Do Woodpeckers get Bird Flu?

Another sunny morning! There must be something wrong! 2 days sunshine in a row?? As I drove home last night I heard on the radio that Gene Pitney had died suddenly whilst on a tour here in Britain. He was only 65 years old and I couldn’t help but thinking that none of us knows for sure when our time is up and that – just like Gene – we might feel well and healthy but might not have a chance to do whatever we might be planning for tomorrow and the day after. Sure puts into focus the need for making every day count. Carpe diem (Seize the day) as the old Latin states.
Crap!! This reminds me how at present I am just a million miles away from seizing anything! Gee, thanks Gene for making the point!!

The most exciting thing that happened during the last 24 hours (and this will give you a good idea as to the level of excitement in my life) was that I spotted a beautiful woodpecker sitting in a tree as I was walking the dog. His red, white and black coat gleaming in the sunlight.

The first case of bird flu has arrived in Britain and in true British stiff upper lip style the government officials keep appearing on television assuring us that there is absolutely nothing whatsoever to worry about! ‘Phew!! Hang on though . . . didn’t they say exactly the same at the beginning of the Mad Cow Disease outbreak??’
Now, let’s see . . we had health scares about chickens, eggs, cheese, beef and sauces and have now been told that there is too much sugar and/or salt in all ready-made foods, burgers, kebabs, crisps, chips, sweets, baked beans and most drinks. Excellent!! For once I am actually happy about my current diet of fish, vegetables, salads and fruit.

Having learned from previous encounters of greediness when switching service providers, I now always cancel the Direct Debit and then wait for the final bill demand. I just switched broadband providers and sure enough, the final bill arrived. Looking at it I noticed that they want to charge me for broadband between end of March and end of April. Nice try, suckers!! Upon phoning them they asked me to pay it and they would re-credit me! Yeah, right!! I had to explain the fact that “I’d much rather keep the money in my account earning interest than in theirs” to no less than five different people until they finally understood that this was not going to happen and that they would have to send a new bill instead. I win!!

Time for the daily slimming day recount:
Food/Drink:
3 coffees, 1 orange, 2 apples, 1 Ryvita goodness bar (which actually tasted quite nice proving that I am going soft in the head already), some salad.
Exercise:
2 x walking the dog, 1 x washing up