Wednesday Morning
Dear Milkman, if you want us to answer the door and actually pay you then you have to make it sound as if there is someone there at the door awaiting answer. Do not just flip the letterbox once, the wind does that and we don't get up to answer it!
Darn, that'll be another week before he comes again, flips the letterbox, then pushes the bill through and goes off to pretend to be the wind to his next customer. Oh I know, Dear Reader, why am I complaining here when addressing my woes to the actual milkman might be so much more productive. Well, he's flipped the letterbox flap and moved on for starters. Men! Just hope the postman is a little more definite when he brings my next order of yarn.
Working with different yarn, Schoeller and Stahl Fortissima Mexiko Cotton Stretch, I have unravelled the three pairs of socks I knitted myself last summer and reknit them on a size smaller needles. This way they should fit snugly and not swivel on my feet as they had in their wider diameter entity. We'll see. Perhaps, thinking about it, I should have reknit one pair and tried them out for a while first. Ah well, time to find some more patterns.
Coming to a road near you? A Google self-drive car. That's a car which drives itself, not one you drive yourself. Apparently the car has a stop/start button and that's it. The rest is up to sensors and other complicated electronics. At present it's limited to 25mph so that if it hits someone they stand a chance of surviving! For navigation it will depend on Google road maps. I wonder, are they anything like the maps available to certain SatNav packages? Cos if they are then these electric powered cars may be coming to fields, railway lines, duck ponds, rivers etc near you. The cars don't have steering wheels, so if the passenger realizes the car is going somewhere stupid they have to decide whether it is safer to proceed or to stop. Hmmm, think I'll give this form of transport a miss for a while yet. The other thing is that to be licensed in certain American states the cars have to be fitted with steering wheels and brakes, which wasn't quite what Google had in mind, but there you are. Think, should I ever take to driving, I'll have one with a steering wheel and brakes. I'm sorry but when electronics and programming go wrong they tend to do it in ridiculous and dangerous ways. Bit like when human beings go wrong, I suppose!
To dreams - apparently some people dream in smells, which is hardly surprising when you think about it. We dream in colour, we dream in sounds, why not dream in smells as well? I daresay there are those who dream in touch too. Perhaps a slightly more alarming thing is that the smells in a dream have very little bearing on actual smells in the area around a the bed. It was found that the smell of burning accompanying a growing fire only woke two out of ten sleepers. Dear Reader, don't rely on you being one of those two, fit, and regularly check, a smoke alarm! I have few enough Readers as 'tis, and would hate to lose you, specially in such an awful way.
To wildlife - the BBC series of Springwatch started this week. w00t! This year they're at the RSPB reserve at Minsmere, Suffolk, which has a wide variety of habitats from seashore, salt marsh, freshwater ponds, to heathland and woodland. Typically it also has a wide range of animal occupants, from migratory birds - overwintering migrants (now back at their summer roosts), summer migrants busily nesting - to resident mini-beasts, rabbits, foxes, badgers, even a herd of red deer, so there is plenty to see. The Good Thing is that RSPB Minsmere is open to visitors virtually all year round, and there are things to see all year round. So there you are, Dear Reader, somewhere to visit and get in touch with the natural world.
One animal Minsmere doesn't have is the Beaver. Currently they're only wild in southwest Scotland and a few other places in Britain - they've starred in Springwatch in previous years. There is debate over whether having beavers in your environment is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing - it's all about the way they dam streams, change water flows, chew down trees and cause minor flooding. In the Russian Urals a road has been washed out apparently due to the hydro-engineering antics of some local beavers. We have yet to hear of anything similar from beaver inhabited areas of the UK!
Meanwhile back in the human world in a recent survey around 30% of those polled described themselves as "very" or "a little" racially prejudiced. This is an increase since the start of the century, returning to the level of 30 years ago. Apparently older men in manual jobs were the most likely to say they were prejudiced, but the group recording the biggest rise was educated male professionals, a group you'd think, being educated, would know better. So much for the benefits of education, although 19% of those with a degree and 38% of those with no qualifications reported racial prejudice. Apparently where you live affects prejudice too with 16% of people in inner London admitting to prejudice but 35% in the West Midlands. Bearing in mind Monday's notes on Statistics, I'd like to see a little more detail on how and who were sampled for these views, maybe broken down by racial origins as well as sex and age.
To covers - Apparently BBC Breakfast has had some time on its hands. Wot! No News? So they put on their dancing shoes and did a version of Pharrell Williams' hit single Happy. Go on, Dear Reader, it's less than three minutes. Wonder where that could get in the charts? Is it worth the Licence Fee? And yes, this is the song a group of Iranians were arrested for filming a video of. You think life is tough where you live? When was anyone arrested for making a pop video near you? That's arrested for 'hurting public chastity' rather than breach of copyright!
And Finally - George Osborne's cat has been rescued by a charity worker after straying more than a mile from her Westminster home. The cat's rescuer is a homelessness outreach worker, last year her organization helped over 1,000 rough sleepers escape a life of rough sleeping, so she's been helping clear up some of the mess sorta caused by Mr Osborne over the years before the cat came her way. Freya, the cat, was wearing a collar with her name and address so they knew where to return her. Apparently Freya has gone missing before. Hmmm, sounds like a cat to me. You never really 'own' a cat. They graciously condescend to dwell with you, on their terms, for as long as they please. Or until the local traffic gets them!
Ok, this time it really is Finally - some famous paintings 'improved' by the addition of a, large ginger, cat. I think this one is particularly good! Go on, Dear Reader, see how many you recognise.
