Minimalist poet, minimalist lifestyle

Last week, after finishing our hiking in Derbyshire we made informal plans to go walking again today. We obviously aren't though, due to the weather; possibly up to 90 degrees and high humidity.

I've hardly slept for the last two nights though; I've kept waking up covered in sweat, so I'm in no state to do a fifteen mile hike.

I've got my appointment for my Asperger's assessment at Sheffield - August 12th.

There's a 10-12 page questionnaire that I need to fill in first.

Seeing trout in the River Wye and a frog crossing the footpath.

A low-flying squadron of four micro-light aircraft and two gyrocopters.

Walking through, and sitting in wildflower meadows.

Enjoying a butterscotch flavoured icecream at Monsal Head.

We went on our walk in the Derbyshire Dales yesterday; 13 miles, taking in parts of the Monsal Trail to the north of Bakewell.

Physically I'm feeling fine; I've only got a very minor blister on my right heel [thanks to my new hiking boots], tight thigh muscles due to the amount of climbing...and a bit of chafing in my groin area.

I've got everything ready for my day's hiking in the Peak District tomorrow: I've prepared my sandwiches, filled several plastic bottles with dilute orange drink, taken my neoclarityn tablet [for my hayfever] and had a shave [I won't have the time in the morning...we're setting off at seven o'clock.]

It's been reported on the news that a woman has been trampled to death by a herd of cows while she was taking her dogs for a walk.

I once had a scary experience with cows when I was walking with friends in the Peak District and we were cornered in a field by about a dozen of them and had to hastily scramble over a dry stone wall, partially demolishing it in the process.

Seen on Doncaster Market earlier this morning: punnets of misshapen strawberries -'same flavour - just different shapes'. Unbelievably they are actually more expensive then the strawberries I bought.

Some days I just despair about everything.

I've got an appointment this morning at the South Yorkshire Centre For Inclusive Living at Kirk Sandall about ways that they might be able to help me once I've got a positive diagnosis for Asperger's syndrome.

On the forms that I have to fill in I'm described as a 'beneficiary' - I'm not happy about this; it implies they have a patronising and 'we-know-best' attitude.

When I was doing my voluntary work the charity I worked for had a zero tolerance attitude and totally refused to work or co-operate with any charity or organisation which used this word.

The government has announced a new tax of £6 per year on all telephone landlines in order to fund the future development of broadband in areas with poor service.

I'm concerned about this development and don't understand why taxpayers should have to subsidise a privately-owned company (BT).

An insect bite on my forehead which is red, swollen, itchy and sore - and very prominent at the moment.

My finger nails which seem to need cutting every few days.

The backs of my knees which are sweating a lot.

My piles - they annoy me most of the time.

White patches on the backs of my hands (possibly vitiligo) which are causing me to suffer from sunburn in a place I'm not used to.

Hairy nostrils and ears.

Bunions on my feet - they're not painful though; they just get in the way.

I notice that there's an advertising campaign running on Sky News actually advertising advertising.

Sausages in lard
A yard of bubblegum.

Gordon Brown has announced his plans for electoral reform this afternoon. It just seems like tinkering to me; merely altering the way we elect a constituency MP.

I think we need to get rid of the idea of the constituency and have proportional representation with national party lists. When there's a constituency election, if you live in an area dominated by one party you're always going to get a donkey elected - the best candidates are always going to be sent to marginal seats.

In my case, no matter who I vote for, or if I don't bother to vote...or if aliens land on the White House lawn; I'll still end up with a Labour donkey [or clockwork zombie as I call them] for an MP.

The governing Labour Party only received 15.4% of the votes cast in last week's European elections. Considering that the turnout was only 35%, that means that only 5.4% (or 1 in 18) of the electorate actually voted Labour.

How on Earth can Gordon Brown and what's left of the Labour Party still be running the country? What mandate do they have?

I'm a bit frustrated at the moment. I'm expecting three phone calls this week to find out what will be happening in my life.

Will I be diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, and how will I be able to exploit this?

When, and where, will the next training walk on the moors be?

When, and where, will my next presentation or workshop about the effects and consequences of long-term unemployment be held?

I received a phone call earlier today consisting of just background office noises for a few seconds, and then the caller hung up.

When I dialled '1471' to find out the number of the caller it was identified as 00000 000000.

This has never occurred before.

It seems that Gordon Brown is on the verge of being deposed by the Labour Party; and then we'll have another unelected prime minister foistered on us. This is not democratic...the parliamentary and electoral systems need making fairer and more representative.

These are my suggestions:

A Proportional Representation voting system
Recall elections for individual MPs
Legally binding manifestoes
Directly elected Prime Ministers.

So far this week I've signed on at the jobcentre and been for the initial assessment to find out if I've got Asperger's syndrome. Later today and for the rest of the week I've got appointments with my Job Mates counsellor and advisor, and finally with my Nord Anglia lifestyle advisor.

I've just been out in the garden lazing on the sun lounger...and it's collapsed with me on it. I've only had it for three weeks and so I'll have to take it back to the shop and get a refund. I bought it from Argos; the company is usually good when it comes to handling refunds.