Close

I never really finished writing yesterday's entry. I suddenly seem to have a lot to do at work, which is odd, this contract has not been very demanding so far. I have an interview in Fairham tomorrow. I don't know how it's going to pan out, but I feel quite good about it all. It is quite scary to think that I may have to move out to the south coast and start a new life knowing no one. On the plus side, it will also mean that I get to leave Swindon behind me, and Swindon is a shit-hole, there's no two ways about it. And it's not like I never packed up and moved out before is it.

Michael Jackson is in court again. Actually, he's never out of court these days is he. This time an old associate is caliming MJ owes him money. At one time I thought these were just people out to make a fast buck, but he's clearly in financial trouble and you'd think scammers would go for someone more financially stable.

I can't believe that I've found something upon which Abby and I completely agree. Has that ever happened before? We both hate Al Gore. It's not much, but it's something. I feel close to her.

So, this is another short entry. Wish me luck for tomorrow. I'l try and write something before the weekend.

The Question

Dickie says, "At the risk of fanning the flames, I'd have thought that these days you'd be approaching these things from the more cautious perspective of a father, rather than a cynic anyway".

You know, it's not that I'm not concerned about environmental issues, I just don't blindly believe all the garbage we're exposed to from people with hidden agendas. Al Gore is interested in one thing and one thing only, self publicity, and he's good at it. He knows the best way to grab a headline is to say something outrageous. That's why he's predicting we have ten years to save the world.

It was the same when people with a political agenda, like Greenpeace, were predicting disaster if we used nuclear power. If the world had listened to the sceptics and cynics like me 30 years ago and gone nuclear, we wouldn't even be having this argument about carbon dioxide now because it wouldn't be there. Currently the US depends on fossil fuels for 80% of it's power generation. Change all those fossil fuel power stations into nuclear generators, and you solve most of the problem overnight, and it was a problem caused by environmentalists.

The question Dickie should be asking himself is this, "Why do I believe Al Gore when he says we have 10 years to save the earth, and I don't believe the East Anglia University Climate Research Unit when they say there has been no temperature rise in the last decade?" Think about it, they can't both be right. One is a respecable science research unit with no reason to spread false information, the other is a politician desperate to grab headlines and revive a flagging career. It's a no-brainer when you look at it like that isn't it?

Apparently the royal family cost us £37 million a year. This is apparently fairly cheap. Many of the heads of state in Europe cost their countries considerably more than that. I don't think the cost of the monarchy is really a good argument for abolishing it. I think there are plenty of other good reasons to become a republic however. It'll be a very sad day when the Prince of Wales puts the hat on.

Taiwan recently tried to oust their president as he became entangled in corruption issues. The attempt failed, but I think he should do the decent thing and step down. The Taiwanese are funny people. They don't seem to realise just how precious their democracy is, or how delicately balanced it is. Chen has been loosing credibility for a long time and he's been dragging his party down with him. He really should be doing something to ensure that they move into the next election

Cynical

OK, today I feel cynical...

Dickie says I should look into "An Inconvenient Truth". I don't really know very much about this, but it's something to do with Al Gore and his crusade against greenhouse effect isn' it? Sorry, but I don't think Al Gore has any credibility as a climate scientist. He recently questioned how anyone could doubt the existance of global warming when New York summers were so hot. Now there's a man who really understands the issue. He also recently made some statement claiming that the balance had tipped too far in favour of personal liberty, or words to that effect. I loath and despise the guy for that alone, and I wouldn't buy into anything he endorced even if I thought he did have a point. Just reading the blurb from that link Dickie left, he seems to think that Global Warming is a "moral" issue. Funny how he only found his moral crusade only after his political career took a nosedive isn't it?

"Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced." Is that a quote from Gore himself?, I found it here and it's rubbish. Where did he get 10 years from? I read only yesterday that half of the last 6 million years was several degrees warmer than today. It didn't end in the apocolypse did it? During the last three warm (interglacial) periods (all within the last 3 million years), temperatures at high latitudes were as much as 5 degrees warmer than today's. No runaway global warming though. Where does he get his data?

Pardon my mirth, but an American politician taking the moral high ground on environmental issues; can anyone else see the irony here?

***

Surely no one could have been very surprised when Johnathan Ross asked David Cameron if he'd had any schoolboy fantasies about Mrs Thatcher, could they? That's what Johnathan Ross does, he asks purile questions in an effort to embarrass his guests and titilate his audience. It's a cheap ploy, and it beats me why people fall about laughing, but it's there for everyone to see. I'm in no doubt that Cameron was expecting it. Although I haven't seen the footage, I understand he batted it away without rising to it.

It seems to me that everyone should be happy. Cameron got the exposure he wanted without getting into a flap, and Ross got his cheap laugh. Yet still Cameron is being slammed for his decision to appear on the show. And no one seems to care that Ross, currently rumoured to have signed a 3 year contract with the BBC worth £18 million, is using 30 year old jokes borrowed from people like Ben Elton and Rick Mayall.

***

I've just read that J K Rowling is to kill off two characters in the final book. She also mentioned that she can understand why some authors kill central characters to prevent them from being resurrected in the future. I still reckon Ginny Weasley is to die.

Sceptical

Well I guess I have to apologise to Abby and delectableness for mixing them up. When I get notes on theological issues, I always assume it's Abby. She seems concerned about my eternal soul. In fact, if I'm wrong and Abby's right about the existance of a heaven, I'm counting on her to put in a good word for me with God. I'll have a look at the link from delectableness to learn about the immaculate conception and virgin birth later. As for Abby's comment about the second coming being a full grown man straight from heaven, I'll bow down to her greater biblical knowledge on that one, though I read recently that opinion is divided even within the Christian church, about how, or even if, the second coming is going to take place.

