Rabbit Thought of the Day

Lunch time and I have just a walk around the local pond, it’s warm and sunny and the walk was great spoilt a little by the smokers, I suppose tit is far better than it used to be when everyone smoked in offices, I was once one of them now I can’t even stand the smell when I’m outdoors, its amazing how things change.

The local wildlife was out in force once again, loads of Coot’s, moorhen and the solidarity grebe. The cygnets are coming along well nearly the same size as their parents now but they don’t have the fully white plumage yet. I think they may be raising another patch because the female seems to sitting on a nest once again.

It was "quite extraordinary" for rail bosses to get huge bonuses after passengers had been "humiliated and inconvenienced" by three major engineering overruns at the new year, a report by MPs said.

The Network Rail (NR) overruns, including one on the busy West Coast Main Line, had "laid bare an entire catalogue of management failings for all to see", the House of Commons Transport Committee added. NR's top three directors are to get annual bonuses in excess of £200,000 each, with chief executive Iain Coucher receiving £305,000.

The transport committee said that rewarding senior managers with "huge financial bonuses...is a gesture which adds insult to injury for the long-suffering passengers who had to struggle with the consequences of the company's failings". Thousands of rail passengers were delayed by the engineering overruns at Rugby on the West Coast line, at Liverpool Street station in London and at Glasgow Shields Junction.

The report said the management of the three projects indicated there were "serious deficiencies in terms of central control and internal oversight mechanisms within NR". The overruns were "quite simply unacceptable".

The MPs were also critical of NR chairman Sir Ian McAllister who had said he had not gone during the overrun crisis as he felt he would only get in the way.

The report said: "We fear that the lack of a sense of urgency manifested by the NR chairman over the new year period, as well as when he appeared before us, is symptomatic of widespread complacency within NR."

MPs said communication within NR and between it and the train companies was "seriously deficient" and this had serious consequences for passengers.

The committee also said it was "deeply concerned that the rapid shift away from taxpayer contributions and towards passengers paying a significantly larger share of the cost of running the railways will be detrimental to passengers and future of the railways alike". Such a shift should be introduced over a "significantly longer" period of time than planned.

With only 18 days before the start of the Olympics games in Beijing the local authorities have brought in new regulations to deal the pollution in the city. From yesterday individual cars will only be allowed on the roads on alternative days. In addition people are being encouraged to work from and businesses are being asked to stagger starting times.

Air pollution remains a pressing problem, just weeks before the start of the Games on 8 August. The International Olympic Committee says it could postpone endurance events of more than one hour on days when the pollution is too bad. The capital's air remained smoggy and grey today, even though the Beijing government claimed it was a "blue sky" day.

Its six months to the day that I found and became of member of this site, doesn’t time fly when you are enjoying yourself. I think though that I have become addicted to blogging, I must get on everyday I think in the last six months I have only missed 3 days and that was when I was a way for the weekend. I have noticed that people have been on here for years and have made thousands of blog’s I have some way to go yet before I can consider myself in they league but until then here’s to the next six months.

Apart from organising her social calendar last night, Caz was also arranging her visits to the university’s she is interested in going too. I have said that I will drive her if she wants. But fortunately she has decided to use the train most of the time but I will have to take her to a couple, she is interested in taking English and Russian History so her choices are a little limited, there are only a few that actually do Russian history. But she seems to have her head screwed correctly and as a list of university to visit.

The top of her list is Canterbury, which is actually not too far from us, the farthest one being St Andrews. The choice of course is hers but she is really keen on Canterbury, I suppose we will find out soon where she end up, we have another year before she goes, until then its sixth form for her.

Welcome to Monday and the start of a brand new working week. I wonder what this week has in store for us. It seems to have started out very nice the sun is out and there is hardly a cloud in the sky. The forecast just says sunny periods.

The kids are of course on holiday now and Caz was chatting to her friends last night and filling in her social calendar around her new dream job. She has managed to find a position at Waterstones, the only problem I can is that she will spend more reading the books than selling them, she is a avid reader, I am sure she has more books her bedroom than the British Library (well not quite). But both Rosemary and I are great fans of books always have a book on the go.