Fireworks

According to the BBC, this will be the last year for certain fireworks before they get made illegal. The Fireworks Act will restrict sales of fireworks to a three week period around November 5th, make it illegal for under-18s to have fireworks in their posession, and a range of other measures. Yet it’s stopped short of a ban on selling fireworks to members of the public. Why?

Personally, I love fireworks – so long as they’re done safely. I’d far rather see it made illegal to seel fireworks to the public, and the money saved every year on safety advertising campaigns etc. could be used instead to find government sponsered safe firework displays for the public. Too many people get hurt because of fireworks – whether through their own stupidity, or through the stupidity of others. Yes, even public displays can go wrong – I saw one in Weymouth do exactly that – but they’re still safer than Joe Chuffwit in the back garden wandering back to find out why the rocket hasn’t gone off, or Wayne Scallie blowing off his own hand, or damaging someone else’s face “because it’s a larf, innit?”

Yes, fireworks can have a Darwinian “survival of the thickest” effect – anyone dumb enough to be fucking about and treating explosives like toys deserves to get their hands blown off when it all goes wrong, and I have no problem with that – instead, I have a problem when they’re used and “accidentally” harm other people that I have a problem with it.

All in all, I’d rather they were illegal to be sold to the public. While it would be a pity to lose some of the smaller displays, I think that there would be significantly less people hurt each year – and that makes such a legislation worthwhile.

For Fuck’s Sake

Over the weekend, Oldham’s main shopping centre has put up all it’s snurf-hurfing christmas decorations. Santa’s grotto, poxy bloody tree (including poxy reindeer), lights, garlands, twinkly frigging fairy lights, the whole galumph.

I hate to have to point this out, but it’s the first week of fucking November. Not December. Bah, bastard humbug. As it is, I’d only got the phone with me today, so the shot below is slightly shonky. Tomorrow I’ll take in the digicam, and capture the centre in all it’s festering glory…

Surprising

Sometimes I do like a quick random wander around somewhere like HMV. Today, for instance, I had wandered in looking specifically for the re-released Johnny Cash single “Hurt“, which wasn’t in stock. So instead I plonked about, had a look at the DVDs, and discovered that Peter Gabriel has released a DVD of the ‘Growing Up’ tour, the one I went to back in May. So yes, I bought it, and I’m already looking forward to watching it tonight. I think the stereo may just get a work-out with it too…

Work’s Christmas Do

Yes, I’ve avoided getting myself lumped into the Work Christmas Do this year. Again. In fairness, until last Monday I didn’t even know if I was going to be here for the Festering Season™, so that’s a pretty good excuse for not booking myself in. Well, that and being a passionately anti-Christmas-Do-type person anyway.

But I did have to laugh at the email that came round work today from the organiser of said Do, complaining that only 15 people had responded, it was a Christmas Thing not a wake, and to sign up and pay up as soon as possible.

Oops, deleted that one too. *Grin*

Update

I swear, weekends are getting too chaotic for words. Another unintended hiatus, consisting partly of “can’t think of anything to write” and partly of “too knackered to string words together”. Neither of which are entirely optimal for writing d4d™.

Saturday was manic, in a relaxed fashion. It was the day of the two birthday things where one wasn’t to know about the other. Amazingly, and by no small amount of luck and timing (Rule of Life #1 : It’s better to be lucky than good ) it all went well, no clangs were dropped, and everything can now amble on it’s way again. The purchase of a birthday present from Pyramid Glass is, so far as I can tell, always going to be a bit of a winner, and it was a good day.

Having left Friend #1 (she was going back to meet her beloved after the football), I grabbed a taxi home (ah, the exuberance of youth!) and just as it was pulling up at the house I got a call from Friend #2 saying “we’re running a lot earlier than expected, see you in about twenty minutes!”. Talk about timing…

As it was, everything went well. OK, it was a good night, but my god, it pissed it down. Following the meal, we were goingt o go to a couple of bars, but by the time we got there, the mood was more “sod that, let’s go home” than to keep on, and so one taxi ride later, there was brandy coffee for all. Not a bad way to thaw out, it has to be said.

So fortunately no-one got embroiled in a “you said you’d be there” kind of incident, and all went well. Everyone left on Sunday morning, and I was left to my own devices, most of which were either not working, or couldn’t be bothered to start. So a quiet – dare I say much-needed? – day was had, including watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on DVD – a particularly good way to spend a vegetative Sunday.

Normal service should now be in the process of being resumed…

Busy Day

More later