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When I left DC on Thursday the temperature was in the 40's (below 10 C)...... when I landed in Sydney, Saturday morning, it was 100!! (38C).
I got heat stroke walking from the terminal to the car - of course we walked further in the sunny car park than necessary because my son forgot where he parked.
His car does not have air conditioning.......
I spent Saturday afternoon lying on his couch trying to cool down.
I spent a hot & balmy Saturday evening with my 3 children and my daughter-in-law-to-be and fifty of her closest relatives.
Sunday (still hot) I spent with a friend I have known for over 40 years, in her air conditioned apartment. We drank gin & tonics and laughed a lot.
Today I drove an injured friend around in his stick shift car. I have not driven a stick shift in over 10 years. I only stalled it twice.
I just learnt that, whilst the manservant is winging his way to Australia his bag is still in Chile....... he arrives on Wednesday. He is told his bag will arrive on Friday. The wedding is on Saturday.
My son has a 20 year old computer and internet connection slower than dial-up. He has an iPhone so he doesn't care.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8370348.stm
Not exactly local news to me, but it is news and it is fantastic news!
Wild Boar were hunted to extinction in Great Britain in the 13th Century. With the odd escape from farms in parts of the country there are some small herds in the UK today, yet these populations of wild boar are shot in the night on a regular basis by poachers in Kent and the New Forest where they have had recorded sightings of small groups.
I remember watching a programme a few years back, where an organization were trying to re-introduce wild boar to their area, alongside otters, beavers and...... EUROPEAN WOLVES! This is where my love for re-introduction and conservation was really born. If anybody knows the organization or programme, please let me know...
It is all too common to go abroard on holiday and become amazed by the wide range of wildlife in their country, but if it wasn't for poachers we would easily have a wildlife collection to boast about.
The re-introudction of these boars to part of Scotland, is an attempt by 'Trees for life' to re-juvinate parts of ancient Scottish forests which have come under threat from rogue bracken, one of the boars favourite foods.
If this project is well managed then I see no reason why it can not be a success. It would be interesting to see if a few sows were added to this batchelor group at a later date.
Regards,
Martin
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I love tourists ... really I do because they help my local economy but..
- please stand to the right on the metro (train) escalators so that we locals, with things to do, can walk past on the left. There is even a sign asking you.
- and when you get to the top, or bottom, of the escalator please do not just stop there while you figure out where to go next. There are 50 people about to trip up behind you.
- Oh - and if a machine has a diagram of how a ticket should be inserted they really want you to insert your ticket that way!
I think someone needs a drink .......
I wish all Americans a Happy & Safe Thanksgiving - even the tourists!
ARB - MUFFIN'S HERD
Let me introduce you to my herd of African Pygmy Hedgehogs. They currently consist of:
One Brown Female (Bought May 2009 from PricklyWeir Hedgehogs)
One Chocolate Male (Bought March 2009 from Graham Stedman)
One Chocolate Pinto Male (Bought November 2009 from Graham Stedman)
One Ruby Eyed Cinnicot Male (Bred 3/10/09)
One Albino Male (Bred 3/10/09)
Our chocolate male, Orinoco, aptly named after an inquisitive Womble was bought in as a mate for Snuffles (deceased) in March 2009, his striking colour caused amazement through many people as he is a very, very dark colour. He is yet to breed with any of the females due to his age, although he is due to mate before the end of 2009. He is now 10 months old so he is approaching his prime. He is very friendly and does not resent to being picked up. Until recently he was a very pygmy, pygmy hedgehog but recently he seems to have gained a lot more weight, which gives me confidence he is ready to breed.
When Hufflepuff was added to the herd in May 2009, I had the idea for her to be a future breeder and a second choice to Snuffles, but since Snuffles passed away, Hufflepuff is the only female hedgehog currently in the herd which is a shame. However, we are looking to add another female to the herd in February 2010. Hufflepuff was bred by Kerrie Mafham of PricklyWeir hedgehogs, Hufflepuff is a beautiful brown colour like her mother, Aerial. On 3/10/09 Hufflepuff produced her first litter, she originally had 4 hoglets, yet 2 did not surpries, however 2 do remain and they are both happy, healthy boys.
The two boys were as a result of Jack x Hufflepuff. Jack (Albino) belongs to another breeder and was on temporary breeding loan whilst Orinoco was too young. One hoglet is Ruby Eyed Cinnicot, whereas the other is a beautiful Albino like his father.
Paddy is the latest addition to herd, he is an amazing Chocolate Pinto, he is almost half white and half Chocolate. Pinto hedgehogs are a colour mutation which often appears as a patch of quills on a hedgehog without any pigmentation, in the UK it is uncommon for the patch to be very big, however Paddy is almost half and half, which makes him very special. If a pinto girl can be added to the herd we should have some very nice baby hoglets in the future.
With a ratio of 4:1 males:females I obviously realise that the herd is a little male dominated at the moment, when the litter from 3/10/09 move on, I will consider adding another female to the herd, until then these 5 little hedgehogs have all of my attention.
To help the RDTC the number is 0871 626 8846 and the lines are open 9am till Midnight. Each vote will cost you 10p and you can vote 10 times!
This is a ONE DAY competition.
Thank you.
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The population of Washington DC is around 592,000. (and there are an estimated 12,000 homeless).
