Voting in my poll

As at this days date, the votes for my poll are very small, only 6 people have actually bothered to vote.

The votes are:

Yes, I will make this my browser’s home page!!!	17%	1
Yes, I will bookmark this site!	17%	1
Yes, often and whenever I remember!	17%	1
Fairly regularly.	17%	1
Now and again.	0%	0
No, it is really not my “cup of tea”.	17%	1
No, it is a terrible site. Rubbish.	17% 1

Now you may think that receiving the “rubbish” vote would be upsetting. And, to be quite honest, it was, at first. But then I thought back to something I had said a long time ago. Many people get upset if someone doesn’t like them. Now I know the vote doesn’t mean the person didn’t like me, but this story is still relevent. There are some people who get upset if someone doesn’t like them (forgive me for repeating myself) but I thought long and hard about this, and I think I would be upset if everyone liked me.

I mean, if you think about it, the real meaning of that could be construed that I didn’t have any spark. Any push. Any real personality. I then came to the conclusion that it is better to be oneself, and let the devil take the hindmost. Or something like that.

Let me explain. A lot of friendships and marriages end because one party finds the other party is not the person they thought they were. So if I hide my autocratic nature, bloody-mindedness and other enduring traits, what then?

So I determined to be what I am, from an early age. I haven’t made a lot of friends in life, but the ones I have made have been good, and have lasted. Apart from the occasional hiccup.

I have had many acquaintances, have been engaged six times, and married twice. But it has been a fun life and nobody I parted with has hated me. Or so I think!

But I still wish that bastard had been more diplomatic!!!!!!!

Andrew

Donovan

Does anyone remember Donovan’s “Catch the wind”. The lyrics, appended below, are beautiful and I learn he wrote not just this song, but most of his early work.

A trip to http://www.pmpr.co.uk/donovan2a.htm will produce a potted life story, too long to write here. However, I will say that the first ten years of his life until 1955 were spent in Glasgow before moving to the lush Hertfordshire countryside which opened his eyes to nature’s beauty.

Last year (2003) saw him collecting an honorary “Doctor of Letters” at St Albans Cathedral on the 19th November. This was for his huge contributions to song and poetry by the University of Hertfordshire.

Read and enjoy the words of “Catch the wind”…

In the chilly hours and minutes

Of uncertainty

I want to be

In the warm hold of your loving mind.

To feel you all around me

And to take your hand

Along the sand

Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

When sundown pales the sky

I want to hide a while

Behind your smile

And everywhere I’d look, your eyes I’d find.

For me to love you now

Would be the sweetest thing,

T’would make me sing

Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

Dee dee da da la da da da da da

Ya da da, da da, da da

When rain has hung the leaves with tears

I want you near

To kill my fears

To help me to leave all my blues behind.

Standing in your heart

Is where I want to be

And I long to be,

Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.

So for all of you who had forgotten Donovan, he is still around, and still singing…

I am discovering a whole new world since I downloaded an add-on for WinAmp v5.x which allows me to right-click on the song I have playing and click the “get lyrics” tab.

We often listen without hearing and, this way, by reading the song’s words whilst the song is actually playing opens up whole new vistas!

Andrew

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Internet is a great place for finding information and, once there, Wikipedia is a great encyclopedia to visit.

I have just shown you one extract, Dr Anton Rupert, an Afrikaner I had the good fortune to meet over 25 years ago, at a cocktail party in London. He was quite short. I don’t know, perhaps around 5’2″? Anyway when he walked into the room the magnetism was extraordinary.

Perhaps, if you read the Wikipedia extract below, it might become apparant why this was so.

Andrew

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Anton Rupert (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

Anton Edward Rupert (4 October 1916 – ) is an Afrikaner-South African billionaire entrepreneur, businessman and conservationist. He was born in the small town of Graaff-Reinet and grew up in Stellenbosch, where the Rupert Group still has its headquarters.

After dropping out of medical school due to a lack of funds, Rupert earned a chemistry degree at the University of Pretoria.

From humble beginnings as a chemistry lecturer, manufacturing cigarettes in his garage, Dr. Rupert built the tobacco and industrial conglomerate Rembrandt and oversaw its transition to the industrial and luxury branded goods sectors, with Rembrandt splitting into Remgro (an investment company with financial, mining and industrial interests) and Richemont (a Swiss based luxury goods group). Currently, the Rupert business empire encompasses hundreds of companies located in 35 countries on six continents, with combined yearly net sales in the region of USD 10 billion.

Dr Rupert has also been deeply involved in environmental conservation and his companies have been prominent in funding the fine arts; since 1964 foundations established by Rembrandt have used a part of the group’s profits for the promotion of education, art, music and the preservation of historical buildings.

He has also played an important role in the South African Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), a non-profit company whose loans to small and medium-sized businesses have created nearly half a million jobs since 1981.

Although he was openly critical of the apartheid system during that era, both at home and abroad, he avoided confrontations that may have threatened his business interest.

In 2004, he was voted 28th in the Top 100 Great South Africans (see List of South Africans).

Business career

Dr. Rupert established the tobacco company “Voorbrand” in the 1940’s. He soon renamed it Rembrandt Ltd., whose overseas tobacco interests were consolidated into Rothmans in 1972.

In 1988, the Rembrandt group founded the Swiss luxury goods company, Richemont, which in turn acquired Rembrandt’s shares in Rothmans. Richemont also owns such luxury brands as Cartier (jewellery); Alfred Dunhill, Sulka and Hackett (designer clothing); Seeger (leather bags); Piaget, Baume & Mercier and Vacheron Constantin (Swiss watches) and Montblanc (pens).

In 1995 Rembrandt and Richemont consolidated their respective tobacco interests into Rothmans International, which was at the time the world’s fourth largest cigarette manufacturer.

In 1999 Rothmans International merged with British American Tobacco (BAT), the world’s second largest cigarette producer. Remgro now holds a 10% and Richemont an 18.6% share in BAT.

Dr Rupert’s eldest son, Johann Rupert, is now the CEO of Richemont and chairman of Remgro.

The Rupert family is also deeply involved in the South African wine and liquor industry, owning the L’Ormarins and La Motte wine estates and having a stake in Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons (the wine-making partnership between the Rupert and Rothschild families). (At the time of his death due to a car crash in 2001, Dr. Rupert’s youngest son, Anthonij, was head of Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons.)

The Ruperts also partially control of two of South Africa’s largest wine merchant houses, Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery (SFW) and Distillers Corporation, who together produce one of every six bottles of wine in South Africa and nearly eighty percent of the country’s brandy.

Among other interests, the Rupert Group also owns South Africa’s second-largest chain of private hospitals, the Medi-Clinic Corporation, with 3,900 beds.

Conservation involvement

Dr. Rupert is a founding member of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and it was in his role as the president of the organisation’s South African branch that he took a lead in the creation of trans frontier parks (also known as trans-frontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or “peace parks”), such as the Lubombo Trans-Frontier Conservation Area.

With an initial grant of R1,2 million (US$ 260,000) from the Rupert Nature Foundation, the Peace Parks Foundation was established on 1 February 1997 in order to facilitate the establishment of TFCAs in southern Africa. Nelson Mandela, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and Anton Rupert are the founding patrons of the Peace Parks Foundation. (Prince Bernhard is another founding member of the WWF and a close personal friend of Dr. Rupert.)

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I liked the bit about owning hospitals since he is a tobacco baron!

If you own a Cartier Watch, or a Mount Blanc pen, amongst other luxuries, then you have one (or more) of his products!

Follow the link below for Wikipedia…

Andrew.

What did you get for Christmas?

Well, I got the odd present. You know, bottle of Scotch, wine, fizzy, boxes of Chocs and the usual stuff that a 65 year old gets because nobody can think of anything he might still want in his advancing years – like a year’s pass to the local massage parlour, or a Lamborghini Murcielago, a car I would surely welcome, even if I am rather set on the latest Landrover Defender! Go on, click on the link and take a look, and dream!

Well, I got the next best thing. One of these natty little Gillette Mach3 electric razor. Not much thicker that the ordinary Mach 3 but it contains a little AAA battery which moves the blade, very minutely, and “creates a gentle hum” that makes the hair stand up on end. Read a paragraph from the CNN write-up

“The M3Power comes with a Duracell battery — also manufactured by Gillette and lasting three to six months under normal use — that fits in the handle and powers a small motor that generates what Pesce described as a “gentle hum.” That energy increases the tension in facial skin, and essentially props up hairs, which can otherwise lie flat.”

Well, I am using it, and I love it. It certainly gives me a faster shave, and to a lesser extent, a closer shave. Enough to justify the “under a tenner” price tag. But whether enough to pay extra for the new blades, I am not so sure. However, I can definitely confirm that the standard Mach3 blades will fit it.

Whilst this is aimed primarily at my male readership, I can suggest that the ladies take a trip to the linked Lamborghini Registry. Once in the “Home Page”, Click on “Cars” and then on the “Car’s Page” click on “LM002″ and you will have a 4×4 to surpass any 4×4 on the Mum’s run to your local school! This is still very much a Lamborghini and I believe can travel up to 100MPH over rough terrain! You’ll be the talking point of the town – if you can get hold of one!

Andrew

Help your friends visit you.

Do you have a digital camera?

Why not produce a one page PDF of how to get to your home? Or two pages if you need to show a “by public transport” and a “by road” scenario? There are many free utilities that will give you a PDF driver to print to, and many programs already offer this internally.

You can include parts of a map you can scan in from your road atlas, photographs of the approach to your road, simple directions that all can understand. If you are using one of the Map websites, you could include their websites full URL address to your sectional map. It is difficult to actually copy the maps as they come in nine separate pieces, but a screen capture program may get around this.

This can also be useful if you make a purchase on the Internet and are expecting delivery by van. You can then send them the PDF to help their driver reach you.

Don’t forget to include your full postcode in case the driver has a GPS system in their vehicle. If you have SatNav (Satellite Navigation GPS) yourself, you could also include the waypoint details (Lat and Long) as well.

