Tired

I haven't written here for a few days because I simply haven't had time. I'm sort of hoping that some point in the future might bring me leisure time again. I'm not fed up, I'm just tired.

This weekend was actually quite fun. We went out and bought a new CD cabinet and TV stand. I know that doesn't sound like a fun way to spend a Sunday, and I didn't think I'd be enjoying myself either, but we did. The reason we needed this furniture was largely down to Dumpy. He's beginning to crawl now and his tiny fingers are in everything. The existing CD rack was too small, had no door, and was located on the floor because the Dragon has an irrational fear of anything mounted on a wall. So a new cabinet, with doors was required. The TV has always been precariously mounted on an antique oak table. Over and above the fact that it has always threatened to tip over and smash the TV, cable management has always been an issue. You don't realise how dangerous a house is until you have a suicidal toddler in it.

Anyway, we motored up to Ikea in Bristol and came back with some nice, solid wood items. All is now installed, and we all feel much safer. There were loads of people there. I can't really think that people go Christmas shopping at Ikea however, so I don't understand why.

I've been hyper busy at work, but I am intending to take the week off next week. I have to use up my holiday before the end of the year. So a week off is in order. I've only had 1 day off sine I started work here in August.

The car, which is in desperate need of a service is going to the car doctor on Wednesday (tomorrow). I think the brake pads are shot. I think I've reached an age where I can send a car to have brake pads changed without feeling guilty for not doing it myself. Changing brake pads is not a great way to spend an hour. It's usually cold and raining when you need to do it. I hope it comes back by Saturday because we are supposed to be going to Devon for the weekend. It needs a couple of other things done as well.

Abu Hamza has lost his appeal and has to stay in prison - Good. An attempt is now being made to recover his court costs, which were paid for with public money. There also seems to be some kind of investigation in progress into how he managed to buy a £220,000 house while in prison. Wasn't he claiming benefit? I can't understand how this foul man ended up in prison, when Nick Griffin, who is equally foul, did not.

A Canadian based scientist who was caught taking pictures up children's skirts as they played on the sculptures in Trafalgar Square has been sentenced to 15 months in jail. The thing that really got my attention about this story was the sheer scale of his hobby. This guy apparently had 500,000 indecent images of children on his laptop. If you looked at 1 image every second, 24 hours a day, it would take nearly 6 days to view all those images. How long has he spent collecting these pictures? It must have been his entire life.

Train fares are set to rise in January by between 3% and 7%. Currently the 55 minute journey between my home in Swindon and London, Paddington is £82 return. Yes, £82 for a 55 minute journey, and the price is to rise by more than twice level of inflation.

It's not a gyroscope

I didn't get a chance to publish an entry yesterday. It's the downside of being a father. Children sap every resource you have, money, energy, time. I miss doing things that I used to take for granted.

I read today that the police will be taking finger-printing machines onto the street in the near future. It is described as a pilot exercise that will take part in several locations.I was horrified at first because I assumed that the police would be able to collect finger-prints. As it turns out, they can only read finger-prints and compare them with an on-line database. I am just mildly disgusted by this, as opposed to horrified. What's more, they won't be able to scan finger-prints from anyone without their permission. It makes me wonder exactly what they think use this wonderful system is.

I also read today that a senior police officer has suggested that we give heroin to adicts because it will help reduce the number of crimes they commit. I have to say he's probably right, but I would suggest giving money to burglars would probably reduce the number of crines they commit. I don't think either is really a very good use of tax payers' money.

It seems that the next Harry Potter film, Order of the Phoenix, is in post production now and is due for release in July. That would be 07/07. There has been much speculation that the final HP book would be released on 07/07/2007. The fact that the film is to be released at that time would surely point towards the same thing.

David Blaine's latest stunt is to suspend himself in a spinning contraption over Times Square. He claims it's a gyroscope, but it's not. It's getting really silly now. The ice block and the starvation things I thought were mad, but I could see why he was doing it. The bowl of water and the spinning thing - huh?

Brittany's ex-husband is now denying a sex tape exists. Didn't they recently try and sue someone over this? Why would they try and sue womeone over something that didn't exist?