On which note, 'nuff. Really. Y'all have a good day now!
Darn, that'll be another week before he comes again, flips the letterbox, then pushes the bill through and goes off to pretend to be the wind to his next customer. Oh I know, Dear Reader, why am I complaining here when addressing my woes to the actual milkman might be so much more productive. Well, he's flipped the letterbox flap and moved on for starters. Men! Just hope the postman is a little more definite when he brings my next order of yarn.
Working with different yarn, Schoeller and Stahl Fortissima Mexiko Cotton Stretch, I have unravelled the three pairs of socks I knitted myself last summer and reknit them on a size smaller needles. This way they should fit snugly and not swivel on my feet as they had in their wider diameter entity. We'll see. Perhaps, thinking about it, I should have reknit one pair and tried them out for a while first. Ah well, time to find some more patterns.
Coming to a road near you? A Google self-drive car. That's a car which drives itself, not one you drive yourself. Apparently the car has a stop/start button and that's it. The rest is up to sensors and other complicated electronics. At present it's limited to 25mph so that if it hits someone they stand a chance of surviving! For navigation it will depend on Google road maps. I wonder, are they anything like the maps available to certain SatNav packages? Cos if they are then these electric powered cars may be coming to fields, railway lines, duck ponds, rivers etc near you. The cars don't have steering wheels, so if the passenger realizes the car is going somewhere stupid they have to decide whether it is safer to proceed or to stop. Hmmm, think I'll give this form of transport a miss for a while yet. The other thing is that to be licensed in certain American states the cars have to be fitted with steering wheels and brakes, which wasn't quite what Google had in mind, but there you are. Think, should I ever take to driving, I'll have one with a steering wheel and brakes. I'm sorry but when electronics and programming go wrong they tend to do it in ridiculous and dangerous ways. Bit like when human beings go wrong, I suppose!
To dreams - apparently some people dream in smells, which is hardly surprising when you think about it. We dream in colour, we dream in sounds, why not dream in smells as well? I daresay there are those who dream in touch too. Perhaps a slightly more alarming thing is that the smells in a dream have very little bearing on actual smells in the area around a the bed. It was found that the smell of burning accompanying a growing fire only woke two out of ten sleepers. Dear Reader, don't rely on you being one of those two, fit, and regularly check, a smoke alarm! I have few enough Readers as 'tis, and would hate to lose you, specially in such an awful way.
To wildlife - the BBC series of Springwatch started this week. w00t! This year they're at the RSPB reserve at Minsmere, Suffolk, which has a wide variety of habitats from seashore, salt marsh, freshwater ponds, to heathland and woodland. Typically it also has a wide range of animal occupants, from migratory birds - overwintering migrants (now back at their summer roosts), summer migrants busily nesting - to resident mini-beasts, rabbits, foxes, badgers, even a herd of red deer, so there is plenty to see. The Good Thing is that RSPB Minsmere is open to visitors virtually all year round, and there are things to see all year round. So there you are, Dear Reader, somewhere to visit and get in touch with the natural world.
One animal Minsmere doesn't have is the Beaver. Currently they're only wild in southwest Scotland and a few other places in Britain - they've starred in Springwatch in previous years. There is debate over whether having beavers in your environment is a Good Thing or a Bad Thing - it's all about the way they dam streams, change water flows, chew down trees and cause minor flooding. In the Russian Urals a road has been washed out apparently due to the hydro-engineering antics of some local beavers. We have yet to hear of anything similar from beaver inhabited areas of the UK!
Meanwhile back in the human world in a recent survey around 30% of those polled described themselves as "very" or "a little" racially prejudiced. This is an increase since the start of the century, returning to the level of 30 years ago. Apparently older men in manual jobs were the most likely to say they were prejudiced, but the group recording the biggest rise was educated male professionals, a group you'd think, being educated, would know better. So much for the benefits of education, although 19% of those with a degree and 38% of those with no qualifications reported racial prejudice. Apparently where you live affects prejudice too with 16% of people in inner London admitting to prejudice but 35% in the West Midlands. Bearing in mind Monday's notes on Statistics, I'd like to see a little more detail on how and who were sampled for these views, maybe broken down by racial origins as well as sex and age.
To covers - Apparently BBC Breakfast has had some time on its hands. Wot! No News? So they put on their dancing shoes and did a version of Pharrell Williams' hit single Happy. Go on, Dear Reader, it's less than three minutes. Wonder where that could get in the charts? Is it worth the Licence Fee? And yes, this is the song a group of Iranians were arrested for filming a video of. You think life is tough where you live? When was anyone arrested for making a pop video near you? That's arrested for 'hurting public chastity' rather than breach of copyright!
And Finally - George Osborne's cat has been rescued by a charity worker after straying more than a mile from her Westminster home. The cat's rescuer is a homelessness outreach worker, last year her organization helped over 1,000 rough sleepers escape a life of rough sleeping, so she's been helping clear up some of the mess sorta caused by Mr Osborne over the years before the cat came her way. Freya, the cat, was wearing a collar with her name and address so they knew where to return her. Apparently Freya has gone missing before. Hmmm, sounds like a cat to me. You never really 'own' a cat. They graciously condescend to dwell with you, on their terms, for as long as they please. Or until the local traffic gets them!
Ok, this time it really is Finally - some famous paintings 'improved' by the addition of a, large ginger, cat. I think this one is particularly good! Go on, Dear Reader, see how many you recognise.
On which note, 'nuff. Really. Y'all have a good day now!