Well sadly I have not appeared in The Sunday Times rich list, ooops, sorry, The Sunday Times top 100 blogs here. That must be in part due to the delinquency I am demonstrating with my regular entries.
If its not work getting in the way (shurely not?....ed) then its the social distractions of Edinburgh which are responsible. I have been eating and drinking pretty well lately, and it has caused me to stumble upon one of those annoying restaurant habits which I think should be stamped out.
I tend to drink white wine when I am out, and a crisp nicely chilled Chablis usually fits the bill perfectly. Imagine then when I ask for it in a wine bucket, and a contraption more filling for flowers turns up at the table. I really can't understand why they try to indicate that this cooler thingie can begin to take the place of an ice bucket. If the wine is slightly warm then the cooler will maintain it at that temperature, and placing a few ice cubes in the bottom does not alter the effect.
So come on all you patrons who read this site, get those wine buckets in when next I visit, and dump the coolers round the corner at the florists.
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Monday, 2 February 2009
Snow snow thick thick snow
Today it snowed with great vigor in the London conurbation, and sure enough the whole thing stopped. I don't have a problem with that as I had planned to work in London all week and not travel to Edinburgh.
With my surname I kind of have a feel for this sort of thing occurring.
I also have some pictures of Chiswick Business Park I did manage to recover. I will post them later too. It will probably thaw later which is always the down side of the beauty which snow can bring to a grey city landscape.
With my surname I kind of have a feel for this sort of thing occurring.
It was interesting as I walked down the High Road to see that some house owners and shops had cleared the snow, and others had not. As I understand it, if you clear the snow and the postman slips and damages himself then you are liable for the injury, if you leave the snow to its own devices and he falls over its 'an act of God' and just tough! I always leave my snow untouched...
Turnham Green was like a scene from a Lowry painting, and I would post my photos but my phone has packed up, humbug. So if I find they are on my memory stick when I get a new phone I will post them later.I also have some pictures of Chiswick Business Park I did manage to recover. I will post them later too. It will probably thaw later which is always the down side of the beauty which snow can bring to a grey city landscape.
Friday, 23 January 2009
Lady Godiva
I learnt an interesting fact this week, one which I admit I have had rows about previously and it appears I have been wrong. Merchants in England and Wales do not have to accept Scottish bank notes if they don't wish to.
Now I always thought they did as they were same value and had the same wording relating to payment to bearer as the Bank of England notes. I knew Jersey money was not legal, but had no idea Scottish was discretionary.
it was brought to my attention as there is a campaign North of the boarder to make these notes compulsory tender. I am not sure why as most places do accept them, but the sweaties are always looking for something to dis the rest of the Country with.
The Bank of Scotland ( soon to be Lloyds Group) , The Clydesdale bank and Royal bank all produce their own notes, and there is a fine old market in forged notes which fly around at and during the Edinburgh festival.
I wonder how much it costs them to print the stuff, either they should stop and save themselves the overhead in these times of banking crisis, or they should work a few extra weekends at the print producing extra to eradicate the debt they have racked up with the government!
Now I always thought they did as they were same value and had the same wording relating to payment to bearer as the Bank of England notes. I knew Jersey money was not legal, but had no idea Scottish was discretionary.
it was brought to my attention as there is a campaign North of the boarder to make these notes compulsory tender. I am not sure why as most places do accept them, but the sweaties are always looking for something to dis the rest of the Country with.
The Bank of Scotland ( soon to be Lloyds Group) , The Clydesdale bank and Royal bank all produce their own notes, and there is a fine old market in forged notes which fly around at and during the Edinburgh festival.
I wonder how much it costs them to print the stuff, either they should stop and save themselves the overhead in these times of banking crisis, or they should work a few extra weekends at the print producing extra to eradicate the debt they have racked up with the government!
Thursday, 22 January 2009
...I wantmy baby back.....
Race has become the hot topic at the dinner table, overtaking house prices, second homes and the physical attributes of the Swedish Au Pair. This is all due to Black being the new White, a metamorphosis for which Barack Obama has become the catalyst.
