Pancakes

Pancake day; we made the batter last night and we will be introducing the dragon to the joys of British style pancaakes tonight. What have pancakes got to do with Lent? Why does pancake day always come before Lent?

THe window squirter things on my car aren't working properly which is really annoying. I was hoping they were just frozen up, but I'm not sure. I drove here with near zero visibility.

I found three more recepticles for tomatoe plants yesterday, so that's now 20 little plants. I have found some recipes for tomato ketchup. I could be jumping the gun here since I don't have a single tomato yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Last night the dragon confided in me that she is convinced the baby will come early. I think she's just scared. But we are ready for it now anyway, so I think coming early will be an advantage in a way. If he comes before March 26th, I guess he'll have to send Mummy a mothers' day card. So I say any time after that is good. Actual ETA is 1st April. Well, it could be 3oMarch, or 3rd of April. We had a few differing opijnions.

Tessa Jowell is in so much trouble. Even the PM, who usually supports his ministers when they stray from the path of honor and teeter on the edge of the forest of corruption, has failed to confirm that he believes she followed the ministerial code. Jowell's husband has apparently accepted a large amount of money which may or may not have come from Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian PM. The Italian authorities are calling it a bribe and are taking jowell's husband to court. He could end up in jail if found guilty. Jowell herself signed a mortgage document for the home they both own, apparently to allow the transfer of the money.

What the hell was she thinking? Even if this is perfectly legal and above board, didn't she stop and think that maybe it looks a little odd. Didn't she think she ought to make things a little more transparent? I thought the most hysterical thing about this affair however, was the fact that David Blunkett, who was forced to resign a cabinet post twice for odd business activity himself, came out in support of Ms Jowell. Blaunket is quoted in the Telegraph as saying, "It has nothing to do with Tessa Jowell what money David Mills (Ms Jowell's husband) may or may not have earned. Mr Mills's business dealings had nothing to do with Miss Jowell's role as Culture Secretary." So, according to Blunkett, hyperthetically the culture secretary can sign finacial documents to allow a bribe from the Italian PM to be transferred to her husband's account, and it has no impact on her parliamentary role.

London Mayor, Ken Livingston has just made a statement regarding his suspension for remarks he made to a Jeewish reporter that was hounding him. I don't agree with much Ken Livingston preaches, but I believe he's decent and I think tis campaign to blacken his name has done no one much good. I support him when he says that no democratically elected figure should be removed without the support of the electorate.

Pete Doherty has been arrested again, this time in connection with a car theft incident. I can't believe that someone with so much raw talent can waste it so blatently. I'm all for a bit of anti-establishment behaviour, but the guy is nuts.

Budget dining

I thinned out my tomatoes yesterday. I planted 17 plants in individual pots before I ran out. That's too many isn't it? I still have maybe another 10 growing in the original seed tray. If this experiment goes well, we could have hundreds of tomatoes when it gets warmer. I found a bag of compost in the garage that must be 4 years old. I don't know if it goes off. I planted half the plants in the old compost and half in the new, so we will see what happens. They wilted a bit when I replanted them, but they perked up again.

Another great success this weekend was yesterday's roast chicken. They were on special offer in Tesco, so I picked one up. I do cook a little bit, but I only remember roasting a chicken once before. It was a roaring success anyway. I haven't been brave enough to try roast potatoes yet, but I think I am making that my next culinary goal. It was also very cheap. The chicken was just £3 and we only ate half of it. That's 75p each, plus vegetables of course. I want to roast some beef and make yorkshire pudding.

We continued buying baby stuff in preparation for the big event. We are now fully stocked with all lotions and potions required for arrival day. Isn't nappy cream expensive? God, what do they put in that stuff? We still need a steriliser thing. We are intending to get a "bung in microwave" type. The Tesco version seems to be about a quarter of the price of other units (though there are fewer extras) but it's also 2cm taller than all the others. By my calculation it won't quite fit in our microwave, which is a pain in the arse. We also need a rice steamer and food processor, these are not really baby related however.

The pushchair should come this week. I suppose we should collect it as soon as possible in case of unexpected arrival. It's from a shop near the parent's place, so they could pick it up for us. The dragon wants to go and see the parents on 26 March because it is both mothers day and 4 days before my mother's birthday. I think this is tempting fate because it's 5 days before estimated time of arrival (if we got the dates right). Life is however more exciting with the odd risk.

Apparently wild boar are becoming a problem in Britain. There seem to be several hundred living wild in the rural areas of the country now and, with the only natural preditors being wolves, bears, and lynx, there's nothing to keep the numbers down. There is a move afoot to have them designated game animals so they can be hunted. I quite like the thought of going on a boar hunt. They do that in the Asterix books. I had no idea that any wild boar still existed in the wild, but in Europe it seems that they have become something of a pest in some areas. In some places they have even adapted to urban living and eat out of dustbins like foxes.

