Cars, Furniture and Fire

Why are car ads so bad?

I rarely watch TV but the ads offered in between football or cricket bare little resemblance to the car on offer.  On one, a female ballet dances around for no good reason while the car putters about.  What is it saying?  Cultured car?  Take up dancing?  What does this tell us about the vehicle itself?

Another features a man, in slow motion, diving into a swimming pool, why?  Is this saying watch out you have driven into the pond? 

All is image, and all image is meaningless to me.  

Possibly there are people out there highly influenced by these ads, I suggest they get themselves a life.  I wonder if anyone who actually knows about cars is impressed by the ads?  Certainly those who think themselves important, those 'on the up' will be impressed if an ad featured a 'big car' driven by a 'Big man,' they will buy one as this shows them they have made it.  Poor fools.    

Nothing wrong with the car of your dreams, I await my Landrover arriving, I have waited a long time, and nothing wrong with succeeding and having such cars.  However, all cars are sold by image, what then does that say about people who are impressed by car adverts?  What sort of life are they hoping for?

Sir Terence Conran has died.  He was the man who gave us the 'Habitat' shops and they say, 'revolutionised the way we live.'  Hmmm.  I wandered through the Chelmsford shop a few years ago and found myself checking the high prices and wondering in the 'Habi' part of the name was required. On show was a lot of cheap furniture, made out of cheap wood, fancy designs occasionally, but always with a big, needless, price tag.  Was it because it became fashionable it 'revolutionised our lives?'  Or was it for the actual style on offer?  I am afraid hs shop made me look at the 'Sue Ryder charity shop furniture section' for better quality and longer lasting furniture.  Indeed, my house is almost all second hand, rather like my humour...

One thing that caught my eye was the sight of small US towns obliterated by the fires hanging over Oregon.  I grumble about laptops or the milk being off while others are looking at a pile of ash and wondering where their house has gone.  Small town America would never be my idea of home, but we must sympathise with those who no longer have a home, who may have lost all insurance documents, and who may have lost friends or even family in the fire.  

Our life is not so bad after all.

 

WORD, Politics, Stress

 

Laptops keep you busy. Once you have worked out the ins and outs you then have to work out the programmes you place upon it. WORD has been bothering me. Microsoft have updated this one, the system I used before was simple enough and worked well, so naturally now all goes via the ‘One Drive’ and is no longer what I was happily used to. So, a search for an alternative began.I tried ‘Apache Open Office,’ an ‘Open Source’ system I used years ago which is good but I could not get the text to remain as I wished. Also ‘Free Office’ from ‘SoftMaker’ which did not word wrap the page and had no spellchecker, which in my ignorance I require. There are others, each with good and bad points, like WORD itself, and for the moment I am using ‘Libre’ which spellchecks, look at all the red bits, and the page is better. This also does not require the entire Browser and is therefore more suitable for me keeping pages on the Desktop, ready for use. This appeals to me at the moment so I am left wondering what will go wrong next.

The laptop works fine but gave Beeps when switching on. 3 beeps, four times, was worrying. I followed the lead and yesterday ran the Diagnostic. This ran from 7:30 to 8:30, offered me more test that ‘May take 30 minutes,’ and so I ran them. 3 and a bit hours later the machine told me all was well, nothing to worry about, all tests were passed.

As I switched on today I got 5 beeps! 

That can be fixed tomorrow. 

I also had to move everything to allow the plumber in. The handyman, John, working on the empty flat below, told me he was coming even though they had not warned me. So, all was moved to give him space. 

When he arrived he was wanted the flat next door. 

However, moving things indicated it was time to make use of the expensive Meile vacuum and move the dust thickening the carpets. 

So ends another day of excitement in this house.

 

I keep reading of people breaking down under ‘Lock Down’ and find myself unsurprised. Those who have no person to discuss things with must be under a real strain. I would think lonely old women, unable to get to coffee mornings and the like may be the most likely to suffer, bar those with real mental stress.

My own stress will be great tonight as no football can be found. Having watched it hourly since Friday I may have overdosed. So many games, most forgettable, and I can no longer remember who played who. With changes of shirts to avoid clashing it is not always possible to recognise who is who and which team is which these days. Consider also, ‘old’ and ‘veteran’ players are in their mid thirties! Possibly this is why the co-commentator spent last nights game, who was playing again? Calling almost every player ‘youngster.’ I could not decide if he was condescending or jealous. He was certainly irritation. I have just remembered, it was Iceland and Belgium. All the Icelanders names ended in ‘...sson’ and considering what the Belgians under thon King of theirs did to the ‘Belgian Congo’ in days past it was surprising to see so many players of African decent lining up for what is without a shadow of doubt the best team in the world just now.