I thought I would test this out using my IBM worldwide employee directory. There are seven Weathers in our organisation, me in London, a no relation in Leeds, and seven in the USA. Its strange, but the two of us in UK are white and the five in the USA are not. I thought I would test this a bit further, and test out our roots. Sure enough all our Irish cousins are white and have been for generations.
Carl Weathers, the actor is black, as is Clarence Weathers the ex-American football player, but research in Wikipedia indicates there is a diversity and dilution of my transatlantic theory, with Weathers even being tracked to Australia.......strewth, and Beck Weathers is worth a look at too.
Not sure what this proves, but it would be fascinating to trace the Weathers roots from Ireland to American and where the Afro-Carri bean influence first came from. A project for old age me thinks. Here is the Wiki Weathers list
I thought I would test this out using my IBM worldwide employee directory. There are seven Weathers in our organisation, me in London, a no relation in Leeds, and seven in the USA. Its strange, but the two of us in UK are white and the five in the USA are not. I thought I would test this a bit further, and test out our roots. Sure enough all our Irish cousins are white and have been for generations.
Carl Weathers, the actor is black, as is Clarence Weathers the ex-American football player, but research in Wikipedia indicates there is a diversity and dilution of my transatlantic theory, with Weathers even being tracked to Australia.......strewth, and Beck Weathers is worth a look at too.
Not sure what this proves, but it would be fascinating to trace the Weathers roots from Ireland to American and where the Afro-Carri bean influence first came from. A project for old age me thinks. Here is the Wiki Weathers list
Thursday, 8 January 2009
Get up that chimney
A happy New year to all of you. Its the festive season which has generated my first thoughts of the year.
During the industrial revolution, the use of child labour was commonplace and well documented by Dickens and others. It provided a source of cheap and subservient labour at a time when the momentum of the revolution needed to be maintained. they worked in mines and factories performing a wide range of menial tasks in terrible conditions. ...and you tell the youth of today that, and they just won't believe you... to paraphrase Monty Python.
Now we are in the midst of a new revolution, and we are missing a trick by not deploying children to help.
I am referring of course to the technological revolution which continues at a pace that adults are struggling to keep up with.
What I say, therefore, is lets get the child labour principle back in vogue. I think when you go to Richer Sounds, Comet, PC World or elsewhere and purchase something, you should get a seven year old thrown in. You can take them home, get them to configure and install the particular electrical product you have purchased and away you go. The child can be fed at your discretion with portions comparable with the size of the task they have performed, and then a call to said retail outlet will result in a cab arriving to take them back for their next assignment.
That should keep them off the streets, teach them that a square meal does not automatically turn up when they are hungry and that the better they are at something the more they are rewarded....more? the boy asked for more?
During the industrial revolution, the use of child labour was commonplace and well documented by Dickens and others. It provided a source of cheap and subservient labour at a time when the momentum of the revolution needed to be maintained. they worked in mines and factories performing a wide range of menial tasks in terrible conditions. ...and you tell the youth of today that, and they just won't believe you... to paraphrase Monty Python.
Now we are in the midst of a new revolution, and we are missing a trick by not deploying children to help.
I am referring of course to the technological revolution which continues at a pace that adults are struggling to keep up with.
What I say, therefore, is lets get the child labour principle back in vogue. I think when you go to Richer Sounds, Comet, PC World or elsewhere and purchase something, you should get a seven year old thrown in. You can take them home, get them to configure and install the particular electrical product you have purchased and away you go. The child can be fed at your discretion with portions comparable with the size of the task they have performed, and then a call to said retail outlet will result in a cab arriving to take them back for their next assignment.
That should keep them off the streets, teach them that a square meal does not automatically turn up when they are hungry and that the better they are at something the more they are rewarded....more? the boy asked for more?
Sunday, 21 December 2008
....but I couldn't eat a whole one!
Well, its early Christmas present time, but I did not realise how naughty I have been this year. Number two daughter has just announced she is with child, and I am much too young to be a grandfather!!
So come July, the house will be echoing to the sound of baby stuff, Maxine will be delighted as she likes babies, and it gives me an excuse for a barbecue. So she is the boss for the first three or four years, then I can take over when 'it' gets interesting.
