Thursday, October 25, 2007

Another Chapter

According to the paper Mr McCann said during the interview, "There is absolutely no suggestion that Madeleine and the children were drugged and it is outrageous,"
But I heard this little bit of the interview on GMTV and he actually referred only to Madeleine not being sedated but as soon as he said it he corrected himself to refer to all of the children not being sedated. This would be a totally pointless correction to make except that the Mccanns are relying on showing that the twins were not sedated and that therefore it follows (somehow) that Madeleine was not sedated. This is the same surprisingly cool calculation that has been shown all along. Nobody should be convicted for keeping their cool under fire but then this is not a court of law.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Unecessary signs and unecessary companies




Went to visit Anns Aunt in Bronllys hospital. Excellent place, they even allow the patient’s pets to visit, but under the usual threats of extinction..
Fine location too with the Black Mountains close by.
Unfortunately they too seem to be getting the taste for unnecessary signs, here is one requesting the car driver not to drive his car through the flower bed. I am so glad that I saw it in time and was able to avoid tearing up a strip right down the middle.

Earlier today I wanted to get some chocolate for diabetics and knowing that the loathsome Boots advertise a full range of such products I called in despite having vowed never to go near them again since they wouldn’t let me have a packet of Aspro Clear without unwanted advice from their pharmacist. When I got to the head of the queue I asked, without hope, if they had any chocolate for diabetics.
She looked rather shifty and said “We don’t sell it the Welsh Diabetic Association has said….” I interrupted her sermon with “So you haven’t got any then?”
The sooner Boots goes down the pan the better.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Alive & well and selling towels in the Cotswolds



Moreton in Marsh market week before last. This fellow was selling Egyptian cotton towels and Ann was very impressed with the quality. He had a good line in patter too. He said to the crowd that had gathered "Some people think that I look like somebody famous. Any ideas?" An uninhibited lady at the front gave the required answer "Bin Laden?" He looked startled and hurt and replied in puzzled tone "No, George Bush"

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Its the way he tells them

I have just this minute returned from a funeral in the village, the deceased was an ex publican of the same turn of mind as myself. His death followed very quickly after the initial diagnosis of his illness and was a shock to everyone.
The first hymn was ‘Abide with me’ and was followed by the 23rd Psalm.
The Vicar then came to the pulpit and began in solemn voice the eulogy.
“ We are gathered here to celebrate the life of a miserable old bugger……”
You could almost hear the deceased laughing – that’s what I call vicaring.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Augustus Hare

Yesterday as I sat in the waiting room of Abergavenny hospital waiting to visit somebody I read the preamble to a book by AC Grayling called ' What is Good?’.
He made mention of Augustus Hare and how Hare’s bible had all references to praising God scratched out . Hare’s position was that since God was undoubtedly a gentleman he would not approve of all this praising business and I must admit that point has troubled me too.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

What I did in the holidays – Chapter 1



I thought we would go away for a few days – 4 in all.
I thought we would travel across country over two days to the east coast and then return.
I got a map and picked out an area that was a couple of hours away for the first stop and plunged a pin into the chunk coloured green which showed no large settlements of humans. The nearest place to the pin was Shipston on Stour of which I had never heard. On the internet I found The White Bear and the price looked very good for that area £86 for bed breakfast and an evening meal off of the full menu. So that’s £43 each per night. I then noticed that it was close to other tourist places like Stratford and the Cotswolds villages and so idleness crept over me and after a very cursory look at Trip Adviser I booked for the 4 days.
I immediately liked it. It was an ancient pub, obviously much used by the locals. The carpet in the bar had countless holes in it where ‘generations’ of smokers had stubbed their cigarettes before being ousted to the ‘designated smoking area' by the PC . It really is scandalous the way that non-smokers have muscled their way into these institutions and dumbed them down. Its like Mary Whitehouse being appointed to run a brothel.
Me I haven’t smoked since the lung operation about 5 years ago but even so I have not joined the ranks of the self righteous, that carpet to me was a thing of beauty.
Ann visibly flinched when she saw it and I thought, ‘ there could be trouble here’. The room they showed us I admit was grotty , there was nowhere to sit down and it was up in the attic and didn’t have a shower. I didn’t mind any of this but Ann was not happy and fixed to see the manageress as soon as she came on duty at 7pm.
I did notice that the light pull in the bathroom was missing the end toggle and the chord was excessively dirty and tapered at the bottom end like some wetted thread before you pass it through the eye of the needle. This shows that I am not a complete philistine because even I felt some disquiet.
Here is a picture of Ann ringing her mother while waiting for the arrival of the manageress.