Rabbit Thought of the Day

It’s just over a week to the start of the greatest sporting spectacle on earth; the XXIX Olympic Games open in Beijing on the 8-Aug and I for one are looking forward to them. Nowadays it’s probably the only time I watch and actually sport on TV. Although many of the competitors can’t be classed as truly amateur any longer, there will professional tennis players in Beijing for example and athletes now receive massive sponsorship from sporting manufactures and many receive lottery money.

But there are many sports man and women who are purely amateur who compete not for financial gain but for the love of the sport, these are ones I prefer to watch. They have not been tainted by greed and in my mind deserve the accolades they receive. I hope it all goes well and the British competitors come home with loads of medals.

I have just received a phone call from Rosemary; she was just on the way out of door and heading to work. I call her or she calls everyday at this time, don’t know how it started but it has become something of a ritual. When I leave for work she is normally sound asleep so we don’t get the chance to talk in the mornings. Anyway she was asking me about the storms last night, apparently they kept her awake for a few hours, thunder lightning and heavy rain and guess what? I never heard a thing I slept right through it.

When I left for work this morning it was a lot fresher and there was some signs of the rain last night, like a few puddles and  my car still had drops of water on it but the roads were dry so I knew we had some rain but I didn’t realise how bad it was. I have always said I could sleep anyway and nothing disturbs me when I’m asleep.

I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised at this news:

Oil giant BP has announced a 6% rise in profits for the second quarter of 2008, largely thanks to a sharp rise in the price of oil. Replacement cost profit after tax was $6.85bn (£3.4bn) between April and June, compared with $6.5bn a year ago. During that same period, the price of a barrel of oil rose by about 35%.

The results are announced as BP battles for control of its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, which accounts for a quarter of its production. BP makes the bulk of its profits in its upstream business - the exploration and production of oil.

Thanks to the rising cost of crude oil, its pre-tax profits in that division were 51% higher at $10.8bn, compared with $7.1bn in the second quarter of 2007.

In the downstream business, which includes refining oil and selling it at its 24,000 forecourts worldwide, it made a profit of $539m in the second quarter, a significant fall from the $2.7bn it made in the same period a year earlier. BP and other oil producers have been facing calls for a windfall tax on their profits.

However, BP insists that it is already one of the UK's largest taxpayers. A company spokesperson told the BBC that the company paid $14.5bn in taxes worldwide last year, including $2.3bn in the UK.

Wildlife photography is a real passion for me and although I am not up to the same standard as Andy Rouse or George McCarthy (check out their websites) I have taken some great shots (even if I say so myself) I have even sold some of the pictures I have taken. Although I couldn’t live of the money I make it’s very satisfying to take a picture and know that someone likes it enough to buy it.

Wildlife photography requires a little patience, but the results can be very gratifying. Sometimes it does require lying in the wet grass or getting into some awkward positions but just to sit in the peace and quiet and watch animal in they natural environment is one of the most rewarding experiences there is.

The fox above is one of mine, this took me about hour to get, I did cheat a lttle I did use a bit of bait (chicken) hope you like it.

http://www.georgemccarthy.com/

http://www.andyrouse.co.uk/

I will be seeing the nurse again this evening for a check on my weight, once I feel I have done well. I have stuck to my diet and I have been out exercising so I am expecting good results, I think I have lost about 4 pounds according to my scales at home but the weight the nurse takes is the official so I will see tonight, I will report back tomorrow.