2013 — 12 August: Monday
The boy Dave has now "come out" in favour of fracking.1 Our beloved "prime minster" (as the BBC report currently has it) is even suggesting 'real money' should be fed back to every community near exploratory wells — possibly to repair earthquake damage? This, after last month's amusing "foot in mouth" from one of our insightfully unfragrant Tory Peers:
Lord Howell of Guildford said fracking should be confined to "desolate" areas of northern England, [a remark] for which he later apologised. He went on to acknowledge there were parts of both northern and southern England "less densely inhabited than others".
Oh happy day. We have leaders who clearly are well-advised sound chaps of both sense and sensibility. Let joy be unconfined. Quick. Make them both take the idiotic UK citizenship test so we can throw them out.
Google's doodle...
... is celebrating the 126th birthday of the only physicist whose imaginary quantum cat is more famous than he is:
A purr-fect encapsulation of the non-intuitive nature of the bizarre realm some physicists inhabit.
Right! I have...
... things to do and places to be, or was it the other way round? So after a flurry of (lunch-)packing I shall be off out into the Great Wild Wilderness desolate areas of, erm, Hampshire, where I shall doubtless be looking for any slurry of fracking.
Full marks...
... to my latest Dr Fang for having correctly identified the next tooth to require his attention in a couple of weeks from now. It2 obligingly disintegrated in the middle of my nice, soft, tuna sandwich at the halfway point of today's quite sticky little ramble. Having been root-filled a number of years ago, there's no pain associated with it, but the gap currently feels enormous to my tongue. I suspect that will now turn into my second crown in due course. Better start saving. I've also got my annual boiler and fire service coming up this week, and the next "big" car service very early next month...
Earlier...
... I listened, in utter amazement, to Harry Shearer's lady engineer guest on "Le Show" before this morning's walk. The topic was (not for the first time) the shortcomings, incompetence, and cover-ups by the Corps of Engineers, that are only now coming to light in a huge tranche of emails on the topic of New Orleans and its badly-designed flood and storm defences. "The Big Uneasy" indeed. He also included the semi-apology from that Ukip idiot MEP and his "Bongo Bongo" remarks in his regular "Apologies of the week" feature.
I'm conducting a little...
... domestic science experiment. Having laundered the walking clothes and accumulation of odds and ends, I'm now venturing on to one of the so-far-untried washing machine settings to deal with my little showerproof (and defiantly 100% artificial fibre) sleeveless walking jacket. I recall turning a couple of my cotton shirts distinctly olive-grey on the one and only time I washed it in the machine with them, and since then I've taken to simply soaking it in the bath under my shower. This time — experimentally — I've decided it can have the whole machine to itself.
I smile to remember that a mere six years ago I was to be found grappling with its modus operandi for the very first time. Domestic god, me.
For the sake...
... of my blood pressure, and mental health, it's probably a Good Thing that this film...
... only seems (Update: my copy is en route from Amazon.com) to be shipped to the US at the moment. Isn't that a lovely piece of poster art, though?