When Will The Tree Huggers Ever Learn?

well not in this classroom that's for sure! sooner or later the greenies will come down from their ivory towers and learn a basic lesson in life, 'you can not be green without some body else paying the price' whether it be subsidising wind farms or so called 'emission free' cars, so it comes as no surprise when the Living Ark that was built at Muswell Hill Primary School, North London, at the cost of £25,000 is nothing more than a complete waste of space and a financial disaster for cash strapped Labour run Haringey council,

it boasts laudable green credentials and is made from sustainable wood, sheep’s wool and soil, the roof is made of mud and grass and it has its own ‘rain pod’ and solar panels, but there is snag - its solar panels only provide enough energy to power a few light bulbs, as a result the classroom is bitterly cold and uninhabitable for lessons, local councillors at Labour run Haringey council, who were behind the initiative, opened it with great fanfare in December as a beacon of their climate change policy, Lib Dem Councillor Gail Engerts said: ‘it is such a shame that, considering the fanfare, it emerges that this facility cannot be used by the children all year round,’

headteacher Jill Hughes defended the project and said she hoped classes would be held in the classroom when the weather gets warmer, she said: ‘we’re delighted to have the Living Ark - its a tremendous resource both for the school and the local community and is an important part of the Muswell Hill low carbon zone initiative,’ that's right Jill build another 10, no make that 100 of these classrooms and really bring down Muswell Hill's carbon foot print!

Do Not Mess With Fish 128,

and you thought fish were fun! I guess these ones would if they knew they were swimming around in an aquarium that cost £3,000,000! yes for a cool $4.6 million US dollars this aquarium could grace your home, called the Aquavista Dinosaur Gold Edition, designed by Stuart Hughes it is considered to be the world's most expensive home aquarium, the cost is incurred as it is shaped out of 24ct solid gold, its exclusivity is elevated by fitting it with two side veneers chiseled out of mammoth tusk, and a part of the past is integrated in to it in the form of a unique piece of Dinosaur bone from the T-Rex, now here is the bad news, they are only making three of them, so you had better be quick or you will lose the chance to own one!

The Day Started Early, I Had To Report Into Immigration,

as all long term visitors to Thailand do every 90 days, the new building next to immigration in Jomtien Soi 5 is almost finished, the good news is that I filled out the form and walked straight over to the desk, no waiting, it took longer to walk across the car park than process my notification of stay, leaving Soi 5 we drove past the Wild West Saloon, we have not been there for some time,

but noticed that behind it some new bars had opened,

and more behind them, this one The Den being the newest, with more foundations going down behind that, this looks like it is going to become a fairly large entertainment area in the future,

then to Carre Four, Swensen's ice cream was calling! well in fact as we did not buy any sausages as Jules yesterday we decided to call into KPK Foods for some of theirs, so we could not drive past Carre Four as KPK is almost behind it,

pretty in Pink, I spotted this Fino parked a few bikes away from ours, speaking of bikes the local police force has now decided that bike drivers must now carry the log/ownership book with them at all times, so for a foreigner to be legal he/she must have on them at all times whilst driving, your passport, driving license, road tax, government insurance receipt and vehicle log book, also I forgot money, to pay the fine!

oh! the agony of choice, Diana could not make her mind up about which one she wanted, sorry that the picture is a bit out of focus,

this is better, mango for Diana, strawberry for me,

then to KPK Foods for the sausages,

and home to meet up with Jay and Precil who phone to say they were calling round for a snack and a chat,

at 5.30 we arrived at the Thepresit night market, I needed some of those really comfortable canvas shoes that I wear, the problem is when it rains they soak in the dirty water from the puddles and smell, so every so often I have to buy two or three pairs if the stall has them, today I was in luck 3 pairs my size 150 baht a pair,

next a walk along the stalls to the pet side of the market,

passing the bar on the left on the way, opposite general clothes for sale this week,

the sky looked like some rain was on the way, but it held off,

the walk way past the pet stalls,

small or miniature dog out here are all the rage at the moment, so manufacturers have developed a neat range of hats for them, also for those that are mobile crash helmets,

it may have been last week that I mentioned that the motorcycle taxi driver had claw shaped crocks on, well here they are, from kids to adult sizes, I did not ask the price, I have no need to take on the current fashion!

