[when in china] do valentines

The Beijing Happy Valley theme park said it would offer a free ticket to ladies who came with their partners and arrange special activities for lovers during the Valentine's Day weekend. Even blood donation centers were offering special gifts to donors. The Changsha Blood Center in central Hunan Province said they would present roses and movie tickets to lovers who donate blood on Feb. 14, a tradition they have followed for the past four years.

Isn't that nice? What are you doing for Valentine's Day?

Me, I'm getting depressed. I had some cards from Russia and want that lady in my arms now but what can I do [sound of violins]? Where's the English rose of my life? I see her in ASDA and Morrison's but she's spoken for, methinks.

Maybe she'd like a ride on my 12 speed bike with me? Maybe her name's Daisy? Maybe I'm making it all up.

[thrilling thursday] your caption please

food poisoning] you feeling all right just now

Just had a peanut butter sandwich earlier and now I read this:

The peanut-related recall has renewed calls for increased oversight of the nation's foodmakers, and even regulators are saying they need to change procedures to better protect the public.

Uh-huh. Wonder how we're doing for food hygiene:

Around 80,000 people in the UK report food poisoning each year.

Oops.

[good news week] hope the recession continues

We have a Morrisons just down from us. There's an ASDA too so I'm going down there on my bike to check them out:

Wm Morrison Supermarkets is cutting the price on 4,000 products as grocers step up the battle to attract shoppers hit by the economic downturn.

[chutzpah] just about sums it up

You have to admire their Chutzpah:

Ex-bank chiefs say sorry for mistakes

Former bankers blamed for taking RBS and HBOS to the brink of collapse offer public apologies for their actions.

[fireball] run when it comes at you

Let's face it - I'm not getting much blogging done. What was a slowdown has almost become a hiatus but I do plan to be back. The issue is not things to blog about.

The novels I'm revamping don't mean a lot to most readers but they do to me and I've almost finished the 2nd one, which needed to be virtually rewritten. It does seem more exciting now. The 3rd is going to be tough because it involves combining all the remaining bits and pieces into a smooth narrative which you could still stand reading after the first two.

Anyway, enough on that.

I see they have their annual fires in Oz. Every country has its traditional trouble - California its tremors, Britain the wrong snow, Australia its bushfires. This particular lot of fires seem bad, even by Australian standards:

The fire that dropped from the sky on Saturday plunged us into a new reality. Environmental conditions had changed drastically before our eyes, but the advice to the community had remained the same. Even on Saturday the urgent words were streaming out of the radio: Be safe! Stay inside!

Had the fireballs come as far as our place our hoses and pumps and cotton clothes and every other piece of paraphernalia we had accumulated (such as wet mops and buckets and a bath full of water) would have counted for nothing.

If you've never been close to one of these, they are not nice. As the article points out, when that thing comes your way, all the nice little things like damping the gutters, staying inside and all that - you still get consumed in a fireball. People did.

And what did I walk home to from the shop last evening? Mist. British mist!