The Last Sunday Musings For April

~ beetleypete

Well it is May next week, and we finally got some sunnier and warmer weather by yesterday. Depite being one of the official driest months of April ever, it left us feeling cold enough to have to put the heating on by Thursday. Fingers crossed that May will be warmer, and stay dry too.

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May also marks three months since I applied to renew my driving licence, which in case anyone was wondering, has still not arrived.
(It’s not complusory for you to wonder, so don’t worry if you haven’t been)

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We finally got Ollie an appointment at the groomer, but not until the 12th of May. By then his claws will be rather too long, and he will be smelling like a musty old carpet.
At least his groomer recovered from her bout of Covid-19, which we were pleased to hear.

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Political news here continues to astound me. On Saturday, a Conservative MP was forced to resign after it was revealed he had been watching pornography on his phone during a parliamentary session in the House of Commons. His unbelievable confession was that he was trying to access a Tractor website, (he also has a farm, as if his MP salary is not enough) and inadvertantly typed in the URL for a popular porn site instead. But despite that ‘mistake’, he watched the porn anyway.

Twice. The second time during a meeting in a parliamentary office.

As well as the outrage that this buffoon thought so little of his role that he watched porn in parliament, I would like to know why he thought it would have been okay if he had been looking at new tractors instead. He is being paid over £84,000 ($106,000) a year to represent his voters, plus a huge expense account, subsidised food and alcohol, and energy bills paid.
It would be shameful, if the despicable man had any shame to start with.

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Gloomy news that Russia intends to have a general mobilisation of all reservists and conscripts, following the annual May ‘Victory Parade’ in Red Square. And Putin has cancer, so is going in for surgery. If it turns out he has nothing to live for, that could be very bad news for Europe.

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It is getting harder to stay chirpy, but I hope everyone has an enjoyable and peaceful Sunday.

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61 thoughts on “The Last Sunday Musings For April”

  1. I’m going to start playing Ostridge and just keep my head buried in the sand. The news is always dismal and it’s hard to find the beauty in the crevices of life. Glad Ollie came up smelling like a rose. Thank God for you or I’d remain blatantly misinformed. Hugs, C

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  5. Interesting Sunday post Pete. I Very much enjoyed reading it late last evening. You have caught me on a great day, just returned from an extended Safari seeing doctors, my daughters (twice), and very, very dear friends in N. California. And now? I am all unpacked. Thus this is a ‘decompression’ day. . . For better or worse. So. . .With a glass of Argentinian Mendoza Malbec in hand, I’ll’ put pen to paper, or, more accurately, recompose my thoughts to fit the situation.

    I LOVE ‘weather’. Different everywhere, driving uniqueness and shaping life to suit it. My life has taken me to most places, and almost everywhere I have wanted to go as well. And for that? Blessings and thanks be to the maker!

    Your post was very inciteful. As such I am going to dig back to some past shared thoughts and repurpose them here with a bit of tweaking. Prequel disclosure: I was truly blessed with being allowed to work with some of the keenest minds in the world: The brain trust known as “Bell Labs”. I was there for the ‘evil’ purpose of developing ways of making money off of their extensive portfolio of research, discoveries, and patent filings. . . I know, Shameless.
    I was part of a unique group, hired as consultants to do precisely that. And Bell Labs studied ‘Everything’. They were the research arm of a tiny, ‘low profile’ (sarcasm) U.S. public utility (AT&T) that got paid a small “fixed %” above costs as profit. Well, naturally, the leadership of AT&T, being good capitalists? They spent money “wisely”.

    Let me explain. Imagine a water fountain. . . Dispensing water at the pressure of a fire hydrant in every conceivable place in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere in the world where AT$T had assets, where a water fountain ‘might’ be needed? Now, layer in the concept of replacing the water with $$$. Lastly, replace the water fountain with ‘viable research’ projects. Arriving at the place where money could be spent on “research” anywhere, 24/7/365? It got spent. So, off we go.

    The weather always had been (and always should have been) ‘The Weather ☁️’: Something to talk about but something we knew that nothing could be done about. No changing that. Still, I remember loving to talk about it as well, especially on my travels as it is ‘universal’ as you know. The weather was the perfect polite subject. . . Neutral as Switzerland. (The kinks playing “Come Dancing” in the headset as I tap this in).

