From Stratford to Stratford International on the DLR
I took this video on the Docklands Light Railway today.
I wasn’t sitting in the cab, as this is a driverless train. But I would have been if it wasn’t! The DLR must be the only train, where passengers get a windscreen wiper.
As the train slows into Stratford International, you can see the Olympic Village on your left.
The Problem With My Kindle
I was given a Kindle for Christmas and I like it and usually have it in the pocket of my jacket, when I’m travelling.
It does have one serious problem and that is, I tend to be so engrossed in what I’m reading, that I sometimes miss my stop on the bus or train.
The US Navy Does Irony
This is a good story from most peoples’ point of view, even if a US ship rescuing Iranian fishermen has a rather ironic taste given the state of relations between the two countries.
Let’s hope that the politicians play their next cards right and don’t undo all the good work.
What Do You Call Someone Who Makes An Inappropriate or Stupid Tweet?
The obvious answer is probably a twit, as that isn’t a particularly rude word and people have been known to say they’ve been a twit, when they’ve done something silly.
There are three today.
Ed Milliband tweeted this on the death of Bob Holness.
Sad to hear that Bob Holness has died. A generation will remember him fondly from Blackbusters.
Ed or his Tweetmaster General must have had something from yesterday on their mind.
And talking of yesterday, Diane Abbott got out a shovel and started digging.
Dubious of black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?
As you can imagine you don’t annoy London’s black cab drivers. My address does, as it contains the name of one of Arsenal’s rivals and most black cab drivers in this area support the boys in red. I’ve now had three refuse to take me with a smle on their face and then of course they have. One was a white man, another was a white woman and the other was a black man in an Arsenal bobble-hat. It probably proves that London taxi-driver humour is rather universal.
And then there was racing commentator, Jason Hall, who tweeted this to racegoers at Plumpton racecourse.
I want your hot body tonight babe.
I suppose he should be the Twit of the Day. Especially, as it was at Plumpton. Or is that Fat Twit of the Day?
Daddy Of Them All
A ram has made a name for himself by escaping and fathering 33 lambs in one 24 hour session. It’s all here in the Daily Mail.
This reminds me of a conversation with a Research Vet at Liverpool University in the 1960s.
At the time, the M62 was being built, and the Ministry was worried that sheep would get on the motorway. The University had been asked to find a solution and found that moorland sheep could easily climb a chain-link fence several feet high. Judging by the lack of reports of sheep on the motorway these days, I’m sure that the research indicated a solution that worked well.
The Sensible Africans
Over the next few weeks, Africa will be staging the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
Obviously, as it can get very hot in some parts of the continent, they hold it at this time of year, as it will probably be cooler.
Roberto Mancini at Manchester City may moan, but he knew he’d have the problem some months ago and should have planned better.
After all, the Africa Cup of Nations is important to the continent and most clubs will only lose the odd player for a couple of games.
So what does FIFA do?
They award the World Cup to Qatar, where it will either be played in the heat of an Arab summer or moved to the winter, which will inconvenience the whole sporting calendar in countries like the UK, where other sports are played.
A Quick Calculation
A doctor has just said that each faulty breast implant replacement will cost about £16,000
If there are 40,000 faulty implants in the UK, that works out at £640 million
My wife died of a rare cancer and that money spent on cancer research would help a lot more people and not just the vain and the stupid!
If you feel strongly about this, there’s an e-petition on the government’s web site.
The Curse of Sat-Navs
The government is having a summit to get sat-navs correct.
In my view the problem goes deeper, in that some companies, organisations and individuals, now think that everybody has one, and that is how they’ll find a particular place. I found that some football clubs, just put a sat nav address on their website to guide visiting fans, with no information on public transport. I won’t give an example, as hopefully they have corrected the omission.
I don’t even have a smart phone, as I don’t need one, so the only maps I rely on in new areas, are those provided by the city, or a small atlas or a page printed from the Internet, I can keep in my pocket. I tend to travel as light as possible and at the moment, if I can’t get it in my pockets or small bag, I don’t take it.
After all, if towns or cities want to attract visitors, they should provide signs, maps and other information. Some cities like Manchester are so badly served, I will only go if I can’t possibly avoid the trip. But if places like Exeter, Norwich and Ipswich can get it right, surely anybody can.
If we assume that everybody has an electronic navigation device, we are making a very bad mistake.
The Anonymous Widower 