We actually knew before Emma did, as Maxines mate Donna, the spook, sent Maxine a text asking how Emma was. Maxine replied in true clairvoyant speak, 'you tell me' when back came the answer 'pregnant with twins'. Well the scan has so far only shown one, unless the terrors were playing hide and seek with each other already.
Lee, the international vocalist, is already working on a new set, I can imagine songs like A Child is Born, Baby Driver, Hey Baby, and Wild Child will be included, although Baby What a Big Surprise by Chicago should slot into the playlist somewhere.
I am not sure what I am going to do with all the stuff I store in the Wendy House though, maybe its a good excuse to get another shed!
So come July, the house will be echoing to the sound of baby stuff, Maxine will be delighted as she likes babies, and it gives me an excuse for a barbecue. So she is the boss for the first three or four years, then I can take over when 'it' gets interesting.
We actually knew before Emma did, as Maxines mate Donna, the spook, sent Maxine a text asking how Emma was. Maxine replied in true clairvoyant speak, 'you tell me' when back came the answer 'pregnant with twins'. Well the scan has so far only shown one, unless the terrors were playing hide and seek with each other already.
Lee, the international vocalist, is already working on a new set, I can imagine songs like A Child is Born, Baby Driver, Hey Baby, and Wild Child will be included, although Baby What a Big Surprise by Chicago should slot into the playlist somewhere.
I am not sure what I am going to do with all the stuff I store in the Wendy House though, maybe its a good excuse to get another shed!
Monday, 15 December 2008
Up up and away, hic!
I have noticed a few comments starting to be posted against my ramblings, which is very gratifying. One regular poster, Martin, is my brother-in-law, who has recently become a snow bird, moving from Boston to Delray just North of Miami.
His last comment was to enquire how old the cuddly birds were as referred to on the second day of Christmas. Well Martin, about 32, which is far too old for you!!!
I am sure the family will all be looking at how they can get down there for a holiday come 2009, although hopefully the dollar will have recovered a bit by then to give them some spending money.
Best way to get to Miami is, of course, by air, and I have been flying a lot recently as I commute between various homes and Edinburgh. Recently I have noticed the airways equivalent of the nutter on the bus. That for those of you not familiar with the Billy Connolly story, relates to the hobo style character who gets on the bus talking to himself, and everybody shrivels up as small as they can and whisper to themselves, 'please no, don't sit next to me'
In airline terms, I just seem to attract the selfish idiot who insists on reclining their seat violently onto my knees even though its a 45 minutes journey, and if he moved up one row, he could have them all to himself.... my coffee goes everywhere I huff and puff, stick my knees in his back, but all to no avail. I remember reading once that an inventor in America was trying to design a clip you could put on the seat in front to stop it reclining, but it worked intermittently so it never caught on.
Never mind, its the season of goodwill, so I grin and bear it, in the knowledge that tonight is the staff party, when all bad memories will be dispersed in a cloud of alcohol induced euphoria. Make mine a pint please!
His last comment was to enquire how old the cuddly birds were as referred to on the second day of Christmas. Well Martin, about 32, which is far too old for you!!!
I am sure the family will all be looking at how they can get down there for a holiday come 2009, although hopefully the dollar will have recovered a bit by then to give them some spending money.
Best way to get to Miami is, of course, by air, and I have been flying a lot recently as I commute between various homes and Edinburgh. Recently I have noticed the airways equivalent of the nutter on the bus. That for those of you not familiar with the Billy Connolly story, relates to the hobo style character who gets on the bus talking to himself, and everybody shrivels up as small as they can and whisper to themselves, 'please no, don't sit next to me'
In airline terms, I just seem to attract the selfish idiot who insists on reclining their seat violently onto my knees even though its a 45 minutes journey, and if he moved up one row, he could have them all to himself.... my coffee goes everywhere I huff and puff, stick my knees in his back, but all to no avail. I remember reading once that an inventor in America was trying to design a clip you could put on the seat in front to stop it reclining, but it worked intermittently so it never caught on.
Never mind, its the season of goodwill, so I grin and bear it, in the knowledge that tonight is the staff party, when all bad memories will be dispersed in a cloud of alcohol induced euphoria. Make mine a pint please!
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