Well it's finally 2010. Contrary to my expectations the debris from the celebrations hasn't been too bad. It was suprising that so few fireworks were let off. At the appointed hour, there was a quick fusilade of rockets from the barbarians who live next door, but that shook the windows for only a few minutes before they ran out of ammunition and enthusiasm for standing in the cold night, and cold it was, almost clear skies lit by moonlight.
Officially Noble
Well that's it then. I am from th
The first battle has taken place and if I were honest, I didn't do too well. I'd warned my claims advisor that I was upgrading to a noble title, a statement she treated with polite dismissal, and when she called me Mister Caldrail - Well, I was duty bound to put her straight.
Unfortunately, she isn't impressed, and rather pointedly refused to change it unless I provided evidence. I duly returned an hour later with the necessary documentation and guess what? She was busy. Sounds to me like a ce
Last night I saw the glare of a waning moon coming through the back window. A bright moon is always an invite to stare into the night sky but to be honest I was disappointed. Although the sky was clear, the moon wasn't really penetrating the darkness and it still felt like nighttime. You may well say it was bound to be, but a couple of nights before the moon had been nearly full, lighting the streets, yards, and alleys at the back of my home like a pale version of the sun, light grey clouds drif
Some bright individual has now decided that society would be a better place if there was zero rubbish. What a wonderful image. Almost reminds you of those whitewashed cottages hiding in the midst of verdant rose gardens. Don't see many of those these days. I think they fell into disuse about the same time Ealing Studios went bust.
The trouble is of course our beloved socialist government, who now have the power to enter your home and arrest you for littering it. These days we're not even all
As many of you might know, this last weekend was the time of year when we put the clocks forward one year, a ritual designed for no apparent reason other than statistics. Getting out of bed an hour earlier wasn't too difficult considering my downstairs neighbours had left their central heating on and whilst that wasn't apparent at first, by the early hours I was gasping for breath in that humid heat.
Time to go to work. The weather has turned rainy and I'm informed that snow might hit parts
For some reason I woke very early this morning. I mean, it was still dark outside, so this must have been about five o'clock or something daft. Even dafter was the impulse to get out out of bed, pack the pack, and head the heck out toward the hills. So naturally I obeyed this impulse because my intellect hadn't woken up yet.
You see this time of year is a bit awkward. Sure, it's very chilly in the first light of dawn, but any exercise in warm clothing produces nothing but sweat. In cold cond
When I was a very young child, I saw that old comedy film where two steam engines collide head on. Without special effects, film makers in the twenties had no choice but to either show a lot of steam or do it for real, and that once, they did. I don't remember, but apparently I burst into tears. I suspect Hollywood wanted a different reaction but then again we british have always had a love affair with the steam locomotive. The news of a collison between trains in India doesn't reduce me to tear
She couldn't wait. With a mischievious smirk my mother asked if I'd heard about the latest government initiative for the unemployed. I hadn't, as it happened, but I understand that long term claimants are now going to be required to work four weeks on placement to qualify for benefits.
Actually I'm not that bothered. I did thirteen weeks of that earlier this year, so it's just more of the same to me. The point though in this case is that my mother couldn't wait to push a pin into my little b
Our brief dalliance with sunshine is over. Freezing fog obscures the land and makes my toes feel very uncomfortable. I notice the weather people are warning us of more wintery weather to come. Really? Who would have thought it?
His Other Car Is...
Another day on the farm. Huddled in a small office warmed only by a primitive electric heater, I meet up with a band of disparate doleseekers and prepare for another course, another day of learning how to be joyful happy droids earning taxes for t
There's an area of land that I know reasonably well. It's farmland behind Coate Water, a nature reserve and an area of natural beauty. Unfortunately it's become contentious because developers have noticed how close it is to the M4 motorway and so good for business. There''s a plan to let a university build there, and of course, no developer in his right mind would build a university five miles out of town in the countryside without a housing estate next door to sell to people who can't afford mo
I sat down in the office for another job searching session. There's a friendly atmosphere there, and the extra four hours of dedicated internet time is proving useful, if not quite achieving the result I'm looking for. I'm collecting rejection letters from local employers. I hope to have the complete set by Christmas.
One of the staff members is H, a somewhat scatty woman who likes to trip over cables. She was sat on the next PC to mine, busy finishing off someones CV. If there's anything yo
Today is another gloriously sunny day. Clear blue skies, which oddly enough we don't see too often in summer. Sunday mornings tend to be quiet. All the yobboes from last night have found somewhere to sleep off last nights slanging match. Judging from the intermittent sirens out in the street, one or two had help finding it. Aside from that, the steady stream of moslems and sikhs walking to their places of worship add an exotic air to what is, after all, rainy old Swindon.
