Today Diana Fancied A KFC For Breakfast,

so along to Big C we went, the normal motorbike park has been changed into a car park, so you have to park in the KFC bike park like it or not, the whole bike park to park in and some muppet parks his/her bike just where you walk through to KFC, I hope they burn their leg on the exhaust as they parked it!

Diana in hurry up mode!

food at last, notice I only have 10 or so chips, diet started! what amazed both of us was the huge drinks you receive with the set meal, one would have been more than enough for both of us, all of the fountains working again today,

whilst there we bought a couple of DVD's, now if you are into bad acting, terrible special effects, poor plot and a total disbelief in reality this is the movie for you! Hydra, looked good on the cover but what a total shambles! moving on, Rare Birds, a delightful movie, we had seen it before, I am just so surprised that it was not more popular, great story line and nice music by Jonathan Goldsmith, in the evening it was off to Cherry's, it was Mikes birthday party, we did unfortunately arrive a little late, we had booked one of the three the Secrets taxis at 4.30 in the afternoon to pick us up at 6.40, for the second consecutive time it was late, it arrived at 7.10, I telephoned but was told at 6.50 30 minutes, must remember to order the taxi 30 minutes before we need it like everyone else!

'Cheers!' from me, Big Jim had just returned from the States this morning,

Mike trying one of his presents,

Diana and Go,

for me veal in a mushroom sauce with fried potatoes mixed with bacon and onions,

a happy birthday to Mike,

and from the other end of the table, also there were Richard, Beth and son James,

Diana, Go and Riza, now which dessert to eat? once again happy birthday and many thanks to Mike, then home to 388,

we then settled down to a computer generated music DVD Animusic, nice tracks and graphics if you like that sort of thing, luckily we both do, then off to bed.

Now Is It April 1st, Fools Day?

or am I just being paranoid about being caught out? welcome to pineberries, looking like strawberries they have the taste of pineapples, they will allegedly be on sale at Waitrose in the UK for 5 weeks, (great plug for Waitrose if it is a spoof!) a 125g punnet will cost £2.99 until April 13 and then sell for £3.99, Waitrose fruit buyer Nicki Baggott said: 'Pineberries offer our customers the chance to add a new fruit into their diet, and the berry's bright appearance can add an unusual decoration to sweet dishes, as the summer unfolds we won't be surprised to hear that our customers are inviting their friends over for pineberry pavlovas or punch, or serving them up with yogurt for a lighter alternative,' all commercially grown strawberries originate from an 18th century European cross between wild varieties from North and South America which achieved the sought-after combination of sweet taste and large, juicy berries, Diana and myself have strawberries 2 or 3 times a week whilst watching TV, but is it all fools day today, that is the question! next some one will say they are growing sweet huckleberries!

A Story Today That Just About Sum Up Local Councils In The UK,

at first I thought it must be April 1st, but that is tomorrow, somebody dumped a mattress on a embankment in Bolton, the local council were informed so they could remove it, then the farce began! a trainee executive support officer at the Town Hall's "performance and improvement team" attended the scene and carried out a risk assessment to check whether moving it might harm the health and back of employees, then in a debate that lasted over 3 hours assessing the risk, the council filed a report stating that it would take a week to implement the scheme, why a week for such a simple task? the council would have to send in a 1.7 ton JCB digger to move it! talk about a sledge hammer to crack a peanut! what a waste of Bolton rate payers money, but two knights in shinning armour were at hand, Councillor Sean Hornby and a businessman on his ward got fed up and the two men ended up loading it into a van in just four minutes, Sean, of Bolton Council, said: "This is Health and Safety gone mad, I'm not saying it was an easy job to move the mattress but it only took us four minutes to move it, the policies are barmy - it's penpushers gone mad, there's too much red tape in council cases, people need to be able to get in and get the job done, all these organisations now are being run by - you've got directors, associate directors, chief executives, they've all got PAs, line managers, and then you get a few operatives who are out there doing the job the best they can', I just hope the people of Bolton remember this the next time a chance to vote comes round!

Today We Did Absolutely Nothing!

just watched TV all day long, I am waiting for some more ground cover for the railway to arrive, so it was feet up for the day, we settled down to watch a few more episodes of Our Century,

Diana was getting more interested as each one progressed,

mind you I did cheat a bit as every so often from the 1950's on ward I would excitedly say 'look it's me!' at some nondescript child, but still great view, although as it was Gaumont footage there were a lot of references to people I had not heard of,

we finished series 1 of new Street Law, very enjoyable,

and then watched all of New Street Law series 2, I hope there is a New Street Law 3 and 4 soon and finally a Midsomer Murder, Ring Out Your Dead, phew, what a busy day! then off to bed.

The Doom Sayers Get It Wrong Again!

Global warming 'will NOT slow down the Gulf Stream and plunge Britain into ice age' researcher Josh Willis, from NASA disputes claims by ill informed environmentalists that global warming could shut off the stream – sending temperatures spiralling down across Europe as they rise elsewhere, it made a great story line for a science fiction film The Day After Tomorrow, but that was all it was, fiction, the idea that a slowdown of the ocean currents would trigger such a rapid change in climate is pure fantasy, explained Dr Willis, the study used satellite data to study the pattern of Atlantic currents between 2002 and 2009, researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory found no long-term trend, just short-term variability, according to the study published in Geophysical Research Letters journal, so the The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s last report in 2007 who said it was ‘very likely’ that the Gulf Stream will slow down during the next 100 years, is, well misinformed, but I guess the IPCC are now scrambling for more data to back up their outrageous man made global warming claims, to extract more money from us to keep us from warming up!