According to the DC MPD website there have been 127 homicides since January 1st 2009 (to Friday 11/19).
On top of those Homicides there have been 6,529 "Violent Crimes" which cover Sexual Attacks, Assault with a weapon, Assault without a weapon and Robbery (against a person).
In addition there have been 23,718 "Property Crimes" a group which includes Burglary/Theft, Stolen Auto and Arson
Those are pretty shocking figures!!
Recently
on a walk along 16th Street I was amazed at the number of churches in a
2 or 3 mile stretch - many different denominations.
I guess having all these churches does not make all of us more law abiding or likely to follow the Ten Commandments.
If you can't make it to church the bus will come and get you:
More churches around my area (by no means an exhaustive list):
A little off topic here so bear with me. For a large part of my youth I played saxophone in the Romford Drum & Trumpet Corps. I had a great time, made lots of friends, visited lots of places and generally enjoyed myself. I still retain links with the band through my friends who now run it and I help out in a smal way by loking after the website for them.
The band has been going for 52 years now and has never had a home! They are trying to get lottery funding to refurbish a hall to make their base and have been put up to win £50,000 of the "Peoples Millions" - See the website here!
Tomorrow there is a one day vote off between the band and another youth group. It's a telephone vote and open from 9am to midnight and the band needs to get enough votes to beat off the competitor. Calls will cost 10p each from a landline, anyone can vote 10 times from the same number so PLEASE donate 10p or even £1 in votes to help to give the band a home.
Having dug through piles of old photos I really could generally only find myself hiding at the back of a 70 strong band. I know I'll regret posting any old pics in a public place - I'm sure to see them plastered onto a school wall by some idiot kid who thinks it's amusing to try and ridicule others. But what the heck, it's in a good cause.
Remember my Diet Aids .... Remember December ? Well here I am just over a week away from December so I thought it was time to check in.
I have lost 16 lbs (about 7.3 kg) since I posted those signs all around the kitchen. With one week to go I might squeeze out another couple. That result is not too bad - it's the equivalent of 1.5 dress sizes. I did not increase my exercise; actually I don't do any exercise other than the walking required to get places and our weekend strolls which are usually 3-5 miles each Saturday and Sunday.
I just stopped eating all the nice things in the cupboard and freezer and as silly as it might sound those signs really made me stop and think about whether I really wanted to eat something. It didn't always work because the impulse part of my brain would over-ride everything and say "of course you want that lovely cream puff or ice-cream, or that entire packet of Tim Tams!" .
I continued to have a glass of wine when I got home from work; sometimes two if I'd had to be particularly nice to people at work that day. On the weekends I was easier on myself when it came to eating the "good" stuff and I definitely had more than a couple of wines!
Now I have to come up with more rhymes to get me through 2010! But, until then, what's for dinner tonight? PIZZA!
On Sunday I watched this shapely lady wobble along on stiletto heels - unfortunately they do not show up well in the photo, nor does the wobble.
`
I speak English and Americans speak English but there were times when I first moved here when I was nearly in tears because I could not understand what someone was telling me. This was especially so when dealing with public transport employees when it was pretty important that I understand their direction.
I can only imagine how hard it must be for someone when English is their second or even third language. This morning I saw a Latino woman at my metro station almost crying with frustration as she dealt with the station master.
Our metro ticket machines are specifically designed to confound anyone trying to use them. In high season there are long lines of confused tourists standing in front of them while help in the form of station attendants stays well hidden.
Now, I am no slouch with train ticket machines. I have successfully operated them in China, Paris, Italy and Spain where there can be minimal help for those who don't speak the respective language. But, the first time I stood infront of a metro machine with some English words thrown around it, I was confused.
Each station has a little box where the station master sits. They rarely deem it necessary to actually come out of their little box to demonstrate the workings of the machines. They talk at you through glass using a funky tinny speaker which distorts their voice to that of a cartoon character and they don't seem to care how many times they repeat the same sentence even though before you will have figured out their instruction they could have come out and actually helped.
Many times when I walk past I hear a frustrated passenger shouting from our side and the tinny response of the metro employee and I think "poor person, half a dozen trains will have gone past by the time they understand"
Back to this morning. As I walked into the station I could hear
the poor woman trying to tell the attendant that she did exactly as she
was told and it hadn't worked. The attandant's cartoon voice came back
saying well she didn't press the "minus sign". The passenger
asked "what's a minus sign?". The attendant just kept repeating: The minus sign; the minus sign. On the machine there is a minus sign; you have to press the minus sign."
The woman said "I don't understand minus". The attendant repeated the mantra that the minus sign must be pressed.
Seriously how helpful can that be if you don't know what a "minus sign" is ?!?!?!?!
Feeling terribly sorry for the woman I said "I'll show you" and took her back to the evil machine and pointed out the + and - symbols which allow you to get a farecard for more or less than the amount that comes up on a screen.
This episode annoyed me for most of the day - so, a big minus to
Metro for customer service this morning. At 6.40am I'm sure they are
not overworked with paperwork or whatever else it is they do in those
little boxes.
How apt is this photo which I took on our Sunday walk (mural in Columbia Heights) - it says "Immigrant Rights":
I want this house and car:
Photo taken only half a mile from the depressing building made up of boxes........
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
Links from my Neighborhood
The Travelling Tiles - Quir...
Cat's Tiles & Coasters
My florist friend, Erwin
