Sock Sucker
Whoops… another pair of socks disappeared into the gap between the washing machine and the wall. Not the first time a sock or a hankie or something vanished before it could be grabbed and either hung up to dry in the utility room, or put into the washer. Rider had devised a solution… not having any ‘tongs’, the long-handled spoon and fish slice had been pressed into service previously. The technique being to lean over the back of the washer and grab the item, carefully lifting between the various pipes and bringing the treasure to the surface. Disaster struck when the fish slice slipped from grasp and disappeared …. however it could be reached and recovered. Him Indoors witnessed struggle and offered a solution… get the Dyson. What a good idea. Out it came and being a technical solution had to be operated by Him Indoors of course. Fantastic …. great suction speedily produced several odd socks and three full pairs, a hanky and a pair of Rider’s knickyknacks. Loads of fluff was sucked up as a bonus and the exercise completed with a good vac around the rest of the utility… it hadn’t been as clean for more time then will be revealed here. Which goes to confirm that two brains are better than one and that the Dyson is an ace sock sucker. 
Use Your Vote
Don’t vote tactically. In Rider’s book that is a betrayal of yourself. Vote for the Party or the person you really believe is best for us all. If there is a ‘hung Parliament’ like New Zealand has had for several years then that will be a new and interesting experience for us. It may mean that MPs will be forced to work together to reach a consensus on many policies and we may all feel more included. Personal experience at local Parish Council level shows that everyone from every background can work together to get the best for the community they live in and this must be true on the macro scale. It may lead to MPs regaining the respect they should have. Younger people want to engage and they will give service if they are inspired by example. We must take our Western democratic institutions into the 21st century in a new and more positive form – or risk increasing alienation and disaffection as evidenced by the low turn out to vote over so many years now. Rider is praying for proportional representation so you may guess how I’m going to vote tomorrow. Use your’s – whatever your choice.
The Fall
This film, directed by Tarsem Singh who is currently directing The Immortals with Mickey Rourke, is one you should watch. Set back in the day in Los Angeles when silent films were getting going, the story is about a little girl with a broken arm and an injured stuntman with a broken heart. The two come together in hospital. He tells her a fantastic epic story and persuades her to get him morphine ‘so he can sleep’. He wants to end his life but the child, in her innocence, tries to get him the pills. Both the child and the man give truly fabulous performances and the fantasy story sections are beautifully shot with a nod to Bollywood. Great to watch a film that defies placing in a genre. Engaging and satisfying film. If Tarsem does as good a job on The Immortals then Rider will be in the queue. Does it have a happy ending – you’ll have to watch and see
American Wild Mustangs
The American Bureau of Land Management stands on one side of the arguement and many horse-loving folks – including the likes of Viggo Mortensen – stand on the other. BLM says it needs to remove mustangs and burros from various parcels of ranges as their numbers are too great for the range to support. It’s tremendously traumatic for the equines to be rounded up and ‘driven’ over miles to the holding pens. There they may be lumped in together with stranger herds – mares and foals with geldings. Not sure what they do with the stallions who will fight each other if put together. Fights break out amongst the terrified animals. Some mares abort. Free roaming animals suffer terrible psychological damage. Stories abound of injuries and a proportion of deaths. Allegations are that the BLM is paying lip service to supposed management of the equines but that much land is going into the hands of large corporations to be exploited in whatever way it can be. What happens to the ‘excess’ animals is disputed – rehoming or death according to different sources. What Rider knows is that Viggo Mortensen comes across as a man to be trusted and certainly a true horse person. He is dead against what the BLM is doing. The icononic wild mustang must be preserved in as large numbers as possible for they are tremendously hardy and good doers and their bloodlines could be crucial in this polluted world. The Fell pony, for instance, has suffered in recent times from foals being spontaneously aborted which may be down to some genetic fault coming through the limited bloodlines. In such a case an ‘outbreeding’ might be necessary of some kind to a hardy ‘native type’. This kind of genetic fault could occur in other equines – all the world’s old ‘native’ wild equines are beyond price in this scenario. Let’s hope all horse lovers in the USA get behind the campaign to challenge the BLM and really get to the bottom of what they are doing with the wild mustangs. They must get it right, not just for their own Country’s horse health, but for the sake of the horses throughout the world where the mustang might prove to be a life saver one day. What can Rider do – tell everybody 
Afternoon Tea
A peculiarly British invention. The best place for this isn’t one of the overpriced London Hotels, or indeed one of the Betty’s cafes. Here is where to go – Mill Farm Nurseries Tea Rooms at South Milford. At a Betty’s each person would pay either £15.75 or £17.75 (why there should be a £2 difference is not at all clear) for 2 sarnies with a choice from 4 fillings, a scone with jam and cream and a selection of mini cakes + tea or coffee. At Mill Farm you can eat in a lovely old cafe or outside in a gorgeous garden area. In case you get a little bored waiting whilst everything is prepared freshly for you, you can nibble at the complementary dish of cookies/nuts and raisins/small chunks of strawberry/slice or two of orange/lemon. You would be wise to resist. Then a 3 tier cake stand will arrive containing first a selection of 4 sarnies from at least 5 fillings interspersed with salady bits. On the next tier up will be your choice of scone (from about 4) with a small jar of preserve and one of clotted cream with lids of white cloth tied with a little ribbon. On the top tier will be a slice of fruit cake (choice of something else if you wish) plus a generous chunk of Yorkshire’s finest Wensleydale cheese. If the consumption of this feast takes some time – as it will – another pot of tea or coffee etc will be supplied at no extra charge. The cost of this for you and your lucky friend will be £16.50. No that’s not a typing error – £16.50 for two people. There are many other goodies of the same standard and miniscule cost on the menu. You can wander to the nursery and choose some hardy perennials at the same miniscule cost. Yummy… please don’t tell anyone …. it can be our secret