And on to something else. This time I'm convinced that the little guy is committed to sleeping through the night. It's been a week now since he got us up before 6am. I'm looking forward to giving him real food. Apparently a health visitor is to come and talk to us about solid food next week. I suppose now is the time to start putting baby food in the freezer. Exciting times lie ahead.

England have beaten Equador 1-0 in yet another seemingly uninspiring display of football. I didn't see it. In fact I had to ask someone who we were playing yesterday. I have found however that the best time to vist shops or drive anywhere is during a football match as everyone else is inside watching it. I remember experiencing much the same thing during the funeral of the Princess of Wales.

I've had my hair cut for the upcoming interview either this week or next. I'm quite looking forward to it. I will be annoyed if I don't get it now. I've had a telephone interview, taken a test, submitted an application form, and will be attending a formal on-site interview. That's quite a bit of time and effort to waste if it all comes to nothing.

***

I read today that the University of East Anglia, Climate Research Unit, has released figures that suggest there has been no global warming for the last 8 years. In fact they measured a small but insignificant fall in temperature. This appeals to my basically sceptical nature. Apparently there was a period of warming between 1970 and 1998, and another between 1918 and 1940. There was a period of cooling between 1940 and 1965 however, just as we started to use cars and build factories again after the war. It's really quite an interesting read and you should click on the link.

This is all I wrote on Friday

So, Abby seems to have picked up on the virgin birth insurance point from yesterday. I realise that the immaculate conception refers only to Mary, but I assumed that a second coming, if it happened the same way as last time, would also be "immaculate" wouldn't it? I'm afraid I don't understand the difference between virgin birth and immaculate conception however, so maybe I missed a point. I thought the BBC report used the term "immaculate conception" to describe the event, but I haven't checked. As for the second point she makes, suggesting that a second child is needed to complete the job somehow diminishes the power of Jesus, I'm afraid I don't understand that either. Doesn't the new testament promise a second coming? I'd have thought that the Catholics would encourage people to prepare for it.

As an aside here, I read this morning that the three sisters who insured themselves are in fact all in their 50s, which seems to make conception, immaculate or otherwise, less likely. My immediate thought when I read the story was that these women were intending to make a claim when they became pregnant, based on the fact that the insurance company would have great difficulty proving that a foetus was not the son of God. This seems to be unlikely given the age of the women.

Hell in a hand basket

I read yesterday that Craig Charles has been suspended from his BBC radio show and his ITV Coronation Street part, after allegations of drug taking. Pictures apparently appeared in the Daily Mirror showing him smoking crack cocaine. If this is true, then I'm more than a little dissapointed. Craig Charles has been something of a hero to me. He is a very talented poet with an admirable anti establishment style. He was once married to Kathy Tyson, the "tall, thin, black tart" from the film Mona Lisa. He also presented Robot Wars and starred in Red Dwarf, which has to be the best sit-com of all time. I saw him live once. His radio show is good too. I used to listen on the internet sometimes when I was in Asia.

The libertarian in me believes that he has a perfect right to use crack cocaine if he chooses. Everyone has the right to screw their life up any way they want in my view. It's not that I am against people using drugs, though I do think drug abuse is anti social, it's the fact that Craig Charles is allegedly using drugs. And not just drugs, crack cocaine of all things. I could have overlooked almost any other substance, put it down to rock-and-roll lifestyle, but crack is something only really self destructive people get into.

It's selfish to expect more of people just because they happen to be on one's hero list. Why should I expect Craig Charles to behave responsibly for my sake when he doesn't even know I exist? The trick is to choose heros carefully I suppose. Maybe my supposition that the pictures are genuine is wrong. Maybe it's all a Daily Mirror scam. I hope so.

***

I got a comment yesterday about Ginny being a Horcrux. Mrz.rwjc says that Voldemorte would need to trust Ginny if he made her a Horcrux. Well he would if she became a horcrux willingly, but what if she doesn't know she's a horcrux? This is my point you see. Some time during book seven Harry is going to realise that Ginny is a horcrux and that the only way to defeat Voldemorte is to kill Ginny. Ginny doesn't even know. I did think that Harry himself might have been a horcrux, but then why would Voldemorte try and kill him in Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix if that was the case? OK, I'm becomming obsessive now, I realise this.

And mrz.rwjc, I will go and have a look at your diary later and maybe leave a note, but I can't do it now because I'm at work, typing this in notepad, and I'm not supposed to browse recreational sites.

***

The Oxford English Dictionary people have compiled a list of the top hundred most commonly used nouns, and the top ten are:

1 Time
2 Person
3 Year
4 Way
5 Day
6 Thing
7 Man
8 World
9 Life
10 Hand

I've used "time" a couple of times on this page already. I don't think I used "person", or "year" though. I have used "way" at least twice, and "life" and "thing" once each, but I don't think I have used any of the others. That's 4 out of the top ten in five paragraphs. I would never have guessed that "time" would be the most common noun. It seems that 90% of the top 100 are one-syllable words. The list was compiled using lots of different written data, including blogs.

