Last night the bird bath froze. Not just a thin veneer either, but a solid slab of ice. It'll be a while before I'll put out any plants. Heatwave? Only in the Daily Mail.
Well, I have completed my procrastination for the day and now have to do some work. I'm also thinking I should maybe post earlier in future. At least once before the sun goes down because lots of you will be wondering if I'm one of the Undead. I don't think I am. It's hard to tell here because there isn't a lot of sun even in the daytime. Usually the sky is a relaxing and uniform slate grey from horizon to horizon. There are children here who run indoors screaming when part of the sky mysteriously turns blue. It's not a good place to be a sunblock salesman.
Here, vampires can come out in the daytime and run for public office. Most of them win.
Anyway, I'm composing a smoking post for Orphans of Liberty. I'll link to it when it goes live to save cross-posting. There is so much source material today, coming at such a pace, that it's surprising smokers have not yet been declared a threat to something or other and each received a Cruise missile right up the jacksi. I am ready. Tinfoil underpants.
So today I'll just link to the thoughts of others.
There used to be a saying which, like so many, was common just a few years ago but which has fallen out of use. The saying is 'The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing' and there is a stunning example of what this means here.
We now live in a land where singers are arrested for singing non-racist songs because some passing loon decides to pretend 'offence', while someone who receives death threats has their weapons confiscated. Presumably in case the threateners decide to take the matter further, thus allowing them to carry out their threats without personal risk. Can't have people stopping murderers. That would put the police out of a job.
Via Prodicus, I see Big Norm is on the warpath. Hardly worth his while really, it's like watching a lion play with a mouse.
I have no pets. The winter before last killed all the fish in my pond and I didn't restock it. Just as well because last winter would have killed the new ones anyway. Yet of the charity shops around here, I used to frequent PDSA because their aims were noble and they weren't trying to tell me how to live. A while back they came out with 'passive smoking kills pets' and I haven't been in their shop since. They are at it again. So, they still won't be benefiting from the produce of my clearouts. I'd rather burn it. And blow the smoke in their direction.
Well, better get some work done. Lots to do before sunrise.
13 comments:
Speaking of thoughts, I saw this and thought of you..
http://www.jobsgopublic.com/jobs/tobacco-control-alliance-coordinator-e084
LI - Gather a large box of your clearouts and go into that shop and put your full box on the counter....take one look at the sign and exclaim "passive smoking kill pets?...how ridiculous!" Then pick up your box and walk out.
They may just take the sign down.
Down the road here it's been 18+ every day for a fortnight, with the exception of Saturday when it rained all morning.
The problem is you live far too near the sea. All that haar is blocking your view of the yellow thing.
Nae ice here since early March when the last vanished with a bit of help from some Tesco salt. Pity it was on a patch of grass which will never recover without intensive care, but safer than breaking an arm or leg attempting to reach the garage.
Buy a budgie if you want a pet. I think you had one once so you'll understand the care they require. :)
Are PADS now part of the Smokey Horror Show? That's another one off my charitable list too.
I am just curious. Can you get arrested in the UK for giving your pet some booze to drink?? If so, I guess you are correct about Kafka...
"Heatwave? Only in the Daily Mail."
After the 75 degrees at the weekend, the temp here is a far more normal for the season 55-60. It's caught everyone out, and people are still in shorts and t-shirts.
Shivering.
Do you want their logo to put in too? I can give you the html from my sidebar.
LI
You want to kick blogger into touch. From time to time, one writes a complex but not lengthy comment and the machine says 'cannot comply'. I it is shit. Try wordpress - Simon Clark and Frank Davis seem to be doing ok there.
Look - here's the thing that I have discovered:
""2.9 Must private individuals pay duty on tobacco products made from tobacco which they grow themselves?
Yes. A private individual must pay the duty on any tobacco products that they make from tobacco which they have grown. This applies whether the tobacco products are intended for sale or solely for the grower’s own consumption. Anyone intending to manufacture tobacco products must comply with the conditions set out in this notice. You must register the premises which you use to make tobacco and complete form TP7A to account for all tobacco products that you have manufactured for your own consumption and on which duty is due.""
At the moment, we are EXPERIMENTING, which is ok. Note the change of emphasis to 'premises'. The slimy slugs in Tobacco Control are everywhere.
NB. No wonder that one sees little on the net from individuals about growing your own.
Thomas - I'm thinking of applying ;)
JJ - What's needed here are some 'Smokers are not welcome' signs to attach to doors at night...
Subrosa - the greenhouse gets hot enough to need the vent opened during the day but it goes below freezing at night. So far, seedlings are safer in the house.
Anon - I don't know if it's illegal to give animals booze but you'd probably get arrested anyway.
JuliaM - The heatwave seems to have passed me by. I'm still in thick shirts and sometimes pullovers.
James - please do send that HTML and I'll try not to crash the entire Blogger site by installing it ;)
Junican - the law only applies if you successfully make smokeable tobacco. No point worrying about it until then. The first batch or two could be utter disasters. And probably will be, as far as anyone else knows.
Besides, they'll make the plant itself illegal at some point so nobody will be officially growing any at all.
Then there'll be whole fields of it, out in the woods.
Hi LI
Yes, I was aware of the 'smoke-ability' thing - I shortened the post when Blogger ditched me!
I got the quote from the Revenue and Customs website. I understand that the provision is fairly recent but I cannot date it.
Here are a couple of other quotes:
From section re beer:
""4.4 Exemption from registration.
You do not need to apply for registration to produce beer in the following circumstances:
brewing solely for your own domestic consumption, or
brewing only for research or experimental purposes - see section 17.""
As regards wine:
""3.2 Can I produce wine without a licence?
You may only produce wine without an Excise licence if the wine is not for sale.""
I could find no mention of the position as regards spirits.
Strange, is it not, that Tobacco has been singled out for special persecution?
But as you say, there is a long way to go.
Spirits need registration for sure. In the days before fancy deionisers and reverse-osmosis purifiers, every lab had a still for producing distilled water.
The revenue men used to come around and check it was only being used for water.
As if a building full of PhDs lacked the wit and knowledge to build something as simple as a still from scratch and put it somewhere else.
But yes, it is interesting that the 'personal consumption' part does not apply to tobacco.
Realistically, the revenue they'd get from chasing up everyone who grew two or three plants wouldn't cover the cost of chasing it.
But do I think they'd chase it anyway?
Yup. Spite overrules cost.
Max Farquhar has gone down. Anybody know anything?
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