Monday 1 August 2011

Tatty Tarmac: Time for Euthanasia?: Have a break Gary: Bog orf to Potsdam: “Tombstoning”: Knight Warrior: and daft signs.

Very humid at the Castle this morn, dry, Sunny and calm, the liquid metal gauge reads 75f in the kitchen and all the doors and windows are open.
His Maj has been in the garden since 6 of the am, and I have just returned from the Tesco stale bread, gruel and pussy food run, absolute bloody shambles-“They” are closing down next Sunday night for a week to “refit”, but it seems they have decided to start this week. Numptys all over the place emptying out shelves, cleaning, moving things, only one till out of thirty open and that was manned by an ex woollies employee who couldn’t get the thing to accept her password.
“They” have also decided to “improve” the car park by digging it all up in one go, the entrance road is dug out to a depth of a foot and is blocked by one of those massive street devouring machines so that “customers” have to drive through the garage bit (which only has one pump open because the tanker can’t get in) then turn against the flow of traffic to what is left of the car park to park. To get out you have to drive along the dugout exit road at one mile per hour dodging raised drain covers and humps that are now two feet high.


Monday, Monday.

 Late this am had to go out and “do” some things....



I see that the UK is sitting on a "time bomb of tatty tarmac", with roads facing further devastation if next winter is harsh, breakdown service Autonational Rescue has warned.
The under-funded "cheap and cheerful" patching up of roads currently undertaken by many local authorities was "wholly inadequate", the company added.
Substantially better central Government support for road repairs was essential, it said.
Autonational's marketing manager Ronan Hart said: "Britain's roads haven't really recovered from the damage done to them by several bad weather spells of recent winters, and dangerous potholes abound in our towns and cities.
"But because we're still living in times of austerity, many local authorities responsible for maintaining our road infrastructure say they are grossly under-funded and are effectively turning a blind eye to the problem."
Autonational pointed to a recent report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance which stated that £10.65 billion was now needed to be spent to bring roads in England and Wales up to scratch.

 I’ve got a spare two quid-any use?




Up to 14 million workers will retire with pensions far smaller than those enjoyed by their parents, a report warns today, as the “golden generation” of retirement schemes comes to an end.
Almost three quarters of private sector staff will be unable to “adequately exist” when they retire due to a low level of savings and the complex, costly and inefficient pensions system, the report claims.
Many workers retiring after 2020 are told to expect a “bleak old age”, even taking into account pension reforms that will force employees to save for their retirement.
The grim financial outlook contrasts sharply with conditions enjoyed by the recently retired. Figures show that the net income of pensioners has grown by 47 per cent in real terms since 1999.
Lord McFall sets out 16 recommendations for creating a stronger, more stable pensions system. The findings will be presented to Steve Webb, the pension’s minister.
The report lists a raft of grievances about pension provision. It points out that the value of pensions has been hit by the global recession, low investment returns, increases in household debt, drops in real incomes and low interest rates.
It suggests that there is a lack of trust in the system and says that private company pensions are often opaque and confusing for workers. 

No shit......

  


London aquarium staff have weaned a chocoholic giant Gourami fish on to a healthier menu of grapes and bananas after inheriting the creature, which was raised entirely on Kit Kats.
Staff at the Sea Life London Aquarium were baffled by the 4kg fish's refusal to feed, until they learned the 40cm Gourami, named Gary, had been brought up on chocolate.
So the team stuffed crushed Kit Kat pieces inside grapes to get Gary to "take a break" from his daily fix. 

Scottish Gourami?



Motorists were forced to take their restroom breaks in public after thieves made off with 22 stainless steel cubicle doors from highway service stops, news website The Local reported Saturday.
Police believe the culprits took the doors -- which retail at €2,000 ($2,900) each -- to use them elsewhere. But the manufacturer of the doors, the firm Hering Bau, thinks the thieves are planning to resell them as scrap metal.
Authorities said they had no leads and the firm feared the doors would not be found.


Lot of whistling going on in Potsdam.



Police have warned about the potential risks of "Tombstoning" after a teenager broke both this ankles jumping off a bridge.

The 19-year-old had to be rescued from a ravine on the River Glascanoch near Garve, Ross-shire, at around 6pm on Saturday, after jumping from Silver Bridge.

A coastguard helicopter was sent from Stornoway, and teams from Inverness, Portmahomack and Dornoch attended the scene.


Kevin Brown, Aberdeen Coastguard watch manager, warned: "Jumping from bridges, piers, cliffs or other structures into water can be very dangerous.

 You think......



By day, he is a mild-mannered gardener but, when night falls, teenager Roger Hayhurst turns into crime-fighting superhero Knight Warrior.
The 19-year-old has spent the last ten months walking the streets of Salford, Greater Manchester, breaking up fights and tackling bad behaviour.


Good luck with that....


And finally:


Some stupid signs.







And today’s thought: For NASA, space is still a high priority." - Dan Quayle


Angus

2 comments:

CherryPie said...

Very hot and humid here too!

Angus Dei said...

Never satisfied are we CherryPie:)