Quick one

Nothing of note happened this weekend. I made Dumpy's dinner last night from raw materials. I've never done this before, but he ate all of it, even his pureed mango. He seems to be off his fruit at the moment, but the mango was not something he'd tried before and he seemed to like it. He also seems to like yoghurt we have discovered.

I plumbed in the washing machine properly yesterday, so we no longer have to keep a bucket on the floor of the kitchen to catch the drips from the disconnected hose. I still haven't wired it in properly. I'll do that tonight if I get time.

Apparently a woman has been thrown off a plane for breast feeding in the US. What is it about Americans and bosoms? This is being reported as a rights and freedom issue. It's really not, it's a stupidy issue.

There is a documentary on tv tomorrow which claims to go further than ever before towards identifying Jack the Ripper. I'm quite interested in this and I think I want to watch. I'll let you know tomorrow how that went. By the way, I watched "Mall Rats" the other night and it is unfettered garbage. I really want to see "The Prestige", but the chances of me getting out to a cinema any time soon are minimal.

I'm busy at work. This means I don't get a chance to write much during the day.

Cargo Cults

The day started badly. It rained so hard as I walked to the station this morning, that I arrived like the proverbial drowned rat. My feet were wet as I sat at my desk, but luckily I had a pair of dry socks in my bag for just such an emergency. It still looks pretty foul out there now. But I have dry feet.

There seems to be a lot of paedophile talk in the news today. A new website has been launched which is identifying missing paedophiles, complete with pictures and personal information. The site is government sponsored and features people that are wanted by the authorities. I'm not at all sure I approve of this. I remember the last time this was attempted by that foul Rebecca Wade woman from the News of the World. It caused all sorts of problems, including wrongful targeting by the public of people thought to be offenders.

There is less scope for that kind of cock up this time. It's unlikely that a government sponsored site will identify the wrong people. It could still whip up a storm however. Of course, this site wouldn't be required at all if the authorities hadn't let the scum bags escape in the first place, which makes me wonder whether the public money could have been spent better.

The BBC website is reporting that the Netherlands is intending to pass legislation that would ban women (and presumably men) from wearing a burqa in public places. The ban would cover the street, public transport and public buildings. This seems like a drastic measure to me, and it's bound to cause unrest. I want to be tolerant, but I can't help being rattled when I see a woman in a burqa. Intelectually I take the view that people should be allowed to dress like batman if it makes them happy, privately I find the burqa unsettling. We shall see what the Dutch do and how it pans out.

I've been reading about Crago Cults. I didn't know anything about them, but apparently these cults all sprang up int he South Pacific after WW2 in various places. They were all nearly identical, and yet, they had nothing to do with each other. I might write abou them when I know more.

Work is gettign busy again.

Mad

The dragon called me at work today and told me that some nice people had knocked at the door and spoken to her for a long time, "they gave me a free magazine", she told me. Now, guess what my next line was...

"It's called the Watchtower isn't it"

"How did you know?"

"Don't let them in the house"

"They seemed very nice"

"They're mad"

That was pretty much how the conversation went. Apparently they went away saying that they would come back with a friend who spoke Chinese. I don't know if they did because the dragon went out for the afternoon.

Dumpy had his 8 month check up today. He scored well on all the tests except he can't sit up by himself. He can stay sitting up if someone puts him in the position, he just can't get there by himself. So, I'm drilling him on sitting up practice from tomorrow. The nurse also said he is about to sprout some more teeth. I'm glad about this because I'm bored with the first two now. Actually, the existing two seem to have stopped growing, which makes them even more boring.

I noticed this morning that the message painted down the side of the Didcot Power Station Chimney by the Nature Nazis from Greenpeace, is unfinished. It's supposed to say, "Blair's Legacy". It actually says, "Blair's Legac". I can't decide whether I'm more pleased that the message was anti-Blir, or that the Nature Nazis were unable to finish it.

Silly Money

Here I am again, 10pm, and nothing written yet. Well actually I've been writing all day at work, just not something suitable for here. Work's been a bit slow to be honest these last couple of weeks, but I have things to do again now. I'm currently standardising documentation for an upcoming ISO inspection.

