21st January

Sometimes we have to step aside from the ‘heat’ of the day and find shelter. So that’s my plan now for a day or two. I’ve been doing too much all week, and the pain of remembering Jane on her birthday yesterday was just impossible to bear. So it’s been a nice gentle day with a visit by my eldest and one of my grand-daughters this morning. They were quite helpful in working through the mountain of chocolate that for some reason keeps growing in my house! And I’m beginning to relax now having immersed myself in my latest sci-fi novel download for most of the afternoon. My son’s offered to cook an evening meal and maybe Lord of The Rings disc 2 will have an airing.

But the most engaging part of the day has been my early birthday present. I’ve been thinking I should upgrade my very basic MP3 player for some weeks as music is such an important part of my life. Anyway cash gifts came my way and I now own an IPod Touch which is a fascinating piece of kit. I’m amazed at the computing power and functionality of such a small device, especially when I consider the size of my aging desktop which is now relegated to simple home admin duties. But how on earth can something, not much bigger than a playing card, stream good quality live internet TV whilst storing most of my music collection and recording HD video? They claim thousands of Apps work on the thing, which is just crazy compared with the technology of just a few years ago. Now when I was a lad I remember having a marvellous valve radio in my bedroom… the size of a small suitcase! A friend actually lent me a much older and quite mysterious crystal radio which worked without any added power source whatsoever. But I never did get the aerial side of things sorted on that, though I remember once making a transistor radio from basic components soldered to a printed circuit board. On a good day the pirate station Radio Caroline could be heard fading in and out quite clearly, as could Radio Luxemburg for the few hours it broadcast each evening. Ah… the good old days? Although they soon wander off course, I’ll stick to WE7 or Spotify any day, especially played through my sound system with a good sub-woofer!

I remember a few weeks ago suggesting that I had all the technology I wanted and had no desire to buy more. I was mistaken! So my home cinema sound system works fairly well but is maybe eight years old… and now I’m thinking ok, what about a nice set of headphones, maybe Bose? Monster Beats don’t quite fit my image! Well earphones don’t work very well as I wear hearing aids to help combat tinnitus... a common problem for aging musicians apparently. And Bose do a dedicated IPod dock… that might work. So now I’m becoming all materialistic aren’t I, when all I really wanted was a better functioning MP3 player! But isn’t that what birthday gifts and a generous family is all about?

2 Corinthians 9:8 ‘And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work’ (NIV)