Beautiful frosty morning in rural Cambridgeshire. Perhaps, having paid an arm and a leg for winter tyres (on the advice of the Telegraph Motoring section) I will get some return on my investment. Or are winter tyres just a clever marketing trick? I'll let you know.
Consternation in the village shop yesterday where copies of the Daily Mail were in short supply. "I know it's bigoted," I heard one woman say, "but we do like it." Thankfully additional copies were found in a corner and a small riot was averted.
If Scotland votes for independence would Great Britain still exist as a legal entity and, if not, what are the implications for the British Broadcasting Corporation, amongst others? Just asking.
I have previously expressed admiration for Ryanair as a business model. This week however they blotted their copybook. What happened was this: as a priority boarder I was one of the first people to board the plane to Cork. As usual, I strode purposefully down the aisle to claim my preferred seat, 16C. It's one of 12 seats next to the emergency exits in the middle of the plane, which means there is additional legroom.
All 12 seats were empty but the stewardess wouldn't let me sit in any of them. "They're reserved," she confided. Now this didn't come as a total surprise because I know Ryanair have been offering reserved seating on some routes for several months. Nevertheless, when I booked my ticket the previous night there was no mention of reserved seating. I explained this to the stewardess who was busy telling other passengers that the seats were reserved. "I know," she said, and rolled her eyes. "It's a new policy on this route." Later, with all 12 seats still empty and the plane about to take off, she tapped me on the shoulder. "Write to the company," she implored.
Curiously, exactly the same thing happened on the return flight. Rows 16 and 17 were 'reserved' yet unused so the 12 most comfortable seats on the plane were effectively out of bounds. WTF!!
PS. The comment about the Mail made me laugh but as a reader for over 40 years I do NOT accept that the paper is "bigoted" – well, no more than the Guardian, the Independent or the BBC. Why do conservatives (with a small 'c') allow the 'liberal' elite to dictate how we see ourselves?