Today sees a late start to yours truly chronicling my daily observations. Due to two visits to the White Rose Shopping Centre (WRSC) with Mrs Strachan senior, it’s now almost 4.30pm as I commence jotting down Tuesday’s notions.
The initial sojourn to the south Leeds retail outlet embarked upon to secure Maggie’s weekly comestibles; the latter a consequence of neglecting to purchase birthday cards on the first trip.
Although both birthday’s aren’t until next week, the old lady likes to be well prepared, feeling we’d be ‘cutting it fine’ if we didn’t return this afternoon to purchase the greetings cards.
I’ve never known anyone send as many greetings cards as Maggie Strachan. There’s not a week goes by when this thoughtful, caring lady leaves the WRSC bereft of a greetings, sympathy or congratulations card.
The messages are always genuinely meant, however they can dispatched for the most idiosyncratic of reasons. Obscure celebrations such as Burns Night (the bloke off The Simpsons, not Rabbie), Uncle Sherman’s dog Chuffer’s bar mitzvah, or the anniversary of Mavis Crabtree’s cat being neutered.
Mater’s benevolence when distributing cardboard greetings so extensive, on one occasion she impulse bought an additional two cards while store in situ. One for a fellow Clinton’s customer who, while queueing with Maggie, mentioned she’d an upcoming birthday; the other for a the girl behind the counter who was getting married later that week…… Mercifully, she didn’t pop a £10 note into the two strangers cards, as she often bequeaths to known recipients of her celebratory well wishes.
Nestled between the two bookends represented by today’s separate visits to the White Rose Shopping Centre I attended a Health Fitness class at Rothwell leisure centre. This afternoon’s exertions my first exercise since over-indulging during last weeks North Yorkshire battery recharge.
Footnote – To clarify, the battery recharge was a metaphor for GJ Strachan taking a break at the coast to increasing low mood post festive period. I’m not referring to embarking on a one hundred mile odyssey, paying hundreds of pounds to rent accommodation merely to re-energise the power supply units of my remote controls and whimsical revolving bow tie.
The exercise class introduced me to an amalgam of familiar workouts along with ones I’d not previously undertaken. Amongst the new circuit challenges a spell on a punchbag, rope resistance exercises and medicine ball/trampette work.
It’ll come as no real surprise to anyone reading this that spending a few minutes pummelling a punchbag released much bottled up mental angst. The anger vented mid-exercise contributing, along with last week’s coastal break, towards a major recent reduction in yours truly’s disenchantment levels.
Saying that, though, the cathartic nature of the punchbag workout was nearly lost almost immediately when during when during my next circuit I nearly had a medicine ball break my nose!!
This close shave coming courtesy of launching a heavy basketball shaped sphere at a tilted trampette, misjudging how quickly it would launch back at my visage. GJ Strachan only saved from a bust nose by his still reasonable reflexes, catching the returning medicine ball just as it reached the tip of his conk.
As an aside, today’s narrative is the 1,750th I’ve written since this websites inception in March 2015. Although not a notable milestone, like if it was my four millionth essay, I feel occasionally moved to provide these occasional statistical updates of my penmanship productivity levels.
At this juncture, reminding the reader I’ve produced over a million words and around 6,000 hours of writing; each letter and punctuation symbol available gratis. I like to think of these reminders of the ‘joy’ I impart as a subliminal begging letter to my audience; touting for recompense from readership for entertainment they’ve acquired, along with thoughts I’ve provoked over that time.
Alternatively, if you feel you’ve been short changed entertainment wise, or emotionally unmoved by my darker prose, let me know how much I owe you!