In the news today, Tessa Jowell says there was no conflict of interest over a loan application she made, and a large sum of money allegedly given to her husband by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Sounds like she's in hot water. We don't like her though, so I don't think we care very much. Dan Brown is in court over allegations that he copied his idea for the Da Vinci Code from some other works. It was an awful book anyway. Ken Livingston has been suspended for telling a persistant reporter that he was acting like a concentration camp guard. It wasn't a very smart thing to say, but I think the guy deserved it and, as Ken rightly says, no one should remove the mayor from power except the voters. And George Michael has been arrested in London for pocession of a controlled substance. That boy just can't behave himself can he?

Bandwidth pig

It's Friday and that is good because I finish early and tomorrow is Saturday. However, it's snowing and it's cold. I was hoping that we might get some warmer weather. Also I have an occasional twinge in one of my teeth. This is worrying because I haven't seen a dentist in some years. I should register us with a dentist because, apart from the fact that I need to see one, the dragon is eligible for free dental care while pregnant. I'll call them this afternoon, see if we can't both get an appointment next week.

I keep hearing that Britain is in the grip of the worst drought in living memory. I don't understand why. I see water. The radio says that if it rains from now to the end of summer, we will still have a problem. Apparently rainfall has been very low for 16 months. The south east of the country always has water problems in the summer.

Abby suggests booby traps for the little shit that graffitied my wall. I had thought of this. I also thought about rigging up a live garden cam. I did rig up a live goblin cam for a while last year in my office in Taipei. I didn't publicise it widely however. I think "live garden cam" might be better, and I could even catch the little shit with the spray can. In which case, I will feel perfectly justified in stuffing said can up his arse.

Abby also seems to think that I've never had nappy (diaper) changing experience. This is not the case. I have changed babies before. In fact I have even done so without supervision. It's not difficult, it's just, well, disgusting. Feeding may be something more demanding, but it doesn't scare me like full nappies.

I'm going to investigate LimeWire on ABby's recommendation. I don't think e-donkey is e-vil. It works very well, and I can't find any illicit software hiding in the engine. It also seems to find everything I need. The only problem is that it seems to be a bandwidth pig.

Go metric!

The dragon called me at lunchtime to give me an update on her midwife visit today. Apparently everything is still fine and baby Herbert is growing well. We really should have a name for him by now I think. The dragon is getting a bit fed up with being pregnant now and in particular, with the cramps and backache. She does look good however and I think most of the problem is down to lack of sleep. We bought nappies yesterday because they were ultra cheap in Sainsbury's. They had a demon deal on and we got 48 for £3. That will last about a week I understand. I can't say I'm looking forward to the nappy thing. We even have a bag packed now for the hospital. Yes, I am getting nervous. We're at about 34 weeks now. That's if we got the dates right and the midwife seemed to think that perhaps we were a month out.

There is a campaign to convert British road signs to metric before the 2012 olympics, which will bring the UK into line with just about everybody else in the universe. It's about time! The authorities however claim that no such plan exists, that it will be hugely expensive, and that it will take more than 5 years. The expense thing I can understand, but why would it take 5 years? One problem that has been mentioned is the fact that cars all have oddometers that are calibrated in miles. Actually, my speedometer does both, like nearly everyone's. This was originally planned for 1973 apparently. What really bothers me about this is that I appear to be supporting Neil Kinnock who has championed this cause. I don't ever remember supporting a Kinnock view about anything. It is however, well overdue. We buy and sell in metric quantities already, including fuel for our cars, why are we still measuring in miles?

Boris Johnson makes a good point in today's Telegraph about the Prince of Wales and his court case. Boris says that the media are presenting a biased view of the case because they have a vested interest in protecting their ability to print whatever they like. He also claims that the Sunday Mail should expect to be prosecuted for the act of publishing the Prince's diaries because they were obtained illicitly and were essentially private documents. I disagree slightly on this point. The documents ceased to be private when they were circulated by the Prince. There is also some doubt as to whether the way in which the paper obtained the diaries was indeed illicit.

There is an ambiguity in the position of the Prince in as much as he claims on one hand to be devastated by the publication of his private thoughts, and on the other claims to be someone who feels a need to make public those very thoughts. Boris thinks that the Prince should continue to spout his philosophies and that it's good for the country. I think the danger is that he will take the throne with people knowing his political position and that represents a problem. There is also the danger that he won't stop spouting once he is king, which also represents a problem. But none of this really matters in the current court case. The question is, did the Mail break any copyrights, and I think they probably did. But we shall see.

Hail to the chief...

Thanks to Dickie for pointing out my mangled links in the "Irony" entry. There's a story behind that actually. I forgot my flash memory stick on Monday and I e-mailed the text to myself so that I could publish the entry at home. They don't like me updating my webpage from here. Sadly the beautifully crafted html tags were corrupted in transit, so there you have it. They're fixed now. OK, it wasn't a great story, but it was a story.

