lunch with a loony

A bit unkind perhaps, but then my late lamented second wife always used to say that I would use up all my sympathy and compassion at work, thereby leaving none left by the time I got home.
And perhaps loony is a misnomer; my father in law actually has Alzheimer's. His mind has atrophied to the point where he simply has a stock of well thumbed anecdotes which he trots out, one after the other. Today we are treated yet again to the one about my wife's mum having had 15 miscarriages before finally getting it right with her. This one, as we might imagine, invariably wrings an agonised squirm from the hapless subject of the story.

COMMENT

Yesterday I commented on the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An article in today's Observer reminds us of the far worse oil pollution suffered in coastal Nigeria over the past 50 years, perhaps as much as the equivalent of 100 Exxon Valdez disasters. And how the oil companies have (almost completely) successfully buried the news. They have been able to do this partly because Nigeria of course is, as Homer Simpson would describe it, a loser country, about which we know little and care less.

DR PELAGIUS's NEW HIGHWAY CODE

RULE 2

When driving on a two lane road, if you encounter a bus stopped to pick up or discharge passengers, simply swing out into the opposite lane and pass it. Should any oncoming traffic be forced to swerve or brake harshly to avoid you, do not be concerned. Remember: you own the road, they don't.