    At least until that complete twit, Al Gore, got a mic and golden global soapbox provided by the folks backing Agenda 21 and made “Global Warming” a world issue (note I don’t say global issue. . .) until, thankfully ‘real planet earth’ science sideswiped them all, utilizing their own sources of data, then totally cut ‘mouthpiece’ Al off at the pass of ‘truth or consequences’ under deeper scrutiny.
    But the Illuminati showed its hand, doing what they would always do going forward, ignoring the truth and pressing ahead with their speaking points. in this case, until everyone ignored ‘Al Gore’. So, they went in a different direction. . . See “Greta Thunberg, the new Al Gore” in a different post.

    Btw, how does a career politician (Al Gore), with a pathetic record in the U.S. House and Senate, who, after realizing that he isn’t going to get the White House, then works a deal with his puppet masters, and promises to commit all his profits from projects to do with promoting global warming and yet amass a 1/3 of a billion $$$ fortune? Al is simply amazing, that’s all that can be said! How Al Gore Built the Global Warming Fraud

    How Al Gore Built the Global Warming Fraud
    And changed the alarmism from global cooling to global warming, and now climate change.

    You remember him, right? That pathetic has-been failed American Presidential hopeful and puppet front-man for the “fear & division creation” crowd that wields the same bank account that funded the Napoleonic wars.

    Nowadays, it is difficult to have a conversation about the weather without risking it turning into discussions of contrails, melting polar ice caps, seas that rise to completely flood low-lying areas, devastating droughts, firestorms, and other ‘weather-related catastrophic events.

    But on occasion, It is actually possible to find one’s self in a discussion based on truth and fact derived from Artic core samples going back as far as 800,000 years with actual scientific analysis that yielded a clearer understanding of the Earth, and the cycles that it has gone through for perhaps millions of years. The earth has been cooling for over 4.5 billion years and as it does so, it is constantly changing the environment on the surface. Its complexities and the way it has changed have caused a dramatic change in the existence of species here, wiping out ~99.9% of all species that ever existed here (we have fossil evidence from as far back as ~3.7 billion years ago. . .) since the earth has had an atmosphere. All happening way, way before we puny humans ever existed. The ‘planet’ cycles the weather. Not the inhabitants. There have always been, and always will be weather cycles throughout the planet’s existence. As such? Surprise! We’re in one now. And if history is any indication? We puny humanoids did not cause it. Do we have an effect? Yes, we do. Is it significant? no, not likely, based on history. Those are the facts according to deep research.
    https://humanoriginproject.com/evolution-and-timeline-of-life-on-earth/

    Right then. . . Moving on in your “Sunday Musings” (which I love).
    The ‘British’ bureaucracy. . . Ages old, stern, even nasty at times. Sometimes it seems to operate in a different band of reality, as it seems not to be in favor of making life better, or easier for that matter, and that situation is a measurable fact. It needs a major makeover for those poor sods with good hearts and good intentions struggling to administer it, and for the people of Britain, it administers for!

    Again, be it a driver’s license, taking months instead of days or a passport taking months instead of a couple of weeks is another indication of things gone quite altogether wrong.

    My observation from two continents? It is by design. All of it.
    Patterns prove and support this. Something is afoot, and the “something” is not a new improved system, overhauled for efficiency, fairness, and kindness to all. With everything I’ve been allowed to see or be exposed to, a good guess is the “something” coming is eventually going to be the polar opposite of what we all would hope for.

    Again, we need to pop out of our slowly simmering pots and resist, demanding a better Britain for Brittons, a better Europe for ALL Europeans, a better Asia/Oceana for Asians/Oceanauts, a better Africa for Africans, a better America (from North to South) for Americans, and a better Middle East for all Middle Easterners.

    We need to stop talking and start ‘doing’. Resist! you all that are reading this deserve a better government and you deserve a better existence, Period. They are few (~20-30 thousand), we are many (the Global population is 7.9 ‘Billion’ at present, versus ~25,000. or .000000316 of the global population) That means there are 316,000 of “Us”, not wealthy humans, for every one of THEM. For God’s sake… 316,000 to 1?
    Bullocks! Resist! Resist for your grandchildren. Resist for your Children, Resist for You… Resist for everyone. Just Resist! Resist to everything restrictive, everywhere, all the time if it doesn’t serve all of humanity!

    Chops-1, out.

