After the weekend

I didn't have a great weekend, but I'm not going to dwell upon that here. Dumpy enjoyed his visit to Devon, and I think his Grandparents enjoyed seeing him. He's not eating as well as he was. I don't know why that is. His schedule did get a bit screwed up over the weekend, which won't have helped. He also seems to be very tired at the moment. It's probably nothing. He did drink a lot of milk for breakfast this morning, so that is a good sign I think.

John Reid is now about as popular as a dose of clap and is trying to save his position by telling everyone that he was expecting these problems in the Home Office, and that we should stand by for more. My personal view is that his job is fairly safe because there's no one else to do it, and no one in their right mind would take it on anyway.

The Sun newspaper, not normally known for taking the moral high ground, is causing something of a fuss over a proposed plan to put x-ray cameras in lamp posts. I don't know why this has become an issue really since no one has suggested that the idea is anything other than dim possibility in the future. It's been suggested that x-ray cams positioned in the street could help police spot people carrying weapons or drugs. The technology already exists and is in place in some airports. The problem is that it can see through clothes.

My personal view is that these cameras are little more intrusive than the standard cctv cameras that watch my every move. I object to those for the most part, though I do see that they have some value in detering scumbags. I can't see that looking through people's clothes will be any more effective. Even if a gun is spotted, there's still the issue of getting to the carrier and disarming him. Then of course, it could have been a gun shaped lighter and not a gun at all. On the other hand, it could be more effective than a standard metal detector at an airport. My view; don't waste public money hanging the damn things on lamposts, use them at the airport if you must. I still think flying naked is a better option.

***

Yet another day has passed without me getting around to posting what I wrote. It's the pressure of parenthood. Dumpy managed quite a bit of milk yesterday, and I'm hoping this means his appetite is returning. He was difficult about breakfast this morning, but still managed nearly all his milk in the end. I keep meaning to look up loss of appetite in my baby manual, but I haven't yet done so. I'll have a look tonight. It could be that he went mad and ate loads when he recovered from his stomach bug and he's just now settling back into a routine.

The news is still full of Home Office crisis today. The prisons are full and perverts, scum bags, and muggers are escaping all over the place. Does anyone really believe that it is possible to rehabilitate people in prison? Logically, is the best way to rehabilitate an offender to lock him in a confined space with other offenders? Seems like a long shot to me.

Shambles

It's been suggested that the PM has caved in on the issue of allowing Christian adoption agencies to turn away potential parents if they are gay. In any case, it looks like they won't be allowed to discriminate. I don't care about the outcome, though I'm pleased it caused trouble for the government.

I can't help wondering what will become of the cash for peerages row. People have been arrested. The government has been accused of withholding data. I can't see why this isn't a bigger scandal. I think it's beyond the point now where it could just come to nothing. I think there have to be casualties.

British Airways staff are going on Strike. What is more, they are going on strike the day I fly to Taiwan. We're not using BA however, so I guess that means we won't be affected. I hope not. We're both getting nervous about flying with Dumpy for the first time. We still haven't decided whether to attempt taking a pushchair with us. My personal feeling is that we should just use the sling thing. He seems to like it and it packs up small. If we did take a pushchair we would have to get a new one because the current one is the size of a house.

I never got around to finishing yesterday's entry, so I will just carry on with it today.

We're going to Devon for the weekend, so please don't burgle the house. I'll leave "live House cam" running so we can see the place while we are away. I was thinking of building a sentry robot. That would be cool wouldn't it. I could get a wireless web cam and stick it on as a vision system. If I could control it via internet, that would be ultra cool. I think I'll work on this.

I have to get my tax return filled in and sent off. I can do it tomorrow evening and post it by Monday at the latest. I hate tax. Which somehow reminds me, I have to check with the ticket company whether or not I have to fork out extra cash for Gordon Brown's bloody tax hike on air travel. I also need to think about how we will get to the bloody airport and whether I need to book a carpark space.

