22 October 2013 (Tuesday) - Toblerone

Despite a rather good night's sleep I woke with rather a bad back this morning which gave me grief all day. In retrospect I should have taken a sickie. Sometimes it seems to me that I take far less sick leave than the rest of the universe. Perhaps I should look after myself from time to time?

Over brekkie my dog sat on my lap and chewed his new toy whilst I watched the next DVD set on my shelf - "Earth 2". At first appearance it might seem a rather run-of-the-mill sci-fi show but it has one major difference to most of the other shows on telly. There are no military characters, nor is anyone in any police force.

Perhaps that is why I liked it, and why the show was cancelled. But it was entertaining enough whilst I scoffed my toast.

Being on the late shift I left for work rather later than I usually do, and I met all the rush hour traffic. As I drove the Foreign Secretary was being harangued on the radio. He spoke for ten minutes about the current situation in Syria without actually saying anything. That is a good trick if you can do it; I would imagine it is invaluable in a politician.

Apparently today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the National Theatre. To commemorate the occasion the pundits on the radio staged a telephone interview with an old luvvie who had been in the first ever performance staged by the National Theatre. The talk was all of "how lucky we are as a nation", "the envy of the world", but no one seemed to pick up on the fact that the one being interviewed had long since upped sticked and moved to America from where she was telephoning.

Today also marks the two hundred and sixteenth anniversary of the first recorded parachute jump.

Being before aeroplanes, this jump was from a hot air balloon.

I would like to have done a parachute jump. Now let's read that sentence carefully. I would like to have done one. I certainly would not like to actually do one.

To work where I did my bit. Last night I made my lunch and I put it in the fridge overnight. When I opened the box this morning I found that a toblerone had appeared in it. That was a welcome surprise.

And with my bit done I came home. I dislike the A28. This morning as I drove there was a fool in the car behind itching to overtake me. He eventually flew past on a dangerous bend only to find the queue of traffic that was holding me back. I followed this twit for the next eight miles. This evening I was again in the thick of the drunken drivers; driving down the centre of the road at twenty five miles per hour.

One wonders about the entire concept of traffic police...