Ker-ching??

I've just realised that my passport is out of date.  So what?  It's extremely unlikely that I will ever go abroad again, so why should I be concerned?  Well. no reason really, except that I checked and the cost to renew it is £72.50.  That's a lot of money to simply replace something I've already got.  I can understand a fee for a first time passport, but renewal is simply a bureaucratic exercise and should cost little or nothing.  And I speak as an ex-Civil Servant well used to the ways in which the simple is made unnecessarily complicated in order to justify charging a fee.  So I shall not be renewing.

Realpolitik

Speaking of booze - I'm stocking up on Jack Daniels - just in case!

Putting the record straight.

Hope yesterday's post didn't give the impression that my wife was a lush.  Far from it - I was, and still am, the drinker.  She would join me on occasion - more out of companionship than anything I think.  And although she enjoyed a vodka and Russchian, her tipple of choice was Baileys Irish Cream

Way to go!

Sainsbury's are coming in for some stick for advertising bottles of vodka under a sign that says "Mother's Day Breakfast".  Shocked shoppers have taken to social media to criticise the store for suggesting that mothers should drink alcohol first thing in the morning.  Well, each to his or her own but if my wife were still alive (how I wish!!) I know what she'd say - bring it on!

For this relief, much thanks

Boiler repaired - heating back on.  Makes you realise how much you depend on "modern technology".  It was a bit like being back in the 50s - heat one room and stay there.  Mind you, I think I had it easier than some folk, who had to contend with with 6' snow drifts and no water.  So, back to normal, thank goodness.

R.I.P.

Roger Bannister - great guy, great athlete and a good life as a scientist, but thanks to sloppy journalism, will probably be forever known for something he didn't do - he was not "the first man to run a four minute mile" - see 16/12/13.

Words, words.

A question which arose at a recent family gathering was - why are prostitutes called "hookers"? (Not that we're that sort of family!)  It seems to be American slang, so the origin is probably American.  The most quoted answer is that it refers to a Civil War general by the name of Joseph Hooker, who used to invite prostitutes into his camp, and they became known as "Hooker's Division", which quickly became shortened to "hookers".  Only problem with that is that the word is known to have been in use at least 20 years before the Civil War.  So another theory is that it arose from a district of New York known back then as "The Hook" where said ladies were wont to ply their trade.

Woe is me!

Freezing cold, several inches of snow down and my boiler has packed in!

Ha ha

Suggestion from my pensioner's magazine for a bumper sticker for an old person's car 

I'm speeding because I have to get there before I forget where I'm going.

Such is human nature...

I am constantly surprised that other people are surprised by the obvious.  If you have a situation where men are put in control of a commodity which poor women desperately want, it really should come as no surprise if some of those men demand sexual favours in return for supplying said commodity, and equally if some women offer sexual favours  in the hope of obtaining it.  This is the Oxfam scandal of course, which has now spread to other aid agencies.  It's not nice, and reflects badly on all those involved, but surprising?  Perhaps the most surprising thing is that it has taken so long to surface.