It occurred to me today that if I live until I am 78, I've already lived half my life. And 78 is quite old. I've still got loads of stuff to do. I haven't got time to die yet.

The Home Office is a total shambles at the moment. I mean, a total shambles.

And another thing...

I have developed a real dislike of those pathetic little folding bicycles that commuters use. They don't fit anywhere on the train and you always find them blocking the doors. Why don't these people get proper bicycles and put them in the damn bicycle carriage like normal people. I think of these things like toy poodles. If you want a dog, get a real one. Today's train was late and crowded. I did find a seat eventually. Oh, and the door at one end of carriage B wouldn't open, so I had to walk to the other end of the carriage to get out.

There is a petition on line to lobby the government over the issue of the appalling train service. I was the 500th signature. I'd love to see this petition get much bigger, though only British Nationals may sign and an e-mail address and postcode are required.

I'm wearing my old glasses to day and they are scratched. I'd forgotten just how scratched they are. It's driving me mad. I need to get some new ones. I'll do it next month. There are too many things to pay for at the moment. We had to pay for air tickets this month and we ran out of money. Next month it's car insurance, then tax bill. Which reminds me, I have to call the tax office. Every month I seem to get some extra expense anyway.

Dumpy continues to sleep through the night. I don't know what prompted that episode of waking every two hours, but I am seriously glad that it appears to be over. He apparently has a real problem with beef currently. He eats almost anything, but lately minced beef seems to make him sick. He likes chicken, pork, fish, it's just beef. I think we will not give him any for a while, we don't want him sick on an aeroplane. We're currently trying to teach him to drink from a cup with only limited success. He likes to drink water from a cup, but give him milk and he protests quite violently. He's also started to sit up and even pull himself to his feet now. I've lowered his cot mattress to prevent a disaster.

***

I forgot to bring my flash disk to work yesterday, hence the above was not posted.

There is a row going on at the moment over Christian adoption agencies and whether or not they should be allowed to discriminate against gay couples wishing to adopt. This is actually a non trivial matter in legal terms, because current legislation means that they would have to give same sex couples the same rights as heterosexuals. To change that would mean making them exempt. I think this is ironic because they remain able to discriminate freely against fat people, poor people, smokers, old people, single people, people with police records, alcoholics, etc. but that's another story. The Catholics and the Anglicans have now said that they will close agencies if compelled to allow same sex adoption.

Here's my view; I don't care what people do with their genitals. On my list of important things, homosexuality is so far down the list I can hardly see it. In fact it's much further down then banning those stupid folding bicycles. However, I do recognise that a significant portion of society is offended by homosexuality, and as such, homosexuality is in some sense anti social. Therefore, any legislation that forces people to accept this anti social activity is probably not something of which I approve. Personally I don't really approve of Christianity either, but I'm not sure that's important now. In my view, pro gay legislation is not conducive to a harmonious society.

I've wandered from the path that I was originally walking. I was going to say, if I died, I'd want my son to go to a good adopted family obviously. If I could choose a family, I would choose a family with a heterosexual couple because an alternative lifestyle would probably be an unnecessary obstacle. I don't care which way this argument goes, but legislation is due to come into force in April, and Blair will get caught in the crossfire because he has to support the legislation, yet he professes to be a Christian. His foul wife is of course a Catholic.

Bad week, and they didn't see it coming

The Big Brother racism row, has turned into mass hysteria. There's a strokey beard meeting scheduled today between Channel 4 bosses to discuss whether to axe the programme. William Hill are offering odds of 50:1 on the current series being trashed. Shipa Shetty is 11:8 favourite to win. Jade Goody has essentially wrecked her career, and her perfume line has been ceased it seems. The Carphone Warehouse has pulled its sponsorship, and both PM and Chancellor have commented. And I still haven't watched any of it.

It's been a bad week for psychics. Both Sylvia Brown and James Van Praagh screwed up royally over predictions about Shawn Hornbeck, a missing teenager. Browne said he was dead and gave directions to the body. Van Praagh claimed he was abducted by a railway worker and would be found in a railway car. He turned up alive and well recently, and neither mystics got any predictions right.

