8 September 2013

And so the week starts again.  Today we are having a slow and easy day trying to catch up on telly shows we've recorded.  Last night's Vera was good again.  I can't help but think that Vera herself is a very lonely lass.  Why else would she turn up at a nuns place with a bottle of scotch?

Yesterday I actually sat and did some writing, by hand too.  Just short of 2000 words done.  Last time I tried it I needed up in a lot of pain in my right hand, arm and shoulder the day after.  That was partly why I've been putting off trying it again; I just didn't fancy all that pain again.  Well, it's not hurting today so later I shall do some more and see how I get on.  After all, working this way worked for my OU studies so why shouldn't it work now?

HS2 is getting more bad press with a parliamentary committee coming out against it too.  At what point will the rest of the muppets change their minds and I idea gets finally kicked into touch?  We all know the old saying about time costing money but will the saved 20 minutes from London to Brum really make all that much difference?  Of course, what they are hoping for is that everything works well with trains running to time with no delays.  I just can't see it happening, I really can't.     

    

We've had a bit of a surprise over the last few days.  It began with two wood pigeons mating on the fence outside our flat, which seems to be a bit odd seeing as the weather is certainly cooler than it has been for some time.  This morning however, we saw pigeons, not sure if it's the same pair carrying ticks and other odds and ends for a nest.  Having checked Collins Bird Guide it seems that they do breed at this time of year and have fledglings right into October.  We always learn something new don't we!

Birmingham's new library has opened at last.  The building design has caused a lot of ruckus but I quite like it.  To go with the opening a Four Square Festival was arranged with free events being held in four of the city squares.  Apparently 90,000 people turn up for the festival.  That's far too many for me to try to handle.  I'm hoping that the crowds in and out of the new building will ease off over this coming week so I can get a chance to have a look around it.  I used to like the old building, maybe the person who did, but het ho, we're all different.  However, I could see that it was getting pretty shabby and not really helping those users who tried to work there. 

There was on issue there that I didn't like though.  There used to be a large number of tables for female readers only.  But there were not male only tables.  That to me seemed wrong, very wrong.  Equality has work all ways and for everyone.  If they wanted to do that what should have happened was an equal number of tables for both male and female readers and another group for mixed groups.  I wonder whether that has been rectified in the new building.  I hope so.

And so for a photo ... 

well, what else but the new library under construction. 

And a funny ...

 A cowboy, who just moved to Wyoming from Texas , walks into a bar and orders three mugs of Bud. He sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more
The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy, "You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought one at a time."
The cowboy replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in Arizona , the other is in Colorado . When we all left our home in Texas, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together. So I'm drinking one beer for each of my brothers and one for myself."
The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.
The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. He orders three mugs and drinks them in turn.
One day, he comes in and only orders two mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss."
The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in his eyes and he laughs.
"Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains, "It's just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking."
"Hasn't affected my brothers though."