For a while now, The Old Girl and I have been thinking about installing an outdoor painting at the front of the house. We have a few bits and pieces about the property see: HERE but the panel above the French doors to our bedroom is bare and just asking for something nice.
When we took out the old sash windows and installed the new French doors, the builder exposed a set of windows above the sash windows that had been covered up by the panel.
We thought about retaining these but they were in poor condition and it would have been difficult installing the new doors if we did so they had to go and the panel was reinstalled.
I swam about for a while today as it's so hot and contemplated the house from the water.
I concluded that it was about time that we bought and installed the artwork so made my mind up and, in the best tradition of 'the man of the house' - I called The Old Girl for permission.
I didn't want this happening.
I sent her an email first with an image of an outside painting with a NZ scene inserted to give an impression of how it would look.
She liked the idea - not necessarily the image which is a bit too bright but we agreed to go to the gallery when she gets back from Wellington.
Something in blues and greens might be the answer.
I wonder if Richard's approach to his gigs is anything like his approach to blogging?
That's his effort in his latest post!
He did say, in the body of the post once he'd deigned to actually write something:
"Well, I'd better go and put a bit of work into those 12 violin improvisation practice points.
Yeah, yeah, I know that no one is interested in them around here.
Maybe I won't bother posting today. I think that only TC reads my posts these days.
Never mind. That gives me more time to practise."
Which suggests that he treats his gig audience with only slightly less disdain than his blogging audience but one does wonder whether the gig audience is going to get a mishmash of Csárdás and other silly old folk songs - probably Irish ones.
Regular readers of this blog will no doubt remember that I forecast that Kamala Harris should be President of the USA HERE and HERE or, failing that, Vice President HERE
Harris is impressive but, inexplicably has been kept out of the limelight in favour of the doddery old Biden. This is a shame but maybe it's that the Democrats are holding her in reserve for future elections. I stand by my recognition of her and also of this outstanding young candidate: OCASIO-CORTEZ
Well, if Harris and Ocasio-Cortez are being kept under wraps for later, at least the Democrats have got some other excellent contenders unlike the struggling Republicans who put up some extremely weak opposition to Donald Trump in the running for G.O.P. presidential candidate. Maybe that was the plan though.
Enter Stage Left
I watched Gavin Newsom, Governor of California on TV the other night and it looks like this guy has all the goods necessary to run for POTUS:
He's a winner.
He is experienced.
He has charisma.
He is governor of California the the most powerful US state (Reagan was governor of California and went on to be president).
He looks good.
He's youngish.
He's intelligent.
He's basically everything that Donald Trump isn't but hey, all he has to do is look and smell better than this guy:
Have a look at this, I recommend it.
Newsom has been at pains to say that he is not running for the 2024 ticket but you have to wonder why he's been doing all this 'campaigning'.
I hope that his name officially pops up soon.
Stay posted!
************************************
GOOGLE Checker. In fairness to others in this blogging community who are being monitored and judged on essential posting criteria, the above post was reviewed. Here are the results:
4, sorry, 5 Essential Elements to Writing a Great Blog Post.
*An attention-grabbing headline. ✔ People of our age remember the Hanna - Barbera cartoons with fondness.
*A good blog post is about one topic, one story, one idea. ✔ The post is consistent to the theme.
*A captivating lead paragraph. You know how much first impressions matter, right? ✔ Yes and the previous post links was a very good idea.
*Interesting supporting points. This is the body of the article. ✔ Keeping to the USA presidential them the references to other candidates made for interesting supporting points.
*A compelling call-to-action.✔ "Keep posted". Very good advice.
OK, fair enough but in the same post he said that he'd been up since 3.20 and this is a Sunday. Isn't Sunday supposed to be a day of rest?
I complain about things sometimes ... yes, really ... but, to be honest my weeks are a bit of a doddle compared to Robert's and indeed, to most people's. I get funny looks from The Old Girl when I say things like
"Good, it's a holiday tomorrow".
She replies:
"Everyday is a holiday for you Matey!"
I like this comedy clip of a Middle ages peasant having a bad week:
The more unkind reader might suggest that I'm escaping the North because it will be the 'long' Waitangi weekend and it won't be safe up here.
