Over at this blog is a link to Drinkwise wales. On it they have an interactive drinking guide. Do go over there and wind them up. I'm probably dead according to them. I scored 486 units of alcohol/day. Only because my clicky finger got tired.
There's also an interactive quiz. They do require an E mail address. I'm not sure if mine will work though.
Remember the tale of Marcus the sheep. It would seem that the majority opinion over his fate has prevailed.
A head teacher who resigned after a row about the slaughter of a school lamb is to return to her post, Kent County Council has said.
Andrea Charman stepped down as head of Lydd Primary School in Romney Marsh in February for "personal reasons".
She was criticised in September 2009 after sending Marcus the lamb - who had been hand-reared by pupils - to slaughter, despite calls to save him.
Kent County Council said she had the community's support and was returning.
'Overwhelming support'
Kent councillor Sarah Hohler said: "I am very pleased that Andrea Charman is returning to Lydd Primary School.
"The community has spoken and made their feelings known loud and clear. There is overwhelming support for her.
"Under her guidance the school made tremendous progress and I know she will relish the opportunity to continue that work and do her best for the children and staff.
"Welcome back Mrs Charman."
Well done for showing the Kids where their food really does come from.
How more satisfying life is now that I've retired from Marine Engineering.
When I first went to sea we had to work a watch system, day in, day out. If you were unfortunate to be appointed to the "12 to 4", this meant that you had little or no social life. Midday to 4pm and Midnight to 4 am was a killer. Bearing in mind that in those days the work/leave ratio was 9 months ship/3 months leave. By the end of the 9 months you were nigh on barking.
Things did change for the better later on when the leave ratio to appointment time reduced to 4 months on and two months off. (Before someone comes in and says that's a fantastic leave ratio. Don't forget the working hours were 10 hours a day, seven days a week. And bank holidays).
By this time ships were becoming highly automated and watchkeeping had gone by the board. The machinery spaces could be left unattended during the night time. Sounds good doesn't it? But no. Every three days you would become the Duty Engineer and were responsible for the whole works for a 24 hour period.
That could be hell. Imagine doing your 10 hour day and then being on call for the rest of the 24 hour period. Trying to sleep, hoping the machinery alarm box in your cabin was not going to scream at you at 2am. Knowing you only had 3 minutes to get up, get dressed, and get to the control room to acknowledge the alarm. If you failed it got every man jack out of bed to look for you in case you were injured.
And of course you were expected to have expertise in all disciplines and be able to fix anything. (Including 30mm weapons, General purpose machine guns.Sa80's,etc, as a sideline.) Oh. And Officer in charge of a fire brigade bigger than most Towns have.)
This was never meant to be a moan. Just telling it how it is.
Now I don't have to work to any regime apart from my own. Get up when I want, blog when I want, read the paper when I want, etc.
I am at last free.
Except for the Bloody state of course.
The Conservatives are ten points ahead of Labour and on course to win an outright majority at the general election, a Harris poll for Metro suggests.
Tory leader David Cameron would move into Downing Street with a 12-seat Commons majority if voters went to the polls now, our survey found.
His party are on 37 points, while Labour have 27 and the Liberal Democrats are on 19, the poll showed.
It is the first time the Tories have enjoyed a double-digit lead – the differene between a hung Parliament and an overall majority – since Harris began polling for Metro in January.
The latest figures would give the Conservatives 322 seats in Parliament, Labour 240 and the Liberal Democrats 56, with 14 going to
nationalist and minority parties. The Tories have gained two percentage points in a week, while Labour have dropped one and the Lib Dems have lost two. Ukip, the BNP and the Greens have all dropped points since last week’s poll.
‘Perhaps a combination of a pending new tiny addition to team Cameron and increased militancy from the unions has served to widen the political playing field in this latest week of polling,’ said Caterina Gerlotto of Harris Interactive. Meanwhile, one in four people said they thought Samantha Cameron’s pregnancy would give the Tories an election boost.
Half of people asked said it would have no effect but 28 per cent said the news will give the Tories a poll boost compared to just two per cent who said it would see them losing votes.
Harris polled 1,133 people nationwide online between March 23 and 29.
Source: The Filthy Engineer
LET ME SEE IF I GOT THIS RIGHT.
IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOUR.
IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.
IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.
IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.
IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.
IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.
IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.
IF YOU CROSS THE UK BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET
1 - A JOB,
2 - A DRIVER’S LICENCE,
3 - SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER,
4 - WELFARE,
5 - FAMILY CREDIT,
6 - CREDIT CARDS,
7 - SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
8 - FREE EDUCATION,
9 - FREE HEALTH CARE,
10 - A LOBBYIST IN PARLIAMENT
11 - BILLIONS OF £'s WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE
12 - AND THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR OWN COUNTRY’S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON’T GET ENOUGH RESPECT
WITH AN ELECTION COMING I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP OF THE SITUATION!!!!
WOULD NOT WANT TO VOTE INCORRECTLY NOW WOULD I ?
Shamelessly stolen from Last of the few.
H/T to Mrs Rigsby
As part of the review of legislation concerning dogs, a new proposal has been released with the intention of banning smoking in pet owners’ homes. A spokesperson for DEFRA is quoted as saying “Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, if a pet owner knowingly exposes a pet to a risk of disease, they are committing an offence. Smoking in the presence of a pet will inevitably expose the animal to known irritants and carcinogens, which are likely to cause both disease and suffering to the animal.”
And
Local authority and RSPCA officers have already been instructed to investigate possible instances of smoking in pet owners’ homes. If smoking is proven to have taken place, the pet owner will be given two options: surrender of the animal into local authority care, or confiscation of all smoking materials.
That's the cats out on the streets then. (Mind you it's going to save me a lot of money in not buying cat food. Think of all the extra Baccy I will be able to afford.)
Mark my words they would try if they thought they'd get past my cricket bat.
London Underground is in talks with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) about the possibility of using the 23km tunnel of the Circle Line to house a new type of particle accelerator similar to the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.
Particle physicists believe the existing tunnel can be adapted to take a small-scale "atom smasher" alongside the passenger line at a fraction of the cost of building a new tunnel elsewhere in Europe. They are understood to have approached London Underground with a view to announcing a feasibility study later this year.
Specialist engineers commissioned by Cern have already produced a preliminary report, seen by The Independent, which proposes installing supercooled magnets and collision detectors at strategic positions on the Circle Line. The main collision experiment will be sited at the newly refurbished Westminster Station, directly below Portcullis House, the offices of more than 200 MPs.
Quote:
"In the aftermath of Climategate a lot of scientists working on global warming-related topics are upset that their field has apparently lost credibility with the public. The public seems to believe that climatology is beset with cliquish gatekeeping, wagon-circling, biased peer-review, faulty data and statistical incompetence. In response to these perceptions, some scientists are casting around, in op-eds and weblogs, for ideas on how to hit back at their critics. I would like to suggest that the climate science community consider instead whether the public might actually have a point."
