Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[Rod Paradise]

Sheffield to Essex via Berlin to save eight quid.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35424393

Last year I saved £50 by flying to Hamburg via Stockholm, but this left me stuck in Stockholm airport overnight on the way back. There's a shopping mall & hotel attached to the airport with a few fairly comfortable seats for kipping on. However I found a beautifully comfortable seat, with a bar nearby (gg £10 a pint) only to find it was the lounge of the posh hotel at the airport - kicked off of seat and out to find all comfy benches gone, slept on the floor (with a freshly tattooed shoulder) & was woken at half 6 by the smell of breakfast - up in the lounge of said hotel... Having not spent all I'd changed I went to see if I could get breakfast, gg £65 - I was coppering up to see if I could swing the most expensive brekkie I'll ever have when the waitress, took £30 off me and said get in and eat, you look hungry...

So my £50 saving cost me about £100 & a lot of discomfort.

[RED-DOG]

Sheffield to Essex via Berlin to save eight quid.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35424393

Last year I saved £50 by flying to Hamburg via Stockholm, but this left me stuck in Stockholm airport overnight on the way back. There's a shopping mall & hotel attached to the airport with a few fairly comfortable seats for kipping on. However I found a beautifully comfortable seat, with a bar nearby (gg £10 a pint) only to find it was the lounge of the posh hotel at the airport - kicked off of seat and out to find all comfy benches gone, slept on the floor (with a freshly tattooed shoulder) & was woken at half 6 by the smell of breakfast - up in the lounge of said hotel... Having not spent all I'd changed I went to see if I could get breakfast, gg £65 - I was coppering up to see if I could swing the most expensive brekkie I'll ever have when the waitress, took £30 off me and said get in and eat, you look hungry...

So my £50 saving cost me about £100 & a lot of discomfort.

£30 for a breakfast? I assume you did get to eat it from the waitress's belly button?

[RED-DOG]

The blossom tree outside my living-room window is in full bloom despite the recent cold snap, and that's a good six weeks earlier than usual.

Today at Wollaton Park I noticed quite a few magpies and crows collecting nest material, and there was a pair of green woodpeckers flitting about on the first fairway. I'm not sure if they migrate but it feels early to see them.

Most woodpeckers don't migrate Ralph, but yes, the birds are in for a shock when the weather turns.

January is a funny time for you to be golfing. Are you early or late?

[Skippy]

A bit depressed that everyone is down on the moon landings. I'm not a space nut, but I'd say that landing on the moon is humanities biggest achievement so far. The grand champion single most impressive thing we have done as a species. I think it's good that we attempt and achieve these grand challenges. When Edmund Hillary climbed Everest for the first time, I'm sure there was a soup kitchen he could have been helping out in that would have done more good. I totally agree that world peace and all that is an aim we should be persuing, but we shouldn't stop trying to do things until we've cracked that.

[Rod Paradise]

Sheffield to Essex via Berlin to save eight quid.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35424393

Last year I saved £50 by flying to Hamburg via Stockholm, but this left me stuck in Stockholm airport overnight on the way back. There's a shopping mall & hotel attached to the airport with a few fairly comfortable seats for kipping on. However I found a beautifully comfortable seat, with a bar nearby (gg £10 a pint) only to find it was the lounge of the posh hotel at the airport - kicked off of seat and out to find all comfy benches gone, slept on the floor (with a freshly tattooed shoulder) & was woken at half 6 by the smell of breakfast - up in the lounge of said hotel... Having not spent all I'd changed I went to see if I could get breakfast, gg £65 - I was coppering up to see if I could swing the most expensive brekkie I'll ever have when the waitress, took £30 off me and said get in and eat, you look hungry...

So my £50 saving cost me about £100 & a lot of discomfort.

£30 for a breakfast? I assume you did get to eat it from the waitress's belly button?

That lovely lady gave me that breakfast for less than half price - an act of charity I really appreciated. Still the most expensive brekkie I've ever had (and probably ever will).

[Karabiner]

The blossom tree outside my living-room window is in full bloom despite the recent cold snap, and that's a good six weeks earlier than usual.

Today at Wollaton Park I noticed quite a few magpies and crows collecting nest material, and there was a pair of green woodpeckers flitting about on the first fairway. I'm not sure if they migrate but it feels early to see them.

Most woodpeckers don't migrate Ralph, but yes, the birds are in for a shock when the weather turns.

January is a funny time for you to be golfing. Are you early or late?

I've played once or twice per week all through this winter.

Valuuuue for my membership and a few nice pals to play with.

[Karabiner]

If you look at the moon tonight you will see that there is a star about 6ft away from it (Top left).

I've been watching it track across the sky for the last couple of hours or so and the star is staying in the same relative position. How does that work?

Well spotted!

The short answer is it's not a star: it's Jupiter. If you get a decent pair of binoculars, you should be able to see the four largest moons dancing around the planet. They'll change their configuration during the course of the night: sometimes three on the left and one on the right, then two and two, then four and none, etc.

