Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Depths - Day 2
I don't think any one of us will ever forget this unexpected gift from the coastal breeze.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
I want a job in broadcasting
Why? Because little things niggle at me constantly.
I just heard someone emphatically say "a fine tooth-comb". Never managed to buy one of those. Are they anything like "a fine-tooth comb?" And is there such a thing as a fine comb without teeth?
Almost immediately an announcer used the word "vilence". I'd love to know what that means. Maybe it has something to do with being vile. I do know it makes me feel...violent.
Then, when the newscasters talk about The Golf, I imagine grown men hitting a small ball round a green. If they mean The Gulf, why on earth don't they say so?
I know I could do better. Why won't they let me?
I just heard someone emphatically say "a fine tooth-comb". Never managed to buy one of those. Are they anything like "a fine-tooth comb?" And is there such a thing as a fine comb without teeth?
Almost immediately an announcer used the word "vilence". I'd love to know what that means. Maybe it has something to do with being vile. I do know it makes me feel...violent.
Then, when the newscasters talk about The Golf, I imagine grown men hitting a small ball round a green. If they mean The Gulf, why on earth don't they say so?
I know I could do better. Why won't they let me?
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Motorway Entertainment
I believe that families with children sometimes play a "spot the lorry" game while driving on the motorway. Though I've never been unfortunate enough to travel long distances in a car with kids, I must admit to noticing when I haven't seen any trucks of a particular company during a journey. Top of the list are the Eddie Stobart vehicles. We are such a sad people that there is even a TV programme about this company. It should be called AnoraksRUs. (I've never watched it, by the way.) It was national news when the previous boss, Eddie Stobart Jr, died not long ago.
The competition was usually between the Stobart lorry-spotters, and those watching out for the Norbert Dentressangle signs. Hell of a name. I always assumed it was a continental company, but apparently it was founded in the UK.
In "researching" this post, I was reminded that it's been a while since I saw one of these trucks:
The competition was usually between the Stobart lorry-spotters, and those watching out for the Norbert Dentressangle signs. Hell of a name. I always assumed it was a continental company, but apparently it was founded in the UK.
In "researching" this post, I was reminded that it's been a while since I saw one of these trucks:
It seems that they were taken over by Norbert Dentressangle a few years ago. Spoilsports.
Any such saddo games where you hail from?
Monday, February 20, 2012
I must have known!
I just read Diane's post about her washing machine breaking down, and subsequent visit to the launderette/laundromat, and was surprised to realise that today I'd been thinking about the relative clothes washing practices of the UK and the US.
Of course, in HLOTS, a character played by Kathryn Erbe brained the guy who gave her Aids while in the laundromat. But those businesses rarely feature in US shows.
In Endgame one of Brady's victims was murdered in the basement of her apartment block, where the washing machines for every apartment block seem to reside.
Chinese laundries often feature in TV programmes and films.
In the UK there are launderettes, but they are shrinking in number because almost everyone, even those in flats, has a front-loading washing machine plumbed in to the kitchen. The most-frequented launderette is in the fictional Albert Square in the popular soap Eastenders. I haven't set foot in one in nearly 40 years. Last time my washing machine broke down (about 3 minutes after the extended guarantee ran out) I just phoned an electrical supplier and had a new one delivered.
I don't even know if large laundries exist in the UK. Hospitals have their own. I imagine hotels do, too.
On a green note, driers are one of the most intensively carbon-producing items you can use. It's the radiators or the washing line for me. I was always amazed to find that, while the neighbour on one side of me used her drier even on boiling hot summer days, the neighbour on the other side puts her washing out on the line even when there's a frost.From the sublime to the ridiculous! (But which is which?)
Of course, in HLOTS, a character played by Kathryn Erbe brained the guy who gave her Aids while in the laundromat. But those businesses rarely feature in US shows.
In Endgame one of Brady's victims was murdered in the basement of her apartment block, where the washing machines for every apartment block seem to reside.
Chinese laundries often feature in TV programmes and films.
In the UK there are launderettes, but they are shrinking in number because almost everyone, even those in flats, has a front-loading washing machine plumbed in to the kitchen. The most-frequented launderette is in the fictional Albert Square in the popular soap Eastenders. I haven't set foot in one in nearly 40 years. Last time my washing machine broke down (about 3 minutes after the extended guarantee ran out) I just phoned an electrical supplier and had a new one delivered.
I don't even know if large laundries exist in the UK. Hospitals have their own. I imagine hotels do, too.
On a green note, driers are one of the most intensively carbon-producing items you can use. It's the radiators or the washing line for me. I was always amazed to find that, while the neighbour on one side of me used her drier even on boiling hot summer days, the neighbour on the other side puts her washing out on the line even when there's a frost.From the sublime to the ridiculous! (But which is which?)