In The Previous Post I Said They Do Not Make Them Like They Used To,

I wonder what this car would look like in 50 years time? the reason I ask is because it appears that this £38,000 chrome-plated Mini Cooper is going to end up in a garage, for it's life, the problem is that Ian and Toni Grice bought the super-shiny special edition in a London showroom on Valentine's Day and bought it for Toni, 41, He was given a week's free insurance by BMW so he could drive it 120 miles home to Greasley, Notts, but when the seven days were up and Ian tried to get normal cover, he was refused a quote by one insurance firm after another, a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said: "It could be a target for thieves, My advice is to try a broker who taps into specialised markets - but he should expect to pay a considerable amount," so when you read the next post it will be out with the Austin, (who used to make mini's) and make room for the chrome mini!

They Do Not Make Them Like They Used To!

this Austin 12/4 was made in 1929,

and has stood unused in a garage for nearly 50 years, but it is still basically there although a bit scrappy around the edges, Roger Bulled from Metheringham, Lincolnshire, said he could not believe it when he discovered the old car - which had been locked away in his father Leslie's garage since 1973 - was still in working order, ‘I pumped up the tyres and they stayed up,’ Mr Bulled said, ‘The rubber is cracked but the inner tubes are obviously still intact, which is remarkable really, and the engine turned over when we tried it with the starter handle, but I didn't try to start her up in case I did any damage but I'm sure it would go',

Mr Bulled explained: ‘My grandparents bought it in 1929 for my father to drive them around in, We lived in Barnet in North London and used to go on holiday to Cornwall or Devon, We used to set off very early in the morning, so I used to sleep on the floor in the back, there was no transmission tube so it was flat, and my sister laid on the back seat, it had none of the safety features you get today, there was no seat belts and it wasn't a high performance car, it was taken off the road in 1961, that's the last time it was taxed and it's never had an MOT',

the car is expected to attract nationwide interest when it goes under the hammer at Unique Auctions in Lincoln on April 5, auctioneer Terry Woodcock said he was amazed when he saw the car for the first time, ‘I can't believe it is complete and standing square,’ he added, ‘The suspension hasn't even sagged, I love stories like this, I just hope some one will buy the Austin and return it to it's former glory.

There Seems To be Several Ways To Spell Homers Trade Mark D'Oh!,

so who better to ask than,

Bart, now in thinking mode! answers a postcard please!

We Decided To Go To Big C To Check Out The Price Of Blu-Ray Players,

but first a shoe repair shop was needed, well stall really, one of the high heel tips of Diana's shoes had come adrift, so here we were,

it is in what I can only call Soi hairdresser that runs between Pattaya Tai and Soi 17, then to Big C, all of the fountains working for a change, normally one or two are out of commission,

lots of stalls in front of it,

we keep seeing lots of these figures around,

from the films Predator and Alien,

I can not say I have ever thought of buying one, but some body must as so many shops sell them, I would hate to think of the excess baggage on this one if a tourists buys one! but on to the Sony store, I will keep to UK pounds for the price check, in the Sony store in London the Blu-Ray player BDP-S550 is £229, online in the UK £170, in the Sony store here in Big C £290, wow what a difference! the amazing thing is even in the cheapest option the shop selling it online is making enough profit to keep them in business,

a couple of other things I found from the net is that there appears to be only one stereo speaker and decoder set that so far can handle HDMI/Blu-Ray disc sound signals, the HTSF 360 system it is the only one that has a Blu-Ray support logo that I can find, looking at the shop advertisement in the UK it says 'This product is a previous model and could be no longer available at your local dealer', a polite way of saying not available in the UK, another small point if you are thinking of buying a Sony Bravia LCD TV there will be some bargains to be had for 2 reasons, the Bavaria ZX,Z,W,V and S series are all it appears going to be replaced or at least play second fiddle with a new series which I believe will be the MX series with LCD,

now for the big one, the next generation of LCD screens, LED, note the 'C' changed to 'E' still an LCD screen but powered by LED's is on the way hence dropping the 'old' range, if you want to know about the difference have a look here, but be warned the new LED's are not going to be cheap, but still there will be a few bargains as the older technology and products make way for the new,

on a whim I suggesting having a drink and for Diana a bite to eat on the way back,

so we stopped off at the fishing park on Third Road, it is in the dip in the road between Central and Pattaya North, nice Jasmine to smell on the way in,

with lots of places in the shade to fish from,

parrots keep popping up everywhere!

their is also a shaded area to eat,

Diana relaxing by the pond,

and me with a Leo shandy,

the food arrives, I did not eat as I had two eggs on baked beans on toast before we left, Diana had a coke, for food rice with a fried egg on top with spicy chicken 180 baht including the drinks which I thought reasonable,

whilst there this lucky chap caught a fish,

it does have a big restaurant for parties, some time back Brian had his birthday party here,

on our way out Diana just had to have a go on the swing! then home for a couple of DVD's, Diana spent a bit of time on the computer, she has a game where you grow crops on a farm take them to market and then buy new seeds to grow, so I settled down for another couple of episodes of City of Vice, unfortunately with no English subtitles it is to much to understand for Diana,

then Angels One Five, a real boys own adventure/hero story, by now Diana's farm had run out of water and potato blight had hit, so she was still busy with her farm, so I did not mind watching this early 1952 movie,

next a salad and a glass of wine for our evening meal whilst watching

A Few Good Men, I must admit I do enjoy watching a court room drama and I know that Diana enjoyed this, as every time she left the room we paused the movie so she did not miss any of it, then Midsomer Murder the episode Tainted Fruit, to round the evening off, then to bed.