Polystyrene Mice

Back when I worked in the lab I once had a lunch of curry in a polystyrene tub. After I had finished eating it I threw the tub in the bin. Later I found it had been nibbled. I was some type of rodent, must have smelled the curry sauce and thought the tub was food. I think it was orignally a baked
potato with curry. I wouldn't be surprised if the mouse turned up later on all swelled up.

A smilar thing once happened to my daughters mouse. It chewed the velvet curtain and was later found dead.

Bus Pass

I need to renew my bus pass. I can't believe that there are so many options, there must be 20 or 25 different types available. There's a cheap rail one which covers zones 1 and 2 but the one I'm currently using is for Birmingham and the Black Country. There are bus passes available which work for the private operators but where we live we're covered by the normal service.

Holiday

I'm back from holiday. We went to the Costa Dorado near Barcalona. This brown on my arm is suntan not rust.

It was just me and wife on holiday. It makes a change because the last few years our son come with us.

We had a tropical storm while we were there. We saw lightning over the sea but there was nothing where we were, then it hit us during the night.

There was lots of road construction going on. They were straigtening winding roads. At one place they were building a road on the top of a big embankment. They were laying about 10 inches of tar - more than they use here. You can see why our roads don't last long. I could see where water had run down the side of the embankment in rivulets. This was before we had the storm. I don't know how stable the embankment will be in the long term.

This was a big toll road - there were 3 or 4 toll stations from Barcalona. They were wide roads. They've got more room there for big roads like that. I was a passenger for a change. Normally i've driven when we've gone over there.

I brought sweets to work, put them in the kitchen. They came from Barcalona. That long street, La Rambla. They had all kinds of shops there and the statues, mime artists. I would stand behind and pull a face when someone was taking a photo. There were 2 of these next to each other and when one had money put in their tin the other would make faces at them.
One kid went up to one to have photo taken and they started moving. It scared the kid, who ran crying back to his mum.

There were animals being sold outside along the street. Canaries and things labelled as Russian hamsters.

Travel Plug

I needed a new travel plug for our holiday tomorrow so I went to Superdrug to look for one. We used to have a suitable plug but I think we lent it to our daughter when she went on holiday to Turkey. We haven't seen it since - she probably left it in the hotel room. It is the sort of thing which would be easy to miss, accidently leaving it plugged in. When you pack all your stuff away to come home you could accidently leave it behind.

I looked in superdrug but they didn't have any. They said they only sell them during summer so it must obviously be winter now. I managed to find one in Maplins instead.

The pack contained two plugs. One with round pins and another with flat pins. I think the flat one might be for france but the other one should work for us in spain. There are only two pins on the plug, there isn't an earth pin, but the one with the round plugs has a metal strip where the earth pin fits. That must be for anything which needs earth. The french don't seem to bother, they obviously don't care whether they get electric shocks or not.

Dogs

We're thinking of getting another dog. Our son isn't at home during the day any more now that he's finished college and got a job. We leave the radio on for dog to listen to so she doesn't get lonely. The trouble with having 2 dogs is that you could come home to a ruined house if they decide to go on the rampage. The dog weed in the house once, in the kitchen diner. Thankfully she chose the right place, the kitchen end where we have tiles. The other end was carpeted.

Nice to see you...

There was another car parked in our space in work, so the van had to stay in the wrong space again. The trouble is that this means someone else has to park in the wrong space as well, like the deck of cards effect. No, I mean domino effect. I knew it was some kind of parlor game. Like that tv programme with Bruce Forsyth. You get nothing for a pair.

We've got a new kettle in the kitchen in work. This one won't last long either. It's toggle switch. It needs a rocker switch. The toggle switches break much more easily. We've got one with a rocker switch at home and it's lasted for years.

M.O.T

I had to take the company van for it's M.O.T while its usual driver was on holiday.
It passed although I don't think it should have. I think it's got a faulty handbrake. The van can still move with the brake on.

I drove to work got to the reserved parking space we have for it. Another white astra was already there. I had to park in the next space. I had to go to reception to tell them that I had parked in the wrong space so they wouldn't try to clamp our van.

The garage had free drinks machine, it was only the powdered drinks with the machine to add hot water but it was better than some places which make you pay.

I'm not sure which van is parked in our space, I can't read registration from the office, cant make it out through the mucky windows.