The only good badger is a shaving brush

I hate badgers, and that's why I think it's great that a government scientist has suggested we cull the little bastards. It's time to buy shares in shaving brush companies if you ask me.

Due to misinformation from Friend Dickie, I was under the impression that Lost Series III would not be out on DVD here until Dec. However, he was wrong, and I'm off to buy the box set on the way home this evening. I've also cut a deal with Dickie to sell it on to him half price after viewing, how cool is that?

I started putting knobs on cupboard doors and drawers last night. This is good because it means we can open the cupboards and drawers, and bad because Dumpy can now also open cupboards and drawers.

I've decided to renew my Ham Radio licence. I passed my exams about 15 years ago, but have never used it for anything, so I let my licence expire. Friend Big Pete just got his novice licence, so I thought I should get back into it. I'm apparently entitled to a full licence, which means 400 watts of power over a huge spectrum of frequencies.

It seems the dragon has to pass a Britishness test to extend her two year visa which expires in December. I've ordered the booklet for her. I think she will pass OK. It's just 24 multiple choice questions. I don't think I could answer all of them, but apparently you can if you read the book. We need to get this sorted out because she wants to leave UK for a week or two in Chinese New Year. We don't want visa problems over that period.

I just finished "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" by Haruki Murakami. It was weird. I kind of liked it, but it didn't exactly go anywhere. I felt the end was weak. I'm still thinking about it. I lent my copy of Dawkins' "God Delusion" to someone at work. She had it for weeks, so I asked her if I could have it back. Seems she lent it to her husband, who then left the country with it - doh! Anyway, she replaced my copy with a new one, which is fine.

Came home yesterday to find we have a new wheelie bin. Do other countries have wheelie bins? I like the idea of a giant waste bin. I don't like the thought of it being emptied only once every two weeks. It struck me recently that my council tax bill doubled while I was out of the country, but I don't appear to be getting any new services from local government, and in the case of refuse collections, it's actually got worse. They're trying to suggest that this is a move to encourage recycling. Emotional blackmail again. Is the recycling bin going to be emptied weekly? Actually I need to find that out.

Some little bastard has sprayed graffiti on my garden wall. I wish I'd caught the little snot.

Friday...

I bet David Cameron was smiling over his cornflakes this morning as he browsed the headlines. Seems that the Labour Party has plummeted in the opinion polls and now lags 3% behind the Conservatives. The Telegraph however maintains that an election tomorrow would result in a hung parliament because things are organised to favour Labour. You can't blame them for that though really. I'd have done the same.