Maybe there is a bit of truth to that but, if I hadn't made long range plans I would like to stay to see that twat David Seymour and his 'boss' the egg Luxon get their arses kicked by Maori.
One of the things I'll be doing in Wellington is to visit my sister in Waikanae.
To get there I'll take the train which, on the Kapiti Coast line is the outstanding railcar that I'm sure most Wellingtonians take for granted. This trip takes in the stunning and world-beating Paekakariki to Pukerua Bay section. I never tire of that view.
I love travelling by train - I might have mentioned that before.
This post was prompted by my listening to a Supertramp song - 'Rudy' which has a train ride as the theme.
Rudy's on a train to nowhere, halfway down the line He don't want to get there, but he needs time He ain't sophisticated, nor well-educated After all the hours he wasted, still he needs time ...
... Now he's just come out the movie Numb of all the pain, Sad but in a while he'll soon be Back on his train
I'd disappoint readers if I didn't put in links to another couple of train themed songs that were contemporaneous to Supertramp's.
Locomotive Breath
On The Run
No doubt you have your favourite train songs. Robert I guess would pick The Band's 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' unless there's a song about angels and trains - maybe this one: CALLING ALL ANGELS
Richard no doubt will have many train themed songs to call on and has probably played quite a few like 'Midnight Train To Georgia', 'Slow Train', 'Night Train', 'Blue Train', 'Take The A Train', 'The Orange Blossom Special' etc. He probably still listens though to 'Peace Train' and 'Last Train To Clarkesville' while reminiscing on his glory days in the 6th form.
I notice that we haven't had an interview for a while so luckily for readers, Friar Tuck stepped in to have a wee chat.
THE CURMUDGEON: Welcome Friar Tuck. It's a pleasure to have you on The Interview series of The Curmudgeon's blog.
FRIAR TUCK: Thanks The Curmudgeon - can I call you TC? I've heard a lot of good things about this blog.
THE CURMUDGEON: I appreciate that Fria ... can I call you FT? You can of course call me TC. Where did you hear about my blog?
FRIAR TUCK: On the Religious Curmudgeon's blog. As you know he 'borrowed' that image of me and we've kind of kept in touch.
THE CURMUDGEON: Ha ha - yes, we at The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ tend to borrow a few things from the web - kind of like the way Quentin Tarantino does with movies.
FRIAR TUCK: Yeah, that twat. I notice though that you're pretty quick at putting the copyright Ⓒ on your Inc. name.
THE CURMUDGEON: Ha ha .... er, you noticed that? We did that some time ago when another blogger who has a generally unheard of blog was sniffing around trying to form his own incorporation. It turned out to be unsuccessful though.
FRIAR TUCK: Why was that TC?
THE CURMUDGEON: He used an archaic and out of favour allusion to The Confederacy. As you know this has been controversial and he introduced his idea at the same time that Confederacy flags and statues were being removed from public places in the USA.
FRIAR TUCK: What a dick!
THE CURMUDGEON: That's right, Richard of Richard's Bass Bag.
FRIAR TUCK: What does he do may I ask.
THE CURMUDGEON: He's an ex schoolteacher.
FRIAR TUCK: Oh dear.
THE CURMUDGEON: And a double bass player.
FRIAR TUCK: Oh my. That explains his clinging on to anachronous ideas.
THE CURMUDGEON: Look FT, as you might have learned from TRC, in this interview series we give people who don't get much press to put their own stories forward.
FRIAR TUCK: TRC?
THE CURMUDGEON: The Religious Curmudgeon. Keep up FT.
FRIAR TUCK: Ah, right. You know a bit about my story then TC?
THE CURMUDGEON: Yes, a few bits and pieces. Generally you are portrayed as being very overweight and that you seem to love food and ale more than you love Robert's God. You can be jolly, foolish, lecherous, an alcoholic, a devout holy man and sometimes wise all at the same time. You are also a very dangerous opponent.