In other news Donald Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize! How do you spell ‘Gasp!’

No gasp is required when you hear a government minister informing the House the government will ‘Break the Law!’ No gasp either when Boris tries to kill devolution by stealth. Fascism is with us once again. No press scrutiny, no investigation anywhere except by the small ‘Bylines’ operation, and a crowd of lackey MPs who vote with the government, even against policies that were intended to prevent another tower block catching fire.  The local world is heading for a fall, don't say I did not warn you...

Bleary Eyed Monday

 

This football is tiring!

I was forced to watch 4 very poor games yesterday, though I confess to falling asleep in one, and ought to have done in the others also.  On top of that I just watched two ex-Soviet sides failing to impress and now I have to prepare emotionally for Scotland playing against an unknown Czech side.  

This sort of thing leads to PTSD you know!

What with the virus, Lock Down, and silly players catching the virus when they ought to be at home there is always a backlog of games to play.  However, the men in suits have forced this tournament upon us which means crowding lots of games into a few days.  This is not good when so few players have had any games behind them at this time, even Belarus, who I just watched, were looking unfit by the end of the game.  Possibly as their season did not stop they may be worn out, but that was not a good sign.

Once more unto the viewer we go...

 

Boris, seen here with what he calls the 'British Flag, has been caught out again.  The 'Financial Times' discovered he was threatening to dump the Brexit withdrawsl agreement, in spite of the cost, and now is claiming it was a lie.  The story may change by the time I finish this.  I note the media are downplaying this, on instructions I suspect. 

Where are journalists today?  Where are the people in the mainstream media questioning this government?  The BBC, with the new Tory chairman, SKY, ITV and the papers do not question?  Not at all!  No government has such an easy run, especially when it is so inept.

Christmas and Brexit are close.  Stock up now!

Protest!

 

 

 I read this morning that the total known number of Coronovirus victims was 26,696,160 with the deaths recorded at 876,149.  Some 25,000 or so died when dumped on Care Homes by the English government clearing the NHS to deal with the virus.  The number of NHS and Care Home staff who have died from this disease I know not.  Now we know some figures are disputed, 46,000 or so as a UK total appears small say some, but clearly people are dying from this disease, Health workers tell us this, doctors and nurses, people in that world at all levels indicate this pandemic is real and still some do not believe it.

This lot for instance, in Edinburgh, indicating paedophiles are more dangerous than Covid 19, a lie that began in the USA where all such absurd theories begin.  They refuse to wear masksbecause TV Lies!

Now weare all aware of TV lies, the Tory party runs most of the press lies in this country, but Doctors and research workers whostudy such virus types are less likely to inform the public of a lie than any media mogul.

Such protests have occurred in several places, along side the virtue signaling XP environment protesters looking for a day out. Emotion, as always lies at the root of such demonstrations.  Tell the people to fear, offer scientific sounding information, shout loud and keepit simple stupid and the followers will come.

It is as if all thought today has been replaced with emotion.  Considered professional opinion, not always correct to be sure, is ignored for the far fetched and fearful offerings from a few.  I see David Icke, who thinks the royal family are descended from alian lizards I believe, is once again out and about.  His walking about spouting such stuff is one thing people believing him is what worries me, they might live next door!

Without God people need something to believe, politics, lifestyle, even a dog or cat or football team can fill that need, but it always fails.  Those protesters catching virus's of various types from one another will surely inform the wolrd of their sickness and how they caught it, will they not?

 

'Dell Boy' and Meat!

 

This morning DPD, a proper courier service delivered to me, as one of his 132 drops, and that before he starts collecting, this 'refurbished' laptop.  So far, this appears faster than my struggling old one, less crumb filled than my bust other one, and almost all has been added that is requred.  Indeed some things have arrived I did not know I still possessed.  One problem was the Microsoft licence sticker was missing from the bottom.  However, a short phone call and the young lad at the other end fixed this via something called 'Team Viewer,' which I had never heard off.  This allowed him to do all that was required fromhis end, quicker and more correct in the end.  