And Uri Geller has been caught cheating on his own live tv show in Israel. Apparently Geller is looking for a successor. Geller always claims that he is not, and never has been, a magician. Actually, he also claimed he was abducted by aliens at one time as well, so I'm not sure quite why anyone should really believe him about anything. During his tv show however, he can clearly be seen attaching something to his thumb before deflecting a compass needle. The video was on U-Tube, but has since been removed for "copyright" reasons. A Google video search on "Uri Geller" will however find it fairly quickly.

Coincidentally, James Randi, probably the coolest magician ever to walk this earth, and sworn nemesis of Geller, has changed the rules of his $1 million challenge and is now threatening to take legal action against the likes of Geller, Sylvia Browne, James Van Praagh, and John Edward. I can't wait. John Edward hasn't screwed up this week yet has he? I'd like to seem him take Most Haunted's Derek Acrobar to court.

There was supposed to be a protest on the trains this morning. People were urged to travel without buying a ticket to protest at the terrible service currently provided. I didn't see anyone doing this, but I think the train company were turning a blind eye to it in an effort to avoid publicity. I have a season ticket anyway. Last week I thought there was going to be a fight on the train. One passenger got most upset with the ticket man over the issue of slow running trains and the ticket man threatened to throw him off at the next station.

My holiday was authorised today, so we will be returning to Taiwan on 14 Feb with Dumpy. I'm terribly excited.

Getting Better

Celebrity Big Brother is a total knob-head show and no one is watching it, but the one thing that is keeping it alive is a row over supposedly racist bullying by some housemates. The alleged victim is Shilpa Shetty, Bollywood star. I really don't know what is going on in the house, because I haven't watched any of it, but I have read a couple of news reports. Apparently one of the housemates, who has now been evicted, persistently referred to Shetty as "The Indian", and claimed she couldn't pronounce her name. There have also been allegations of people making fun of her Indian accent, and one allegation of a conversation in which housemates objected to Shetty touching their food with her hands. The phrase "don't know where those hands have been", was apparently used.

There may have been other instances of alleged racism, but I don't know of any. What I find astounding is the fuss that has been made about this, bearing in mind that Shetty herself is not able to comment, and as far as I know, has made no complaint. Apparently Channel 4 has received over 10,000 complaints (that must be just about all their viewers) and the matter has been discussed in parliament. It's quite possible that the friction in the Big Brother house is racially motivated, but none of the incidents I've seen reported appear to be self evidently racist. No one has said, "I hate Shilpa because she's an Indian". It all seems most strange to me.

Dumpy had a good night last night. There was a small screaming incident of less than 5 minutes around midnight, but apart from that, he slept until 6. Very proud of him. I also managed to get a seat on the train this morning, though it was crowded. Amazingly, it also left on time. Thus today has started better than yesterday.

It seems that tomorrow is going to be foul weather. It's going to pee down with rain with 80mph winds in England. Scotland is to be carpeted in snow. Oh joy.

Sleep, come surround me in thy purple cloak

The day did not start well. The departure board at the station listed the 8.11 to Paddington as "On Time", but the added note "regret no coach B" filled me with foreboding. It wasn't on time of course, but the real problem was the fact that it was carrying about twice as many passengers as seats, which seems to happen with monotonous regularity. Also, it seems new inflation figures show an 11 year high (does that take into account tax rises?), it's peeing down with rain, and Fidel Castro is looking gravely ill. I can't say that last piece of news is especially bothersome to me.

Dumpy woke up screaming at midnight but we have a new system in place. All the books say we should let him cry, so we did. He cried for 45 minutes, yes 45! It wasn't easy to listen to, but we have to do something. He did go back to sleep eventually and then didn't wake again until 5.30. And the 5.30 thing was very unspectacular. With luck he will get used to going back to sleep by himself.

