Datchet Days

Friday January 30, 12:57 PM

Pub offers pints and burial plots

LONDON (Reuters) - A game of darts or a packet of peanuts are what most pubs sell customers to go with their beer, but one landlord is offering them something rather more lasting -- a final resting place.

Regulars at the Church Inn need not leave their favourite drinking spot even when their time on Earth is up, because landlord Julian Taylor has turned a field next door into a cemetery.

"The idea came about when my dad was ill," said Taylor, who bought the country pub near the northern city of Manchester 11 years ago.

"We are in a beautiful spot at the top of a hill and he said he'd like to be buried looking down into the valley."

Locals liked the idea and have started buying plots themselves, he told Reuters on Friday.

"One regular has even asked his friends to take their pints out into the cemetery on Friday nights after he dies -- in memory of his happy nights in the pub," Taylor said.
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The windows in our house here have a second set of sound reducing windows installed about five inches from the outer windows. Big deal, you say. Well, here's the mystery. Why are there a zillion dead pill bugs on the window sill? How on earth did they even get in there? Not only are they on the first floor window sills, they're on the second floor ones as well. Are these tiny bugs crawling all the way up inside the walls to get themselves into this space between window and window? What is the attraction to them? If they get in there, why can't they crawl back out instead of dying in droves and becoming vacuum cleaner fodder? If I had double windows in the states would the space between also become a pill bug graveyard? Or is this a UK pill bug thing? It is a mystery to me, that's for sure.
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Late yesterday afternoon we had a small dose of winter weather. Snow came down hard and fast for about 30 minutes, coating everything with an overlay of snow. Luck of all luck for the kids: it was good packing snow. Some quick digging in the closet for snow gear and they were out in a flash. They were anxious to get what fun they could out of the snow before it was gone. Little snowpeople popped up in the garden and snowballs were flying. They came in with big smiles on their frozen little faces.

This morning it was clear as a bell, no clouds around to possibly add to the inch of snow that was still left on the ground. Things here were trecherous during the morning commute, if the local news is to be believed. Mostly the problems were related to icy roads that had not been properly gritted. Now most of what is left on the ground is just the dregs that have a thin layer of ice on top. Twas fun while it lasted.
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Though we're speaking the same language here, we've had to do some adjusting to our vocabulary. Consider these clothing equivalents:

pants are trousers
underwear are pants
undershirts are vests
sweaters are jumpers or cardis
sneakers are trainers
galoshes are wellies
vests are waistcoats

You can see how one could end up a bit confused when trying to ask about clothing at a shop. (And perhaps even a bit embarrassed as well....) People here sometimes know what we are talking about if we use the US word, but, mostly they don't or have to think about it for a while.
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What a perfect anti-litter slogan for Britain! It certainly gives a whole different impression than "Don't Mess with Texas", doesn't it?
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Thursday January 22, 07:01 PM

Naked rambler reaches journey's end

LONDON (Reuters) - A rambler has fulfilled his ambition of walking naked through the length of the country, despite being arrested several times over the course of his half-year trek.

Steve Gough, 44, reached John O'Groats at the very northern tip of Scotland, on Thursday after a 900-mile walk which began at Land's End in the middle of last year.

Walking often in near freezing temperatures, he was wearing only socks, walking boots, a hat and a rucksack.

Gough said he was blazing a trail against antiquated indecency laws and establishment attitudes.

The unemployed lorry driver was arrested several times during his journey after complaints from the public. Not even two brief prison sentences and sometimes outright public hostility put him off his quest.

Speaking as he approached his final destination, Gough said it would take time to change people's minds about nudity, but hoped the campaign would be successful.

"This is just one step in the whole process of making people aware about our bodies because we are so paranoid about them," Gough said.
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Today we had our first Jehovah's Witnesses ringing the doorbell. I'll have to say they were the fanciest JW's I've ever seen. They looked like they'd just stepped out of Harrod's. Their opening line was no different than what I've heard for years, though. (Have I thought about whether government will ever be able to bring about peace on the earth?) I politely pointed to my no solicitors sign and said I was busy, and amazingly, they went away. One of them did protest that they weren't selling anything, and I couldn't resist saying that in a way they were. They didn't disagree. I did get my very own copy of the "Will This World Survive" pamphlet (also exactly the same), and they didn't even ask for a quarter. (Or 20p or whatever it would be here.)

