The MOT M.O.T.: Formula 0.5: Cutting costs: Big Apple leper colony: Chilly Chilean: Damp dining: and Fancy retiring to Ecuador?

It hasn’t been as cold as this at the Castle since yestermorn, his Maj still refuses to go out and le lurgy France’ has progressed to the point where I can’t feel my dangly bits and I am farting garlic gas.

The Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition

Has done yet another U-Turn, this time over the plan for the need to have an MOT test every two years instead of annually.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening said she had decided to stick with the present system, which had been under threat in a review of red tape.

Instead she set out a series of measures designed to improve the service offered by garages after official figures showed more than a quarter of tested cars had defects missed or wrongly assessed.

That’s the problem when you put a Lady in charge of transport-she has the map upside down.....

And staying on transport-sort of

McLaren have unveiled the new MP4-27 for this year’s F-0.5 season, shame we license payers will only see half of the races in full.

And apparently:

The Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition

Is on target with its cost-cutting, Analysis by the National Audit Office found departments spent £7.9bn less in 2010-11, as capital, administrative and programme budgets were all reduced.

Departments "successfully managed" within the new limits, it said. But it warned most had "no detailed plan" on how to meet tougher targets by 2015.

Ministers said plans were "on track".

Oh joy; and I expect that those who have seen their standard of living plummet to poverty levels, have waited months for a hospital appointment and have to choose between “heat and eat” will be bleedin ecstatic...

Over the big salty thing on the left

Just 350 yards from the Bronx there lays an abandoned leper colony, North Brother Island was first employed as a quarantine centre in 1885.

It was soon a home to six lepers. Its most notorious resident was 'Typhoid Mary' - the first healthy carrier of any disease ever to be identified - who spent years confined in its bleak woods.

Closed in 1963, it is now a haunting labyrinth of crumbling ruins, protected birds are its only inhabitants and the waters around the island are patrolled by armed coastguards who ensure the sanctity of the former quarantine zone is never violated

Reminds me of Grimly Dark ‘Orspital...

Dahn a bit plus a bit more

Police in the southern Chilean city of Cochrane arrested a man who attempted to steal over five tons of ice from the Jorge Montt Glacier, 1,700 kilometres south of the capital Santiago, El Mercurio daily reported on Wednesday.

A truck loaded with five tons of ice was stopped near Cochrane, the city’s prosecutor Jose Moris told the El Mercurio

Police think the ice was to be sold to Santiago bars for mixing cocktails, the paper said, adding that the driver would face charges of theft and damage to the nation's cultural heritage.

Ice theft is considered a major crime in Chile, according to the daily, as the Jorge Montt is one of the most rapidly receding glaciers. It is a part of the 13,000-square-kilometer Southern Ice Field, the world’s third biggest frozen landmass, shared by Chile and Argentina.

The seized ice, valued at an estimated $6,000, will be used for irrigating drought-hit local crops in Cochrane, El Mercurio reported.

Don’t they have fridges in Chile then....

Across the peaceful sea

In the Quezon province of the Philippines, Villa Escudero is a nice hacienda-style resort with cosy rooms and an exotic atmosphere. But the best bit is the waterfall restaurant that allows tourists to enjoy a nice meal right at the foot of a small waterfall.

People are encouraged to take off their shoes and get as close to the falls as possible. Set right at the foot of Labasin Falls, this special place invites customers to taste popular Filipino dishes, while fresh spring water from the falls flows under and over their feet.

Lovely; apart from the yellow streams running over your plates….

And finally:

Back across to the lower Americas

An international magazine is looking for volunteers to spend a month in Cuenca, Ecuador to test its potential as a retirement destination.

"We're not giving away a free vacation," said Jennifer Stevens, the executive editor of International Living magazine, which launched the competition.

The winner of the competition, who will be announced on May 30th, will receive round-trip air fare for two, a furnished apartment and $1,500 in living expenses, according to an ad posted on InternationalLiving.com.

The magazine said the competition gives it the opportunity to show readers the benefits of retiring abroad.

Applicants must be near retirement age and be willing to relax, explore shop, try local restaurants, maybe take a Spanish class, and report on their experience during an all-expense paid month in the Latin American country.

The only snag is that you must live in the United States or Canada.

Oh well nobody’s perfect.....

That’s it: I’m orf to crate up the Elephants

And today’s thought:

Angus