Plastic union flag

Well the long jubilee weekend is officially over and I am typing this back at work. Don’t tell my boss. It was a pretty good break, and I somehow managed to avoid all jubilee celebrations. I took the boy swimming on Tuesday. Apparently there was a free swim offer open to anyone who could prove they were called Elizabeth, and they presented us with a plastic union flag. That is about as close as we got to being patriotic.

Prof. David Nutt gets up my nose every time he speaks. He was the idiot who used to be on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, until he got sacked for claiming that alcohol was more dangerous than heroin. He’s written a book now. It’s called “Drugs – Without the Hot Air”. In this volume he makes a number of recommendations, including installing a breathalyser in every car that prevents it from starting unless the driver tests clear of alcohol. I quite want to read the book, but I’m buggered if I’m going to buy it. I may steal it if the opportunity presents itself.

It’s only a few days to go until the naked bike ride. I’ve serviced my bike. I’ve decided I’m taking my father’s old mountain bike this year because it has a rack on the back for panniers and it has the advantage of working brakes even if it doesn’t look as cool as my other bike. I still want to attempt it on a unicycle, but I don’t think I could do 10 miles. It would require training. I may try next year. I notice the local council in Cardiff has tried to distance itself from the event there. They were expected to allow nudity in Cardiff’s parks, but the council has officially declared that they will neither “facilitate the event nor condone it”. They did add that they would only intervene “if a complaint is made by a member of the public”. That sounds like an invitation to the Daily Mail readers of that city if you ask me. It will go ahead anyway I’m sure.

There is suddenly a lot of talk about the UK having a referendum on EU membership. I’m not exactly sure why this has bubbled to the surface this week, but the government is definitely hinting at a referendum. I suspect that any referendum we do get will be on an economic question, not an in or out question. The Euro doesn’t look to be in a good state though. Spain is about to go under and our PM is making noises about not helping to bail anyone out. I wonder what the position will be in say a year’s time.