Author: ricksrant

As much as feel Bradley Wiggins has done exceedingly well with the Tour de France and winning a gold I cannot agree with him regarding cycle helmets.

He states all safety experts agree with him, they do not. The Institute for advanced Motorists cycle division state that there is no proven benefit to wearing a helmet when cycling, and that they could even be a hindrance.

I cycle now and do not wear a helmet as I feel they make the head extra heavy and if I am going through the country make me 3 inches taller so I bang my head.

When I was a kid I came off my bike numerous times, including being hit by a lorry. The damage was always knees, elbows and wrists/hands. the only bang on the head occurred when I got home with torn trousers and my mum clouted me. “so what you’ve broken your leg, you’ve torn your trousers”

what can I say

Good walk around a bird reserve yesterday, damn little birds far to fast for me to snap, I think they need the likes of a wild west gun slinger to get the camera up in time. Still the grass snake was a bonus as it shot through the water, about 25 foot away from me.

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Not being military minded, nor really understanding anything about the forces other than they are a necessity. Can someone explain the logic in cutting our military forces.

If we do not have the money to keep these guys employed then surely the sensible answer is to bring them back from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and other place that we should not be any where near.

The money saved will keep our forces going for some time to protect our shores and people.

Or are my thoughts the mad ravings of a constipated baboon?

Imagine this. You go to bed tonight and as you are settling down to sleep you hear a loud buzzing sound; there in the room with you is a large WASP with a very long sting.

Your choices are –

1. swat it,
2. open a window and let it out,
3. go to sleep and hope it does not sting you.

Now personally I would go for option 1, followed by 2, but no way would I pick 3.

The reason behind this blog?

Well I just read in the paper that Qatada has been refused bail in case he absconds the country and that the police will not have the man power to keep track of him.

Surely our choices should be swat him or open the doors and let him run away from the UK to another country where he will not cost us a penny and we will be rid of him. The thought of keeping him here to sting us in the future is beyond belief.

Just returned from a welcome break in Yorkshire, we stayed at Beningbrough Hall in the flat above the old laundry, 8 miles from York centre..

The weather was brilliant and not at all expected, sunny and hot every day; and there was me with winter clothing. Still one stop at the retail park and all was well.

What can one say about Yorkshire, the people are always friendly, and the food is good as is the ale. The countryside is beautiful and the sites magnificent and all fairly close together so not too much driving about.

Castle Howard is really opulent and worth a visit, the staff really enjoyed their work and loved to tell us everything, a whole day spent there and in the gardens.

Other places to see Nostell priory, East Riddlesden Hall (really homely), Nunnington Hall (I could move in tomorrow) plus countless castles and Abbeys. Continue reading “The Cattle are lowing”

An interesting article in today’s Telegraph about the cuckoo. The bird is not native to this country it originates in Africa and flies here in the spring and returns to the African continent for most of the year.

As the missus and I were having our elevenses she said “I wonder why the cuckoo flies from Africa to here just to lay it’s eggs, what is so special about the British Isles”. This set me thinking in my normal warped way.

Now let’s look at this from a human perspective.

The bird does not live here and is an immigrant.

It comes here and finds a ready FREE nest to lay it’s eggs in; resulting in the native bird population to raise the cuckoos brood.

The bird gets free food while it is here.

The cuckoo’s only contribution to the economy of the bird population is that it is very vociferous and you can hear its cuckoo for miles as it rants about something or other.

The nestling destroys the native bird chicks and takes everything free from its host.

My how humans from other countries have copied that model here in the UK.

See we can learn from nature.

Forgot my glasses

Yesterday my daughter asked why I didn’t do something useful with my time. She suggested I go down to the senior centre and hang out with the guys.
I did this and when I got home last night I told her that I had joined a parachute club.
She said “Are you nuts? You’re almost 67 years old and you’re going to start jumping out of aeroplanes?”
I proudly showed her that I even got a membership card.
She said to me, “You idiot, where are your glasses! This is a membership to a Prostitute Club, not a Parachute Club!”
I’m in trouble again and don’t know what to do! I signed up for five jumps a week!
Life as a senior citizen is not getting any easier

I am using Outlook 2010, I want to have my emails use the banner from our website which has been done using css styles. Does anyone know how I can load this into the header of my emails?

It must be code but where the hell do I put it. All the sites go round the houses and come up with nothing.

Ta