No Date for the Guided Busway
Have I missed something?
It all seems exceptionally quiet on the busway front!
Ray Gosling
I’ve liked Ray Gosling and his quirky documentaries for many years.
It was probably a surprise that he admitted last night to mercy killing a gay lover who was dying from AIDS. Perhaps, it was more of a surprise, that I hadn’t realised that Ray was gay. But then that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that one is a decent human being. Ray appears very much to be that sort of person.
So was Ray right, to kill a man who had no hope of life and for whom the doctors could do no more, I think, yes. I only think as I don’t think I could have done it myself. In fact, when my wife was desperately ill in great pain at the end of her life, I couldn’t have done it. So perhaps for Ray, he saw no hope and did the deed that many will condemn.
I will not.
Money
Everybody likes to stick it to those who get big bonuses and earn high salaries.
In 1985 I sold a company and made a lot of money. A lot of that I spent on ideas, some of which worked and some didn’t. I was also advised by my accountant to invest £9million in an office block in Basingstoke. He took the fees, I took the risk and lost the lot. But then one of the investments he thought was a waste of time, got a lot of it back!
I’ve also rebuilt a couple class houses that were good (and efficient) to live in. Jobs for builders and craftsmen.
Putting it crudely, I’ve spent some of the money much better than the government does. I’ve probably created a few jobs too! Yesterday, it was interesting to see that Victoria Beckham’s new range of clothing is made in London. Good for her!
So don’t knock all those people with big bonuses and high salaries. It would be far worse if we drove them out of the country and they spent their millions elsewhere.
But my wife died in late 2007 from cancer and that has been a lot harder. But it would have been a hell of a lot harder if I had to live on government hand-outs because the tax system meant that I hadn’t been able to save from the good times.
It may be fashionable to bash the rich, but they can afford to leave. I could buy myself a lovely beach house somewhere and fritter my money away on birds and booze. But my pain threshold is high and for me to do that would take a lot of persuasion. I’d miss live football for a start.
Remember as Isaac Newton said in a different context, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. Governments never learn, believing that dogma and prejudice is more important than scientific correctness
Comments on Carluccio’s Gluten Free Menu
Several times in the last year or so, I have gone to various of Carluccio’s caffes in various parts of the country. I’ve tasted it in Docklands, Trafford Centre, Cambridge and St. Pancras and it has been worth the extra wait as it takes a little longer to prepare.
In my view there are two very small problems.
- The staff just bring the gluten-free menu, so you have to ask for the other one as well, as that is the one with the drinks on it. I have contacted Carluccio’s about this and hope they change their training.
- The pasta is very good, but I would love the occasional meat based one. They used to do an Italian sausage one, but in Cambridge last week, they said that they had to discontinue that, as the supplier had declared the sausage not to be gluten-free. It does show that they take us seriously, though.
One manager also indicated that they can do other things from the main menu, by a few simple modifications. For some years, I used to get liver on this basis, but it has dropped off the menu.
I have also heard of only a slight problem at the Trafford Centre, where the waitress was unaware of the menu. As the manager at that caffe, was the person who introduced me to the menu, I suspect it was a training issue. But even there, the customer got the gluten-free menu in the end.
I did pass these comments to Carluccio’s and got a reply by e-mail within the hour. So they take what I said seriously.
Smiling at my Wife
I don’t whether other widows do this, but often as I walk round the house, I smile at the various photographs of my wife that are everywhere. Each photograph is a memory.
One for the Lawyers
My late wife, who was a barrister, always used to put a legal slant on events in the news. She would have commented strongly on the case of the couple, Nigel Payne and Justine Laycock, who won £56million on the Euromillions lottery at the weekend.
They look happy now, but they aren’t married and the check was paid to white van man, Nigel. My wife would have known, what rights Justine has to the money, but I suspect if he decided to trade her in for a new younger and more sporty model, that she wouldn’t be entitled to half of the money. What she did get would be a nice little earner for the lawyers.
I know she would be saying to Justine, that she should be using all of her feminine wiles to get Nigel to the altar.
Victoria Beckham
She gets a bad press, but then I’ve always had a sneaking respect for the real Victoria.
I do remember one day, when she was being criticised on Radio 5, when she phoned up from a book signing in somewhere like Stoke, and decided to take on all comers.
Stupid she wasn’t.
And now today we have this article in The Times about her fashion collection. One paragraph oozed praise.
This was another lovely, polished, wearable turn from a woman who is daintily trampling on every preconception we all had about her: more elegant dresses, in inky greys, emerald and oxblood, with boat or draped necks, some with draped backs and a new volume in the bodice that gave them a slightly more chilled feel — and a blush-pink, lamé trench dress inspired by Dick Tracy femme fatales.
Good luck to Victoria! And of course David. But behind every famous man…
Good News from Afghanistan
Afghanistan have just qualified for cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup.
Not bad for a country that haven’t played the game for very long and only a few years ago were in the fifth tier of the game.
Labour’s Muddled Thinking
There is an article in The Times today, which says that Nulabor and the Tories have fallen out over the high-speed rail link to the north. Originally, Ruth Kelly planned that there would be a major transport interchange at Heathrow, but Lord Adonis, felt that Wormwood Scrubs International would be better. The Tories are sticking to Ms. Kelly’s old plan.
Now, I’m not a transport expert, but both of Heathrow’s competitors; Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle, have high-speed rail connections. So surely it is important that you can get on a high-speed train at Heathrow and travel to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and all points north. Looking at the plan in The Times, you might even be able to get a high-speed train to Kent and dare I say it France, Belgium and Holland.
It just shows how Nulabor can’t see a good solution when they’ve got one. Perhaps in this case, it’s because they want to give the inmates of the Scrubs a quick getaway and they think that some of their colleagues might be there.
The Anonymous Widower 