Germany versus Portugal
I’ve watched most of this match now and there has been a lot of tackling, that would get yellow cards in matches in the UK, but not too many seem to have been issued.
I’d not heard of the German striker who scored, Mario Gomez before, but he seems to have sensible views on gay footballers and urges them to come out. After reading something in The Times last week, I would suggest that Ukraine is not the place. He talked about his views in the Guardian here. I hope it doesn’t have any consequences in this tournament.
Pharmaceutical Packaging
If ever there was something that was almost designed to cause mistakes, it is the packaging for pharmaceutical drugs.
The first thing, I do, when I open a packet of drugs is to throw the leaflet in the middle away, as it gets totally in the way, when you want to put a half-used strip back in the box.
I don’t find the bubble packs difficult, but I know some do. But one of the drugs I have, has some bubbles that don’t contain drugs and these could easily cause confusion with someone with limited vision.
Incidentally, I never read the leaflets, supplied with drugs, preferring to read about the drug on the Internet on an appropriate web site. So why doesn’t each drug packet have an easily readable code on it, that you just type into a web site and it gives you everything you could want to know, including the various generic names. One of my drugs comes in two different shapes and sizes, which could easily cause confusion.
The system is a complete mess.
Incidentally, I have to take two groups of drugs; one when I get up and one in the evening. I take them out of the silly bubble packs and put everything I need into old 35mm. film canisters; white for the morning and black for the evening. Usually, I fill the morning one as I go to bed, so that it gets checked again in the morning when I take it. I do the evening one after breakfast and always keep a second set in my coat, so that if I get delayed and stay out, I have my drugs with me. I also have reminders set in Outlook in my computer about when I should take my drugs.
The New and the Old
This picture shows a New Bus for London overtaking its predecessor at the Balls Pond Road/Mildmay Park stop.
The New and the Old
In some ways this picture shows the manoeuvrability of all London double-deck buses, as it was able to pull out from behind and get alongside for the lights.
The New Bus for London does have regenerative breaking and drivers have told me the acceleration is very good, so does the hybrid drive line mean that at some time in the future, it could have traction control?
BBC Discusses Peer-to-Peer Networking
It does at last seem that personal finance correspondents like the BBC’s Simon Gompertz, are getting the hang and idea of peer-to-peer lending. He has just written this article about it. Here’s the first three paragraphs of the piece.
Lending via three websites that link savers with borrowers – bypassing the banking system – has topped £250m.
The “new age” finance carries no protection for deposits, but is being tipped as a serious threat to traditional banks.
The peer-to-peer sites are led by Zopa, which has lent more than £200m since it started in 2005.
I’ve been using Zopa since 2008 and would say that anybody who uses the Internet competently, has a basic knowledge of finance and is prepared to research how they handle their money, should consider Zopa or one of its competitors. So if you can’t be bothered to read Simon Gompertz’s article, then peer-to-peer lending is not for you.
On the other side of the coin, if you have a good credit record and need to borrow a few thousand pounds for say a new car or a house extension, get a quote from one of peer-to-peer lenders and compare it with what your bank offers.
Always ask a lender what happens, if I want to settle up early. Many lenders make their money by imposing extra charges at this point.
The Anonymous Widower 