In the beginning, God said "Let there be light". And he saw that it was good. So good in fact that we human beings have invented little contrivances to achieve the same result ever since. First we invented fire (and what fun we've had with that!), and finally in the 21st century we've reached the very pinnacle of light engineering, that silly little thing screwed into the ceiling of my bathroom. Unfortunately, and much to my chagrin, I'm not God, so now the blessed thing has stopped working.
I've had a bit of an argument with someone. There's an american chappie on another website, who claims to be a pilot of fixed and rotary winged aeroplanes over fourteen years, who's said a few things that to me seemed casually ignorant. I do actually have some sympathy for Americans, I know they get a lot of stick, but then sometimes they really do ask for it and a few times in the past I've encountered their brash arrogance - or at least the behaviour we Brits see as such. I think sometimes the
They say the weather is soon to change. The map on television shows a massive arc of light blue jerking across the Atlantic toward that tiny spot on the map where I live. As an indigineous englishman this can only mean one thing. Prepare to be dampened. That said, we brits tend to ignore such baleful warnings. How can it possibly rain? Look out the window - What a glorious day!
Clearly then the english have a memory span of no more than a few days. Anything longer than that is a little hazy
Well, a week (almost) being home, and I'm about halfway done with the pictures. This is taking a while...mostly because I have things to do this week and don't have as much time as I thought to go through them. But it's getting done, bit by bit.
World Cup has been incredibly interesting to me, now that I can finally watch it. I think the winner of Germany/Argentina has the tournament, but that's just my 2 cents. I can't wait to see that match! Should be amazing, if nothing else than to
It's late at night and with the stale summer warmth, I just wasn't in the mood to do any more than vegetate in front of television. If ever a device was made for couch potatoes, that was it. Let's find something to watch. Channel 1... Nope. Channel 2... What? Who's interested in watching that? Channel 3.... I don't think so... And so on, until on one of the extra BBC channels I discovered a pleasant suprise.
As chance would have it I stumbled upon a documentary, a rock-umentary if you will,
Another day, another supermarket checkout queue. My local vendor has just had a refit, and in the name of progress has installed a number of those hateful automatic tills, so the shop can save money on staff wages. Strange thing is though they've had to keep people on the payroll to show us ordinary members of the public how these machines work.
Every time I go there now a smiling happy shop assistant asks me if I want to try their gleaming new robots. I'm afraid to say their smile doesn't
What is going on? Actually a few things here and there.. The 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa, the Wimbledon tennis tournament, and of course, the annual musical mud-fest of the Glastonbury Festival.
As for the World Cup, football sucks. It really does. So if it wasn't for the match to be played later today, I wouldn't give a monkeys for how we do. Being drawn against traditional foe Germany is a matter of great importance. Certain niceties have to be observed and giving the Hun a dar
Don't go looking for treasure in Swindon. That's the official word from the authorities. Not because you won't find anything, but because you might. It turns out that a burglar got away with more than four thousand pounds from a community centre and buried his stash in the woodland along a river that runs down the back of Liden estate.
He was of course somewhat worse for suspicious substances when he hid his ill gotten gains, so now he's been apprehended and sobered up, he hasn't the slighte
Oh no. Not this episode again! I enjoy a spot of Star Trek in the afternoons when I've nothing better to do ,but some episodes really don't have any lasting appeal. I remember seeing an interview with Jonathon Frakes ('Will Riker' in the Star Trek: Next Generation) in which he extolled the virtues of the genre, and in particular, he stressed the ability of the format to describe moral messages. He might be right, but unfortunately it's exactly those episodes that pall with familiarity.
You
It's well past midnight as I sit at home typing this blog entry. The passing revellers have long since sung their way home, but then, this is mid-week, so there was never going to be as many of them as friday or saturday night. The street remains silent in its orange-toned illumination. Only an occaisional car driving by with a low pitched swish interrupts the calm. Apart from the car that's just gone up the hill that is, revving the nuts off his engine in wild abandon. By now I doubt that's goi
Heh here I am, at the airport in Rome. It's 10pm local. I couldn't get a hotel room near the aiport for the night, and since my flight out is bright and early, I'll just sleep here. Oh, I've done it before, with more luggage than what I have now. And while I had talked people into thinking that I was very comfortable with this, the truth is that I'm only relatively comfortable with this. In some way, I hope that a repeat of 2003 doesn't happen.
**flashing back to 31 July 2003**
I ha
Yet another day of unadulterated sunshine. I suppose it's politically correct to thank the internal combustion engine for this, but since car sales are struggling right now, I can't help wondering if I was right all along. That the weather isn't as affected by the motor car as the eco-concious and vote hungry politicians would have us believe.
