Richard Baum

Well the clocks went forward last night. It was the first such shift in time since we moved house, and I have to say I was shocked by the number of clocks we have in the house. Fourteen, to be precise, not including my watch. I think that’s pretty unnecessary… Still, at least I remembered the correct direction in which to turn them all. A couple of years back I turned them back at this time of year, and was thus two hours behind the rest of Britain for most of a day, until it got dark in the middle of the afternoon and I realised something was awry. At first, I must admit, I thought the world was ending. Then it occurred to me that I’d made a simple time-keeping error. I am still faintly disconcerted to think that the first emotion that struck me after realising we weren’t all doomed was one of disappointment that my Casio was wrong.

Days like this are odd though. Although we’ve only shifted forward an hour, I do feel a bit confused. More tired than I should, and slightly bitter that an hour has been stolen from me, at election time when I need it most. I don’t want it back in September when it’s cold and wet! I want it back now!

This morning I was woken at some time between 7.30 and 10.30, depending on which clock I was looking at, by a resident concerned about the St Ann’s Road junction improvement. Whilst I think we’re all glad that this is being sorted, and that the dangerous junction will now be repaired, there seems to be an awful lot of work going on there to do what strikes me as not the world’s most complicated job (which, as I established last night, is actually changing the clock setting on my DAB radio).

The street, I am told, has been dug up three times in a week, which is not only annoying to locals but also seems a bit of a waste of resource. In addition, work has been going on at the weekends for the past fortnight, starting very early. And this is annoying to residents too, who seem to have received little in the way of communication from the Council. So I have emailed the officers concerned this morning, and will contact them when they’re in work tomorrow, expressing my concerns over this work. It is important that we get the junction done properly and made safer, but it’s equally important that we do it showing concern for local people who have to live there whilst the work is carried out.

Now, it’s early / mid / late morning, so I must go and have either breakfast or lunch.

Rick