Rabbit Thought of the Day

China is capable of sending a manned mission to the Moon within the next decade, if it so wishes, NASA administrator Michael Griffin has said. The US space agency plans to return people to the lunar surface by 2020 using its new Orion spacecraft.

But it is just possible the first people on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 could be planting a flag with five stars, not 50. In 2003, China became only the third country to launch a person into orbit.

By the time the yanks get back there, there will be a chain of Chinese takeaways, offering all you can eat for 10 dollars a head, space parties welcome. The first one planned will be opened on the shores of the Sea of Tranquillity.

People have been trying to predict things for ages, often relying on emerging technology and evolving knowledge to make their claims, but sometimes, a rather low-tech method sticks around and becomes tradition. St Swithin’s Day is an institution passed down through the living, but the reasons behind its origin are entirely rooted in death. 

St Swithin was ordained the Bishop of Winchester in 852, and after his death, requested to be buried outside of Winchester Cathedral, so the rain could wash over him. However, some time later, it was decided to move Swithin’s body inside the cathedral, to a shrine. According to legend, there was a massive storm and it rained for 40 days following the move, citing Swithin’s posthumous displeasure at being dry once more.

It is from this single misstep from a dead man’s wishes that Britons look to 15 July as an indicator of the weather for the next 40 days. If it rains on St Swithin’s day, it is said to continue to do so for the next 40 days, but if it is fair, that good weather will also continue for the same period of time.

I have just booked an appointment to see a consultant at my local hospital on the internet. A couple of weeks I went to see my doctor who decided that I needed to see a specialist and he sent a referral letter to local NHS. I then received a letter from a company called Fortis Healthcare Ltd, this gave me instructions on how to book an appointment and the choice of doctors and hospital in the local area.

I could arrange an appointment over the phone, by text or on the internet, I choose the latter. Detailed in the letter was a reference number and pass word, you log onto the website and choose the doctors you want it also gives the estimated waiting time for each doctor. When you have chosen your preferred doctor the next page gives you a list of time and dates available for your appointment and you pick the one you want.

I now have an appointment a Southend General Hospital on the 22-Aug, I could have had it about a week earlier but that fits nicely into my plans, so quick and simple. No matter how much we complain about the Health Service surely we still have one of the best in the world.

Motorists involved in the most serious cases of causing death by dangerous driving should be jailed for at least seven years, under tougher guidelines.

Such cases could involve persistent bad driving, drink or drugs, the advice for courts in England and Wales will say.

Causing death while reading or writing text messages on a mobile phone should attract a term of up to seven years. Where "momentary inattention" is behind a death, drivers should not be jailed, the Sentencing Guidelines Council said.

It’s about time that the Government came down hard on drivers who kill while under the influence of drink or drugs. But for me they do not go far enough. If you kill some while driving and it is proved that you were under the influence then the charge should be at least manslaughter if not murder.

The Government is also planning on changing the law for young drivers; they want to bring us in to line with other European countries which do not allow drivers under the age of twenty any alcohol in their system. Again this is good but does not go far enough, any driver caught with any alcohol in their system should be prosecuted and be banned from driving for a minimum of 3 years an should be made to retake their test again.

Am back in the office this morning and after switching on my computer, checking my emails is was a nice surprise to see that I had only 4 emails and only one of those requires any following up, so you see miracles do happen. Normally I would have expected at least 20- 30 emails; everybody must be a way on holiday or something.

Mind you in my personal emails, on MSN I had 89 since Sunday of which 88 were crap or spam, lol. Actually the majority of them were from this site saying that a comment had been on my blog or someone had relied to my comment, you know the normal stuff you get from here.

Well the cable guy finally arrived yesterday at just before 3 O Clock, so it wasn’t too bad, it appears our decoder was knackered so he changed it which took about 10 minutes to set up and now we have a fully functional entertainment system. The box must have been on its way for a while a number of faults In was blaming Virgin Media for seem to work perfectly (on Command and things like that).

So I am a happy little bunny (well not that little hence the diet the nurse has put me on).