Costing only £239 I did not expect much, however, the service was as required, the laptop is much cleaner than Grade 2 normally is, and my phone call was quick and easy but I pay for it!  Almost next day delivery, the adaptor arrived but the laptop took two more days.  It all appears professional and efficient. If this old thing lasts me one year I will be happy, and all looks OK so far.

 

 

The empty fridge reminded me that meat was required.  So I trotted off to Tesco but passing the butcher, the only real one left in town, I noticed he had several varieties of 'specials' on the go.  So I went in, spent just over £40 on a bag of meat that will last at least a month if not longer.  The freezer is now stuffed full of sausages, chicken, spiced meats and no vegan will be near me for a while!  

 

I have done little but glance at the news today, I noted fake £20 notes are going around, these are the type used in TV and films, they look real bar from little things like the word 'POOND' on the reverse, which some folks in Aberdeen might not notice.  The biggest brothel in Europe is closing because of the Corono Virus, I am not sure why, 'Sickly Come Dancing' returns soon and an exciting horde of people I have never heard off will be participating, are you pleased?  'Bread and Circus's' for the masses I say.  Trump stands accused (There's phrase you often hear) of calling dead US soldiers 'Losers,' amongst other things, that could affect his vote more than police brutality.  A married teacher is accused of having it off with a 15 year old pupil.  Where were such teachers when I was at school?  And there are people confused, say the English press, and it is all English owned, people are confused because Scotland says one thing re quarantine and virus, England another.  Why confused?  Follow Scots lead, you will find it is the safer option.        

Nosy, me?

 

Now as you know I am not nosy, but I wonder what is going on in the park? 

When crowds of kids gather there it is either a drugs party, a gang fight or loud music sufficient to wake the dead.  As I have no interest in being woken I am left wondering what is happening?  

It does look like a school 'do' of some sort, several overfed teachers/assistants standing about gossiping while mothers delights wander about attempting to get nearer their favoured boy/girl, or indeed to escape the less favoured ones.  

Balloons aplenty can be seen, hydrogen filled, no music is heard, no excessive use of the skatepark, no obvious leader announcing this that or the other.  This is annoying, as one renowned for not being nosy I do wish to be informed  regarding events occurring outside my door.  

Ah 'Lock Down,' it makes the small things in life exciting!

On my way back from Sainsburys I noticed the crowd had gathered closer together and were listening to a man with a mike muttering things.  Not possible to hear what was said, it reminded me of the old Tannoy system at Waverley Station.  The high pitched voice of the wel educated woman would resound around the station, bouncing off the high glass ceiling above, echoing from one wall to another and leaving everyone completely baffled and rushing to the nearest porter to ask about their train.  

The Nation

 

I believe it was PMQs again today.  I did not bother to watch.  Too many lies, unwillingness to answer questions, no facts to be heard, and all interest lost thanks to this inept man and his hordes.  How soon until he goes?

Once in a Corn Moon...

They are at it again.

Once more we have a 'Corn Moon,' also known as a 'Harvest Moon,' which I thought we had earlier? Maybe that was a year ago?  One man claimed this is also the 'Blue Moon' and I am getting confused.  So is my camera, the brute was a yellowish green last night, though squeezing out through the kitchen window did not leave much room for playing with camera bits.

At least the clouds cleared long enough to see the thing.  Now, late in the day, I notice the sun is almost shining.  I must manage to get out into it sometime...

Politico

Donald is at it again.  Heading into a town where he is not wanted, surrounded by protection he intends to encourage #White Supremacist' style individuals in the hope of getting votes.  The deliberate desire to cause division may be reprehensible but our Donald knows how to succeed.  He, like Dominic and Boris, clearly are following the Hitler propaganda book.  Divide and rule, point the finger at an easy enemy, fix them and all will be well.  Worked well for Adolf but in the long term it failed.  Donald, like Boris, does not think long term however, today counts, nothing else.  The papers will be full of it tomorrow...

   

Nothing Happened Again...

 

Usual routine, rain, high winds, storm warnings, gales, today cold sunshine.  Typical August weather.  With today being a Bank Holiday in England, one of the most important ones, we ought to expect rain and cold, it's the usual thing.  Often people complain, as if this is abnormal weather.  Quite normal, just annoying as the northerly wind comes right through my window and freezes me no matter what I do.