Before I forget: Someone beeped their horn at me this morning as I walked to the station. Whoever it was was driving a blue, sporty Toyota, and they obviously knew me because they waved at me vigorously. I couldn't see the face though. It looked male, tall, and fair. But I could be wrong on any or all of those points. So, if you read this and you waved at me this morning, please leave a note and tell me who you were.

I got some good notes yesterday. I especially liked the one that claimed Elton John should be banned because he is nasty to Christians. Good point, and well made. I will respond personally when I get a moment.

Mallrats is on Film4 channel tonight and I'm in two minds as to whether to hit the record button. What's it like?

My brother wants me to get him a Playstation 3 from Taiwan. Apparently they aren't out here until March, and January in the US. Already out in Japan however. I don't know if they are out in Taiwan, but I'll check for him. I'm told they are changing hands for silly money. He also said something that might cause me to alter my prediction about Blue Ray dying a death. If PS3s flood the market place effectively, Blue Ray will get a head start and maybe it won't die.

Omar Bakri Mohamad. foul Muslim cleric deprted from UK is apparently still preaching terrorism on the Internet. I guess we can't touch him for that.

And a reproduction edition of the Dandy comic from 1939 is causing all sorts of trouble because it includes items that today would be considered racist. I have an opinion here. You can't change history, and we should be learning from it. If 1939 Dandys were racist, get them out there for all to see. There is a good chance that it will make people think positively about today's attitude. Why does it have to have a negative impact?

Elton is a prick

Very little time again tonight. When you become a parent, you suddenly realise just how demanding it is. They suck every resource you have, money, time, energy. I wouldn't change it, I love being a father, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss those days sometimes when I could just come home from work and do nothing for an hour or two.

We've got to a stage now where he seems to be closer to his mother than me. It's upsetting when I pick him up and he screams, and she picks him up and he drifts off to sleep. I try not to take it personally. She spends much more time with him and it's bound to happen. I still have my own personal triumphs. I am, and always have been, in charge of bath time. Mother has never been good at it.

***

I heard today from friend Lyn that the local police are looking for 4 men involved in a sexual assault that happened exactly where I was mugged on Sept 11. Lovely town I live in eh? It's probably only a very small minority of louts that do this kind of thing. It doesn't take much scum to make a place dirty. Last week I was walking home through the centre of the town shopping area. It was around 7pm, dark, and I was on my own, when some thug leaped out into my path and screamed, "You're a F-ing weirdo" in my face. I thought he was going to hit me, but he just ran off with his idiot mate.

Ironic isn't it that a person who leaps out in front of complete strangers and screams obscenities at them, considers me to be a "weirdo".

Prize idiot Elton John has said that he thinks all organised religion should be banned because they are nasty to gay people. He really said that, honestly, he really did! I've always loathed Elton, but comments that stupid, words fail me, just unbelievable.

Backfire

I finally got around to upgrading Firefox to version 2.0 last night. It really doesn't seem much different. There is an on-board spell-checker now. This looks good. It occurs to me as I type this, that it might be set for American spellings, which would annoy me. Memo, check when I get home. I haven't got around to upgrading the MS browser yet. I think I may just wait for it to auto update. I have loads of other updates to deal with at some point.

Today's big news story concerns the man from Sunderland who was injured after trying to launch a firework from his bottom on bonfire night. You can't write this kind of comedy. I'm slightly confused about this story since the report I read claims he was trying to launch a "Black Cat Thunderbolt" from his bottom, and also that the paramedics arrived to find the fireworked lodged inside him. What happened there? Sounds more like he was trying to launch the firework up his bottom if you ask me.

I don't have any time again, so quickly, today saw Britany announce that she is splitting from her husband and a battle for custody of children is about to ensue, interest rates rose to 5%, BNP leader Nick Griffin is to learn his fate probably tomorrow, the jury is considering its verdict, I hope he hangs.

OK, that'll do, goodnight

Meaningless

I just read in the Times newspaper that last year we, the British, drove 5.4% further in our cars than we did in 2000. That works out at 12.5 billion miles more. In total we must have driven something like 240 billion miles. I'm assuming that means two people in a single car are considered to have traveled half the miles each, though it is not made clear. Actually the data is suspect because it also claims that 65% of all journeys are made by car. Does that count the journey from my house to the corner shop 200m away?