It was revealed yesterday in court that Ponce Charles considers himself a "political dissident", fighting worthwhile causes for the common man. Good to know he's a champion of things that matter to all of us, like the social implications of architechture, crackpot alternative therapies, and modern farm practices that involve using the moon phases to govern sowing and harvesting. According to an ex private secretary of the clown, the Prince frequently had to be reigned in when his dopey ideas threatened to get out of hand. It's OK though, although this is universally agreed to be unaccepable behaviour for a monarch, Charles reckons it's OK for the Ponce of Wales and will stop when he's king. Well, that's alright then. Click.

Funny how work goes isn't it. Last week I was wondering what to do with myself. This week I have about three days work backed up on the desk. I prefer that to having none however.

Yesterday I got home to find the Dragon in a very good mood because her cousin had rigged up a Skype terminal in her grandparents' home and she video conferenced with them. I've discovered that e-donkey really slows my cable modem down incidentally.

Little shit

I bought three replacement locks on the way home yesterday and fitted two of them last night. A new tumbler on the front door lock was easy and took only a few minutes; the five lever lock on the back door required extensive chisling and took about an hour. Both are now fully operational. There is a second front door however and a second back door. I can't decide whether to replace both, or just one. Neither is essential since each has another door behind it.

Some little shit has sprayed a line of paint all down our garden wall. I hate vandals. There is no point in reporting it of course, the police are only interested in catching people speeding in their cars. It makes me wonder what one can do. If I was to catch the little bastard spraying my wall, I could hit him, and then I'd be up on an assault charge. There is a balance of power problem here.

My tomatoes are still doing well. I looked at them yesterday and they all started leaning towards the sunlight. So I turned the tray round. I want them to all grow up straight. Or should I just let them lean as nature intended? How do seeds know when to sprout? None of the seeds in the packet was trying to grow. How do they know that they are in the soil and ready to rumble? I guess it must be the water.

Irony

They were interviewing representatives of the British police force on Radio 4 this morning. It was boring and I wasn't listening properly. One thing that caught my attention however was a comment made by someone that I think was there to represent the black police officers. I think there is a body calling ityself the "association of black officers" or something similar. This guy said, "I think we all need to get away from this political correctness thing and concentrate on recruiting people of colour in the police force". What a knob. Can anybody else spot the irony in that statement.

We went to Devon for the weekend. The parents are in good health and my brother showed up. He's still "cutting down" on his smoking with a view to giving up when it is banned completely from his workplace at the end of March. I don't know why he doesn't just give up. The (I hope) final two boxes from Taiwan arrived and we were able to take them home with us. These contained the missing baby clothes, Japanese hair conditioner, kitchen clock, and various other things which we had lost. The only thing I have yet to find is a hat knitted by my sister-in-law for her nephew.

Talking of our unborn child, we got quite a bit of stuff for him this weekend, including a pushchair and car seat combo, baby bath, moses basket, and clothes. I think we have nearly everything we need for the arrival now. Well, we haven't got the car seat and push chair yet, but it's on order. We really need the car seat to take Herbert home, so he'd better not pop out early. That should show up in around ten days. I don't know whether new parents all go through the same thing, but since we went to the ante natal class two weeks ago, panic has set in and the birth appears alarmingly close. This feeling of urgency is manifesting itself differently in myself and the Drgaon. I'm impatient and want it all to happen now, she is having irrational feelings of fear and inadequacy. She will of course be an excellent mother. She's been a teacher and been around kids all her life. It really should be me worrying.

This week we need to get a sterilizer, food processor, toiletries required for the hospital stay, and nappies. That should be everything we need to get going. We haven't got a cot yet, but I think the little soldier can sleep in his dog basket for a little while.

We returned from Devon last night and the back door wouldn't open. The lock was broken. I need to replace the locks anyway thanks to the letting agent who failed to recover all the keys. I have affected a temporary repair and will replace it tonight if I can get a replacement. It was lucky we had keys to the other door. It took me ages to open it. It was also inconvenient because we had to unload all the boxes from the car in the rain to the front door.

I planted a few tomato seeds last week. I thought I could start growing them early in the season if I kept them inside. They've already started sprouting and I'm intending to put them in the conservatory. I've never done anything like this before and it's terribly exciting. There were 12 little shoots yesterday. I was planning to plant a second batch in a month or two.

Google are upsetting the US government by refusing to hand over records of search requests. I of course support Google in this stand and I hope they never hand any data over. One does have to wonder though whether Google has taken this stand after they were critisised for their China policy. I do understand the China policy too. Google is quite right right to point out that if they hadn't complied there would be no Google in China. Click.