Apart from saving you postage in sending written directions, your friends and family will think you efficient. And what is more important, the company you are dealing with will mark you down as someone who, perhaps, knows their way around , and should get a good service!

Unless the company is Minolta, then they wouldn’t give a damn either way!.

Andrew

The Sales

We went to Brent Cross – our local and large shopping mall. We went early to miss the crowds and got there five minutes before the actual stores opened – although the centre and coffee shops were open.

It was packed! We changed a couple of things and had intended to buy Pam (my wife) quite a few new clothes. But because of the huge crowd, we decided to go back after the sales and pay the full price! It really was that bad.

The bus was full going there, but empty going back! There aren’t many shoppers like us, evidently!

We are now relaxing at home with a nice hot coffee, totally exhausted – and we spent less than half an hour there.

To all you bargain hunters out there – I really do raise my hat to you.

Andrew

If you can buy cheaper

Have you come across the statement issued by some companies which run along the lines of:

“If you can buy cheaper elsewhere, tell us and we’ll match their price”

If I can buy cheaper elsewhere, I buy from the company offering decent terms in the first place. I would never go back to the company issuing statements like the above! What are they really saying? Probably something along the lines of…

“We know we are over-charging, but we want to take as much money as we can. So apart from the idiots who buy from us in the first place, we also want to take money off the wiser shopper.”

The only way I would go back to these shops would be, as – in fact – one company actually offers…

“If you can buy cheaper elsewhere, tell us and we’ll not only match their price but we’ll give you an additional 10% off as well.”

The sales are now on, buy wisely and remember, “buyer beware”.

Andrew

Will we remember, come the elections?

Labour’s Folly

Well, the short answer to my title is, yes, of course we will remember. But we won’t do anything about it. We can’t. Who can we vote for if we don’t vote for Tony Blair, a liar who disregards the voters totally at all times. What are our other options? Michael Howard? Who doesn’t know whether to be for or against Europe, or the Iraqi war, or indeed anything. He waxes and wanes about once every five minutes.

Then I should mention the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats.

Well, they can’t accuse me of leaving them out – I used capital letters as well.

The only other credible alternative could be the UK Independence Party, with an invisible leader who even most members don’t know. Hands up all those who know who their leader is? No, you are wrong – it is not Robert Kilroy-Silk… yet!

There are moves affot within UKIP to kick out their leader (I think it is a Robert someone-or-other) and replace him with Kilroy-Silk. If this isn’t carried out by the election I don’t give them tuppence for their chances.

However if they do change leaders and manage to get in half a dozen MPs, it will shake up British Politics more than anything has done since Lloyd-George got caught with his hands in the till, or as Britannia.com puts it: “A scandal over campaign finance led to further loss of Conservative support. Lloyd George resigned in 1922.”

Politicians should be punished for wasting our money for their own glory. The following was taken from a Scotish Website aimed at the American reader.

Millennium disasters in London continue

“We had the Millennium dome, a structure and idea so poorly formulated it wasted around about 2 billion US dollars in public money and has become the most expensive white elephant in the public eye in history.”

“Now we have another Blair pet millennium project ‘ the blade of light’ pedestrian footbridge built across the Thames in London, again with public money that has been closed for months as it is sways under load!”

“Repair work to the ‘Millennium Bridge’ across the River Thames in London will cost an estimated £5m and take six months. Engineering firm Arup is planning to attach a “shock absorber system” to the £18.2m structure which will absorb the vibrations caused by all the pedestrians and stop the bridge swaying.”



One way of punishing these useless politicians is to vote for the UK Independence Party. If they get some MPs, then apart from shaking the establishment to the core, it will terrify Blair as the referenda for the EU Constitution approaches!

Andrew

Minolta Dynax D7 Digital camera

Well, I have taken possession of my new camera and over the last couple of weeks, played around with it, and am slowly finding my way around.

There is a lot to learn but I should certainly be on top of things by the end of January.

The Anti-Shake really does work, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to play your own part by holding it as steady as you can. If you do this, then you really can stop down a further three stops.

The 2.5″ view panel at the back is 50% larger than most other cameras in square incheas and is a joy. It will mean that you can immediately see if you have a good photograph and move on if you have. One button press gets a strong magnifyer effect as well.

I will post some pictures as and when they fit in with a blog I hope to use. I won’t publish pictures for the sake of it. Except maybe one or two today

One thing that does sadden me is that my superb 28mm-200mm zoom lens has now got to be multiplied by 1.5 so it becomes 42mm-300mm or, in other words, I have lost my wide angle. The Canon 1DS MkII has a 35mm size sensor where the lenses retain their 35mm characteristics. But you are talking many thousands of pounds for just the body with that beast!

Andrew

A reply to our Muslim Friend

I published a letter from the Harrow Times oentitled “Muslim Language Rights” on the 22nd December and have now had sight of the following edition of this newspaper.

Here are two letters, scanned in and unaltered for your consideration, once again without any comment – either way – from this blog.

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Linguistic apartheid

In his letter on Muslim language rights (Harrow Times, December 16). Iftikhar Ahmad implies that he is in favour of “positive community cohesion” for all citizens.

But he then says that English could become the social and emotional language of Muslims only if they go to pubs, nightclubs and frequently change partners.

So, he despises English life as low and immoral and. by his own argument, if Muslims avoid these evils, English could not be their social language.

So much for “community cohesion”.

He objects that the British Government requires that imams from abroad to speak English.

This requirement seems not unreasonable since, otherwise, whenever an imam wishes to communicate with the authorities (doctors, hospitals, social security etc) he will need an interpreter.

It is better that imams be “burdened” with learning the language of the country in which they live than the taxpayer be burdened with the high cost of an interpreter at each occasion.

He believes that a foreign imam who speaks Urdu and Arabic is best for Muslims in this country so that they can feel at home in an alien British society.

I believe that the phrase “alien British society” sums up Mr Ahmad’s attitude to this country.

He wants an inward-looking Muslim society, set well apart from the despised British social life and led by imams who cannot speak English.

But, of course, he will require that the low-life British will support his Muslim schools from their taxes.

There are 46 countries where Muslims are in the majority.

Perhaps Mr Ahmad could tell us how many of these have set up schools to teach Christianity?

If they have not, would this constitute a “crime against humanity”?

William Garrett, Pinner View. North Harow

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Tolerance is two-sided

Iftikhar Ahmad says he wants schools in the UK in which his languages and culture are taught exclusively, and that he does not see why Muslim clerics should have to learn Eng-lish (Harrow Times, December 16).

In the UK he is allowed freedom of speech and the freedom to worship in the way that he wishis and to dress in the way he feels his religion requires him to.

My Muslim friends tell me that nowhere in their holy book are rules on dress laid down, and that these codes have been laid down by their religious leaders.

In our schools, we teach our children about all religions so that they will understand them.

They are also taught that they must respect the cultures and beliefs of people from other countries and that, if they travel to other countries, they must respect the beliefs and culture of those countries and must not do things which will be offensive to the people of those lands.

When people come to our country we expect them to respect our language and culture, especially if they have come here seeking to become citizens.

Here, we hope, they will learn to be happy, enjoy the freedom to work, live, speak and fol-low their own religion and integrate into our society.

We do not demand that they change their way of life, only that they respect the way we live.

If their clerics have a good command of English they will be able to converse with all members of their flocks, regardless of their country of origin, as not all Muslims speak the same languge.

In days gone by, Christian clerics could use Latin to communicate with their flocks.

I rember my father trying to tell his opposite number in Czechslovakia (pre-1939) about how to do a piece of chemical research and having to enlist the help of the local Catholic priest to act as interpreter as my father’s Czech was not good enough.

My father spoke in Latin and the priest translated to the Czech colleague.

Today, English is the language of commerce and widely used in most countries as a common language.

If people choose to come here,’we hope they will respect our culture, language and religion, while knowing they are free to use ther own languages, free to worship as they wish and to practise their culture.

And they should know that what they give by your very differences is valued and respected by the majority of the citizens of this country. ‘

Patience Cutts (full address supplied)

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Now it is time to move on as I won’t be able to have sight of this newspaper as my correspondent has gone back home to India.

Andrew

Happy Christmas

I wish all my readers a very happy Christmas and a joyous New Year.

This is the time of year when we Christians worship the Jewish Boy Jesus! And this year we are off to Jewish friends for a Christmas Dinner with the full turkey works and Christmas Pud afterwards! In the Evening? Other Jewish friends have invited us to their family Christmas Party. If it is anything like last year it will be super, with well over fifty people.

Our fellow Christian friends? Most of them are just having a quiet day at home. Or have fled the country!

I can’t help thinking there is something “out of sorts” here? But I am not arguing, just thankful I have such nice friends.

Mind you, I miss Christmas back home in the Cape, when we used to go down to the beach and have our meal there, mixing with hundreds of other families doing the same.

Andrew.

A busy time of the year

I will still try to put a blog up, each day, but Christmas is a busy time of the year for me.

Each year I zap my hard disk and reload everything on again. Ensuring all data is backed up from all the nooks and crannies of my 120GB hard disk isn’t a quick job, and reloading Windows XP Pro takes a long time when you include the drivers, and once those are on, searching the Internet for more up to date versions.

Why do I do this every year? Well, as a journalist who also covers the IT and Comms world, I am forever putting on Software to test and no matter which method you use to remove the unwanted programs, still a lot of DLLs hang around and slow things down.

Normally a htree day job but each day I will continue to post something that attracts my fancy, or irritates me like the blazes!

I should think, by now the whole world and his dog as either finished work for the year, or is slowly getting p—– (inebriated) at the office in what is known as the office party.

Bye until th morrow.

Andrew

Here comes Christmas

And at this time of year we should give a thought to those we know who are celebrating it alone. Or rather, not celebrating it. I mean, Christmas is a time of good company and cheer.

