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The Weekly Blog

Happy Holidays

There’s no blog this week because I’m away on holiday. Working through the pandemic has been like wading through treacle and it’s such a relief to take a break from work, book the dogs into kennels and go somewhere that involves an actual overnight stay away from home.

It’s particularly great not to have to write the blog. If you ever feel that it’s sometimes a bit of an effort to read the posts on a weekly basis then consider, for a moment, what it is like to write them. I frequently receive feedback from readers saying, “I had no idea where you were going with this…” which is pretty much the thought that I have most weeks when I sit down to write.

There are admittedly some occasions when I know, on Monday, what I’d like to write about on Friday. But those occasions are rare and it’s much more common that I approach the end of the week with a rising sense of apprehension – that I have absolutely nothing new to write about. There are only so many ways of saying that I hate lockdown, I’m tired of the media’s obsession with disseminating public fear about Covid and that I can’t wait for racing to return to normal.

Speaking of feedback, one of my sisters-in-law is concerned that very few people make comments in the space provided below each post and she’s become worried that she might actually be the only person who reads the blog. I’ve had to explain that the comment box is moderated for publication and seeing as the majority of comments are either promoting Viagra, advertising Russian brides or bemoaning my tipping skills (Saturday’s selection is Quickthorn at York), I tend to leave most of them in the folder marked ‘spam’.

But I do welcome comments from all of my readers (both of you have made valid points in the past) and I’ll soon be obliged to address the other issue which crops up most frequently – that of the profile picture that accompanies the blog. Yes, I know that I don’t look like that any longer, but I like it because I currently identify as someone who is fifteen years younger than their biological age. And at a time when younger people are permitted to identify as anything they damn well please, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to stick with a profile picture which resembles the person that I think I am, rather than the person that I look like.

Nevertheless, I’m away this week with someone who cares as much about the quality of their holiday snaps as they do about the appearance of their dad, resulting in the accompanying photo which will eventually be substituted as my profile pic. This is what I really look like. On a good day. Now that you know, feel free to approach me on any raceday and to let me know what you think about the blog – I’m so sorry that there wasn’t one for you this week – normal service will return when I get back from holiday.

7 Comments Happy Holidays

  1. Kelso Roof

    Always the first electronic media (or whatever) I read on Friday a.m. So don’t stop or else I’ll be back to reading the garbage you quote. Enjoy your hols and see you in September.

    Cheers R

    Reply
  2. John Hall

    I myself thought I was the only reader having left an odd comment.
    I too produced a profile 15 years ago out of date now folk are by appearance smart, apps for this and that; forward 15 years most will be cursing not so smart.
    Blogs- I recall you mentioned an away day at Dan Skeltons, a rarity the selection obliged. You would be at home in the RP naps table useful for what not to back.
    another- I wonder how the barrel of whiskey investment is doing?
    Nevertheless get recharged, don’t get smart.
    P.s I like your blogs. Cheers John

    Reply
    1. Jonathan

      The first whisky cask is just over 2 1/2 years old and is maturing well – fruity & floral flavours developing apparently. If anyone is interested in a share of a new cask from the Borders Distillery (to mature over ten years), we could be purchasing one during the next few months…

      Reply
  3. Alan Flitcroft

    Jonathan – just to let you know that I’m still reading – even on weeks where there is no blog!
    Keep going …

    Reply
  4. Kelso Roof

    About this whisky… Will it be available to all your correspondents? To quote Alastair Down, can’t wait to say goodbye to the ferret racing ‘n’ counting the days till normal service resumes!

    KR

    Reply

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