Saturday at last, don’t care about the weather, don’t care about the lawn, chill out and enjoy.
My circuits have been tested and are apparently OK, but I need a new fuse box, or whatever the technical term is nowadays.
People have been telling me for years that my fuses were dodgy.
First up:
From across the pond: A 6ft 7in San Francisco man who decided to indulge in some light knock down ginger while wearing only tennis shoes ended up at the receiving end of a Taser, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Two residents of the Woodside and Portola Valley area, south of Redwood City, reported that Peter Allen Steele, 38, was "standing naked outside their homes on 11 July after he rang their doorbells".
San Mateo County sheriff's deputies sent to investigate spotted Steele in a car, but he attempted to make a motorised escape. Having popped the car's tyres after hitting the kerb, Steel jumped from the vehicle, "burst into a home through the garage" and then legged it into a wooded area where deputies cornered the butt-naked perp.
Officers were obliged to Taser the struggling 250lb fugitive, without effect, so they let him have it with a bean-bag gun.
Steele earlier this week pleaded not guilty in San Mateo County Superior Court to charges "that he rang doorbells while naked". He's currently in jail in lieu of $60,000 bail, and looks likely to add to his previous convictions for "a felony assault in San Francisco, stalking, making threats and evading police".
Good job he didn’t poke anything through the letter box.
Algeria has caused confusion by switching the days on which the country's weekend falls in a bid to boost the country's economy.
The North African country has observed the weekend from Thursday to Friday since 1976, but the government has announced that it will coordinate its weekend with that of neighbouring states, and will observe a Friday-Saturday rest period.
While the move has been hailed by businessmen in the region, Algerians have complained that, with consumers at work on Thursdays, some local trade could be lost.
Over the past 33 years, Algerians have patronised banks and shops, which have remained open on Thursdays.
With reduced consumer traffic on Thursdays, shops could be forced to open on Saturdays. But critics of the move warn that businesses could be hit by the change, with Muslims observing the Friday holy day and then relaxing at home on Saturdays as the new week starts.
Algeria adopted the Thursday-Friday weekend in 1976, asserting its independence from France and the West.
However, as most of the country's business partners are in Europe, America and Asia, all of which observe a Saturday-Sunday weekend, the Algeria's economy has felt the impact, as it was effectively reduced to a three-day business week.
And it only took them 33 years to notice, and..........they still have it wrong.
An Indian taxi driver, Harpreet Dev, has become a mini celebrity in his home town of Bhatinda, in the state of Punjab, by driving everywhere backwards.
The 30 year-old’s reversing skills have become so famous in his homeland, he has even been issued with a special government licence to drive in reverse anywhere in the state, located in the county's north.
His passion for driving backwards came about one night as he returned from a party in 2003 and his car developed a fault meaning only the reverse gear worked.
He then decided to take his Fiat Padmini, paint “Back Gear Champian” on the side, and redesign the gear box to have four gears in reverse and one forward.
He can now reach speeds of up to 50 mph while driving backwards.
Mr. Dev is a regular sight – and sound – around the area’s dusty streets, as he uses an ambulance siren to warn unsuspecting drivers, and pedestrians, to avoid him.
“After five years of practice I have perfected the art of reverse driving,” he said, adding that he took “all the care I can to protect other drivers on the road”.
"I always wanted to do something different, something unique.
If you want to see this Numpty click the link over the picture.
So what does he do when he wants to go forward? And he can’t spell champion.
A suspected burglar fleeing the scene of a crime is threatening to sue police after a force German Shepherd chased him and bit off his ear.
Leon Reid, 31, was left screaming in pain after the dog attacked him, but the ear was packed in ice and sewn back on later in hospital.
The jobless burglary suspect appeared in court charged with burglary with a large white bandage over his right ear.
He was asked if he could hear properly from the dock. "Just about," he responded.
According to The Sun newspaper, Reid, from New Cross, South East London, is now considering suing the Metropolitan Police.
He would most likely qualify for legal aid and could get up to £50,000 in compensation.
A police source suggested the dog may have acted inappropriately.
"Dogs are trained to go for arms. But when he ran, the dog felled him and went for his ear," he told The Sun.
Reid was arrested after a series of burglaries in the area and spent four days in hospital before being brought before the courts.
Police were called when a man was seen acting suspiciously in a back garden on Saturday night.
Greenwich magistrates remanded him in custody to next appear in court on August 20.
See, crime can pay.
And finally:
Something to make us feel better:
Sharon Stone
Rachael Hunter
Pamela Anderson
Nichollette Sheridan
Nichole Richie
This is a sample, there are many more if you click the link above the first picture.
