Life, the Universe and Everything

Warning: This is a minority-interest geeky post! A Fortic Tank is not military item with tracks and a few bangy accessories. It's a sort of hot water tank and fits in an ordinary airing cupboard. Indeed, that's where I first met one. I'm sorry to disappoint those hoping for a story of romance in a plumber's merchant. It's still an interesting story though and as in the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, someone ends up with a bruised arm. In keeping with the tradition and to maintain the suspense, the leftness or rightness of the arm will not be disclosed until later. Anyway, every now and again, the immersion heater fails. The first time this happened was a learning experience. I turned off the cold water and opened the hot taps to drain the thing. Next I applied a huge spanner to the heater element and after a lot of banging and cursing got it to rotate. As I did this a few drops of water oozed out. I turned it some more and as there seemed to be a growing tric...

I don't like what I hear of the man but I think he's going to win. Unlike some of the recently departed leaders of nearby states, he's kept his nerve and doesn't worry too much about his image. The rhetoric from the EU and NATO is all mouth and he knows it. The chances of any effective intervention is remote: Effective intervention is pretty difficult A strong and nasty leader of Libya provides stability and certainty that our governments prefer to the uncertain alternatives. Telling him to stand down is simply playing to the gallery. He's got very good reasons to fight to the last man. There is no safe bolt-hole for him and his sizable family. To stand down is suicidal - or at the very least a route to a jail cell for the rest of his life. It may take some time but he's going to mop up this rebellion and kill a lot of people. He has no reason to do otherwise and it's unlikely anyone will give him one.

I like tarragon but the stuff in the garden is skulking underground. Last year it waited until July to show itself. So when I noticed Tesco had packets of fresh tarragon - flown in from Israel - I bought some, wrapped it round some chicken and cooked it. Great! Really strong tarragon flavour. Then I had an idea. I bought another packet and put some stems in a pot of compost. So I may end up with a supply of fresh super-strong tarragon both for the garden and the window ledge. I was going to try the same with some lemon thyme but the flavour, although strong wasn't quite lemony enough.

Got a replacement credit card recently. Using the contents of the single postal package and two very easily obtainable pieces of information about me, I managed to activate it, view my PIN and change my statement delivery to paperless. Fortunately, I am me. Had that post gone astray, it would have been too easy for someone to have run up a large bill!

I was thinking today about the Thursday Market in town and how it has changed over the years. It used to be by the gasworks and a blind man could find that for the same reason as he could find the brewery - though neither establishment thought to offer a factory outlet and make a profit from their commitment to diversity. Of course, the market used to be much larger and largely taken up with men selling complete dinner-services on the "I'm not asking you to pay £10, I'm not asking £5, ladies and gentlemen, who will offer me £2 10s?" system. There was a "Temperance" café - where "temperance" actually meant "abstinence" - see we had "spin" even before decimal coinage! The posters on the wall explained how animals only drank water - which I knew to be lie because our dog enjoyed Guinness when he could get it. But then, I digress…. 

Nearly crashed today staring at a "Cotswold Dog Spa" van. Yes, they do offer Canine Hydrotherapy which I've sneered at before . They even offer "canine sports massage". What is wrong with the modern dog? If it needs a bath, sure it's a tussle but it can be achieved with simple equipment at home! And if it's ill, you take it to a vet who diagnoses Worms and prescribes dried rhubarb pills. It'll be an Albatross Flying School or Hippopotamus Dieting next! 

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