The times they are a-changin'.

I'm not against change, provided there's a good reason, but change for the sake of change annoys me. Recently my local supermarket decided to move everything round, which, for me at least, created chaos - suddenly nothing was where I expected it to be. When I enquired why they had done this, the answer I got was "we felt it was time for a makeover". I was less than impressed. Now it's "Ready Steady Cook", a programme which I've watched and enjoyed over many years. Frankly it's never been quite the same since Fern Britten left, but I had just about got used to the more in-your-face showmanship of Ainsley Harriott, and his completely unneccessary and annoying antics with the contestants ("So, June, you are a leading light in your local operatic society - come on, give us an aria....") But now they've gone and changed the set and the format to introduce more "audience-participation". And why? What used to be a useful programme about cooking has now become more a programme about people, with cookery simply the peg to hang it on. Why can't they just leave things alone?

The London plane is now landing at Aberdeen..

I was stationed in Germany for part of my National Service, and arranged for my mother to come over for a holiday. I said I would meet her plane at Düsseldorf airport. I knew Düsseldorf quite well, and had seen signs in the city centre pointing to "Flughafen" and in my naïvity thought that the airport must be just outside the city - if I give myself an hour, I thought, I could walk it. Of course, it didn't work out that way - after walking for an hour or so, there was still no sign of the airport, and I ended up having to get a taxi, and being late getting there, which didn't impress my mum much. I now realise however that it could have been much worse - it appears that some of these budget airlines are purporting to fly you to cities, when in reality the airport they are using is nowhere near. There's an airport called Frankfurt Hahn, which is some 70 miles away from Frankfurt, and the latest example is an airport which wants to call itself Madrid Sur, despite the city of Madrid being no less than 125 miles away. So it pays to read the small print!

Ganging up.

Lot of talk these days about "gang culture" which is being blamed for much of the nastiness which is going on. And yet, gangs have always been a feature of childhood life - particularly as regards boys. Think of the books we read as children - Just William, Swallows and Amazons, The Famous Five, and even more up-to-date, Harry Potter. All based on children banding together in gangs. So I can't see that gangs, per se, are the problem. I think it goes much deeper than that, and has more to do with the modern perception (which doesn't just apply to children) that all that matters is me and what I want (and by extension, my gang and what it wants), and nobody else's views or wishes or even right to exist, count for anything. I haven't got an answer to that, but I think to blame it all on gang culture misses the point.

Weeeeeee....

The grandkids took their Wii on holiday with them, and let me have a play. What a great gadget, and a good example of some genius coming up with an idea to make their product stand out from the crowd. Unlike the Xbox and the PS2 (both of which I have had a go on) the Wii controller really makes you feel you are interacting with what's going on on-screen, and that your skill (or in my case, lack of it) really does make a difference. I enjoyed it so much I am really tempted to get myself one. If only the games didn't cost so much!

Click, click.

Shouldn't we be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves that Lewis Hamilton is thinking of moving abroad - not, as might be expected, for tax reasons, but simply to avoid the intrusive attentions of the paparazzi. Recently, a paper published a picture of him out walking with a young lady, and offered a reward to any reader who could identify her - presumably so that they could then pester her. Absolutely disgraceful. I can understand his wish to be rid of all that, and I am mortified that he may have to leave the country he would prefer to live in to achieve that end.

Ha ha

Whilst away, I read a book which suggested - among other things - that the blond-haired gene was in fact connected with superior intelligence, and that "dumb-blonde" jokes were a form of defence by us less intelligent dark-haired types. So having admitted to that, I feel entitled to tell a dumb-blonde joke -

Dumb-blonde goes up to this house, and rings the bell. Bloke answers, and she asks him if he's got any odd jobs she could do for a spot of spare cash. "Well" he says, "the porch does need painting. I was getting round to doing it - I've got the paint, so if you want you can do that. I'll give you £50". "OK" says the blonde, and he hands over the paint and goes back to watching the cricket. A couple of hours later, there's a knock at the back door, and there's the blonde, paint-bespattered. "I've finished" she says, "and in fact there was enough paint to give it two coats. Oh, and by the way, it's not a porch - it's a Maserati!"

Evenin' all.

Listening to the radio on the way back home yesterday, there was lots of talk about the young lad who's been shot and what should be done. Many people - politicians and ordinary people alike - called for more police on the streets "like it used to be". Now I'm all for more police on the streets, but the idea that this is the main difference between policing now and then does, I feel, miss the point. Back when I was young, it wasn't just a matter of visible police on the beat, it was that the local police really were local - they lived locally in police houses, and probably had done for most of their working lives. They knew all about their area, they knew the local rogues and villains - if anything happened locally, they immediately had a pretty good idea who was responsible or involved. If we can get back to that, then we may be able to get somewhere, but just putting more police on the streets, while better then nothing, isn't the same thing by a long chalk.

I'm back

Back home safe and sound. A week in Cornwall - pretty good, followed by a week in Kent - nice place but dreary weather all week. Coped much better than last year - only one little wobble - well not so little actually, but just the one, and the others were all out so I didn't disgrace myself. Must be progress.

Au revoir.

Off on holiday with the kids and grandkids again. Feel a bit more positive about it than last year, so we'll see how it goes. See you in a fortnight.

BMI = 30. V.v. bad!

