Whitey Grandad

I would like your choice to be freely taken without being driven by addiction, for your own sake. I would not like to see anybody inflicting self-harm in any form even if they said that they enjoyed it. All I ask is that you understand the process by which you get effective pleasure, it comes from feeding the addiction. My point about banging your head was that it was like going without the smoke and having a craving. When you stop doing it (banging or going without) it feels good. Some of us get plenty of serotonin from just sitting in the garden reading the paper. For the non-smoker life feels great all the time, not just when they are having a fix.

What about the morale of those who don't smoke? Are you saying that everybody should have a cigarette break just to increase their morale? Three quarters of the population don't smoke so how on earth have they managed for the last 2 million years?

You can always find some people, but with smoking the odds against are awful. For every one who lives to over 90 there are many more who never got to retirement. The point about smoking is that the benefits and pleasure are illusory and non-existent. The 'high' that smokers get is relief from withdrawal symptoms. They have deliberately forced a chemical parasite into their bodies. Initially the body will fight this but once it's ingrained then it demands to be fed by nicotine, and in return it lets you feel normal for a little while. Then it gets hungry again, and all the while it is eating away at your insides. If you think you enjoy smoking then try banging your head against a wall for a while and see how nice it feels when you stop. Your choice, of course, your money, your life.

Which Wednesday? Or is that Sheffield Wednesday?

Typical denial of the nicotine junkies. Yes they die, but they die later. I have seen two close colleagues die very painful deaths from cancer in the past few years at 63 and 64. Yes, they were both smokers.

Never have, never will. Mugs' game. I've suffered all my life from other people's smoke and all I ask is a few smoke-free years in what I have left.

Seen with the naked eye the red lights flash. Seen through binoculars they don't. Do they still flush out the boilers and chimney at night time when nobody can see? I can see why it's considered a strategic site. The distribution infrastructure is there, and there is a bloody great pool of water to sink the heat to.

Always sad to lose a well-known face. Same age as me - oops.

Aargh! Vote of confidence curse to strike again.

Good luck with the surgery mate.

He seems to try to make himself as small as possible.

As a good accountant would say, what answer would you like?

According to that argument we can never play him.

No, there are no brackets in the original. The order of addition doesn't matter according to the commutative law.

That's in the other direction. I did it from Vegas in a day trip with a colleague in the early 1980s. We had a spare day after an exhibition. Went to bed at 02:00, up at 04:00, taxi to airport, hired a car, off at 06:00, arrived at Grand Canyon 12:00, had 4 hours there, back in Vegas by 23:00 but there were two of us driving. I think it was 360 miles each way. Silly question, but you have applied for your ESTAs?

I was hoping to forget that night.

Yes. We're also rubbish when there isn't one.

That sounds a lot for one day and you wouldn't see much on the way. We did a day trip San Fran - Modesto -Yosemite - Mariposa Grove - Carson City - Virginia City - Reno - San Fran. But we didn't stop in Carson City or Reno and we got back late at night. If you just want to get from A to B then it should be ok. Remember that Reno is to San Fran as Vegas is to LA, a place for getting away and having a bit of fun. The road from Reno to San Fran is downhill all the way, great fun in a BMW but a bit swervy in a Toyota with a flat rear tyre! What time of year are you going?

It's a lot further than you think. We once had a spare ten days in San Francisco and drove over 1800 miles around that part of California. Yosemite is a must. Giant sequoias at Mariposa grove and the other one. Muir woods north of the Golden Gate for the giant redwoods. Wine valleys at Healdsburg, Napa & Sonoma valley. Gold mine history at Columbia, up near Reno Silver City & Virginia City are interesting. On the coast Carmel is beautiful, Pebble Beach & 17 mile drive are glorious. San Francisco to LA is about 440 miles, I think, so be warned! (edit: 347.16 miles apparently but that's by crow) You should be able to find a motel without any trouble. If you're worried, look up some names online and ring ahead in the morning, worked well for us in New England. Have fun I'm jealous!

I've had trouble in France. By the I've I'd run round the car to chuck the money in and then got back in my seat the barrier had come down again.

The same goes for the management.

Free kick looked soft to me. Slow to move his feet and flapped at the ball. There are others who would have saved it.

We've been saying that since last season.

Exactly. My only crumb of consolation was that our defensive weaknesses might be sorted by a few summer signings. There were obvious problems for the last couple of months of last season.

Just not good enough.