Wednesday 26th October 2011

Come on down and do what you've got to do, you've started this fire down in my soul, now can't you see it's burning out of control.

I was thinking about buying some of those Chinese Lanterns to light this weekend as I am seeing my daughters and I thought they might enjoy doing them. I am pretty sure that where I will be at the weekend is not in the flightpath of any airport in the South West (or any other part of the country for that matter) so we wouldn't kill any planes.
But then I heard a story about how dangerous these lanterns are for Barn Owls.
Apparently these things kill many Barn Owls every year, and the more lanterns that are shipped into the sky the more Owls are dying.

I actually missed the bit of the story that revealed the cause of the deaths, so quite how the Owls are dying is not very clear, at least not to myslef, but I think it has something to do with the flammable material that (a) the lanterns themselves are made from and (b) the flammable material that Owl's wings are made from.

Apparently, when an owl sees a Chinese Lantern it is immediately attracted to the

flickering candle in order to use the naked flame to light a cigarette. Obviously, with no (or very few) pockets, owls are unable to carry many matches and most cigarette lighters are now banned from the airways, so these lanterns can be a godsend, if care is taken.
However, it transpires that not many owls are all that careful when it comes to personal safety and that, coupled with the cross winds encountered in the skies, means that more and more of the Tyto albas are falling foul of a fiery death.

So I didn't get any, although I may do before the weekend and just put up some notices warning the owls, and any other birds, not to smoke for a couple of days.

This isn't the first time I have mentioned Chinese Lanterns.
The first time was on Friday 31st December 2010. Yup, the last day of last year.
And do you know what else I talked about that day?!? No?!?
Well get the fuck back there and have a look.

I wonder when it will be this year? No not you getting the fuck back to 31st December 2010 like Michael J Fox in "Back to the Future" but that thing I was talking about on 31st December 2010.
Probably not before the 31st, definitely not before 25th, but can you imagine if they did?
There would be outroar, or an uprage or something.
For those of you who are too bone idle, too lazy, and don't know what I am talking about: tough shit. You'll have to look.
Some people will be able to remember without looking, of course. I bet me stalker does.

Anyhoo, I've been a bit remiss lately, not written as much as I could have.
I really must write more, even if it is just to stop that Grizzly Bear man (http://ramblingofaboredman.blogspot.com/) from overtaking me in the number of entries written.

If you haven't seen it, take a look. But as I always say, don't forget to come back. Don't be seduced by the quality of it, it may appear better on face value but it aint as good as this one, not really. It is probably more interesting and all that, but this one is still better.
On second thoughts, don't go there, forget I posted the link (not that I can get the link to work on this thing anyways, so neh neh) and stick with me.


I am staying in the 'County Hotel' in Woodford tonight and it is a bit strange.

I haven't seen an English person working here yet, which isn't particularly strange and they are nice enough, but I nearly had a tricky situation.
I had pre-booked and when I arrived the woman at reception took my Visa card and I didn't really think anything of it. But when I came to get something to eat and drink I was told that I couldn't charge it to my room as I had already paid for it (the room). As I didn't have any cash, seeing as I left home at 0400hrs this morning and have been on a construction site all day, I asked if there was a cashpoint in the hotel.
Nope.
So I asked if they could give me cash-back.
Nope.
So I asked them how I could pay for my drink.
I could pay by card, they told me, but there was a minimum spend of £5 for card transactions.
I said that I wanted to order some food and would want another drink later on so could I start a tab?
I was told I could start a tab but I would have to pay for the drink as it had already been rung up in the till. SO I had to order my food immediately in order to get the value to above £5 and then start a tab after that.

Whilst perusing the menu I noticed that they serve pizza here.
I don't fancy the last vegetarian option on the list mind you..............