Characters
Stacks of them in our village – Rider amongst them! A reliable source said Greeny (name disguised)- a known member of the species – arrived at the pub in a taxi accompanied by a goat. The taxi driver may have been a friend but more likely didn’t like to refuse some money or was a good sport. Anyway Greeny proceeded to drive a spike he happened to have with him into the ground on the edge of the village green, tethered said goat to it (probably called Mr Billy) and went into the pub for refreshment. Observers were not best pleased when Mr Billy started nibbling at the carefully planted daffodils and word has it that Greeny has been barred from the pub for the time being. Was Mr Billy offered liquid refreshment as in: ‘Mine’s a barnyard cocktail, one olive, shaken nor stirred’? Rider cannot say. It’s not known how Greeny and Mr Billy got home, or whether they did. Maybe they used the same taxi. Maybe Greeny carried Mr Billy across the motorway – or Mr Billy carried him
Brer Rabbit’s Fishing Seat
If you walk along the River Nidd at Knaresborough you might just come across the place where Brer Rabbit and his family live. Today the family were out in force across the river … chasing about playing rabbit games…in and out of their front doors… nibbling the fresh spring grass. Brer Rabbit was probably inside getting his fishing tackle ready cause he wasn’t sitting on his white 2 seater settee which was placed at an angle on the riverbank. What an idyllic spot he’d chosen… trees just coming into leaf… daffodils everywhere…soon the wild garlic will be out scenting the air with that heavenly pong. Wonder if Brer Rabbit had ordered his settee from DFS or Argos or somewhere like that… it must have taken a bit of delivering from the road – maybe from the nearby footpath and then across the field to the exact spot on the riverbank. Picture the scene … summer evening and the little bunnies tucked up in bed… Brer and Missus contentedly sitting on that settee gazing up the river, glass of dandelion wine in one paw, carrot in the other. ‘I told you this settee would fit perfectly on this river bank Brer’ …. Random ;-)
Volcanos and Flying
BA are advertising flights to Europe on the MSN website despite all planes being grounded in the UK and parts of Europe. A volcano in Iceland, with an unprounceable name to anyone but an Icelander, is pouring out particles of glass into the atmosphere. These particles kill aircraft engines so it’s too dangerous to fly and no-one knows when it’s all going to stop. Rider got to wondering what kind of flights BA were offering. Had BA been secretly developing an airship so as to cut the crew they needed? Given the recent strikes by disaffected crew it would make sense to management. Maybe family sized balloons would be offered with larger ones for larger parties, although frequent comfort stops would have to be made which would make crossing the Atlantic etc a bit of a difficult logistical problem. Wouldn’t it be lovely to travel in an airship at a leisurely pace and be able to walk about – to visit the lounge, the bar, the cinema, the restaurant and finally to retire to bed during the journey. What a great start to a holiday – gazing down at the slowly moving countryside. OMG Rider strikes with random big idea… fortune to be made…must phone BA
Be a Railway Signalman
Fell to talking with Him Indoors about the possible strike of Railway Signalmen – postponed until their Union gets the ballot done correctly. At the moment they work 3 x 12 hour shifts over 3 days so they get the other 4 days off. Without knowing all the ins and outs, it seems as if the major item of dispute is that management want them to work 4 x 9 hour shifts over 4 days. Is this such a major change? Does it warrant a strike? If you think it does maybe you don’t know that the pay for a Signalman is £48k with some earning well over that for overtime. Yes…. that’s right…..£48,000 per annum…. for being a Signalman. Whatever else is involved in this dispute, their level of pay is phenominal. Compare that pay with jobs you know paying that level of salary. Note to self: suggest this job to Writeous Dude so he could have 4 days a week to write! Would you invest in the railways whilst people earning that level of salary can bring them to a standstill, or would you sack the lot and recruit and train substitutes for half the salary…taking the short term pain and disruption? If I were management I’d try to speed up automation of signals so as to phase out the need for hands-on Signalmen and save a fortune. In the meantime I’d hang tough. Any political party which would do the same would get Rider’s vote. Signalmen you have made Rider mad..
Election Fever
Barely containable excitement at Rider’s – what will come through the letterbox today in the way of leaflets exhorting Rider to vote for this party or that. Each party has such different promises – to reduce crime, spend more money on schools/hospitals/pensioners/families/single people/anyone with blue eyes… Local Council elections double the reading matter. With nearly a month to go before ‘the day’, a second green bin might have to be ordered to take the overspill. It’s great to answer the phone just after starting a meal and get to speak to an earnest person so eager to hear where my vote will go. Care has to be taken to watch the first half of every news programme so as not to miss the daily round of great insults, accusations, counter-insults and general policy discussions from all the parties. Who needs to know another soldier has died in Afghanistan or stuff about other Countries … lead with the gripping stuff. What would Rider like a party to propose? Here are some: fully transferable personal allowances between parents to support families, means tested Child/Winter Fuel/Child Trust Fund allowances, half price travel instead of free on buses for pensioners, cutting of public sector crazy jobs … everyone knows what they are, proportional representation, teachers being allowed to only teach with a parent or carer having to accompany any disruptive child. Do you have loads too? Let’s form a new party…. but use your vote – we haven’t had it all that long in the overall scheme of things.