FRIAR TUCK: Fair dos. That about sums me up. Just ask Robin Hood. He was foolish enough to pick a fight with me. I lived by a small ford. Robin wanted to cross the river so, he climbed on my back and ordered me to carry him across the water. which I did for a laugh. But then I forced him to carry me back across the water. Now, Robin climbed onto my back again but halfway across, I dumped him into the water. Ha ha. You had to be there. We then had an archery contest and fought with swords. I won both times.
THE CURMUDGEON: Wow! That' reminds me of my competitions with Richard. also, I've cajoled girlfriends into carry me across streams. I ...
FRIAR TUCK: .. TC?
THE CURMUDGEON: Yes FT?
FRIAR TUCK: I think we're dealing with a chick magnet here. I suspect your stories have got better with age. Hey, you probably gladly drank chilled red wine back then.
THE CURMUDGEON: What? WTF!
FRIAR TUCK: Just fucking with you TC. I read that comment from that Richard joker on your last post. I thought it was funny.
THE CURMUDGEON: Yeah well, It was true OK?
FRIAR TUCK: Keep your hair on TC ..... oops, sorry about that.
THE CURMUDGEON: Let's move on. You originally came from Yorkshire didn't you? I lived in York for a while and ...
FRIAR TUCK: ....TC, stop parallel universing. This interview is about me. Sheesh! I originally came from Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire but settled in Fountaindale in Nottinghamshire. That's where Robin Hood and I first met, along the banks of the River Skell, which flows from the abbey there.
THE CURMUDGEON: But I heard that you also came from Companhurst. In the novel Ivanhoe, you were known as the Clerk of Companhurst.
FRIAR TUCK: Ah, don't believe everything you hear or read TC. Old Sir Walter Scott was a bit of a piss-head and he got confused about facts and figures a lot. Next you'll be believing all that Catechism stuff that Robert bangs on about.
THE CURMUDGEON: You know about Robert then?
FRIAR TUCK: Yeah, TRC keeps me up to date. We have a bit of a laugh about some of the silly things he says. Did you know that he wonders about the distinction between brain and mind and that in near death experiences the mind seems to leave the body? He also believes in angels and that they don't have a brain but they do have intelligence. He reckons that some higher level things we do can not be accounted for just by the physical components of the brain! Yeah, TRC and I had a chuckle about that alright.
THE CURMUDGEON: (Chuckles).
FRIAR TUCK: Hey TC! Here's a snippet for your readers. My Christian name is Michael.
THE CURMUDGEON: Michael?
FRIAR TUCK: Yes, Michael. My mother, like Robert was a bit of an angelophile.
THE CURMUDGEON: Angelophile?
FRIAR TUCK: Yes, that's a word for someone who believes in angels.
THE CURMUDGEON: Is it? I'd have thought 'delusional' would be a better word.
FRIAR TUCK: Now now TC, be nice.
THE CURMUDGEON: I am nice damn it! How about you then you fat git. How do you reconcile being a friar on the one hand and a murderous outlaw on the other?
FRIAR TUCK: When I go on the rampage with Robin of Locksley - Robin Hood to you - I discard the hermit's grey robes and put on a Lincoln green uniform. I declare that: "When I am encased in my green cassock, I will drink, swear, and woo a lass with any blythe forester in the West Riding."
THE CURMUDGEON: OK, whatever but isn't that a sin?
FRIAR TUCK: Ha ha. What I do is, as the green clad outlaw, I confess all to my grey-clad priestly self then all is hunky dory.
THE CURMUDGEON: Very clever. It reminds me of Donald Trump vowing to pardon himself and all his crimes and sins when he next becomes president.
FRIAR TUCK: Yep, he learned that from me.
THE CURMUDGEON: Well FT, thanks for dropping by. I'm sure that the readers enjoyed hearing from you and, as for me it gave me a chance of wriggling out of that THE CURMUDGEON'S MOST EMBARRASSING EXPERIENCES series. Richard was asking too many damned questions relating to that.
FRIAR TUCK: Yes, he is a bit of a pedant.
THE CURMUDGEON: Bye FT - say Hi to Maid Marian for me. It would have been nice to hear a bit more about her - some pics would have been nice.
FRIAR TUCK: as Richard would say: "You're a dirty old man".
