It
had to happen. Now that the pavement outside any bar is the last
refuge of demon(ised) smokers, some thought has to be given to their
creature comforts. And today I saw my first example of a TV which has
replaced a window and which faces outside. I didn't hear any noise
from it - practically unprecedented in Spain - but there was nobody
outside, so maybe the sound was turned down. Or perhaps everyone is
given earphones. Anything is possible these days.
As
I was rifling through my desk drawer today, I came across a piece of
tissue which I'd pasted to a stronger bit of paper. Written on it was
the message - Scum and proud of it, you jumped up twat. I've
added the comma to make it more understandable. Or at least correct.
But I have no idea how or where I got this. Or even whether it's
aimed at me. But it helped to make my day.
As
did this article on British society by one of my favourite (and most
jaundiced) chroniclers, Theodore Dalrymple. It reminds me of one of
the reasons I was happy to leave British culture to those who are
destroying it, assisted by various bien-pensants.
Talking
of British youth, I see a couple more of them have been killed here
in Spain by engaging in the activity of 'balconing', usually when
high on booze or drugs. Or both. I
can't cite The Times article because of their paywall but
here's a relevant paragraph:- The
so-called balconing craze, which has gripped the Spanish costas in
recent years, involves moving from one balcony to another or
sometimes jumping from a balcony into a swimming pool below.
And
still on Britain . . . The farce of getting the radical muslim
firebrand, Abu Quetada, out of the UK has been running for ten years
now and it looks as if it has several more to go. This is because the
relevant Minister seems to have committed the egregious offence of
getting her deadline dates wrong. So the UK capital will continue to
merit the nickname of Londonistan for some time yet. And all
those foreign governments which used to complain about Britain
providing a refuge for all sorts of troublemakers and rabble-rousers
must now be laughing up their sleeves.
And
still in Britain . . . A young footballer has recovered after
collapsing in the middle of a match several weeks ago, when his heart
stopped for quite a while. Someone in the UK media has suggested this
is "more than a miracle". So, what would that be, then? I
suppose I should ask someone who says things like - "I agree one
thousand per cent!"
Turning
to Spain . . . When I was valuing my house in the UK back in '95, the
agent told me that, as we were in the midst of a recession, there
wouldn't be a buyer for the house, as it was, essentially, too big
for the times. "Technically." he added, "it's worth
nothing right now." This came back to me as I was reading that
Brussels was denying it was going to activate funds with which to
prop up Spanish banks. Who must have many, many properties on their
books which are technically worthless but which they're carrying at
someone's (pure) guess at their value. Which is a problem which won't
go away until all their balance sheets are sanitised. Openly.
Finally
. . . Another document I found today was a page of quotations from Dr William Osler. I will post one a day for your delectation, beginning
with my favourite:-
We
are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from
life.
I
hope it's not to pretentious to say that I regard my daily blog -
which can be a tad hard at times - as forming part of my adding to others'
lives. Actually, quite possibly the only part. Ah, well. No one's
perfect.
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