Cyclecar

CHANCES: On Sky last week, a noisy pundit (ex Arsenal) said that theBlades had no chance or slim chance. well, Slim is back in town....

Is it Trick or Treat?

The Farage case is rather more basic. To have a Coutts account you need to keep £3million in funds. Nigel slipped below this and was offered a standard Natwest account instead. They say it's still on offer. But a Coutts account is a nice thing to flash if you are a high net worth individual. He is apparently in reduced circumstances. But the issue is important. If I owned a water company can I turn off your supply because I don't like your attitude? Our government bailed out the banks not long ago, they need to stick to their knitting and not play God.

....Yorkshire Penny Bank, surely.

I will give this a go. I have a block paved drive and it will soon need mowing. I will try some rock salt left over from the winter and water it in. I don't think it will rain for a couple of weeks....!🙂

I watched the Coronation. I watched the last one as well, that was my first time viewing a television set! It went to plan, everything was said and done, and lots ofspectators enjoyed it. Happy day. But for myself it was a London "thing" and largely for the benefit of the metropolis. There were some 8,000 military personnel involved, which is 10% of our armed forces! They were well drilled and a great recruiting incentive. My only (small) gripe is with the service itself. I know it is a sort of holy communion, but Welby seemed to want to run the whole thing himself, for the CofE. And it seemed that any cleric with a gold cape got a job, candle snuffer in waiting or whatever. Too much God bothering from my perspective. However, the music was very uplifting. But well organised, it's something we are very good at. I doubt I will be around for the next one. Grumpy of S8.

Rising interest rates have put the whole US banking model under stress. It will have profound consequences. Bliden's bullpoo won't calm aanything. Watch it all start to shiver this week and next. Fortunately the UK is more robust but we will feel the draught. Keep some cash under the mattress....................

Why not make a new castle using shipping containers? I gather there my be some on Fargate to get the job started. Don’t need an estimate, just get going. 😀

Biden is boasting that he ordered it to be shot down. Strong, virile, presidential stuff. Oh, oh, he's standing for re-election. Next he will be pinning a medal on the pilot..... I assume it was spotted as soon as it entered Alaskan airspace. If not, they need new binoculars. Peering at the video, I think the Chinee detached the gondola as soon as the envelope was punctured. From twelve miles up it would have hit the ground/sea with a thump and helpfully smashed most everything. They should have popped it over Montana, not much danger of hitting anything in that sparsely populated state. Now they've got to fish for the bits. My guess is that the square heads were arguing with the airforce, and Sleepy Joe was wanting it to come down live on CNN..... They will send some more loaded with fortune cookies......

Bacon Island. Not suitable for veggies, and halal’s, then.

And they wil lbe nicely in the centre of the congestion charging zone. Excellent selling point.....

I have always liked Mordaunt. She comes across as honest, practical, and realistic. And she has a sense of humour. But she is spot on when she says that the truly disadvantaged, such as the disabled and the elderly, are sidelined by those with an 'agenda'' and sharp elbows such as environmental activists and gender issues. They are invariably media savvy and make themselves busy. The recent national census found that the LGBT dimension in the UK is 3.1% of the population , and of course their voices should be heard, but others with weaker voices are being sidelined. Well said, Penny.

on his way to an estate near you.......

I am not one of nature's pessimists but I cannot see it improving - short, medium or long term. The NHS has evolved into a money swallowing omnivore, I cannot see any way out of the problem other than to keep throwing good money after bad. Let's face it, if you were designing a National Health Service today, you wouldn't start with what we have i n front of us. This has been simmering for years, successive governments have just kicked the can down the road. When inflation was close to zero they could hold it together, but when it got to double-digits we all knew that the public sector would kick off. It's not just the nurses that are asking for 19%, it's all the other NHS workers as well. The only way to solve that is to say yes, but we are trimming your future pension benefits (howls and screams...). Currently, the nation's public sector pension liablities are about £2trillion. That's two million million. God knows how the country will find that down the settee. But if the Treasury can reduce its future spend it does make some sort of fiscal sense. But it will be a difficult sell. Eventually I foresee some sort of parallel health set up, part funded by the state, part funded by the individual. But it will take time, and I will have gone to the terminus at Abbey Lane........ Stay safe.

