Shivering in April.

Eliot chose his words well when he said April is the cruellest month

A few days ago we were charmed by the warmest April day for many years, but today I changed back into my Winter jacket, put on a scarf and raincoat and struggled through the rain wishing I'd remembered my gloves.

Managing without Television

The television set in my dining room, which is the set I watch most, recently stopped showing pictures, though it still relays sound, so I can use it to listen to radio broadcasts. I find I can also follow television news programmes quite well even without the picture. However it's no use for detective stories or murders.

An advantage  of this is that I eat rather less. I'd been spending much of the evening watching the television, and eating snacks or sweets. Now I potter around the Internet, and manage without the snacks and sweets, which helps my campaign to lose weight. I'm therefore not in a great hurry to replace the television.

Three Signs of Spring

Today, for the first time this year, I walked to the shops without an overcoat, I dried washing outside on the washing line, and I sat in the garden drinking a cup of tea and reading The Economist.

A Misleading Statistic

Half appeals against Home Office decisions to deny people permission to live in Britain are successful. My initial reaction to that news was to wonder what was wrong with the Home Office, but on reflection I think that the proportion may be about right. It is not half of all decisions that are being overturned, but just half those that go to an appeals tribunal.

I should expect those to be cases where both the person appealing, and the Home Office officials consider they have a good case. If both sides exercise good judgement we might expect the result to be a draw, with each side winning about half the time.

Confessions of an Unwashed Ancient.

I'm just recovering from a rather bad cold. When it was at its worst, just over a week ago, I went without a bath for four days. I just couldn't face the prospect of getting wet all over.

I seem to have survived the period of uncleanliness unscathed. In my youth, when there was no heating in the bathroom, a weekly bath sufficed.  I suspect that these days we spend for too much time washing ourselves and our clothes.

The End of a Grim Story

When I learned of the death of Winnie Mandela, my only thought was of the 'necklace killings' of which she boasted so proudly.

Tires were fastened around the necks of victims and set on fire, so the victims died slowly and horribly. Sometimes the victims' relatives were encouraged to try to rescue them. As the burning tire welded to the victims neck, attempted rescue just pulled the victim to pieces, doubtless to the amusement of Ms Mandela and her followers.