then to the bar, who should be sitting there none other than Bill, so we had a good chat,

then the girls arrived back from shopping to drop off what they had bought then off for another expedition,

later Brian and Sa arrived so off she went looking for Diana and Dang,

'Cheers!' from Brian and myself,

next Ancahsai called by to say hello,

then time to go laden down with mango's, strawberries and pomelos, not to mention my shoes,

prawn salad for our evening meal, with some baby beetroot we bought from KPK Foods, after that some fruit, then feet up for this evenings instalments of New Tricks, starting the evenings mysteries was Diamond Geezers, the vicious criminal Chopper Hadley, who has been back in the country for a week, is searched for by the team, however, Halford is viciously intimidated and the squad start to realise the full danger of their target, followed by Wicca Work, a young woman insists that the suspicious death of a local librarian was because of witchcraft and the team are drawn into the world of magic and the supernatural, a series of strange events occur and they are put under increasing pressure, does the supernatural exist and how will the squad deal with it if it does? after that for us off to bed.

I know One Should Not Smile At Others Misfortune,

but I had to chuckle when I read about the £40,000 crime prevention bus that was launched to go Nationwide, Suffolk Assistant Chief Constable Paul Marshall had launched a special bus which will tour the county with the slogan on the side, ‘Close it, Lock it, Check it’ it was a shame then that the force failed to heed its own wise words, leading to red faces all round when just hours later one of its own police stations was burgled, shortly after the break in, police arrested a 31-year-old man nearby on suspicion of burglary, Suffolk Police spokeswoman confirmed that items which might have come from the station were seized from him following the incident on Wednesday,

an intruder apparently sneaked through an open window and got into their offices in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, but there was mitigating circumstances surrounding the burglary, she added: 'any police station has areas which are of higher security than others, for example some offices will be locked or keypad secured,' and I guess other areas will have open windows!

I Must Admit We Have Not Played Monopoly Much Recently,

but I had to read this when I saw it in the papers, the first Monopoly set has just been sold, the round board was illustrated by heating engineer Charles Darrow in 1933, using place names and railways from Atlantic City in New Jersey, US, he sold the rights to Parker Brothers in 1934, and a London version came out the next year, a museum bought the historic set at a sale in New York for £90,000, also as an aside I have read that the 'Go' square in the UK version is by the side of the London Eye.

It Was That Time Of the Month To Pay The Bills,

first stop to pay the electric at the local 7- 11,

then to the 3BB office in Thepprisit Road our Internet connection provider,

you can of course also pay this bill at the 7 - 11, but there is a slight snag, the bill is due to be paid on the 28 th of each month, but the bill is not sent out till the middle of the next month, meaning if you wait for the bill you will have already been cut off for nonpayment!

next stop over to see Jules for 4 or 5 kilos of sausages, but we hit a snag he was in the UK, so no one could help us, no boss no sale, hurry back Jules!

I spent the rest of the day playing stamps again then went into the garden, the night time flowering Jasmine was in full bloom, it has such a nice fragrance,

so many flowers we could smell it in the house,

then feet up for more New Tricks, in the first the UCOS team investigate the kidnapping of two 10-year old boys over twenty years ago, Brian thinks it may be related to a current spate of kidnappings, a champion fisherman who had held the record for catching the largest carp also appears to be involved, it is all a bit fishy! next the team investigates the murder of an unidentified young woman who was found in the woods some 18 years previously, the original pathologist on the case, Professor Mears, has kept all of the evidence in the case and has longed for it to be re-opened, he has even given the girl a name, "Millicent", car crash, blackmail or murder it is all in Lady's Pleasure, it even features a Ginetta G26, moving on to Dockers, with the recent release of Cabinet papers under the 30 year rule, Jack pushes to re-open the investigation into the death of Joe Walsh, a left-wing union leader, his body was fished out of the Thames in the mid-1970's and his death was put down to suicide but it was clear that the Cabinet wanted his antics stopped, but who did it? then one of my favorite episodes Old Dogs, for a little more about it and the effects of eating dog liver have a look here, then for us off to bed.

Do Not Mess With Fish 127

and you thought fish were fun! well I can not say that this is much fun for the fish, but Russian artist Anatoly Konenko, who specialises in miniatures does, he claims it to be the worlds smallest aquarium, it is just 30mm wide, 24mm high and 14 mm deep - enough to hold just 10ml of water, or about two tablespoons' worth, but is it art or just cruel? you decide.