Do you know of anyone spending Christmas by themselves? An elderly relative, a neighbour in your street? Phone them on Christmas Morning.A call will only cost a penny if you read my previous blog on “all telephone calls within the UK at any time any day or night for a penny for as long as you like”. So it’s only your time and what better way of spending time on Christ’s day than chatting to lonely people and cheering them up.

Those living in the London (UK) area may like to tune in to Magic Radio on Christmas Eve and Christmas day as they do play a lot of Christmas songs.

My wife and I have been invited out this Christmas day for lunch. We normally prefer to spend this day alone at home, by ourselves. We have one of those gadgets with rubber corks which extract the air from wine bottles, so we have a different bottle with each course and drink the rest of the bottle over the Christmas holidays. Usually South African wines as those are really good value and aren’t so “full in the mouth” as Australian wines. The amounts of wine in the glasses are small by the way!

Our menu has been devised for less time in the kitchen and is as follows:

Smoked Salmon and Quail’s Egg salad, with a glass of chardonnay.

45 minute gap

A nice pate on strips of toast with a little salad and a glass of Bordeaux

60 minute gap

Roast Pheasant, new tinned potatoes, Asparagus and broccoli with a glass of Burgundy

60 minute gap

A ready made sweet, usually a roulade with a glass of noble rot desert wine

60 minute gap

Cheese on soft French Bread and port to wash it down.

We normally have the first course around noon, and the rest during the afternoon.

Yes, it does cost quite a bit, as we do have good wines. But it is Christmas, and we do look forward to spending the day by ourselves.

This year it will be different, but the couple who have invited us are the kindest people we know, so to have refused would have been churlish and, anyway, it will be fun to have a change and share the day with friends.

But don’t forget, apart from phoning kith and kin on Saturday, phone someone you know who will be by themselves at home.

Andrew

Do you make phone calls?

When was the last time you dialed someone’s number?

I don’t know who you are, dear reader, but I would hazard a guess that you haven’t dialed anyone’s number for years! Or are you going to tell me you are one of the almost non-existant people who actually still have a rotary dialled phone.

After all, dial suggests rotary!

What do we say now, rather than, I dialled your number and got the engaged tone?

As we punch buttons now, should you say, I punched my Aunty Agnes last night?

Or I pressed young Sarah last week?

OK, OK, so what… I just felt like a rant this afternoon as my computer is giving me problems!

Andrew

Muslim language rights

I scanned this in from the below mentioned newspaper and offer it without any personal comment whatsoever.

From the Harrow Times, 16 December 2004:

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Dear Editor,

To deprive a Muslim child of his or her culture and language is a crime against humanity.

The British education system has been guilty of such a crime for the last 50 years.

The first wave of Muslims arrived here with three or four languages, including English, but the next generation, born and educated by native teachers, has been subjected to learning English in local accents, making them misfits not only in British society, but also in the whole world.

A Muslim is the citizen of this small glob-al village.

On top of that, they have been discouraged from learning Arabic and Urdu, cutting them off from their cultural roots.

They are unable to enjoy the beauty of Urdu literature and poetry, unable to have good communications with their parents and other elders.

All of them suffer from Identity crises, resulting in mental, emotional and social problems.

We have lost three generations and the fourth is in the process of loosing its linguistic, religious and cultural Identity.

Respect and tolerance of different religions, cultures and languages is essential for positive community cohesion.

The solution to all these problems is state-funded Muslim schools. Muslim parents should be given educational vouchers so that they could send their children to private Muslim schools.

There are already hundreds of state schools where Muslim pupils are in the majority. All such schools may be designated as “Muslim community schools”, under the control of Muslim educational trusts or charities, with bilingual Muslim teachers required to teach bilingual Muslim pupils from nursery level.

The first wave of Muslims used English as an economic language and still it is meant for earning bread and butter, not to be used as a social and emotional language.

But English could become the social and emotional language if Muslims start moving in and around pubs, night clubs and frequently changing partners.

This is what the British establishment wants them to do in order to become an integral part of British society.

Now, Muslim imams will need to show a basic command of spoken English before being allowed to enter the country to satisfy the spiritual needs of the Muslim community.

Imams from the sub-continent are already well versed in Urdu, Arabic, and Persian, on top of their mother tongues, Punjabi, Bengali or Gujarati and other regional languages.

Now they have to learn English as an extra burden.

Urdu is a social and emotional language of the Muslims from the sub-continent, and Arabic is their religious language.

They are in a better position to serve the Muslim community in Arabic and Urdu so that they could feel at home in an alien British society.

Iftikhar Ahmad

London School of Islamics

Margery Park Road

London, E7 9LD

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Andrew

Happy Christmas

I wish our readers a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

I refuse to be Politically Correct as I have a higher opinion of Jews, Moslems, Hindus and other religions than the Marxist idiots who invented political correctness to try and destroy Western individual thinking.

All intelligent ethnic minorities always have a good laugh at our expense at this time of year over the stupidity of the Anglos being too scared to celebrate their God. And, in all honesty, can you blame them?

And, talking about Political Correctness, please enjoy the following joke which has been around for a little time but perfectly illustrates my point above.

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FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: 4 November 2004

Christmas Party

I’m happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23rd, starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House.

There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We’ll have a small band playing traditional carols – please feel free to sing along. And don’t be surprised if the MD shows up dressed as Santa Claus!

A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00pm. Exchange of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over £10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone’s pockets.

This gathering is only for employees! The MD will make a special announcement at the Party.

Merry Christmas to you and your Family.

Pauline

FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: 5 November 2004

RE: Holiday Party

In no way was yesterday’s memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees. We recognise that Chanukah is an important holiday, which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However, from now on we’re calling it our “Holiday Party”.

The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians. There will be no Christmas tree or Christmas carols sung. We will have other types of music for your enjoyment.

Happy now?

Happy Holidays to you and your family.

Pauline

FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: 6 November 2004

RE: Holiday Party

Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous

requesting a non-drinking table – you didn’t sign your name. I’m happy

to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that reads,

“AA Only”; you wouldn’t be anonymous anymore!!!!!

How am I supposed to handle this?

Somebody?

Forget about the gift exchange. no gift exchange allowed now since

the Union Officials feel that £10.00 is too much money and Management

believe £10.00 is a little cheap.

NO GIFT EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.

Pauline

FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: 7 November 2004

RE: Holiday Party

What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20th begins the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim employees’ beliefs, perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party – or else package everything up for you to take home in a little foil doggy bag. Will that work?

Meanwhile, I’ve arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest from the dessert buffet and pregnant women will get the table closest to the toilets. Gays are allowed to sit with each other, Lesbians do not have to sit with gay men, each will have their own table.

Yes, there will be flower arrangements for the gay men’s table too. To the person asking permission to cross dress – no cross dressing allowed, but we will have booster seats for short people.

Low fat food will be available for those on a diet. We cannot control the salt used in the food we suggest those people with high blood pressure taste the food first.

There will be fresh fruits as dessert for Diabetics, the restaurant cannot supply “No Sugar” desserts. Sorrry!

Did I miss anything ?!?!?!?!

Pauline

FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director

TO: All F****** Employees

DATE: 8 November 2004

RE: The F****** Holiday Party

Vegetarian pricks I’ve had it with you people!!! We’re going to keep this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the “grill of death,” as you so quaintly put it, and you’ll get your f****** salad bar, including organic tomatoes. But you know tomatoes have feelings too. They scream when you slice them. I’ve heard them scream. I’m hearing them scream right NOW !!

I hope you all have a rotten holiday,

The Bitch from HELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FROM: John Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director

TO: All Employees

DATE: 9 November 2004

RE: Pauline Lewis and Holiday Party

I’m sure I speak for all of us in wishing Pauline Lewis a speedy recovery and I’ll continue to forward your cards to her.

In the meantime, the Management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and instead give everyone the afternoon of the 23rd December off with full pay.

Happy Holidays

John Bishop

Music on your computer

This is a short article I have written for the fuddy-duddies like me as, the younger amongst you, will have started doing this ages ago.

There is a plethora of programs that will enable you to move your CDs onto your computer and, if you really want to, it is very possible to use your computer to control your hi-fi system. I just want to get you started, and for no cost at first, so that you can make your own decisions on whether you want to go ahead and invest the huge amounts of time that this can mean.

Initially, there are four nice programs you can download off the Internet, and these programs are classed as freeware. This means that you do not have to pay anything, although some freeware authors like to receive a postcard and some invite donations of you like what you see,

The first thing you may want to do is to translate the types of files on your CDs into the types of files that your computer can easily read. There are many types of files but I won?t cloud the issue as, after all, this is about getting started. We will concentrate on MP3s.

MP3s are the most popular, they are also a lot smaller. Whereas CDs can contain, on an average, between 12 and 24 songs, the same CD filled with MP3s might well contain up to two hundred music files.

First of all, some terminology. Pulling off a song file on your music CD, into an MP3 file on your computer, is called “ripping”. So you will need a CD Ripper. A good “freeware” ripper is “CDex”. This is an ideal starter program and can be found at http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

Apart from Ripping your songs into MP3 files, it will look out, onto the Internet, to a site containing most CD information and collect the name of the singer and the title of each song. I won’t dwell on how this works as that is scope of another article. Suffice to say that people usually, when there is no details available, type them in manually, and forward the details to this site for others to benefit. It seems to work as there are few CDs that haven?t been covered. I like a lot of Afrikaans CDs and am always amazed that most of those are listed.

Once you have your MP3 files on your hard disk, all labelled neatly, you may want to get a “Tag Editor”. The one that I like is TagScanner, it is Russian and can be found at http://xdev.narod.ru/

When you first go to this site you may notice it is all in Russian. Don’t despair, look at the top right hand area of the site and you will see a button inviting you to go to the English section.

You may want to copy some music files to a temporary directory whilst you experiment with this program so as not to ruin any of your file titles. This program will enable you to make your collection very neat and accessible, but you can ignore it altogether if neatness and orderliness is not your scene, and you like to do a lot of manual typing.

