Cast Your Mind Back To May 28 1562,

a bit difficult I know,

but way back then the small German town of Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders, to be repaid with six percent interest per year, but guess what? Berlin have decided to renege on the debt, despite giving the town a token 1 guilder back, Berlin's finance senator Ulrich Nussbaum, who ceremonially handed the town a historical guilder from 1539, also stated that 'this case shows that debts always catch up with you, no matter how old they are,' Nussbaum told the Berliner Zeitung paper, 


the guilder was put in a temporary display at the Mittenwalde museum, town historian Vera Schmidt found the centuries-old debt slip in the archive, where it had been filed in 1963, though the seal is missing from the document, Schmidt told Reuters that she was certain the slip was still valid,


Schmidt and Mittenwalde's Mayor Uwe Pfeiffer have tried to ask Berlin for their money back, such requests have been made every 50 years or so since 1820 but always to no avail, according to Radio Berlin Brandenburg (RBB), the debt would amount to 11,200 guilders today, which is roughly equivalent to 112 million euros ($136.79 million), adjusting for compound interest and inflation, the total debt now lies in the trillions, by RBB's estimates, I wonder if they have 'no win, no fees' lawyers in Mittenwalde? you never know it could be worth a chance!

I Am Not Sure How This One Is Going To End,

after allegedly over loading his truck,

driver Mr  Zhang drove it across a bridge, unfortunately the bridge, just outside of Beijing collapsed under the weight of his truck, after a year long police investigation the courts have come to the decision that the blame is solely on Mr. Zhang’s shoulders due to his overloading ways, so guess who has to pay to have the bridge repaired? you guessed it the driver! the cost is 156 million RMB, I have just used XE currency converter to work out that is £15,524,515.31, I hope he was insured!

We Had A Quiet Day,

I popped out to pick up the photos, some bits and pieces from Friendship,

then home feet up and watch some television, in the afternoon Mr. Tony called round for a tea and a chat, after he left we watched some of the HD broadcast on satellite television on the discovery channel, which I must say looked really good, above a sea urchin,

 living on it two small shrimps,

 the programme was about sea life that camouflages itself, the crinoid above looks nothing unusual,

 but in its arms a small shrimp,

 here the side of a fish, clue look for its eye,

 and a transparent shrimp,

all in all a great program and a great improvement over some of the other HD programs we have watched, then it all fell apart, the next program also in HD was so poor, maybe different cameras were used, but to call the program HD was a huge leap of faith, so whilst some HD transmissions are very good we do not think we will pay the extra for full time HD as it appears these are outweighed by programs not really up to scratch, still we have the free trial for another two weeks so we may change our minds,

a complete change of pace for our late night movie, The Caine Mutiny, three officers conspire to take over a ship at war, but things look different on dry land at a court martial, then for us we were off to bed.

Christmas Is Nearly Here!

only 151 days to go,

so lets get in quick, Santa Claus turned up at Harrods yesterday to open its Christmas World department, it is the earliest ever launch of the store’s festive department timed to take advantage of the tens of thousands of foreign visitors coming to the capital for the Olympics, David Miller, the director of Harrods Home, said, ‘We have shoppers from all over the globe visiting for the annual summer unveiling of Christmas World, as unusual as it may seem to open so early on in the year, the department is always one of our most popular and requested by shoppers who want to buy decorations as souvenirs or gifts,' well you can not argue with that!

As We Have Seen From The Previous Post,

Christmas is just around the corner,

so what better way to shed those few pounds you have put on over the holiday than to buy yourself a bike for exercises? naturally not any old bike but one that makes a real statement, take the one above featured on July 13th in Bike Radar, I had always thought that Aston Martin only made cars, but now you can buy one of their bikes called the One-77, there will be just 77 of them made, the bike has some pretty cool features such as one-off hydraulic disc brakes are now activated using Shimano Dura-Ace shift levers, this has been made possible by using a dual master cylinder system - The V-Twin,  provided by Hope and now available for cyclocross bikes, all hydraulic brake lines are housed internally within the frame and fork and even the hydraulic connections to each calliper are tucked away within the brake mounts, the specification list is almost endless,

• Frame: High modulus carbon fibre. Embedded electric and hydraulic lines. 7075 CNC machined replaceable rear derailleur hanger
• Fork: Double crown carbon fibre forks with integrated hydraulic line and calliper mounting made from high strength and high modulus carbon fibre. 7075 CNC machined inserts.
• Handlebar: One piece carbon fibre handlebars and integrated stem with internal hydraulic and wire routing made from high strength and high modulus carbon fibre. Stem 85mm, Bars 150mm drop x 77mm reach, 40-42-44-46cm wide.
• Headset: Factor, combined needle roller/angular contact ball bearing
• Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace 7970 Di2 STI, 20 speed
• Front Derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 braze on
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 SS short cage
• Crankset: Factor, 7075 CNC machined 167.5mm, 170mm, 172.5mm, 175mm, 177.5mm, 180mm
• Chainwheel: Shimano Dura-Ace, 53/39T
• Bottom Bracket: Factor, Titanium shaft, ceramic bearings, 90mm width
• Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 10-speed
• Freewheel: Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 cassette, 12-27T
• Brake Levers: Shimano Dura-Ace 7970 Di2 STI
• Brakes: Steel hydraulic disc, front - 180mm, rear -140m
• Electric System: Embedded wiring system, Factor re-chargeable battery pack
• Lighting: High intensity front LED integrated into handlebars. Red rear LEDs integrated into seat tube. Operated from switches on control lever housings
• Hydraulic System: Shimano levers connected to Hope V-Twin remote master cylinder mounted in handlebar assembly
• Saddle: Fizik Antares braided rails
• Saddle Mount: Factor, shim height adjustable
• Wheelset: 700C Factor front and rear wheelset. Factor hubs, ceramic bearings and preload adjustment
• Tyres: Continental GP4000 Tubular 700C-22mm
• Finish: Seven options and customisable option
• Weight: 9.5 kg/ 20.94lb

