Is it just me or is the world going crazy?

I've been offline again for a few days as I have a lot going on here at the moment and felt I needed a bit of a break again, so apologies for not commenting much on your blogs. But is it just me or does the world seem to be going (even more) crazy right now? I mean just recently 150+ poor young people out celebrating Halloween in Korea were crushed to death and then the same day a suspension bridge in India collapsed, again while people were celebrating and around the same number of people were killed over there - and that's not to mention all those who were injured!

Then you've got all those eejits protesting "stop oil" and bringing London's roads to a standstill (thereby preventing essential services from getting through in some cases) or throwing tomato soup at priceless paintings and then glueing their hands to the floor!!!! Or how about the idiot that threw eggs at King Charles "in the name of climate change" and then started a Go-Fund-Me because he is facing a fine of £5,000 plus legal fees and potentially six months in prison (he won't go to prison). But when the Go-Fund-Me people found out what it was for they cancelled it. Tee hee, he might need to get a job stacking shelves somewhere I reckon. But seriously, the guy must have a peanut where his brain should be - I mean, have you seen the price of eggs? 

Conversely, it was quite satisfying to read about another bunch of eejits in Germany who glued their hands to the floor of a car museum adjoining a Volkswagen dealership and what did the Germans do? They turned the lights and the heating off and went home! They did have a security guard doing the rounds though, but it was quite comical to see the protesters complaining that they weren't brought food and water and were not even given a bucket to piss in! Hats off to that Volkswagen dealership, is all I can say. Karma at its finest!

And then we had dear old Trevor Noah sticking his tuppence worth in in a sneering monologue saying how the Brits didn't want Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister "because of the colour of his skin"! Damn, since when did everything have to be about skin colour Trevor? He based his comments on the fact that one man (who actually turned out to be of Indian origin himself) had called in to a radio show to complain about Sunak. Well things blew up and Noah was, I hope, left in no doubt what most Brits think of him. Actually, I'm pretty sure the people complaining about Sunak weren't overly fond of having a second unelected Prime Minister foisted on them in six weeks and might just have wanted the opportunity to vote in a General Election (not that I'm sure the results would be any better but who knows)! While there are undoubtedly racists in the UK just like everywhere else, dammit we have a Christian King, a Hindu Prime Minister, a Jewish Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, a Buddhist Home Secretary and a Muslim Mayor of London. The only prerequisite for any of those offices would be that they have to be British, but then I guess that makes us all xenophobes, right Trev? I hear Noah was funny once but since he's leaving The Daily Show (did he jump or was he pushed?) to go back to comedy, maybe if he practices real hard he could be funny a second time too! Just sayin'!

A few photographs - if anyone cares!

King

Prime Minister

Deputy PM

Home Office

International Trade - 
and one to watch, I think/hope!

Until recently - Health

Finances - until October 2022

Mayor of London

Former PM and
Chief Buffoon!

Don't people have enough to worry about without this kind of shit-stirring? On a positive note, I was pleased to see that Heinz and Morrisons (a UK supermarket) - along the lines of the organization Grateful Together - have started a scheme, at least during the school holidays, where anyone can go into a Morrisons cafeteria and "ask for Henry" and they will be offered a warm drink and food free of charge, no questions asked! I just hope Morrisons are smart enough not to post someone whose actual name is Henry in the cafeteria for the duration of the scheme. Poor bugger, he would probably be driven nuts!

On a different note, the other night I happened to notice that the film Still Alice was playing on Netflix. I read the book some time ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I have to say that the film almost lived up to the book - which is rare! It's the story of a successful academic (wonderfully played by the lovely Julianne Moore) who learns that she has early onset dementia at the age of 50 and how it affects her and her family's lives! It was very thought-provoking actually because I suppose we all think we've got plenty of time left but in the end none of us actually knows that. I mean, tomorrow is promised to no-one is it! And then I spotted that series five of The Crown has started playing so watched a couple of episodes. I loved the first four series, not so much for the drama but more because so many of the names I heard growing up as a kid I was now able to slot into their places in history. For instance, it was how I learned that British Prime Minister Harold Wilson actually stepped down because he had dementia! As to the latest series, well I'm having a hard time deciding who is more wooden (while aiming for "stoic", I suppose) - Imelda Staunton (so far) as the Queen or Jonny Lee Miller as John Major! That being said, Elizabeth Debicki as Diana does a good job and absolutely nails her voice, which is all the more commendable since she is Australian. Diana was tall but Elizabeth is even taller - 1.9m or 6 ft 2!!! - so I'm guessing many of the male actors weren't too keen to stand next to her when she is wearing heels! There's been a lot of talk about how much of it is fictitious and how they should just drop it (they do put a disclaimer at the beginning), but then if some of the people featured don't like being portrayed badly in parts, maybe they should have behaved better in the first place!

And finally, tomorrow should be another "interesting" day, money-wise. Heck I just paid €1,800 for 1,000 litres of fuel, €600 to have new tyres put on my car (and it has to go back in next week for new brakes) and then yesterday, as I was about to go out, my bloody car wouldn't start. Flat battery (so I thought) but looking under the hood it would seem that a flippin' family of fouine (that's weasels in English but I'm more inclined to think it's field mice, having found two dead ones by my front door) have made a cosy home for themselves in the engine and dined out on a few hoses in there. So I'll have to call my breakdown service first thing and take it from there! I read online that rodents don't like the smell of peppermint, so as I was fiddling about under the hood I dropped peppermint oil everywhere I could think of and then sprayed the whole thing down with peppermint infused water - just as my neighbour came out to find out what was going on and who probably now thinks I'm officially mad! I wish I'd told him it was Chanel No. 5! We'll see what happens tomorrow, I guess!