Friday, August 29, 2008
Greasy pole
Having moaned previously about highly paid ladies playing the sex discrimination card when they lose their grip on the greasy pole, we now have the equally unedifying spectacle of highly paid people of colour doing the same thing. What on earth does the senior policeman think he is going to achieve? What on earth is his gripe? I dare say there is a fair bit of uninstitutionalised prejudice (as opposed to the institutionalised sort. Which word presumably means with the collusion of the organisation at large, including its management. And if I am right about what this much bandied about word is supposed to mean, I very much doubt whether it exists in any large organisation in this country) about, but I don't think this particular sort of protest is going to help. Just p**s the rest of us off. And maybe we will go the extra mile to avoid employing such people so that we do not get into pickles of this sort. Much easier these days not to employ someone than to get rid of them afterwards.
On the other hand, all this may be a wrong nail in the coffin of his boss, whom I think should have been made to walk the plank over the Stockwell incident. I gather there is still hope on that front with an inquest lurking. No idea why it should have been lurking for so long - although for the late Diana lurked for even longer.
Reminded this morning of the changing quality of life by a large and handsome wardrobe in FIL's possession. Oaken, large and handsome and by today's standards fairly useless. Its weight to capacity ratio is very high compared with that of a peice of modern furniture. My point being, that despite our apparent wealth, we have no room for the large and useless in our houses. We have to work every cubic foot far too hard for that. And if we have to work too hard we are not really wealthy. It's all an illusion. Thoughts clearly brought on by last night's unhealthy combination of Newcastle Brown (my bottle of choice) and Red Stripe (my tinny of choice).
One of my personal protests in favour of the useless and harmless, is a large clear glass jar in the garden shed. About a foot high, four or five inches across with a narrow neck. The sort of jar that one used to keep liquid chemicals in. Last year it contained an interesting red object - which looked rather like paper. Just sat their doing nothing, beyong being an interesting shape in a very attractive shade of red. This year, thinking to gee things up a bit, dropped in a bit of duckweed (the weed which spreads everywhere and an individual of which consists of a round green leaf, about a millimetre in diameter, floating on the surface of the water with a single white root, maybe a bit more than a centimetre, below). This is now spreading. The water contains a variety of very small animals whizzing about. The paper, or whatever it was, has dissolved and is now a dull grey-white sludge at the bottom of the jar. So after a year what has precipitated the paperine collapse? Maybe the duckweed really is noxious.
On the other hand, all this may be a wrong nail in the coffin of his boss, whom I think should have been made to walk the plank over the Stockwell incident. I gather there is still hope on that front with an inquest lurking. No idea why it should have been lurking for so long - although for the late Diana lurked for even longer.
Reminded this morning of the changing quality of life by a large and handsome wardrobe in FIL's possession. Oaken, large and handsome and by today's standards fairly useless. Its weight to capacity ratio is very high compared with that of a peice of modern furniture. My point being, that despite our apparent wealth, we have no room for the large and useless in our houses. We have to work every cubic foot far too hard for that. And if we have to work too hard we are not really wealthy. It's all an illusion. Thoughts clearly brought on by last night's unhealthy combination of Newcastle Brown (my bottle of choice) and Red Stripe (my tinny of choice).
One of my personal protests in favour of the useless and harmless, is a large clear glass jar in the garden shed. About a foot high, four or five inches across with a narrow neck. The sort of jar that one used to keep liquid chemicals in. Last year it contained an interesting red object - which looked rather like paper. Just sat their doing nothing, beyong being an interesting shape in a very attractive shade of red. This year, thinking to gee things up a bit, dropped in a bit of duckweed (the weed which spreads everywhere and an individual of which consists of a round green leaf, about a millimetre in diameter, floating on the surface of the water with a single white root, maybe a bit more than a centimetre, below). This is now spreading. The water contains a variety of very small animals whizzing about. The paper, or whatever it was, has dissolved and is now a dull grey-white sludge at the bottom of the jar. So after a year what has precipitated the paperine collapse? Maybe the duckweed really is noxious.
# posted by Jim @ 1:05 AM 