I have to mention British historian David Irving who is currently on trial in Austria for claiming that the holocaust never happened. I need to make it quite clear here that I am personally quite sure the holocaust did happen and that millions of Jews died. I can't however understand why any country would legislate against saying otherwise. Irving is an idiot with a ridiculous theory. That shouldn't be a crime. That's free speech ladies and gentlemen. If you don't like what he says, get up and tell the world he's a liar, that's how it works. Click.

Gary Glitter, another idiot, is to start his trial for allegedly comiting sex acts with children on 2 Martch. He has already paid off the alleged victims. I have no sympathy for the man. I felt sorry for him when he was convicted on child porn charges. You think he'd keep his hands to himself ater an incident like that. Click.

Sooo tired

I found my sunglasses! I found them while looking for my cell phone. They were down the side of the seat in the car. I swear I already looked there about 50 times, but there they were. And the cell phone showed up too. That was in the pocket of my bath robe. I'd never have found that if I hadn't called it and listened for the ring. I have no idea how it got there, but I knew I had it on the way home last night because I called the dragon to say I'd be late. The sunglasses must have been there during the time the catalytic converter was being repaired.

And that's another story; I was late home yesterday because they closed the entry lane to the motorway and I had to drive into bloody Cardiff to get on the M4. God knows what they were doing but it causewd traffic mayhem last night during rush hour.

The dragon, who is now very pregnant, is having trouble sleeping due to back pain and leg cramps. This in turn affects my sleep and, for the second day in a row I feel like a zombie sitting here at my desk. It's not her fault, and the worst thing is, I have no idea how to help her.

I've been meaning to mention that James "The Amazing" Randi is recovering from heart bypass surgery. This man is something of a hero to me and I just want to wish him well. I should also mention that Shelly Rudman, who comes from near my home in Wiltshire, has walked off with the first British Olympic medal. She came from nowhere to win silver for skeleton bob sleigh. No idea what that is, but well done Shelly.

That's all for now. Half day at work today. I'm off to Devon for the weekend.

The day after

We ate roast lamb last night and it was most wonderful. I provided gravy and mashed potatoes. It all worked very well and it certainly beat an over-priced, over-crowded restaurant full of acne ridden teens dribbling over each other. The ice cream was a success also. I went for chocolate and mint. I'm surprised that Dickie never had an anonymous Valentines day card. I wish I'd known. I'd have sent him one. And what's this about your mother in law? She's in UK isn't she?

Last night parliament voted to ban smoking everywhere indoors in England, apart from one's own home I assume. From a purely selfish point of view, I think it will make going out nicer, so I don't mind. I still think people should be allowed to smoke and I have no doubt that all the health arguments about passive smoking are wildly exaggerated. I thouight it was significant that the PM decided to vote for a total ban after preaching the virtues of a partial ban last year. This in the same week that he accused the new Conservative leader of changing his mind.

My friends from PETA have been at it again. This time they have been chucking flour bombs at Paris Hilton in an anti fur protest. I like PETA's naked protests. I'm not so taken with flour bombs. They also lost some amusement value for me when it was I found out that their accounts seemed to suggest that they were funding terrorist activities carried out by the ALF. I would miss the loonies if they weren't there though.Click.

Strangely, on the same day that PETA is making headlines with flour bombs, other friends of the ALF are releasing wild boar from a farm right next door to my parents in North Devon. Apparently unnamed activists have contacted the ALF to claim responsibility. They were liberating the animals it seems. So there are now several dozen wild boar roaming the North Devon countryside waiting to eat children. These things have no manners you know. You don't want to piss them off. Click.

I notice today that the BBC is reporting on yet another attempt by a journalist to obtain access to Buckingham palace by posing as a job applicant. Usually when this happens the journalist works as a cleaner or something for a month, takes a picture of the queen ironing her underwear, and the paper publishes a huge front-page article about the woefully inadequate security at the palace. This time it's a bit different because the journalist was arrested. The paper is left with egg on its face while trying to defend the actions of the idiot reporter, and is forced to admit how pleased it is that security has been strengthened since the last time time they did it. Much more entertaining than the story they were going for. Click.

Valentines day

I heard on the breakfast news this morning that Valentines day is big business. Apparently in Britain we each spend an average of £92 on Valentines day gifts and cards. I'm not sure how that figure is calculated. A lot of people don't spend anything, children for instance. Well I didn't spend that much anyway, and I don't think I ever have. That's not to say I'm not romantic, I've had my moments. I have written poems, made cards, and even cooked a romantic meal on one occasion, though as I rememeber the meal turned into a disaster, but that's another story.

My point is that £92 is a lot of money for Valentines day, expecially when one considers the emotional blackmail involved. In case you are in any doubt, I am referring to those people who put pressure on their partner for a Valentines day gesture, even when they know their partner is not the romantic type. Restaurants and florists also seem to take advantage of the emotional blackmail angle and push up their prices. Card shops suddenly seem to explode into various shades of pink and grow thousands of balloons in early February. These aspects of the festival offend me. Why would anyone go out for a meal on Valentines day in a crowded, over-priced restaurant? And another thing, it must be tough on those people who don't have anyone, to see couples everywhere.

