Melati And Her Cubs
This is a library of all the pictures that I took today, that are worth uploading.
If you think these are bad, then you ought to see the ones I discarded.
Like Mother Like Cub
London Zoo’s tiger cubs were a bit reluctant to show themselves. But I did get this picture of their mother, who is called Melati.
Sumatran Tiger Melati
Then one of the cubs decided to imitate his or her mother.
Like Mother Like Cub
I have published some more pictures.
Tiger Shooting In North London
I went tiger hunting in North London yesterday and only got this picture of a magnificent male, who looks like he’s eaten all the cream.
Tiger Shooting In North London
I was actually looking for a mother and three cubs, but despite the good weather, they decided to stay in their den. According to London Zoo, they are free to emerge as they choose into the enclosure.
Crossrail Gets More Good Publicity
The third most visited story on the BBC’s web site today, is this story about Crossrail. Here’s the first paragraph.
Skeletons unearthed in London Crossrail excavations are Black Death victims from the great pandemic of the 14th Century, forensic tests indicate.
The story is even the subject of a Channel 4 program on April 6th.
Crossrail is certainly showing how to use archaeology as a publicity tool.
The Invisible Immigrants
There is a lot of debate about immigration, but an incident last night got me thinking.
I was waiting to go in to see a performance of the Grand Hotel Budapest last night in the Barbican, when I got chatting to a lady sitting next to me.
She was speaking immaculate English, but I got the impression that she wasn’t from London. So I asked where she was from and was rather surprised she came from Austria.
A few weeks ago, I got talking to a well-dressed black guy on a train, who again spoke perfect English, but was surprised to find that he had been born and brought up in Dusseldorf in Germany. He was a temporary visitor and was going home for the weekend, but you wouldn’t have said immigrant immediately, although you might have thought he was a child of immigrants.
I could quote lots of examples over the years, but these days spotting immigrants is not always easy, as many do not follow the supposed stereotype.
Many immigrants like my American fitness trainer or my Australian physio, would not be picked out as immigrants say on the bus or train.
I do wonder how this all effects our views on immigration.
I also wonder, if Britons don’t go and work in say Germany or Sweden, as much as their natives might come here, because our language skills are so atrocious.
My Letter In The Times Yesterday
I had a letter in The Times yesterday about BBC Radio, under the headline of Let’s Hear It
Amid the debates about the BBC’s licence fee some are questioning the value of the BBC’s radio stations …
Sir, Four years ago I was in hospital in Hong Kong after a serious stroke. Luckily, I had a laptop with me and I was able to listen to BBC radio
online.
BBC radio aided my recovery and certainly allowed me to keep my sanity. Those who would like to see the abolition of BBC radio should try six weeks in a hospital where the television and most of the staff are all in a foreign tongue.
I might add, that I now think that most patients in hospital should be allowed a computer or smart phone to fix their mind. Subject of course to it not conflicting with their treatment.
Changing From A Large To A Small Energy Supplier
I recently changed from a large energy supplier; NPower, to a small one; OVO.
So how has the experience been and would I change now, knowing what I now know?
1. Costs
If I compare my actual costs for 2013, when I was with NPower to the estimated costs for 2014 on OVO, they are about the same at £143-145 a month for both gas and electricity. I suspect that for a modern three-bedroomed house, where I cook by electricity, do one load of washing a week and have a deep bath every day, that these figures could be a bit low.
But it is surprising how close the two suppliers are in terms of costs. Partly, this is because OVO set the level of the standing order based on what I was paying NPower
2. Account Management
I am just getting to grips with managing my account to my benefit.
In the previous section, I said that OVO set my initial payments based on my NPower usage.
I have now adjusted my standing order to my usage , as OVO allow you to do. I estimate that when I get this adjusted correctly, my bill could reduce to about £120 a month.
One thing that happens with OVO, is that if you are in credit, they give you a small interest payment. It may only be pence, but it’s more than a big supplier would give. You can also request that the balance be withdrawn to your bank account.
3. The OVO Web Site
Like all new web sites, the OVO web site has a few problems and could be better. In their case, things like remembering your login ID and the general handling of passwords are areas I would improve.
As to the login, they could do a lot worse than look at how Zopa has created a secure login. Zopa’s is certainly one of the best!
I would also recommend that you login once a month and give it a good look around.
4. Customer Support
I don’t think I have any complaint in this area.
You phone them on an 0800 number.
5. Would I Change Again?
Not at the moment, but if I did want to change, I’ve got a single A4 piece of paper with all of my details and relevant numbers on it, so change would be easy.
So for that reason alone, I would advise anybody to change at least once to an energy supplier with good paperwork and web site.
Jack Kinzler
Read his obituary in the Washington Post. This is the introductory paragraph.
As chief of the all-purpose machine and tool shop at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Mr. Kinzler specialized in down-to-earth solutions for beyond-the-stratosphere problems.
They don’t make them like him any more!
Beware Of Angry Neighbours In Edinburgh!
This story from the Daily Mail is a cracker, that describes how angry neighbours cut Fred the Shred’d hedge down to a reasonable size.
It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy’s hedge!
Are we sure it was a chain saw, or was it a lot of ginger-haired Scotsmen with claymores?
It’s All Our Fault!
BBC Breakfast had an interview this morning, with a guy from the insurance industry.
He blamed the poor quality of annuity products on the fact that we’re living longer, low interest rates and customers being more intelligent.
Just as we’ve had peer-to-peer lending for banking, we need a clever person to think up a killer application, that looks like an annuity, but gives a better return with no fees to insurance fat cats.
The cream should stay with the insured.
The Anonymous Widower 