The media has suddenly realised that the majority of people in Britain want an English parliament. I can't think why this is suddenly big news, it's been obvious for years. The problem is that the current government don't want to create an English assembly because it means that Scottish MPs won't be able to vote on matters that only concern England. And that means that they wouldn't get half their bills passed. It has been suggested that devolution of the union would mean an end to socialism in England because it only really exists in Scotland. From my point of view this would be the greatest thing that could possibly happen to my country.

It's 11.30 pm and Dumpy has been asleep since 8.00 without waking. This is a very good sign.

Fragments

It's the end of the week. I'm tired. The boy seems to think it's funny to wake his daddy up every couple of hours at the moment. I hope that stops before too long. He does seem well again now, it's just a change of sleeping patterns. He doesn't seem to want to sleep in the morning any more either.

Celebrity Big Brother has turned into an utter farce this time. I'm not watching it, but it seems that three celebs have now walked out in about 10 days. I can't understand why the producers can't see a problem. If the housemates are all walking out, then surely things aren't going well. Or do they think that it makes good tv? I read that viewing figures were not high however. It's much more watchable when people are getting on well I think.

Interest rates rose unexpectedly yesterday. That means mortgages will go up of course. Oh good. I don't know how people on low salaries manage in this country. I'm sure house prices are going to take a dive some time soon. Actually, I have been saying that for some time. But surely they have to stop rising soon.

*** I wrote the above on Friday, but never posted it.***

I'm having panic attacks about my tax return. As usual I forgot about it and it has to be filed by the end of the month. I have some documentation missing as usual, and I don't have the form to tell the enemy about the property I let during the last finacial year. What really terrifies me is the fact that I have to do the calculation myself because I didn't get it in before the end of September. I absolutely refuse to pay my accountant another £180 to do this for me, so I'm going to muddle through. My new year resolution is not to let this happen again next year. Actually, assuming that I am still in the country and employed in April, it should be straight forward. There was that period where I was unemployed of course, but that is trivial. I just don't understand why they make filing tax returns so damn complicated.

Gordon Brown is a complete bastard and currently second on my shit list this week, not only becuase he makes filing a tax return the most firghtening thing in Christendom, but also because he's decided to impose extra tax on people flying from next month and he's made it retrospetive. Thus, people that have bought air tickets already, like me, are now facing extra charges. I can't understand why no one has taken a pot shot at him and Blair.

The boy is still waking up every hour or so at night. I wish it wouold stop. I wouldn't mind so much if I knew why it was happening. He's not hungry. He just seems to want to make a noise. The dragon just called me and said he's been difficult all morning. She sounds a bit down. I'll buy her some flowers or something on the way home.

I'm entering another quiet patch at work. This bothers me. I don't kow how to handle the situation when I don't have much on and it looks bad.

Why does Britain get fewer holidays than everybody else? We only get 8 bank holidays this year. The Germans get two more, so do the Americans, and the French. I think we were short changed. I'm looking forward to our Asia trip, but I couldn't work in any bank holidays so I had to take 13 days out of my annual leave.

OK, this isn't finished, but I'm going to post it or I'll never do it.

Stormy Weather

Well it's raining today and we have flood warnings in place. Surprisingly, my train was almost on time this morning despite bad weather. First Great Western trains have said they will increase capacity after government threats to remove their franchise. I think there are intending to add extra carriages to existing trains, which won't really help me much, though I did have to stand this morning. I want them to add a couple of extra damn trains. Well actually I hope they lose their franchise - scumbags.

I saw a FGW spokesman on the news this morning supposedly defending the company. On the subject of loosing the franchise, his message appeared to be, "It doesn't matter what name is on the side of the train, the problems won't go". Well they won't go if you believe them to be insurmountable will they.

Here's a thought; organic bananas. I bought "organic" bananas yesterday because there weren't any standard bananas left. Then I got thinking, bananas are a fruit cultivated entirely by humans. They have been cross bred and mutated to provide us humans with food. They would die out without human intervention because they can't even reproduce by themselves, they're seedless. How can bananas ever be described as "organic"?

