My oldest daughter started a Sociology degree last year.
My wife started a Law and Ethics in Nursing degree last year.
My youngest daughter i well on with her GCSE courses and will take her final high school exams this year prior to going to 6th form college and then maybe University?
It wouldn’t surprise me if Mollie & Stella cats and Pumpkin dog undertake some kind of rigorously academic course shortly.
Mollie, a black and white domestic shorthair cat. She’s relaxing on a bed and is of venerable age and so easy to defer to on most things.
Me, I wouldn’t be displeased if my Browns vs Fibonacci and linked posts become the pinnacle of my academic endeavours. (No degrees).
Unless… I convert it into something resembling a scientific paper. It could be a life’s work, what of it I’ve got left at least. Hmmm… maybe I could become even more famous!
Last year I believed the 2025 NFL season would be poor for my Cleveland Browns – and I was right. I also believed that 2026 would bring another playoff appearance for my Cleveland Browns. Why? Fibonacci numbers don’t lie! Well, their interpretation might count…
A Fibonacci-like spiral, the bubbles after stirring a sachet of powdered tea into a small mug filled either cold water.
This year I’m presenting a table and not much else to support my notion that Browns seasons go by even Fibonacci numbers – in other words, things go our way every 3 years.
Season
W-L-T
Fibonacci #, coach
2018
7-8-1
1 (HJ,GW)
2019
6-10-0
1 (FK)
2020
11-5-0
2 (KS)
2021
8-9-0
3 (KS)
2022
7-10-0
5 (KS)
2023
11-6-0
8 (KS)
2024
3-14-0
13 (KS)
2025
5-12
21 (KS)
2026
Super Bowl!
34 (TM)
Hey, it doesn’t take much effort to believe, does it now.
Last June I bought an electric shaver to replace the Braun foil thing I never really liked because of its general ineptitude at shaving and trimming – a thing that replaced the Phillips OneBlade, a device that excelled at trimming but didn’t even tout itself as a close shaver – that thing in turn replacing the Gillette All In One trimmer/shaver (think vibrating blades and the closest of shaves).
/me takes a moment to breathe
It’s a “Philips Shaver Series 7000 – Wet & Dry Electric Shaver in Ice Blue with 1 x Integrated Pop-up Trimmer, Beard Trimmer, Travel Case, Quick Clean Pod and Charging Stand (Model S7882/54)”.
(Copied from the Amazon listing).
I’ve not figured out the charging stand but hey, it’s the least of things.
The shaver kit mentioned in the post. Lots of bits. And some cleaning stuff.
The 3 rotating heads rid me (a scruffy old man) of the most stubborn of long hairs with only a few passes, and shave close enough that I’m no longer worried about snagging lint or stray cats on my face.
(We have 2 cats, only one of whom was once a stray).
So, the shaver with the improbably long listing title gets Baz’s seal of approval. 🦭
We walked Pumpkin dog before lunch today – later than normal. Halfway round we came across an unattended dog, a labrador-spaniel cross. No name tag on the collar. He was very friendly, more so when he figured out we had a small bag containing Pumpkin’s treats. We asked people around if they’d seen anyone looking for lost dog – it was little early to call it a stray. Nope.
A labrador-spaniel mix dog. Ralph (microchip name Percy/Percival). He’s younger than he looks in my photo.
He followed us and continued to follow us until we got close to home. Uh-oh.
So on the lead he went and we invited him inside. I looked through local Facebook groups, nothing. Decided to post. As far as I know the posts still haven’t been approved.
Rang the local RSPCA. Number rang out 3 times, no opportunity to leave a message.
Looked on the local authority site, found a number of a national dog collection service, rang it, left a message.
We filled a water bowl, got an old and way-too-small dog bed down and I gave him some food. And treats.
Rang the 24 hour vet, asked if they checked microchips. Yes. And they could fit us in even though it’s emergencies only today and until the holiday weekend ends.
Half an hour later we were at the vet. Luckily the dog was indeed. Chipped, yeah. A local-to-us owner then, the vet receptionist rang and left a message…
About an hour later we got a call, the owner was on his way…
Turns out their teenagers left the door open while the adults were preparing for a family thing later. Anyway, grateful owner took the dog off our hands, and it seems my comment about ensuring the dog got a name tag flew right over his head. It seems they think he’s safe out of doors on his own – he’s ‘usually’ to be found on the area between the countryside and housing estates. And now we know they don’t care enough to get a tag they can secure on his collar – ‘it’s always coming off’.
Anyway, at least we know what to do next time.
Should we have reported the owner for their dog not having a tag – a legal requirement here in the UK?
A colleague gave me a sachet of guava chilli instant tea earlier. Just add its contents to 200ml of water, stir until dissolved, add an ice cube. Easy.
The ingredients: sachet, small mug, teaspoon. You’ll have to imagine the ice cube, it’s still in the freezer at this point.
What’s special about this one? The company is owned by my colleague’s friend’s cousin.
Nearly ready:
Part-way through stirring.
Just before offering it round my family for tasting:
Bubbles!
It’s really rather refreshing, without any kind of aftertaste that often accompanies instant drinks, and so gets Baz’s seal of approval.
I wish I’d looked at the ingredients on the box now, but maybe that’d have spoiled the experience?
Followup November 7: The hibiscus tea given to me today isn’t as easy to dissolve, another colleague said it’s a bit ‘bitty’. I tried.
For the first time in years I’ve lost weight to the point it shows – to others and to the waistline of my stretch jeans. Sure it’s only 10lbs/4.5 kg so far, but I’m impressed. I don’t care how long it’s taken.
The only negative for this Brit, I’ve one less thing to moan about – that I can’t lose weight no matter what I try. 🙂
A prepackaged, microwave/oven-cookable veggie burrito. Beans, cheese & roasted peppers.
So how?
More frequent and longer dog walks, and I’ve started jogging with Pumpkin dog (1 year old now) during them. The jogs are only a few hundred yards/metres at a time though, mainly because she needs to stop to sniff things. It’s honestly worth the aching muscles.
Although I’ve eaten more healthily for a couple of years now (health scare) this time around there’s been no measurable change in diet.
At the start of 2025 I’d intended to blog more frequently. And here we are, 2 months since my last post and back to being a content consumer.
I’m not disengaged but yet again there’s too much happening in the world for me to offer up my opinions without offending someone/everyone, so I’ll…
We’re 2-1/2 weeks into a garage conversion – having a garage too small for our cars and previously full of 18 years of stored crap turned into a room suitable for our girls to entertain in. Or maybe one to escape to and shut the world out.
A partially cleared garage prior to conversion into a second reception room.
Apart from the tradesmen breaking our hot and cold water and central heating system (after they’d moved the boiler out of the room for a reason I still cannot fathom) it’s gone well so far, but we’re now at the snagging stage. It’s not a small list.
We also had new flooring laid for 50% of the downstairs area, and apart from being unable to shut the kitchen door that’s oh so nearly done.
The house is dusty throughout and strewn with stuff we can’t really put back yet, not until we’ve had the job completed and we’ve signed it off – and yeah, paid what’s left.
Today I’ve got a bad back, the worst pain in years, so everything is making me grumpy – especially today’s New York Times ‘Spelling Bee’ puzzle and its inability to allow ‘eutectic’ – which is somehow not in its word list. Bah!
The iOS Microsoft Authenticator app lost my 2FA codes. Luckily there’s only one that mattered today, and I could temporarily disable the Wordfence security plugin to gain access to my blog.
This underscores the importance of retaining backup recovery codes. Somehow at least, I’ve not actually figured that bit out just yet.
Stella cat looking intently through the white-painted stair rail.