Some aspects of Valentines day I really enjoy however. I remember getting cards from secret admirers at school and sending cards of my own. When I was a little older I remember receiving anonymous cards in the mail once or twice. It was fun. So this year I bought a small indoor rose in a pot for my lady, and a card. I gave her the rose last night because I couldn't think of a way to hide it. I gave her the card this morning before I left for work. On the way home I'll pick up the dry cleaning and a tub of chocolate ice-cream. Total cost (not including dry cleaning) about £7. That feels about right as far as I'm concerned.

I'm wondering whether the people cashing in on Valentines day are peeing on their own feet. Last night for instance, as I was browsing cards for the dragon, I met another gentleman doing the same thing, presumably for the lady in his life. He had his young child with him. He picked a card swiftly from the rack, looked at it for a second and told the child, "that'll do, come on". Here's someone fed up with the commercial aspect, not inclined to spend very much, probably as a direct result of the hype. He might have spent more if there was less pressure.

The really bad news today is that parliament essentially gave ID cards the go ahead last night. The government won by around 30 votes despite their 60+ majority. There was a consession made which would mean that further legislation is needed to make them compulsory, but I don't think that means anything since the government claims they were never going to be compulsory anyway. And from 2008 it seems that people applying for new passports are required to register. It's not over yet, the bill gets returned to the Lords now. Also there is the question of money. Apparently there now has to be a full disclosure of costs before anything can go ahead. Today's big vote is whether to ban smoking everywhere. It goes against my libertarian principles to support a smoking ban, but I also think it's anti-social to smoke in enclosed spaces, so I'm happy if they vote to ban it everywhere. I still think it's trivial.

Yes Abby, I understand what getting out of Dodge means. I have plans to avoid getting on the ID card register. Unfortunately, just leaving won't work. I would need a British passport to leave, and they've fixed things so that, from 2008, you can't get one without going on the register. The first step would be to "loose" my current passport some time in 2007. I would then be able to obtain a ten year replacement before the new law comes in. That would take me up to 2017. I would be 50 by then. Another plan would be to apply for Taiwanese citizenship. I would probably get it, but I would have to renounce my British citizenship, and I would do that only as an absolute last resort. I'm hoping that the enormous cost of the project will eventually kill it. It is also possible that the Lords will overturn the passport issue, in which case I don't care about it until they try and make it compulsory. A poll conducted by the BBC this week showed that 80% didn't think it would make Britain any safer. Maybe the public will overturn it like they did with poll tax.

As a post script on teh Valentine issue, I just opened my lunch box and found a Marks and Spencer Mini Love Cake. The dragon must have secreted it in there this morning. This brings me to the conclusion, that Valentines day is what you make it. It's not about buying two dozen red roses at twice the normal price, it's about surprising your loved one with a 99p love cake in his lunch box.

weekend adventure

The lavatory turned into a real adventure on Friday. The soil pipe joint was leaking, but that wasn't the only leak, the cistern was also leaking at the output joint. It was all boxed in under wood paneling which was nailed, so the plumber had to remove all the wood panelling (with a hammer), the cistern, and the lavatory itself to fix the two leaks. It took more than two hours and cost £200. I wasn't happy. It is however fixed now and there isn't much more that can go wrong with it.

We got a lot done this weekend. I installed the stereo properly and the DVD player and VCR. That means all the cables are off the floor now, and speakers are on the wall. We also finished emptying all the boxes in the spare room, which was being used as a store room. Everything was vacuumed. It looks like a real house almost. I also got my speeding ticket through. I was apparently doing 51 mph in a 40 zone, but I can't work out where. As far as I can tell the road in question is entirely a 70 mph zone. I'm going to ask friend Pete if he knows where it is.

I aslo planted tomato plants this weekend. I've never done this sort of thing before and I'm quite looking forward to it. I have some Chinese white radish seeds too. I haven't planted those because it's too early in the season, but again, I'm looking forward to it.

I've listened to a couple of podcasts from New Scientist, and my initial thought is, don't bother. It's full of childish jingles that make it sound more like a teenager focused pop station. The content is quite good, the production is difficult to stomach. I can still recommend the skepticality podacast, and the SETI institute Are we alone show.

There's an important vote going on today in parliament. The ID card bill is being put to MPs but it has been modified. The BBC reports that it has been accepted that "new legislation would be required to make them compulsory". This worries me. What does "compulsory" mean? The original idea was said to be for non compulsory cards because no one would be required to carry one. It emerged however that one would be issued if one wanted a passport or driving licence. What exactly is the plan now? I hope that the bill gets dumped today, but I fear it won't. The good news is that the PM won't get to vote because he is stuck in South Africa. A stroke of luck indeed for the anti ID card brigade. It will be close.

