Wife for Sale - Slightly Soiled

Everyday I receive a nice little email from that famous font of all knowledge that is Wikipedia. A couple of days ago I received a particularly interesting one and being one for traditional values, I thought I'd give it a try. This is an extract from that very informative email.

Wife selling was a traditional English practice for ending an unsatisfactory marriage. Instead of dealing with an expensive and dragged-out divorce, a husband would take his wife to market and parade her with a halter around her neck, arm, or waist, before publicly auctioning her to the highest bidder. Any children from the marriage might also be sold along with their mother. Prices paid for wives varied considerably, from a high of £100 (plus £25 each for her two children), to a low of a glass of ale, or even free.

The Duke of Chandos bought his second wife at one such sale in Newbury in about 1744. Along with other English customs, wife selling was exported to England's American colonies, where one man sold his wife for "two dollars and half [a] dozen bowls of grogg". Husbands were sometimes sold by their wives in a similar manner, but much less frequently. Wife selling persisted in some form into the early 20th century, as general
attitudes began to shift to the benefit of divorce lawyers.

Strangely, Mrs. TE seems less keen on the whole idea. I can't imagine why?

Regards



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Busy, Busy, Busy

In the last two weeks I've gone from spending my evenings slumped on the sofa to having a busy social life. Why? My thirteen year old son has fanally managed to get back into a council run club (he was asked to leave last summer) and I have joined the local camera club. On top of all this, I'm on a training course which runs quite late.

As a consequence this week has been manic and I'm already quite exhausted.

Monday nights are the worst. I (usualy) get in at about 5pm from work. Mrs. TE goes to Bingo at 6:15, Junior goes to his club at 6:30 and the camera club is at 7:45pm. The problems really start when it's time to come home. Junior finishes at 8:30, Mrs. TE at 9:30 and me at 10. All I can say is thank goodness for Grand Parents, as Grandma is the only one available to collect Junior.

The rest of the week is less hectic though.

Regards
Chris
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The Biker Rides Again 8-)

Up until about 18 months ago I was a daily biker, riding to work no matter what the weather. I have even riden in the snow, but that was rather fool hardy and not an experience I want to repeat. Two years ago I bought a brand new bike and to keep the warrentee I had to have main dealer services. These were costing me a fortune, so I splashed out on a rail season ticket in stead. As a consequence I didn't ride anywhere near as much. In fact I have only riden 600 miles since last June and not at all since I lost my job last December.

Today however, I dusted my bike down, check everything was working and took her out for a spin..... Twice 8-) The first was a shake down to make sure everything was safe and the second was with Junior on the back. We both loved it.

I was worried I would struggle after such a long break, but it was just like riding a bike. Lol. The one thing that surprised me though was the acceleration. It's so much quicker than my new car. Which isn't really surprising when you consider it's 0 to 60 time is under 4 seconds!

What I'm really looking foward to is next Saturdays ride with Pablos. We're going on a 300 miles round trip to visit his Mum. I can't wait, but will the weather behave itself?

Regards
Chris
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Key To People In My Blog

In my blog I chose not to use peoples real names to protect them from public ridicule and after all, they didn’t have a choice in the matter. Instead I have made up descriptive nick names that I feel accurately describe these people. I have listed them all here in an attempt to add context to my blog.

Mrs. TE = My wife, if you hadn't already guessed.
Junior = My teenage Son.
Pablos = A good friend & biker. Unfortuantly, he's extremely unlucky.
Cookie = She's an old school friend of mine & married to Pablos.
Chunky = My youngest Brother-in-Law. His mates chose the name, not me.
Chunkette = Chunkys' Girlfriend.
Dopey = My oldest Brother-in-Law.

I think that's everyone, but if not I'll add them later.

Regards


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Leftover: Boris to Cool Tube

This is a previously unpublished blog, which got forgotten about. Not wishing to deprive the world of my thoughtful insight I thought I'd post and be damned. LOL.
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BBC NEWS | England | London | 'Cool' underground train unveiled

Regards


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What To Do With The Leftovers?

