2014 — 28 February: Friday
My peace and quiet is currently under siege.1 I'm just back from my foodie shop, and contemplating my next move. There's a lady warbling away with something by Gluck to help me decide. Il Parnaso confuso — which doesn't really clarify things.
Though changing my drinking water filter does. And, if a conifer had been among the recent arboreal casualties in my back no-longer-such-a-jungle, I could have used it as a water filter, too. Not such a sappy idea, it seems. (Link.)
The legacy of...
... poor old Thomas Midgley Jr malingers on. He's the chemist who first helped develop the form of lead that was added to petrol, and (after recovering from lead poisoning) went on to synthesise some of the CFCs that have subsequently worked such wonders on the planet's ozone layer. There's a 3D map of a layer of lead now polluting the Atlantic. (More info.)
My bank, which is...
... fully aware of my state of abject genteel poverty, has just sent me a snail mail with some helpful advice: I should keep their credit card at the front of my wallet so I remember to use it more. How thoughtful.
Today is...
... clearly a day for free drinks. A pre-lunch coffee over in the bungalow with Peter will now be followed by tea and a biccie (or two) with Roger & Eileen. Meanwhile, I've been plundering the wondrous archives of The Comics Journal. A subset is available online without payment, starting with the 1991 interview that Robert Boyd carried out with the divine Shary Flenniken. Bliss.
It's also the last day before my download bandwidth data cap is reset, so I'm now using up my surplus by hoovering up last Friday's Graham Norton chat show, having had it recommended to me. I usually enjoy hearing what Miriam Margolyes has to say.
On my return...
... to Technology Towers half an hour ago it took me several seconds to work out what was causing the random faint2 clicks I could hear in the hallway while I was taking off my outdoor shoes and jacket (it's only just a little above freezing out there, and pouring with rain, too). The seven empty clothes hangers above the radiator were reacting to the hot air rising from it to perform as unmusical wind-chimes.
I fail to see how 367 people...
... can possibly have given this a thumbs-down. I would not say 'No' to the idea of finding one in my Xmas stocking. Tip of the hat to Mike for the link.