Now you will want a program to play your MP3s on your computer. The “freeware version of WinAmp is ideal for this. It is now at version 5.x which, in my opinion, is the first version that really makes this program fun and easy to use. You can get it at http://www.winamp.com/ WinAmp is very popular and there are lots of plugins to get it to do different things. Forget the plugins initially as it will be easier then to get to know the basics.

Finally you will want to put your music onto CDs. Either as MP3s for playing on your computer, or as audio music files for playing on your audio hi-fi system. This is termed as “burning” but all it really means is saving on to a CD. An ideal free program to do this is called “Burn 4 Free” and this can be downloaded from http://www.burn4free.com/.

If you are one of the very few who are willing to invest in this art, you will find this article just the thing as your first stepping stone. On the other hand, this will prove the quickest way to convince you not to go ahead if your time is always at a premium.

I tend to steer a path in between the two schools of thought. Although I don’t have time to go into it all fully, I have found the following of use to both myself, and my wife.

When you buy a CD there are often only one or two songs you really like, sometimes only one. We have gone through our collections of hundreds of CDs saving just the song that we like, and then we made CDs all containing songs that we love very much. This makes life much easier and we tend to listen to our music much more than in the past.

I now have my collection to play when I am alone – all of which are favourites, and so does my wife Pam. We also have a collection of joint favourites we play when we are together.

Although it is “technically” illegal to do this – providing you don’t sell the originals – you could possibly win your case in a court of law as you have purchased the CD and would surely have a right to make backup copies but a solicitor could probably offer far better advice than this article could.

There are far better commercial programs out there and the reason I have chosen freeware is so that you can get started and see whether such a hobby is worth continuing.

Andrew Taylor.

Mobile Phones

(Or, you either love ‘em or hate ‘em)

Why aren’t they phones any more. I have a mobile phone and, yes, I agree all the extras are fun to use. But sometimes I think manufacturers are losing the plot.

I suppose, what with cameras attached, and now even video cameras, they are hoping to grab more of our disposable income by trying to persuade us to them mail them on via an MMS message. And you can surf the web.

Indeed, I have a program in my P900 that will collect the correct time in five different places and check the weather in five different places. That can be useful for three or four weeks a year for when I go on holiday! And also, of course, to businessmen living out of suitcases I suppose.

It also as the OAG full list of all flight times throughout the world. That might be useful to a businessman as well. But for most of us, we sit at home surfing the airlines and lastminute.com for special offer seats.

Also, I can download the latest currency (three only) so if I were flying to San Diego (my favourite American city) I could set the currency to £, $ and the Mexican Pesos.

Surfing the web? The only real use for this, apart from the above, would be to check departure times if I have missed my train or plane!

It is handy to have my diary on the phone I suppose. But only if, when I enter an appointment in my desktop, I remember to put all location details so I can check when I am out and about.

Then, of course, I list my expenses, to do list, passwords (with 128k encryption) and all sorts of other programs I downloaded one night in a frenzy!

But, even though I have talked myself into the opposite corner, I miss my old Motorola Timeport 250, which only made phone calls, life was so much easier then!

Andrew

What browser and e-mail client do you use?

Most of us know how unsecure Internet Explorer and Outlook are, and I quite understand that the Corporate market (and the larger SMEs) are reluctant to move away from the Microsoft platform. Especially when Outlook has calendar share amongst its offerings.

I initially moved from Internet Explorer to Opera which is a fine, and far more secure browser. I subsequently moved to Mozilla Firefox – not because I found Opera wanting in any way – but because I have decided to use Open Source software whenever I can – as long as the software is well tried and proven.

There is an extremely competent Mozilla e-mail program called Thunderbird. And I have had a lot of good reports on their spam filtering. As I use web e-mail (GMail by Google) I have no need for this program although I have downloaded and played with it. There is a calendar that can be used with it but to date it is not sufficient enough for the Corporate user to consider.

But there is no reason why the Corporate market needs to stay with the security bug ridden Internet Explorer. One e-mail site in Germany lists statistics and we have noticed that, on a month by month basis from 2002, users loging in using Firefox, Netscape or other Mozilla product have increased from around 7% up to 53% last month.

If you are an IT manager, look at firefox. There can be no conceivable reason why you could not incorpoate this as a choice for your users.

And in due course, probably more towards Q3 in 2005 when the calendar has evolved, you may also be able to consider Thunderbird. Unless, of course, that Microsoft manages to fix all the security leaks in their own products. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Andrew.

Written Goals

I have withdrawn this post as there seems to be doubt that Harvard actually conducted the test I had heard about.

I will repost if I come across evidence of the story is true.

Andrew

People have long memories.

I was looking at a Daily Telegraph questionnaire this morning. And in it they asked the public about Conservatives and their honesty. 20% thought the Conservatives were honest, 57% thought they weren’t honest and 24% said they didn’t know. Yes, I know they all add up to 101% but newspaper journalists aren’t so numerate as we specialist journalists!

Since Margaret Thatcher was kicked out, not by the public, but by the Tory high command, we have had Hague (Don’t be vague ask for – for anyone who remembers the whiskey adverts of the sixties). Then there was John Major – I had to think a bit before I could remember his name. He was closely followed by the twins, Ian & Duncan Smith (Thanks for that Paul Merton). Now there is someone with a bit of the night about him, as Ann Widdercombe once said, yes – Michael Howard. Four leaders of the opposition and they still can’t get things right.

I have a theory that the public still remember the nasty vicious way the Tories treated Margaret Thatcher after she had done so much for them!

I have friends across the whole political spectrum and even some of my rather leftish friends say they thought it was terrible the way she was dispatched. Even though they hated her like poison.

Even I thought she was getting on a bit but she should never be treated in such a way. I mean I wouldn’t even treat Portillo like that.

The last conservative I ever voted for was Margaret Thatcher. I was a young conservative in my youth, even a (bar) committee member! I had always been a conservative until that awful day when she left Downing Street for the last time.

My feelings now? I would never vote for any conservative again in this life. Not just because of that, but because, like labour, they have taken us deeper and deeper into the EU.

Andrew

People never read e-mails properly

Have you ever noticed how people never read e-mails? They used to be bad enough with letters, but now, with e-mails, it is almost impossible to get your message across.

I have developed a routine when writing e-mails. I have a paragraph at first stating what this e-mail is about. I then use CAPITAL letters as a one word caption to describe what I am saying. Finally I sum up with what action I want to take. I give as an example…

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Dear …

This e-mail is a request for information and I hope your sales department can answer my three questions below.

PREAMBLE

I hope to buy your super fur-lined widget over the next week or two.

QUESTION ONE

Please could you tell me what sort of fur you use???

QUESTION TWO

Please could you tell me whether there is a reduction for a quantity purchase of a dozen???

QUESTION THREE

I would like to pay for these items with an American Express credit card, please could you tell me whether you accept these cards???

ACTION TO TAKE

Please could you answer these questions and reply to me by e-mail. As soon as I have all the information I will consider placing my order.

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OK, I know you may think this is over the top, but it really works. I notice it works a little better if I add three question marks after each question.

For ordinary letters by e-mai, keep it to one sentence paragraphs as much as possible.

I try to use short paragraphs on this blog so as to make the material easy to read and digest.

If you lump all your questions together, your recipient will copy the practice of politicians and answer only the question they find the easiest.

I would like to thank PK for giving me the idea for this particulat blog.

Andrew

I’m not very bright…

I wish I was intelligent. You know, like our brilliant politicians.

Take for instance that ID cards would protect us from terrorism. We are told that if we had ID cards, then we would not have so much to fear and that, after 9/11, the only way our country can protect we citizens thoroughly is to issue every man and woman in this country an ID card.

I cannot see what they see, no matter how hard I try! Perhaps it is because visitors to our country, providing they are only going to stay for three months, are going to be excempt from carrying such cards.

I try to put myself in the same position as a terrorist. I would first put together a plan of action to bomb or let off gas or whatever. I would then travel to that country, do my dastardly deed and scarper back to whence I came, as soon as possible, preferably before the bomb or gas even goes off.

What I cannot understand is, how will ID cards help save us from the bomb or gas?

I am sure it will. I mean, our politicians wouldn’t lie to us… would they?

Andrew

Nice one, Machiavelli

Wise men say, and not without reason, that whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past, for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who have been, and ever will be, animated by the same passions, and thus they must necessarily have the same result.

It amazes me how soon politicians forget Machiavelli’s “oh, so true” philosophical statement above! And, how often they make the same mistakes as other politicians in the past.

Personally I am glad Blunkett’s resigned. Not because of what he has done as I secretly believe that although his “crime” is considered heinous amongst his peers, helping someone you love – at the time – providing that, in the order of things, it doesn’t amount to too much, isn’t as bad as some of the things politicians do. If Blunkett has to resign for doing what he has done, what should all the politicians who have sold our children’s inheritance to faceless bureaucrats in Brusssels do? Be shot at the Tower of London for treason? As an aside, it is interesting that Blair repealed that statutory death sentence as soon as he came to power!

It is not because he is Labour – from a government who squeeze the pips out of individuals and small companies by hidden taxes which deplete our standard of living and take us to war without a well thought out plan to fight the peace afterwards.

It is because of his using the excuse of 9/11 to bring in ID cards, something totally un-British, through the back door, in the guise of protecting us from terrorists!. Especially when, if the USA had ID cards, it wouldn’t have affected the terrorists who were involved with 9/11 in the slightest. They were all over there in a legal capacity and would have been issued documentation by the American authorities.

Machiavelli, in his statement, was referring to the longer term past history of countries but when Blunkett reflects in his woe, he will come to learn that perhaps Machiavelli’s statement can refer to the shorter term past history as well.

Andrew

One more for the road.

By now, some of you may have realised that I have an affinity with South Africa. An Afrikaans friend from Wellington (Cape) shared this with me the other day and, in turn, I would like to share it with you.

