Smelly

It's that same old story- you wait ages and then three buses come along at once.

Or in this case you're without tap water three times in the space of a month! We haven't been without water for many years but it seems the near 50 year old mains pipes are starting to give up. Apparently a leak in the water main was reported last night so our water supplier- Thames Water- switched off the mains in our street at around 1am but the guys didn't start digging until about 9.30 this morning and say it will take several more hours to resolve. Grrr.

Needless to say I wasn't able to have a coffee or even wash* until the shops opened and I could go out to buy bottled water. Think I'm gonna keep at least 5 litres of bottled in the house from now on, just in case.

Unlike the other utilities (electricity, gas, telephone), water is run as an effective monopoly- there is only one company in each region, we can't shop around for alternative mains water suppliers. Given the huge profits our water companies continue to make, isn't it about time some more money was put back into upgrading the water system a bit quicker?


* Have been able to get washed now, using the bottled stuff. In case you were concerned LOL.

Nice Butt

Quite a busy day at the office today but when I got home, I thought it would be a really neat idea to fit a new water butt at the front of the house. We've a water meter here, so every little drop helps keep costs down. So here it is, £39 (US$58) of your best "Sankey" brand 100 litre (22 UK gallons) water butt, stand and drain pipe diverting kit. That's butt number 5 on the property by the way. Just so you know.

Just need to wait for the rain now LOL...

Blitz

Today the UK marked the 70th anniversary of the start of the Blitz, when the first German bombs fell on London.

Read about it here.

To Infinity...

OK so I gave in (I play easy to get at times) and the two of us took a trip to the cinema this afternoon to see the latest adventures of Woody, Buzz and co.

I'm quite surprised that the child discount/reduction for the ticket is only £1.90 (US$2.85, AU$3.23). Am I out of touch? However we both really enjoyed it. Although LL found the scenes of peril a tad frightening and had to cling to my arm at times. And then deny later that he was scared LOL.

On the way home, he started to ask when I would buy the DVD for him. Must have been a hit then.

Game Of Two Halves

Executive producer Steven Moffat has announced the next full series of Doctor Who will be split in two with the first 7 episodes screening in the spring of next year, with the balance in the autumn and a 2011 Christmas Special to follow. Apparently the idea is that this will allow a slightly different method of story telling and make for an exciting mid-season cliffhanger and an equally thrilling restart.

Personally I suspect it has more than a little to do with trying to avoid a ratings drop-off as summer starts, bringing with it warmer weather and lighter evenings, which tends to lead to viewers deserting their tv sets in favour of outdoor pursuits.

Karen Gillan meets the plastic version of her character, Amy Pond.









Either way, let's hope for a swift demise of the Teletubby Daleks...

Toy Story Too

Today's adventures included:

• Swimming at the outdoor heated pool.
• Performing a couple of small science experiments.
• Building some new Lego* vehicles.
• Settling in to watch Toy Story 2 on video (prior to a possible cinema visit).
• Making (and sharing) popcorn.
• Practising cycling proficiency. 
• Meeting two Dalmatians, one of whom was very "barky," the other quite placid.
• Being cheeky lol.

Phew.



Leicester 1 - 2 Reading


*Other toy building block products are available but they're probably not that good.

Negative

Someone hiding behind the "anonymous" log-on tag has seen fit to leave me a couple of fairly negative comments tonight.

The following is aimed at that person, should they choose to stop by again: 

• This blog is about what occurs to me and I don't force anyone to visit it or even expect them to enjoy it. But if you do bother to take the time to read this blog you'll see there's a whole lot of different things going on. I talk about cancer, pottery, LL, books, local history, films and a whole lot more.
•  I assume despite your wide ranging comments you've not bothered with the above, to get your facts right, otherwise you'd be able to calculate the age of my son. It's not rocket science, you know.
•  Before pressing the button to post a comment, you should spend a few moments checking both your spelling AND grammar. Ask yourself, is it clear to the recipient what you're trying to say and is it easy to understand? 
•  Perhaps you might wish to try posting positive and constructive comments. You might make friends that way.

Given you haven't fulfilled any of the above criteria and in fact I felt quite insulted by what you said, I'm sure you can appreciate I have marked all your comments as SPAM and they won't be published. 

Thank you.


30 Aug 2010 Update: Do you think I was a little peeved when I posted this?

Frank

My Ginger Beer obsession knows no end! All the way from Sweden, Frank's Alcoholic Ginger Beer. Serve well chilled over ice mmmm.

Marmite Cereal Bars

Apparently some things are just wrong.

Cereal and Marmite, sadly not a good combination. In fact I had to get rid of the taste by eating two rice cakes. Marmite flavour of course LOL.

Ponderance

In no particular order...

• This years A-Level exam results were announced this week and for the 28th year in a row, overall pass rates have improved. How does that work? Does that mean my (dim and distant) qualifications are worth more or less?

• Have found something new (to me): Marmite Cereal Bars. Tasty? 

• Took LL to Windsor to the leisure centre for a swim and a play on the water slides, wave machine etc. Great fun. Couldn't get him out of the water.

• Reading 1 - 1 Nottingham Forest. Another fumble from The Royals?

• Doesn't seem true that Mum has been gone two years now.

• I've been somewhat shamed by the fact I've fallen behind with my correspondence of late. Will try harder. Promise.

• We took a trip to the cinema this week to see the Cameron Diaz/Tom Cruise action film 'Knight And Day.' Lots of fun and big on action set pieces but I'm not quite sure what the point was. Not convinced there much of a coherent story line to be honest. 

• I have found that you're never too old to play Pooh Sticks.

• So our cousins- the Aussies- have gone to the polls this week. Pity neither major party could field a "true blue Aussie" candidate for Prime Minister. All I can guess is that Australia must love us British more than they let on. Julia Gillard is from Barry in Wales, while Tony Abbott is from London. They could almost pass for 'Gavin And Stacy" don't you think LOL?    

• While in Windsor, we took (another) ride on the Royal Windsor Wheel. It's one of the tallest wheels of it's type dontchaknow. And we had a pod to ourselves. Even better.

• I seem to be reliving the music of my youth at the moment. Is that a bad thing? Have just bought "The Best Of Matt Bianco." 16 tracks of nostalgia.   

• If the flag on the top of the castle is to be believed, HM the Queen was in residence. I wonder if she's ever been tempted to take a ride on the Wheel?

Air Miles

Today we took a short trip down the road to the Berkshire Museum of Aviation based at the former Woodley airfield near Reading. Woodley was the home of the Miles Aircraft manufacturing company and also the infamous site where ace pilot Douglas Bader crashed and lost his legs (although this didn't stop him returning to the skies during WWII and later escaping from a German prison camp).

Fairey Gannet T.5












Sadly all that really remains of this once great industry is a few fairly run down factory units and a dozen or so streets bearing aviation related names.

Handley Page HPR.7 Dart Herald 100

Height of aviation luxury in the Dart Herald 100

Edukation Pays

Proof it ever it was needed that a good education is worth its weight in gold- how else can we excel in our chosen careers?

Newly painted sign near Southern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, US. 



 
Portsmouth 1 - 1 Reading