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.