Colonel Irrelevant

It’s that time of year again when pumpkins and humerous caricatures appear in the shops and the country braces itself for another round of minor damage and extortion of sweets with menaces.
Anyway, it strikes me that the big difference between Halloween here and in the US is that over here it’s a dark-edged night, with [...]

If the oil price rises to $100 per barrel, isn’t that still only £50 per barrel, or about $70 a few years back?

Back to London today to collect my new, Biometric passport.
Great stuff it is and very secure.
Except for the bit where I get shown my picture and asked to confirm that I am me.
What am I going to say? No? Of course it’s my photograph but, as with all passports, it looks nothing like [...]

Never leave your passport in a pair of jeans. They don’t wash well. And especially when it’s 8pm on Friday and you have a 7am flight booked for Monday.
Please don’t do it.
My passport has just been washed, and it has suffered.
So the Passport Office was called. I have an appointment tomorrow. [...]

Why are people so anti-immigration?
I don’t get it.
There is possibly a case for the country being too crowded, but I can’t say I feel it. And if people are too cramped in London then why not move out to somewhere less crowded?
Immigration helps us to build understanding of other cultures, peoples, view points and [...]

You can guarantee to raise a smile on my face whenever I sit in a public area of a hotel and hear American travellers discussing anything.
Especially when they are bemoaning the price of things in Europe, and especially when the things they are complaining about are things like, for example, nutcrackers.
Anyway, watching old Americans wander [...]

… have carpets above the seats and on the ceiling?
Barking mad if you ask me, and hardly makes for a more luxurious experience!

4 years ago this week San Diego suffered enormous fires, pushed on by the Santa Ana winds.
This week it started again, with huge areas threatened by the wild fires.
Many people have been evacuated.
Many will lose their homes.
The refugees are gathering in the hotels in San Diego or the Qualcomm Stadium.
It’s an enormous tragedy for all [...]

What a horrible weekend. We lose the Rugby world cup, then Lewis Hamilton loses in the Brazilian F1 race to finish second in the championship.
Whilst England have over achieved, MacLaren and Hamilton should have had this sown up in Shanghai by taking a more conservative strategy, changing the wearing tyres early and then getting [...]

Why does there seem to be an either/ or mentality surrounding the two games.
It’s like suggesting that it’s wrong to like blondes and brunettes; red or white wine; bitter or lager.
They are both different.
Both enjoyable.
And tonight England are in the World Cup Final.
Which is a good thing and completely different from watching England’s second rate [...]