I think I would have liked to be a magician. I came across a video recently of a lady magician doing the vanishing silk handkerchief trick. I know of a way to do this trick using a device called a pull, but I don't think she's using one in the video because she performs naked. Oh, that link probably isn't safe for work by the way. So, I'm guessing she's using a false thumb. Where the hell do you go to get a false thumb? Anyway, this got me into doing a bit of research and now I feel like I should have been a magician.

My parents just called. They said that the council wouldn't come and remove their old copper hot water tank unless they dragged it down to the gate. Apparently the council aren't insured to come into gardens. My parents explained that they were old and knackered and eventually the council said they would come and collect it, but they have to pay extra money, Makes you wonder what the hell we're having our testicles extracted through our wallets in the form of council tax for doesn't it.

Goodnight.

I'm changing my name to Nostrodamas

I got a few responses from yesterday's post, which is good. I was of course expecting Abby to say something, and she didn't dissapoint. I don't know whether this new gay rights legislation would cover discrimination against gay clergy by their own church. I suppose it would. It's an interesting point because there have already been rows about the appointment of gay clergy in Britain. If this legislation continues (it's not law yet) then I guess there would be nothing anyone could do to stop more gay clergy being appointed.

With no religion and no strong feelings about gay rights, I feel above this argument. It's another one of those issues that could go either way and still please me. One of my noters claims that the bible tells us we can't judge. This rings a bell with me, but I can't think where in the bible this is.

And onto something completely different. A while back I ranted about the entertainment industry painting themselves into a corner and losing touch with their customer base. Actually I have ranted about that particular issue on countless occasions come to think of it, but I am thinking of one entry specifically, in which I said that the music industry is peeing on its own feet by trying to stop downloadable music. I also said that the only thing the music industry can still offer is recording contracts, and pretty soon self publicity will take over from that.

Well I can chalk up another fulfilled prophecy. Since last week the British charts have been counting downloaded music as well as CDs and other formats. And guess what - a completely unsigned band who made a name for themselves entirely without the music industry, are about to enter the top 40. And what's more, they are being approached by the music industry now, and they're not sure they need them.

The Home Office continues to lurch from one crisis to the next. Why did people vote for this bunch of clowns?

Gay Rights

I can't get worked up about the gay argument. On my list of important stuff, gay rights is so far down the list that I can't even see it. It does however appear to be important for the religious nutters. There is a protest taking place today against new legislation that would make it illegal to discriminate against people based on their sexuality. In short, if this legislation were to get passed, organisations would not be able to refuse to give someone a job, serve them in a shop, or allow them on a bus because they were gay. Now I thought that this was already the case, but I am apparently wrong. The protest today is of course organised by Christians.

The Christians argue that they must be allowed to discriminate against gays because it says they must in the bible, and therefore they can't be proper Christians unless they do. Maybe it's not fair to put it like that. No doubt Christians don't consider their actions discriminatory when they ban gays from Christian organisations. It's an interesting argument though isn't it? The Christian argument is based on the premis that being gay is anti social, and the legal argument is based on the premis that discrimination against gays is anti social. And of course, both sides are right if one defines something that offends a significant amount of society as "anti social".

Ultimately this can only end one way. And the protestors will not win. The Christian church is already becoming more liberal and gay people are welcome in some, perhaps most, churches. The hard line fundamentalists are attempting to retain a strict anti gay stance, but they only have two choices; break away from the mainstream, or give up the fight. The churches that already accept homosexuality will not join them. Rowan Williams has already realised this and is clearly very bothered by the prospect of a split in the Anglican church. I think it's inevitable. Which is why ladies and gentlemen. that the only way forward is atheism.

As I write this I am reading that the protest has failed and the Lords have voted to go ahead with the new legislation. Now, if I can see it coming, why are we wasting time debating it?