***

Now here's an odd story for you. Three sisters from Inverness who bought insurance cover that pays out in the event of an immaculate conception, have had their cover withdrawn. The policy was supposed to cover the cost of bringing up Christ in the event of the second coming. Honestly, I'm not making this up. And so many questions occur to me here. For one thing, you'd think that God would provide for his next son (or daughter) and therefore negate the need for an insurance policy wouldn't you? And how exactly does one prove that one is carrying the next incarnation of the son of God? Why did these three women think that, out of 3 billion women on the planet, they would be chosen?

The really odd thing about this as far as I am concerned however, is the fact that the catholic church is not happy about it at all. Apparently the issuing of the policy was most offensive to them, which is why it was cancelled. But I can't see why the policy would offend the church. They apparently believe that an immaculate conception happened once, 2000 years ago, and they apparently also believe it will happen again. What's the problem here?

Arse words

There is a great article today on the BBC website entitledSmuggled Cigarettes Cost Billions. In case you are in any doubt as to exactly what it is about, you should know that tobacco is taxed so heavily in UK that illegally imported cigartettes have become a boom market and a real problem for the customs and excise police. I haven't smoked for years, but I think a packet of 20 cigarettes is somewhere around £5 now. So that would be about US$8.

Lets look at the article line by line shall we...

The government is losing billions in VAT each year to tobacco smugglers and more resources are needed to tackle the problem, says a key Commons committee.

That's how the report opens. I can see the point they are trying to make here, but I would phrase it slightly differently. I would say, "The government is failing to make the billions they had hoped to on tobacco duty, and smuggling has become more prolific due to the huge disparity between British and European prices. We therefore want to use more tax payers' money to prosecute and imprison those people responsible for the smuggling".

Customs lost around £2.9bn in Britain in 2003-2004 and the figure is expected to increase in 2004-2005.

Or, put another way, "The government would have made £2.9bn in the 2003-2004 period, had people bought all the illegally imported tobacco in Britain".

The Committee of Public Accounts also says the estimated 12bn cigarettes smuggled into the UK pose an increased health risk to smokers.

Or, "We think the public are too stupid to realise that the same health risk applies to British as to imported cigarettes, and we hope that suggesting that illegally imported tobacco is more dangerous will both appeal to the anti smoking lobby and scare people away from foreign imports."

They say a campaign is needed to expose the risks of poor quality tobacco.

Or, "We want a campaign to make importing more difficult so that we can raise tax revenue on tobacco, but feeding the public some bullshit about poor quality imports will probably have a more positive effect."

"Tobacco smugglers cheat the taxpayer," said committee chairman Edward Leigh MP.

Or, "Tax payers who buy illegal imports actually save huge amounts of tax. The government on the other hand cheats tax payers by imposing huge amounts of duty."

I'm not going to go on, but if you read the rest of this rubbish you will find that the government's key concern is apparently the health of the nation which is being ruined by counterfit cigarettes manufactured in the Middle East. This makes me wonder what all that crap about loosing tax revenue and costing the tax payer money, is all about. If they lowered duty on cigarettes to reasonable levels like the rest of Europe, they could solve the problem immediately without any cost.

***

I think Ginny Weasley is a horcrux. She's a seventh child, and we all know that seven is a very magical number. She might even be a seventh child of a seventh child, which would be very magical indeed. She was also present when the diary horcrux was destroyed, and she'd be a good choice for a horcrux because Harry would possibly have to kill her to destroy it. She's also been possessed by Voldemorte in the form of Tom Riddle.

Dumbledore postulated that Voldemorte needed one more horcrux when he murdered Lilly and James. He may not have been able to make the Horcrux at that time because he nearly killed himself trying to murder Harry. However, he might have made it when he killed Lilly and James, and if he did, it might be still there because he was in no position to hide it at the time. So, if I was Harry, I'd be off to Godric's Hollow.

Also, bearing in mind that Ravenclaw's locket was hidden at a location significant to Voldemorte, it seems reasonable to assume that the missing horcruxes are hidden in equally significant places. That would mean the orphanage, Hogwarts, the Riddle house, his mother's house, and maybe Bourgin and Burke's.

***

My contract has been extended again. I can't decide whether this is good or bad. I was looking forward to a few days off, but it's all money in the bank I suppose. I still need something permanent. I was actually quite busy today.

I managed to come to work today with the dragon's keys in my pocket, which means she can't leave the house. I feel bad about that. I put them in my pocket this morning when I opened the back door. I was being a good husband and father however. Little guy slept until 5.30 this morning and I fed him and put him back to sleep before I went to work. That meant the dragon could sleep until 8.30. How cool is that?

Modigliani

I feel better today. I actually got 7 hours of unbroken sleep last night. I genuinely can't remember the last time that happened. I'm looking forward to a few days off.

England have to play Sweden today and need only to draw to finish top of their group I'm told. Apparently however England haven't beaten Sweden for about a decade. I wonder what time the match is. I've noticed that football matches affect the traffic.

A Modigliani portrait has just sold for £16 million. I wonder whether the film made a difference to the price. I can't say I really understand art, but I know this portrait and it just looks childish to me. I can't see anything in it. The film was good by the way. Particularly interesting is the scene in which Modigliani enters the big art contest and taunts Picasso, who has no choice but to enter also. It's like a bull fight. I know that sounds weird, but if you see it, you'll know what I mean.

Did I mention that I got my first ever fathers' day card from my son on Sunday? I think his mother may have helped him with it. It had pictures of Jaguar cars all over it.

I want to know when the next Harry Potter book will be released. It has been speculated that it will be released on 7 July next year. That would be book 7, realeased on 07/07/07. I'm not sure if I can wait that long however. I may give JK a call. I guess the realease must still be quite some way off since no announcement has yet been made to my knowledge. Apparently HP books are always released in June or July and on a Saturday, and 07/07/07 is a Saturday. That's a gift for the marketing department isn't it?

