Real ale, hospitals and a book idea

24 April

Oh dear - I forgot all about St George's day yesterday; shows how much it means to me eh? Actually, for some reason 23 April is supposed to be the traditional day for picking open dandelions heads for making dandelion wine. I don't know why, and seeing as years ago and used to make my own wine and I picked the flower heads whenever I wanted to get a new batch on the go. I didn't find any difference - so much for tradition then. Anyway, do anything the same way twice and it becomes and tradition.

This morning has been a busy, what with me at the Walsgrave and Jan at the Hussy an hour later. After we had finished we headed out to the A5/A444 junction to the Red Gate pub, a rather nice pub we hadn't been to for a long time. I had a pint of Old Thumper which was rather nice. Sadly Jan can't drive right now or I would have had a second pint. After that we called in to the Anker and I had a second, very nice pint, of Everards Original, another very nice pint.

As I said, it's been a long time since we went out the Red Gate. Now, I thought I knew the area fairly well but I didn't know about the stream that runs alongside the pub and under the A5. I shall have to look it up later on me maps and find out where it runs off to.

I have another first today too. So many times I've sat in a pub and over heard young people talking about Buffy The Slayer, but I've never fancied it. Yesterday I mention Shot Through the Heart by Ed James, one the books I'm currently reading. Well, it turns out that it is a vampire based book, which make it a first for me seeing as I have avoided them so far. BUT ... some time ago I started a story and got stuck with it, not knowing where to take it. A friend of mine suggested that I should do it as either a vampire book or a zombie. I'm normally not fussed on either but having read this current one I might look at becoming a vampire story. We'll see later ... ... ...

So Now I shall look for a photo ... 

Ah yes, another dream.

And a funny ...

WHEN WILL THE BLACK MAN BE ACCEPTED AT FACE VALUE?
A Black Man walks into a prestigious private bank in midtown Manhattan and asks for the loan officer who politely tries to direct him to a more commercial establishment.
The Black Man says he's going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.
The loan officer says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the Black Man hands over the keys to a new Rolls Royce. The car is parked on the street in front of the bank. He has all the papers including the title and everything checks out. The bank agrees to
accept the car as collateral for the loan.
An employee of the bank then proceeds to drive the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there. The news quickly spreads throughout the bank and over lunch, the bank's president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the dumb "N -word 's" expense for using a $250,000 Rolls as collateral against a $5,000 loan.
Two weeks later, the Black Man returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $20.41. The loan officer says, "Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled.
While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"
The Black Man smiled and then replied; "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $20.41 and expect it to be there when I return?".
A Very Smart Black Man!

Speeling, dead kids and camera wible

23 April

How do you spell continuum? There's a show on Netflix called Continuum but it didn't look right to me. So out came my trusted OED and surprise, surprise, it is correctly spelled. Even the Word dic-n-ary has accepted it. It's just the 'uu' that threw me, and still does actually. It still doesn't look right to me.

Four kids, three of them are disabled. A 40 year old woman has been arrested for killing three of the kids, so ran the news item on lunch time news. I'm not sure how I feel about it really. Killing any child is an awful thing to even contemplate, but to actually do it, well, that is really sad. Here's the thing though, the only people who know what it's like to look after just one disabled child, are those who have to do it. Having to look after three disabled kids is really quite a horrendous situation to be in. One thing is for sure, if the mum is charged, that's one jury I wouldn't want to sit on!

As my regular readers will know, I love my Sony Alpha 77 and a selection of lenses and the images they produce. Well, I'm reading a book on my tablet called Shot Through the Heart by Ed James. It's a decent story, well told but perhaps not quite as strong as the first one of his I read. Anyway ... the hero is a writer called Mark who travels north of Inverness to find out where his researcher has disappeared to. Cameras and photography come into the story when a photographer employed by the missing researcher also turns up. Mark gets fed-up with the snapper pretty quickly but tolerates him because he has a car. OK, fine ... at one part of the story the snapper is going on about which camera and gear is best. All us snappers do that. Then Mark comes out with anew word for me. He gets even more fed-up with what he calls 'camera wible.' I like that one and will remember it for later use.

