doing the pansy walk

 

Okay 2 things: 1/ always carry a camera. 2/ don't mistake your phone for a camera.
I suppose if the choice is a phone camera or no camera, then a phone will do. This is really just a note to self as I don't expect anyone comes here looking for advice. 

I had to buy some tile paint. Hardly anyone sells tile paint and for good reason: tiles are made to shrug off all-comers. A bit like non-stick pans it is not easy to get paint to adhere to tiles. But maybe slightly easier to paint them than replace them. Not my tiles - I was doing a Frank Sinatra and sneaking out of retirement very briefly and hoping nobody noticed. But first I had to cross town and buy some tile paint. None of the in-town shops would touch that product. Maybe because if you lean up against it, it will peel like a ripe banana. You only have to look at it harshly. The client was aware of this.

Anyway Wickes (on Stevenson Rd.) trod where angels feared to, and had 6 tins if I wanted. I had looked at their website and it said we have 6 tins in stock. Reluctant to trust a robot's word on a website alone, I phoned the shop and sure enough the person who answered my call checked the shelves and told me there were 6 tins available. I caught a tram to Balgreen. Back in the day I'd have cycled. Three things about being over 60: 1/ I have limited energy. It is shit to have to admit it, but the batteries just don't hold as much juice as they used to. 2/ a seat on a tram listening to an audiobook drowning out the sounds of the imbecile travelling companions is slower but acceptable. 3/ with a pensioner bus pass (Saltire Card) it is free, and someone else is driving. 

I had never been to Wickes before. I'd never been to Stevenson Road before. But I noticed it was near Balgreen Tram stop from which you go to Balgreen Road, under the tunnel, then a cunning short cut along Pansy Walk, cross the bridge over the Water of Leith and round the back into Wickes. It looked about 5 minutes either way. I might not even unplug the audiobook.

My literary consumption has plummeted since I stopped working. I used to listen to audio (or occasionally music) about 30~40 hours a week while at work, which is a lot of podcasts, or a couple of large novels every week. Since retiring I haven't found activities that allow me to listen to audio as much. I even put my membership of Audible on pause. You can pause it for 90 days once a year. I was collecting too many unused credits. Previously I'd often order more credits to keep up with my consumption of literature. Odd thing is, it is ages since I read (listened to) a book that was any good.

At the book group I attend I am the token grumpy old fart that (mostly) has the least good to say about the books we read. Last session I didn't even read the book because it sounded awful. (It won the 2023 Booker Prize so can't be complete shite but it sounded so drab and depressing I couldn't deliberately invite that amount of misery into my ears.) Generally that was the consensus, and I didn't regret my choice. Or rather, it took a bit of flack for trying too hard with the flowery language. Bullet dodged!

I quite enjoy walking round hardware shops I've never been in. Some shops like Screwfix keep everything behind a counter and take your order, like Argos, on a slip of paper. I hate Screwfix for that reason. You don't get to handle the thing before it's brought to the counter. I prefer to read the back of a tin of paint or hold a bracket to weigh up if it fits the job I have in mind. Look at the one next door and see if that is better, or cheaper. Wickes let you wander and touch. I had to keep it brief otherwise I'd have a trolley full of stuff that might come in handy, forgetting I should be downsizing, not recruiting.  

disney eyelashes

I left the shop with only the tile paint. Actually there might have been a brush or roll of masking tape as well. I have my favourite brands and if I see a well priced Arroworthy or a roll of 36mm Frogtape under £7, I might have to get them just in case. Effectively saving money rather than spending it. Perhaps. Anyway I rushed myself out the shop before spending any more and retraced my steps to Pansy Walk. That's twice I've been here and still resisting making any wisecracks. Just look straight ahead and keep walking. But hang on; there are loads of rabbits. Most scurry off as I approach. It is a popular lane and there is regular traffic. But some rabbits are bolder than others, and although keeping an eye on the pedestrians, they know from the evening rush-hour that nobody chases them. They are going home to dinners of frozen foods, deep fried thingies and (if push comes to shove) vegetables. Not rabbit. So no need to scarper.

I crouched, very glad to have taken the TZ100. (Always carry a camera! You never know what you'll see, even in the off-centre of town.) It is about the same size, well, a bit chunkier than a mobile phone. But far better at recording a rabbit sat 2 metres away watching carefully, as it eats its grassy dinner. I probably chatted to put the beast at ease. At first it was cautious, then after nothing much happened it returned to eating. Then the sun came out a little and I could see its warm brown eye assessing me. We ended up hardly a metre and a half away. Both on all fours. Him watching me. Myself watching for passers-by who might think a pensioner had fallen over and was struggling to get up off the grass.