Water-water everywhere: Thunderstorm asthma: Upside dahn in Austria: Bye Bye breakfast: Himalayan bungee swing: and Bridging the recession.

Dark, dank, dingy and dismal at the Castle this non bank holiday morn, the arm is still OKish, my front toof fell out (again) to be replaced with a “partial” false thingy which I can’t use because it is painful and makes me vomit, and the Castle now has a water meter.

And staying on the subject of H2o

It seems that despite oodles of sky water and huge increases in the cost of the wet stuff more than half of water companies will not be required to reduce leakages before 2015, despite the worst drought in 25 years.

Data obtained by the Guardian from the regulator Ofwat also shows the entire water industry will cut leaks by only 1.5% in that time.

Every day 3.4bn litres of water leaks from the system, almost a quarter of the entire supply.

After two years of low rainfall, drought has been declared across southern and central England, with no end in sight for the hosepipe ban imposed in many places. The wettest April on record has revived rivers, but groundwater reserves remain low as the water runs off hardened ground.

The worst-performing company, Southern Water, which supplies Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, missed its latest leak target by 16% and had to pay £5m back to customers, but will be allowed to increase its leakage by 6% by 2015.

The average annual customer bill for water has risen by £64 since 2001 and is now £376, while the companies collectively made £2bn in pre-tax profits and paid £1.5bn in dividends to shareholders in 2010-11.

Germany's RWE sold Thames Water, Britain's largest water company, to Macquarie, the Australian bank, for £8bn in 2006. At the time, Macquarie also owned South East Water, but it was sold on to Australia's Hastings Funds Management when Macquarie bought Thames. South East then merged with Mid Kent Water in 2007, and the new group is owned by Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund and the Utilities Trust of Australia.

This is of course revenge by them Dahn Unda for sending all our ne’re do wells there back in the dark ages....

 

According to ‘experts’

The recent record rainfall has triggered a spike in the number of "thunderstorm asthma" admissions to hospitals, visits to doctors’ surgeries and emergency out-of-hours calls.

Medics say the heavy rain stirs fungal spores, especially one identified as alternaria which can cause a life-threatening asthma attack.

Dr Prasanna Sankaran, a specialist registrar in respiratory medicine at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, said:"The new cases are often after heavy rain and thunderstorms which can trigger an attack.

"The fungal spores are released by the heavy rain and come up from the soil anywhere that it is damp. It is sometimes difficult to pinpoint the exact cause but this is a very under-recognised cause of asthma.

"The advice to sufferers is to stay indoors during thunder storms and keep doors and windows closed.

That’ll keep the little shits orf the streets.

Right a bit to non Germany

Two Polish architects have spent eight months building a “house upside down” in Austria.

What’s his/her name upstairs knows why but the Poles probably had the plans the wrong way up.

  

Right even more

A small treat for those of you who enjoy watching others being terrified.

Right a lot more

Another small treat.

And finally:

 

Left a fair way

Thieves in the Czech Republic have made away with a ten-tonne steel pedestrian bridge in the latest case of scrap metal heists plaguing the country, police said.

"The police know the identity of thieves, an investigation is underway," local police spokeswoman Katerina Bohmova told AFP.

Using a crane, a crafty group of thieves dismantled the bridge and about 200 metres (218 yards) of railway track using a crane, SZDC, a company managing Czech railway infrastructure confirmed.

The thieves even managed to dupe police officers during a routine check as they were dismantling the booty, showing officers forged documents saying they were working on a new bicycle path.

The stolen metal is valued at around 4,800 Euros ($6,300), according to the SZDC.

Ah, the old bicycle path ploy....

That’s it: I’m orf to build a PC with magnetic bacteria

And today’s thought:

British politics.

Angus

Recession over; Choo-choo catastrophe; Cha Yu-ram; Illiterate binmen; and a Numpty in a goat skin

Monday again, just been down to Tesco, it seems that they opened at 6am instead of the usual 8am this morn, shame they didn’t tell anyone, but it was nice to have 20 checkouts open instead of the usual one, must be Christmas or something.

Anyone else fed up with the snow and having to scrape the car every morning?