It is currently 435 million miles away. Not a bad pair of binoculars, that

I used to have a pair of binoculars..

[RED-DOG]

If you look at the moon tonight you will see that there is a star about 6ft away from it (Top left).

I've been watching it track across the sky for the last couple of hours or so and the star is staying in the same relative position. How does that work?

Well spotted!

The short answer is it's not a star: it's Jupiter. If you get a decent pair of binoculars, you should be able to see the four largest moons dancing around the planet. They'll change their configuration during the course of the night: sometimes three on the left and one on the right, then two and two, then four and none, etc.

It is currently 435 million miles away. Not a bad pair of binoculars, that

I used to have a pair of binoculars..

I Lolled.

[Simon Galloway]

So my £50 saving cost me about £100 & a lot of discomfort.

I could X-P that onto the Vegas thread where just about everyone that attempts to save £50 either ends up spending more, or at the very least at some point wishes they hadn't bothered trying.  Usually then arriving late so cab directly to Rio to late-reg a $3k bracelet event and bluff off a stack with 96ss halfway through level 3.

[MrDickie]

Some interesting pics here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35370494

My first full time job was at the Bank when I was 17 and worked there for nearly 10 years. Got the job with only 2 "O" levels as well. Those were the days.

I will post some interesting stories if anyone is interested.

   

[RED-DOG]

Some interesting pics here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35370494

My first full time job was at the Bank when I was 17 and worked there for nearly 10 years. Got the job with only 2 "O" levels as well. Those were the days.

I will post some interesting stories if anyone is interested.

   

Yes please. My diary could do with livening up.

[EvilPie]

The blossom tree outside my living-room window is in full bloom despite the recent cold snap, and that's a good six weeks earlier than usual.

Today at Wollaton Park I noticed quite a few magpies and crows collecting nest material, and there was a pair of green woodpeckers flitting about on the first fairway. I'm not sure if they migrate but it feels early to see them.

You won't be seeing migratory birds yet Ralph.

Not unless they've got access to the BBC weather app and decided to fly back early.

[Rod Paradise]

The blossom tree outside my living-room window is in full bloom despite the recent cold snap, and that's a good six weeks earlier than usual.

Today at Wollaton Park I noticed quite a few magpies and crows collecting nest material, and there was a pair of green woodpeckers flitting about on the first fairway. I'm not sure if they migrate but it feels early to see them.

You won't be seeing migratory birds yet Ralph.

Not unless they've got access to the BBC weather app and decided to fly back early.

I can't say it's definitely a sign of global warming but we've had geese passing over throughout the winter so far. If it gets warm we hear them flying north, cold they head back south, it used to be they flew south at the beginning of winter & back north after.

[RED-DOG]

Parents should make their children grow up a bit faster.

I was perusing the frozen food aisle in Asda today when a lady pulled her basket along side mine. In the seat part of the trolley where people usually put toddlers was a young boy who's age I estimated to be around 9 or 10.

The lady pointed at the frozen meals.

"Mummy hasn't got time to cook today darling, so which one of these would you like?"

The boy responded by screaming, shaking his head and punching a nearby box box of crunchy nut cornflakes.

"Oh come on sweetheart, how about a Shepherd's pie?"

Scream, shake, punch.

"Chicken nuggets?"

"Waaaa! Nooo, punch.

This went on for half a dozen other foods. I began to wonder if the boy was perhaps mentally deficient, but this theory was proved wrong when he said, "I'll choose if you buy me a DVD".

Now I'm no child psychologist, but I would like to offer that lady, and any other parent who finds themselves in a similar situation, a strategy for dealing with this kind of situation.

Stand with the child facing you, stretch out one of your arms to it's fullest extent, place it on the top of his head, grab the hair and lift until his feet are at least four inches off the floor. Then, with your favoured leg, administer a swift kick to his wedding tackle and send him to bed with no dinner.

 

Parents should make their children grow up a bit slower.

In the same store no more than 5 minutes later I saw a little girl of about 11 or 12, she was in full makeup, (including bright red lipstick) short skirt, high heels, the whole shebang. She was speaking into her phone, I caught a snatch of her conversation.

 "...yes but Steve is really hot..."


Now I'm no child psychologist, but I would like to offer that girl's parents, and any other parents who find themselves in a similar situation, a strategy for dealing with this kind of situation.

Stand with the child facing you, stretch out one of your arms to it's fullest extent, place it on the top of her head, grab the hair and lift until her feet are at least four inches off the floor. Then, with your favoured leg, administer a swift kick to her wedding tackle and send her to bed with no dinner.

[Tal]

I am hoping you're in agreement with this equation:

Danny Baker + Hour-long discussion about great music = television.

I just watched the R&B one again. It's just the most joyous, nerdy and unashamedly proud talk by four people about what they know and love.