my pot of chilli!
Have a good week,
Madeline Anafrid
Comments
I don't have a problem with Rememberance Sunday
I went to my local service. The war memorial is on the wall of a Primary School that faces a crossroads. One of the roads is a busy 'B' road.
It is far easier to get permission to close the road for 30mins if the closure is on a Sunday. It also allows more people to attend. Today, even with social distancing there were around 150 people in attendance. That is much higher than in previous years.
At 11:00 almost all the drivers waiting patiently for the road to open got out of their vehicles and stood silently. I doubt that people would have been that patient if we had held the ceremony on Thursday.
Just my worthless 2p worth.
Samantha
I have no sympathy for that view
'I doubt that people would have been that patient if we had held the ceremony on Thursday.'
Anyone not respecting the silence should be ashamed and shamed whatever day of the week its on, the country is respecting its war dead, there is nothing political to it, there is no reason i can think of to not do so.
The fact that so few respect the day of mourning is just another sign of how our country and society continues to slip into a population of self entitled, socially inept individuals. Internationally we are the United Kingdom, we couldn't be less united if we tried and when you need to know more of our history to become an emigre citizen than you do to get a GCSE in History its a sign that the British 'Reich' is sick and may well not survive much longer.
Just my ten bob's worth
Madeline Anafrid Bell
In the USA
We still celebrate it on November 11, but now it's Veteran's Day instead of Armistice Day. It is a national holiday, though many employers don't give workers the day off. All government offices and banks are closed, however. Unlike in the UK, it celebrates all veterans, not just the war dead. We have a separate holiday, Memorial Day, in May, to honor those killed in war.
I visited a mass war grave in
I visited a mass war grave in France a few years ago . I was with some guys visiting Azincourt and Crecy, but we made a detour.
After reading so many 18 year old names on the stones I was sobbing. The waste of life. All to feed political ambitions . I dried my eyes , as it not manly to cry, it's just manly to die, I thought. .
We are so fragile, but we insist on acting like we're not.
Leeanna