Taking this maths a little step further. If we assume that there are 60 million people living in Britain, that's about 4,000 car miles each every year. I think I am below average.

The Times also claims that 65% of people say they only buy energy saving light bulbs, but actually only 20% of lightbulbs bought are energy saving. What does this tell us? It tells us that the British lie like dogs when questioned by annoying survey people in the street. I may be doing the British people an injustice however, because energy saving light bulbs last much longer than traditional light bulbs and therefore replacements are required less often. That's going to skew the results. Another example of meaningless stats from the media there come to think of it.

Interesting fact:
I rented my house in 2001 and returned to it in 2006 and the energy saving light bulb in the bedroom was still working. I think that's the only energy saving bulb I have ever bought however. Oh, wait, no, we had one in the bathroom in our Taipei apartment too.

It occurred to me on the way home to day that there are three ways a country could potentially go politically; democracy, dictatorship, or no government at all. And I was thinking, although there are pros and cons to all three, no government would be my preference. Ironically however, if there was no government, someone is bound to take power by force which would lead to dictatorship, my least preferable option. So that leaves democracy as the only choice, only because the best option will be banjaxed by the worst option.

I don't have time to write more, except to say that Mr Bush must be feeling pretty sick right now.

Washing Machine

Well the day off yesterday was good, and it has the added advantage of making this a 4-day week. We went out and bought a new washing machine because the old (very old) one is not spinning or draining any more. The new one should be delivered some time this week. In the mean time we must be economical with our apparel.

I was pleased to see that the huge anti-Blair slogan painted on the side of one of the Didcot power station chimneys is still there today. Sadly the message, "Blair's Legacy" does not convey an accusation that we can fairly lay at Mr Blair's feet. It's still nice to see someone else having a dig however.

The weather has turned proper nasty. It was foggy all day yesterday and cold. Today looks pretty grim too, though not as bad. My parents came down at the weekend and missed the bad weather, which was good, but I guess the journey will be more difficult now.

I've come to the conclusion that I am looking forward to Christmas this year. This is something of an alien feeling for me. It's Dumpy's first Christmas of course, which is what is making the difference. We will no doubt be travelling down to Devon for the festive period. There are other things which make this year's Christmas better than usual. I have paid holiday for a start. It's the first time in many years I can take time off without losing huge amounts of cash.

We're planning to go back to Taiwan for the Chinese New Year period. We took Dumpy to the doctor yesterday to see about his vaccinations. He will need Hepatitis-A for Asia, but we can't give it to him until he is 1 year old, so he's already prepared for his first visit. He needs a passport though. I have filled out the form but still need to get two photos and a counter signiture from a person of standing in the community. It seems starnge to me that they include ministers of religion on the list of people who can sign. Anyone can be a minister can't they? I have a politician friend anyway, so we'll ask him nicely.

On another point, strictly speaking, people who counter-sign should have known the person for at least two years. This is pretty difficult for a 7 month old baby.

I suppose I have to mention Saddam's death sentence. Does anybody else think that the sentence coming two days before significant US elections is more than coincidence?

There are pictures on the front page of every paper this morning of Dhiren Barot, who was apparently planning a Dirty Bomb act of terrorism in London. I haven't yet found a report that claims he had materials or know-how to do it. It sounds to me like another case of non existant WMD. I have no doubt that the guy is a potential terrorist, I'm just amused by the way the media has whipped this up.

Speaking of things being whipped up, I read something yesterday from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research actually stating that the "language of chaos and catastrophe has got out of hand". This is worth a read.

Greenpeace

When I was a child, Greenpeace was firmly against nuclear power. In fact, today Greenpeace remains fundamentally against the use of nuclear power. In the 70s and early 80s, the anti nuclear movement, fronted by Greenpeace and others, was so powerful that it essentially brought the nuclear industry to a halt. Plans to build nuclear power stations were scrapped, and traditional coal and gas fired stations were built instead.

So what do I find on my way to work at Didcot this morning? Between 15 and 30 Greenpeace eco warriors have broken into the power station and chained themselves to equipment to protest about coal fired power stations. Coal fired power stations that would never have been built if it hadn't been for the anti-nuclear protests 30 years ago. I actually wrote a paper almost predicting just this kind of event about 10 years ago at universtity when I visited the same power station. It didn't score well, but I was right.

