extra TVs and racist taxi drivers

Interview
Today I’m interviewing a microbiologist about setting up colonies on alien worlds in Milton Keynes. Ok – I’m interviewing a microbiologist in Milton Keynes about setting up colonies on alien worlds… interesting stuff and got some great material from him.

“we’re all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars” as Oscar Wilde said.

Racist taxit driver
On the way from the station to the university I got stuck with the traditional talkative genial racist taxi driver. He told me of how new Polish homless people are pushing our own good honest British homeless people out. He told me of how areas which were once happy and thriving are now no-go areas because of immigration. He talked a lot about people who he called “belligerents” – I’m not quite sure who these are, but I now know they carry machetties and come from “god knows where”.

I tried to point out that all the areas I’d lived in London (New Cross, Deptford, East Dulwich, Brockley) had been no-go areas 20 years ago and were now thriving and happy, but he didn’t seem to want to know. I even mentioned that statistically you’re safer on the streets today than you ever were – but this didn’t seem to sway him.

On the way back, I thankfully got a Muslim taxi driver who’s only worry was the traffic. In contrast to the previous driver, he thought Milton Keynes was a nice place to live. I suppose life is what you make it.



George has been having a couple of stroppy days – probably because Christmas and the new year saw him handed roun d from one person to another – an d that had to be tiring for him. Still, hopefully he’ll calm down in time to be disrupted by the hospital.


Too many TVs
After receiving two new TVs accidentally instead of one just before Christmas, we decided to do the decent thing and inform the company of their mistake today.

Lisa emailed them to let them know they could pick their TV up any time they liked, and their response was instant.

I returned home to discover that they’d delivered a third identical TV.