swedishskoda

As so often when reading the morning newspaper, I'm not sure whether to chuckle or cry. But here's a pic from Walsgrave hospital, Coventry, 1966. A time when nurses still had time for a break. When Margaret Bl**dy Thatcher was a relatively anonymous MP. When no one had ever heard of "strategic management consultants" or "new public management". []

The Right Honourable [Honourable???] Ms. Suella Braverman today advocated scepticism towards "elites...who think they know best what is in the public’s interest, even when that public is quite certain that they need something different from what those experts are proposing." Pot, kettle, black?

First touch of winter 😀

Guess he'll be allowed back to cabinet after six days or so...

Inflation can be calculated in more ways than one, but here's consumer price inflation in France, the UK, and Sweden 😰 : https://www.inflation.eu/en/inflation-rates/france/current-cpi-inflation-france.aspx https://www.inflation.eu/en/inflation-rates/great-britain/current-cpi-inflation-great-britain.aspx https://www.inflation.eu/en/inflation-rates/sweden/current-cpi-inflation-sweden.aspx

The Edenbridge Bonfire Society has prepared an effigy for Nov 5th:

Not so much a chuckle but rather a broad smile: SWMBO's 3rd grandchild (a girl) arrived late yesterday evening Mother and child are well, as they say, and so is the proud father (SWMBO's son).

The mayor in a small Swedish town (population 17,000) was given a 27 percent pay rise (to £100K). Here the deputy mayor is asked by a TV reporter if the money couldn't be used for something more useful - the rise alone equals a cleaner's salary: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lron96iggRk After an eloqent silence (count the seconds), he comes up with the brilliant answer: "It's always a matter of prioritization"

EasyPeasy. Personally, I loathe them all - and that includes their Swedish counterparts that I have to live with since our election last month. Granted, there are a exceptions. One can find the odd Tory member showing integrity and capability of intelligent reasoning. Dominic Grieve comes to mind. But he's also a good example of what having such qualities might do to your political career.

There are alarming rumours that Suella de Vil might come back as home secretary...

Agree - it's in a way a historic moment. But obviously he's not willing to give other people the same chances as his parents had, advocating a cap on the number of refugees accepted, as well as supporting Priti Patel's Rwanda plan.

Can't stand tofu, not particularly woke (I'm here after all), but I confess: I do read the Guardian. And a few lines in an article today about what people put in their "blackout boxes" made me chuckle. Good advice: “A tobacco tin and a bottle of Jameson,” Kent-based thatcher Benny Rance rejoins. “That’s me sorted for a couple of hours, at least.”

This morning's chuckle was a brilliant chronicle in today's Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, by their Hertfordshire-based correspondent Katrine Marçal. Depending on what will happen next week the post might fit better in the "What saddened you today" thread. PDF file attached - slightly brushed up google translation but, I hope, intelligible. Choosing Boris again.pdf

Lumbago. 'nuff said.

I'll promise to do my best. La garde meurt mais ne se rend pas. And to stay on topic: Fargo, the TV series spin off from the Coen brothers' wonderful film (four seasons so far). On AppleTV IIRC. True Detective (HBO) deserves a mention as well (am eagerly waiting for season 4)

Mylady, if a page is visited by you it can never be the wrong page (or could it?) It has been a while, indeed. Checked my activity: eight (8) posts during the last five years Guess that my retirement had something to do with it - no longer a need to kill half an hour at my desk. Plus that I for some reason felt that Briskoda - especially the Off Topic and Roadside Hotel sections - had became less spirited and more quarrelsome/boring. Possibly another tragic Brexit consequence? Will follow development here more frequently in the future.

Nowhere in particular... just pottering around as OAPs do - and for some reason I pottered into Briskoda tonight. Everything's fine with you I hope?

Hello yourself! Good to see old hands are still about, keeping up standards

All series written/produced by David Simon (The Wire. Treme, The Deuce...) - guess they're all avialable on HBO. All series starring Nicola Walker... first and foremost River (Netflix). The Split is great as well (BBC iPlayer) The Bear (Disney+)

Saddened when reached by the news that Robbie Coltrane has passed away. His character Eddie 'Fitz' Fitzgerald in the ITV series Cracker is unforgettable. RIP Robbie.

It did. The scrapper offered £40. Had I tried to sell it, I (as the owner on May 1st) would have to pay the tax (£115). I can't expect anyone in his/her right mind to pay more than £150 for a 22 year old car with >130,000 miles on the clock, terribly rusty weel arches, and a suspicious coolant leak (probably head gasket). But that's no tragedy. Parts of it (such as the rust-free tailgate) will probably live on, along with the sweet memories :)

Having enjoyed my Felicia for 13 years and 95,000 miles (not always trouble-free, but most of the time) I've taken the painful decision to grant her retirement, replacing her with a 2014 Fabia MkII Estate 1.2 tsi. Thanks to all that have provided support and helpful answers in this section over the years!