Category: General

Insurance and rip off

It is that time of year for me again, car insurance renewal.

For the past few years I have insured through the IAM (Inst of Advanced Motorists) and their people in Northern Ireland, they are my broker so to say. Now I know that insurance has rocketed but from 2 years ago £320 to a quote of £495 now, full no claims, no points etc is ludicrous.

I phoned them and said can you improve on this figure as it seems very high and got the normal “uninsured drivers, legal claims, people suing etc”

Taking this into account I phoned round wasting my time and came up with a quote of £403 from the AA (that was a surprise). I phoned my people back and said, tuff tits better quote from the AA, immediately they quoted £380.

Why do we have brokers when they are not doing the best for me by doing the phoning round and getting the best quote, if they do nothing then I may as well do the calling, but I really feel I should be paying someone else to do this.

Dewani extradition update

Dewani High Court appeal (18 December 2011) update here

Anni Dewani – 12 months on update here (13 November 2011)

Update here (10 August 2011) … Judge rule for extradition

In my post of May 4 I wrote “The extradition hearing has now been postponed to July 18 awaiting a psychiatric report, that’s OK by me, we’ll wait.”

Well, we’ve waited, hopefully tomorrow we will finally get an answer as to whether he’s nuts or going to be returning to Cape Town (which is a really nice place to visit in the spring, as some here will attest.)

It’s not just me eagerly awaiting the outcome of the court’s decision, Anni’s Mother, Father and 8 other relatives are flying into London to hear the outcome.

Speaking from his home in Sweden, Mr Hindocha  (Anni’s Father) said Continue reading “Dewani extradition update”

The Farmer’s Tale

Second last day in Oz and we’re spending the arvo chilling in the back garden with a few cold tinnies – my shout before Donald gets started again.

This morning, we went to the Noosa Farmers’ Market. A local Sunday institution and the real deal. You actually have to have grown, bred or made the stuff yourself before you can sell it there.

I did a quick circuit, bought a gourmet pie for later in the day (lamb and rosemary aka a ‘jolly jumbuck’) then sat down with a coffee as Mrs M set off on lap two. Another guy sat down beside me and said that he was wife-waiting. When I said I was too, he leapt on my accent and asked if I was Australian. Continue reading “The Farmer’s Tale”

On this Day 66 Years Ago.

July 16th 1945.

At 5:29:45 am at a place in Central New Mexico already known as “Jornado de Muerto” (Journey of Death) Richard Feynman, barely 27 years old, removed his protective glasses because he doubted anything would happen, he saw nothing of the event but a purple blotch on the floor of the armored vehicle he was in.

I. I. Rabi said later “It blasted, it pounced it bored its way into you”

There was a crack like a rifle shot which startled a New York Times reporter, “What was that!” he shouted. “That’s THE THING!” replied Feynman.

Nearby, Enrico Fermi tore pages from his notebook into quarters and dropped them slowly from his hand, mentally calculating the strength of the pressure wave from the fluttering leaves.

Feynman at last could see, and what he saw were clouds “What have we done to make clouds in the desert?” was his first thought.

Robert Oppenheimer quoted the Bhagavid- Gita
“Now I am become death, the destroyer of Worlds”
He was closest to the truth.

The experiment was code named TRINITY and was the defining event of the 20th Century.

Within three weeks the two other bombs then in existence were exploded and the childhood of mankind was over.

Dinant

The little town of Dinant in the Belgian Ardennes on the river Meuse just south of  Namur is a delightful  place.  It is well protected by high cliffs and has an old fortress  on top, rather like the one in Namur.  Dinant has had a rather chequered history, suffering particularly during the war between France and the Spanish Netherlands.   During the First World War the Germans massacred several hundred of its inhabitants, but surprisingly,  given its proximity to  towns such as Bastogne and Malmedy, it emerged relatively unscathed from the Battle of the Bulge.  There are still old buildings to be seen in the Grande Rue as well as the church and old stone bridge.

Now Dinant is a holiday centre with cruises on the Meuse as well as boat hire.  The town has made the most of its riverside setting with cafes and restaurants along  one bank.  The railway runs to along the other bank with regular services to Namur and Brussels.  A very pleasant place to visit.

The inventor of the saxophone,  a Monsieur Sax, was born here – another famous Belgian to add to the collection!