Aargh!!

There's still three weeks to go, and I am thoroughly sick of all the pre-election posturing and back-biting that's going on.  Every day someone makes some arrogant self-serving speech or says something really nasty about some other party.  I'm fed up with it all. I decided my voting strategy months ago and I cannot think of anything that anyone could (or perhaps more to the point, is likely to) say now which would change that. It's getting to the stage where I think twice before turning the television on.  I wish I could hibernate for the next three weeks!

Happy birthday...?

Have you seen this question which was set in an exam for 14-year-olds in Singapore? It goes like this-

Albert and Bernard just became friends with Cheryl, and they want to know when her birthday is. Cheryl gives them a list of 10 possible dates.

May 15 May 16 May 19

June 17 June 18

July 14 July 16

August 14 August 15 August 17

Cheryl then tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and the day of her birthday respectively.

Albert: I don’t know when Cheryl’s birthday is, but I know that Bernard does not know too.

Bernard: At first I didn’t know when Cheryl’s birthday is, but I know now.

Albert: Then I also know when Cheryl’s birthday is.

So when is Cheryl’s birthday?

This is for 14-year-olds??!  See if you can work it out.

Ouch!!

One of those things which "everybody knows" is that if a bee stings you, it dies. And like most of the things which "everybody knows" it ain't so.  Unless you're a bee-keeper, or live close to someone who is, when you think "bee" you almost certainly picture the fat, fuzzy black and yellow creature which you see flitting from flower to flower in your garden.  This is a bumblebee and this can sting you with no ill-effects to itself.  If you do live close to any hives, you may see what you might think is a wasp - a thinner, longer black and orange striped creature.  This is a honey bee, which as the name suggests spends most of its life in the hive making honey. This is the one which, if it stings you, will leave the sting, together with some of its innards in you as it flies away, and will die.  By the way, only females sting!

Depends on which way you look at it...

Brighton and Hove council have a plan to reduce their parking charges during the summer on rainy days.  A welcome approach even if one can foresee significant practical problems.  But what was the headline in one of the papers?  "Tourists to be charged more for parking on sunny days"!!

Oh dear!

Shame about Rocky Creek - silly system it may be, but I thought it had come up with a real possibility this time - certainly with bookies paying for up to fifth place, I would have expected an each-way bet to show some dividend.  Oh well, on to next year...

Ho hi, ho hi...

...we're back.  Good week weatherwise and a nice property in Cromer a spit away from the seafront. Drank too much, but that's holiday, isn't it?  Cromer very much an old-fashioned seaside resort - no McDonalds, no Starbucks, no KFC - makes a nice change. And my crazy system pick for today's Grand National is Rocky Creek.  Good luck everybody.

Hi ho, hi ho...

...off for our usual Easter holiday.  See you in a week.

Are you working today?

Zero-hours contracts in the news at the moment due to Labour having somewhat demonised them as part of their pre-election strategy.  So - good or bad?  Or both?? Three of my grandchildren are currently doing work on a zero-hours basis, and they find it a useful way of earning some money whilst continuing at school, or in one case University.  Nothing new there - kids have been doing "Saturday jobs" or "holiday jobs" since forever - calling them zero-hours contracts doesn't alter the basic idea. Of course if you're an adult working to support yourself - or even more so, a family - things might look very different.  But as one such said to me recently "A zero-hours job is better than no job at all".  And yet someone else retorted "At least on the dole you have a regular 'income' - there's nothing worse than not knowing when the next pay packet will be or how much it will be".  So there's two different viewpoints. What I do think is bad is when employers take people on on a zero-hours exclusivity contract - where you can't do work for anybody else and where when they want you to work you are bound to comply or get the sack.  That I think goes too far and I would be in favour of outlawing those, but otherwise I wouldn't interfere - it's a matter for individuals to decide for themselves if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, or vice versa.

Appropriate or what??

I really liked this one - David Warren, the Australian who developed the "black box" flight recorders which all commercial aircraft now carry, was buried in a coffin which bore a label saying "Flight Recorder Inventor.  Do Not Open."

They're potatoes, aren't they?

"One in 20 parents mistakenly believe that a packet of crisps counts towards their kids' 'five-a-day' items of fruit or veg, reveals a new survey."  Oh, come on - of course they do!  It's like snacks don't count if you eat them standing up, or you don't count the calories of anything you eat off someone else's plate.  Everybody knows that!!