For my bedtime reading I have another Peter James novel on the go. Sadly it's the first of his books I have struggled with. It's called Twilight and so far the story is fine. My problem with it is the size of the font they've used in producing it. It's so small that I am struggling to read it. I shall keep on with it though, James is always worth reading.

Tomorrow we will be busy in the morning. I am at sleep clinic at 10.10 at the Walsgrave and Jan is at the Hussy at 1130. Getting from one to t'ther in plenty of time will be hard work, so I shall drop Jan off at the Hussy and make my way to Walsgrave and then pick her up on the way back through. What a silly game the NHS has playing!

And so for a photo ... 

A dream in yellow.

Funny time ...

UNDERSTANDING WOMEN

(A MAN'S PERSPECTIVE)

I know I'm not going to understand women. I'll never understand how you can take boiling hot wax, pour it onto your upper thigh, rip the hair out by the root,  and still be afraid of a spider.

Diabetic clinic, visitors and parking problems

22 April

Diabetic clinic this morning, and all is fine apart from my weight. In fact the nurse says she is very happy with the way things and has put me down for another review in six months. Jan and I are happy with that ... BUT ... I have another blood test to have done in about two months because my vitamin B12 is low. Not surprising really considering that I'm on metformin which has a tendency to wash out that vitamin while controlling my diabetes. Ah well ... ... ...

We had visitors yesterday. For the first time that I remember Tom and Sonja Wilson visited us. They're a nice couple although I haven't agreed with their politics until just lately. Tom was town mayor here in Dorktown even though he was Tory and the council was Labour controlled. That was probably the only thing that both parties agreed on, sharing the mayor's post.

Anyway, Tom fell out with the Tory's over something and left the party, That couldn't have been an easy choice to make considering he had been a lifelong Tory supporter. Well, Tom isn't really in the best of health so Sonja has decided to stand as a Labour candidate for the up-coming local elections. I think she will have a major job on her hands because Weddington is normally a safe Tory ward, although the Greens have made some ground in getting Keith Kondakor elected. Yesterday I signed the papers to second Sonja's nomination and Jan signed as one of the necessary eight other signatures. Who I vote for in the Euro elections I'm still not sure though.

Town centre parking is the news yet again. There are bollards at all the entry/exit points to the town centre. They are raised at 10am and lowered at 4pm. The problem is that one they are lowered everyone and their uncle just drives through and parks up. The only people who are supposed to be allowed in there are service vehicles and blue badge holders. It should be easy to deal with you would expect, and really it is. However, policing of the parking was passed over to the county council by the Warwickshire police, and that body employed wardens to be shared between Dorktown and Rugby. And there's the problem. We hardly ever see them in town or even see any car with a ticket on it. However, that is not the only problem.

There is a one-way system through the town but oh so many people totally ignores it and drive anyway they feel like. Several areas are supposed to be traffic free, even with the town being open, but all that is ignored by the selfish and lazy prats who drive as they want, not how the law says. What I can't understand though, is that there are CCTV cameras all over the town centre and they must capture all this on camera. So why isn't action being taken over it when it is seen? It all seems so obvious to me. If there are real reasons why the CCTV can't be used to send tickets out, then tell us! At least we would know what is happening and why. And if it's a case of 'can't be bothered', at least be honest and let us know!

Photo time ... 99 time ... 

Jan and I had one too.

And from the Sage ...

The boss wondered why one of his most valued employees was absent but had not phoned in sick.

