MAY 2002
The seminar in Stockholm was very enjoyable, especially being able to see a real forests again instead of little patches of wood. I was also surprised at seeing runestones scattered around everywhere. It was also easier to teach than usual, as everyone knew the runes and the mythology so we could skip the real basic stuff. The weather was fantastic, around 24C every day, and not a cloud in the sky. I have to admit that I'm getting slightly homesick.
Landing at Stanstead Airport everything was back to normal, though. It was raining, the temperature was 14C, and the train was late. Not that it mattered too much, as both my connecting trains were late, too, so I did get home even if it was several hours later than I should have been. The railway systems actually seems to be working in a weird sort of way.
Marcus has been looking after Arthur and Bronwen while I have been away, and the garden has become a killing field. Usually the birds in the garden, who has grown up with with my birds of prey, dive to Arthur for protection every time a sparrowhawk passes by. Even Bronwen takes a dim view of anyone killing her birds. So far I have found the remains of 7 birds; I better get out to Marcus while there still are birds left around Heimbu.
Stephen Byers, the Transort Secretary, has just resigned. Who will take over the responsibility for the train networks? Will there be changes, again? Long-term, of course, we'd all like our trains to be reliable, punctual, clean and comfortable. For the moment, however, I'd settle for a rail system that don't kill people on a regular basis.
I went out to Marcus to get my birds last week; Arthur was his usual cheerful self, but Bronwen was grumpier than I have ever seen her. We decided to give her a good flight and hopefully a kill, but just to be on the safe side, we put telemetry on her, which I usually don't bother with as she always stays close to me. This time, however, she flew straight up to the roof of the village church, bit off the arial and buggered off on a soar. We found her about an hour later sitting on top of a bungalow, but she completely refused to come down. But after the longest sulk in the history of falconry we finally got her by tieing several chicks to a fishing line, and when she struck we reeled her in.
I've just had a glimse of the ultimate punishment for all my sins. My father-in-law needed an operation, and we were told to be at the hospital at 8 o'clock in the morning. After a quick check we had to wait until 2 o'clock for surgery that finished in 10 minutes, and then we had to wait another 4 hours before we could find someone to discharge him. But what really got to me was that the TV set in the waiting room was switched on at all time. It was impossible to concentrate on reading or just tuning out. I have never watched daytime television before, and hopefully never will have to ever again. I despair for the human race.
In the end they had to give it away. I'm talking about the Dome of course. After spending close to a billion pounds on it the Government has finally found someone willing to take it off its hands. Even so they had to sweeten the deal by including prime London property worth possibly another billion, and they will still pay for the upkeep of the dome for another 3 years to the tune of 3 million a year. Predictably it has been hailed as a brilliant deal for the taxpayers by Lord Falconer, the Dome Minister.
It seems the new company to take over from Railtrack is to be called Network Rail. Some Westminster wag has already dubbed it Notwork Rail.
They have a weird sense of humour in Yorkshire. The local undertaker has put up the following sign in his window: "If you don't die, I can't live". That just about says it all.
We've had three serious attacks on people by dogs here in the matter of a few
days; one little boy savaged by an Akita, then another Akita attacked its owner
and finally (hopefully) a little girl was bitten by a Rottweiler. All three
dogs have been put down, but as usual calls have gone out to include the two
breeds on the Dangerous Dogs list of breeds. It does not seem to occur to most
people that the problem is mostly that a lot of dog-owners have neither the
knowledge nor the time to handle these dogs properly. Dogs are pack animals
that has a need to know where they belong in the pack; their place is at the
bottom with any human ranged above them in status. A little Yorkshire Terrier
that is treated by its owner as a high status member of the pack/family is one
thing, but a 100 pound Akita is a completely different kettle of fish. If it
feels that it is challenged for the leadership things can get very nasty indeed.
Also dogs are basically wolves and need to burn energy. People are talking about
exercising their dogs, but what they usually do is to take them out for a five
minutes "pee and shit" walk twice a day, if that, instead of at least
a ten miles walk with the dog running free doing maybe thirty to forty miles.
The latest initiative from the Government's Social Exclusion Unit is to pay the mortgages of convicteds criminals for six months after they are released from jail. One could be tempted to try for a few months inside, but that is not as easy as it seems. What is one supposed to do to get a jail term. Mugging an old lady for her pensions will only get you a community service order, burgle all your neighbours and you will probably be sent on an all-expenses-paid African safari " to find yourself." Even going berserk in the high street with an AK-47 would just earn you a session with a social worker prepared "to feel your pain." No, one has to commit the ultimate crime; nick someone's mobile phone and you are guaranteed a spell behind bars.