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.