Blogfromthebarn

Random Thoughts on a musty autumn morning

Thought 1
There's a brass plaque in a prominent position in the High Street of a Surrey town, (which will remain anonymous) which states, simply, "Eric Parker said 'Guildford is a beautiful town'. Let us keep it so"
My reaction was obviously

• Who is/was Eric Parker
• What a pathetic quote, it's hardly "come friendly bombs and fall on Slough" is it ?
• Note the quotes, he didn't even say 'let us keep it so' that's an addition designed to turn the bland observation into an inclusive exhortation.
  
• Would it affect the propensity of potential litterers, which I suspect is the intention of the plaque, that some long forgotten author of a book about the roads of Surrey thought Guildford attractive in 1905?(obviously i've now done some research)
• What a strange word 'plaque' is when written down.

Thought 2
Again on the lines of being told to be good citizens, I noticed a Home Office funded poster advising young folk to conceal their ipod ownership and thus avoid tempting others to steal. Presumably the thieves will be those who've failed through carelessness or illiteracy to read the posters telling them that stealing an ipod from another person is a bad thing. I find myself more and more incensed by a state of government which seems to find it hard to accept that people should be responsible for the way they operate in society and that the consequences of failing to accord with the majority view should be punishment, not education, and definitely not targeted advertising.

Thought 3
Why would the woman driving along the road swerve to avoid the pigeon collecting his breakfast from the middle of the carriageway and drive directly towards the ageing (but still strangely attractive) gentleman crossing the road.

• Have you ever seen a pigeon not get out of the way?
• She doesn't know me, obviously, but but surely in any life or death decision I, a reasonably well functioning example of the top of the known food chain must rank a little higher than a feathered rat.
• Think of the comparative paperwork, as I recall from my Plod days, getting called out to a birdstrike would not normally create a significant workload, grumpy old gits wrapped around a Corsa bumper however are a very different matter.

Thought 4
I've just discovered there's a reasonably workable text-helpful editor in blogger, I've been using the html editor by default, life just got easier.

Thought 5
Wagamama salad dressing is a tremendous thing...

posted by Stuffy @ 10:25 am