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Winter approaches
Nature is packing up for winter. Plants are dying, leaves are falling from trees. There is a slowing in the air as well as a chill. Shadows are longer. I can understand the lure of warmer climates.
Three comments on the radio today caught my ear. The UN envoy is in Burma hoping to meet the generals. Someone asked 'Will the UN envoy make any meaningful headway?'. Meaningful is a redundant word. What would meaningless headway be? Headway that was such would not be headway.
Another person said that someone was 'Spreading false rumours'. Can one spread true rumours?
The third comment was during an item about (if I heard correctly as I was in the bath at the time) the increase in the prices of petrol and diesel. A woman said that if every driver made one less journey a week that would be beneficial. Not likely, I thought, that would ban me from driving; I drive only once a week as it is. I have already reduced the number of miles that I drive.
This comment reminded me of the daft statement made a few years ago that if every driver drove 1mph slower then the roads would be safer because the average speed of vehicles would be lower. The average speed would be lower but the roads would not be safer. If those driving at 30mph in a 30mph limit drove at 29mph, and those driving at 41mph drove at 40mph, how would that make roads safer? The latter drivers are the problem, not the former. The speed of individuals should be the concern, not the average speed of all drivers.
Thought for today
The gap in our knowledge provides a vacant lot in which fallacies can park at will.
Madsen Pirie, How to win every argument, 2006
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1.10.07 19:50
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A day to remember
Went to London again today; this time it was for more dental treatment. I survived that and rushed off back to the station to catch a train home. Nearing the station, but before I could see it, I noticed that there were more people standing on the pavement than usual. They carried bags and few smoked. I thought this an ominous sign; they looked as if they had been turfed out of somewhere. I feared it might be the station; and I was right. There were police cars, fire engines and ambulances everywhere and the approach was cordoned off with blue and white tape. A large policeman was telling people to move back.
Fortunately it wasn't raining, I'd eaten a large breakfast, was wearing a pair of trainers, and had a street map of London with me. Having consulted the map, I set off briskly to the station downstream of the mainline one. When I arrived there, the mainline station had yet to reopen. Off I set again for the next station. When I reached that one, the mainline station had reopened and the service was gradually resuming, the station manager told me. A train arrived about fifteen minutes later and I reached home two hours later than I expected having walked a lot further than I expected.
Thought for today
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.
Irish proverb
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2.10.07 20:35
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The garden grows quieter
As I picked vegetables for lunch, I noticed that the garden was silent; there was no buzzing of bees. A solitary cabbage white butterfly darted about and the robin appeared and perched on a branch as I removed the top of the compost bin to dump the coverings of a sweetcorn.
I overheard two young women talking on the train yesterday. One told the other how she'd been held up for ages in a traffic jam. She then commented on the latest issue of The Highway Code; drivers are advised not to eat or drink or smoke because these can be distractions. There are so many distractions she said. Having kids in the car is a distraction. Imagine three kids in the car; a baby, a three-year-old and a five-year-old; and baby's been sick. How are you supposed not to be distracted?
Thought for today
Common sense is a rare and enviable quality.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English essayist, on common sense
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3.10.07 20:22
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Ways with words
The Conservative Party held their conference at Blackpool this week. On Wednesday David Cameron ended a speech, in which he exhorted Gordon Brown to call a general election, with the words 'Britain will win'. What daft things politicians say.
GB today gave the OK to a project (I forget its name) to build more tunnels under London. It'll cost billions and, I expect, the price will increase exponentially. The government is to fund a third of the project. Big deal--for government read tax payers. The government has no money; it uses our money.
Pointless title for today
Choice advisor
This, I heard on the radio yesterday, is someone who helps parents choose schools for their children. Surely the purpose of an advisor is to give advice, to help someone choose. The word choice is redundant.
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5.10.07 19:53
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No ties
The sight of men in suits not wearing ties is becoming common. Last week when I travelled by train to London it seemed to me that most of the smartly dressed people were kids going to school. The men wearing suits but no ties looked as if they had been is such a rush that they had left home without finishing dressing. If the collars of their shirts are so tight, why don't they lose weight or buy bigger shirts? It may be fashionable not to wear a tie with a suit (and shirt made for a tie) but it looks odd; it looks sloppy. Men now look the same--dull.
The neighbours and I have the same daily ritual--tossing the turds--thanks to the blasted foxes. I keep a trowel in the porch for this and check my lawn in the early morning. The family to my left keep two trowels for this, one for the front garden and one for the back garden. The neighbour on the other side uses a spade and clears several days' worth at a time.
Quote for today
Dame Edna to Judy Steel: Tell me the history of that frock, Judy. It's obviously an old favourite. You were wise to remove the curtain rings.
Barry Humphries
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7.10.07 19:48
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William Hazlitt on nicknames (1778 - 1830)
Here is an extract.
There is sometimes an inconvenience in common as well as uncommon names. On the night that Garrick took his leave of the stage, an inveterate playgoer could not get a seat in any part of the house. At length he went up into the gallery, but found that equally full with the rest. In this extremity a thought struck him, and he called out as loud as he could, 'Mr Smith, you're wanted. Your wife's taken suddenly ill, and you must go home immediately.' In an instant, half a dozen persons started up from different parts of the gallery to go out, and the gentleman took possession of the first place that offered. No doubt these persons would be disposed to quarrel with their names and their wives for some time after.
Thought for today
The civilised man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
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8.10.07 20:50
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There and back again
Went to London again yesterday; this time my journey was uneventful apart from my getting wet in spite of waterproof jacket and umbrella. Once I reached London the rain was continuous, puddles formed and the bottoms of my trouser legs soaked up water even though they did not reach the ground, unlike those of the more fashion-conscious.
While I was in the waiting room, drying out, I read the dental practice's copy of The Daily Telegraph. There was an article based on a letter sent in by a woman of 49 who had married at 19 and had brought up three kids who had now left home. Her husband was out at work all day; she was left in the house with nothing to do. When her husband returned home and told her about his day she had little to say about hers. She needed help.
The author of the article (female) gave a rather vague reply apart from saying that she considered that the woman could be depressed and suggested she see her GP. I thought it highly likely that the woman was depressed. She had nothing to do and seemed to have no friends. She needed purpose not pills. I marched back from my appointment wondering what I would suggest.
Thought for today
The English approach to ideas is not to kill them, but to let them die of neglect.
Jeremy Paxman (1950 - ) The English: a portrait of a people (1998)
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10.10.07 20:27
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