Train Defocator

We went to Cribbs Causway at Bristol this weekend. It's a large shopping Mall. That's not very interesting really is it. I guess you could say that we didn't have a hugely exciting weekend. I did like the Bear Factory shop at the Mall. You go there and chose a bear skin, a voice box, and some clothes. Then they stuff him for you. They even put a little heart inside before they sew him up. I was really quite taken by the idea. I'm going to chose one for Dumpy for Christmas.



There were billions of people shopping. I thought Sunday would be a quiet day. I don't understand why the Mall is allowed to open until 5pm on a Sunday there when supermarkets have to shut at 4. How come the "Keep Sunday Special", Nazis haven't managed to banjax that? Anyway, the car parks were full and the shops were heaving. There's something odd about Bristol. Well, there are lots of things odd about Bristol, but one struck me in particular. The teenagers seem quite normal, but the adults are all fat. I think there's something in the water that only affects people over 20 years old.

I also took the dragon out for some driving practice this weekend. I don't know whether I mentiond this before. The dragon already holds a driving licence. She passed her test in Taiwan when she was 18. However, Taiwan has the easiest driving test in the known world. They don't even take you out on the street. And she has hardly driven since the day she passed. Also, you have to pass your test in a manual (sick shift) car here, and she has very little experience. So, she's nervous. I took her to the Nationwide car park. I used to work for that dung heap of a company once and I knew it would be nearly empty on a Saturday. So we trundled round the place for about an hour. I was really scared that me teaching her to drive would result in huge rows and possible divorce, but actually things went well, and we even ventured onto the public road briefly. So, more news about that as the situation develops.

Heather Mills McCartney appears to have made a huge PR error in her attempts to paint her estranged husband in a bad light. Whether her husband abused her or not, she didn't seem to realise that McCartney is regarded by millions as something of a god, and as such is simply immune to bad press. It would appear that the more accusations Ms Mills McCartney makes against her ex, the more people turn on her. One of her accusations did ring true with me however, and that is the one about him being constantly stoned. He is well know for his belief that pot should be made legal, and if memory serves, he has at least one conviction for possession. I don't like either of them very much and I'm predicting that Paul is going to come out of this pretty unscathed, while his wife is going to pretty much wreck her public image and chance of grabbing the McCartney millions.

Madonna is in a slightly embarrssing position after reports this weekend seemed to suggest that the father of the child she has adopted didn't realise he would be gone forever. One wonders what he did think was going to happen. I suppose that when David comes of age he can actually make his own decision about whether he returns to his family in Malawi or not. And of course, he's not going to give away the comfort and wealth Madonna will bestow up on him.

And finally, I'm hot on the trail of the train defocator. I'm sure he's operating in my area because there was a carriage missing from one of my trains last week.