Richard of Richard's Bass Bag (don't ask) in recent posts made an attempt at writing post series- see: HERE and HERE
If you had the misfortune of reading these you'd have discovered that he really doesn't know what he's doing. I guess that cognitive degeneration is a news thing at present as per the performances of Biden and Trump who laughingly refer to themselves as being leaders of the 'Free World' so why shouldn't Richard be on that particular bandwagon.
Richard's bandwagon
Anyway, somewhere in his posts or comments he lamented that The Curmudgeon isn't writing enough post series. This of course took me by surprise but I admit that, given the reading, comprehension and memory skills of this blog's readers (2) maybe they need to be entertained with fresh material so here goes:
**NEW SERIES** - THE CURMUDGEON'S MOST EMBARRASSING EXPERIENCES
Number one - At the Saint Mary's College school dance 1969.
The Curmudgeon had, with his mother's assistance, purchased a new suit for the 'school dance season' and looked pretty darned spiffy with a bit of gel in his (then) full head of curly hair and smelled good too having freshly bathed and applied a smidgeon of his older sister's perfume to his underarms and his nether regions. He looked good in the suit, having a fit and trim body, well-tuned from his activities on the athletics team and, having taken off his spectacles and put them in his pocket he squintingly could see himself as a James Dean character in the bathroom mirror.
The Curmudgeon took the bus to Thorndon for the dance where The Avengers were playing and after paying polite greetings to friends and schoolmates (silently wishing that they would bugger off) he went on the school dance prowl to select a victim partner for a dance. He lucked out straight away, hooking up with Angela from Miramar*.
Things were going well. Pleasantries were exchanged, smiles shared and covert ogling engaged in until ... disaster struck. The Curmudgeon .....
No. I think that we'll leave that there. Richard and Robert have said before that they aren't interested in my reminiscences.
"I'm not interested in your reminiscences." said Richard.
"I try not to be concerned about how I appear in other's eyes." said Robert.
I guess that we won't be having a THE CURMUDGEON'S MOST EMBARRASSING EXPERIENCES series so we'll just hush.
* Which was one of those connectivity coincidence things as, the next year his girlfriend was Helen who was best friends with Angela and, the year after that he went out with Gemma who was Angela's younger sister. Go figure.
It was interesting as I've wondered about the effect of the 'explosion' of use of air conditioners or heat pumps in New Zealand.
This is a relatively new thing and something that I've never until very recently had experience of. We not long ago installed 3 heat pumps into our house (bedroom and both lounges) but have never had them in previous houses. Fortunately the RNZ report was not as scathing of their use as I thought might be the case:
However, according to Sustainable Engineering director Jason Quinn, it was hard to say whether a reliance on air conditioning was harmful.
Any unit that cools in summer also operates as a heat pump in winter, he said.
Those units tend to be more energy efficient than older electric heating options, meaning less net emissions over the course of a year.
"If you use resistance electric heating to heat an average house in New Zealand, it produces about 300 kilograms of carbon a year, roughly speaking.
“But if you use a heat pump instead it's only 100kg- so the saving is 200, and the impact of cooling with that same heat pump in a really hot house in summer would be less than 100kg.
I don't run them all the time, preferring to give the room a quick blast when it's too hot. At first I gave the rooms a frigid blast, or 17 degrees but read that this was inefficient. Now I set the units at 20 degrees and, if the rooms are say 25 degrees plus then 10 minutes of running at 20 degrees makes a huge difference.
I don't know why Richard thinks that my posts are boring. Can anyone tell me?
* From the original garden post writer - The Curmudgeon.
That old fraud Richard pretended to write a gardening post the other day. Amateur. He hasn't a clue about weed pulling (you'd think he's be good at that - ed), trailer filling, lawn-mowing, tree trimming and laying paving stones. That's why you have The Curmudgeon.
This morning I got up early (6AM) and did a couple of hours of gardening before it got too hot. As it was, by 9.30 I was stuffed.
Today's effort was to pull out the bloody convolvulus that's getting out of hand again. Weeks of very hot but wet weather has meant that the weeds have run riot.
