Defying one's parents

As we both had the day off today, we decided to catch a train to Leigh-on-sea and go for a walk. There were two reasons behind choosing that destination. First of all, it is not too far away and easy to get to on the train. Secondly, Leigh is where my wife was brought up.

When we arrived, we decided it was time for a coffee! So we stopped at a pub called The Peter Boat. By going in through the doors, my wife was defying her Dad, who forbade her to go into that pub when she was a teenager! Now, it must be admitted her dad died 20 years ago, but there was still something about doing what she was forbidden to do many years ago!

Oh, by the way, as coffee was £1.95 a cup (not even a mug!), I doubt we will go there again.

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Whilst walking along the prom at Chalkwell, we saw they were doing some work on the shelter there. The sign explaining what they were doing is pictured (click on it to obtain a larger image). It says they are working, "To provide new toilet facilities. We apologise for the inconvenience caused."

It just amused me.

Tardis to Ashes

Two new series began on the BBC at the weekend. First of all Matt Smith made his debut as Dr. Who. He was OK I suppose, but I think we are still grieving over the departure of David Tennant.

Anyway, he saved the earth in twenty minutes, so we can't complain. He managed to program a virus on a borrowed mobile phone, which was then uploaded and turned all the digital clocks in the world to zero. Quite a feat! How come, then, when his new assistant shut his tie in a car door to stop him escaping could he not fathom out that if he lowered his head a little, he could loosen the knot and get his head out of it?

Well, he is still suffering the after-effects of regeneration - you've got to feel sorry for him, haven't you?

Then there was Ashes to Ashes. She has been shot and is in a coma in the present day and dreams she is back in the 1970's, where she has been shot and is in a coma dreaming she is back in the present. And that's just for starters!

All will be sorted out by the end of this series, they promise. But will I understand it when it is??

Happy Easter!

St Paul wrote:

"What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that he appeared to more than 500 people at the same time."

The hymn says:

Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb,

Lovingly he greets us, scatter fear and gloom!

Let the church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,

For the Lord, he lives now, death has lost its sting!

Yours is the glory, risen conquering Son,

Endless is the victory you o'er death has won!

Happy Easter!

Bang goes another theory!

I watched BBC's Bang Goes the Theory last night. Liz Bonnin was very excited because she had been investigating one of the problems with Darwin's theory of evolution. It was one that he openly admitted in his book, The Origin of Species, that the fossil record was very patchy in places.

In particular, there is a lack of early fossils before what has become known as the "Cambrian explosion". The Cambrian era is where the fossil record suddenly appears. Not finding fossils before then is a big problem.

But Liz is on the case! And she showed us a fossil that had been found in pre-Cambrian rock, which proved the point that there were fossils before the "explosion". It's a charnia, so named, I assume, because it was found in Charnwood Forest in England.

But it looks like a leaf! However, it isn't, so she says, because it lived too deep under water to live like one. Hang on a minute, how deep under water could a fossil found in a forest have been? She didn't explain that. She DID say it had no mouth, but absorbed nutrients "in some way". She added that it remains a bit of an enigma!

So, unconvinced, I go onto the internet. The University of California Museum of Paleontology says of charnia and similar fossils, "Exactly what these fossils are is still not settled to the satisfaction of all."

So, hardly a great victory for Darwin, then!

AA renewal

I've been a member of the AA since 1968. My subscription renewal is due and I got a tip off from a friend. And that was to look on their website to see how much cheaper it is.

Our current membership includes "Home Start" and "Relay" service and the AA have given me (even though I haven't asked for it), complimentary "Stay mobile" service. This costs us £192 in total.

But on the Internet the cost for all of that, including paying for "Stay Mobile" is £30 cheaper! If we don't have "Stay Mobile", it's £70 cheaper!

So I rang up and he was happy to do the deal on the website prices. He said something about having to give the full prices in their letter due to the FSA. I didn't understand that. But I DO understand paying £70 less!

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I blogged about last year's renewal, as they sent it out so early (Put "AA" into the search window at the top left of the page to find it).

Also, another friend tipped me off about a YouTube clip, also about a helpful AA man. Go to
www.YouTube.com and search for "AA Barrier"

Glamour, here we come!

It's an exciting time here in Basildon. I say 'here', but we are in Laindon, which is next to Basildon, but likes to think it is very much 'distinct' from it.

Anyway, it's exciting because we have a new sign for all to see who travel down the A127 (the Southend Arterial Road). In "Hollywood" style letters the name "B A S I L D O N" is spelt out on a hill by the Noak Bridge interchange!

We drove past it yesterday, it really IS there! But if you don't believe me, look at the article just published on the Mail online (so it must be true!)
www.DailyMail.co.uk/news/article-1261756

However, this is merely an addition to the USA feel of the place, as the leisure complex is already know unofficially as "Bas Vegas".

It makes you proud to be living in Essex ...

Donations & Easter Colours

Two miscellaneous ramblings ...

Do you get regular bags through the letter box asking you to donate unwanted items for 'charity'? They are a regular stream through our door. Some are from recognisable charities but most are not. Like the latest one which is for "breast cancer prevention programme". There's a website - which consists of a blank page. The information on the bag says they make a minimum contribution of £5,000 each month to the project.

Well, do they? It is run by a limited company, and it says it's registered in Lithuania. Say no more!

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We needed some tissue paper and saw some in a shop window. We went in, and could not find the packet in the window on display where the other tissue paper was. On asking, we were told it was on the Easter display. You see, the paper was yellow and green, which are Easter colours. Of course, silly us!

Presumably red and green are Christmas colours. But spare a thought for poor old blue! Doesn't he get a look in?