What a scumbag!

Posted on May 22, 2026 by james

I see it’s being reported that Bill Winters, the head of Standard Chartered Bank referred to some employees as “lower value human capital” at a conference recently. Of course now he’s been called out on it he has apologised for his wording, but the fact remains that anyone with an ounce of empathy would never have thought it an acceptable thing to say in the first place. Never have even thought of the expression, in fact. Shame those people are probably not in a position to be able to just walk out of their jobs today. Then he might find out exactly how valuable they are.

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I think you have it wrong

Posted on May 22, 2026 by james

BBC headline today:

Reality TV risks sinking ‘into the gutter’, warns ex-Channel 4 and Ofcom boss Michael Grade

Mate, I think you have it completely wrong. Reality television started in the gutter. It’s been going downhill ever since.

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Vine-ripened tomatoes

Posted on May 21, 2026 by james

It occurred to me the other day to wonder what “vine-ripened” actually means on a pack of tomatoes, as opposed to what supermarkets want us to think it means.

As far as I can find, it means you get charged more. That’s it. It doesn’t mean they’re picked when they’re ripe and ready to eat. It means they’re picked when they’re starting to colour up (as opposed to being picked fully green) and likely still “ripened” by exposing them to ethylene gas.

I even found a few links to research suggesting that there’s no difference in taste at all.

I guess that means I need a way to save my own tomatoes for as long as possible. To that ends I hope to get a reasonable crop from my “de Colgar” tomatoes this year. They’re supposed to store for several months after picking from what I’ve read.

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Lidl’s “Chunky Guacamole”

Posted on May 21, 2026 by james

My wife bought a pot of this recently and I’m pleased to report that I did (eventually) find a “chunk” in it. I was slightly amused that it is sold under the brand “Meadow Fresh”, given that none of the main ingredients will ever have been near a meadow.

I was more intrigued however that the 150g pack contains 3.5% tomato, so 5.25g. About a teaspoon full. There’s even less onion (2.5%) and even less coriander than that. I wonder if the average purchaser can actually taste any of that?

It also says “Improved Recipe” on the front of the packaging. I wonder if that means “tastes better”, or “cheaper to make”?

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An odd form of words

Posted on May 21, 2026 by james

I wouldn’t sully my eyeballs with the programme, but I’ve seen the news articles recently about allegations of rape on “Married At First Sight”, or “MAFS” as the chavs apparently know it. Yesterday it was reported that Channel 4’s CEO is “deeply sorry” over the rape allegations .

Note: Sorry over the allegations. Not sorry for anyone who has suffered as a result. Seems a dreadful way to address the situation to me. I’m not sure that it’s even worse because the CEO is female. Probably it’s beyond getting worse as it is.

Mined ewe, having read the underlying idea of the programme, it seems like an abuser’s charter to me.

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Another side-effect

Posted on May 21, 2026 by james

Side effects of my BP meds, #8192:

Coffee with milk. Tastes absolutely horrible now. I’ve started drinking it black instead. Seems a very strange thing to have happened, but perhaps health-wise it’s not the end of the world.

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What’s going on here then?

Posted on May 21, 2026 by james

I noticed this when I was weeding today.

That’s definitely not wind damage. I wonder if an animal of some description has piled through it. Deer, possibly?

Might have to trim the damage back a fair it. It’s now squashed down on my rhubarb plants.

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No dig diary, 21st May 2026

Posted on May 21, 2026 by james

At last, a sunny day! Feels as though it’s been ages, but probably only a week. The ground is nicely moistened now though, so it’s ideal for doing a bit of weeding.

But first, how are those onions that I planted out for seed getting on?

Quite well, it seems. Certainly rather better than the rest of the mess of the flower bed.

And so to weeding. Part of the plot seems to have become home to the national collection of creeping thistle.

Clearly I didn’t want such a bounty to suffer any damage due to an unexpected late frost, so I’ve removed the plants with as much root as possible and relocated them to somewhere that will definitely stay warm.

Or as we call it, the compost heap.

I can hardly believe that bay was empty two weeks ago!

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Just don’t know what to think — BP again

Posted on May 20, 2026 by james

This morning. Having had readings in the low 140s two and three days previously…

It’s just deeply confusing.

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What’s with this “Royal Pop” watch?

Posted on May 18, 2026 by james

I can’t understand it. They look like a child’s toy. I can’t help feeling that the emperor has no clothes (nor a watch, in this case).

Ok, so I may not be the best person to judge given that in the thick end of fifty years I’ve only ever owned five watches (one of which was a Swatch and another a Rado who I think are owned by Swatch these days) and I’ve not actually worn one at all for the last twenty years, but I just wouldn’t want one of these. Even the stopwatches I used for swim coaching are probably more attractive. Just because it’s made by Swatch and Audemars Piguet means nothing. It’s a bit like buying a 348 just because it was made by Ferrari.

I actually still own my first ever watch, a Timex, a birthday gift when I was nine or ten years old, I guess. It would look amusingly lost on my wrist these days 😀

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