naturally all of this dose not come cheap, well I said this bike would make a statement, and it will on your bank statement, all 25,000 of them! still not bad for Aston Martin, if they sell all 77 of them it will result in sales of just over 1.9 million pounds, but let me see for £25,000 I think I will let this one pass me by.

This Is Another One Of Those Good Luck Stories I Like So Much,

well one in the making,

whilst doing a routine valuation at a house near Colchester, Essex an eagle eyed expert spotted this pair of bowls on their original stands in a barn, it is thought the matching yellow pair were made in the 19th or early 20th century for the last dowager empress of China, Cixi, to keep her goldfish in, they measure 18 by 21 inches and are stamped with the iron-red Dayazhai character mark enclosed within an oval medallion with a dragon border,

James Grinter, from Reeman Dansie’s auction house in Colchester, was the expert who spotted the bowls, he said, 'I was on a routine valuation and these bowls were in a barn and had clearly been there for many years and were covered in dust, they have the mark of the last dowager empress of China, but we can’t say if they were used by her or came from an imperial palace - we’ll let the market decide that,'

and how much will the lucky owner receive for them? they are now to be sold at auction and have been given a conservative estimate of £10,000, which seems a bit low but one of them has been restored a long time ago, which is one of the reasons why the estimate is quite low, if you would like to be their new owner the porcelain pair are going under the hammer on July 31 at Reeman Dansie’s auction house in Colchester, but I wonder what the final price for the owner will be, lucky or what!

We Had Another Lazy Day,

I paid the electric bill at the 7-11,

 and that was about it except calling in at the photo shop as I wanted a few snaps printed,

 unfortunately the front of their aquarium needed a bit of a clean, but inside all looked healthy,

 the shop is on Pattaya Tai,

  standing with your back to Friendship it is opposite about 50 meters to the right,

 we watched some television during the day, then in the evening we were out,

 to the Memento restaurant, which is in the Cocco Resort, it is a bit difficult to explain where it is but there is a map here,

 it is all very tastefully laid out,

 the restaurant is beside the pool,

 two shrines are on the left as you walk in,

 the restaurant itself,

 complementary starters were served as we were seated,

 we arrived at 6.30 in the evening so the sun was just beginning to set,

 Diana had grilled prawns for starters,

 smoked salmon for Mr. Tony,

a seafood salad for myself,

'Cheers!', from all of us,

 as usual we had a long break between courses, look at the reserved notice on the table, it is best to book, whilst we were there it appeared that all but two tables were booked and this is in the low season,

 Diana went for the house speciality, a kebab, this one just chicken,

 it was huge,

 Mr. Tony went with the baked fish he enjoyed so much last time,

 then eyes down tuck in!

 if there is one thing other than delicious food and great service to say about Memento's is that the portions are more than generous,

for myself I went for a steak with sautéed potatoes,

 just a little bit more to go!

 and then there was none,

 we rounded the evening off with a complimentary drink,

 then home feet up for some television,

 Home was first, the film is taken from a helicopter, there is not a single shot taken from the ground,

 if you ever need an excuse to upgrade your television this is it,

 this is a stunning BluRay disc, from elephants,

 to wooden boats,

this aerial view of our world that was taken over 64 countries has it all, just a shame about the doom and gloom commentary, the narrator seems to think that the more facts stated the better the film becomes, things like there are 2% left or 7% remaining, 93% have disappeared, etc, basically the script writter wants us all to become vegetarian, which is OK if you want to but do not keep repeating the same mantra, share the wealth, then take Costa Rica's idea not to have an army and spend the money on food, education, (I really can not see many countries doing that and I hope that Costa Rica's neighbours have not woken up to that fact yet!) and stop breeding, on the good news front one of the never ending facts stated is that there is the same amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air as there was 700,000 years ago, so we got that one right then, leaving all the tree hugging to one side a truly great film worth every penny, just turn the sound off put a nice piece of music on and enjoy,

we rounded the evening off with Till Death Us Do Part, the film tells the story of Alf Garnett and his family living through the London Blitz, so PC incorrect, but so funny, by now it was late so we said our goodbyes to Mr. Tony and we were off to bed.