I'm overweight. I'm not sure whether I fall into the obese category, but I can't be far off. I've been fighting my weight for the last forty-odd years. I got married in my twenties, and gave up smoking shortly after. As a result of one - or possibly both - of these things, I started seriously putting on weight, and it's been an ongoing problem ever since. You name a diet and I've tried it, with little result. Mind you, as you must be tired of me telling you, I'm nearly 70 (just a few more weeks to go) and generally feel in pretty good health, so should I be bothered? My doctor tells me I'm a marginal type-2 diabetic, and that my weight is a factor in that, but again, I've nearly had my three-score years and ten, and my main priority now is to see out the time left to me in peace, quiet and comfort. I'm not a sweet, biscuit and cake man, so there's little in the rubbish food line I can cut down on, so doubtless I shall continue to fight my weight right up to the end.

Top of the pops.

Are you a Wagner fan? It seems that in general people are either wholly for him or wholly against him - a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. I can take him in small doses, but that's about it. One of the most ridiculous reasons for being against him however, is that he is always quoted as Hitler's favourite composer. Why ridiculous? Well Wagner died in 1883, six years before Hitler was born, so how can you denigrate him for something over which he had, and could not have had, any control? Anyway, it now appears that if this is to be a reason for denigrating composers, we now have to include a whole lot more of them - perhaps Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms are not that surprising, but Tchaikovsky, Borodin and Rachmaninov? The recent discovery of Hitler's record collection reveals that his tastes were much wider than might have been thought, and extended well beyond the Austrian/German school. Does this discovery make their music any the less worthy? Don't let's be silly!

Dzień dobry

Immediately after the Second World War, a lot of Poles came to this country to escape communism. Many of them settled here in the West Midlands - particularly around Cannock where there was plenty of work for them in the coal mines. Now it seems that we have a second influx as a result of Poland joining the EU. This time it seems that they are not coming as immigrants, but simply in order to work and earn more money than they could do at home. It's an indication of just how many of them there are that most of the local supermarkets have started stocking traditional Polish food and setting up special displays for it. Another indication is a report in the press the other day that people back in Poland are finding it increasingly difficult to get hold of a decent electrician, plumber or builder - 'cause they're all over here!

Put the kettle on.

It seems that, in preparation for the aftermath of nuclear war, the Government back in the late 1960's made plans for necessary foodstuffs to be supplied from overseas - the obvious things like meat, wheat, dairy products and so on, but right up there high on the list was tea from Ceylon. How very British!

Foot and mouth.

Another outbreak. Many of us remember the horrific scenes back in 2001 of piles of cattle carcases and mass incineration, and could be forgiven for thinking that Foot and Mouth must be a terrible disease. So it comes as a bit of a shock to learn that it is no such thing. It poses no risk to humans, and is rarely fatal to cattle, who for the most part recover from it fairly quickly. Indeed, it has been likened to a bad dose of 'flu in a human - they're off hooks for a week or so, but then they're back on their feet again. So why the panic, the movement restrictions and the wholesale slaughter? Well, it's nothing to do with health, but everything to do with economics. The effect of the disease is to significantly reduce milk yield, and this reduction continues even after recovery. And it is this that is considered so serious as to require such radical measures. Of course, being economic, it is possible to make an economic assessment, and there are certainly those who know far more about this than me who maintain that the cost of dealing with the 2001 outbreak in the way we did was out of all proportion to the potential cost of the problem. It'll be interesting to see how it goes this time.

What is a flood plain?

Good question - and very pertinent at the moment. As far as I have been able to find out, it's one of those elastic expressions which means whatever you want it to mean. Basically it's an area prone to flooding - whatever that means. The recent extreme weather has resulted in some areas being flooded for the first time ever. Are they now to be regarded as on a flood plain? My son and daughter-in-law recently bought a house near where I live, and were rather bewildered, and a little perturbed when the searches revealed that the house was designated as being on a flood plain. Knowing the area well, I was bewildered. The only running water nearby is a small brook about 200 yards away and down a gentle but significant slope. There is no way that this could present any risk to their property, so who decided on that designation and on what grounds? Even the Environment Agency's own flood map does not suggest they are at risk. The question does of course now become of some importance, as it is possible their house insurance will be loaded as a result of this designation. Wasn't it Humpty Dumpty who said "When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less".

A worse service and we'll charge you for it.

I hardly thought I would be posting about Birmingham Airport again so soon, and in view of what happened at Glasgow, I can understand that, at least as a temporary measure, they've had to close down vehicular access to the road immediately outside the terminal building, which has been traditionally used for dropping off and picking up passengers. So now passengers have to be dropped off further away and forced to walk and haul their luggage over a greater distance - inconvenient but just about acceptable. But now - wait for it - they've introduced a charge of £1 for coming into this new dropping-off area! Like I said before, Birmingham Airport is run for the benefit of Birmingham Airport - consideration for passengers comes way down the list.

Damned if they do.....

ITV have been heavily criticised for announcing that they will screen a programme which shows the death of an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer’s. It now appears that the programme does not show his death at all - he didn't in fact die until three days after filming had finished. ITV are now being heavily criticised for misleading viewers. So if they say they're going to show it, that's wrong, and if they say they're going to show it and then don't, that's wrong. Make your mind up, for God's sake!

Hm.....

Straight quote from my daily paper - "Network Rail is to be fined £2.4 million for failing to complete a massive resignalling scheme on time... The fine will go to the Treasury. As all Network Rail's profits are reinvested in the rail network, the fine will mean £2.4 million less spending on the railways."