Two, yes two, levels

Well here I am, another Monday morning, and it's the last week of work I have here as far as I know. I'm not sorry the job is finished, it wasn't very good, but I would like to know what I'll be doing next. I got an exercise to complete in the mail this weekend for another job. They already gave me a telephone interview. It looks like a good job, but the exercise was very time consuming. They also had a very intrusive application form to fill in. I was torn between refusing to fill bits in, and complying for the sake of the job opportunity. I filled in my parents' name and address (why did they need that?) but I stopped short of giving them my passport details.

I've come to the conclusion that my son's first full night of sleep has actually caused stress rather than relieved it. After he did it the first time, we automatically assumed he would do it again. It is however proving very difficult to repeat the feat. He did sleep until 5 am today. But the dragon and I went to bed in fairly bad moods as a result of his refusal to drink enough milk at midnight. I've hardly slept again. The trick seems to be to get him to have a big last feed. If you get it wrong during the day and he doesn't want a big feed at bed time, you've had it.

We went out to Westonbirt Arboretum on Saturday. It was very pleasant. We had a picnic lunch and wheeled the little guy all round the trees. He spent much of the time asleep, but he did seem to like watching the birds and the trees above him while he was awake. I'm told that the best time to go is in Autumn when all the leaves are red and brown. I don't know how far we walked, but it must have been a few miles I think.

Japan and some other whaling nations have voted in favour of lifting the ban on commercial whaling. The whaling commision backed a resolution calling for the return of commercial whaling, which has been banned for 20 years. If I'm honest, I can't say I really have any strong feelings about whaling, but I have strong feelings about eco nazis, and that alone is enough for me to back whaling. The whaling nations have always claimed that hunting whales is really no different from hunting deer, which is common in Britain and the US, as well as many other places. There really isn't any argument against that as far as I can see. No one is suggesting that endangered species are hunted. This vote has been welcomed by the whaling nations of course, but it doesn't mean a return to whaling. To lift the ban, 75% of the commision would have to back the resolution. They have a long way to go to get that kind of support because this vote was won by a majority of only 1. And China apparently abstained.

There seems to be a lot of fuss about the appointment of a female bishop by the American Episcapal church. I don't have an opinion here, but I can see the church fragmenting. As an outsider, it looks to me like the Christian church is backed into a corner because the bible says clergy should be male, and society says that's just not right. What can you do?

John Reid the Home Secretary is in trouble because last week he had a dig at judges for giving lenient sentences. This week he finds himself having to explain what he intends to do with the extra prisoners harsher sentencing would generate. The prisons are already full it seems. The answer is easy if you ask me, bring back hanging. This works on two, yes two, levels; every time you execute a convict it's one less cell required, and secondly, he's not going to do it again is he?

Reid is appearing before parliament this afternoon to make a statement about Megan's Law. He has suggested that Britain may implement a version of this law which would allow the public access to information about known sex offenders and their addresses. On balance I think I am against this, but only on a technicality. When the News of the World published pictures and addresses of known paedophiles it sparked really nasty vigilante attacks. I also have concerns about the people registered as sex offenders. A large number of these people did nothing more serious than look at child porn, which while fairly objectionable, doesn't make them dangerous.

Dad pack

Well he didn't make it 2 nights in a row. The little insect was up at 4 this morning, and he managed to make his nappy dirty. He didn't really have a good feed at 11, which I think is key to a good night. He also didn't pooh all day, which is always a bad omen. I'm not down hearted though. I still believe we can do this. Yesterday he had his 12 week injections so he is all immunised. This is a good thing since I read yesterady about a measles outbreak. A friend of ours has a baby with chicken pox and we were wondering whether we should expose him so that he could get it out of the way early. We decided that 12 weeks was too young, and I think it was the right decision because it appears to be a bad case.

A new government pack entitled "The Dad Pack", is to be realeased to coincide with Father's day. I haven't seen the pack, but I am longing to get hold of one, not because I think it would be useful, but because it has been so effectively ridiculed by just about everyone. We are told that the pack contains much information and advice for new fathers. Apparently it even advises fathers not to have affairs while their wives are pregnant. This morning I heard a news report that admitted that much of the advice was obvious. But it went on to say that many new dads were so inept that it was necessary. I'm not convinced. I think it would be hard to find an expectant father who thinks that an affair is a good idea during pregnancy, though I'm quite sure some would do it anyway.

Apparently the pack has been supplied to maternity units and nurseries. Since I have a baby too young for a nursery and we have no reason to return to the maternity unit, I don't know how I can get hold of this literature. It is possible to buy 50 Dad Packs for about £9, and my desire to see it is such that I did even consider this option. I can't really justify the expense however. So I may have to find someone with children at nursery to swipe one for me.

I'm told that some important person is visiting the office today to spread joy among the workers. I'm wearing clean underwear and everything. I don't know who it is, but I'm not allowed to hang a jacket on the back of the chair today, or leave a bag under the desk. They have a policy here which encourages people to clear desks of all paperwork except the items you are actually working on. They could eliminate about 90% of their paperwork entirely by just making the system simpler. But that's not my problem. Next week is my last week anyway. I don't have any desk drawers so I can't clear the paperwork up. I've stacked it on the floor under the desk.

I got a call back yesterday from the telephone interview I did on Thursday. They're interested and confirmed that they want to send me some sort of exercise. I have no idea what form this will take, but I guess it's a good sign. I just hope there aren't too many other candidates.

