Rolling in it

Head Rambles Posted on by 7

They say that apparently I am 80% wealthier than I was ten years ago.

Wow!

I checked my bank balances and they are much the same. If anything there is a slight trend towards the red.

I checked my loans. I didn’t have any ten years ago but I do now [for the car]. So that’s a debit, but the car is now an asset. But the car has depreciated since so it’s still a minor net loss.

My income has increased a bit with the new carer allowances but there is no way that they almost doubled my income. Take into account the new taxes and the increased taxes and I am a lot worse off.

So how the fuck do they reckon I have benefited so much?

The house!

Of course the house has appreciated in value in the last ten years. However I don’t know what it was worth ten years ago, and I haven’t a clue what it’s worth now. It possibly has doubled in value since the low point of the recession but that means absolutely nothing. Zilch. Meaningless.

So there is my 80% increase and it is fuck all use to man or beast. So far as I am concerned the Manor could be worth a million or a tenner. It doesn’t matter a damn to me how much it’s worth until such a point as I decide to sell, which I have no intention of doing. If it goes on the market it does actually have a value decided between myself and the buyer, but not before that.

So the State gloats how well off I am and tells me how much they have done for the country’s finances.

Fucking chancers.

Throw on an extra blanket

Head Rambles Posted on by 6

I came across an article the other day.

NOAA Gets Go-Ahead to Study Controversial Climate Plan B

I remember seeing lots of banners held by climate protesters saying that “There is NO Plan B” so I’m sure they’ll be delighted that their fears are assuaged. They can all go home and watch SpongeBob or whatever they normally do.

I’m not too sure about the two proposals they are putting forward. Their main idea seems to be to cover the entire planet with a blanket of clouds. This, in their theory will effectively cut down on heat coming in from the sun.

Now I’m not a climate scientist. I tend to rely on logic and experience with a reasonable understanding of physics, and that’s what is giving me cause for concern.

My bedroom isn’t heated by choice [it does have a radiator but it’s permanently switched off]. I like a cool bed. Last night I got into bed and fairly quickly the bed warmed up as the quilt kept my body heat in. However, as the temperature outside was low my bed didn’t warm up enough. I threw a coat over the bed and almost immediately fell asleep as the temperature was now just right. The coat had acted as additional insulation to prevent heat loss.

Another example is obvious at this time of year. On cold clear nights, a frost forms. If however it’s cloudy frost doesn’t form as the clouds have prevented heat escaping and the temperature doesn’t drop far enough.

So what happens if the cover the entire planet with clouds? It may well cut down on the sun’s heat coming in but it will also insulate the planet against heat loss? I hope they throw that into their calculations before starting their experiments.

And what happens if their calculations are wrong? Suppose their geoengineering [sorry – “climate intervention”] goes tits up? Will they be able to suck up all the crap they have thrown into the atmosphere or the stratosphere? Will they be able to reverse whatever it is that they have done?

Or maybe their experiment will work and the radiation from the sun is drastically reduced, and then the sun sinks into its solar minimum reducing the radiation even further?

The Earth could end up like an iced lolly.

UK calling

Head Rambles Posted on by 11

They are pissing me off again.

For a long time we had been getting phone calls with an automated recording telling us that our “Eir internet connection had been compromised” or some such shit, and that we had better press “1” to talk to an engineer if we didn’t want to get cut off. Needless to say I never pressed 1 so I don’t know quite how they would try to scam money out of me.

Then things changed.

Eir is our national telephone company but there are loads of providers so presumably anyone on one of the other services would realise it was a scam. They changed the message to an all encompassing “Your internet connection” etc. The calls continued.

Then they changed tactic again.

This time the phone would ring. I would pick up and after about three seconds silence they’d hang up again. A while later I would get another call with the same irritating female telling me I had missed a call from my internet provider and that my connection had been compromised etc. I presume that the first call was just to test if my number was valid before calling back in order to save them a few bob.

One thing I have noticed is that the vast majority of the calls come from the UK with a 0044 prefix. I haven’t tried calling back their number to tell them to go fuck themselves with a razor-wire pogo-stick as it’s always a different number.

Yesterday was particularly bad.

We had about seven or eight calls from the UK, all hanging up as soon as I answered. Luckily I didn’t get any call-back calls or I’d be fit for the funny farm.

But then they changed tactic again.

The last call I got was the same fucking irritating female recording but this time she announced that my “Amazon Prime account had been compromised” etc.

I don’t have an Amazon Prime account!

*sigh*

A late booking

Head Rambles Posted on by 5

Things have a habit of happening very quickly here.

We decide on the spur to do something and immediately go from first gear into overdrive to arrange things.

Last night we got talking about a holiday. I hadn’t been giving it much thought [but a lot of private dreaming] as I wasn’t sure how we would manage things what with wheelchairs and other mobility aids. Last night though we decided: come hell or high water we’ll give it a bash.

West Cork it is, and France can maybe wait a bit. The problem is that we now have different requirements. What we need is a self catering that allows a dog and has a ground floor bedroom and bathroom, with no steps in between. That is surprisingly hard to find as most places have upstairs bedrooms or bathrooms. Or else they don’t allow pets.

The place where we stayed in the past few years would be perfect but it has a few steps between the living room and the rest of the house. That would mean Herself would be stuck in the bedroom or would have to forgo a bed and a toilet. That would be fine by me but for some reason Herself objected.

We have found an ideal place in the same area and have been frantically writing emails back and forth to discover such trivial details as availability and cost. It’s not beside the sea and in fact is half way up a mountain which is fine by me.

It has one wee advantage over our previous place though which I haven’t mentioned to Herself, as she would no doubt raise objections.

It has wifi!

The Coffee Shop Mascot

Head Rambles Posted on by 13

I went for a walk yesterday.

There was nothing exceptional about it but by the end of it I was flagging a bit. So was Penny.

We made our way up the village with Penny on a slack lead so she could stop and sniff any piss that took her interest. If she did stop, I would just carry on knowing she’d catch up.

As we approached the coffee shop her pace quickened. Off she went at a trot and straight in the coffee shop gate, across the terrace to the door. I had no choice in the matter. Penny wanted the coffee shop and that was the end of any debate.

I should point out that Penny has a thing about shops. She is very reluctant to enter any door that isn’t home. She prefers to be left outside, waiting happily until I return.

Penny waiting
Penny as seen on Google Street View

Not so the coffee shop. Not only does she love the shop but everyone inside loves her. So yesterday I opened the door and in she shot. Squeals of delight and the word passed around that Penny had arrived so everyone could come and see her.

Me?

They hardly noticed me.