Call me cynical if you will but I think something is afoot.

Hints keep appearing that Boris will step down.  This is inevitable after Brexit when he would run away and leave others to clear up his mess.  However there are rumblings amongst Tory MPs who are unhappy at the confused state of affairs: Boris is being blamed.  Hmmm... blame Boris while Dominic hides?  However even the 'Daily Telegraph,' Boris's own hand out sheet, has begun to criticise the Virus handling situation, this is not a good happening for Boris.

So, is he making a run for it early?  Is Dominic under orders to remove him?  When the press are fed such stories you know the situation in the Halls of Power (Dominic's office) is changing.  

Where is Boris...on a Scottish Photo shoot again...?

The 'Byline Times,' one of the better reads for important stories, offers this non surprising fact, Brexit is inspired, if not run by, Hedge Fund Managers lining their pockets.  Who would have thought it?  Greedy people at the top are risking the economy to get rich, no surprise there.  So, proof positive that No Deal is where we will end up, economic collapse and who will pay for it?  The Brexiteers will!  

 

A Month of Joy...

So, the adaptor cable broke, so, I sent off for a new one.

Then we had the struggle to update the old, slow, laptop.

Then we waited the new adaptor.

We waited.

And waited.

Contacted the man.

Ina  day or two it came.

Different from the original, however the words looked OK.

It overheated.

I took it out.

I replaced it.

It went back in.

It went 'phut' and left a burning smell in the air. 

Darkness came on me.

I sent for a proper one.

'Hermes' were to deliver this.

I waited.

Refer to first paragraph here.

Nothing happened.
I contacted sender.

They said 'Hermes' had address problem, contact them.

Contacting 'Hermes' is as easy as searching through their many pages, eventually finding a 'thing' called 'Holly' who is delighted to speak to you like any other computerised machine would do.

I left my details, informed that the correct people would be informed, 'give time, etc...' 

I waited.

Eventually, having found one or two more delivery pages I noticed they had attempted to deliver, could not find me.  Now remember they have spent 6 months delivering to the woman next door easily enough, but could not find me, though we use the same door.

This road has stood here for over four thousand years.

The house was built in 1832.

The front door has had three brass numbers at the top for over 50 years.

Yet they could not find me.

I confess I lost it this week.

The lack of laptop, aching knees, tiredness, lack of ability to get through to Hermes' and inability to do anything about the situation bar go back to 'Holly' and vent my spleen rather more rudely than is acceptable.  I shouted at them I shouted at the roof, I shouted at God.

None of this helped.

Once again they attempted to deliver today.

I sat back, cool, calm and cheered.

About 11:30 their local office rang up, 

"Where are you?"  

"He can't find you."

By now I was laughing.  Here was a man honestly trying to do his job through a courier who still could not find me.  I gave some instructions, then afterwards remembered how I ought to have directed him, an easier way.  However, 40 minutes later he was at the door.

Now using what I assume to be Bulgarian drivers who not only do not speak English, this one refused to utter a word, but are unused to the street layout of English towns.  Made worse I must say by this councils daft way of numbering places.

Then it was I realised the difficulty.  

My number is 100, however the house almost opposite is numbered 19.

This driver, like others, notice high numbers far down the road and do not realise that also opposite at the  beginning of the road are an old school, court house and gardens, all which push the numbers down the road.  When you consider most find us easily enough we must add in East Europeans difficulty in adjusting to the ways of the locals.  Next door is a Polish lass, Poles find it easy, those further south struggle, much to the delight of the 'Daily Express' reader.

However, the part has arrived!

Trumpets were blared, crowds cheered, massed bands walked past playing 'Sousa' marches.

All was well.

I opened package.

I plugged it in to my better laptop.

I pressed the button.

Nothing!

There was some battery left, what happened?

What happened was the 'Phut' of the cheap adaptor has also 'Phutted' my laptop!

Instant online search for help brought no joy.

I have spent the rest of the afternoon sitting here staring into space, images of me falling from the Eiffel Tower, or the Empire States Building,' or the 'Forth Bridge' were running through my mind.  Thoughts of a small gun at the temple, US police style, saccharine (or is it strychnine?) swallowed while jumping off the Lowestoft Ferry hang about keeping me company... 

I will sleep well tonight.

