ecuk268

Go back to '81 when Keith Speed the Navy Minister resigned in protest of the biggest cuts to the Navy ever by Thatcher. HMS Invincible was about to be flogged off to the Aussies when the Falklands happened and we were scratching around for merchant ships to transport troops and equipment. What are these expensive lumps of steel going to do for 10 years until they get their aircraft. They can't use Harriers as they're being scrapped too.

I get phone TV and broadband from Virgin and have had few problems. Broadband is around 8 to 9 Mbs and my V+ box works fine. My Sky Sports channels started breaking up at the weekend. Phoned them on Sunday and the engineer came yesterday and sorted it out. Maybe I've been lucky.

Get yourself a decent workshop manual and a good toolkit. A lot of stuff (disk pads, oil changes etc) is straightforward and you can save a packet. I started off many years ago with an old banger and couldn't afford garages so learnt to do it myself. Avoid Kwik Fit like the plague. If you live in Southampton, Pete King in Shirley does a good job but don't get talking about the Saints 'cause you'll be there all day.

Recently had a get-together with some old mates that I've known since school. We've all just passed the big 60 and we're all still earning decent money including one bloke who sold his business and retired at 57. We all get £250 Winter Fuel Allowance and free bus passes as well as Senior ticket rates at SMS. Why?? I might appreciate it in 5 years time when the pension kicks in so why don't these things start at 65?

Of course it couldn't be the case that the MI5 and MI6 are having to justify the many millions that they cost with the spending cuts looming? What better way than convincing us that we're all in great danger.

I believe that Jimmy Case fell foul of the breathalyser.

It's all about how you bring them up. Shouldn't ever need to hit them - tone of voice should be sufficient. I'm sure that we can all remember from school that there were some teachers who could control a class without even raising their voice, whilst others could shout their heads off to no effect. It's all about quite self-assertion.

Very small confined spaces. How people can go potholing and crawl through 1 foot high passages is beyond me. Give me wide open spaces.

Why do women have small feet? So they can stand closer to the sink.

Got a good reception from Radio Solent sat in the car in Honfleur in Normandy. You can usually get Solent right along the French coast up to Calais.

Had half a ton of coal delivered last week. Spent an hour this morning sawing some logs and now have a nice roaring fire.

Blood, Sweat and Treason - Henry Olonga The Zimbabwean cricketer started wearing a black armband during games to protest against the Mugabe regime (as did Andy Flower). He was then informed that Mugabe had given orders for his death. So he and Andy wisely decided to come to the UK.

He has a state visit because he's a head of state. It is customary for the host country to pay, although the religious events are being paid for by the church. When the Queen goes on state visits to other countries, the host country pays. The Pope was in the Hitler Youth because it was compulsory although, apparently, he rarely attended meetings. His handicapped cousin was killed by the Nazis as part of their eugenics programme.

Were you on the run from the Bailiffs??

Possibly but Godfather II runs it close

East Stand on my dad's lap. Dad knew the turnstile bloke and used to lift me over. When I got too big we had to buy a ticket. Then Milton Road then a season ticket in the Lower East near the half-way line till we moved to SMS.

This church has a massive membership of 50 of which about 30 regularly attend. He needs permission for a bonfire, which has not been granted so it's likely that the fire department will turn up and put it out.

Whether he's better than AP remains to be seen. Got to give the guy a chance. Just hope that he's allowed to get on with the job without too much interference from Messrs Cortese and Reed. Wonder if he's been told that, if we're not promoted then he'll be sacked?

Or forget the shotgun and get that old dear from up north, she'd round them up and fill your wheelie bin.

A modicum of truth in that. If you are an oppressed majority you will turn to those who you think will help you, just as the Germans turned to Hitler after the Allies humiliated them after WW1. As for the USA, they never liked the Empire. They shafted Churchill over lend/lease when they forced him to give up many exclusive trade agreements with the colonies.

Good post. One thing's for sure, whoever gets the job will be collecting their P45 if we don't get promoted so we should only offer a 1 year rolling contract.

I think you'll find that the de-colonization of Africa was started by MacMillan in the early '60s (Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda). Don't recall him being a communist. He recognized that the days of Empire were long gone and had neither the will nor the resources to maintain a presence where we were not wanted.

Cats hate water. A good squirt from a hose or a complete drenching from a bucket will discourage them.

Nothing new is it? Hansie Cronje was banned for match fixing and even Alex Stewart was implicated but nothing was proven. Probably goes on more than we realise.

Or you could say that it's been the root cause of many of today's problems. Turfing the Arabs out of Palestine where they've lived for hundreds of years. Exploiting African countries for their raw materials. Dividing up Africa with the other colonial powers, paying no attention to ancient tribal boundaries and therefore the cause of many of todays wars. Ian Smith's Rhodesia was a bastion of democracy as long as you were white. Unlike Ian Smith, De Clerk in South Africa saw the writing on the wall and began dismantling apartheid. South Africa has still got many problems but by including the white population and, as the World Cup demonstrated, they're getting there.