This bright weather seems to be moderating driver behaviour too. Fewer drivers are accelerating madly down the local roads in a mad attempt to practi
Most of you haven't been to our central library. Partly that's because most of you live in better parts of the world, but mostly because it's also somewhere I go to hang out. As a regular visitor to the library you'd think the librarians would know me by now. One does. He's the chap who signed as a witness to my elevation to lordship. Always gives me a cheery nod as he walks by. What a nice chap.
On the other hand, there's a lady who was working behind the help desk when I strode in yesterda
Some ago a religious leader decided that nations should submit to the authority of his faith. National leaders who opposed his initiatives were blacklisted, denied their spiritual welfare. The common people were enticed to believe without question what their priests were telling them. It all happened nine hundred years ago and resulted in the first crusades.
Sometimes I watch Russia Today on television. Not because of any communist sympathy, but simply because you get a different viewpoint t
This is the view from a factory chimney, looking toward the town of Somato nestling in the valley below. It all happened here.
I was back at HQ when the radio message came in. A recon patrol had ventured out as far as Somato, and stumbled on an enemy stronghold. Coming under fire their squad leader had been killed. They were pinned down on that wooded hill, just to the left of the town, and needed help. I was available so I gathered a few troops, an available truck, and headed out across th
All I did was go for a walk. In the two or three hours it took me to wander around the Mouldon Hill area, I very nearly achieved a dose of sunburn. My reflection in the mirror is an almost embarrassing shade of red. I'm actually glad todays weather is grey and slightly damp. It's spitting with rain right now. What a difference a day makes.
On the way there I followed the railway path. As a child I used to walk along the tracks. Back then the line was no longer used for regular services and
A clear blue sky. Utterly devoid of any cloud whatsoever. that's a rareity in Darkest Wiltshire, but I notice the natives are taking full advantage of the summer sunshine. Draped over a stone wall is one youngster, probably sleeping off last nights attempt to pull a girl, in a state of comatosed oblivion. A few people stand back a little, not sure whether he's dead or requires an ambulance. My guess is he'll need some cream for sunburn later on.
Funny thing is I woke this morning at some ear
Industrial estates are odd places. You see them everywhere in british towns and cities, a road along which factories and warehouses are lined up in bold advertisement and yet give off a feeling of almost monastic solitude. You don't see any activity. There's no sense of urgency or productivity. I'm sure that's not actually the case or all these companies would go out of business. It's just that the square and architecturally cold brick frontages do not reveal their inner workings to the casual p
In the past I've always encountered a certain level of apathy from my various employers. Sometimes it's because they don't believe my initiatives will work, or perhaps prefer to give the credit to someone else. Sometimes it's because I've been pigeon-holed, pure and simple. Finally, after quarter of a century, I've pushed through one of the major obstacles to my progress in the workplace. They're going to train me to drive forklifts.
I have my claims advisor to thank for that. He certainly e
Todays the day when I face a new claims advisor. His name is on the confirmation letter but we've not had dealings before, so I haven't a clue what sort of person he is. Could he be worse than Bovine Betty? Well, actually, yes, he could be. We shall see.
The problem with handovers like this this is that my jobsearch agreement gets changed. The 'agreement' is an informal contract. It sets out what I have to do as a minimum each week to earn my benefits. I always try to exceed those requiremen
Yes, it's time to say...seeyas later. Yes, of course, I'm flying out here on the 24th, but I won't be back for sightseeing purposes for a while. The extremely small taste of this Eternal City has forever changed me...I'm in awe of the mix of modern, slightly modern, kinda old, really old, and ancient.
Yesterday's giratina saw me start at the Pantheon. When outside, I marvelled at how it has stood up over time, especially compared to the Area Sacra--where my bus dropped me off. The Area
What is it with economy cars? Why do the people responsible for these automotive blasphemies believe that we, the buying public, want some god-awful buggy that resembles a childs toy? I write this because Riversimple are unveiling a hydrogen powered car in Britain. Like the all-electirc Gee-Whiz, it's an exremely compact two seater rather like a distorted Smart Car. Back in America, or California at least, they have hydrogen powered cars on sale already. Theirs are similar to everyday petrol car
Well, I'm here, it's really day 2 for me in the Eternal City. Yesterday was spent at the heart of Ancient Rome, so to speak: the Palantine Hill ruins, including the Forum and Trajan's Market, the Capolitine, and all that I could get. I took almost 200 pictures yesterday...not bad. I'm definitely doing this on the cheap, so sadly no museums...I have to save most of my money for Tuscany, which starts tomorrow.
Today I'm off to the Vatican and the Pantheon...must really get my religious aspe