Still there is good news of a sort:

The recession will be over by the end of the year, bringing a close to the worst period for the British economy since at least the 1930s, according to the CBI.

The business lobby group predicted economic output will have grown by 0.5 per cent between October and December, meaning that Britain will have finally exited its recession, the last major economy to do so.

The news will come as a welcome relief to Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, who has been under pressure since the Pre-Budget Report, which was widely criticised for failing to address how the deficit would be tackled.

Let’s all go out and celebrate.

Still the wrong type of water

Eurostar trains modified overnight will be tested today as Channel Tunnel services are suspended for a third day.

Eurostar has warned it will be not able to carry all of the passengers due to travel over the next few days as well as the backlog of those whose journeys have already been cancelled.

It is advising people to postpone their trip unless absolutely necessary.

Eurostar commercial director Nick Mercer said the company believed it had now identified the cause of the problems.

"We will be testing the trains with the new modifications in the deteriorating snow conditions," he said.

Snookered, but in the nicest possible way

South Korea's pin-up pool player Cha Yu-ram has insisted she has no plans to switch to a career in modelling despite publishing a book of racy photos this year.

The cue-wielding beauty has won international titles this year, proving there is substance behind the style, and has vowed to deliver at next year's Asian Games in Guangzhou.

"I had a photo shoot for a sexy photo album this summer but promise my fans I won't go into the entertainment business," Cha told South Korea's Chosun Ilbo.

"I want to be recognised for my pool skills, not for my looks. I think my (time) is about to begin. Look out for me (in Guangzhou)."

And yes I know it’s not about snooker, but it seemed to fit.

Where’s you bin

One thousand homes in Oxon were left without bins for a month-and-a-half because drivers were unable to read addresses and street maps.

The slip-up emerged after an official report was released from waste contractors Verdant, who were contracted by South Oxfordshire district council in June.

''A consequence was that bins were not delivered to approximately 1,000 properties at the start of the contract.''

Resident Val Wolsey, 74, from Wallingford, Oxon, said: ''I'm staggered. Where was the management?

''These people clearly were not given sufficient guidance and support to be able to carry the job out properly.''

Another resident, Tim Day, said: ''It's totally ridiculous. I just cannot understand how people cannot read a map.

''On our road, there are only two or three of us that never got them, so it was a case of missing out houses.''

Verdant spokesman Blair Drummond said crews delivering the bins were not the company's usual binmen, but short-term contractors from a local employment agency, unfamiliar with the district's geography.

Not many tips this year then.





And finally:

Dressed to die

A Greek man dressed in animal hide was mistakenly shot dead while out hunting wild boar for a Christmas dinner.

Police said members of a shooting party made up of families opened fire when Christos Constantinou, 49, moved through the undergrowth.

They are thought to have been confused by the fact the victim was disguised in dark goat skins, which are used to camouflage and to mislead their prey.

The groups had fanned out in pairs of two to track down an animal for the traditional festive dinner when the accident happened.

Police in the northern Greek town of Nemea, Chalkidiki, said Mr Constantinou was pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.

Two unidentified men, aged 25 and 28, were detained and were being questioned.

The lack of common sense of the human race never ceases to confuse me.


Angus

AnglishLit

Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE

Angus Dei politico

BITS AND BOBS

This first item is a bit serious:

BBC NEWS Social network sites 'monitored' there are plans afoot to monitor the social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace because it was needed to tackle crime gangs and terrorists who might use the sites. This is in addition to proposals to store details of every phone call, email, and internet visit made in the UK.

Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake said the websites contained sensitive personal details and that he was concerned information could leak from any government-controlled database. "It is deeply worrying that they now intend to monitor social networking sites which contain very sensitive data like sexual orientation, religious beliefs and political views,"


Couple of points:

This “idea” is a breach of our human rights, which gives us the right to privacy regarding sexual orientation, religious beliefs and political views that the UK Government has signed up to.

If the history of Government data security s anything to go by they have no chance of keeping the information safe.




Bradford Man follows sat nav to cliff edge

A car was left teetering on a cliff edge after the driver followed sat nav directions down a Pennine footpath.

Robert Jones continued to follow the instructions when they told him the narrow, steep path he was driving on in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, was a road.

