Going back to College

Went back to College yesterday to sign up for another year. It's really an IT Learning Centre,
run by the local College which provides training leading up to nationally recognised qualifications
in Office and Business Computer Applications. The Courses range from those students having
absolutely no knowledge of computers (like me), through to more advanced levels. This year,
we've been provided with brand-new computers, and the whole place has been given a new facelift.
Years ago, colleges were, I thought, places like Eton, Harrow, and Winchester which was founded
in 1382. I was at Winchester College in 1936 where things seemed timeless and changeless. I didn't
stay there long though as the pay was so poor; after all, a sixteen year-old dishwasher has to live!
I recently went back to Winchester and was surprised to learn that washerwomen were no longer
employed there. So some things do change even at Winchester College.

Neighbours

Bob, my next door neighbour, lives on his own now. When I met him down the shops this morning
he looked unusually glum. It was then he told me about his mate Alfie. I'd known Alfie about 15 years.
He was a very pleasant type, very friendly to all who met him although he did suffer from arthritus which
caused him to walk with a slight limp. He and Bob seemed inseparable. I often used to meet them when
they were out walking together, and they could be seen sitting in the back garden in the evenings
when the weather was fine.
Alfie passed away last Wednesday; Alfie was Bob's dog.

Birthdays

How did you celebrate your birthday this year; how many presents and birthday cards did you get?
Today, the 24th August, it's my birthday. A clever computer-made card came from my son Jon and
his wife Sue, another was from Frances, a long-lost cousin from Southampton, who now sends me
lovely cards containing news of her family whom I've never met. In other countries, birthday
celebrations take various forms from Birthday Pies instead of Cakes, Birthday Noodles for lunch,
Birthday Candles, and in one far eastern country, everyone's birthday falls on the beginning of the
year! No such frivolity here, though. How many cards did I get? Just the two; but I remember the
times when I used to get none at all. I was a proper nonentity then!

Education

The standard of education today is no better or worse than................whatever you want.

Now, in the twenties and thirties - (I know, you couldn't care less). Well, that was the
attitude adopted by most educationalists (it seemed to me), who ran the learning factories
in those days. There were three categories, namely:

1) The elete/very clever got to University,

2) The less clever, but ambitious went to a Grammar School,

3) The rest received an Elementary School education.

The present Tomlinson Recommendations for the education of 14 - 19 year olds would never, ever

happen in those days. If, at the elementary stage your exam marks were below 100%, you stood

very little chance of getting any further, for there were simply so few places on the next step

of the education ladder; you were considered a failure - no second chances. You were obliged

to leave school at 14 and, if lucky, get a job.

Successful pupils went into the second category, namely, the local Grammar School..

How I envied them, especially their brightly coloured caps and blazers displaying the School badge!

As for the top category, I was never really in touch with them except when I became an assistant

footman and had the honour of cleaning their shoes which had been left out overnight.

Football

Now that the Football Season is here again I'm not expecting too many high scoring games.
In the dim and distant past, however, that was not so, as the records show. The games I
like to remember were in the mid-thirties which were played at very junior level; Southampton
Schoolboys, for instance. In those days they used to play in the English Schools' Shield
Competition, and I recall two matches in particular. One result being - Southampton 18
(eighteen), King's Norton 0, the other being Southampton 21 (twenty-one), Wareham 0.
In this Wareham game, Catlin, the Southampton centre-forward scored (if my memory serves
me right), 17 (seventeen) goals.
Is there anybody out there who can confirm this for me either from old football records or
maybe, like me, was actually at those matches? Don't spoil things by telling me I must have
been dreaming. Catlin, I believe, went on to play for Portsmouth where he became just
another nonentity in the footballing world.

Weight Problems

All my life I've been trying to put on weight.

From being a nine stone weakling to a.......but wait! Weight? I'm not yet
nine stone In 1937, when I joined the Army, I weighed in at 119lbs,
(8st 7lbs). I am now 8st 12lbs so I have managed a five pound gain
over the years. But, recently, after a blood test, I discovered that this
gain is in danger of being lost. I've been diagnosed as having thyroid
trouble which could lead to weight loss.
If some clever dick out there could manipulate the thyroid of all those
weight-watchers who are desperate to lose weight, someone could
emerge from being a nonentity to being a non-nonentity

Books

"What book are you reading at present?"