I just discovered that Nora Jones is the daughter of Ravi Shanka. Who's have thought it? She's half Asian! I have no idea what Ravi Shanka does. I'm going to investigate tonight.

And today's disaster is...

...a leaking lavatory. I called a plumber. I don't know how to fix a broken seal where the soil pipe joins the pan. Nothing is ever easy is it? He's coming this afternoon after three. That's good, because I finish at 1.30 today. I can be there.

I'm back into podcasting. The Telegraph does an excellent one. I've also discovered a New Scientist podcast. It had a couple of mediocre write-ups, but I'm giving it a whirl. I forgot to resubscribe to the SETI institute "are we alone" podcast, which is also pretty good.

I had a letter from the bank yesterday about the complaint I made. This time they actually answered my questions, agreed that I had received apalling service, and gave me £75 compensation. I guess you can call that a result. It might even pay for the plumber this afternoon. We still disagree on whether the policies implemented by NatWest actually increase security in any way, but I can agree to disagree on that point. It bothers me that I appear to be growing into a grumpy old man.

Written Friday, but posted Monday!

Quick entry from yesterday, posted late.

"Well girls will be boys and boys will be girls. It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world". I love that lyric. And I bet you don't know where it comes from. I'll tell you in the next post. I finally got around to seting up the iPOD on the new PC last night. It doesn't like one of the USB ports, but I can live with that.

I've been paid. I think I've been over-paid in fact. I will have to look into it. I don't want to be accused of stealing, fraud, or anything else. Well I don't mind being accused, I mind being found guilty. Actually being guilty doesn't really bother me come to think of it, it's the punishment that comes with it.

Linda Nolan has been diagnosed with breast cancer. This will mean nothing to you if you are under 35, not British, or you lived in a bunker in the 70s and the music scene passed you by. She's only a little older than me, so I wish her well.

In answer to Andrew Cat6's question. I didn't know what sucide bombers wore either, but the pictures I saw seemed to suggest that Mr Khayam was wearing a vest arrangement with sticks of pretend dynamite stuck to it. He's back in prison now. I almost feel sorry for him. I'm quite sure he wasn't intending to cause quite the fuss that he did. That said, he is a convicted drug dealer and, unless he has reformed, I'd say it was a good place to keep him.

Too damn fast

I have apparently managed to get a speeding ticket. I can't understand how it happened, I've been so careful, I really have. But the guy that sold me the car called me last night and told me that the ticket had been sent to him. It was the courtesy car he lent me while mine was in the shop. It's so annoying. It's the first time in years I've had a clean licence and it lasted about three months, fascists.

Abu Hamza has been sentenced to 7 years in jail. Apparently he will be eligible for parole in 2008. Even if that is the end of 2008, it will be less than 3 years in prison, though he has been in custody for some months already. Why do they bother calling it 7 years if he gets out after 2? Do the authorities think the public is somehow fooled by this? He is still wanted by the US on terrorism charges and he will face extradition as soon as he is freed. I can't believe he only got seven years. The man has connections with 9-11, July bombings in London, the shoe bomber idiot, and others. The police are under pressure to explain why it took so long to convict the guy who has been living on state benefits in Britain for years.

Abby had a bit of a rant about the cartoon issue yesterday. I find the whole thing hysterical. They're like children. I wish I could draw, I might do a few cartoons of my own to illustrate the infantile behaviour displayed here. I heard muslims on the radio yesterday upset at how the clown that dressed as a suicide bomber was treated, "He's not a terrorist, he's an idiot", claimed one. Well I can't say I disagree with that.

Apparently dark matter is hotter and faster than we thought. I wish I understood this, but I think I'm missing some of the ground work. My Father called me to tell me this yesterday. It seems the Milky Way is also more massive than we realised and it's even bigger than our next door neighbour Andromeda. Why did thewy call it the Milky Way? Such a stupid name.

The really good news today is that I have fixed my Framemaker cross reference problem. No idea how I did it, but it makes me feel clever anyway.

What are they fighting about?

Irony is in the air.

The white Christian (or at least non muslim) population of Europe continues to defend the right of a Danish newspaper to print cartoons ridiculing Mohammed. It's a free speech issue. The Muslim community is up in arms. A protest in London, outside the Danish Embassy this weekend saw Muslims from all over Britain in militant mood, expressing their concerns. One man, Omar Khayam, 22, even dressed as a suicide bomber for the occasion. There were many placards calling for the murder of blasphemers. The police attended, but no arrests were made. Actually, that's not quite true, two arrests were made, but they weren't muslims. Two people were arrested when they attempted to start a counter protest defending the Danish newspaper and the right of free speech.

