Where Did That Go?
Jerry had put up this awful piece of granite as a splash back in the living room.
Jerry’s Bad Plastering
Perhaps he put it up, as he had a spare one and it would cover up his dreadful plasterwork. I sometimes wonder if Jerry’s surname was Boughton.
Before I went away, two guys took it off and down the stairs, leaving it on my patio by the street.
I then put a stick note on it, saying that anybody who wanted it could take it.
And take it they did!
I wonder how many hernia they got lifting it into the back of their car?
It really was a case of good riddance to bad rubbish!
The Wignacourt Aqueduct
Often, we think that big infrastructure projects are very much something of the last couple of centuries. Just as London built the New River to bring fresh water to the city, Valletta built the seventeenth century Wignacourt Aqueduct to supply water.
Sadly, it is no longer used for water, but it stands there as a reminder of the skills that our ancestors possessed.
Valletta – A Fortified City
Valletta is a city of fortifications.
I took these pictures as I walked in a loop from the bus station, past St. John’s Co Cathedral past Fort St. Elmo and then back along the road overlooking the Grand Harbour. I trhen took a lift to the Upper Barrakka Gardens for views of the Grand Harbour
Sadly the National War Museum in Fort St. Elmo is closed at the present time.
I will return to Valletta again.
St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta
St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta is one of the world’s great cathedrals.
It takes your breath away.
Exploring Mdina
I stayed in Mdina, which is a medieval walled town in the middle of the island.
I took these pictures as I walked around the town over the three days I was there.
Details Of My Bathroom
I’ve now got some of the bathroom as want it.
Note.
1. The hooks and the towel ring are stuck on with a special epoxy. The tiles are so hard to drill one hole costs at least a tenner in drill bits and the good temper of the driller. So far the glue is performing, as I hope it will.
2. The grab rail is positioned in line with the right side of the bath, so that it steadies me, as I get in and out.
3. I probably need a shorter grab rail on the other side of the bath low down for my left hand, as I sit and stand up.
4. My bathroom is off the front hall, so it doubles as a wet clothing and umbrella room.
5. The stool is one of Suffolk Six and one was in our last bathroom in Suffolk. I’d sit on it, whilst talking to C, as she luxuriated in the bath.
6. The towel ring stuck by the side of the bath is big enough to hold a towel, that a lady with long hair might use after washing it. To get the towel size right, I asked an assistant in John Lewis for her opinion. She tested the size, whilst serving me at the till.
7. I use a ceramic tray for my soap and shampoo, as until I find the right one, I’m not going to drill the tiles and so avoid Jerry’s problem.
7. I never use a mirror in the bathroom and forget to put one in. My stupid builder didn’t spot the omission either! So now I’m looking for a compatible stick-on mirror, so that the tiles don’t have to be drilled.
The fittings are the Bond range from Miller of Sweden. They look good and are very easy to put up straight. They supplied the special epoxy.
This bathroom has been a long time coming, as work started in Oct 2012 and I even had my first bath in the new bath in December 2012.
BT Sport Channel Numbers On A Steam Broadband Box
Despite almost being in the centre of London and only about a hundred metres from the exchange, I can’t get fibre optic here. I think, it’s because unlike everybody else in the road, I have a direct line to the exchange, so that unless they dig up the road to the exchange, I can wait for ever for fibre optic broadband. I might just as well be on St. Kilda as far as BT are concerned.
So I have to watch football, as I am now, through my steam broadband connection. To be fair the picture is generally acceptable.
But the problem is that I can never find the channels, as BT’s security system gives them obscure numbers, so that their steam broadband system doesn’t get overloaded.
The channel numbers are as follows.
507 – BT Sport 1,
508 -BT Sport 2.
509 – ESPN
How logical is that?
Simon Fanshawe Questions Our Attitude To the Death Of King Abdulla
Simon Fanshawe is a respected commentator and today, he reviewed the papers on BBC Breakfast. He picked up this article in the Daily Mail entitled Flags at half mast and fawning praise for a King ‘loved by his people’ sparks furious backlash over rule which saw ‘death by stoning’ for adultery and regular beheadings.
It is not often I agree with the Daily Mail, but I agree with the areticle’s tone and would go further. David Cameron and Prince Charles should not be going to Saudi Arabia. How about sending two of Princess Anne/Prince Andrew and Nick Clegg/Theresa May?
I have never been to Saudi Arabia and never will until they bring their justice into the civilised world and treat women, homosexuals and other religions with respect. The same principle applies to other countries like the United States, Israel, Zimbabwe, North Korea and quite a few other countries. There are just so many interesting places with better systems, that I’m not cutting off my nose to spite my face.
Brighton Police And White Helmets
After my visit to Brighton, where at the football, I saw a few police in their traditional custodian helmets, I remembered that in the 1960s I’d seen images of policemen in the town in white helmets.
Then this article on the BBC web site entitled Just how practical is a traditional Bobby’s helmet?
The article says this about Brighton’s white helmets.
From the 1930s to the 1960s, police in Brighton and Hove wore white helmets in the summer, as they kept the head cooler. This discontinued when they became part of Sussex Police.
Perhaps it is an idea that may come back in another form.
As an aside, a friend in the sixties was a Metropolitan policeman, who served for a time in Anguilla in 1969.
Because of the heat instead of their standard police shirts, the police who went to the island, were issued with special Van Heusen tropical shirts in an appropriate colour.
When he returned to normal duties in London, he once told me, that the shirts were invaluable on hot days.
The Only Decent Picture I Took Between Ashford And Lewes
My trip along the coast was not noted for warm, sunny weather.
This is the only decent picture I took as the train trundled from Ashford to Lewes.
The Only Decent Picture I Took Between Ashford And Lewes
The others tended to be of sodden fields in the drab cold weather. The Scots and especially Carol Kirkwood, would have called it dreek.
The Anonymous Widower 