Mr Jones, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, only stopped when his BMW hit a fence above Gauxholme railway bridge on Sunday morning.

Police have charged Mr Jones with driving without due care and attention.

Unfortunately this isn’t a one off Police warning over sat nav use Police in Cumbria are warning drivers not to rely solely on Satellite Navigation Systems when driving through the Lake District.

A spokesman said the route-finders do not take into account weather conditions or road types.

Officers from Cumbria Constabulary have been called out to an increasing number of vehicles stranded on high mountain passes in poor weather conditions.

Drivers between North and South Cumbria have been particularly affected.


Ye, it’s called looking where you are going.




This one is bit rude, but you know what teenagers are like BBC an 18-year-old has secretly painted a 60ft drawing of a phallus on the roof of his parents' £1million mansion in Berkshire.

It was there for a year before his parents found out. They say he'll have to scrub it off when he gets back from travelling.

If he knows about it what are the odds he will come back?




From BBC NEWS America- Barack Obama has told Americans he sees signs of economic recovery, but urged them to be patient and look beyond their "short-term interests".

The US president said his draft budget would build a stronger economy which would mean America did not face a repeat crisis in 10 or 20 years.

"We will recover from this recession," he told a prime-time news conference in Washington DC.

Mr Obama said his economic strategy, and his new budget which was now being prepared, was based on creating new jobs, rejuvenating the housing market, and creating new liquidity and lending by the banks.


Methinks he listened to Gordon too much!




Boys Toys BBC NEWS Rail enthusiasts can now enjoy views of Scandinavian fjords, the Swiss Alps, and even Mount Rushmore - in Germany.

Twin brothers Frederick and Gerrit Braun have built the world's longest model railway in the city of Hamburg.

It has six miles of track, cost £8m to build and its 1,150 square metres (12,380 square feet) take in the US, Scandinavia and the Swiss Alps.

By the time the layout is completed in 2014 it will be twice as long and will take in France, Italy and the UK.

The Braun brothers, 41, began work on the Miniatur Wunderland project in 2000.
Their model railway now comprises 700 trains with 10,000 carriages, 900 signals, 2,800 buildings and 160,000 individually designed figures.

It even includes scale models of the Rocky Mountains, Mount Rushmore, the Swiss Matterhorn, and a Scandinavian fjord complete with 4ft cruise ship.

The scenery took 500,000 hours, 700kg of fake grass and 4,000kg of steel to build.
So large is the layout that 160 staff are employed to show visitors around the railway.



Wouldn’t you like an attic big enough?



And finally:


Ananova - World's untidiest car banned police in Germany have banned a woman driver's car from the road - for being too untidy.

The Vauxhall Astra was so full of junk, magazines, old clothes and even bits of furniture that they could barely see the driver at it roared down a motorway near Düsseldorf.

The driver - who has not been named by police - has been banned from taking the car on the road again until it has passed a tidiness test.

Police said the car was so full of junk the woman's face was pressed up against the windscreen as she drove.

God job they can’t see my car!



“You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. “ Doug Floyd


Angus

NHS Behind the headlines

Angus Dei politico

NHS-THE OTHER SIDE

DOWNTURN? NO IT’S A BLEEDIN’ RECESSION

Unemployment has risen to 1.92 Million, up until November that is BBC NEWS

Here’s a list with a nice map of job losses and gains BBC UK jobs tracker and there is even a “How to cope with Unemployment guide” BBC NEWS and the media is STILL referring to a “downturn” bollocks, it’s a firkin recession, let’s call it as it is.

The Royal Bank of Scotland shares have plunged 67% (see Angus Dei on all and sundry: TAKING THINGS A BIT TOO FAR?)

The Pound has fallen to $1.37, the Lloyds Banking Group shares, which now includes HBOS are at 38.3 pence down 14.5%.

There is a “squeeze map” where you can click on an arrow and find out what people think across the country Have Your Say map: The squeeze

Mortgage lending fell by 30% in 2008 BBC NEWS

You can even watch a video on how the job centre can help you

Downturn? No it’s a recession, but I suppose all the time the media and Government insist on calling it a “downturn” everything will be all right.

“Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?” John Barrymore

Angus