Quite a while ago someone came to the door from one of the local churches (mainline) and John had the misfortune of answering the door. He stood there for some time trying to explain to them that he was a Christian and attended church regularly. Eventually I had pity on him and went to the door and let him escape. The woman at the door accused me of not letting him make his own decision. I pointed out to her that he had been trying politely to get away for the last five minutes and since that didn't work I was there to ask them to leave. They left. Some things are certainly the same here.
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Here are the preparation guidelines for American Long Grain Rice, purchased at Tesco.

To cook on the hob:
1. Place 75g of rice per person into a sieve and rise well in running cold water
2. Add a pinch of salt (if required) to a large pan of water and boil. Add rice and return to the boil. Stir once then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 11 minutes or until rice is tender
3. Drain in a sieve, rise through with boiling water and serve

Now before I go further, I'll have to admit that I've never actually read the instructions on a package of white rice that I purchased in the states. However, my basic understanding has always been boil twice as much water as rice, add rice, return to the boil, lower heat, cover and cook on the stove top for 15 to 20 minutes until done. Am I out of my mind? Do cooks in the states actually do it the way Tesco seems to think we do?

I've done it both ways using the rice from Tesco. They both work just fine. I think I'll stick with the one that is less work.
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When we first arrived here we received notices from TV Licensing indicating that we had not paid for our television license and that we could be subject to hefty fines (£1000) if we were found to be watching the television without a proper license. I tried to explain to the TV licensing folks that we did not watch TV. Yes, we have a TV with a VCR, but we used it only to watch video tapes and DVD's, and have done so for close to 20 years. They didn't believe me. (Guilty until proven innocent.) I was told that they had detection equipment to track down illegal TV watching. They have a van that picks up signals from the TV -- apparently TV's have a component called a local oscillator that emits a signal. They also have hand-held scanners so they can catch you even if you live in a flat. They also have the right to enter a home on demand to make sure that no TV is in the house. Retailers who sell televisions are required by law to notify TV Licensing within 60 days of making a sale and give them the purchasers complete name and address.

So, partly out of curiosity about UK programming and mostly because I was concerned about having a TV Licensing representative insisting on looking through the house, we got a TV license. This costs us £116 a year for our color TV. (If it was a black and white TV it would only cost us £38.50.) For our £116 we get five channels. BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, BBC4, and BBC5. For the most part the programming is either dull or far too riské. Occasionally there are good BBC specials and it is enjoyable to watch UK sports we aren't familiar with like football (soccer) and snooker (pool).

I got to thinking about all this because the TV Licensing department has got a heavy advertising campaign going on on the radio right now. Interestingly enough, I don't think I've ever seen an ad on the TV itself concerning TV licensing. Seems like that would be the place to do it.

Here's their web site if you've got any desire to read more about it: TV Licensing
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Years ago I when we lived in the Netherlands a local woman would come occasionally to help with the housework. When she did the dishes, she didn't rinse them, only put them into the dish drainer with the soapy bubbles still on them. I remember being surprised by this as a child. When I got old enough to have my own dishes to wash, I had forgotten this time saving idea. It was all brought back to me recently when I had the opportunity to witness a Brit hand-washing dishes. This got us to wondering if this practice is the reason that kitchen sinks here have only one section, or if they don't rinse the dishes because the sinks have only one section.
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With few exceptions, my experience with the numbering of floors has been unvarying. One comes into a building on the first floor. It may at times be called the ground floor, but that is synonymous with the first floor. Here, however, the ground floor is the floor you come in on, and the first floor is the next one up. This difference has had me down many flights of stairs, then back up them again. I'll probably get used to it just in time to go back the the states and be confused all over again.
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These last few weeks have taken us into London several times. Yesterday we went to the Science Museum to see a Lord of the Rings exhibit. The display covered the first movie. We got to see costumes; art work (some by Alan Lee, some conceptual drawings); explanitory video clips; many props, including the one ring and many swords; and a huge rock troll with an orc. (I would not care to run into either of them, dark alley or not. Scary.) For £3 we got our picture made on Gandalf's cart in the Shire. We could have bought a small LOTR poster for £10, but decided to pass on that opportunity.