Silliness
I see th
A quick jog through Lawns and it's back down to the library for my usual net-fest. I arrived before the inner doors were opened. The security guard, as usual, waited with professional calm for the exact second to stroll toward the locks, and I do suspect he enjoys the process immensely. It doesn't really matter of course, there's still a selection of books available for perusal and... Hello... What's that notice board over by the window?
It seems our councils have decided to pursue another m
With my experience in filling in job applications you would expect a certain level of competence. Funny thing is, the encroachment of modern technology such as personal computers has meant that these days I fill in two or three a year (Please don't tell the government - they won't understand what I mean).
This last Sunday night however I was forced by a private education college to fill in one of their application forms manually. Okay, let's see if I can remember how to do this. Oh hang on,
Yesterday afternoon was one of those hazy lazy days. I snoozed on a park bench and even though I wasn't there for very long, I spotted the effects of sunshine on my face in the mirror when I got home. Woah that's red. What else can I do now my leisure time has increased?.. Uhhh... Oh I know, lets try to get a fantastic sunset photo. Now's the time, with volcanic ash causing all sorts of colour effects in the atmosphere. There was a saffron edge to the grey-blue cloud as the sun got lower, and fa
Whilst out and about I passed an old chap and his faithful hound. The good natured beastie promptly approached to greet me and received its obligatory pat on the head whilst it stood there wagging its tail in appreciation. His owner is obviously well used to his genial canine doing this and took the opportunity to speak to me.
"Chilly isn't it?" He said knowingly. Actually, he isn't wrong, there's a definite nip in the air and only the presence of the hazy sunshine made it at all comfortable
Mankind is a clever species. These days we can talk to someone on the other side of the globe. We can, in theory, arrive at any point of the worlds surface within 48 hours comfortably. Some human beings have been to the dark and crushing depths of the oceans. Others have skipped across the dusty surface of the moon. With all these wondrous inventions and achievements, why is it we cannot design doors that work?
My love/hate relationship with doors is nothing new. Time and again I've pulled i
What a lovely morning this is. Was, I should say. Earlier today I strolled through Swindon and the weather was sunny, just a hazy wall of cloud on the horizon, or mybe a few small globular clouds trying to creep across England without being noticed. The high altitude cloud is now changing the blue sky to a dull white, and grey ragged clouds are advancing on my position. Another rainy day to come? Like yesterday?
Yesterday was one of those 'love it or loathe it but you can't beat it' kind of
Buckingham Palace isn't happy. The climate is changing. And Prince Charles is dumbfounded by sceptics of Global Warming.
Look Your Highness, it really is very simple. There are a lot of people claiming CO2 is destroying the planet. It isn't. The CO2 cycle is almost as old as the planet itself, and for most of Earths history, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere was way above what we have today by orders of magnitude. CO2 has been rising again for millions of years, long before we invented dark
I see a 41 year old ex-soldier at Sandhurst has had sex with a precocious 13 year old girl despite being warned by a female officer that the girl was dangerous. He's gotten off a harsh 14 year jail sentence because it turns out the youngster 'made all the running'.
Well maybe she did, but the bloke still went for it didn't he? It takes two after all. Sorry, but seducted or not, the man is old enough to know better. In a sense I do sympathise because I've encountered younger girls who fancy
There's some pictures from yesterdays expedition to Liddington Hill. The photos don't really convey the scale of the hill and how steep those slopes are. It fascinating to think though that Iron Age Brits and Romano-Brits once lived there, and that possibly Saxon invaders might once have defended those slopes against a certain 'Arthur' and his army. It feels a very lonely place these days.
Learn When You're Young
The course of the old Wilts & Berks canal forms a back street these days.
It's the Easter weekend and of course that means today is a bank holiday. Is it just me or is this extended weekend something less than it should have been? There was a time when bank holidays were an event. Families migrating to the coast and spending the day parked on a motorway waiting for the queue of traffic to move forward another few feet. Or the thrill of the obligatory James Bond movie. You just don't get that excitement these days.
So I suppose I'll pull a can from the fridge and
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
Bill is here. The remnant of Hurricane Bill is currently passing across the coast of Scotland on its way to Norway bringing wet and windy weather to the the rainforests of Darkest Wiltshire. Actually it's not too bad. I did get caught in a shower yesterday - an occupational hazard of living in Britain - but that left me slightly damp, not soaked. Compared to what's going on in the big wide world, my encounter with a few raindrops means nothing...
The news is full of the usual tragedy and str
English weather is incredible. It's launched more conversations than the activities of fecund neighbours, and that really is saying something. Right now I'm sat staring out the window as the weather drifts by. One moment it's a sky of blue, then clumps of white cloud, then great cloaks of dark sombre grey, and I can see rainfall over West Swindon, all with the sun shining from the other direction. You know, it's occured to me the great thrill about our weather is the gambling element. Will I get