Convolvulus
How it can take over a garden
I got rid of a lot of it - not all as it's a tricky pest. It lets you have the impression that you're winning as it's easy to pull out but the devious little bastard has extensive root systems in place and, as soon as you leave it sprouts again. How unfair is that?
Sort of like this
I cleared 'a couple of tonnes' of the stuff which will go in the trailer with some tree cuttings. I guess that will be the makings of THE GARDEN SERIES. PART 12 - lucky you.
* Richard was not involved in this just in case you were wondering.
It's funny how memories pop into your brain sometimes.
Apropos of nothing Robert wrote this in his latest post:
"I've always wondered about the distinction between brain and mind. In near death experiences the mind seems to leave the body. Angels do not have a brain but have intelligence. Some higher level things we do can not be accounted for just by the physical components of the brain."
No - it probably doesn't help.
A memory of an old prick I worked with many years ago came this morning. Fred** was a long-term worker in the hospitality industry having been for most of his life a publican. In his retirement he worked part time in the wine and spirit stores where I was assistant manager at one and manager of the other. Fred liked his rum and his favourite brand was Coruba.
Eventually Fred and his wife decided to move away from Auckland and purchased an old folks home somewhere down country. From time to time, when back in Auckland, Fred would call in to say hello (and have a 'spot' of rum in the 'Spot Room' which was the name for the entertainment bar that all wine and spirit wholesalers had at the time). One time on leaving he, as usual was making hints for me to give him a 'wee leaving gift'. I said "hold on" and scooted out to the shop floor and selected a bottle of McWilliams sweet sherry and a bottle of Coruba. I took these to the staff room where I emptied out the sherry and poured the rum into the sherry bottle, carefully recapping it to make it look unopened (I 'bought' the bottles on the store's hospitality account). I ushered Fred out to his car and gave him the gift which I'd put in a paper bag. He thanked me profusely and headed off.
I know from a friend of Fred's who I kept in contact with, that Fred thought I was a right miserable bastard for giving him the cheap sherry and when back home he stuck it in a cupboard and forgot about it.
About a year later Fred, on another Auckland trip, called in for a 'spot'. While we were swapping stories he told me that at the last Christmas time, his wife was making some trifles for the old folk in the old folks home and asked Fred if they had any sherry. He remembered the McWilliams sweet sherry and directed her to the cupboard. Soon after he heard a screech from the kitchen and went to investigate. His wife was staring hard at the bottle in her hand, half of which she had poured over the sponge pieces in the three large trifle bowls on the preparation bench. She handed the bottle to him and asked him to take a swig. When he did he realised it was Coruba dark rum and a smile lit up his face. "That Peter ..." he said to his wife and they both laughed.
In the previous post I tried to be nice to Richard, surmising that, if he were to take the The Montreal Cognitive Assessment like Donald Trump did, he'd ace it.
Unfortunately I was a bit presumptuous here as he failed in the Attention, Language Abilities, Orientation, Short Term Memory, Executive Function and Abstraction components of the test when he said in a comment:
Maybe he would have passed the Animal Naming component if I'd put that in my post for him. I'd have had to leave out cows as he's afraid of those ... and chickens. I don't know his situation regarding whales, tigers and giraffes but it'd be better not to take any risks - we'll give him an honorary pass on that.
His response was disappointing though. I wonder how Robert would react if he was given the same opportunity that Richard had - and passed. Mmm, given what he said in his recent post though I'm not so sure about him acing it.
Robert said:
Maybe we should wait until he's taught to walk and talk at the same time, count backwards from 10, put his pants on the right way around and be objective about the Catholic Church's Catechism and the Vatican's missives.
I've noticed similarities in writing and presentation styles of these two guys as time has marched on and cognitive abilities have slipped.
Now, no-one could ever say that what they said was interesting or made much sense but, believe it or not, they've both got much worse.
