The Thamesmead Grump

No, I haven't been arrested

One of my readers has just reminded me that I have been neglecting my blog.

I haven't been arrested by the FBI as my last post suggested I might be. Unfortunately, I was not able to get much from my would be scammer, we did swap a few more emails after my last entry but he soon realised I was sending him up and stopped replying to me. Shame.

Anyway.....................................................

The Great Morrison's Obstacle Course

It seems that Morrison's made a £176 million loss last year if the BBC is to be believed. Their report is here. Frankly, I'm not surprised. You just can't get into their shop to buy anything. After fighting your way past the massive queue for the cash points, strategically placed so as to block the entrance to the shop, then past the next queue for cigarettes, you are faced with a huge display of vegetables across the entire front of the entrance. To make matters even worse, they then pile boxes of other products either side of it, restricting entry even further. Once inside, the isles are a jumble of displays which spill off the shelves and onto the floor making it next to impossible to get past. If you stop to look at anything, no-one can get past you so you have to keep moving. It's like the opposite of a conveyor belt, where the goods stay still and you have to keep passing by. If Morrison's want more people to go shopping in their supermarket, they need to make the place more accessible.

The Cold War (Part 2)

Am I the only person not surprised by the Russian intervention in Crimea. As they proved when they were the dominant power in the old Soviet Union, their default action in any situation where they think their interests may lie is to invade. If that were us, we would now be at the point where the Government would be considering setting up a working party to examine the constitution of a committee that would look into the possibility of drafting a motion to put to the UN. The Russians just march in and there isn't a damm thing we will do about it any more than we did when they invaded Poland (1939), Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968). These people are not our friends.

Facebook Morons

Bonehead

In my post dated 23 Oct 2013 I reported a case of the alleged kidnap of a child that was doing the rounds on Facebook. The author of that story, one Joshua Bonehill-Payne, was also responsible for another story about how a pub had banned British armed forces in case it offended Muslims. Fortunately he has now been prosecuted for his efforts. He has been described as 'moronic' in the BBC news article I wonder how you would describe the tens of thousands of facebook users who shared these and other stories without bothering to check if they were true first. One that hit my page recently refers to a man who is looking at pictures of schoolgirls when a little research will reveal that he doesn't look at anything, what with being blind from birth.

A Great Day Out

I had a great day out on Thursday when Ralph Todd from the Bexley RSPB Group led a guided birdwatching walk through Danson Park. The early morning fog lifted and we were treated to some glorious spring sunshine. (The birds weren't bad either). Have a look at their website for details about other events.

Here are a few of the pictures I took on the day