Gary Glitter has launched an appeal in Vietnam against his conviction for child molestation and failed. So I guess it's back to the slammer for him. Last time I mentioned this case I said I had lost all sympathy for him. I still don't have any real sympathy, but I can't find any details of what he is actually supposed to have done, or the evidence against him, so I have moved my position slightly. He made himself look guilty as hell when he was interviewed by the BBC after his conviction when he made a point of saying that he had never knowingly had sex with an underage girl, and that he had only recently discovered what the age of consent was in Vietnam. The fact that he paid off the families of the alleged victims doesn't exactly make him look innocent either.

A thanksgiving service for the Queen in recognition of her 80th birthday is being held at St. Pauls Cathedral. Some 2,300 people are attending. That is a big church isn't it. Even Sir Cliff Richard is there. I saw him on the news. He's wearing a purple jacket and sun glasses. I wonder if Elton John is invited. And if he is, will they make him take his hat off this time?

I've just heard that Wayne Rooney has been passed match fit for the game against Trinidad and Tobego today, but they don't know if he will play.

Oh Brave New World

Well the big news today is, he slept through the night properly for the first time! I'm thinking of holding a party or something. We put him to bed at 11 pm, and he was still quiet at 5.30 this morning. He did make a few noises, but he was wasn't bawling. The dragon was feeding him when I left for work at 6.30. I feel good about everything. I'm looking forward to the weekend. A whole, unbroken night of sleep, and no waking up for work the next day. Oh, Brave New World!

I got a tax rebate from Taiwan this week. I knew they owed me some money, but I had decided that it probably wasn't worth the effort of claiming it. My sister-in-law offered to do it for me however and I took her up on that offer. I definitely owe her a beer now because they coughed up about NT$40,000. That really isn't as much as it sounds, but it's worth having. It would buy a very nice tv set. Or it would if it hadn't been paid directly into my wife's account in Taipei. I'm not sure how she engineered that. I have a Taiwanese account, why did they pay it into hers? There is a higher force at work here.

Is England playing football again today? There seems to be a lot of talk about it on tv. Who are we playing? I understand the last performance was less than spectacular. And how's Rooney's foot? I must be the last person in England who doesn't know this stuff. Is there something wrong with me? In all honesty, I can't wait for the bloody world cup to finish. There seems to have been so much hype this year, and just about everyone in England (except me) has little flags with the cross of St. George stuck on their cars. All the shops are selling England related tat. If they get knocked out early on there'll be a lot of unsellable stock left on the shelves.

Why do police "raid" premises? I'm prompted to ask this question after the recent police fiasco in which 2 East London homes were stormed by police. The houses were apparently trashed, one man was shot, nothing was found, and no one was charged with anything. The real problem here would seem to be bad intelligence. Obviously they went in after some kind of information was received and it transpired that the information was wrong. This is excusable. Police have to investigate if they think terrorist activity may be taking place. What I can't understand is why they didn't knock on the door.

Granted, the place may be full of agressive terrorists, but I'd suggest that storming the place is every bit as likely to cause a problem as knocking on the door. In a drug raid you have a problem with occupants disposing of evidence, so, the element of surprise is necessary, as is getting in as quickly as possible. But when you're searching for a bomb factory, that isn't an issue. Surely the worst that can happen is that the occupants are uncooperative and you have to bash the door down anyway. It is also conceivable that, without the element of surprise, you may find that knocking on the door results in you facing a house full of occupants pointing guns at you. I think that situation is more containable than a potentially chaotic and agressive situation that may result after storming that same property.

Apparently Britain is in the grip of a measles outbreak. It seems that fears surrounding the MMR link to autism may be to blame. Well there you go.

Fat tax

Last night he had a final feed at 10.30 and didn't wake up until 4.30. That was six hours. I can see it now. A full night's sleep is just days away.

There was an interesting discussion on the Penn Jillette radio show yesterday. I listened to it on my iPod this morning as I drove to work. Apparently the American Medical Association is about to try and persuade the government to legislate for a tax levy on corn syrup in an effort to reduce obesity and unhealthy eating. I don't know US politics, but the point is, the medical people want corn syrup taxed to stop people buying it so cheaply. Corn syrup is apparently used extensively in soft drinks and many other products.

This idea is not new, it's been kicked around in UK too. The thing I found interesting is the fact that corn farming is apparently heavily subsidised in US. So, if this legislation was to get passed, the government would be encouraging farmers to grow corn with subsidies on one hand, and trying to discourage people from buying it with high taxes on the other. It's not my imagination is it, all governments are mad.

You know what I think the problem is? I'm going to tell you anyway... I think the US, and more recently the UK, has developed a culture of avoiding responsibility. Overweight people are learning to blame everyone but themselves for the problem. We hear people blaming gland problems, genetics, the corrupt fast food companies, or the high price of healthy food. It's none of these things. If people took responsibility for the results of unhealthy diets, they wouldn't do it. Taxing the problem won't help. The price of cigarettes in Uk is something like £5 for a packet of 20, and people still smoke. We're paying £1 for a litre of petrol, and people still drive cars.


There are some interesting news stories around today.

A convicted paedophile in UK, Craig Sweeny, has reoffended just a few days after his parole licence expired. I don't quite understand the complexities of the prison system, but it would seem that convicts are eligible for release on licence after they have served half their sentence, if they have behaved themsleves while in prison. If they violate the terms of their licence they have to return to prison. The paedophile in question reoffended, but since his licence had expired, he could not automatically be returned to prison. He had to be retried for the new offence. He was found guilty and imprisoned again, this time for life. Now, for some reason this means he will be eligible for parole after 5 more years. The Home Secretary apparently made some comments about the inadequate sentence which in turn angered the Attorney General.

