Wednesday

Another long and very hot day. I'm at home with a cheap, cold beer waiting for my pasta to 'go down'.

I harvested more cherries, I've now stripped half the tree - the other half is over next doors fence. I put a note through the door at the start of the week telling them to help themselves to as much as they wanted - and that if the branches were too high - I'd be happy to come round with a stepladder and do it for them. They haven't bothered. I saw them earlier - as usual, he blanks me - and she tries to say hello but just looks embarrassed. I looked up on the Internet that it's OK for me to cut the tree back and re-shape it now - so I'm taking the day off tomorrow to work on it. I'll also gain access to about another £100 worth of very ripe black cherries. Not that I can bear the thought of eating any more.

Had to put together a work overview for the client I went to see yesterday - so I looked through my whole archive. I'd underestimated how much work I'd done over the last 20 years - and how good most of it still looked. I was also struck that almost nothing was credited to me - the perils of being an external consultant - even when it's quite high profile and appears on clients websites - I'm never 'named'. No wonder I'm bitter.

I have quite a lot to do tomorrow so I'm staying at home. I did start a coding training program online today - I'm not interested in learning to code as a skill - I just need to be familiar with it. It's so fucking boring. I can't imagine anyone getting excited by it - but they do.

When I was on the train yesterday, coming home from London - there was a boy sitting opposite, aged about 17/18. He looked like the typical middle class type who lives in Robertsbridge ( where he got off, straight into a black range Rover - looked like his mum was picking him up - he'd called her and asked for a lift.) He was actually very good looking, clearly very sporty, had great hair and clothes, with a Ralph Lauren shirt and a good quality watch. Even for a kid - he had a better phone than me. I couldn't help thinking that as long as he stays away from drugs, rock climbing and ambitious girls - he's probably going to have a fantastic life. I doubt that he's any concept of how lucky he is. Even the mum bit - we didn't have a car, and my mother would never have picked us up anyway (probably the best, considering what she was like - she tried to get a mobility scooter once and they refused on the grounds that she would be a danger to the public).

I was talking to a friend yesterday who has decided to have some cosmetic dentistry done, he's one of those unfortunates who's teeth has suffered because of diabetes and being roughly the same age as me - the generation when our parents didn't really worry about braces or smiles. I'm really pleased for him - it's something he can do for himself, and as he's in a pretty good place in his life - I think he feels he deserves it, which of course he always has. I suddenly remembered that my X was about to do exactly the same thing when we split up - and if I met them now - I probably wouldn't recognise them - teeth being one of the visual triggers I tend to 'mark' when I'm trying to register peoples faces. The other thing I found out yesterday - is when you see people with a thin black line between their teeth and their gum - it's not - as I assumed, staining, but a crown - that's the metal part that you get when a gum recedes - I'm shocked at how many people I know who have had almost all their teeth replaced.

I have some very bold ideas about moving re-plumbing the upstairs of my house and reducing the amount of pipework by about 70% if I simplify everything. It shouldn't be a big deal - but I'm sure it will end in tears.