The exhibit was cram packed. We had to buy timed entrance tickets ahead of time, supposedly to cut down on crowding in the exhibit. Apparently their idea of what is an acceptable number of people to allow in at a time was a bit higher than mine. It was really hard to get around in the exhibit hall and see things. The rest of the museum was not crowded at all, so after we went through the LOTR exhibit, we spent a couple of hours looking around at all the things in the Science Museum. I thought it interesting that the exhibit about a movie was so full, while the exhibits on space flight, textiles, photography, geophysics, engineering and so on were relatively empty.
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Terry Pratchett is a popular UK Science Fiction/Humor writer. His Discworld series parodies many aspects of life and is certainly worth the reading. Here's a link to a Quicktime Movie of Terry Pratchett, that I took at Book People in Austin, TX. MVITP03.MOV

My Mom and I went in October and heard him speak, then stood in a long queue to have him sign a copy of Monstrous Regiment for my brother. As you can see, I also had my photo made with him. (He does that pose with almost everyone who asks for a photo. I think it's supposed to be "Who is this wierdo who is standing so close to me?")
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Warwick Castle is rated as the number one castle to visit among Britons. Located north of Oxford, near Stratford on Avon, Warwick Castle is an impressive sight. There has been a castle on the site for a thousand years, the first being a motte and bailey fort established by William the Conqueror. By the 14th century it was completely rebuilt in stone. The mill and engine room associated with the castle since the early 12th century is also open to the public and shows how the Earl of Warwick generated electricity for the castle during the Victorian age. Now the whole site is a popular tourist attraction - as witnessed by the many different accents and languages we heard on our visit there.


The castle has many interesting exhibits: a ghost tower; a dungeon in which you can see a torture chamber, as well as many implements of torture; the armory with armor, swords, guns and crossbows; towers to climb; ramparts to walk along. Many of the rooms are furnished: the chapel; state room; great hall; drawing room; bedroom and boudoir. Some of these are set up with displays depicting every day life and including very realistic wax figures of some of the people who lived in the castle over the years. There are many docents available to answer questions as well as "shows" including singers, magicians and fire eaters. The grounds themself are extensive and very nice for strolling around by the river.
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While somewhat off topic, I'll still take this opportunity to wish anyone who is reading this a very Happy New Year. May your coming year be blessed with an ever growing knowledge of God's love and grace, as well as an abundance of His peace.
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The Tate Galleries were our mission yesterday. Up until 2000, there was only one Tate Gallery. Now it is divided and in two different locations - separated by the Thames river. Tate Britain has changing displays of art related to the history of Britain between the 16th century and the present. Tate Modern displays art from the last 100 years interpreting four themes: the nude, landscape, still life and history painting. There are paintings, sculptures, film, video and photographs.

Though we had planned to go to the Tate Modern, we ended up at Tate Britain first. We took a quick look through the galleries and the shop then headed back to the tube to make our way to Tate Modern. Tate Modern is housed in what used to be a power plant. The first thing you see when you come in is a long, seven floor high gallery with a sun like light on the wall at one end and no other lighting. You look around and see people on the lying on the floor or standing looking up and realize that there is a mirror on the whole length of the ceiling. We went through most of the galleries relatively quickly - I'll have to admit that a lot of modern art doesn't do much for me. There were a few things that I liked: a hanging display of items from peoples sheds that had been blown up by the Army (at the request of the artist) then hung by strings from a grid on the ceiling, a large plaster cloud with water spouts all over it, Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley photos, as well as some works by Salvadore Dali and Pablo Picasso. Among the hard to interpret or appreciate (for me anyway) were: a painting of ten uniform sausages (hotdogs) along with all the practice sketches, several large canvases of two colors of paint, and dead painted trees.

All in all the galleries were both very enjoyable and gave us pleasant way to spend the last day of 2003.
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