I had a great day yesterday. My son collected me along with three of his daughters, my granddaughters, and we went to York University (University of York in truth, a place called York in Canada got the name first). It was very busy as all the students were returning from their summer break but as we were early parking turned out to be easy. The event we wanted to see was a national fencing competition; no not fencing around fields, fencing with swords, or more correctly foils. As usual with these good ideas my son and I learnt more than the children who quickly became bored. These things always move with a graceful and steady progression so any comparison with video games is stark. That’s not to say that the first half hour wasn’t good fun for them but after that it seems to be repetitious. They didn’t have a knowledge of anyone who was partaking so had no ‘side’ to cheer on, (not that anyone cheered anyway but you know what I mean).
At first there were only men fencing each other, sprinting back and forth with the retractable cable reeling in and out behind them. There was a referee for each match and at least eight matches going off at any one time. They looked the part in the tight white breeches and socks plus the waistcoat of thick material that I assume gives some protection if stabbed. Being stabbed is not a problem of course because the foil has an electrical button on the end to prove a contact stab so the foil isn’t dangerous. The main protection is of course the wire mask that they all wear as a poke on the face or eye could be serious. In some ways they all looked like extras in a Doctor Who production.
After the first session the women started to fight/fence each other and I had hoped that this would enthuse the girls but it didn’t seem to make any difference to them and the youngest began nagging for a drink and something to eat. I told her it was wrong to eat between meals but it didn’t stop her moaning; or my son from giving her a biscuit and a drink. We left shortly afterwards with a little more knowledge than when we arrived. As we walked to the car Lauren told me that she wouldn’t mind trying to play golf again. Yes, it was an interesting outing.

Fencing field

I have promised to fix a TV bracket to Lauren’s bedroom wall to finish off the month of decorating she and her mum have done. I have already changed the light fitting for them as the old one refused to unscrew and so they couldn’t change the lamp shade for the new one Lauren has bought. It now seems that the swivel and tilt TV bracket is only the start, the DVD player also needs to be housed somehow so a shelf is needed to be put up to. I am sure that there is no TV aerial in her room either but nothing has been said so I am not asking. I think she only wants to play DVDs, hope so anyway.

After lunch I was left on my own for several hours and I used it wisely to tidy my garage out. There is now a pile of junk waiting to go to the tip and all my things are stored tidily away.

I then looked at the list of courses on offer for older students at the university. Some were of interest;
Eboracum: Life in Roman York
From Tsarism to Stalinism: Imperial Russia and the USSR (1914-41)
An Introduction to Geological Maps
Reading and Writing Short Stories. Online Creative Writing: Building Great Fiction
The Normans (911-1192): From Normandy to Sicily, from Britain to Antioch.

The Normans was drawing in and creative writing online was tempting but in the end I realised that I have too much on already.

The only bad news was the report from Penny later on that a lamp was displayed on the dashboard of the car. When I checked it it was a brake pad warning. I will have to ring the garage tomorrow, more expense 😦