Scenes on Sunday ~ Vacations
it’s much better to travel hopefully
than it is to stay at home imprisoned in lockdown
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
on vacation I like to rent a convertible mustang
Tips for Visiting the City of York
Yorkshire folk are not fools, just taciturn
do not try to drive in the City of York
you will get lost and frustrated
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in the City of York, pedestrians ignore motor traffic
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get a good map of the city centre
which will not stop you from becoming hopelessly lost
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always carry an umbrella
which you will find utterly inconvenient, and lose
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the pub grub is good and so is the beer, which is warm brown and flat
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there are bus tours and walking tours of the city
to be recommended if you are an American
at least you won’t get lost
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visit; The Minster, The Railway Museum, The Shambles, the City Walls, Clifford’s Tower, and York Art Gallery
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Clifford’s Tower where on March 16th 1190 some 150 Jews were massacred, (in the original timber building, which was then burned down)
Scenes on Sunday ~ York Signage
knowledge is realising that the street is one way
wisdom is looking in both directions
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
here in England buildings are expected to last several hundred years
Food on Friday ~ English Pubs
if you can make it down to the pub
the pub will make it up to you
Now that lockdown has been eased somewhat, people are starting to eat out again, and one of the great English traditions is the pub lunch.
Unlike in a lot of countries, English pub food can be excellent, and I’m not just talking sandwiches here. Although traditional English pub grub does include the hot beef sandwich, along with steak pies, shepherds pie, and the classic fish and chips.
Fish and chips in an English pub should be either cod or haddock, together with thick cut ‘homestyle’ chips, and perhaps mushy peas, (which if you’ve never seen them look a lot like guacamole).
On Sundays a good English pub will undoubtedly serve roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, along with at least two vegetables. As well as roast beef roast lamb and roast chicken are also popular here.
Or there is that other English Classic dish, toad in the hole.
The key thing is to find a really good pub, and if you don’t know one in the area then just look for a church tower, and there will undoubtedly be a great pub nearby. If they serve it, then try the chicken and leek pie.
Some English pubs have been there a very long time indeed, truly medeval.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
in a pub drink beer
unless you’re in the West Country
where the cider is usually good
Random Jottings ~ Travel
vacations in California are good for me
it’s better to to take a road trip in a convertible Mustang
than it is to arrive
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live with no apologies, travel with no regrets
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travel, you can always get more money
you can’t buy more time
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choose your travelling companion wisely
you will be sharing your life with her
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I have nothing to lose and a whole world to explore
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the journey of a thousand miles begins with buying a ticket
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travel broadens the mind, sitting around broadens the behind
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
given a choice
always travel in style
A Short Break to History
the thing about English History is that there’s a lot of it
it is the most haunted city in England
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history is not a burden on the memory
but an illumination of the soul
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look for ghosts with an open mind and you will find them
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there are a lot of local legends about this ancient city
devils, cats, tiny streets, and witches
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the construction of England is the art of the possible
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here in England we don’t think that 1787 is such a long time ago
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
in England, where there’s a church
there’s also a good pub
Scenes on Sunday ~ Travels In My Past
against all odds, I was there, with or without her
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notice the teddy bear
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalknet
somewhere in Northern Italy
some time ago
RMS Titanic
April 15th 1912 RMS Titanic Foundered
RMS Titanic
Off the coast of Newfoundland, the White Star liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the early hours of the morning 109 years ago today. She was four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York and travelling at 22 knots when she sideswiped the ‘berg. Of the 2,240 souls aboard, more than 1,500 perished in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, making this one of the deadliest peacetime disasters ever to happen at sea. Fortunately Titanic was not carrying her full capacity of 3,500 souls at the time of the disaster.
Yet, even though carrying only half of her maximum passenger capacity, there were still not enough lifeboats for all those aboard, and the evacuation was badly managed meaning that not all of the lifeboats were full when they rowed away from the sinking ship. Some carried as little as 28 souls out of a capacity of 65.
Of the 892 crew only 45 were trained seamen or watch officers, capable of commanding a lifeboat.
Following this great disaster an International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea was convened in London in 1913. Eventually new rules were declared requiring that every ship have lifeboat space for each person embarked; that lifeboat drills be held on each voyage; and that all ships maintain a 24 hour radio watch. Modern safety at sea is largely a result of the Titanic Disaster.
The wreck of the RMS Titanic was eventually found on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean on September 1st 1985, by a submersible launched by the U.S. Navy research ship Knorr.
Perhaps the best movie about the sinking of the Titanic is A Night to Remember from 1958.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Sinking of the RMS Titanic
COVID Vaccination
one of the greatest lies ever told is that vaccines are safe
Every ten years or so I get myself vaccinated against tetanus, a habit I formed when I had hobbies and pastimes which involved getting dirty, lots of cuts and bruises, and coming into intimate contact with the good earth. That’s the only vaccination I’ve had since I was a child, and even back then I never had my full quota of shots. You may be able to tell that I’m not a big fan of the whole vaccination against everything school of medicine.
Vaccination is a barbarous practice and one of the most fatal of all the delusions current in our time. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Nevertheless, this morning I booked myself the required couple of vaccinations against the coronavirus. This was not an easy process, given that one has to use an NHS website which is about as clunky as a Model T Ford. Not only that, but the doctors and clinics in my town are not involved with mass imunisation so I have to travel 25 miles to a pharmacy in Bishop Auckland to get the shots. That’s going to be 4 expensive taxi journeys.
Add to that the first available slot for me is at the crack of dawn on March 23rd, with my follow-up shot at the crack of dawn on June 8th. It’s verging on pathetic inefficiency. And for what? I do not believe that the coronavirus is a rampant deadly disease, nor do I believe that being vaccinated offers me any significant health benefits.
However, if I ever want to go anywhere in the foreseeable future I am going to have to be able to prove that I’ve been immunised. Most authorities, in most of the countries I would want to go to on vacation will be insisting that visitors have been vaccinated.
The more vaccination is supported by public authorities, the more will its dangers be concealed or denied. ~ M Beddow Bayly
It looks as though the earliest date I will be allowed to travel abroad is Monday May 17th, at which time I may well be allowed to go to Greece, even though by that date I’ll only have had one jab. But who knows, the whole thing is a moving target.
Some say that vaccinations are dangerous and ineffective. And that the coronavirus isn’t even as bad as the flu. All I know is that I’ll jump through hoops if it means I can enjoy some warm Mediterranean sunshine.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
if vaccinations are effective why will we still need to wear masks?
Songs on Saturday ~ Last Train to Clarkesville
in Clarksville it’s de rigueur to marry your cousin
I’ve never been To Tennessee but I like this Monkees song, and it’s so mid sixties. Anyhow I like trains.
Enjoy, and try not to dance to this track.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
the supercharger is a bit OTT
