Egonomics

There I Was, Pondering
An occupational hazard of being Conrad, I'm afraid.  Any pause in the progress of the quotidian existence and your humble scribe instantly begins to wonder about the big questions in life - Why Are We Here?  Does God Exist?  Are We Alone*?

Also, who on earth creates things like this?

     More prosaically, I wondered about being on leave and making best use of my time.  Whilst being bound up in the working week, I have to be efficient and utilise time properly, since I might have at the most 6 hours on getting home to manage all the dull domestic tasks of my dreary day.  Getting lunch ready for the next day, having tea, washing dishes, making a pot or two of tea, dumping rubbish, creating the blog, reading, listing books and so on.
     When on leave there simply isn't that impulse or drive to pack as much as possible into the shortest possible time, where possible**.  Not normally.
     "I say, Conrad," I hear your puzzled voices call.  "You've mis-spelled the title here, and you such a Spelling Nazi."
     Not really.  You see, the efficient management of time and work is indeed known as "Ergonomics", but what I intend to expand upon here is how my time and work is managed by Edna the Wunderhund and her firm conviction that the human world exists solely to pander to her, 24/7 - "Ego-nomics", if you will.
     Let the mutley*** begin!

Edna And Her Ego
Here is an unusual and striking image of domestic harmony at the Mansion.  Art?

     This is a rare shot indeed; normally Edna sees Jenny off the instant she pokes her nose round the door in a flurry of barks and hisses.  Cats and dogs, eh?
     I have to also inform you that this blog posting is also acting as an update for Wonder Wifey and That Other Feller (oh, what is his name!), who are off in the sun at sea somewhere.  So, evidence of the Short Walk:

Edna, stilled by being thrown a biscuit

     Then it was mid-afternoon before we went off to the muddy track and open fields to the left of Tandle Hill Park.  Art?

On the Pennine Edge Trail

     I've never met anyone else whilst taking this track, making it a little eerie.  There are footprints and tyretracks and ruts and worn paths that mean someone - or something - is using it, just not ever in daylight.

Just visible top centre -

     - the hole that Edna nearly disappeared down on a previous excursion.  This time she stayed very far away -

     - and spent a good five minutes tearing up and down the field, occasionally forgetting her dignity and rolling in the grass.
     The aftermath of a good 40 minute hike and run inevitably took it's toll, and here we see the dog recovering:

I Say!
One thing that did result from banging on about Edna was mention in a Twitter montage:

There we are, lower left.  Under my Sunday best name.

Fly's Water
I honestly thought that's what the track name was on Eel's "Daisies of the Galaxy", when actually it's "Flyswatter".  Which is a long-winded introduction to this photo:

In Memoriam

     This is one of four plastic flyswatters we used to have.  The yellow one used to have small pieces fall off it whenever I swatted a fly with it.  The orange one above broke into bits instantly when I smote the flying fiend.  I am not super-powered^ so this means either the plastic has perished over time, or the swatters were rubbish in the first place.
     (I still got the fly).

Stomach Bigger Than Flies - NO - Sorry!  Eyes.  Stomach Bigger Than Eyes.
If you have your wits about you then a nod of the head is the only possible reply to this picture:

     Yesterday's Bean and Sausage Casserole, done in the slow cooker and rather misleadingly portioned out to "4 to 6" people, as Conrad finished it in two helpings.  And didn't allow Edna to lick the plate, either, as - onion and garlic.

World Domination Practice Begins
Here we see the Italian forces deployed, then the British make their first move behind an enormous smoke screen.  They might well have been advised to wait until Turn 2 for the smoke, but this game is a learning process as I've completely forgotten the rules.  Deployment looks symmetrical at present, but expect this to change when the shooting starts.

     Some questions raised.  Recce units - who is their CO unit?  This isn't given on the Scenario sheet, so I'm guessing it's the overall British commander.  May check the website to see if there's an answer there.
     You may be thinking that this is a slow start, yet we have to contend with Edna's ego once again.  She's still very whiney if I'm sat in my chair working out movement and line of sight, because this means I'm not paying attention to her.
     Also I knocked a base off the edge of the table and this has now vanished completely.  Can't find it anywhere; it's square so it can't roll, and it's brightly coloured so can't blend in with the carpet, and it's weighty so it can't bounce, but I still can't find it!



* I had a great tagline for a sci-fi future war novel I was writing:  "Are We Alone?  No.  But we'll wish we were."
** Also a great riposte quote from "Forbidden Planet" by Doc Ostrow to Commander Adams.
*** Do you see what I did there?  Do you?  Am I clever or what?  Am I?
^  That I know of.