We are perhaps more philosophical about are politicians than you are over here

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Minister of Public Works Stella Sigcau wanted to remodel her office, so she invited different contractors for tenders. One was from Johannesburg, one from Durban and the last one from Soweto.

“OK gentlemen, nice job I want,” She said, “Let’s hear from Joburg?”

The guy took out his ultrasonic measuring device and tablet computer and began measuring, scrawling on the computer, calculating.

Eventually: “R90, 000, Madam Minister,” he said.

“That seems like quite a lot of money! Why R90,000?”

“You see,” he replied, “that’s R40, 000 for material, R40, 000 for my guys and R10, 000 for my profit”.

Stella seemed OK with that and turned to the Durban contractor.

“So how much do want to do the job?” she asked.

The Durban fella took out a rusted tape measure, broken clipboard and a blunt pencil. He took some measurements, scratched some calculations on the back of his Rothmans 30s box and came up with a figure of R70,000.

“That’s interesting!” Said Stella. “Explain the R70,000?”

“Simple, Madam Minister, I got a brother-in-law in the hardware trade, so that’s R30,000 for materials, R30,000 for me, and R10,000 for my profit and all.”

Stella was amused but happy to accept the explanation. Then she asked the Soweto contractor for his quotation.

He just smiled, looked the minister in the eyes and said, “R270,000!”

“Yoh Yoh Yoh!… How did you come to that amount without even taking your measurements? What is that amount for?”

“That’s R100,000 for me & R100,000 for you!”

“So what about the remaining R70,000?”

“We hire that guy from Durban to do the job!!!”.

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Ah! Whoever said South Africa is a third world country, anything your politicians can do, ours can do better!

Andrew.

Time Manager

When most of my readers suddenly woke up one day and the new buzzword was Filofax, I had already spent decades in this area.

As far back as the sixties I was an agent for Filofax, when they were operating out of a small printers called Sun in a road leading off Finsbury Square in Moorgate.

They used a “British Monomarks” address, BCM Filofax. British Monomarks have moved three times since then but are still in Holborn where they started.

Anyway as I progressed in business, so did I progress to using Time Manager diaries. These were expensive but, in the middle of the diaries are their “Key Areas”. This is the very heart of the TMI system. You have nine areas to organise your life in, each area must not overlap. For example:

1 Promotion of your business, or yourself within your employment

2 Financial matters

3 General administration

4 – geared to your particular business

5 – geared to your particular business

6 Health and fitness

7 Bettering yourself – courses, reading, tapes etc.

8 Friends and acquaintances

9 Family, relatives and very close friends.

0 There is an addition sector for you to add new ideas to progress

Care has to be taken so that (a) the above categories cover all the things in your life, and (b) nothing overlaps from one sector to the other.

The idea is, once a week you have a meeting with yourself (get used to strange terminology here) for half an hour, and you go through your “Key Areas” adding things that need or should be done. When this is done, you then transfer each item into your diary and schedule the tasks that need to be accomplished. You can buy the diary software which will do the movement from the Key Areas to your diary pages and print out the pages.

Now I am coming to the point of my story.

The owner of Time Manager originally made the first one up for himself to use. Friends and business acquaintances asked him to make one for them. This gave him the idea to go into business. He started in 1975 and within a decade had offices in 45 countries. One day his wife told him she wanted a divorce. It was on a Friday. He said, let me think about it and we’ll talk at the end of the weekend. He thought. He pondered, and on the Sunday said he would start monthly meetings where they would sit down, take minutes and discuss everything about the home, his business, her social life, even bring the kids in half way through so they could air their problems.

He said if, after six months, she still wanted a divorce, then he’d agree. (They were Scandinavian.) She said, that’s OK. And that is what they did. Twenty years later, I believe they are still happily married.

During the eighties my wife and I did the same thing and, although we work in the same office together, spend 90% of our social life together, and sleep in the same bed together, we never argue or have an angry word for each other.

Try it, you’ll like it!

E-Mail me if you would like a sample Agenda. Ours is complex and runs to more than a page but may be useful to help you draw your own up.

The link below takes you to Time Manager International’s website.

Andrew

Minolta Digital SLR

Finally got the replacement camera, after sending the earlier one back because the flash wouldn’t synchronise. Guess what? I took the new camera out of the box, charged up the battery, set the time and date, put a CF card in the slot, and took a flash picture.

Yup! The flash didn’t work. I phoned up and caused a flurry of calls between the shop and Minolta and they couldn’t understand it as they hadn’t any returns other than mine.

So I thought I had better go through the setup and the custom setup, to see if I could find a solution.

I had purchased a body only and Minolta had set the damn thing up to work with D-Lenses (Digital Lenses). These are brand new lenses and are only just appearing on the market. You would have thought Minolta would have set it up for the majority of users! Or at least had a sticker on the manual cover warning of this.

Even the Minolta rep seemed surprised!

Anyway it is now working well and I am spending this week in testing all aspects of it.

Once I have tested the famous Minolta Anti-Shake system I will report back to the blog.

Anti-shake is useful in two areas. One, it enables you to hold the camera with large telephoto lenses and fire at a slower speed than you would normally have to if you wanted sharp pictures. Three stops down in fact – which is an enormous help to the sports or news photographer. For example, if you have a 600mm Telephoto lens, you may have to fire at a 500th of a second normally. Now, with anti-shake, you can reduce that to a 60th of a second.

The second area is, if you are an old codger like me, who likes his brandy and Jack Daniels, you will find you probably shake a little more than most. Using a standard lens I would have to hold the camera at 125th of a second. Now I can hold at a 30th and get a sharp picture , and that is only two stops!

I will get back to you when I have tested it thoroughly.

Andrew

Going to Brussels?

We recently spent four days in Brussels and there were only two watering holes to write home about. But these were exceptional and superior waterning holes!

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The first place was La Belle Maraichére, located near the Brussels old fish market in the Sinte Kathelijneplaats (Number 11A).

The outside is most off-putting – run down and in need of paint work – but once you go through the scruffy portals, it is a palace, and you will find only locals eating there as the seedy exterior is there to put off tourists and politicians. The upstairs part of the restaurant is smaller but more intimate even though it has those huge old-fashioned high ceilings.

Although owned by Flems, the style is most decidedly French, as is the cuisine. The wine list is extensive and is in two parts. The first is for fairly high priced wines and the other is for very highly priced fine wines.

This is a fish restaurant and was the best place we have eaten in, whether in Belgium or France, over the years. The flesh just fell off the bones and apart from being lovely and tender, extremely well cooked and with beautiful spices, it was of the best quality.

Telephone numbers Vox +32-2-512.97.59 and Fax +32-2-513.76.91

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The Delirium café is in the Impasse de la Fidelité (Number 4A but it is a very short cul-de-sac) right in the centre of Brussels, close to the Grande Place.

A lovely basement bar which is very cheerful. Almost empty at lunchtime, with a beautiful Flemish manageress who was most helpful.

With 2,004 beers, (next year it will be 2,005) we found it easier to ask her to choose.

Say something like “I want a Belgian lager, and not a wheat beer, size 25cl, preferably not more than 5% proof.” or 7% or 10% or higher than 12% – yes they do have them!!!

Or as I did, “Please may I have a South African lager, in a 330ml bottle, with a minimum of 5% alcohol” - she brought me four!

Or “I would like a Danish beer, 330cl, at around 7% proof”. I am sure you get the message. She will then go out and return with three or four for you to choose.

Can’t do that in the evenings as it gets pretty crowded. But if you do your research at Lunchtime, it won’t be a problem. They do have a menu of beers and genevers, these are, as you can imagine, huge books and take a lot of ploughing through!

By the way, if you think 2,004 beers are a lot, they also have up to 80 guest beers at any one time. They have British beers, but what a waste to drink those at this cafe!

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We stayed at the Crowne Plaza. The restaurant was very nice, but not nice enough to write about on my blog. But we were very comfortable there and they did the usual four star three choice breakfast. A full “English” cooked breakfast, a plate of cold meats and cheese or a fruit salad – lots of things to choose from each choice. I confess, I had all three, each day!

Andrew

Wrong sort of radio waves!

Readers will immediately recognise a London Underground (The Tube) bulletin from these headlines.

The problem at the moment… well, let the article speak for itself… (OCR’d in) The paragraph emphasis are mine. The newspaper was The Hendon & Finchley Times – 9th December edition.

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Tube radio interference

The Northern Line lived up to its “Misery Lane” billing this week as commuters put up with a severely disrupted service caused by defective radios.

Worse still, neither London Underground (LUL) nor Tube Lines (the company charged with the task of improving the line) could say when the service will be back to normal again. LUL has been running 80 per cent of the normal service, but advises passengers to use an alternative route.

An LUL spokeswoman said the delays have been caused by the failure of the radios in the drivers’ cabs, which link the trains with the control centre. She said: “The train radios have failed in the train cabs, but train operators can still commnicate with Northern Line control through the tunnel tram radio system. However, for safety reasons, this means that the train operator must have another person in there in case they collapse or become incapacitated.”

As a result of the disruption, all High Barnet trains run to Morden via Bank, while all Edgware trains terminate at Kennington via Charing Cross. The LUL spokeswoman said: “It is the most reliable way to operate so there are fewer gaps in the service and to make the trains as frequent as we can.”

pstebbings@ Iondon.newsquest.co.uk

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Ah well, it’s lucky I work from home – but I still have to go into the West End or the Ciry each week!

Andrew

Visiting Cape Town?

Here are two of the best restaurants in the region.

First is “Panama Jacks” Restaurant, a former boatyard and now a landmark restaurant of global acclaim, presents an enticing array of the some of the best seafood in the region, including live langoustine and lobster (choose your own), prawns, mussels, oysters, line fish and more.