On a positive note, the Greenpeace eco-warriors have painted a giant anti-Blair message down the side of the power station chimney. While they falsely blame Blair for the coal fired power stations when they should be taking a long hard look in the mirror, it is nice to see that they loath Blair. One wonders who Greenpeace would advise voting for. I wonder if it might be Cameron since he does have a windmill on his roof.

Greenpeace have also placed a huge advert in today's Times newspaper. Presumeably it is to coincide with the assault on the power station. They claim that smaller, localised power stations could be used more eficiently to generate power and heat people's homes as a by product instead of using cooling towers. I'm assuming that cooling towers are still required in those months when home heating is not required.

The above was written friday, but not posted until today, Sunday, for reasons of gross idleness. I have a day off work tomorrow.

A window from which to throw it

I watched about 4 minutes of Crimewatch on tv last night. Apparently some nutter is on the loose in Bournemouth. He's murdered 1 woman and cut off her breasts; and he appears to be sitting behind women on buses and cutting their hair. What drives a man to do this kind of thing?

It appears that we in Britain have the worst behaved teenagers in Christendom - Tell me somethign I don't know.

It's so cold at work that I'm typing this wearing a scarf. Actually that's not true, but I was wearing a scarf earlier.

My boss just met me in the kitchen. He's a millionaire. He asked me what I was reading. Turns out he's just ordered the same book from Amazon. I paid £16 for my copy. He paid £3 for his, second hand. That's why he drives an Aston Martin, and I don't have a pot in which to p*ss in or a window from which to throw it. You live and learn.

I've submitted a short story to Pseudopod. I'm sure I've mentioned this, but it actually got sent yesterday. So wish me luck with that. I've also written to the company the scamming window cleaner claimed to be working for. MOre news on that as we get it. I'm also going to see if I can get the cheque I wrote him traced so I can have an address for him. You need that to serve papers.

OK, short of time, going to end here.

Chickens

The leaves are turning brown and the weather is getting cooler. It's almost past that depressing time of year between the end of summer and the full onset of autumn. I'm a summer person. I miss it when it's gone.

I want to keep chickens. A friend put me onto this website which provides organic chickens and an "Eglu" in which to keep them. What do chickens eat? Are they expensive? Do you need a cockeral to make them lay eggs? I was thinking they are good pets because you can eat them if you get bored with them.

The above was typed yesterday, Tuesday, but various incidents prevented me from publishing it.

I actually did some chicken research last night and discovered that the website above is offering the complete kit, hen house, run, feeders, sun shade, 2 chickens, 10 weeks of food, book about how to keep chickens, deleivery, installation, and crash couurse, for £400. I thought it was expensive, but I still wanted to do it. The dragon thought I was quite mad and still hadn't stopped laughing when I left for work this morning. She's probably right, there are more important things to spend our money on.

Here's something that kept me awake last night...

A man can run 10 times faster than a tortoise. They decide to have a race and the man gives the tortoise 100m head start. The man runs 100m, and in that time the tortoise runs 10m, so the tortoise is then 10m in front of the man. The man runs 10m more, and in that time the tortoise runs 1m. So the tortoise is then 1m in front of the man. So the man runs another 1m and the tortoise runs 10cm. The tortoise is then 10 cm in front of the man.

The man is never going to catch the tortoise. How can that be? I can actually provide a solution of sorts to this paradox. But it still bothers me.

Yesterday at Prime Minister's Question Time the leader of the opposition was prevented from asking the PM who he would like to see succeed him as leader of the labour party. The speaker of the house, Michael Martin, claimed Dvaid Cameron had no right to ask the question. David Cameron then reworded the question and asked the PM who he would like to see as the next PM. Bear in mind that Tony Blair has pledged to resign before the next election and therefore the next leader of the labour party and the next PM are going to be the same person. The speaker allowed the re-phrased question.

For the record, the PM didn't really anser the question anyway. He praised the work of the chancellor, which could be taken as a sign that he will eventually support Gordon Brown. They clearly laoth each other however, so it couild go either way.

In other news: The little chap started saying "dada" over and over today, which might mean "Daddy", or something, or indeed nothing, but it made me quite excited.