Wednesday – hot and sunny.
400 mile drive up to Las Vegas. Quite pleasant drive most of the way with the exception of Sun City. The traffic light centre of the Universe. Even worse than Tucson. More traffic lights on the main road than Talibans at a stoning. Unbelievable on a major road. Perhaps they have the idiot town planners we had to plan Shadsworth?
Hotel very comfortable, although they did try and put us in room 208 again. WHen I complained she recognised me from last time and had read my Tripadvisor rant. Problem solved and a note in our account to keep us away fro 208.
After 20+ years of coming to America we finally get to go to a Red Lobster. I even get to pick my live lobster that’s to be boiled to death. What a disaster, also a disaster for the lobster. Starters delivered late; food mediocre; my lobster was supposedly to be ready cleaned and excavated from it shell, but delivered whole. Ends up with the manager exacting it for me at the table. What a disaster of a meal. No one is happy. Complain and we all get a free meal. At least they put it right but it’ll be the first and last time at a Red Lobster and certainly no more whole lobsters.
Don’t you just love American logic. 20 children and 6 adults killed in Newton Massacre. What’s the response? Outright ban on all guns. Tighten gun controls. No since the massacre more states have eased gun controls and regulations than have bolstered them. Gob bless the 2nd and the masterminds of the NRA! Lunacy.
A hint of Dark Matter. WIMP’s a new form of matter may have been found which will help explain Dark Matter – one may be passing through you right now. These might help us find out whether the universe will carry on expanding ad infinitum; stop expanding at some point; stop and then start contracting. Put’s our trivial lives into perspective!
Why not to be a Muslim. Just a few Fatwas from the religion of peace:
Sleeping naked. Not allowed.
Mother day. Not allowed.
Valentines day . Not allowed.
Christmas tree up in a Muslim household. Not allowed – “It is not permissible to imitate the kuffaar in any of their acts of worship, rituals or symbols, according to the Prophet (blessings and peace o fAllah be upon him).”
Disobedient wife. Not allowed – Wives in general have to understand that obedience to their husbands is an Islamic duty that is required of them. The husband should do a good job of being in charge of his wife etc……
Shave your cheeks. Not allowed.
Women wearing the trousers. Not allowed. Pants or trousers are clothes that show the shape of a woman’s body and ‘awrah, so for this reason it is not permissible for women to wear pants, unless she wears over them a wide or loose shirt.
And just when you thought it was all abstinence, bans and no enjoyment a little ray of joy creeps in:
Stoning. Allowed. Nay positively encouraged. Almost a sin not to. Whoever takes part in stoning a married adulterer, is rewarded for that, and it is not fitting for anyone to abstain from it if a ruling of stoning is issued.
And Allah knows best.
Thursday – very hot and sunny. Really looking forward to home at 7 degrees C :7)
Leisurely morning. Late checkout. Drop car off. Hertz as efficient as ever. Curbside check in – very painless. Just the usual TSA crap to deal with and then we’re tucked up in the lounge. Wendy getting ready to down a bottle of brandy with gusto. I think it helps her tablets go down better than water. 3 half pints later I assist her to the plane.
Virgin have excelled themselves again and given us bulkhead seats – extra legroom. Wendy in her alcoholic haze spots emergency exit row seats available and arranges with the Air Hostess to get them for us. So another great Virgin flight with plenty of legroom at no extra cost.
Flight is fairly comfortable with great movie selection and lands on time.
Pick to car up only to realise that the tax disc has run out while we’ve been away. Fortunately there’s a post office around the corner from APH and with the wonders of technology manage to get a copy of my insurance on the iPhone and tax it there and then. What a major cock up on our behalf. We’d assumed it was tax for a year from when we bought it. Of course the DVLA didn’t bother sending a reminder until after we’d left. Try eating through to the DVLA to sort out the SORN issue – a major nightmare because they’re constantly too busy and hang up on you.
Back to sunny Belthorn, yes it is the same village and the sun is out with no sign of rain. Mind you to keep up it’s reputation it is only 5C with a howling gale. Bloody freezing – Joy!
Just 15 days to go before we escape again.
We just love America but you do have to wonder about their education system. Conversation with bimbo at petrol pump. Bimbo – “Love your accent. Where are you from?”. Wendy – “England”. Bimbo – “Wow. How long will it take you to drive home?”. Sadly this is not an isolated incident. It’s the 3rd time we’ve encountered this cast iron believe that England is on the same continent as North America.
Just when you think everything is banned it appears that a new Fatwa Permits Rape of Non-Sunni Women in Syria, and lots of other places. Sorry it’s a bit long but it really is unbelievable:
Yet another Islamic cleric recently made it permissible for the Islamic fighters waging a jihad in Syria—politely known as “the opposition”—to rape the nation’s women.
