Crass stupidity
Cas asked yesterday why I hadn’t mentioned the proposed new anti-smoker law in the UK.
I think I possibly had a go when New Zealand proposed such a law but very sensibly dropped the idea.
In theory it is an ingenious law to gradually phase out smoking by banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2008. I can just imagine the anti-smoker lobby clapping itself on the back and having wet dreams at such an ingenious way of eliminating tobacco use over time.
In practice it just comes across as a stupid and utterly unworkable law. It is a typical idea from the anti-smoker lobby which is even more risible than any of their previous measures. Raising taxes on tobacco annually might have some slight affect. Lurid photoshopped pictures on packaging are just ignored. Making all products look the same just makes extra work for retailers who have to examine every pack they sell. One of their oldest ideas – an age limit of 18 – doesn’t stop thousands of schoolkids from taking up smoking as statistics always show us. Has any country ever announced that there is zero smoking amongst the teenage population?
How is the new law supposed to work exactly? Does everyone born before 2008 have to carry a green card to prove their age? In the future, a middle aged man asks for a packet of cigarettes: how is the shopkeeper to know whether he is old enough? Does the customer have to produce not a proof of age but a proof of birth year? Will a 56 year old be legally sold tobacco when a 55 year old is banned? A 55 year old is a mature adult probably with a family and a mortgage not to mention a responsible job, yet he is being denied the opportunity to make a rational, adult choice because of when he was born?
Of course there is always the black market. They will have a field day with this one. What will most likely happen is that ordinary [normally law abiding[ adults will be legally be allowed buy any quantity of tobacco and pass/sell it on to their younger friends. The black market has always existed along with people’s natural ability to circumvent laws. I cite the example of the number of young people who regularly smoke in spite of age restrictions. If the law works, then there shouldn’t be a single smoker aged 17 or younger yet it is patently obvious that this isn’t the case.
What I don’t understand is how rational adults and law makers really believe that this will work. Why cannot the lawmakers point out that the law is unenforceable and even probably against the constitution which in most countries protects the rights of adults to self determination?
The whole business just reeks of desperation in the anti-smoker lobby who ran out of ideas a long time ago.
And the blind man cometh forth
I happened to be up and about at around ten.
My mobile rang with an unknown number but I answered it anyway. It was the bloke who is supposed to be calling here at eleven to measure up our windows for blinds. His problem was one that doesn’t surprise me – the fact that our townland has two different spellings The vast majority of us use an “o” in the name but the Ordnance Survey uses an “a” sometimes so therefore leading to a dash of ambiguity. My caller wanted to know which of the townlands I lived in, despite having my post code and the fact that “both” townlands are in the same place. I assured him that if he ignored the townland name he’d be grand.
Then VGF turned up early and parked across outside our gate as she always does. This could pose a problem as there is nowhere else to park when visiting our gaff.
Sore enough, the phone rang again. My new found friend wanted to know if we were part of the new-build [I wasn’t sure what the fuck he meant by that] so I asked where he was at present. Apparently he had found the lane and was lost [in a small lane?]. I explained that he was within spitting distance and on the right track, literally. I also mentioned that our gate was already blocked and he would have to find somewhere else to park.
I was sending off a few emails at the time on the laptop, so I switched to the CCTV view. I watched a large white van with the company name emblazoned drive very slowly up the lane past our gate. A couple of minutes later it crawled back down again. I thought I had better go out and rescue the driver. Sure enough he parked right at the end of the lane in a spot which would make the road very dangerous as he was not only parked at the junction but also on a blind bend. I shrugged. Not my problem.
A bloke carefully exited the van. He was ancient. Now at my age, everyone is young but this bloke looked about ten years older than me. I told him he was at the right place and he wheezed a bit while he caught his breath. He then proceeded to adorn himself with a large case, a telescopic ruling rod, a small step ladder and a notebook. He wheezed his way up the lane. Frankly I didn’t know if he was going to make it to the Manor as the wheezing got progressively worse.
In the Manor he met with VGF who of course knew him [this is Ireland after all]. So they chatted for a while while he caught his breath between wheezing and coughing.
So he measured up the place while I followed him around in case he dropped dead. One can’t be too careful with old folk?
After he left I made some comment or other to VGF about his breathing and how worried I was.
“Ah he’s grand. It’s just that he probably got through about forty or fifty fags before coming here.”
Fair play to him.
A sort of interlude
While the world attempts to rip itself apart, life in the Manor continues peacefully apace.
I may have mentioned my new little hobby? I confess that the memory continues to play tricks and one feature is that I can’t remember what I have scribbled in the past. In fact I will probably forget what this is about before I finish scribbling.
So, before I forget, my new “thing” is to make stuff out of plywood. I have previously constructed a little marble-run which is great fun [little steel balls shooting around troughs and spirals before arriving at the start where they wait their turn to start the journey again]. I also have a little telescope which is not only attractive but it actually works [it came with a set of lenses so it’s not all ply].
My latest project is a bugger. It contains well over a couple of hundred parts which all have to be assemble in sequence. The project requires endless patience and attention to the minutest detail in the instructions. It also pays to have strong nimble fingers, as all the parts have to be pressed together using a fair amount of force. There isn’t glue in any of the models and it all relies on incredibly precise size of each piece.
What is it? Well, I’ll leave it up to you to decide. If it works, it should be quite spectacular, but that “if” is a big one. Any one piece that is slightly out of position could cause it to fail but it will still look impressive.
I still have quite a way to go and the next bit is possibly the hardest. I like to do a bit at a time and only when I feel like it. I have no idea when it will be finished.
As Herself says – it at least keeps me out of trouble?
The other side of me
Contrary to popular belief, I do have a serious side.
Not only that but I am actually very quiet and reserved, generally speaking. I like silence. When I’m with a friend I’m not one who has to fill any gaps in conversation by rabbiting on about something. I am very happy with companionable silence. Back in the glory days of the Irish Blog Awards I used to meet with quite a few fellow scribblers and generally they were often apparently disappointed as they expected someone who would have them in stitches constantly., and all they found was a quiet somewhat bemused dullard.
I think I annoyed quite a few people with my little brain fart yesterday. I could tell that from a brief glance at the star thingy. I know that rating thing annoys a few, but it does give me a little insight into people’s opinion. I’m not going to apologise except to say that I rarely venture into world politics because they are of little concern to me. I cannot influence anything so all I can do is shrug and carry on with my own life. If war breaks out anywhere then there is fuck all I can do about it so unless a cloud of radioactive dust is heading in this direction, I will just carry on with my normal life.
My big problem, as I have stated before is that life here is very constant. There are moments when something upsets the calm waters of a quiet life such as digging up the lane to stop floods [thereby making the floods worse] or gangs coming in to rip out my windows. The really exciting event this week is that I have an appointment with a bloke who is to come here and measure the new windows for blinds. I am currently blocking Herself’s window by wedging the old blind into the frame and propping it up with a pair of crutches. That is a nightly routine I could do without.
So there you have it. A boring old fart who desperately tries to find the lighter side of life.
And once again, I have nothing to scribble about today.