They are located in Duncan Docks. This is not the waterfront but a fully working cargo docks. The restaurant is best approached by car or taxi. The address: 2nd Road Left after The Royal Yacht Club, Table Bay Harbour, Cape Town 8001

Patrons have rated this restaurant five points out of five and they are open during the weekdays and Sundays from noon and Saturdays from 6:30 pm

Telephone: Vox 021 4481080 Fax: 021 4475471

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If you decide to travel to Stellenbosch, which is about 45 kilometres East of Cape Town you can vitit my favourite restaurant in the whole of South Africa. This is the “De Volkskombuis” (direct translation is “The People’s Kitchen”) Restaurant which specialises in traditional Cape cuisine, in authentic Cape Dutch surroundings.

Established in 1977, this restaurant became well known for their excellent cuisine with a comprehensive selection of fine wines from an award-winning winelist.

Dawid and Christelle Kriel, are the new generation of this family business. They manage the restaurant with meticulous attention to detail and real Cape hospitality.

Specialities, such as Bobotie, “Waterblommetjiebredie” (Water Lilly), Meraai’s Chicken pie and Karoo Lamb have been favourites on the menu over the years. The chef, Dawid Kriel, adds new world ideas and styles to his special menu to offer patrons a greater variety of options.

They have a comprehensive selection of fine wines from an award-winning winelist. Take your pick of many high quality wines, by the glass if you are driving. They have included Food and Wine matching suggestions throughout the menu, please keep in mind that these are subjective and that there are no set rules to follow. As an added attraction they have wine tastings of great local wines every evening at your table. We look forward having you as our guests.

Visit de Oewer Riverside Food and Wine Garden at the same address. Situated on the banks of the Eerste River. De Oewer offers ‘al Fresco’ meals and a variety of Barbeque menus in a relaxed atmosphere under the oak trees. Sparkling wine breakfasts, wine tastings or theme events can be held in the wonderful Cape sunshine or around the warmth of the open hearth with good food and fine wines.

Also at the same address is the Red Pepper Deli, with chef Marlé Fourie, and offers a variety of freshly prepared gourmet dishes and deli products.

Sir Herbert’s Wine Cottage is also in the Red Pepper Deli. Here you can find a variety of top quality wines from the region, at the best prices. Gifts and wine accessories to enhance any connoisseur’s collection are available. They will even safely pack and efficiently deliver your purchase to any worldwide destination.

They are in the Aan de Wagen Road, Stellenbosch Telephone – Vox: 021 883 9119 and Fax: 021 883 3413, their e-mail address is mail@volkskombuis.co.za

Next April when we spend three weeks in the region I may even come back with another good watering hole.

Andrew

Sobering thoughts!

Christmas is coming, and all minds are probably concerned with thinking and planning for this festive occasion. But, it is a Sunday and whether you are religious or not, Sundays should also be concerned with sobering thoughts of the well-being of one’s friends and loved ones.

I have put together some quotes for you to muse upon before we enter 2005. What will the new year bring, in terms of our personal freedom. Whatever it brings, you – as an individual – have the power to do what you want to do, to do what you need to do, to do what you must do!

Winston Churchill once said: “If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.” Many of our readers are too old to fight. If, like me, you don’t have children, perhaps you may be luckier in the long run – I sincerely hope not.

General “Goerge” Patton, that swashbuckling American general with two .45′s slung from his hip, once said: “It is certain that the two World Wars in which I have participated would not have occurred had we been prepared. It is my belief that adequate preparation on our part would have prevented or materially shortened all our other wars beginning with that of 1812. Yet, after each of our wars, there has always been a great hue and cry to the effect that there will be no more wars, that disarmament is the sure road to health, happiness, and peace; and that by removing the fire department, we will remove fires. These ideas spring from wishful thinking and from the erroneous belief that wars result from logical processes. There is no logic in wars. They are produced by madmen. No man can say when future madmen will reappear. I do not say that there will be no more wars; I devoutly hope that there will not, but I do say that the chances of avoiding future wars will be greatly enhanced if we are ready.”

Sun Tzu aeons ago, said: “When the leader is morally weak and his discipline not strict, when his instructions and guidance are not enlightened, when there are no consistent rules. Neighboring rulers will take advantage of this.”

Our arch-enemy of the past, Adolph Hitler once said: “The broad mass of a nation will more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one. The greater the lie, the greater chance that it will be believed. All epoch-making events have been produced not by the written, but the spoken word.” What has changed since the early forties? Nothing!

I remember Aristotle, back in my youth, saying: “Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.” Was this the real reason Blair deprived the ordinary citizen of their arms? He certainly doesn’t seem worried about the criminals having them, does he?

And Aesop said: “We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.” How appropriate in this day and age.

Cato was born Marcus Porcius Priscus but, due to his abilities as a skillful orator, he became known as Marcus Porcius Cato. In one of his plays, he wrote: “Is there not some chosen curse, Some hidden thunder in the stores of Heaven, Red with uncommon wrath to blast the man, Who owes his greatness to his country’s ruin?” Whose name springs to mind here? Not just the one I would hazzard!

Finally, from Brock Chisholm, a man who should know, wrote, when director of UN World Health Organisation: “To achieve One World Government it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, their loyalty to family traditions and national identification.” Oh so right, who amongst you cannot recognise modern day Britain here?

A bit of a long blog here, but I hope it gives just a little food for thought. There is the possibility that none of these people really knew what they were talking about, of course. But you don’t really believe that, do you?

Andrew

New counter from "Amazing Counters"

I put in a new counter at 2pm today. This one claims not to do pop-ups but just has an unobtusive advert (one line in about 8 point type) underneath the counter.

The counter is right at the bottom of the main blog page and only works with unique visitors; so it should give a more true rendering of visitors numbers than the last one.

Andrew

You can’t trust the Russians

Our errant reporter smuggled his cellphone camera into Chelsea’s football grounds yesterday, and captured on film – or at least into his cellphone – irrefutable proof of the real reason why Chelsea have been doing so well lately.

It seems they have been cheating. Our reporter photographed two “behind the scenes” members of the Chelsea team during a practice match and, yes – you can see it with your own eyes – they move the goal posts in the opposite direction to the opposing team players as they come storming down the pitch towards Chelseas goal!

Andrew

Sony-Ericsson

I have had a P900 mobile phone from these people since September.

I wrote a nice letter to their Marketing Manager saying that the screen was slightly worn owing to a damaged stylus – which was only slightly damaged so it wasn’t noticed at first.

I also mentioned that there was constant trouble connecting the phone to my computer and I had to keep rebooting the computer before the link would work. This has gone on since new.

I also mentioned that, two or three times a day the phone would either seize up and I would have to remove the battery for a few seconds and turn it on again – or that the phone would just turn itself off.

I suggested that, as there was so much wrong with such a new phone, a replacement was in order!

But all I got back was :

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Thank you for taking the time to highlight these experiences with your

P900. I can only express my disappointment that your experience of a

Sony Ericsson handset has been less than satisfactory.

I cannot advise as to whether The Carphone Warehouse would offer a

replacement unit (that is really a question for a member of The Carphone

Warehouse Team once they have seen the unit and not Sony Ericsson

directly). However, I will ask my colleague Ron Tucker (Sony Ericsson

After Sales Manager) to advise you of the after sales routes that Sony

Ericsson offers to all of its customers.

In the meantime, I would suggest that the most expedient course of

action, given your circumstances, would be to return your handset to the

store from where it was purchased (in this instance, Tottenham Court

Road) and highlight your experiences to them.

I regret that I cannot provide anymore direct assistance than this, but

hope that you will continue to be ‘delighted’ with the P900.

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Maybe I am misreading this but, to me, it seems cold and aloof and rather “snotty”. If this is the way they treat (IT &) Comms jounalists, God help the general public.

However, I have learned one thing from my experience, not to buy a Sony-Ericsson phone again.

If you think I have misread the letter, or my reaction to it should have been stronger, please comment below.

Andrew.

Comments on this Blog

Just to say that I have altered the conditions of postings so that people can comment without having to register.

Just click on Comment and then on the Anonymous Radio Button.

Pop-up menus

I have some little aids from Braveheart but have noticed that they are producing pop-up menus.

However, I am going to presume that you all hate pop-ups as much as I do so I am going to dismantle them and, as from noon today, there should be no more ugly popups.

The counter will go, but it is not really necessary as I have seen that I have had 237 visitors since the 4th of this month – so I must be doing something right.

The voting will go, and also the “tell-a-friend”.

I will try and find a counter that doesn’t give pop-ups, but I will only find out by trial and error.

If you get popups again, please e-mail me and let me know.

Andrew

‘In praise of folly’ written in 1507 by Erasmus

Here is some homework for readers of my blog. Your task is to read the work below and, using the comments option, say whether you agree or disagree with Erasmus and give your reasons.

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Since the human race insists upon being completely crazy; Since everybody from the pope down to the humblest of village priests; From the richest of men, to the most miserable of paupers; From the fine lady in her silks and satins, down to the slut in her calico dressing-gown. Since the whole world has set its ‘GOD’ given brain, but insists upon letting itself be entirely guided by its greed, its vanity, its arrogance and its ignorance.

Why in the name of a reasonable Deity should the few truly intelligent people waste so much of their time and effort in trying to change the human race into something it never wanted to be. Let them be happy in their follies. Do not deprive them of that which gives them more satisfaction than anything else! Their sovereign power to make utter fools of themselves!

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OK, now for your comments, click on the Comments button below…

Andrew

Why, after six ISPs, I settled, and stayed with,CIX.

I originally started e-mailing on the Internet way back in 1986 when, through a BBS account with Mission Impossible, affectionally known in those days as mish, or Miss Imp, I had access to the Internet.

Naturally, when our home grown Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web, I took to that like a duck takes to water.

Over the years I have experimented with Gopher, E-Mail, News Groups and the Web. Gopher was fine but for quick assistance, I found News Groups an ideal way of finding information in a hurry. The web took a long time to come of age, and as it did, many of the wrong sort of people started inhabiting News Groups and flame wars developed with filthy language and uncouth manners. In addition, people wrote software which trawled the news groups collecting e-mails for spamming purposes.