The thing that strikes me about this case is not so much the ridiculous complexity of the system. It's the fact that a serious child sex offender received only 3 years for an initial offence, and then 5 for a second offence, despite the fact that he is obviously likely to reoffend. I don't think prison works very well as a deterant, or a punishment, but it does keep the scum off the streets while they are locked up. This is surely a case for longer sentences is it not?

Another story that seems to be headlining currently concerns 2 muslim men who were arrested after a police raid at their home in East London, during which one of the men was shot. There was a lot of confusion about the raid, and even some suggestion that the injured man was shot by his brother. Ultimately, both men were released without charge. This bothers me on all sorts of levels. Firstly it's another example of how the new terror legislation just isn't helping. And of course it appears that it's another example of police incompetance.

The 2 men spoke publicly for the first time today and there was much critisism from them of the police. I'm not sure that these men are entirely innocent, but it does appear that they were raided without enough evidence to charge them with anything. It was ill judged at best. They are claiming that no apology was made and that they were treated badly. They are also suggesting that the police didn't even identify themsleves as they stormed the house, which is a very serious problem indeed. A weapon was apparently discharged by police even though the men were unarmed. One man was shot in the chest, though he seems to have made a good recovery from what I could see. And why was this confusion allowed to continue? After the Stockwell Tube station fiasco, you'd think the police would be quick to stamp out the gossip and rumours.

Heather Mills-McCartney is to begin legal action against the News of the World after allegations at the weekend that she worked as a prostitute. I don't know, or care very much, what she's done in the past, but I can't believe that any paper would be stupid enough to print a story of this nature unless they believed it, since it's bound to result in a legal mauling if it turns out to be untrue.

Hand cream

OK, I have a question for you people. I need hand cream advice. My sister in law runs a tea shop and bar. Apparently all the washing dishes and scrubbing floors ruins her hands. So, what's the stuff to use to return her hands to their former state? I could win serious goody points here, so think about it.

I'm wearing the wrong glasses. Somehow this morning I managed to put on an old pair that I keep in the office. They're OK, but they are the sort that are supposed to go dark automatically in the sun. They never worked very well and they always annoyed me. I only realised half way to work this morning. They never go properly clear and they never go properly dark. My hair is getting in my eyes and also annoying me today, and I am tired.

I drove through a thunderstorm this morning on the way to work. That's the first rain I've seen in weeks. Quite spectacular lightning.

I have only two weeks left to run on this contract and then no more work. Not exactly sure what will happen then. I won't be sorry to leave this job, I do need to have an income however. Old boss Jamie e-mailed me today. He's looking for work in Shanghai now apparently. They are talking about me doing another service manual job here. I'll take it if it's offered and I have nothing else to do.

Heather Mills-McCartney has been accused by a national daily newspaper of working as a call girl. She is denying the claims (well she would wouldn't she), but the News of the World is standing by the story which it says will affect her divorce settlement.

We went to see the Chinese State Circus as planned on Saturday. It was good. We weren't allowed to record video or use flash however, so the pictures are not great. I have no time for Shaolin Wu Shu warriors and their stupid tricks. Who wants to see people break bricks on their heads? The circus acts themselvs were good however. There was even the 100 masks act that I wanted to see when I was in Asia, but never got around to. It was a woman performer. She appears wearing a mask which magically changes as she raises and lowers her cloak. It's really amazing. There were also acrobats, plate spinners, slack wire act, tight rope act, contortionist, knife thrower, and hoop divers. It was definitely worth the visit. It was hot in the big top though.

We ate our first home grown chilli this weekend, and I was disapointed. It wasn't spicey at all. I think I'm going to leave the next one on the tree longer to mature. Does anyone out there know when to dig up potatoes? I planted a potato from the supermarket because it was sprouting leaves. It's turned into a huge bush, but I don't know when to dig it up. I think you have to wait for the flowers to come don't you?

I was going to include some pictures of the tomatoes and other foliage in the conservatory, but it is nearly 11 pm as I type this and I'm thinking this can wait for another day.

G'Night

Recap

A comment yesterday, apparently from China, suggests that my statements about the Da Vinci Code film being banned and the Google main site being blocked in China, were wrong. I admit that I didn't list my source for this information, but for the record, both stories were reported by the BBC:

Main Google site blocked by China.
Da Vinci Code film banned by China.

Ironically, if my anonymous noter is in China he/she may not be able to use those links because the Great Firewall apparently also blocks BBC reports. But if he/she would like to leave me another note, I can arrange a transcript of the reports. It is true however that I didn't call anyone in China to verify the claims made by the BBC and, though I tend to trust the BBC without question, it may be wrong in this case.

The little guy had a last feed at 11pm last night and didn't get us up until 4.30 this morning. It gets just a little better every day. Or maybe we just get a little more tired and don't hear his screaming. If I can get back in time today, we're going to take him for his weigh-in at the health clinic. He hasn't been weighed for about three weeks and he's a bit of a fat lump now.

Yesterday I noticed that fuel at my local supermarket was slightly more expensive than the fuel at my local service station, so I made a note to buy it on my way to work this morning at the service station. However, this morning the service station had run out of diesel and unleaded petrol, so I had to pay motorway prices because the supermarket hadn't opened. And here we have a valuable lesson in life. When the opportunity arises, it should be grasped. I should have bought the cheap stuff yesterday. Think of the people on the Titanic that turned away the sweet trolley.

