Swap shop

Has anyone got a copy of "The ragged trousered philanthropist" they could lend me ? In return I will lend you one of my books, either pick from a list or let me pick one for you.

I have been looking for a copy for ages, ebay has been very sparse, and when one does come up the bidding is furious. Amazon is just as poor. There are several copies in the US, but I've bought from oversees before and the quality of the books is very poor.

This book swap shop could catch on, postage isn't that expensive and books could go round in giant rings of swappers.

Just a thought.... what do you reckon ?

Dulce et decorum est.

The mother of a 19 year old boy killed in Iraq is suing the ministry of defence because her son wasn’t given the correct equipment. This may seem a little harsh under the circumstances, but in my opinion the best way to stop your kids being murdered in a foreign war zone is by keeping them out of the fucking army. He was 19 for fuck’s sake; he should have been sleeping in till noon and playing football with his mates. And don’t give me any of this shit about the army being the only way for deprived kids to “learn a trade”, it won’t wash with me. If you don’t want to get shot at by people who want you dead, stay at home. To compound the stupidity, the law suit could drain funds from the armed forces, stopping much needed equipment reaching the front lines. I’m not a supporter of the war for oil, but if you joined the army you can’t have much of an argument.

The government said yesterday that it was starting to bring troops out of Iraq; well we’ll need all the firepower we get when we invade Iran with Tony’s praying buddy.

Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. It certainly is an old lie, but it’s one we seem to keep falling for.

Crap Haikus and other random stuff.

The Solway keeps us
warm all winter, it's spring and
now it fucking snows.

Workplace training has proven to be very enjoyable, I’m reasonably comfortable standing in front of a group of strangers telling them things. What I didn’t realise was that when you’re not doing that you’re being audited by one body or another. Last week was the turn of the LSC, the funding body for most of our training. I got a perfect score. Beginners luck probably, but now I’ve set the standard I have to keep it up. Bugger ! I also realised, the day before the audit, that I was stressed out about it. I got one of those neck aches that I used to get at the hell hole; the ones that made me feel sick. Not had one of those for ages. They used to be a daily occurrence, the gaps between them are now, thankfully, much longer. The next audit should be the ALI inspection, they don’t just look at my paperwork, they check everything and even chat to my candidates. I don’t think this will happen until at least September, so plenty of time to get ready for it.

I have recently become addicted to watching Turkeys, no not the feathered Christmassy ones, the crap films. The ones that are so bad they’re funny. It started with battlefield earth, and has included such cinematic gobblers as Chupacabra - dark seas, Pterodactyl, Komodo, and a few others so bad I can’t remember their names. The last one was Starship troopers 2, which was truly bad. These Turkey sessions are usually preceded by the Taxdodger sending a message on msn along the lines of…. “Oh my god, are you watching C5 ?” We have recently discovered a whole channel devoted to these gobble fests, the Horror channel ! It’s worth the sky subscription on its own. Unfortunately I missed Howling 7, but I’m sure it will be on again. I urge you to have a look, it’s so much better than the stand up comedy on paramount. (Apart from Bill Bailey obviously)

If I could see the sun through all these snow clouds, and we had a yard arm, I’m it would be well over it. I can smell beef cooking, so it’s time for a glass of wine.

Test drive.

I had a go in the new Focus ST, why ? Because I can.



I looks really nice, which is why I wanted a go, but I also thought it would be very fast. It has a 2.5 litre Volvo engine in with a big fuck off low pressure turbo strapped to it, it should catch pigeons. Somehow Ford has managed to make it boring, well most of it. The inside is very snug and the trim looks expensive, but that’s about it. 2nd gear is awesome; unfortunately the same can’t be said for gears 3, 4, 5 and 6. Ah well, it was only a joyride. The salesman’s face was a picture when I red-lined it, and he did make some squeaky remark about possible speed cameras as I nudged it up past 95. I like speed a little too much, but then I have no speeding tickets. Mind you, I’m never likely too, the garage didn’t ask my name or address before letting me behind the wheel. Fools !