I can imagine a farmworker and a housemaid "getting together". Sounds like a plot for a Netflix series.

With all national anthems, it all depends on whether you mean it when you sing it. With our NA a lot of folks just stand out of habit. To hear one that means something, be present in the Natioanal Stadium in Cardiff when they sing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land f My Fathers). That's a proper national anthem, and they have my total respect.

I think I won't bother with them this year. Royal Mail are more interested in lucrative special delivery packages, so Cousin Hilary's card may not get out of the sorting office! And the union's stance is nakedly political. Bah humbug.......

RIP, Christine. A class songwriter and perfomer. Your music will live on in eternity.

Neil Armstrong. To shake the hand that guided the lander onto our moon's surface. Still Homo Sapiens' greatest technical and human achievement. Respect.

Illegal migrants pay, apparently, between Euro3,00 and Euro8,000 to arrive on the South Coast in a rubber dinghy. Lets all it £6,000. On Saturday we took ashore nigh on 1,0000. So the philanthropic, criminal, multi-national "corporation" collected £ 6 million for that day. They run rings round everyone, helped by all the states in the 'chain' playing pass the parcel, in other words shove the problem on to the next country. Until the whole train reaches the tend of the chain- good old UK. To answer the orriginal question - are the Calais migrants our problem. Well, the answer is, if they are here they are our problem. To me, if they are still in Calais they are not our problem, but the French know that if they let them sail away they will be. I gather that the latest wheeze from their impoverished lawyers is to claim that they are victims of modern slavery. Where do the slaves get their £6k from, you may ask. 30 folks in a boat - £180k, slavery must pay well in Albania or wherever. I know that our government has been in a state of shuffle for some weeks, but they must have seen this influx coming along. High pressure, flat sea, little wind, and cups of tea waiting in Dover. p.s. I wouldn't like to live on the Kent coast right now. What with stacking lorries and hordes of boat people, it must be an awful environment.

Bamford Clough is a famous trials section, used pre war. Not sure which war... A test of man and machine. When I were a lad four of us tried to drive mother's Morris Minor up the hill, and with three pushing we couldn't do it. But in recent times it has been chewed to death by the 4X4 enthusiasts. When it has been regraded my guess is they will gate it top and botom. How steep is the top bit of Cobnar Road?

My monthly DD has gone down. From £152 to £86. Dual. Any increase in KWh price has been more than offset by the £66 contribution from HMG. We are with M&S/Octopus. Their system is simple and easy to understand. We are not on a dumb aka smart meter. Don’t trust em….!

Will SCC take steps to prevent Michael Angelo and his moron army spraying cave paintings on the containers once the hoardings come down?

I also live in SW Sheffield - S8. And I was given a jab app at Heeley. I managed to get it rebooked at Meadowgreen Clinic on Jordanthorpe. It’s also next to the terminus for the 75 bus job sorted.

I've been driving for a long time..... Best small car: Hillman Imp. I had four, last one with motor linered out to 998cc and Viva front discs. Great little cars. Happiest car: Triumph Spitfire. Bought it when I just got married. Had many sunny miles with the roof down. Safest car: Ford Sierra 4x4 2.8i. Strong, excellent traction, good in snow. Most practical car: Audi A4 Avant. 1.8 turbo petrol. Carried anything, looked smart. Towed well. Current car: BMW 118diesel coupe. Safe, economical, boring. What I would like car: New shape Land Rover Defender. Diesel guzzzling, space hogging dinosaur. But looks the business. Footnote. Never had a SAAB but always fancied one. Shame they stopped.