test please delete

[vetran]

Slowly fade away

Century achieved!

[ladymuck]

But all the things that you've seen

[DoctorStrangelove]

I caught a bit of, I think, a Canadian one yesterday. There was some bloke at an airport who was brought in for a luggage search, but when they opened one of his cases he immediately said "That's not my bag!" and claimed he must have taken the wrong one off the carousel.

They were justifiably sceptical, pointing out that it was a distinctive bright blue colour, further secured by lime green rope wrapped around it like a parcel, and what were the chances of there being an identical bag on the same flight? But he kept insisting that no, this wasn't his bag even though it appeared identical to his, and nothing in there had anything to do with him.

So finally they went back out to the carousel with him… and there was exactly the same bright blue suitcase, tied in exactly the same way with the same shade of lime green rope, but this one had his luggage label on it

And although I didn't catch it all, I gather nothing dodgy was found in either of the bags and there was no reason to suppose he knew the owner of the identical bag he'd accidentally taken - unlikely as it seems, it really was just a coincidence

There was one like that on the NZ thing the other week.

Maybe it was the same chap.

[NickFitz]

Did M&S ever produce a coat for you? Maybe I missed that update.

I used their contact form in the end, and was told it had been damaged in transit

The customer service person wanted to know if I'd like a refund or a replacement, so I replied to the email asking for a replacement to be shipped. I got an autoresponse, so despite the email hassle this week, I know my reply got through to them. Then… nothing

So this morning I used the form again, and this afternoon another customer service person confirmed that it showed as damaged in transit but nothing had been done, so they'd requested a replacement. The system now shows that a replacement is being dispatched to the store and should be there on Sunday. I'll believe it when I see it

[NickFitz]

There was one like that on the NZ thing the other week.

Maybe it was the same chap.

It may have been the NZ one - Pick seems to be running both at the moment, and I wasn't really paying attention

[NickFitz]

Tea has been an absolutely delicious roast chicken dinner

Quite a decent sized chicken at around 4lb, so there's soup to be made

[NickFitz]

Tonight's major motion picture premiere-ish was the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 (2005). I'd seen some of this when it was on the telly when I came in from the pub some years ago, but I'd never watched it from start to finish. It's OK. I haven't watched the original in a few years, but I think it was better

And then a rewatch of The Sum of All Fears (2002) which I found to be even better than I remembered; a cracking action thriller, as long as one ignores the occasional gaping plot hole, as one ought to with these things

Goodnight all

[WTFH]

Morning all

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Dry.

Blue sky in parts.

Sunnyish.

Chilly at 16.9 deg in here.

1017 mBar, 30.03 in Hg, 762.8 Torr, 73% RH.

Saturday.

Knackered now.

Even moe knackered now.

Fecking bituminous paint is a grade A pain in the arse to get off the blockwork and the tanking slurry won't stick to it if I leave it there. :

Lunch: Heinz tomato soup with a hint of chilli plus some Morrisons wholemeal sunflower and spelt bread, bramble jelly sandwich on same (new pot), a yellow corner yog (last but one), and 0.91 pints of good Glengettie tea.

Entertainment: wirebrushing and sanding bituminous paint off a breeze block wall.

Thankfully it's a bit quicker with the angle grinder than it was with the electric drill.

Terminally knackered now.

Didn't have quite enough tanking prepared to complete today's efforts, so that will have to wait until tomorrow since making more stuff up would either have required higher maths or alternatively continuing the job after dark.

Tea: spag with fiery bol, some peach slices, a yog, 0.91 pints of good Glengettie tea.

Entertainment: The thing on BBC4 about the Celts: Julius Caesar won. Omnia Gallia in tres partes & all that.

Nice hot bath, the first for several years, finished off with a very pleasant cold shower.

Entertainment: Smithsonian: The Lost DNA: turns out the Irish first farmers were Mediterranean, and not averse to a touch of incest when the fancy took them

This last may explain why the neolithic people died out, leaving little or no sign of their DNA in the current population.

[ladymuck]

Afternoon all

It was raining earlier but has brightened up now. Currently 13 degrees with a high of 16 later. Expected to stay cloudy and more rain likely. Barometer up to 1022 mBar.

Last night we had a very nice dinner at the Britannia Pub up the road and then watched Mulan (2020) when we got back. Lovely long lie in this morning with only a mildly sore head.

Today's Kantar diary fact is:
Using waste energy it had generated, 'Pete the Fern' becomes the first plant to take a self-powered 'selfie' at London Zoo 2019