“Flip flop. Think of a topic or issue about which you’ve switched your opinion. Why the change? Nobody likes to admit they’re wrong and frankly it’s a little embarrassing to tell everyone (ha!) about how I couldn’t see the point of an iPad at all when they first came out. If you tried to take…
“I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” The filling protocol of petrol stations in Belgium defies both belief and logic. For the benefit of my North American reader, I should just explain that over here a petrol station is what you would call a gas station. Why you would…
“If you could get all the nutrition you needed in a day with a pill – no worrying about what to eat, no food preparation – would you do it?” Taking the superficially easy option without due regard to the longer-term implications is a bit like peeing yourself. It feels okay for about five seconds, but after…
“What will the next must-have technological innovation be?” Recently I saw something on Twitter that gives an interesting insight into perceptions of technological process. It’s pretty self-explanatory, albeit a little depressing: On this basis, I’m fine with TV (as long as it’s in black and white and the set, which is the size of a small car, takes ten…
“Million dollar question: Why do you blog?” Well, it’s certainly not for the money. And frankly it’s a bit depressing that I can remember when the million dollar question was only the sixty four thousand dollar question. I started this blog about eighteen months ago, since when I have published 94 posts (this will be…
“Undo: If you could uninvent something, what would it be?” Many thanks to the latest ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’ for this opportunity to have a good, old-fashioned, grumpy old man rant. What would I uninvent? Oh, so many things if I only could. Unfortunately, I have to assume that people cannot be included, so…
Right. Now that I’ve got your attention, it’s time to look at the latest WordPress ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’: “Karma chameleon: Reincarnation. Do you believe in it?” Well, it’s a straight question and it deserves a straight answer. No. Not reincarnation. Not vampires. Not werewolves. Not alien abduction. Not even the tooth fairy. Now,…
“Run outside. Take a picture of the first thing you see. Run inside. Take a picture of the second thing you see. Write about the connection between these two random objects, people or scenes.” Well, I did warn you that some of these ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’ were bonkers. Normally, I would just ignore…
“1984. You’re locked in a room with your greatest fear. Describe what’s in the room.” So, dear WordPress, in this latest of ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’, presumably you actually meant to ask ‘what’s in your Room 101?’ The original impact – and import – of the Orwellian Room 101 has been rather lost in…
Here in the middle of nowhere and its environs, the ‘Vide Grenier’ season is starting to wind down. Whereas on any given Sunday during the summer months there is at least one such event to be found within twenty minutes’ drive of Tranquility Base, now they are few and far between. This is as sure…
the only deadhead in the hameau 