The First Post-Christmas Salad

It's alright for some...

All the turkey has gone, the last of which we had with a salad (the first of LOTS of salads) but there are still chocolates, nuts and savouries left to nibble on. Still, there are some consolations to being stuffed through food, England are stuffing Australia in the fourth Ashes test in Melbourne. I’ve been staying up until the early hours watching play until lunch time.

It’s time to be a little more profound. There’s a vexed question that’s been baffling mankind for centuries: Are zebra’s white horses with black stripes or black horses with white stripes?

Well, scientists have apparently come up with the answer. New evidence suggests now that the animals are in fact black with white stripes. I just thought you ought to know. Zebra is a translation of ‘wild ass,’ and exclusively an African animal, there are many varieties apparently.

Less profound is the weather which reached the dizzying heights of plus two degrees today with some light wet snow and sleet which means, thankfully, the snow is on its way out, no doubt for the time being at least.

However the eastern seaboard of the USA has now had their dumping of snow causing travel chaos and disappointing retailers who may well miss out on important post Christmas sales. Even southern states of Georgia and South Carolina have been affected with their first white Christmas in over 100 years. With winds reported up to 62 miles per hour, blizzards have brought misery to many.

Still at least there’s a happy ending for Moroccan born grandfather Mohammed Bellazrak who got lost in the snow in Wiltshire (UK) after dropping his wife off at an airport. He was eventually stopped by police in Oxfordshire after going missing for three days when his registration plate was recognised by cameras. According to the BBC News Online service, “Analysis from number-plate recognition systems showed he had driven around various towns in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire and on the M4.

“Mr Bellazrak had no mobile phone with him, and he told newspaper reporters that his sat-nav was not working.” Lucky man, he’s none the worse for his ordeal.

I don’t normally watch much television, but with not a lot else to do and being so cold and icy out, I’ve managed a few hours in front of the box. Television hasn’t been too bad, some reasonable choice if you have satellite, but no real highlights for me. I got three books for Christmas, Simon Pegg’s autobiography ‘Nerd do Well’, Michael Caine’s autobiography ‘The Elephant to Hollywood’ and Tim Vines ‘The Biggest Ever’ joke book.

I’ve enjoyed sitting this afternoon just reading Pegg’s book which is both entertaining and a testament to his memory of his very formative childhood. This sci-fi nut tells a very interesting story although sometimes you feel he’s a bit over analytical about what has influenced his career as an entertainer.

One more day off tomorrow (Tuesday) before a short three day return to work. I hope you’ve had a good holiday so far if you have been fortunate enough to have it away from work.

Chat soon

Ta-ra