It's late and I'm tired. Dumpy has been waking us up at all hours lately, so here I will leave it for tonight.

It's nice to see January Girl back by the wway.

It's not pretty

The inventor of instant noodles has died in Japan aged 96. I take this to indicate that instant noodles are good for you. Although Momofuku Ando died in Japan, he was actually born in Taiwan it appears. And although the instant noodle industry may seem like small potatoes to us in the west, it's worth noting that Ando's company "Nissin" sells 85.7 billion portions a year, and he was working up until 2005. How cool is that?

You know something that really bothers me about children's clothes - the fact that all retailers seem to have this idea that only girls need them. Tesco is the worst offender. They have litterally 10 times as much clothing on sale for little girls as boys. Are they under some illusion that boys are kept naked until adulthood? Or do they think that parents of boys only want to dress them in the same thing every day? Woolworths is another major offender. All shops seem to offer far more girls' clothes than boys however.

My father says that the retailers have probably done research and found that people buy more clothes for girl babies than boys. I can't that think this can be the case. All babies get dirty at the same rate, and they all need to change clothes as often. As a consumer I'm constantly dissapointed with the lack of choice offered to me by Tesco et al. I would spend more money with them if they offered what I wanted. I think Tesco has got it wrong - Bastards. And you can never get a parent and child parking space there.

The most expensive baby clothes on earth appear to come from Monsoon. I like Monsoon clothes because they are a bit different, and if I was a drug dealer or rock star, I might even buy baby clothes there. This weekend however, I bought a jacket and trousers in the Monsoon sale at 75% discount, and it still cost me over £12. Who has that kind of money to spend on clothes that only last 3 months?

This weekend I lost my beret somewhere. Mother will be pleased about this because she hates my beret, but I liked it and it really annoyed me. Don't worry mother, I'm planning to find another one.

We booked tickets to Taiwan for Chinese New Year and I've booked the time off work. Apparently children in Taiwan have a ceremony when they are one year old. The child is placed on the floor with a number of objects just out of reach. Each object represents a career. The idea is to see which object the child picks up first. Since Dumpy will be 11 months old when we are there, I'm hoping we can do it while we are there and take some pictures.

And finally, if anyone would like to give me the cash, there is an anti aircraft platform 7 miles off the Essex coast for sale. It's not pretty, but the owner declared independence several years ago and it is now home to an internet company. Of course, no one actually recognises the platform as a sovereign state and it does fall inside british territorial waters, it would still be cool though wouldn't it?

I'd sign anything

I didn't write anything yesterday because I was working from home. I've never really worked at home before and I wasn't sure that I would actually be able to apply myself. However, I found that I probably got at least as much done at home as I would have at the office, mostly because I actually felt guilty about taking advantage of the opportunity to skive.

The reason I worked from home yesterday was so that I could take Dumpy to see the doctor. Our usual doctor was sick yesterday, so we saw his understudy, but he was very nice and clearly likes children. Dumpy is still not firing on all cylinders, but I think the worst is over now. He ate lots of lunch today and hasn't thrown up for almost 48 hours now. The doctor did say that he could prescribe anti-biotics but didn't think he needed to. So we're giving it another week to get better. I feel confident about it now.

There is a strange situation occurring at Exeter University. The Evangelical Christian Union has had its bank account frozen and has been banned from using facilities by the Students' Guild because students wishing to become members are asked to sign something affirming their belief in Christ. As we all know, I'm neither a student, nor a Christian, and as such I am not entitled to opinion here, but I've got one anyway. And this may surprise you. I think I am on the side of the Christian union here. I have no idea why the CU would want a signed declaration of allegiance to Jesus Christ, but who cares? I wouldn't have any problem signing a piece of paper that says I believe in Christ, even though I don't. And if the CU want that piece of paper to preserve their status Quo, well why not?