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    1. Thanks for that fully comprehensive rundown, Chris. I did a great deal of ‘resisting’ in my youth, everything from anti-Vietnam war demonstrations to leading a very long Ambulance Strike. Now here I am at 70 years old, and the only people resisting are blocking roads and damaging petrol stations, so we can’t drive around confidently, and everyone is planting trees which we cannot eat, instead of crops which we can eat.
      I tried my best…
      Cheers, Pete.

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  7. Seems like this is the time of discontent no matter what the country you live in. Was there ever a time in your personal history you felt like all was well with the world? Just curious. What decade would return to live?

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  8. “All politics is local.” Your issues with your license, weather, prices going up – all of these should be something our elected officials care about – instead, you highlight the stunning way in which our “leaders” choose to lead – in the completely wrong direction for the good of anyone!

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  10. For some reason, your blog appears on my computer in a barely readable light gray color and my glaucoma is getting worse. But so far I am able to zoomo it and make it bigger so no worries.

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  11. Why is there no blocking of adult and gaming sites on the wifi of Palace of Westminster? Just a thought how come 8 bars are necessary, in addition to alcohol available in the dining rooms. I bet you couldn’t drink while working in the LAS.

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    1. We could not drink in the LAS, though there were subsidesed bars at Fire Brigade Staions when I joined, unbelievably. I have been to the stranger’s bar at the HoC, and a big glass of red wine was 1/3rd of the outside price there, at the time.
      Cheers, Pete.

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  12. HI Pete, I remember when I was in the UK at the end of April and it snowed. I was a bit unprepared for such cold weather and had to purchase a jacket. Your story about the MP is quite unbelievable. Ours just sleep in parliament. Have a good new week.

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  13. I saw the story about that MP and feel the same as you, – outrage! I didn’t know about Putin’s health[ though people had been saying he looked unwell, which doesn’t mean much. T looks ghastly but there he still is, annoying me just by having his face where I can’t avoid it. Briliant day here, sunny but cool. When it warms up it gets awfully “buggy”. Hope May will be good for you.

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  15. The MP obviously has a porn addiction, as apparently he’d been caught watching it before by somebody else. And as you say, why was he looking at tractors anyway if he was in the House of Commons? I’m glad he’s resigned. Perhaps somebody more interested in working for his constituency and earning his £84,000 salary might be chosen instead.

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  16. (1) Fingers crossed that May will be cooler than usual, and that we’ll finally get some rain.
    (2) Will we need a driver’s license once autonomous vehicles become ubiquitous?
    (3) My friend in Arabia told me his flying carpet has a musty old smell. I told him, “You really need to get out more!”
    (4) Does tractor porn involve attractive tractors?
    (5) Red Square is in Moscow. The Oval Office is in Washington. Both should be sent to the Bermuda Triangle.
    (6) It will soon get harder for bots to stay chirpy on Twitter.

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  18. And I thought our elected officials were bad. They probably watch porn at work too. The person could have used his time so much more efficiently, like solving the delay on driver licensing, but those types never work when they are on the job.

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  21. Dear Pete,
    I’ve spent the last two hours reading your blog. I haven’t been here since Easter.

    I’m curious how long it will take until your driver’s license comes. One should not think that we live in the 21st century.

    I hope Ollie doesn’t have too much trouble walking until his claws can be clipped.

    To your parliamentarian: I think the same as you.

    The situation in Eastern Europe also scares me a lot, but I still watch the news most of the time. I’m waiting for the death notice that’s on the front page of the newspaper.

    I wish you a nice Sunday and May 1st.
    Best wishes, Irene

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  22. Glad Ollie will be once again groomed. I’m surprised with all his walks, the nails aren’t kept in check naturally, no?
    Putin’s cancer just might finally be the reason he is pulling this Ukraine invasion, what an ego!!

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  23. Thanks for this news. I had a inkling Putin was sick, this war feels like a final hurrah- put me in history books type invasion. A selfish act.
    As for the politican tisk tisk tisk. Glad the groomer has recovered

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    1. Thanks for you comment, Kelly. It appears Putin will officially ‘declare war’ on Ukraine following the May Parade in Moscow. That will allow him to extend the service of his current conscripts, and call up many thousands more reservists.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  26. I ignore the news, where possible now, Pete; apart from satire programmes like Have I got News for You, where the idiots in government are mercilessly lampooned: I take the view, if I can’t change it for the better, knowing about it isn’t going to improve my mental health. Cheers, Jon.

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    1. I watch HIGNFY too. But I also watch the news because I always have, I suppose. Then I watch series like ‘Gentleman Jack’ to take my mind off the news! 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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