WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

This really is a pile up! I wonder how long it will take them to shift all those wrecked vehicles?
`Fatal car crash involving over 200 vehicles in China' LINK

[Stanley]

Another reason for not driving.
Two things grabbed my attention.... The water Board never turned up and so our water wasn't turned off. Makes you wonder whether the problem was self-healing....
My full cream milk cracked and ruined my morning coffee despite being 3 days inside the use by date. Not impressed!

[Tizer]

I think the Prince Louis photo is great - I hope they keep a copy in their family album!...
`Press Association photographers pick their top shots of 2022' LINK

[Stanley]

Good pics and remind me if I'm wrong but wasn't Lioness Chloe Kelly sanctioned by FIFA for taking her shirt off? They must have a thing about sports bras!

[PanBiker]

I believe she was Stanley, beggars belief.

[Stanley]

Late Xmas meal with the kids at Susan's. Kahara and Lily are a delight, Kahara is so funny. His latest trick is to hold his hands out palms down and tell you to "Calm down". Nobody seems to know who taught him that one! Mick did all the cooking and it was good. He made us a starter that took me right back to the 1960s, Prawn Cocktail and I managed to drink half a bottle of Old Speckled Hen and enjoyed it.
They treat me like fine china and it makes me feel very old but I suppose that's par for the course!

[PanBiker]

Last day with our Ruby today. We will be meeting her mum and Adam her husband in Harrogate tomorrow to hand her back over. They have been staying for a couple of nights. Might be Easter when we see her again.

[MickBrett]

We had a pretty wild storm pass through last night.
This morning, when I went out to feed the wild birds, I noticed that my bird feeder was missing along with the branch it was hanging on.

[Stanley]

We're in for a day like that today I think Mick. Hope you find the feeder, it won't have gone far.
The fact that my feet are singing because Susan gave them a pedicure yesterday.... Life doesn't get any better than that.

[PanBiker]

Hope you find the feeder, it won't have gone far.

Not sure about that Stanley, don't forget, Mick lives where....

"Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain"

It may be miles away.

[MickBrett]

I was lucky, it was around 20 feet away and undamaged. It's now been refilled and relocated.
Dickie birds are all happy again

[PanBiker]

I have just discovered that you are on GMT -6 hours in Oklahoma Mick.

[MickBrett]

Yup, Central Time.

[Tizer]

Good news if you've got a hamster - you can now take it on holiday to Hong Kong!...
`Covid: Hong Kong to lift year-long ban on hamster imports' LINK

[Stanley]

I think it was in Reader's Digest that I read that all the hamsters in the British Isles are descended from one original pair. Can that be true? Does anyone know for sure......
How smoothly my diabetes clinic tests went. No surprises and as far as I could see all good results. Now I wait for the blood analysis results next week....
Have you noticed how BBC news has altered now they have had so many cuts to reporting staff. People are actually being given time to tell their story and Today now has a spot when they bring in journalists from the local radio stations to give their latest stories.
So, every cloud has a silver lining.... more time is being given to investigating stories in depth rather than always dashing for the latest scoop.

[PanBiker]

I think it was in Reader's Digest that I read that all the hamsters in the British Isles are descended from one original pair. Can that be true? Does anyone know for sure......

As far as I am aware all pet hamsters have the same genus, their own Syrian Adam and Eve.

[Big Kev]

I have emailed the CEO of Evri (Hermes) again today. Despite getting a response last time nothing has changed, I still have 3 'lost' parcels, a failed delivery today as the driver couldn't find my house, despite it being about 20 yards away in his 'failed delivery' photo. For anyone experiencing the same issues with them...
martijn.delange@evri.com

[MickBrett]

I remember Amazon once delivering a package of mine to the pig barn in the next field to us.
One of the pig keepers found it almost a week later and brought it to the house.
As the Americans say "Go Figure"...

[Stanley]

Sometimes the functioning of large companies is beyond human comprehension. In my case it's British Gas but on February 8th I can trigger the Ombudsman into action, they have agreed I have a case.
Is there a higher authority for problems with Evri? or is it an email to 'You and Yours'. It's amazing how these people react when they find they are in the glare of publicity.

[Stanley]

Daughter Susan tells me that the £2 per journey cap has come into force. She and Mick are off to Hebden Bridge today....

[Stanley]

I got an email to say my British Gas account is ready. When I looked it is a gas account for 1 Nov to 1Dec 2022 only, and no mention of electricity. The Ombudsman takes over the fight on February 8th. Roll on the day!

[Tizer]

We had an email message this morning from one of my cousins saying that his son finished 4 years at Bristol Uni with a First Class Master's degree in maths and has started work as a Construction Project Manager on the Lots Road Power Station re-development by the Thames in London. I looked it up on the web - apartments for rich folk but the history and photos are interesting!... Lots Road Power Station

[PanBiker]

Well done to your cousins lad Peter.

What attracted me was how your brain works. We bought a bottle of "19 Crimes" red wine for the weekend. We have had it before both bought for us and by ourselves. It's a nice mid priced bottle of red. I read the label properly for the first time with this bottle and find that it is a blended wine with the addition of a shot of coffee produced in Australia. The coffee component is only 3% of the volume, the rest is made up of wines from a few different grapes.

19 Crimes

The amazing thing is, from first taste of this bottle, the overriding note was the coffee and not as I had tasted it before as predominately the blended grapes. We have had a few bottles of this and always tasted the red wine. in my late 20's I took an aversion to coffee which tended to trigger migraine. I have not drunk it or had any other coffee based products for 40 years! Glad to report though that the coffee hit in this offering had no detrimental effect at all.

I may even try a cup of the neat stuff to see if I have grown out of my allergy.

[Tripps]

I thought Lots Road rang a bell. See here for it's history in a radio context. 558 kHz Spectrum Radio That frequency was the one used by Radio Carolione of course.

I've had 19 Crimes a few times - I think Kev recommended it? There are quite a few variations and you must look carefully at the bottle to make sure you're getting the one you think you are. I once bought the full price one rather than the special offer one. Hard to bear.

I haven't drunk any wine for four months now, and surprisingly I don't miss it at all. I think the Covid messed up my taste buds, and I don't feel drawn to it now.

[Stanley]

"I think the Covid messed up my taste buds,"
That got my attention David. For a while I thought the same thing but I appear to have recovered. However what I don't understand is how I can have retained my sense of taste but appear to have largely lost my sense of smell. I thought they were the same thing......