Books and Fish

Independent booksellers have been in the news recently. They are obviously concerned about the rise of the e-reader and pissed off at those people making money from a new technology. I think, on the whole, I like e-readers. You have all the obvious benefits of not having to store or carry books. And then there are other things, like the environmental aspects. Sure there is some effort making all the plastics and electronics, but I wonder how many trees you have to make into books to have an equivalent environmental impact?

I don't have an e-reader, but that is simply because I read so few books it would be 5-10 years before it paid for itself. However, I have no sympathy for these book-selling people.

Back in the 80s, instant photography consisted of Polariod. And there were lots of people making a livelihood from making and selling all the equipment involved. Then digital cameras are invented and they are all our of a job. Oh well, that is progress, right? I am not sure some of the people involved in the book industry (I am looking at you - really old man running an independent book shop) wouldn't recognise progress if it hit them in the face.

There will always be a place for real books, but there will be far fewer of them. And the industries built around them will change accordingly. I think it will be more like vinyl than Polariod. People still make and sell vinyl music, but most of it is digital.

It really grinds my gears when I see someone on the news who has had the same job for years complaining when they loose their job, not because they were bad at it, but because the world has decided that industry is too big. Get a new fucking job. And the example that irritates me the most are the fishermen. They like to bicker amongst themselves, and blame the spanish fishermen. But when you look at it as a whole (which we must do) then you see that we have shagged the seas to the point that there is little left. There are more fishermen than fish, so some people are going to have to find new jobs.

Go get a job in a call-centre you whining little turd.

Instant - My Arse

Spotted "Imodium instant" in the shop this morning. I thought, "Instant relief" that sounds impressive.

Then I read "under1 hour". That's not instant, that is within an hour. If I bought some "instant" relief, I would expect that as soon as I swallowed nothing more would fall out of my bottom. But then they moderate it with their lame "1 hour".

I should make two things clear before anybody gets the wrong impression.

1. I realise the "instant" refers to the melting in the mouth, not the drugs effectiveness.
2. I don't personally have any trouble in that department at the moment.

In other news: Come on Bonnie!

If You Don't Have Anything Worth Saying Then Shut Your Gob

That's what my parent's used to tell me. Maybe.

So, the extension business. Things are still moving forward. All the new bits are done and dusted. It only took three attempts at putting down the dining room floor to get it more or less flat. And there were some issues outside that had to be revisited long after the builders had gone. Like big bits of concrete falling off walls. (Well, something like that.)

Internally things are in a state of flux. I have had to give up the office so that my children can have their own rooms. This means firstly that I no longer have a quiet hole to go crawl into. Secondly, I when I use the computer I have to do it in a far less comfortable chair. This will have the inevitable consequence that, going forward,  I will spend far less time at the computer. Which is worrying, because the computer is my favourite thing to do when not watching TV.

Weather: I seem to remember it really didn't rain much in April. Again I get to consider "April showers bring may flowers" and wonder if I will get any flowers this May. Then I remember that November to February was taken up by builders in giant boots trampling all over my flowers. They also ruined my lawn. Which means I now get to complain about this lovely sunny warm period we are enjoying. It doesn't seem to be a good time to get grass-seed to germinate. I don't want to have to be one of those people who water their lawns, but if I ever want my mud pit to turn into a lawn I am going to have to.

Good news: My peony's are doing well. I removed them from the danger zone before the building work got under way and put them in pots. I would like to put them back in the garden in my newly prepared border area, but I don't see myself having the time for that for a while. I guess Project Rhubarb didn't fair so well. Maybe I will have another attempt over the next few years. I could always buy the packet of "1 rhubarb" that I saw in Wilkinson's (£1.49 - it's a bargain). Somehow I don't fancy it.

This area has changed a bit over the last year. It is now a lovely pine scented toilet for the cat. Shit.

What's Occurring

Well, the weeks tick past and the extension still isn't finished. The good news is that things are (mostly) weatherproof, so the only reason it is chilly in the house is because it is colder than a snowman's freezer outside. The bad news is that the floor in the dining room has swelled up in one area and it's quite an effort to sort that out. We are going to have to move all the furniture out for a couple of days for that.

In other news I have been busy baking and cooking. Today I made two quiches. One was bacon, the other was broccoli and smelly cheese. I first had Shropshire blue at a cheese and port evening a couple of years back. And there was a recipe in my new baking book for this quiche, so I had to give it a go.