Signing Off In Style
I suppose that when you’ve gone, it doesn’t really matter to you.
But surely this is the way to go. Especially with such a pair of beautiful and well-behaved horses.
The undertakers are called W. G. Miller, which I often pass on the Essex Road. My father was W. E. Miller and signed his articles and letters in technical journals as WEM.
Lifts and Crossing The Road At Euston Square Station
I had to go to University College Hospital this morning and took a train to Euston Square station.
The new lifts from the westbound platform to street level aren’t as well signposted as they should be and I met a young lady, who had got rather harassed trying to get to the street.
Coming back, I wanted to get a 30 bus to either Islington or home, so I decided that the quickest way was to take a train to Kings Cross and get the bus from there. I got to the stop just before one arrived.
Public transport from the hospital isn’t as good eastbound as it might be.
Naga Munchetty Has Wings
That’s what it looks like on BBC Breakfast this morning. It’s probably the way Naga Machetty is sitting and the silly chairs on the picture behind, look like she’s wearing a pair of red wings ready for a pantomime or a kid’s party.
How Long Does It Take To Lend Out £10,000 On Zopa?
£10,000 was transferred into my Zopa account on the 23rd of August. It did take a couple of days or so to actually arrive after leaving my bank account, but then that is the bank transfer system.
Surely in this day and age, it can be an instant event!
My old mate, David, once said that banks make up to a third of their money on overnight lending. So my £10,000 for two days lent out at only three per cent, whilst in the care of the banks would make them about £1.64. Not much, you may think, but it’s pure profit and how much money is there in the system? I bet they lend it at a higher rate than three per cent too.
After the £10,000 arrived in my Zopa account on the 22nd, on the 23rd, I had £11,960.43 either offered for lending or being processed.
A week later and that figure is down to £9060.43. So effectively £2,900 has now been lent out. £9,300 in total is being processed, but some of that comes from money that has been reinvested.
So it would appear that Zopa has a processing limit.
Non Carpe Diem
This was the pointer on the BBC’s web site to this page about tales of procrastination.
My father always used to use the phrase.
Procrastination thief of time, make me a freeman for all time
I think he got it wrong, but the first part could be from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
Look Mum No Hands
This must be the only cycling cafe in London.
The gluten-free cake was nice too. Even if the weather outside was appalling.
The cafe was very busy. It had a buzz about it too. Everybody was watching the cycling in Spain on a big screen.
Can We Trust Anything Nick Clegg Says?
Did Nick Clegg know the hornet’s nest he’d stir up by his temporary tax on the rich?
If he didn’t then he must be rather stupid and can we trust anything else he says?
But then politicians in this country, are often pilloried for simple statements. Remember, Norman Tebbit and getting on your bike and Harold Wilson on the pound in your pocket.
If we need to raise more money there are other ways to do it.
For instance, you could put a black box in every car and charge per mile. The Dutch government proposed this and promptly lost an election.
The only true statement is that from Dieter Helm, who said “Ministers who try to pick winners should remember that losers tend to pick governments.”
I wonder how many bright brains and successful companies are rethinking their future because of Nick Clegg’s statements.
Let’s say you are a small hi-tech Internet-based company, writing say apps for smart-phones. You can do this anywhere in the world, so perhaps if you fancied working in say Barbados, you might go.
If Nick Clegg had kept quiet, he wouldn’t have given anybody the idea to go.
Politicians seem to forget that most of our successful developments could be done from anywhere. They should make sure that they don’t encourage people to relocate. Except of course to the UK.
Nick Clegg Loses The Plot
Nick Clegg’s call for the rich to pay more tax is just plain daft.
One large group of the rich are probably people like me, who are retired and have a good pension pot built up over the years.
So if I was asked to pay more tax, I’d probably leave the money in my pension fund to avoid the tax and then not spend it. After all, I may have bought a new washer-dryer, but my large purchases these days are few and far between. So how does that benefit the country?
After I sold my first company in 1972, I had an offer from a large American company to go and work for them, at an enormous salary. If we increase taxes, all of those brains thinking up new ideas, will be on the first plane out.
No wonder we need a new runway in the South East.
Elvis’s Underpants Go On Sale
According to this article on the BBC, they should make about ten grand. And they haven’t even been washed!
As the stain is at the front, perhaps some fiendish scientist will recreate his sperm and sell it to silly women all over the world.
You do wonder how many women, who saw Elvis, are still of child-bearing age.
Cooking Gluten-Free Pasta For One
I haven’t cooked any pasta since I moved here nearly two years ago. But after Saturday’s Times published a list of pasta dishes saying they were the only ones you’d ever need, I thought I had better. Getting the amount of pasta correct has always been a problem and today, I decided that I had better do it by volume. So i carefully weighed out the 100 grams I need for myself of Dove’s Farm gluten-free penne.
100 Grams of Dove’s Farm Gluten-Free Penne
I reckoned it would just fit into a standard John Lewis tumbler and the picture shows I was right. So the dial shows 98, but I won’t argue about 2 grams. As you can see, I find a letter balance much better for small quantities than a proper set of scales, especially if you can adjust them for the weight of the container.
I then put the pasta into boiling water with a bit of salt for 6-8 minutes.
If I have time, I do taste it, but generally a measured cooking time works.
The sauce I used tonight was pea, mushroom and ham. It required.
- 150 g of shelled peas (fresh or frozen) – I used one of those little packets.
- 30 g of butter
- 150 g white mushrooms, sliced
- 200 g ham, chopped
- 250 ml double cream
- 100 g grated parmesan
Firstly, whilst the peas were cooking, I sliced the mushrooms
150 g of Sliced Mushrooms
And chopped the ham.
200 g of Chopped Ham
after draining the peas, I melted the butter in a pan and then added the peas and the mushrooms, giving it a good stir.
After five minutes, I added the chopped ham and stirred it for a few minutes before I poured in the cream. I then added some salt and kept it warm.
Meanwhile, I started the pasta off and when it was cooked, I turned it into a serving dish. I added the grated parmesan and stirred it rapidly.
Finally I added the sauce and mixed it all well.
Gluten Free Pea, Mushroom and Ham Pasta
It was rather nice, even if I say it myself. I have a feeling too that the peas compliment the texture of the pasta.
I shall be trying some of the other recipes from last Saturday’s Times.
The Anonymous Widower 