People were angry, there were questions in the house about why muslims were allowed to protest in this way. Omar Khayam, the man dressed as a suicide bomber, was tracked down and made to apologise. The two people arrested for attempting to start a counter protest were interviewed on the Today programme on Radio 4.

And the irony I mentioned...

The Danish Newspaper caused controversy by printing these cartoons. It was an exercise in freedom of expression and the paper continues to defend its right to print the material. Omar Khayam was the focus of a man hunt after he had the audacity to dress as a suicide bomber to protest against the actions of the Danish newspaper. That was also an exercise in freedom of expression, though he has apologised. Two people were arrested for protesting about a protest against the Danish newspaper's right to freedom of expression. It seems whatever one says, someone takes offence to it and that freedom of expression becomes precarious.

What do I think? I think just about everyone is overreacting. I don't care about the cartoons, I don't care about an idiot dressed as a suicide bomber, and I don't care who was offended by anything that has been said or done. I do care deeply about freedom of expression. I care that I live in a country where a woman was arrested for reading aloud the names of the British soldiers killed in Iraq in a public place. I care that the government of my country used terrorism legislation to arrest an old man at a public conference for telling an elected politician he was talking rubbish, which I might add, he was.

How will this story end? It emerged this morning that Omar Khayam was on parole. He is a convicted drug dealer, realeased less than a year ago. He has since been rearrested and there is some question about whether he has violated his parole. He may return to prison. I listened to him making an apology for his actions. He wasn't sorry or ashamed for what he did. He was reading from a cue card clearly written for him by someone, probably his local MP who was with him at the time. He is of low intelligence and almost certainly only in it for the rumble. The Danish newspaper hasn't even apologised, nor will it as far as I can see. It doesn't care about Islam, or free speech, it cares only about how many copies it can sell. So, exactly what are they all fighting about?

Last minute type of guy

We got the car back on Friday evening. I wasn't convinced that the catalytic converter was the issue, but it does appear to be running well now, so I guess it must have been. Collecting the car on Friday meant driving from South Wales back to Swindon after work, then to straight to North Devon. We then had to drive back to Swindon next morning for a 9.30 ante-natal class. I was expecting that to be a joke, but it was actually quite good. A bit touchy feely, but informative. It served to panic me somewhat. We have nothing prepared. We have a list of things to take to the hospital, and we don't have any of them yet. It only occurred to me at the weekend that we need to get a car seat right away or we can't bring the little soldier home. The house is still a wreck, and I have no idea what I'll be doing for a job in 8 weeks time. I'm a last minute type of guy.

Sunday was the first day in weeks that we didn't have to get up for anything. It was good. Today of course I had to get up at 6 am again to go to work, but even the weather wasn't so cold today. Cloudy and grey, but not cold for a change. I hope Spring is coming. I want to plant tomatoes and Chinese white radish.I'm really quite looking forward to it. I have grow bags and potting compost all ready. I also noticed that you can buy bags of horse shit at Homebase, which is great to.

Education secretary Ruth Kelly has had an egg thrown at her as she arrived to give evidence at a court case today. Despite the fact that I loath Ruth Kelly and everything she stands for, I can't morally justify chucking eggs at her. That said, I've seen the pictures and you have to admire the marksmanship of the thrower. Hit her square on the head despite evaisive action from Kelly. Must have been a fairly long range shot too since thrower is not in picture. He was arrested however, so it wasn't that great a shot.

I know that not many of you out there share my interest in Taiwan, but something interesting has happened and I'm going to write about it. The President has announced that the time may be right to think about scrapping the National Unification Council. The body, which was set up in 1990, was designed to show China that Taiwan eventually intends to reunite with the mainland. But for many years the NUC has been nothing but a name. They have no budget and no power. It serves no real purpose other than to give the illusion that Taiwan is working towards reunification. And that's what is upsetting China. They don't want the world to think that Taiwan is still considering independence.

The President is attempting to flex his muscles for political reasons. Since his re-election he has not appeared to be very strong and his authority has been in question. He is also moving towards the end of his presidencey and would like to secure his legacy. This is a means of demonstrating his power. It was a dangerous move however. Taiwan is banking on the US helping them when China makes a move to control the island, and Washington is not pleased that Chen made this statement without consultation. I haven't seen a reaction from China yet, but they won't be pleased either.

Can't sleep!

I want to talk about insomnia. People think that insomniacs are people that don't need much sleep. This isn't true. Insomniacs need sleep like everyone else, they just can't. That's why it's a pain in the arse. I've always had a problem with sleeping. The last few years have been better. The problem can be minimised by learning what conditions you need to sleep, what not to do if you wake up etc. I get quite obsessive about routines. And I get quite ratty with people that screw them up. I once had a shouting match with a policeman who had decided to set up a speed trap just outside my house at bedtime.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, right now routine is difficult. I have to wake up early to come to work. The dragon has back pain and doesn't sleep soundly. It's not her fault. I want sympathy, that's why I'm telling you this.