I have been blogging sporadically for a few years now and I often start writing something, which I never finish. These “Leftovers” start off as good ideas, but invariably turn into either uncontrolled rants or end up as tedious rubbish which would bore any self respecting insomniac. Here are the titles of some of those,

- Boris to Cool Tube
- Key To People In My Blog
- I’ve Rediscovered Radio
- Busy, Busy, Busy
- I’m Artistic Don’t You Know!

The last three are quite resent and started off life on my new Apple iPhone, but the others are much older. I may just publish them and be damned. Lol.

While researching for this article, I noticed a rather worrying statistic. Since I started blogging in May 2006, I have written 183 entries and received only 44 comments. Does that mean that no one reads this waffle? Surely that cannot be correct!

Regards


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There are days you just want to scream!

And today is one of those very days!

My eldest Brother-in-Law or Dopey as I call him, has a "relationship" with alcohol. Over the last few years this "relationship" has seem off two wives, four children, one grandchild and most recently the job he had since leaving school. It's not a pretty story.

At 11:15pm last night we had a phone call from Dopey's lodger. He had drunken himself into a stuper and was complaining of sever pain just about everywhere. So off we went on the 5 mile journey in the fog to check him out.

When the Paramedic arrived, his story kept changing & the pain moved about somewhat. None of us were convinced that his condition was anything but drink induced. The paramedic took him to the hospital & we returned home, rather tired.

This morning I rose later than normal, feeling not at all fresh. While I munched on my Cornflakes the hospital called to comfirm that Dopey was in fact still alive. As we all expected, his moving pains were all drink related after all. I was halfway to the station before I noticed that in my rush to leave, I had inadvertently put my trainers on instead of my work shoes.





When I did get to the station I was just in time to see my train leaving without me. The next one was, as luck would have it, an "Extra Sardine" service.

Thankfully everyday is not quite that bad. Such is life.

Regards
Chris
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Greenpeace Visit Nestle Tower in Croydon

I was walking allow George Street in Croydon this lunchtime and spotted this temporary banner hung over the usual advertising hoarding.

A little further down the road, outside Croydon College I spotted two more.

Nestle have their UK Headquarters, Nestle Tower, on the Wellesley Road in Croydon. I thought I'd pop down there to see if anything was going on.

Just about the banner are two protesters wearing climbing gear and one more either side of the canopy. In front of the building there are a number of protesters dressed as monkey and of course the Police were also there to keep an eye on things. There was no trouble and everyone seemed to be having a good and friendly time while making their point.

Their point, being a valid one (in my opinion at least) is that farmers wanting to make palm oil for Nestle are causing deforestation. This practice is destroying the habits of various species, including Primates.

What give us to right to vandalise vast parts of the world so we can maintain or comfy life style here in the West? You can't say it's not my fault, because we are all guilty of apathy as these things are done in our name!


Food for thought I think.

Read More Here - greenpeace.org.uk

Regards


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Woman Blindy Follows SATNAV

A woman from Berkshire drove her car into a 5' deep ford, because her SATNAV told her too. With all the recent rain we've had it was a recipe for disater. As you have probably allready guessed, it didn't end well. Because the car filled with water none of the cars electrics worked and she became trapped. She came very close to winning a Darwin award. For those who don't know, they are awarded to people who manage to kill themselves because of thier own stupidity. This woman was lucky and was rescued by the Fire Brigade.

Her excuse was that her SATNAV told her it was the thing to do! Mine once told me to drive down a bridleway, by I correctly identified that the SAVNAV was wrong, applied some common sense and took a more sensible route.

She told the paper that next time she'll use a map. What, the authourities have allowed her to keep her driving license?!!!

I just hope that she doesn't use to same insurance company as me. My premiums are bad enough without stupid people making it worse.

Link to Original Article

Regards
Chris
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A Word to the Wise

I have recently rediscovered the joys of reading on the train. Often there are sections of a book that I particularly enjoy and I feel the need to share these with the world. This is the first of many installments.

My current book is "Nostradamous Ate My Hamster" by the quite brillient Robert Rankin.

A Word to the Wise

"This book contains certain passages that some readers might find deeply disturbing. Due to the questionable sanity of the authuor and the convoluted nature of the plot, it is advised that it be read at a single sitting and then hidden away on a high shelf."

Nostradamous Ate My Hamster
by Robert Rankin.

Regards
Chris
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