tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3181172496475172342024-02-08T19:10:27.385+00:00Richard's jottingsMiscellaneous thoughts about anything, either topical or not, that arouses my interest.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.comBlogger930125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-28723974408664469932022-12-28T16:37:00.000+00:002022-12-28T16:37:06.948+00:00A Veteran CactusOnce again my Christmas Cactus is living up its name, covered in bright pink flowers. I've had it for so long that I can'tremeber how I came by it. I think I may have inherited it from mother, in which case I've had it for nearly thirty years.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-4544424307686970982022-12-23T12:54:00.000+00:002022-12-23T12:54:04.795+00:00An Unexpected SurpriseThe phrase in the title was voiced by a television announcer recently. I find it entertaining to invent circumstances in which vacuous forms of words might have some meaning. In this case we need to start from 'expected surprise'. People, especially children on the eve of their birthdays, often expect to receive a present, the precise nature of which they do not know in advance. One of my friendsRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-11832807384787405032022-12-19T22:05:00.001+00:002022-12-19T22:05:45.195+00:00Very Late TomatoesA while ago I thought I'd eaten the last of this year's homegrown tomatoes, but today I noticed that a couple of fruit I'd kept just in case they might confound my pessimism by ripening had actually ripened, so I ate them, just six days before Christmas day!!Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-66956555545745045372022-12-09T12:38:00.003+00:002022-12-09T12:38:54.288+00:00My Neglected Cheque BookI recently wrote a cheque to be enclosed in a Christmas card, and noticed that the last time I wrote a check it was to the same person, for enclosure in last year's Christmas card. At one time I got through a checque book in a few months. Now it seems likely that the present book will last for the rest of my life!Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-66822387751682817142022-12-07T16:52:00.001+00:002022-12-07T16:52:14.943+00:00Persistent BloomsLast month I boasted about the unseasoable profusion of flowers in the garden. After a fairly sharp frost last night there are fewer flowers now, but still far more than usual at this tine of year. The fuchsia still retains all its leaves and most of its flowers, and the campnula and Mexican daisy seem unaffected. A cyclamen is just coming into flower and the winter jasmine is splendid.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-47492927811805224162022-12-04T21:38:00.001+00:002022-12-04T21:38:59.414+00:00Home Grown TomatoesI'm still eating tomatoes grown by myself in the garden, and haven't needed to buy any tomatoes since early August. The plants expired a while ago but I've been eating fruit that I gathered unripe before disposing of the plants. I think this may be the first time my crop has lasted into December, though very few fruit are left now. Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-72921143904443261662022-12-01T16:26:00.000+00:002022-12-01T16:26:31.581+00:00Revive Convalesent HomesIn the 1950's one of my aunts had an operation. When she no longer needed full medical attention she moved to a convalescent home where patients completed their recovery supervised by nurses. When I hear about hospial beds occupied by patients who no longer need hospital care but have nowhere else to go I wonder why convalescent homes are not revived.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-3166496713462578972022-11-30T17:46:00.001+00:002022-11-30T17:46:45.960+00:00A Cook's NostalgiaAmong the minor irritants of modern life is the occasional need to free joints of meat from the snare of elasticated string
In bygone days joints were secured by metal skewers. It was very easy to pull them out and, once removed, they could be retained, making handy tools that could be poked into otherwise inaccessible places. For a while the skewers were replaced by ordinary string, less easily Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-87955164873290679592022-11-29T16:09:00.002+00:002022-11-29T16:09:58.185+00:00A Redundant Institution.Today I received four magazines, all delivered by Royal Mail. Three of them should have arrived at least three days ago. Most of the material that used to be sent by post can now be sent by email. Magazines can often be read over the Internet, and several companies will deliver any material objects that resist digitisation.
Perhaps we no longer need a post officeRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-81748189494862334202022-11-27T22:28:00.010+00:002022-11-27T22:30:56.254+00:00Frustrated by Almost Impenetrable Wrappings.Many goods are sold, either completely encased in plastic, or in some combination of cardboard and plastic. In either case I need scissors to get at the goods, and even so equipped I ofen have quite a struggle.
In my fury I often wish that company directors were required to give public demonstrations of their recommended technique for penetrating those frustrating wrappings.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-62133547704985767542022-11-26T11:23:00.002+00:002022-11-26T11:23:53.324+00:00Pears RehabiitatedPears are very frustrating fruit, changing from inedible hardness to repulsive mushiness so quickly that one usually misses the intermediate state of delicious edibility. Sainsbury's offers 'ripe and ready' pears nestling coyly in protective wrapping. I had long been suspicious of those, but one day gave in to temptation and was very pleasantly surprised. I don't know what magic they invoke but Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-2939696752736120902022-11-23T10:15:00.000+00:002022-11-23T10:15:02.721+00:00A Floriferous NovemberEven in this, the last week of November, there is still an abundance of flowers in the garden. As well as the Winter Jasmine which usually flowers around this time of year, Fuchsias and Mexican daisies are covered in flowers, and blue campanulas and zonal pelargoniums still provide a modest display.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-7723332131739857692022-11-13T12:08:00.001+00:002022-11-13T12:08:15.508+00:00An Honest Interest RateDiscussion of interest rates almost always concerns the supposed impact on a variety of economic factors, but I've never heard such a discussion mention the importance of repaying our debts.