I can't believe Nick Griffin and his goon have been cleared on race hate charges. The man stood up in a pub and made several speeches essentially preaching racism. He has a right to his opinion. He even has a right to say these things in my opinion. But to suggest that he wasn't intending to incite racial hatred is unbelievable. They're not out of the woods yet. Griffin was charged with 4 counts and has only been cleared of 2. There will be another trial. His cohort also has to face a further 4 charges. I'm actually in two minds about this. I loath and despise Griffin and everything he stands for, but I have to accept that he is a politician and must be allowed to say these things. I'm still amazed that the jury didn't seem to think that he was inciting racial hatred. I think that's the only reason he says these things. One has to remember that this is not about what he said so much as what he intended to achieve by it. Click.

Another thing I can't believe is the fact that police think they now have firm proof of an exotic big cat roaming the countryside in Fife. This proof of the Beast of Balbirnie takes the form of a cast of a footprint. Check out these pictures people. That looks more like a turd than a footprint.

The Office of Fair Trading has launched a campaign to crack down on mass marketing scams. They say the top scmas around at the moment are competitions, lotteries, psychics, clairvoyants, phishing, advanced fee frauds, pyramid schemes, working from home schemes, and general investment. What I want to know is, what's the difference between psychics and clairvoyants? I take the view that anyone mad enough to hire a psychic or clairvoyant deserves pretty much everything they get. Click.

I just submitted my first two weeks' timesheets. I feel good. I can pack up and go home for the weekend now.

Short of time

The house next door to mine is for sale for £185,000. Now that's a lot of money. I paid £54,000 for mine. That was about 12 years ago of course. I think mine would be worth around the same. The garage isn't as good, and the conservatory is smaller, but it is a semi, the one next door is terraced, that must count for something. Judging by the pictures, mine is also far more tasteful.

I still haven't heard from the guy mending my car. I will have to call him this afternoon. If I can't get it back tomorrow, it will have to wait until next week. I don't mind. I'd rather put miles onthe courtesy car than my own. The courtesy car doesn't have a radio, which means I have to sing. The window opened this morning though. Actually, I hope he can't finish the car tomorrow. That way I can avoid another trip to Devon until next week. We have moved nearly everything from Devon now into the Swindon place. We somehowe manged to forget our new microwave however, which was a bit of a downer.

And that is as much as I had time to write.

It's so obvious

I think Abby could be right, toll booth operatives hold the secret to teleportation. They just don't tell anyone because if we all knew how to do it, no one would use cars and their income would plummet. It's so obvious. I'm going to kidnap one of the operatives, torture him/her until they spill the secret of teleportation and then sell the patent to OPEC for millions. They're bound to buy it because they don't want people giving up their cars either. I'll also check to see if they wear trousers.

Mr Blair has suffered a serious defeat in the House of Commons. Two votes were taken last night on the religious hatred bill and he lost both of them, despite a nominal majority of 60. In other words, his own party is turning against him. Amazingly, the PM left before the second vote and didn't vote himself. The government then lost by a single vote. This means that the ridiculous bill will become law, but with serious ammendments, thanks to the Lords. The BBC are reporting that it's a serious setback for Blair. The Telegraph is questioning whether he can now win the education reform bill and the id card bill votes. In fact it also questions whether Blair will survive as PM if he loses the education reform battle in March.

It's not going well for Blair in other areas either. The 100th UK soldier to die in Iraq hit the news yesterday and the printed press has been pretty ruthless in their condemnation of the war. The Mail, not a paper I usually side with, asks how many more must die to "save the prime minister's face and justify his lies?"

Boy George is to face court on drugs charges.Apparently the 13 bags of cocaine found in his home could have been anyone's and he doesn't know where they came from. I've got nothing against the guy, but that doesn't sound like a strong defence to me.

I got my bank card back. I'll buy flowers for the dragon on the way home. All is well. Still haven't heard anything about getting my car back. Have to call the guy tomorrow.

Bad start

Today did not start well. I opened my wallet this morning to discover my bank card missing. The last place I used it was the supermarket last night on the way home. I thought it was a 24 hr place, but it wasn't open at 6.30 this morning. I called them however and they have the card. I can pick it up this evening. Such a pain in the rectum when that happens. On the plus side, we now have a card for the dragon and she can actually have access to the bank account, wheee! Actually she doesn't have a pin number yet. There is a new policy of sending the card to the address you give them and then not sending the pin until you return the enclosed form. What's the point of that? They used to send both card and pin to the same address but on different days. I thought that was pretty sensible.

I've also lost my sunglasses in the move somewhere. Hope I haven't lost them forever, I like them.

The above was written this morning. I can now report that the cash card has been recovered and we ate curry for dinner. All is right with the world. It's the Dragon's birthday tomorrow.