Rabbit Thought of the Day

Would-be thieves got a nasty shock when they tried to hotwire a station wagon outside a Blenheim garage, New Zealand this week. The garage owner had parked the car, which was in for some work, outside on Tuesday night because there was no room inside the shop.

The thieves smashed the lock to get in and then they started hotwiring the vehicle. However, they then struck a small problem - it had no engine.

The garage owner told the Marlborough Express if the thieves had looked in the back of the station wagon they would be seen they were wasting time because half the vehicle's engine was laid out there.

Their names sound menacing; Portuguese Man Of War, Lion's Mane and more often than not so is their sting. Warmer waters are attracting increasing numbers of jellyfish to our shores and while they may look beautiful and fascinating do not be tempted to touch them. Most of them have a sting of some kind and many a dangerous one.

I have just had this story emailed to me and was ensured that it was true. It definitely appealed to my sense of humour, I’m sure you will like it as well.

A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, and then insured them against, among other things, fire. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost 'in a series of small fires.' The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also uaranteed that it would insure them againstfire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire' and was obligated to pay the claim! Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the 'fires'. 

Now for the best part.

Former Gurkhas in Kent have been stopped from going on a day trip to France because they have no visas. The men, who fought for Britain in the second world war, would not be allowed back into the UK without them. Margate service veterans organised the outing for 20 Gurkhas as part of a holiday in the South East.

"It's a bit shabby they can't get a bit of paper to say they can go to France and come back," said Stan Davis, from Lest We Forget, who organised the trip.

Madan Kumargurung, from the Gurkha Association, said they had been given indefinite leave to stay in the UK and he felt they should therefore be allowed to travel freely throughout the EU. The question of citizenship and other rights for Gurkhas is to be heard before the courts next month.

More than 2,000 Gurkhas who retired before 1 July 1997 have been refused permission to settle permanently in Britain. The men, who claim they have been racially discriminated against by the UK government, were given permission two weeks ago to apply for judicial review.

Once again this shows how our Government treats our ex-service men, the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary are always stating that we should treat our armed forces those serving and past with respect it appears that they don’t live up to their own words.

Today’s menu for my diet, well breakfast consisted of cornflakes and semi-skimmed milk; lunch will be a cuppa soup and Ryvita. Evening meal is a small pork chop, cabbage, carrots and new potatoes.  For snacks (not snakes for those who read yesterday’s blog) I have an apple, orange and plum.

You know when you write id down it doesn’t sound very appetising but I am sure it will be fine.

Thursday already and we are getting close to the end of the week, thank god. It’s been a very busy week. Tomorrow I’m in Watford to visit the Build Research Establishment (BRE) a group of companies that do research (funny enough) and consultancy we have done some work there and we are carrying out some testing and we need to know how it is progressing, should be an interesting day.  

The US secretary of state has warned Russia that it risks isolation abroad if does not observe a ceasefire with Georgia and withdraw its troops.

"We expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in Georgia," she said.

Condoleezza Rice is to visit France for talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently chairs the EU, before visiting Georgia itself on Friday. The US has begun delivering aid by air to the ex-Soviet republic.

Who does Rice think she is kidding, Russia won’t be isolated, its fast becoming one of the richest nations on the planet, why? Because it’s got vast oil and gas reserves and we need it. Britain like any other nation would trade with the devil if it had what we want. It also a bit ironic, the American condemning Russia for involving itself in Georgia, its ‘the pot calling the kettle black’.