A Wee Club In The North East
Not my words, but those of Sir Alex Ferguson about Newcastle United as reported on the BBC.
He has a point as what trophies have Newcastle won since Ipswich Town won the old First Division Championship in 1961-62.
One day though, Sir Alex will say something that really gets him into trouble.
Spanish Bank Of Snow White And The Six Dwarfs Is Worthless
This headline on this article in today’s Times, gets my vote as one of the best headlines of the year.
It refers to the Spanish bank called Bankia. The BBC has the story here, but the headline isn’t as good.
And we reckon our banks were bad enough.
After reading the two articles, I will make sure, I don’t go anywhere near a branch of Santander, as I might be kidnapped to help sort out the Spanish banks. After all, I’m worth more than Bankia, which according to the BBC article has a negative value of over ten billion euros.
I suspect that everybody in the UK, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Australia and many other countries is actually worth more than Bankia. Even if they have unfortunately been declared bankrupt.
Celebrities And Science
Sense About Science, has published a article called 2012 Celebrities and Science.
There are the usual wacky ideas, but it is good to see that s0me celebrities have asked Sense About Science to help them get their facts right.
Aspall’s New Bottle
I went to the Barbican cinema yesterday to see the film, Safety Not Guaranteed. The link is to the review in the Guardian, which gets it about right.
I did though get a bottle of Aspall’s cyder to take in to the screening. The draught cyder was in a new shape bottle.
Aspall’s New Bottle
It looked different and I suspect it saves glass and energy, but at least the cyder tasted the same.
I Didn’t Get On The iBus
I let this bus go when I got to the stop.
I Didn’t Get On The iBus
I don’t like it’s up front advertising especially for Apple products, but I was talking to a guy with an adorable ten week old baby in his arms. Anyway with 38 buses, you only have to wait a minute or so for another one. And when it did turn up, it was a New Bus for London. These are now saying that they accept credit cards.
Credit Cards On The Buses
Who needs a car, when personal transport is so frequent. It did seem to me though, that with all that advertising the iBus was rather slower than the new bus I was on.
The Slow iBus
I’m always reminded of the joke about how you make an Apple computer go faster. You drop it from a taller building.
The New Buses for London seem to be faster over a distance than the standard ones. I think partly it’s due to the hybrid drive, which gives good acceleration, but also as passengers seem to get on and off a lot quicker.
They Don’t Just Rescue Dogs
The BBC is showing this news story about rescuing a dog from the icy waters of Lake Erie.
Many years ago, I visited one of our Artemis clients on the shores of Lake Michigan. I’m not sure of the time of year, but it was very cold and there was snow everywhere, when we flew into Benton Harbor. I remember the guy at Hertz had got all the engines of the cars running in the parking lot.
The client I was visiting was the nuclear power station called AEP Cook. I’ve been over several nuclear power stations and together with the old Sizewell A, this was the one, that was run in the most professional manner.
I remember asking whether they got any problems with the locals. The answer was that because waste heat from the power plant, in the winter, the ice tended to melt and the warmth also attracted the best fish in Lake Michigan. So regularly, they had hauled fishermen out of the water, who’d fallen through the ice.
Some people need their heads examined.
That was also the trip, where we had lunch in a restaurant that reminded us of the Rook Restaurant sketch in The Two Ronnies. Except the ubiquitous element was beans, as that is the area of the United States, where navy beans are traditionally grown.
The Zopans Worked Hard Yesterday
If I look at the two loans, I chalked up on Christmas Day, both are now in my portfolio of loans. Five loans that were applied for yesterday have also been added.
It looks to me, that the Zopans worked hard yesterday.
My bank, Nationwide, is fully open today, but it won’t be again until the 3rd of January.
A Double-Sided Card Holder
Like many in London, I have my Freedom Pass or Oyster Card in a small plastic folder.
My Freedom Pass Folder
I used to keep one of my credit cards in the same folder, so I didn’t have to carry a full wallet. But now that the Oyster system can read credit cards, I don’t want to confuse the system and get charged as well. So now, I just have the Freedom Pass in the folder. But it is inconvenient, as I often have to get out my wallet to say pay in Waitrose.
What is needed is a folder which is say blue on one side and red on the other. With one colour face up you get the Freedom Pass or Oyster Card on the reader and the other way up, the credit card can be used on a swipe terminal.
It could even be embossed on both sides, so that the blind would get the right card on the reader.
Of course it would be in something better than cheap plastic, like leather.
I think, judging by the gossip I’ve heard, that Transport for London, are getting a bit of a problem, with the system charging an inadvertently swiped card, instead of the Oyster or Freedom Pass.
The Zopans
In my previous post, I used the term Zopans to describe those working on processing the loans at Zopa.
It conjures up images of dark figures in a subterranean hell forging iron with immense powerful machines. Some of these images go a bit over the top!
I think though it illustrates how the choice of a company name is important!
The Anonymous Widower 