I'm not sure why the BBC World Service has only just picked it up, but the stories about the healthcare lottery in Oregon remind me of a something said by a representative of the gambling industry the other week, to do with bookmakers starting opening over Easter, on a day when there was no racing in this country (Good Friday?) - that gambling was ( Read more... )

Just in case any of my extremely rich friends[*] wanted something to get me for my birthday, may I suggest these?


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Apparently I've gone from using £6.11/month in electric to £7.95 or thereabouts. This is not the direction I'd been hoping to make it go in but still not too bad I suppose. Same volts, less current please Igor...

Or why I spent Saturday lying around on the floor of Liddington Village Hall near Swindon, in all my bike kit, being prodded and poked at and then prodding and poking (and trying not to rip noses off) in return. Not me being in an accident but Emergency Action for MotorcyclistsAs you might possibly guess from the name this is a first aid course ( Read more... )

You've gone to the effort of showing how many of something you have in stock and have a note that if stuff is ordered by a particular time, it'll be with the customer by the next day. All very well but if you don't actually bother to ship the bloody stuff, what good is it? Yes, I'm looking at you Expansys and no, you didn't send me anything asking ( Read more... )

This evening I have mostly been to see Noël Coward’s The Vortex. Apparently a new production by Sir Peter Hall which only opened last night, the trip was entirely unexpected, as a friend of a friend had to drop out at the last minute. I didn't even know it had the still lovely Felicity Kendal in. It's not for everyone but I enjoyed it immensely. If ( Read more... )

Anyone read Reaper Man and thought the idea of a shopping centre growing like a hive, with trolleys as the bees, was a bit far fetched? The flyers with "words created by something that was not at all at home with words"? Well I have chilling news for you. I believe something similar to be occurring in the office environment. By way of evidence I ( Read more... )

I don't care how much of a sad, ageing geek it may make me, I think this has to be the funniest LJ icon I've seen for ages:


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No, this page wouldn't be better if I'd had extra crap installed, all you're doing is stopping me clicking on that bloodly link I can see *right there*, under where you've just taken control to advertise the latest bit of rubbish. Bastards.