However, technically I think the Students' Guild actually has a legal right to object because the CU is funded by all students and should therefore be open to all students. In real terms, not everyone is as unprincipled as me and some might indeed find it difficult to sign the declaration. Why these people would want to join the CU is beyond me, but the situation could arise. It seems that it is going to end up in court and my money is on the CU losing. What a complete waste of time and money.

Tony Blair has refused to comment on the manner of Saddam Hussein's execution. Idiot Boy Bush has said he had hoped for a more dignified death. Bush also said, "... my personal reaction is that Saddam Hussein was given a trial that he was unwilling to give the thousands of people he killed." Two things strike me about this; firstly, I don't think anyone is under any illusion here that Saddam's trial was anything more than window dressing and that the verdict was decided long before the trial started. Secondly, Bush seems to have forgotten about the tens of thousands of innocent people who died without trial bringing Saddam to justice

HNY

I think I have mentioned before that I am not a Christmas fan. I don't mind Christmas day and all that goes with it, but I loath the hysterior that begins in Novemeber and stretches out past January. This year however I was looking forward to it all because Dumpy was there. Unfortunately he became unwell on Christmas morning and has continued to throw up ever since. He's getting slowly better, but it really didn't put a good spin on the holiday. My parents also both fell ill, and so did I. I came back to work this morning not really having noticed much of a break.

There were of course some good parts. I bought the Dragon a sewing machine and she's been having fun attempting to learn how to make it work. She wants a book to learn from. I think we will try and get one in Chinese when we go back there next month. She bought me some Caterpillar shoes. I was scared that they wouldn't fit, but they do. I'm wearing them now. I also got a signed picture of Mrs Thatcher from my brother. I don't think the signature is real sadly, but it's a great present. The parents were also most generous with their Christmas spirit as usual.

But enough moaning about misfortune. Things aren't so bad. I even found the electrical fault that kept popping the downstairs circuit breakers at the weekend. Just before I left for Taiwan and rented the place out, I disconnected the power to the garage. I did this because I installed it myself and it wasn't really very safe. I used all the proper cables, but I didn't have the proper connectors, so I performed something of a make shift job under the floorboards. I disconnected it by simply cutting the cable and poking it under the floor again. It should have been perfectly safe, but I heard a faint noise coming from under the floorboards the other night that turned out to be the end of the cable arcing. So I had to take the floorboards up and put it right at the weekend. It's all OK now. It's less likely to burn down the house and it might even save a bit on the electric bill.

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope you all had a good Christmas.

I never got around to posting the above yesterday. I have things to do that means free time is not currently plentiful. What I should have done was write a few entries last week. Dumpy was sick and we couldn't really go out. Now I'm back at work I have no time to do anything.

Dumpy's passport arrived this morning. I still don't know why they wanted my marriage certificate. What does it matter who I am married to? He has a UK birth certificate. Anyway it all seems to have been done. It bothers me that his passport has a biometric chip. They didn't ask for any biometric information, so technically I guess that means he doesn't have a biometric passport. We were not given the opportunity to opt out however, which bothers me. I was thinking I might microwave his passport for a few minutes to see if I can blow the chip up.

I have to complete my tax return this month. I have no idea what I am doing. I'm just going to do my best and plead ignorance if I get it wrong. I'm not going to pay an accountant to do it again.

Train fares have gone up. Yes, unbelievably train fares have gone up beyond the price of inflation to facilitate the continued improvement to service apparently. It's difficult to see how this can be justified since the improvement to service seems to have taken the form of a reduction in the number of trains since Dec 10. A protest movement is afoot and, to be fair, First Great Western have said they will consider making timetable changes. I'll believe it when I see it however. My train was late again this morning, but yesterday it actually left on time.

Celebrity Big Brother apparently kicks off again tonight with prize prat David Hasslehoff heavily tipped to be a contestant. That guy amazes me. I can't decide whether he really is a prick and doesn't realise it, or whether he's actually a much smarter person acting like a prick for some reason. He does appear to be making huge amounts of money either due to, or despite of, the fact that he appears to be a knob.