So he dialled the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper. '
"Hello ?"
'Is your daddy home?' '
Small voice whispered, 'Yes, he's out in the garden,'
’May I talk with him?'
The child whispered, 'No'
So the boss asked, 'Well, is your Mummy there?'
‘Yes she's out in the garden too’
‘The boss asked; 'May I talk with her?'
Again the ‘No’.
'Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message,
the boss asked, 'Is anybody else there?'
' Yes,' whispered the child, ' a policeman. '
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked,
'May I speak with the policeman?'
' No, He's busy , ' whispered the child.
'Busy doing what?'
' Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the police with the dog'
Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background,
the boss asked, 'What is that noise?'
' It's a helicopter ' answered the whispering voice.
'What is going on there?' demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.
' The search team just landed in a helicopter'
'A search team?' said the boss. 'What are they searching for?'
Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle....
'ME '      

Fires, planning and a water table

21 April

Now what shall I waffle about today ... I know ...

The other day I was speaking about the fire season having started here in Dorktown. Well, it seems to have a started in Leeds too with a fire at a chemical plant. I don't know Leeds as well as I'd like to but it does seem more than a bit daft to have a chemical plant in a built up area. It reminds me of when I worked for Interlink in the 1990s. They sent me to collect a package from a chemical plant in Hinckley, just off the town centre. I went to the office and she gave me all the paper work for the job, which included haz-chem instructions. OK, fine ... but I didn't know anything about haz-chem transport. According to those instructions I had to wear full protective gear while handling the two barrels they were about to load onto my van. At that point I said, 'Oh no you don't! I'm calling my office before I accept them.' Reading a bit further on those instructions I found warning of not carrying it chemical in enclosed vans because if got too hot and pressured it had a lower flash point than petrol. That was enough for me. I pulled out there and then.

As I drove around the rest of that day I was slowly getting more and more concerned at the possible danger that the chemical plant posed to the town. It was situated at a cross road, with a busy railway line along one side, houses on  another side, a factory across the road and a supermarket next door. If those two barrels I was supposed to take were anything to go by, then that place was an accident waiting to happen! Whoever gave them planning permission to place it there needed their heads looking at.

Tuttle Hill is one of the major routes in and out of Dorktown. It's not a particularly pretty road seeing as at the bottom there industrial works and an eyesore of what used to be rather nice pub, The While Horse, which is now closed and looking rough. Across the road is what used to be Judkins Quarry, not the local landfill site. The area is dirty and dusty and very uninviting. About half way up, a load of new housing has appeared. I personally would not want to live opposite a land fill site. A few years ago, before the new houses were built that was a major problem large swarms of flies plaguing the area.

Of course, when Judkins began digging out the granite that was underneath the hill, Dorktown wasn't so large and busy. I have a feeling though that if they tried to get planning permission now it would thrown out. Where those new houses are being built, it a large, partly flooded worked out quarry. At the top of Tuttle Hill there's a right turn onto Mancetter Road; but right on that corner, on the left as you turn, is yet another worked out quarry. I'm calling them 'worked out' simply because they can't really take anymore granite from any of them without the whole area collapsing in on itself. There are number of other quarries around that area, most of which are now flooded. I suppose that they dug deep enough to hit the water table. That's probably why they closed really. Whatever ... I'm now pleased to live in much nicer area called Weddington.

And so to a photo ... First one ... 

Is of Judkins working face at the time it closed. The second one ... 

                           

Crowds at Dorktown's Wednesday market.

And the Sage has spoken words of wisdom ...

Never try & Out do a Woman!!! Hahaha!!!
One evening a Husband, thinking he was being funny, said to his wife, 'Perhaps we should start washing your clothes in 'Slim Fast'. Maybe it would take a few inches off of your butt!'
His wife was not amused, and decided that she simply couldn't let such a comment go unrewarded.
The next morning the husband took a pair of underwear out of his drawer. 'What the Hell is this?' he said to himself as a little 'dust' cloud appeared when he shook them out.
'April', he hollered into the bathroom, 'Why did you put Talcum Powder in my underwear?'
She replied, 'It's not talcum powder; it's Miracle Grow'.