We actually have real tomatoes growing on the plants in the conservatory now. I may bring you all pictures of this at some point. We also have a fierce crop of chillis. I repotted the chilli trees this week because they had outgrown the original 15cm pots. They seem to be thriving again. I've been feeding them tomato plant food. They seem to like it. I can't believe how much root they have. I thought a 15 cm pot would be fine.

Feedback

"Feedback" is the shortest word in the English language with all the letters of the alphabet from A-F.

Quick one today. I don't have much time because I didn't go to work. The interview I was supposed to attend today was in fact cancelled and replaced with a telephone interview. Somethign to do with the candidtaes submitted so far being all unsuitable. I thought it went well, but I'm not sure they are looking for someone of my talents exactly. I did have a second telephone interview today which also went well. I already got some feedback from the agency and it was positive. Apparently they want me to sit some test. I guess that's a good sign.

Thanks to the noters who wrote on the last entry. I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to put my letter up there for allt o see. But the three poeple that did respond were nice, so I have no regrets. I would like to leave a reply note on Mountain Angel's page, but it's set to favourites only, so I can't, sorry.

There is not much in the news today that gets my juices flowing. China has banend the Da Vinci COde, though it's not clear why, and they've also blocked the main Google site. And of course, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has apparently been killed in an air raid in Iraq.

OK, I'm off to bath the baby.

Letter to my son

Son, I’m going to give you some advice. I didn’t always get things right as I grew up, and though I would do many things differently if I had my time again, I don’t suppose I would get everything right the second time either. But my 40 years of experience must have some value, and here I will attempt to pass some of it on to you.

Soon you will go to school and you may find that you do well at certain subjects. Don’t abandon the others recklessly. When I was young I enjoyed science lessons, and I concentrated too hard on them at the expense of other classes. Always leave room for creativity, and don’t be afraid of making unconventional choices. I took history because the only other option was typing, and I didn’t want to be placed in a class full of 16-year-old girls. I failed history, I still can’t type very well, and now I think about it, being alone in a class of 16-year–old girls may not have been such a bad option.

Never pass up an opportunity to learn. Education is a privilege that many people in the world don’t get. And more than any other single influence in your life, it has the potential to make your future better. Chose your education carefully, play to your strengths, and always study something because it interests you, not just because it’s a good career move.

Learn that there are more important things than your career. My father once told me that the only thing that really mattered in his life was his family. It wasn’t until I had a family of my own that I found out what he meant. Ambition is fine, but it can turn people ugly. It’s important to keep it under control.

Don’t be scared of falling in love, but be aware that you probably won’t get it right the first time, because no one does. Chose very carefully before you make a lifetime commitment. This is one thing that I got right, more by luck than judgement. And if you are lucky enough to get it right too, never take it for granted.

Take time to travel if you get the chance. Being a foreigner always made me feel special. And when I’m in my own country, the fact that I have seen how other people live also makes me feel special.

Don’t waste your time on ignorant people. I already know how smart you are going to be, and like all smart people, you’ll be plagued by idiots all your life. I’m talking about the lager drinking tabloid readers that consider success comes with a BMW badge. Some day you’ll probably have to work for some of these people because they all gravitate towards middle management. But always remember that these people aren’t bright enough to realise how stupid they are. They’re not even worth a second thought. If you need to get angry, get angry about something worthwhile.

Take an interest in politics, but don’t get involved. You should know what’s going on, but remember that all politicians are reptiles and they’re only really interested in power. They will try and take your liberty from you, and as they do it, they’ll tell you that it’s for your own good. Some of them may even believe it. But never give up your liberty to these people without a fight. And never forget that the person most qualified to run your life is you.

Never feel you need to fit in. Sometimes being different is the most interesting path to take. Fashions came and went as I grew up, as fashions are bound to do, and I have never regretted ignoring nearly all of them. When flares went out, I carried on wearing them. When they came back, I had moved on to something else. I have never bought a pair of denim jeans, and when my office abandoned the dress code, I still wore a suit to work, complete with bow tie. Most people look back at 20-year-old pictures of themselves and wince at the way they looked. I have never had that problem. Wear a hat because you like hats, not because everyone else is.

Above all, learn to recognise the opportunities in life, and take advantage of them, because every opportunity that you don’t take will one day turn into a regret. When you’re young, life looks like a very long road in front of you. Looking back down that road, the thing that scares me most, is just how short it looks from the other end. So don’t waste your time or the opportunities that life throws your way as you take the journey.

Roman times

I've had a thought. In Roman times, before the birth of Christ, they can't have been counting years backwards until they reached 0000 when the Messiah was born as we do today, so how did they number the years? I can't understand why I've never considered this before. I might ask my Dad, he'll know. I think he might even remember Roman times.

I took the boy out last night to get tickets for the Chinese State Circus. Think of me on Saturday at 3pm (BST) watching people flying through the air and stuff. And don't think about robbing the house, my parents will be there. I was sorely disspointed with the box office place. I was expecting to be served by a Chinese person. I was going to try out my Mandarin. The only ticket seller appeared to be an Eastern European however. I know about two phrases in Russian, and both would have been inappropriate.

I may not get time for an entry tomorrow because I am off to Dorset for an interview. Think of me at 10 am (BST) as I struggle to answer all those questions. It occurs to me that I don't know where my road atlas is, which means I will have to make journey plans carefully tonight. I had a quick look yesterday. There are no motorways. I also have a telephone interview tomorrow with another company at 4pm.

