While wandering through Bath today a car with an open window overtook me and one of the male occupiers shouted on his mobile to someone else ‘don’t worry about me I have a brilliant idea’. This cheered me up no end as I felt the human spirit was so in danger of merging with AI and consumerism that people have forgotten how to use their brains. This guy was on fire. Thank you whoever you are.

Before my trip to Bath I attended the Mulberry Park ‘Super Sunday’ which is an aspect of the Vineyard Church. Once a month you have free association with no service so people can get to know each other. There was a play area for the children and I fell into conversation with a young man playing with Play-Doh. It was rather dry and needed some Linseed oil. I found the table itself a work of art (pictured)

I met the meeting coordinator’s wife and was able to check a couple of names of men I had met at the curry night with her that I had forgotten (see my previous references to the curry night). I mentioned to her that the curry night seemed to fulfill a lot in me and need for men to meet together. She agreed with me that men were not so good at expressing emotions so why not have a group, type of heart two hearts group, people can feel more free to share.

She said that the coordinator had had this on his mind for months and I said I would be delighted in being instrumental to start such a group. I have done so much of this over the decades that such innovations are easy for me. I discussed why volunteers may not be forthcoming. First, it is the English habit of waiting for someone else to do something, secondly the underestimation of one’s own ability and also the underestimation of the pleasure of such a job. Thirdly, the common excuse that we give to ourselves that we are too busy.

I gave my business card about my Samuel Pepys diary just to show that I do deliver matters of substance and I also gave my business card which gave my email and phone details. I told her that it was not my intention to force myself forward. I said the fact that the idea happens is more important than whoever does the idea itself. I am not interested in ‘taking the credit’ for something.  I said I would leave it up to Vineyard to contact me.

This Vineyard Church group is held in a school which has very modern ideas and actually dared to mention the word ‘energy’ in one of its posters.

I also spoke to someone called Nick who ran a local use group or service in Peasedown St John. I commented that this was a mixed area. You had quite a lot of council estates which were built in the 1960s, the traditional Main Street, and you have the quite wealthy group of homes built I would say in the 1980s. I said it was a ‘three in one’ town and that there would be difficulty in the various cohorts meeting and mingling for recreational purposes. He did confirm that the parents of the more well to do children did not wish their children to mix with those from council estates. I suggested he become a chameleon and change his mind set according to the client group in front of him at the time.

I again commented on the need to give witness through your behavior rather than try and persuade people to take up another Faith or take an interest in you at all. I said that most of the people who were helpful to me had no idea they were being helpful. They were just being themselves.

I also talked to the man who served me coffee at the event. I heard the words ‘Lee Abbey’ and he encouraged me to visit. My first visit was in 1958 when I was 14 and said I had fun memories of it and always looked forward to reading their newsletters. He said they are very short staffed as they used to be able to rely on volunteers (paid board) but now visa applications are more tricky and expensive.

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Anyway, on to the Town. Visitors are in full swing. I spoke to some from Australia. I left my car at the Park and Ride in Odd Down and took the bus down to the centre. I popped into Morrison’s Local and bought a do-it- yourself salad.  You stuff a plastic container with a variety of cold salads including eggs, pasta, lettuce, cheese, cold slaw, tomatoes. Press it down and you have more than enough to keep you going. I paid £2.99 for my portion.

I visited Rymans to find a substitute printer. I hate paying £50 for the printer and find that I have to pay £20+ for 10 cc of printer ink. I searched on ‘cheapest ink for desktop PCs’ without much success. Searches are better on PC’s than on mobiles.

Street entertainers are upping their game.

This man was playing classical violin to the accompaniment of an orchestra.

I found a rather sad poem pasted on a disused shop window.

I was intending to visit an organ recital at St John’s Church at 3pm but two hours to kill was too much in the heat so I jumped on the bus to the Park and Ride and came home about 1.30 pm

————–VIDEO AND TEXT LIBRARY—————-

The effects of music on your DNA. Research by
Japanese geneticist Susumu Ohno