When prices are rising, as they usually are, the value of money is falling, so to repay a debt requires the payment of more money than was originally borrowed. Interest charged for a loan should include some Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-47417939311042730382022-10-30T17:47:00.000+00:002022-10-30T17:47:33.827+00:00Silent FriendsThere are some old friends I haven't heard from for several years. I'm not sure how to react. They may of course be dead. On the other hand they may just be disinclined to keep in touch. In case that is so I'm reluctant to bother them with frequent messages, as that would be rather like stalking.
I've decided to continue to send my annual letter at the end of the year, but not to send any other Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-16957110067747315802022-10-29T22:42:00.002+01:002022-10-29T22:42:59.984+01:00Another Non-word from the BBCOn tonight's news a reporter said that a new King of the Zulus had been 'coronated'. In case any readers of this blog are not native speakers of English I point out that the relevant verb is to crown,so the King was crowned. The process of crowning is called a coronation
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-69962328057611209522022-10-27T17:37:00.001+01:002022-10-27T17:37:54.075+01:00BusyI have been neglecting my web site for the last couple of years, but am now trying to bring it up to date. So far there has been little change to the pages on the site, though I have corrected a misdirection that sent people to an out of date version of the Index page However several pages are being extensively revised off line, so there should be more to see in a few weeks time. Meanwhile the Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-50961494954620212712022-10-15T12:10:00.001+01:002022-10-15T13:03:18.287+01:00Conflicting FreedomsWe usually commend both freedom of thought and freedom of speech, without realising they often conflict.
Thought is usually most effectively conducted in silence. Speech, on the other hand cannot be silent and commands the attention of anyone in hearing range, whether they are interested or not. Those speaking to someone else usually expect the one addressed to respond with a comment on the same Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-65012201525265186592022-10-05T20:57:00.002+01:002022-10-05T20:59:31.769+01:00Jabbed yet again This time it was for flue. I'm not quite sure when I started having flue jabs, but suspect it may have been in 2003. Once I started I haven't missed a year, suggesting that the last jab may have been my 20th. When the total gets to 25 it will be a bit like a silver wedding. Shall I have a party?Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-73512082539010871982022-09-20T13:18:00.000+01:002022-09-20T13:18:20.134+01:00In Praise of ClothesAs we debate the cost of fuel and fear death by hypothermia, I recall my youth when people usually had just one room heated by a coal fire. In the Winter we lived almost exclusively in one room, the back room dowstairs, chosen because the fire there also heated the hot water tank. It contained a dining table and chairs, and a couple of easy chairs for the parents. I used the dining room table forRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-71990448578209425602022-09-17T13:04:00.000+01:002022-09-17T13:04:00.302+01:00Misleading Plurals and Neuter PronounsIt has become customary to use 'they', 'them', and 'their' to refer to singular subjects when one is relucatnat or unable to refer the subject to a particular gender. That irritates me. Having graduated in Logic and taught Mathematics, I consider the distinction between singular and plural extremely important - much more important that the distinction between male, female and non-binary.
We need Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-29176155417440015312022-09-14T10:50:00.002+01:002022-09-14T11:06:06.670+01:00Quintuply JabbedYesterday I had my fifth covid vaccination. I had think carefully before committing myself to 'fifth', and originally posted a message claiming only to have been jabbed four times. Then I spotted a blog I posted in May of this year recording a fourth blog then. I defintely had three jabs last year, then there's the jab of May this year and the one yesterday and 3+1+1 = 5.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-87170174343628772832022-09-12T10:47:00.001+01:002022-09-12T10:47:58.942+01:00Why Do People Kill Flowers?I enjoy seeing flowers on plants in the garden, or even on plants indoors in pots, but it depresses me when people gather flowers. Sometimes people kill flowers and take the corpses with them when going out for a meal, but the worst massacres are inspired by funerals.
It was a small consolation to learn that flowers killed in honour of the late Queen will be composted and the compost used to Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-78014648255691141522022-09-10T13:16:00.000+01:002022-09-10T13:16:54.246+01:00Another Reminder of my Antiquity.As a young man I took it for granted that those in authority nwould be older then me. When John Major was appointed as Prime minister in 1990 I realised that he was the first British Prime Minister younger than me. I believe that in David Cameron's coalition Government of 2010, every minister was younger than me, but until this week there was still one authority figure I couold look up to. At Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-89256089434643818892022-09-02T11:29:00.001+01:002022-09-02T11:29:33.555+01:00Multi-headed SharksEach morning I scan listings of television programmes to select escapist material to be saved for later watching. I recently noticed something about a double headed shark attack. A few days later there was a promise of a three headed shark attack, then a five headed shark.
2, 3, 5 are successive fibonacci numbers so I braced myself for an 8 headed shark, followed by a 13 headed shark. Would we Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318117249647517234.post-12821071165131760372022-08-25T13:41:00.000+01:002022-08-25T13:41:06.698+01:00Abolish the Water ClosetAfter heavy rain water mixed with sewage has been discharged into rivers and into the sea. Subsequent discussion has ignored the part played by the water closet. Sewage is a mixture of human bye-products with a large quantity of water. The odious mixture is made in the water closet. Without those monstrous engines of pollution and disease there would be no sewage.
At one time human effluvia were Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02289458552373210843noreply@blogger.com0