Todays observations

Totally shocking night, next to no sleep so I was up and on the computer at 6 a.m. doing some research for a project I am working on. Head was birling, page after page, and then I started to lose track of what I was doing as I could not print out on the lap top.

Looking at pictures of Shanghai on the TV , brings back good memories of our visit there, buildings are amazing , as is the futuristic skyline - people were so friendly - great holiday.

Back to business, had to go down to the Bush where a couple of folks were taking the Micky a bit, as usual promising the earth and doing nowt - so a fixing is needed. Not out for long and then back to the computer again.

Need to correct yesterdays bloomer, I thought that Manchester United had been beaten - wrong, they won and it was Manchester City that lost, so my friend Dave will be doubly sick. BUT at least Andy Murray managed to win the Sony Open tennis at Miami , well done - now he can start to think about Queens and Wimbledon.

Everyone sorry to hear about the earthquake in Italy, just sixty miles north of Rome, information coming about the rising death toll and extensive damage - pray God that it is not a precursor to something bigger, bearing in mind that Mt Vesuvius remains dormant . No idea where the various plates are in that part of Europe.

President Obama is doing well on his tour of Europe, Prague today which is a beautiful city, only bad bit for the tourists is the Pickpocket Express from the city up to the Royal Palace - but he and his other World leaders ( excluding Brown) are going to have their work cut out sorting out this latest North Korean missile problem.

In the meantime, Mr. Brown , with his incompetent Chancellor, Mr Darling who has once again got his sums wrong will need to get some help with their chalk and slates. Not only are their colleagues getting caught out at every turn claiming for , blue movies ; bath plugs ; barbeque's; second homes, etc. paying terrorists benefit money and knocking back local claimants. So much for Labour signing up to the European Bill of Human Rights, might be that the concept was originally OK , but since the Brussels Bureaucrats got their pencils in the pie it has cost us dear.
Our own MSP's are just as bad, we built that midden of a building at Hollyrood, which floods as it was built on a series of underground springs, and now they are changing taps in the bathrooms at some stupid price as the automatic taps are a harbour for Legionnaire's Disease. I see that staff are no longer allowed to take photos in the building to preserve their privacy.

I regularly go on about drivers using the mobile phones, someone in the paper tonight had a real go and suggested that there should be three months imprisonment, fines of £2000, impounding the vehicle and charging for the storage, etc - gosh - BUT if it saves lives or prevents injury. Maybe we should introduce weekend prison camps !!

My former colleague, Bernard Kelly, has at long last been given his release date, so his night out is Friday 17th, I look forward to that.