The Thamesmead Grump

Sorry you were out

Bexley Council, it seems, is sorry they missed me. Apparently they came to talk about our waste and recycling service, I wonder why they left again without doing so; all they did was post this card through the letter box along with some other bumph then left.

I have a few things to say about recycling in Bexley. Looking at the leaflet that came with the card, it seems I can recycle my kitchen and garden waste in a brown bin. We used to have 2 brown bins which were duly filled with garden waste and left to fester for about 2 years. When I finally complained about them, they were taken away and I was told they would not be replaced. They never were. As for the glass, paper and plastic/can bins - the paper bin only has a letter box size slot to put your paper and cardboard through; anyone trying to dispose of the box their 50 inch plasma screen came in has to tear it up into little pieces to get it through the slot or more likely, just dump in on top. The same applies to the plastic bottle bin which you can't get a six pint bottle through, although ours has the lid left unlocked so you can lift it and dump your stuff inside. That too can be left till it is overflowing, although a quick call to the right people got ours emptied in short order. The leaflet asks me to take light bulbs to the refuse and recycling centre, this is in Thames Road and is 7 miles away. The idea of doing a 14 mile round trip to recycle a light bulb seem to me to rather defeat the object. I suppose I could always walk.

Nostalgia Time

This reminds me of our living room wall when I was a child. What you are looking at is a small group of Teal flying over the river. They come to roost in the Winter in their hundreds along with many other species. Take a walk with your binoculars along the river front when the tide is going out for a real birdwatching treat. I have travelled to RSPB reserves all over the country and seen lesser spectacles than are available at the end of my garden. if you are a complete novice, there are often bird watchers around who will help you with identification. Here are some to be getting on with -

This should need little introduction to anyone living in Thamesmead. The Grey Heron used to be a common site on the canals but is seen a lot less now. Probably due to the state the water is in (as mentioned in my earlier post). There is still one who sits regularly down by the town centre but that is because the man in the chip shop feeds it.

The Great Crested Grebe, here in its less colourful winter plumage, also used to be a common site on the canals but can still be seen in the river.

This is a juvenile version of the same bird, still has its 'Tiger Stripes' down the side of its neck

Jurassic Vandals

This is the famous Ammonite Fossil Pavement at Lyme Regis dating back around 200 million years. I have just come back from a couple of days exploring there while the Wife went off on her Drawing Class holiday. It really is the most incredible sight and well worth the difficult clamber over loose rocks to get to it. Sadly, some people have been deliberately damaging it; in some cases, to try and remove the fossils which of course just destroys them and amazingly, some religionist types who believe the Earth is only 6000 years old so the fossils must have been put there by the Devil.

Here is some more of the Devil's handiwork

This next one I found all by myself. OK, so it's not the best fossil in the world but I'm very proud of it and I didn't have to take a hammer to a World Heritage Site to get it, it was just sitting there on the beach.

While researching the lunatics who destroy precious parts of our World's history for religious reasons, I came across this piece on YouTube and thought I would share it with you. Be warned, it does contain some 'adult' language

On Bush, Bible, Fossils, Evolution, and Reality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcTjGs6_yhU

Speaking of madness - I have just learned that the Nobel Peace Prize has gone to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Does this prize have any credibility left at all? In the past it has gone to international terrorists, various politicians of dubious credentials, massive international organisations i.e. UN Peace Keeping Forces, The European Union - for protecting the human rights of terrorists, murderers and paedophile rapists and more American Presidents that can possibly be healthy. At least it didn't go to that Pakistani girl who defied the will of God by demanding girls should be educated; that has really pleased the Taliban.