Between 1997 and 2000 I experimented with lots of e-mail providers. The free ones and the paying ones and one day I discovered CIX. Since I opened an account with CIX it has been my main e-mail provider ever since.

There are two parts to ones subscription to CIX. The first part is the same as most other ISPs provide – e-mail and access to newsgroups.

It is the second part which enraptured me and caught my imagination. The best way to describe it is to give an overall picture and then describe what I manage to get out of it.

Conference System.

There are over 10,000 conferences on CIX. Half of them are completely hidden and are private conferences between groups and companies, used, quite often, for inter-communications and brainstorming.

The rest are visible and half of the remainder can be joined instantly, whilst the other half restrict your joining until you have e-mailed the moderator and requested entry. Often you have to prove you have a good reason for wanting to join. For example I had to prove I was a journalist for the hacks conference.

I can hear many of you actually saying, “So what, that’s what we have newsgroups for.” I hear you, but believe me, CIX is totally different. For one thing you can’t have private and restricted access newsgroups. And another if you spam a CIX conference you get quickly removed by the moderator and, if you persevere, by the owners of CIX. Bad language is frowned upon. And, what is more important, because you are all part of a closed community, people are friendlier and more willing to help one another.

There are conferences for just about every type of computer hardware and peripherals, and also for software as well. There are conferences for photographers, Skype Users, Mobile Phone users, hardware owners (specif) and software owners (also specific) to name but a few. And remember, there are around five thousand of them, and over a thousand different topics of interest.

There is a noticeboard where you can send a short postcard up, for example, asking whether anyone knows of good restaurants in Cape Town as you are going there on holiday (“Panama Jacks” is a good one). Literally within minutes replies will start rolling in to your e-mail address! And a PC Noticeboard where you can advertise for help on a specific computer matter. There is an active auction conference where I have sold many of my possessions no longer needed. And bought others!

I wanted to join a conference for business brainstorming but couldn’t find one. I put a notice up on the noticeboard conference and within half an hour got enough messages to assure myself that this could be a success. I downloaded extra “conference moderator” software and set up my conference. Within twenty-four hours there were a dozen of us ready and able to help each other with brainstorming ideas.

A group of Cixen (name given for people on Cix) started up an Internet business, all drawn from a single notice up on the noticeboard conference!

The cost?

For unlimited access through the telephone lines it is £15 a month for both ISP and conferencing, although occasional users can get in for half that price. The company has recently been purchased by Pipex but don’t seem to be wanting to end the conference facilities. If they did, they would decimate their income over night.

You can now enjoy web based conferencing for around £7.50 a month if you don’t want to use the ISP facilities.

I will post the link for the Pipex page to subscribe to Cix as an ISP later, as a comment. Meanwhile follow the link below for the online conferencing.

Andrew.

The Union Jack

Why is it that if Americans rally around their flag and country it is considered a natural thing to do and that they are being patriotic.

Why is it that when Frenchmen talk, nearly every fifth word seems to be France, but that is considered alright and that they are considered patriotic.

Why is it that whenever anyone in Britain rallies around the flag or dares to say “The United Kingdom is terrific!” they get accused of Xenophobia and of doing something that should only be done by adults in their own home.

The look of horror on our accusers face couldn’t be worse than if they had caught us having sex with a parrot!

Andrew

Psion Netbook vs Sony PCG-141C

I purchased both a Psion Netbook (£899) and a Sony PCG-141C (£1449) and ran with both of them for two years before deciding to put pen to paper or, in the modern idiom, fingers to keyboard.

They both have a place in the hierachy of things and any comparison could be subjective. I know which I prefer so I will try to keep my preferences until the end of the ‘conclusions’ section.

The major advantage of the Psion is its touch-screen operation which makes it exceedingly fast to find your way around. The major advantage of the Sony is that it is fully Windows compatible and will run practically all the programs you can run on your desktop – subject, of course, to memory.

Both machines have a PCMCIA slot for a network card or modem and will both access the Internet – both e-mail and web.

Support

Trying to get efficient action out of Sony is no different to trying to get efficient action out of Psion!

Differences

The size/weight ratio of each machine is pretty similar.

Batterywise the Psion has an advantage in that it will last approximately seven hours between charges and the Sony only two hours, if you are lucky.

To run from cold, and then to load and run, at the same time, a diary, word processor and database on the Sony took just under 300 seconds seconds whereas to do the same with the Psion took less than 3 seconds.

The Sony has a hybernation mode but the Psion doesn’t need it. I will explain. After turning the Sony to hybernation mode, and just turning the Psion off, I waited a minute or so and turned both back on. After pressing the “unhybernate” key on the Sony, it took 115 seconds to warm up. After turning the Psion on, it took 1/10th of a second (or less) to come on line. Both had, of course, the diary, word processing program and database up and running.

Other features of each.

Sony

This is a fully fledged computer although it has rather a squashed screen. I found it particularly useful building up my new website when out and about as I never seemed to have time to do it at home.

Floppy drives and CDROM drives are optional extra’s and would be required if one wasn’t going to network this with your desktop. The price above didn’t include these as they were not needed. However I did need to buy a Network card so I could network it with my desktop.

Psion

This uses the EPOC operating system and, although it is not Windows compatible, it does comes with Windows software which, when connected to your desktop, will automatically transfer data in the Windows data style that you require.

One can load a number of data files with each program and a single tap on the program icon will move between data files. This is extremely useful if working on several reports or spreadsheets at any one time.

Because it is so quick to start, you can set the Psion to auto-turn off if on battery to any time from one minute. Three minutes is an ideal time I find. One can buy a docking station for the Psion which makes it easier to attach to a desktop.

Conclusion

If you really need a Windows portable, or want something you can take to a conference to run Powerpoint files into a projector, then the Sony is a must. But if you travel a lot and need to keep up to date with your reports or want instant access to your diary or contact database – and I mean instant access – then the Psion should be a serious consideration.

As for my personal preferences – I have sold my Sony PCG-141C and still use my Psion Netbook.

Now, if some kind reader, with lots of money, would like to buy me a new Psion Windows CE Netbook, I’d be a very happy bunny.

Andrew

Journalism and Truth

I came across this in a very old magazine and, although a journalist myself, I recognise an element of truth here – so the old saying of “whatever happens across the Pond, happens here eventually” has an element of truth in it. This was written in the fifties but time has not changed the facts!

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John Swinton, the former chief of staff of the “New York Times,” called by his peers, “the dean of his profession”, was asked in 1953 to give a toast before the New York Press Club.

He responded with the following statement:

“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print.”

“I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.”

“The business of the Journalist is to destroy truth; To lie outright; To pervert; To vilify; To fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals for rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men.”

“We are intellectual prostitutes.”

Other journalists who may disagree with me may comment below, but do bear in mind that he was probably only referring to newspaper journalists. At least I like to think so!

And the Lord saw, and was saddened

One day in heaven, the Lord decided he would visit the earth and take a stroll.

Walking down the road, the Lord encountered a man who was crying. The Lord asked the man, “Why are you crying, my son?” The man said that he was blind and had never seen a sunset. The Lord touched the man and he could see and he was happy.

As the Lord walked further, he met another man crying and asked, “Why are you crying, my son?” The man was born a cripple and was never able to walk. The Lord touched him and he could walk and he was happy.

Farther down the road, the Lord met another man who was crying and asked, “Why are you crying, my son?” The man said, “Lord, I work for the EU” …

…and the Lord sat down and cried with him.

Ist Emperor of the United States

Joshua Norton – proclaimed the “1st Emperor of the US and Grand Protector of Mexico”

Joshua Norton was born in England, brought up in South Africa and then went to the USA, as I did. But there the similarity ends.

This is the most amazing story ever. And, when you read the information on this site you will not believe a word of it! However, I have researched this and can assure you it is true.

Even the BBC has covered his story in the past and you can find information on their website.

A search in Google for “Joshua Norton” will produce so many links I suggest you set Google for returning 100 results at a time! At the end of this very good precis is a link to the main Norton site.

There is a link below but, as this is a mirror site, and the original site is now defunct, I am not sure how long you will be able to travel there.

Andrew

Edward Burroughs 1659

“We are not for names, nor men, nor titles of Government, nor are we for this party nor against the other but we are for justice and mercy and truth and peace and true freedom, that these may be exalted in our nation, and that goodness, righteousness, meekness, temperance, peace and unity with God, and with one another, that these things may abound.”

Edward Burroughs, 1659 – from ‘Quaker Faith and Practice’

Speech given by Liz Milton

A speach from an ex-Pat a decade after her return to Blighty and the disgust she felt at what was happening in our country. The speach was made at a UK Independence Party London rally, London School of Economics Saturday 1st February 1997

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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the launch of the General Election Campaign for the UK Independence Party in London. My name is Liz Milton – I’m chairman of the Brent and Camden branch.

Sir Winston Churchill said in 1956 “If Britain must choose between Europe and the open sea, she must always choose the open sea.”

It is now our job to see that the electorate are given that chance! I have very mixed emotions this afternoon. I feel such sadness for the state this country is in. I still find it difficult to believe we have actually needed to form a new political party to protect British independence.

I have a deep and burning anger for the deception our political leaders have, and are continuing to practise. They dare not tell us exactly what they plan, for they know the British people would reject it. I feel such anger that our paid representatives have given away so much of our heritage, without our permission. It was not theirs to give. Yet they continue to do so, and insult us by pretending they can actually do something about it – that they are “winning the arguments” but that progress can only be made if we stay in the heart of Europe.” What rubbish!

But most of all, I feel tremendous pride that, once again, the British spirit will triumph, and ordinary people though we are, we, in this Party, have the grit and the backbone to stand up for what we believe and to put the British interest first.

My family lived abroad for many years, and returned to the UK in the mid 80′s. I soon realised that tremendous changes had taken place in this land that I had known and loved.