Here are some examples from recent witterings:
Trump:
Last night, I was honored to receive the endorsement of a man who has become a true leader and earned the admiration of so many patriots. I’ve been a friend of his, even though we were competing against each other, but I was a friend of his and we got along. He was saying, “He’s a great president.” I kept saying, “Why is he running? He keeps calling me a great president.” He’s a fantastic guy, a very smart guy. He’s got some tremendous ideas. He’s young and he’s got some young ideas too, and that’s a good thing. So he has a big, beautiful, bright future ahead. Vivek Ramaswamy. Come on up, Vivek.
Richard:
When practising the violin, thoughtful practice will really speed things up. Two obvious essentials are tone production and playing in tune. These are affected by how you hold the bow and the violin. Playing 'in time' is also very important. When I'm practising, I work to a plan of 12 things that will really help my improvising. 12 things that I have learnt over a lifetime of study. The first thing to know that there are 5 chord types in music - major, minor, dominant 7th, augmented and diminished.
Trump:
There are two genders in this country, period. That is the truth. Fossil fuels are a requirement for human prosperity. Drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear energy. Reverse racism isn’t racism, and open border is not a border. Parents determine the education of their children. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind. Capitalism lifts us up from poverty. There are three branches of government in the United States, not four. The US Constitution is the strongest and greatest guarantor of freedom in human history. That is the truth. We fight for the truth.
Richard:
The 12 things I'm talking about relate to playing over these chords. In my practice plan I try to work on 3 of these things every day. I use this cycle - 1, 5, 9........2, 6, 10........3, 7, 11........4, 8, 12. For me, 1 and 12 are very important ones. To get 12 really working requires a bit of study. The thing to notice is that there are six pairs of dominant 7th chords where each 3 - 7 chord in a pair uses the same two notes. I'm tempted to do a post series on these 12 practice essentials. Though who would really be interested?
Trump:
These people are disgraceful. They’re a disgrace to our country. I want to just leave this. We are going to win on Tuesday at a level that maybe could even be bigger than what we just did last night in Iowa. And the greatest expression of all time, I think the greatest slogan, whatever you want to call it, it’s called Make America Great Again. It’s called MAGA. It’s the greatest of all time. We are going to put America first and we are going to make America great again. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much everybody.
Richard:
I found this. He said to them, "Thus says yhwh, the God of Israel: Each of you put sword on thigh, go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay sibling, neighbor, and kin." The men of Levi did as Moses had bidden; and some three thousand of the people fell that day. And Moses said, "Dedicate yourselves to yhwh this day—for each of you has been against blood relations—that [God] may bestow a blessing upon you today." Exodus 32:26-28 Any thoughts?
Well, yes quite frankly - I do have thoughts. I think that Richard should take the Montreal Cognitive Assessment that Trump did and, according to him 'aced'.
Trump was able to identify a whale in a line-up of a whale, a tiger and a giraffe, and previously to remember person, woman, man, camera TV.
Now I do think that Richard could also 'ace' the tests although he might struggle on the 'woman' component given his limited experience.
I began watching TOURIST last night on TVOne. This is a drama set in Australia and looks quite promising.
The opening scenes are a bit like, and obviously a 'homage' to Duel, the Spielberg film from 1971.
It seems that I've got lots of events in my life that could have rendered me incapacitated or dead. One that TOURIST reminded me of was in 1984 when I was driving back one Sunday night from a couple of days skiing.
The road was SH1 between Putaruru and Tirau. I was driving a brand new Holden Commodore which was the company car I had when managing Macindoes wines and spirits store. The car was quick and safe with good brakes, suspension and lights so I felt secure.
On a hill I came up behind a logging truck which wasn't unusual in those days with the mills at Tokoroa and Kinleith a few kilometres back. Big logging trucks would take export quality logs for loading in Auckland or Tauranga.
