The Curious Case of Heather Mill’s Nanny
I say curious case because the two parties in this unfair dismissal case seem to have views that are poles apart.
These are the first two paragraphs in the report in the BBC.
Heather Mills has told an employment tribunal she fell out with her nanny after refusing to pay for her breast enlargement surgery.
Sara Trumble, 26, from West Sussex, is seeking compensation from Sir Paul McCartney’s ex-wife, alleging unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.
They can’t be further apart than that!
Incidentally, Miss Trumble did have the breast enlargement surgery and bless them, the Sun has got pictures in their article. The second picture in the article shows her £4000 breasts in all their glory/horror. (Delete as appropriate!)
My only comment on Miss Trumble’s body would be to say that her breasts look like she’s added a couple of large tea-cups or something equally unreal.
Fair Comment?
I have been following the progress of the action against Simon Singh by the British Chiropractic Association with interest. As a scientist, I believe strongly that in science we get progress by research, experiment, peer review and open debate, and not by resorting to the law. I’ve also always had a deep regard for Simon ever since he wrote Fermat’s Last Theorem: The story of a riddle that confounded the world’s greatest minds for 358 years
So perhaps I’m biased.
But I am rather pleased that he has obtained a judgement in the Court of Appeal, that allows fair comment as a defence in certain libel actions.
I Get Bored With These
I just had this one. Does the guy think I’m an idiot or something?
Dear Sir,
My name is Didier and i was the personal account manager to a national of your country who was involved in the ill fated Kenya Airways that crash in coast of Abidjan. He is a beneficiary to a deposit with our bank which is at a summary of US$15 million. As his account manager, hearing the report of his death.
I made enquiries to trace he’s extended family relatives to come forward to claim their inheritance but my efforts were aborted. It was during one of my research that i came across your email address and now decided to inform you of this information.
Since you bear the same surname with him i whish to appoint you as his next of kin, with this arrangement, the bank management will acknowledge you as his next of kin and will accept to release this money in your favor. I am giving you this classified information in order to connive with you to get the money out of my bank into your bank account as his next of kin, of which we shall be shared accordingly. If you are ready to cooperate with me on the claim of this fund, email me back with the following information:
- YOUR FULL NAME
- YOUR AGE
- MARITAIL STATUS
- ADDRESS
- PHONE NUMBER
- YOUR COUNTRY
- YOUR OCCUPATION
I will be most glad to hear from you.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr Didier.
I’m afraid Mr. Didier that I will not be contacting you. However, I’ve reported this to a very nasty man in your country, with a very rather club and an Oxford English Dictionary. The latter is to teach you to spell properly.
Would I Go Cambridge-Nice by Train Again?
Let’s count the positives.
- It was interesting. I know that is a word you shouldn’t use, but there was a lot to see.
- Security. There wasn’t a lot of time spent taking off shoes and having machines check you for bottles of water. They do check as you go on the Eurostar, but it’s not that intrusive.
- Meals on Eurostar aren’t that bad and are better than the airlines. But then you don’t need them on the plane.
- It was a lot more comfortable than a plane.
- I had a large table, which would have allowed me to play patience if I had wanted.
- I could plug in the laptop.
- Luggage was as much as I wanted and not subject to silly rules.
- I could have taken my Brompton.
And the negatives.
- It took twelve hours door-to-door, whereas the plane would have taken about six.
- It was lonely, but then my life is most of the time.
- It was more costly, but then I did travel First Class.
- I had to take an extra train to get London.
But remember I had no choice this time because of the stroke.
I think that if say I had to go to Lyon on business, that I would definitely use the train and for Marseilles I would make a decision based on train times and cost. But Nice, unless I had to use the train, then I would take the plane. Although like my late wife and I said, we’d have probably enjoyed taking the train one-way and the plane on the return.
Overall though, it was an exercise worth carrying out.
Eurostar to a Cold England
Lille was cold and it wasn’t a bad interchange with just a hundred or so metres to walk between tracks to transfer from the TGV to the Eurostar.
I did get a gluten-free dinner on the train. It was some sort of fish. I’ve tasted better, but it filled a hole.
I was perhaps a couple of minutes late into St. Pancras, which meant that I had no chance of catching the 19:15 to Cambridge. So I had to wait for the 19:45, which got me back to Cambridge on time.
The taxi got me home about fifteen minutes short of twelve hours after leaving Nice.
What Did I Forget?
I always forget something. But then I always used to do this, when my late wife was alive, but now there’s only one of me to remember, what to take.
For a start I left, the power unit for my laptop in the hotel. It’ll be interesting to see if they find it and return it to me.
But I did forget a couple of things for my lunch; some tomatoes and a serviette or large handkerchief.
Perhaps I should make a list for travelling!
Reversing at Marseilles
The train reversed at Marseilles. So instead of going backwards, I was now facing north and on the eastern side of the train, so I didn’t get any of the sun that was going. There wasn’t much and we did have a bit of rain.
It started twenty minutes late at 13:30 and arrived in Lille at 18:00, which meant it lost another five minutes. But I still had enough time to get the Eurostar to London.
This train was via Paris Charles de Gaulle, so I didn’t have to change trains in Paris.
Charles de Gaulle Airport from the TGV
Why is it we don’t plan to build a connection between HS1 and HS2 in London, just like the French have done around Paris?
After all Birmingham to Paris would be only about three and a half hours, which would probably be quicker than a plane, if you took in the transfers to and from the airports.
French Dog on a French Seat on a French TGV
I took this picture of a poodle on the TGV.
French Dog on a French Train
It went all the way from Nice to Lille.
How Safe is the TGV?
TGVs are fast, but are they safe?
It is interesting to look at the list of accidents on Wikipedia.
On high-speed lines, there have been derailments but overall the technology has worked and the train has stopped fairly safely, with perhaps a few bruised passengers. But then the lines are straight, have few points and crossovers, and the trains are designed to hold together in an accident.
But on normal tracks there have been some serious accidents; one bomb, one freak accident in a depot, one derailment and four involving level crossings. The French are worried about the last and are endeavouring to remove all level crossings from lines used by TGVs.
None of the accidents have been as bad as the Eschede accident on Deutsche Bahn, where over a hundred people died.
So are TGVs safe?
Yes!
The French are to be applauded in removing level crossings and keeping their high-speed lines as straight and as clear of things to hit as possible. It could be argued that if the train at Eschede had just derailed and not hit the bridge, then the casualties would have been greatly reduced.
The Anonymous Widower 