I admit I let myself get too stressed by this.  Maybe 'Lock Down' has played a part, maybe I am just a miserable git!  Several tell me so, mostly female I should indicate.  This has not been a good month, and using this old laptop has not helped, so slow, keeps jumping about, and causes stress!

'Lighten our darkness O Lord.'

  

The Sea! The Sea! I Wish I Saw the Sea!

 

"Oh to go down to the sea again

          To the lonely sea and the sky."

Well I got as far as the front where I removed some weeds and cleared up a wee bit.  That and aches makes up my day.  I did this job because I thought 'Hermes' were delivering and I wished to be at the door to ensure he did not run away again.  Naturally it is tomorrow he is coming...

At least I was outside for a while.

How I miss the beach at Bournemouth!

There are other small coves around where it is possible to enjoy the sea, especially when few are around.  My dream home would have the right sea view in front of me and not far behind a railway, preferably a 'Heritage' railway, running steam every so often.  The view is somewhat different at the moment.  

One day when I am rich...

A stolen picture, taken from 'Edinburgh Past & Present' on facebook.  I even forget the lassies name, sorry.  She took this while landing at Edinburgh Airport (still called 'Turnhouse' by me!).  This is the area where I spent my first two years and then entered the school almost hidden high on the top left of the picture.  The view from the house we moved to looked over the Forth towards Fife, a super view, and on that page people often post pictures of sunsets and dawns to make me jealous.  I see trees and a park...  

This could be a worse view of course.  When I came here I was offered a basement in Dovercourt with a car park behind.  The view, and the mould on the wall, now attended to, was not to my liking, so here I reside.  Dovercourt is by Harwich which is a famous Submarine base, this was attractive but the flat was not.  The wee town itself was a bit rundown in spite of the tourist possibilities.  Not that I saw any submarines there now.  Sometimes I wish I had tried to 'go to sea' as so many used to in the past.  The idea of a rough crossing may have been what put me off.  Interestingly, my father was living just up from Granton Harbour having gone to the school just above the dock, yet he joined the army in 1925 when he could get no work.  I often wonder if he had tried for a seaman's job or if the waves put him off also?  The ships he saw as he grew up and paddled by the beach included the 'Grand Fleet,' or at least part of it based at Rosyth.  These must have impressed him, and he showed me where big guns once stood to defend the harbour, yet maybe a bullying corporal in the army was better than a ship rising and falling in the waves?

Better than most of the jobs I did have.

 

Cricket Saturday

 

Now, filling the day with cricket is fine if it means watching England lose.  It is less entertaining when they are running away with things.  Forced to endure this all day, until saved by the return of Scottish football at 5:30, my life was ebbing away as England piled on the runs.  

The Pakistani bowlers were not all failures, however the enemy made use of the watered pitch, yes another episode clouded by rain, and groundsmen working in the enemies favour.  When I returned after watching a decent football game for once, unfortunately Celtic did get their goal, I found Pakistan had already lost several wickets and were planning how to get home.  

Nothing else happened.

It is a surprise to me that at such a time as this I am not reading very much.  This may be because two books contain over 700 pages of small font filled stuff, the other books are not grabbing me the same, or something is holding me back, Lock Down I say.  I started to read one book the other day and realised it had been lying there for weeks.  Laptop trouble, sloth and other usual daytime time wasting activities may have hindered but I am surprised at how little I have read.

High Above Us...

 

This, as you know, is the 'Green Moon' from a week or two ago.  Quite why this is called a 'Green Moon' I forget, however the fact is the moon now changes colour with a regularity that did not happen in my youth.  

Up there, in the pale blue sky hidden behind Edinburgh gray clouds, lay a moon, known as, 'the moon!'  There was a song referring to a 'Blue moon,' but few if any know why it was a 'Blue Moon' and fewer still cared.  This past few years we have seen 'Blood Moons,' this 'Green Moon,' and was there not a 'red' or 'orange' moon also?  There appears to be more 'moons' today than in the past. 

I wonder why?

What would have happened if the US astronauts had landed on a 'Blood Moon' or a 'Blue Moon?'  Would this have meant they had to postpone the operation, or do it again when the colour changed?  Would the Commies have landed on a 'Blue Moon' or waited until a 'Red' one came along?  The world is full of questions we can never answer.

You may realise I am bored today...

