kestrel

last Sunday, we set out with Pat and Dave (WANOLJ), for a trip to the National Bird of Prey Centre in Glos. I love it there, and it’s about to close for the winter.

as we trundled up the M5 in the Moose*, there was a strange and not very nice miss from the engine. Within about 90 seconds, we had got it to the hard shoulder, by which time the engine was boiling. We called the AA, who turned up in about half an hour, loaded the Moose on a recovery vehicle, and took us to Michaelwood services about a mile away, and then we waited (and waited) for a mechanic. Who eventually arrived, and pronounced the head gasket gone. Gloom.

so the Moose was reloaded onto the recovery vehicle, and conveyed to John the Garage in Bristol, and we waited for them to examine him, and pronounce his fate. Incidentally, the AA driver was appalling – seemed to be half asleep, and had no sense of anticipation at all, as far as I can see.

yesterday the garage rang. The Moose needs a *new engine*. At FOUR THOUSAND POUNDS. This is a disaster.

we have friends in Wales who do this sort of thing, and they have given us a quote of slightly less, although they can’t do it for six weeks. But we’d rather they did. So next problem is to get the Moose to West Wales. And aren’t friends wonderful?

geoffcampbell (who never posts) is passing by on Monday on his way from his parents in Hants to his home in Carmarthen, and will bring a trailer and convey the Moose to Niamh. For which we are unspeakably grateful.

does anyone want to buy a Disco? Hardly used …

*Landrover Discovery diesel

see perlmonger’s journal for details.

comes another article from today’s Times

“Feline health professionals have discovered that cats suffer from debilitating stress just like human beings.”

Tuna flavoured ice-cubes in their water? I think not.

yes, I know there’s been so much on LJ about him, but I can’t resist this last quote, by Caitlin Moran, in an article in the Times

“Personally, I like the idea of new bands laying their debut singles outside Broadcasting House, in the manner of a floral tribute. The chances are, no one else will play them now. It would be a fittingly morose sight to see them stretching, silent, down Regent Street.”

and she’s right – there isn’t anyone else, and if there were, the BBC wouldn’t employ them. Those days are gone.

I got up this morning to find that an unidentified cat (although Esk is no.1 suspect) had crapped in the bathroom, and another unidentified cat (yes, Esk again, I reckon), had thrown up on the landing.

perlmonger has a far stronger stomach than I, and usually cleans up these leavings, thankfully. I remarked to him that we only needed to find a small furry corpse for the full set; he pointed out that a large furry corpse would do just as well.

half an hour later, I found it. By treading on it (euwwwwww). Cats … what are they *for*?

RIP John Peel, who has died of a heart attack while on holiday in Peru.

I’ll miss him.  A lot.

this article, from the always excellent and thought provoking Naomi Klein, has only just swum past me, even though it’s dated September 2004. It’s worth a read.

“I couldn’t help but think about something Senator John McCain had said back in October. Iraq, he said, is “a huge pot of honey that’s attracting a lot of flies.” The flies McCain was referring to were the Halliburtons and Bechtels, as well as the venture capitalists who flocked to Iraq in the path cleared by Bradley Fighting Vehicles and laser-guided bombs. The honey that drew them was not just no-bid contracts and Iraq’s famed oil wealth but the myriad investment opportunities offered by a country that had just been cracked wide open after decades of being sealed off, first by the nationalist economic policies of Saddam Hussein, then by asphyxiating United Nations sanctions.”

I have tried very hard to keep away from the computer today, and have managed extremely well, by spending the day in the kitchen. what did you cook?

nicked shamelessly from drpete’s journal, my view of the festering season which approaches

404 books
£4,400 …