There seems to be something wrong with the British weather. It's been really nice this week. My water butt in the garden is nearly empty because there has been no rain. There are tanned people around. Must be global warming. My spinach is not looking good. It's been mauled by slugs. I have set a slug trap however. The white radish is however flourishing. We have strawberries coming. The tomatoes look healthy, and we have a fine crop of chillis. I counted 11 chillis yesterday on 2 trees. The 3rd tree has a lot of flowers, but seems to be a week or 2 behind the other plants.

Wayne Rooney has apparently had his foot scanned and all of England is waiting with baited breath, hoping that he will be given the all clear to play in the world cup. I personally don't give a toss about the world cup. I would like to see England do well of course, but really, what I know about football could be written on a gnat's arse with a fat crayon. Something struck me however. It has been suggested that the government of 1966 was only re-elected because England was on a high after winning the world cup. Would a win this year have the same effect for the Labour party? One hopes not. And how important can one player be anyway?

500mH

So, a note from Dickie claiming that kettles are not slow in US, and a note from Mr Cat6 saying they are. I have lived with 110V supplies and I have to say that I think kettles are slower, but we always had an instant hot water machine, also described by Mr Cat6, so maybe I'm not able to make the judgement. I don't think it's possible to get the hot water machines here in UK. I have no idea why. Incidentally Dickie, I too have a drier with no exhaust pipe. It has an elegant little condenser system instead.

I have just worked out some values for the RF filter element of my Tesla coil. I think I need two inductors with a value of 500 mH. That sounds super enormous to me. I now have to work out how to calculate the inductance of homemade coils. The capacitance on the other hand, I think I can deal with.

I've asked my parents to come down on Saturday to look after the little soldier while I take the dragon out for an hour or two. I might have mentioned that the Chinese State Circus is coming to town. They have pitched their tent at the end of our road, and I shall purchase tickets on the way home. I'm terribly excited. The dragon seems less so, but she did of course grow up with this type of thing. I may see if I can get some footage to show you all.

Those Chinese have finally blown up their temporary damn holding back the waters of the Yanksee river. It was quite a sight to behold, judging by the footage I saw on the BBC news this morning. The Seven Gorges Damn itself is now operational and providing energy for squillions of Chinese people. It's been a contraversial project, but one has to be impressed. I almost went to see it, but couldn't get the time off work. I feel it was a missed opportunity.

I was going to bring you awesome news of the Chinese baby born with 3 arms who has just had surgery to remove one, but sadly my service provider is being a pain in the arse and I can't get much out of the internet. In fact, I may have to wait until tomorrow to post this entry.

I see also that the music industry has said it will turn a blind eye to people copying CDs they have bought, to portable players. Are we supposed to be pleased about that? I mean, were they really expecting anyone to be grateful for this magnanimus gesture that means we now don't have to pay extortionate prices twice for the same music. Like they could stop it anyway.

3KW

You may be wondering where I have been. Actually I have just been taking a week off, and I don't tend to update these pages when I'm not at work. It was an enforced holiday because the company at which I currently work shuts down for one week every year. No one really seems to know quite why. It was however, quite a nice little break.

In the week off I managed to get the car through an MOT test first time. That has only ever happened to me once before, and even then they had to adjust a headlight. In truth, the man said that the emissions were just on the very edge and he could have failed it. That's because the catastophic converter was welded back together. So I guess I owe him a beer. I also got a new tax disk for it, at some ridiculous cost thanks to Blair's Britain. I also got an interview in Poole this week. The dragon is quite interested in relocating there and it is a nice part of the country. So fingers crossed. Another position has also come up in Portsmouth and interest has been shown. I'm hoping for a phone interview.

I finally got around to putting up a gallery of baby pictures on DongXi yesterday. You can either click on that link and go to the gallery page by clicking on the train window, or you can go directly to the html page here. And if you don't like frames, you can even go straight to the pictures, here. You may of course be bored to death with my baby rambling, in which case you can skip right on to the next paragraph containing no baby news without looking, I quite understand.

Talking of babies, we haven't quite mastered the art of sleeping through an entire night yet. Last night however was the closest yet. He woke at 2.30 for a feed, and was still asleep when I left at 6.30 this morning. He has developed a habit lately of screaming whenever he is put down anywhere and last night we decided that we should just let him scream for a while to see if he would shut up. He did, but it took 30 minutes. It wasn't easy, but I think he has to learn that his parents can't carry him around all day. We had dinner together without him for the first time in a while, but we did of course have to listen to him bawling. I hope this doesn't last long. This morning he had managed to turn himself completely around in his cot, so his head was where his feet should have been. I suspect this was a protest.

I haven't really been watching the news or reading papers this week. I am aware of an anti terrorist raid in Britain that resulted in a non-fatal shooting. There seems to be some confusion over whether the victim was shot by police or another terrorist. It seems to me that simply looking at the bullet would confirm that.

I've just worked out that our new 3KW kettle must draw 12.5A. In fact, that's 13A if the supply voltage is 230V. That's a lot of current. How do countries with 110V supplies manage to run 3KW devices? That's over 27A. I guess you simply have slow kettles in those countries.

I'm designing and building a Tesla coil with friend Big Pete. We've got a secondary coil wound on a piece of water pipe I stole from a site at the side of the road. I've got the design in my head and I need to build some huge capacitance next. This may all sound liek Greek to you, but it's terribly important to me.