Allowing for 'Easyjet' withdrawing from Stanstead and Southend airports, cash problems apparently, there are very few aircraft high above us these days.  Mostly it is the few 'Ryanair' flights to sunny, drunken Spain that pass above, though a lot do go to the Easter Europe hotspots for cheap beer nowadays I see.  Otherwise it is those 'Fed-Ex' types that are the most regular flights above us.  Daily one arrives from China, full of electronic equipment that explodes on use and coronovirus to keep the world spinning along.  When I first came here one such aircraft didn't quite make it.   A South Korean 747 took to the air but failed to beat the 'critical point' and came down across the road in Hatfield Forest.  I believe this was early in the day and only the three crew were lost, locals may have had their own views on this mind.  This means the skies are clearer, except when clouds bringing rain pass over, a wind storm coming tomorrow it appears.  If the skies are clearer, less traffic on roads, surely 'Lock Down' has brought many benefits in the air?  Too late for all the muck already about but at least life is a wee bit better now.

My attention was caught the other day by a woman (was she late 20's or early 30's, I canny mind) who had sex with a 15 year old male.  The Law sees this as a crime, the judge seethed at her 'abuse' while admitting the boy was 'enjoying himself immensely,' and jailed her for 2 years.

What got me was the fact this is seen as a crime while same sex marriage is considered normal, men claiming they are woman can do so legally, and make use of women's facilities to other women's annoyance, and gay acts bot male and female are considered normal.  

It is a strange world where a more normal sex act, even if rather unwise, is a crime while abnormal ones are legalised.

The lunatics are indeed running the asylum.

'Daily Star' & the NHS

 

I am beginning to like the front page of the 'Daily Star.'  

Each day they have more sarcasm/satire on the world around us than any other paper.  I sometimes get the feeling that as 'The Daily Mirror,' which owns them, keeps throwing out journalists from both the 'Star' and the 'Express' the people inside are less bothered about upsetting the folks upstairs.  They all expect the boot any time soon anyway so they are losing the fear.  

While all papers are free to attack Gavin Williamson these days, and they love a 'witch-hunt' don't they,  it is the 'Star' that appears to feel 'free-er' than the rest of the right wing pack.  Of course while Williamson or Hancock or whoever is in the news Boris can run around pretending he is in charge.  And let us not forget he is indeed in charge, as long as he obeys Dominic.

I await the 'Star' reporting on Dominic with a sad degree of glee I must say.

   

Because Hancock says 'Public Health England' has failed he, at around midnight last night, announced he was scrapping it and replacing it with something else.  Dominic's muppet has had this planned for a while, others have announced it already, but no surprise that the woman leading it is one who has aided a donation of around £100,000 to Mr Hancock already this year.  Dido Harding, for it is she, was head of 'Talk Talk' which got the 'wooden spoon' two years (her years) in a row for being the worst for customer service.  Naturally she became a Peer, as she is paying money to the Tories, then became head of the NHS (that is Serco) 'Test and Trace'  which has failed miserably.  She is therefore the right person to head this new organisation, one for which she has no knowledge off, no abilities for, and no experience.  Looks like another winner here.

U-Turn & Cricket

 

Another day another Government U-Turn.

The 'A' level results were chaotic and  clearly incorrect, in similar fashion to the Scots results. This is another of Dominic Cummings 'algorithms' at work.  It appears Cummings control of everything is not as efficient as he would like to believe.  Schools, the NHS, parliament itself, the Civil Service, the MOD and anything he has touched has shown a remarkable ability to fail when under pressure.  I will not even mention the PPE scandals!  

Where is Boris while this is happening?  Would Blair or Thatcher disappear when such an event has occurred?  Boris did appear to say something but he was only voicing Dominic's words, when will he use his own?

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, is the one taking the flack.  Keeping their jobs like this can only go so far, one day one of them, possibly Williamson, might admit it is all Dominic Cummings doing and explain clearly what is actually going on.  I hope they have the guts soon.

BBC

With the help of pre-arranged thunderstorms England managed to avoid defeat against Pakistan by simply flooding the pitch.  How underhand can you get?  Enabling violent storms, followed by incessant heavy rain, just to ensure England do not lose, as indeed they would have had the game finished when it ought.  The ton of sawdust used on the pitch to limit the opposition bowlers did not help as much as they had hoped.  Indeed had the game continued more batsmen would have gone.

I wasted a whole afternoon watching this, once it eventually began.  Worn out by shopping, cleaning, soup making and other things watching cricket was all I had strength for.