Directives? What were they? They certainly didn’t sound very British! And the Collins dictionary definition did nothing to reassure me. A directive is an instruction that must be obeyed, for example the EEC directive forced the Government to act!

When I asked friends and family when we had agreed to be ruled by Brussels, the answer was “we haven’t”.

When I asked what directives were yet to come, no-one seemed to know!

When I asked “what are we doing about it?” the answer was always “What can we do?”

I often felt totally helpless and frustrated at what was being imposed and sometimes to the astonishment of my family, would yell at the TV or radio news.

Clearly, the media had been heavily influenced with regard to EC, now EU, matters. I found that deeply disillusioning, particularly the EEC part, as like many others living abroad, we had thought the EEC above reproach. They’re still at it – did you see Panorama last Monday evening? I voted at the last General Election with a heavy heart. I have never been particularly interested in politics, but I’ve always known who I wanted to vote for. It was a dreadful moment when I reallised that there was not a party I really felt I could support – no party was going to give me, or anyone else the chance to have a say on the European issue. All absolutely deliberate, of course. How could this happen in a democracy?

Considering it the duty of a loyal subject to vote, I watched the political broadcasts for the 1994 Euro elections, really trying to work out which party was the least of the evils. Well – suddenly I was yelling at the TV – “Yes, this is what I’ve been waiting for, there are other people out there who think like I do”. Thank you Alan [Sked**]. You have no idea what that short broadcast meant to me.

Now, as we approach the election, we know the issue of Europe will be sidelined again by the three main parties. Yet Europe is the single most “Issue” – the only issue. We are faced with a daunting task – are we equal to it? Of course we are.

We know the people of this country have the right to decide their future and we will given them back that right, which others have tried to take away. Madam Speaker may try to defend the honour of MPs – there is more honour here this afternoon than has been in the Palace of Westminster for decades.

To quote Chris Booker at Conference: “We are an army on the march and at last we have the chance to change the political force of this country. Let’s meet some of the people who have the courage to stand as candidates at the next election…

** Dr Alan Sked, a senior lecturer at the LSE was the founder of the UK Independent Party. He has since left the party and now fully supports the Conservative Party in the mistaken belief that they want to leave the EU.

Cape Malay Curried Shrimps

This is one of the tastiest meals to come out of the Cape. It is ideal both as an hors d’oevre or as a main course.

250 grams shrimps — Equally good with prawns, or nearly as good with small pieces of white fish

1/2 tablespoon Butter

1 small onion; chopped

1/8 cup raisins

1 clove garlic; crushed

1 Chilli; finely chopped — preferably not very hot for this particular dish

1/2 tablespoon ginger; grated

1/2 each chicken cube; crushed

1 teaspoon curry powder — Try to get Rajah Mild & Spicy from a South African shop near you…

1/2 cup coconut milk (canned) — Or dry (in block form) at a pinch.

2 each spring onions; chopped

– - – - – - – - – - – - -

1 cup of rice

1 banana; sliced

1 tablespoon peanuts — This can be left off but best included

1/4 mango; finely chopped

• Melt butter over medium heat, add onions and cook until light brown.
• Add raisisns, garlic, ginger, chilli, chicken cube, curry and salt and stir until fragrant.
• Add coconut milk and allow to simmer.
• Thicken sauce if necessary.
• Add shrimps, cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in spring onions and serve with rice and garnish.

Yields two servings — Preparation Time: fifteen to 20 minutes

My other half

I got a nice e-mail this morning from a very, very friendly man!!! He was very, very polite but I think it is time to introduce my wife Pam!

Pam is a little younger then me, Four years to be precise. She has a lovely job which is what I shall tell you about.

But before, Pam, in the sixties, armed with nine ‘O’ levels attended a well known (at that time) secretarial college called “The Triangle” in South Molton Street.

During her early years she worked in advertising and, at one time, was David Puttnam’s secretary. Later on in life Pam worked in the City, for about ten years, for a management consultancy which dealt with banks and building societies.

Then the company was taken over and morale went down the chute. All but one of the staff left and formed their own company in the year 2000.

It was decided that everyone would work from home and, apart from an increased salary, everyone got an extra annual amount (Pam’s was £5,000) because of the money saved in not having offices. From Pam’s point of view, she also gained ten hours extra free time a week, and the cost of her monthly underground ticket!

Then the company put in broadband which is available for both of us.

Once a week they try to have a team meeting although when busy this slips to one a fortnight. Also they are always having conference calls which is nice if you are stuck at home.

Whenever anyone goes out, they redirect the lines to their mobiles so are always in touch with clients without the clients having to ring a myriad of numbers.

Pam’s number is the “head office”. And she is very conscientious. Once when work was quiet I caught her reading a book sitting at her desk in our office. “Sit in an easy chair in the lounge” I said. But she wouldn’t do that because she thought it wasn’t right!

At home we have a built in office (built by Sharp’s) which was built into the spare bedroom (that was too small to have a double bed in). We work together, me with my journalism and her with her company, often eight hours a day, and then we spend the next sixteen hours together. And, would you believe it? We don’t fight and hardly ever even bicker.

Once or twice a week Pam goes off to a hall where, although not taught, many people paint still life together. I have the occasional political meeting with the UK Independence Party, but apart from that we seem to be together all the time, without getting on each others nerves.

Weird, isn’t it?

Andrew

My friend in Nottingham…

No, not Keith – I actually have two friends in Nottingham.

This is John. John used to be in the Rhodesian army but now he is settled in Nottingham with his wife and children and runs a small company up there. He is also an instructor for “Lee James 4×4″, an adventure playground for 4×4 vehicles with drivers who yearn for the African veld (bush)!

Before I come to his main business I will tell you about the time when he took Pam and me for a spell of off-roading. He had a Camel. No it’s not the beast with humps but a Land Rover Defender which was, in the past, fitted out especially for the world class trophy runs that Land Rover competed in.

During an hour we went down and up 1:2 hills, drive around a rim which seemed about 45 deg. but was probably more like 30 deg. We went across a three foot deep river, over a makeshift bridge of logs and, by the end of it, we were both exhilarated! I was amazed that my wife actually enjoyed it and has agreed, almost with enthusiasm, for me to get a Land Rover Defender – if we can ever afford it!.

However, I digress. John also runs a company selling imported rugged, adventure style clothing from South Africa. Most of my casual clothing now comes from John. The brand name is Rogue. The clothing has a Rogue label visible and what appeals to me is the small print, it says “The original” before the Rogue on the label and I kinda see myself in that light! Alas, so does Pam!

I have three Rogue hats, two leather and one suede. Many shirts and pairs of trousers and two pairs of their boots. RB5s are totally waterproof right up to the top of the ankle as there are no eyelets and the sides of the tongue are all part of the boot so there is nowhere for water to run through the laces except straight out at the bottom and not inside the boot! The second pair of boots are suede and are what we call Veldtskoens, normally spelled veldskoens nowadays. A good understandable translation would be “bush shoes” although they are half way boots.

Johns prices are good and include VAT and postage. I even have a fly swatter they must have made from offcuts of the leather used.

John advised me to soak the veldskoens in water for twenty minutes, fully submerged, and then to go for a five mile hike afterwards. The thinking here is that, although the boots won’t shrink, they will mould themselves to the shape of your feet. I did this and they are the most comfortable of any footwear I have ever owned.

Take a look at all his other gear as well, tents, pots, including the famous South African ‘Potjie’ and other gear. Just follow the link below…

Andrew

A depressing pattern

This appeared on a Times Leader Page in August 2002, and it’s so true that it’s depressing!

There is a depressing pattern which applies, regardless of the party in power, to Britain’s position on any major political initiative in the European Union.

• It is at first denied that any radical new plan exists;
• it is then conceded that it exists and, at some point it is finally recognised that it has made such a difference, but it was always known that it would and voters were told so from the outset.
• It is then noted that it exists but ministers swear blind that it is not even on our political agenda;
• it is then noted that it might well be on the agenda but is not a serious proposition;
• it is later conceded that it is a serious proposition, but that it will never be implemented;

… after then it is acknowledged that it will be implemented but in such a diluted form that it could make no difference to the lives of ordinary people …

I was about to add, by then it’s too late, but it was too late much earlier in the cycle!

Andrew

The Archer

About twelve years ago I had the idea of starting up a local community newspaper when I lived in East Finchley.

I did my research and costings but could not decide on the name of a newspaper.

One day when I was walking down the High Street towards the underground station I saw a statue on the station of a bowman shooting an arrow down the line towards the centre of London.

Ah! I thought, that’s it, I’ll call the newspaper “The Archer”.

I then put my thoughts together and whilst supping a beer with some friends, mentioned the idea to them. They all thought the idea terrific and said they’d help.

Funds, I said, we’ll need some money. So we had a whip round. Carole put in £5 – it was all she had on her at the time. Kevin and Noel put in a tenner and I contributed £20. After all, it was my idea so I should put in the most!

We contacted the local printer, Brysons, who agreed to print 1,000 A3 sheets, both sides and we launched our first issue in November 1992.

The limited edition talked of our idea of bringing the community together and at the same time asked for helpers in all aspects of the paper to agree to put in from one or two hours a month to one or two hours a week. We said the first issue would be the March 1993 issue and asked people to contact us.

We were amazed at the response and produced our first tabloid 8-pager on time.

By the time I handed over control of the newspaper in July 1993 I had a voluntary staff membership of fifty. Something I am led to understand the paper has never repeated. I had also established “The Friends of The Archer” which I believe is still in existence.

It is still going and one thing that pleases me is that my two main rules are still adhered to.

These were and still are; don’t be political. If you are, the advertisers will know that half the people will throw the paper away and won’t be willing to pay a high price for advertising.

The second rule was, and still is, don’t accept huge advertisements, no more than a quarter-page, and preferably, no larger than an eighth-page. Then the smaller businesses won’t feel their message will be drowned out. I thought that, as the businesses were part of our community, they should feel they were joining in.

You can see the Archer by following the link below.

Andrew.