Justifying rape in Islam’s name – a “legitimate fatwa” making it legal (in the eyes of Islam) for those Muslims fighting to topple secular president Bashar Assad and install Sharia law to “capture and have sex with” all non-Sunni women, specifically naming Assad’s own sect, the Alawites, as well as the Druze and several others, in short, all non-Sunnis and non-Muslims. Calls to capture and rape non-Muslim women are appearing with increasing frequency from all corners of the Islamic world.
A few months earlier, Saudi preacher Muhammad al-Arifi also issued a fatwa allowing jihadi fighters to engage in “intercourse marriage” with captive Syrian women that lasts for a few hours “in order to give each fighter a turn”—also known as gang-rape.
Then there is Egyptian Sheikh Ishaq Huwaini, who once lectured on how infidel captives, or to use another term from the Koran, ghanima, the “spoils of war,” are to be distributed among the jihadis and taken to “the slave market, where slave-girls and concubines are sold.” He, too, referred to such women as “what your right hands possess,” saying: “You go to the market and buy her, and she becomes like your legal mate—though without a contract, a guardian, or any of that stuff—and this is agreed upon by the ulema…. In other words, when I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her.”
Indeed, even some Muslim women advocate the enslavement and rape of fellow (non-Muslim) women. Kuwaiti political activist, Salwa al-Mutairi, for instance, is working to see the institution of sex-slavery return. In a video she posted online, she explained how she once asked Islam’s greatest authorities living in the city of Mecca, the city of Islam, about the legality of sex-slavery and how they all confirmed it to be perfectly legitimate. According to Mutairi:
A Muslim state must [first] attack a Christian state—sorry, I mean any non-Muslim state—and they [the women, the future sex-slaves] must be captives of the raid. Is this forbidden? Not at all; according to Islam, sex slaves are not at all forbidden. Quite the contrary, the rules regulating sex-slaves differ from those for free women [i.e., Muslim women]: the latter’s body must be covered entirely, except for her face and hands, whereas the sex-slave is kept naked from the bellybutton on up—she is different from the free woman; the free woman has to be married properly to her husband, but the sex-slave—he just buys her and that’s that.
All great places for perverts and rapists to hang out, assuming of course they convert to the religion of peace and don’t sleep naked, celebrate Valentines day etc…..
Just love this (should explain that Ryanair is a cheap airline that offers flights for as low a £1 then charges a fortune for even breathing):
Saturday.Ryanair’s Micheal O’Leary arrives in a hotel in Dublin, he goes to the bar and asks for a pint of draught Guinness. The barman nodded and said, “That will be one Euro please, Mr. O’Leary.”
Somewhat taken aback, O’Leary replied, “That’s very cheap,” and handed over his money.
“Well, we try to stay ahead of the competition”, said the barman. “And we are serving free pints every Wednesday evening from 6 until 8. We have the cheapest beer in Ireland”
“That is remarkable value” Michael comments
“I see you don’t seem to have a glass, so you’ll probably need one of ours.
That will be 3 euro please.
O’Leary scowled, but paid up. He took his drink and walked towards a seat.
“Ah, you want to sit down?” said the barman. “That’ll be an extra 2 euro. – You could have pre-book the seat, and it would have only cost you a Euro.”
“I think you may to be too big for the seat sir, can I ask you to sit in this frame please”
Michael attempts to sit down but the frame is too small and when he can’t squeeze in he complains “Nobody would fit in that little frame”.
“I’m afraid if you can’t fit in the frame you’ll have to pay an extra surcharge of €4.00 for your seat sir”
O’Leary swore to himself, but paid up. “I see that you have brought your laptop with you” added the barman. “And since that wasn’t pre-booked either, that will be another 3 euro.”
O’Leary was so annoyed that he walked back to the bar, slammed his drink on the counter, and yelled, “This is ridiculous, I want to speak to the manager”.
“Ah, I see you want to use the counter,” says the barman, “that will be 2 euro please.” O’Leary’s face was red with rage.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Of course I do Mr. O’Leary,”
“I’ve had enough, What sort of Hotel is this? I come in for a quiet drink and you treat me like this. I insist on speaking to a manager!”
“Here is his E mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9 and 9.10 every morning, Monday to Tuesday at this free phone number. Calls are free, until they are answered, then there is a talking charge of only 10 cent per second”
“I will never use this bar again
“OK sir, but remember, we are the only hotel in Ireland selling pints for one Euro”
Awaken to glorious sunshine and clear blue skies. Are we back in Tucson? Is this really Belthorn? The breakfast on the patio test confirms we are truly back home – a bone chilling 6 degrees Centigrade.