I safely overtook the truck having to zip up to about 130 kph and then settled back to 100 kph, crested the hill and continued on the winding road downhill. Soon after I was dazzled by full-beam headlights from behind and reflecting off the driving mirror. The logging truck was speeding up behind me. I had to increase speed, going to 120 kph and then 130 kph with the bloody monster close behind. The driver engaged the air horn a few times while continuing to tailgate me. This was a dangerous situation and I had to get out of it. Fortunately a straight was coming up with a passing lane so I kept left and slowed to 100 kph letting the logging truck whizz past at great speed. I couldn't see the driver as he engaged the airhorn again but could imagine his manic look. This was a decade before the 'P' epidemic but long-haul drivers for a while before computerised tracking systems were installed in their vehicles used to rack up very long driving hours sustained by the use of methamphetamine substances:
"I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari Tehachapi to Tonapah Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed And if you give me weed, whites and wine And you show me a sign I'll be willin', to be movin' "
I allowed the truck to get way ahead before going to 100 kph again to the Tirau turn-off, half expecting to see the logging truck and rig upside down in a ditch or a field but ..... no such luck. Maybe it was him years later when I saw a wreck just south of Whangarei one morning. I wrote a post of it: HERE
History would have us believe that while some women have been important in literature, science, philosophy and politics virtually all great things have been achieved by men. We've been duped into this which I guess is what patriarchy is all about.
It's naive to think that women have only just discovered their brains and capabilities since gaining financial and political independence. It's probably more sensible to think that, since the beginning of civilisation, women while not having overt recognition, were the driving force behind many men and instigators of change, discovery and innovation. There are, even though Robert's Catholic Church will continue to deny it, millions of examples of this.
Here is just one that I 'found' while trawling YouTube:
I was up at 4am today so was able to be the first one to comment on Robert's new post. Richard no doubt was wasting time in his pit until 6AM or something.
I had to be up early to take The Old Girl to the airport - we left home at 5AM.
It rained all day today and, with the very warm weather promises to create muggy conditions. Even at 5.30 at the airport getting out of an air-conditioned car and into the air outside reminded me of a trip to Fiji years ago.
The more observant of you will notice that I'm typing this on the Apple Mac main computer in the office - correction, my study which I will have possession of until the end of February so - nothing to complain about . I don't know how you will notice that - maybe because there are no spelling errors which happen when I use the laptop or the iPad.
I'm about to prepare my dinner (tuna, anchovy and olive pizza) and, instead of a glass of wine am enjoying a pre-prandial glass of Scotch (Scapa 12 y.o. from Orkney).
When I went on-line to find an image as above I noticed that the lowest price of this in UK and European retail outlets, is 140 Euro (250 NZD) with an average of 330 Euro! Fuck me! I've had it in the cupboard for many years and probably bought it duty free for about 60 NZD. Admittedly that would have been 20 years ago. It's OK, not a favourite and I'd give it about 80 out of a 100. There was only one glass worth of it left so that's gone. As The Old Girl is now away I might have another 'pre-prandial' drop, this time choosing a Highland Park which I know only has one glass taken out of the bottle.
Now, with this malt whisky, when I went on-line for an image I saw that the average price is about 100 NZD - I've had it a while and probably paid about 60 NZD like the Scapa. I rate this Scotch way above the Scapa and would give it about 92 out of a 100. Go figure! That's the way malt whisky goes though with the smaller producer and rarer ones fetching silly prices. I told you a while ago about selling a bottle of The Macallan I bought for about $100 in 1983 for $2500 in 2013.
I rarely drink Scotch and sold a few old bottles at auction a while ago but still have some dribs and drabs. after seeing the going price of the Scapa though I'll take more notice and not pour it into the trifle or give it away to the bin men like I've been doing. Heigh ho!
**Correction** The gauge reading for this post, since I'm not upset about anyting should be HIGH since I'm unhappy that I don't have anything to complain about.
I was going to start up The Irascible Old Bastard blog again but have had some problems with Google.
I could set it up as an off-shoot of The Curmudgeon like the other Curmudgeons but frankly, (no, I do give a damn) it's too much of a fankle and, though I'm loath to say so, I may have too many blogs going already.
The intention arose because readers have brought to my attention that I'm becoming too moderate in my views and verging on niceness:
The reality is that there are still things that rile me but the intensity of this varies from day to day.
Instead of The Irascible Old Bastard, I thought that using an irascibility meter showing the degree of irascibility on each new post might be a better way of letting readers know how I'm feeling on any given day:
This gauge will be placed at the top of each post.
The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ takes pride in innovation and makes every effort to accommodate readers' wishes.
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