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16/12/2015

Top Tip #87

 
Tired of being run-over everyday by sledges?

Try these light-up antler horns as part of your business attire.

"Fun to be with" people will need no prompting - but even us, the more frail and gentle characters of the species might benefit from such a visibility boost.




Old Movies and Free Space


I've been surfing the freeview channels this month, and partaking of their Christmas offerings.  To be honest, it's a pleasant change from the 96th repeat of Big Momma's House, or Home Alone.   There are loads of much older Christmas movies out there, but most in the 4:3 Aspect ratio (square shaped picture).

So, instead of twiddling with the aspect ratio button - which might be labelled "screen size" or "aspect" or "format" or worse - you'll have to wade through menus - or look for a button like this: 







 


Why not sellotape Christmas cards across the spare TV screen space?
You can re-live those joyous festive scribblings whilst you watch the movie - bargain!

02/04/2015

I moved recently - and with that had to come newly bought appliances.
Washing machine, Fridge/Freezer, Wardrobe, and Wardrobes.  4 deliveries.

Now, we're on the second floor.  And all but one set of delivery people have let this be known in such terms that would have seen Laurel & Hardy, or Morecambe & Wise reaching for their notepads to get ideas.

Huge and volume-rich complaints up the stairs, comments about those 'back in the office', astonishing amounts of huffing-puffing, pausing dramatically at a landing, with hand on heart - we've had it all, and in truck-loads.
With one set of blokes (always two blokes) they got as far as trying to involve us in a discussion about dismantling a wardrobe (in the end, just the doors had to come off), I was seconds away from telling them to do their job, or just go - I don't need this pratting about.
Walk a mile in my work-shoes and you'll know what exhaustion is all about.

Funny thing, one set, and one set of blokes only were brilliant.  Friendly, helpful.
They carried the heaviest item (washing machine) and never complained - despite the strain they'd just been through.

These two were not British.  All the rest of the crews were.

24/01/2015

Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Midnight Palace

I had an extraordinarily interesting surprise this morning.

Having read "Shadow of the Wind" for the second time, I decided to get a couple more titles from Carlos Ruiz Zafon, one being "The Midnight Palace". 
In it Ben, his friends, his long-separated sister - all member of the Chowbar Society, meeting at the abandoned mansion they call The Midnight Palace, battle with forces beyond understanding in a riveting (if rather dark) read.

Never in the same league Carlos's 'Shadow of the Wind' (whatever could be?) - I was stunned, at the penultimate page to read "Twenty years ago, after the death of my Iris, I moved to Bournemouth, where my home and my surgery occupy a small comfortable house with a view over the salt marshes of Poole bay".