This was one of the questions I was asked at my first job interview when I was fifteen.
It was Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. "Right, I've got just the job for you," said
the man. I was to start work that same afternoon. After being rigged out in my first
pair of long trousers, I packed a bag with a change of new clothes I'd been given and
told to catch a bus to a distant city. Arriving there, I was led to a dingy scullery at
the back of a grand hotel where my job was to wash all the greasy dishes and pans.
Just the sort of thing for a young nonentity. I stayed there until the place closed at
the end of the Summer Season.
The book I'm reading now is Dominique Saint-Alban's L'enfant des Quatre Vents.
This authoress has a distinct style of her own and, it seems to me, is at great pains
to show how clever she can be about it.
Not a book aimed at the bottom end of the nonentities market!

Meals for One

At first, living on my own brought problems of what kind of food to have.
The easiest way to cope with this was to buy meals ready-made. A few
minutes in the microwave, and that was that - simple! After a while, I
realised that this was not the most economical answer so began buying
fresh vegetables, meat and fruit. The cooking took up quite a bit more
time, but then, I had all the time in the world! I began looking up recipes
in the papers and scaling them down to a "one person" meal which proved
to be a bit of a challenge for me. However, after experimenting a little, I
got things right and here is one result of that:

Macaroni Cheese Casserole. Half cup macaroni - One tablespoon butter -
One & Half cups shredded cheese - One egg - Quarter cup Milk

Pre heat oven. Grease small baking dish. Cook macaroni in salted water.
Drain well, return to pot. Add butter, stir until melted. Add one cup of
shredded cheese. In bowl, whisk egg with milk - add this mixture to the
macaroni, stir well - put into greased baking dish. Sprinkle remaining
half cup cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, for half an hour or until
melted and browned. Bon appétit!

FREE light bulbs

Received a letter this day from a partneship of two of the most respected companies
(they say), in the UK. This missive was addressed to "Dear Householder" not
"Dear Homeowner",so I presume they must think I'm a nonentity. (Quite right, too).
Anyway, they say that they wrote to me a few weeks ago with news of a fantastic
offer of some FREE (their capitals) light bulbs worth about £20. Now I don't
remember when I last had to change a light bulb - it must have been years ago, so
I don't think I'll be needing any replacements other than those stored away in the
back of my sideboard drawer.
This generous offer, I read, is only open to people on certain benefits. So why
write to me or to many other "Dear Householders" who, like me, must be wondering
how many thousands of FREE light bulbs these companies have stored away,
and are so anxious to get rid of.
Has anybody out there any suggestions as to what they should do with their
wretched bulbs?

nonentities

Tuesday, 15th August.

Here then, is a typical day in the life of a nonentity.
Radio alarm set for 7 o'clock, get up at half past. Take a tablet before breakfast because
I have low levels of thyroid hormones and my metabolism is lower than normal which
leads to weight loss. After hand-washing some laundry (I have no washing-machine),
it's off to the supermarket to stock up with groceries. Back home, I have a mid-morning
cup of coffee, followed by another tablet. This one is to control my high blood pressure.
If it's fine, I potter about in the garden - cutting the lawn or trimming the hedges. I must
ensure that I water the bonsai every day. I've raised them all from seed over the years,
and the oldest of them if now aged 34. Then to the computer to check the e-mails and to
browse the web. I finish by relaxing with a computer game.
It is time then to start preparing the main meal of the day - still called "dinner" in this house.
Another session at the computer follows, then I watch sport on TV - plenty of cricket at
this time of year. After tea, more television sport or possibly a good film. A hot chocolate
drink to finish the day, and so to bed about 11pm.
Enough excitement for one day!

nonentities

What is a nonentity? A person like me; a person of no importance; without any qualifications - someone
who has achieved very little in life - so far!

Earliest memories? Being in a Poor Law Institution (Workhouse) then put into Childrens' Home at age of
four where I stayed for the next eleven years. Domestic Service at age 15 then joined Armed Forces at 17
and demobbed 9 years later. Worked in Telephone Communications and on London Transport Buses.
Retired in 1983. Living on own since 2003. Will post daily happenings from time to time.

william3c