MakemineVanilla

A very interesting list - although "ending America's longest war" just falls short of Nixon's infamous "peace with honour".

Birmingham's council tax is forecast to rise by 21% over the next 2 years. However Birmingham is still to host the European Athletics Championships.

Usually it's the ice-cream holding the flake, not the other way round!

The vexed question is whether a garage becomes a shed depending on what is kept in it?

I've been doing an audit of possessions in recent weeks but despite counting stuff I've not thrown much out. I recently revealed the number of books I possess to someone who turned out to be a minimalist, and they gave me a very funny look. I had actually understated the actual amount. I guess the world is divided between anal retentives and anal expulsives.

That's the quandary, as the box in question is for a recently purchased monitor.

That's what my electronics engineer brother-in-law says.

I've still got the box my Gateway 2000 PC came in (1997) - it really is a beauty!

You understand me perfectly - other people don't seem to.

How long should I keep the cardboard boxes my electrical purchases arrived in?

Used cars have got a lot cheaper as the number has increased and you can get something decent for 20% of a median wage. Electronics have got a lot cheaper and the on-line gizmo I used, calculated that a hi-fi amplifier bought in 1971, cost the equivalent of almost £2k back then.

I watch quite a bit of football from the lower divisions and even Europe, and they seem to have half empty grounds. I'm convinced that the Premier League has a special allure and seems to be defying trends I see in other divisions and leagues, even though the average product doesn't seem much better. I wonder if the punters are just seduced by the brand and hype. With the economy in trouble it will be interesting to see if the Premier League will suffer.

In 1977 Villa finished 4th, when Andy Gray scored 29 goals (25 league). It prompts the question as to what was it, that increased demand to such an extent that they can now charge much higher prices? Sky? Or, has it since become a game for an older age group, who have more money?

Sorting through my Villa archive the other day, most of which was donated, I found a Villa season-ticket book for 76-77, which cost £46 for a seat in Trinity Road B4 zone. I ran it through an on-line gizmo to find the equivalent cost in 2024. £334

It always seems like Australia are fighting a perpetual war against invasive species on numerous fronts, whether they be cane toads, rabbits and whisper it, feral cats.

Villa were impressive for long periods of the game and less so at others. Bailey's cheeky nutmeg to set up Watkins for his tap-in, started the party, but Villa's failure to defend a corner properly, energised Forest to fill Villa with doubt, and Nuno's instructions to his forwards to start their runs behind a couple of yards deeper, set the cat amongst the pigeons. The loss of Torres at the break began to look fatal for Villa, but a Watkins-Bailey combination finally proved a knockout blow for Forest's hopes. Once again VT's voters got it exactly right, with Bailey clearly man of the match, with very strong outings for McGinn and Luiz being not far behind.

Villa weren't great but controlled the game from start to finish, despite my doubts at times. I'd like to see the incident which I thought was a penalty, again, because I don't think the defender played the ball. I couldn't see how Moreno or Bailey was interfering with play, but VAR is obviously there to reduce the number of goals, to keep them at a premium, while managing the outcome to suit the richer clubs. Watkins took his goals well but despite having a patchy game, Tielemans' assist for the second was quality. Torres was superb and a constant concern for Fulham - I am sure if he played for a Yorkshire team they would call him T'Pau!

The defender's foot was nearer the goal than Moreno's arse, so how can he be offside?

Isn't life rather like the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea, where the more pampered you are the more sensitive you become to minor discomforts?

H&V?

I think the waiting staff see it as compensation for having to deal with the public. Someone told me that they once had a customer order a t-bone steak and then complain that it had a bone in it.

I think the best thing about being a Brit, is that unlike Americans, we don't live in dread of being branded as a lousy tipper.

Somehow I never imagined you as a schmoozer.

Are restaurants still allowed to pool tips and use the money to subsidise their wage bill? Carluccio's used to do it if I recall correcty.

Not on here we are not!