Sad

Raoul Moat died- and not in the end with any great dignity. They tasered him- and the gun went off. Whether those two events are sequentially linked will be for an enquiry to find out. There was a very long stand-off, with cameras present, during which one of the tazer guys was pictured pulling comically fierce faces and the footballer Paul Gascoigne- another sad sack hard man- turned up drunk with an offer of chicken sandwiches.

If they make that movie- and I'm sure they will- it won't exactly be the ass-kicking action fantasy Moat seems to have thought he was starring in.

Random Stuff

They're having a heatwave down south. Here it's been close and overcast and on the point of raining for days. This morning there's a breeze.

Eleanor (my old boss's wife) was rattling a tin for the Samaritans outside Sainsbury's yesterday morning. Most people from one's past slide away on whatever current is carrying them and one never sees them again, but Graham and Eleanor we keep bumping into by accident- even though they live in another town. I feel these pleasant, inconsequential meetings ought to amount to something- ought to signify some deep, karmic connection-  but I don't see how they do.
 
I haven't got the hang of this government yet. Cameron comports himself with dignity on the world stage and is taking our troops out of Sangin (which I'm pleased about). As for the policy of cutting government expenditure to the bone, I understand that smarter economists than George Osbourne think this is entirely the wrong way of doing things. I have no subtlety in these matters, but persecuting and harrassing the unemployed (and barely employable) at a time when you're turning thousands, even millions out onto the streets seems akin to piling up gunpowder kegs, climbing to the top and then lighting a cigarette. Later this year I expect there to be an almighty whoomph- and I'm sticking to my prediction that the coalition won't survive it. 

Low Sodium

Ailz's father has been told his kidneys are in a bad way and he needs to eat less salt. His response has been to give up crisps. Ailz went over there at lunchtime today on a mission to persuade him that a diet that's heavy on processed food, bacon, salami and strong cheese might need a little further pruning.

We were looking at low sodium diets on line. There's nothing arcane about them. Trust your commonsense and you won't go too far wrong. If it tastes salty it's got salt in it. QED. Cut out the worst offenders and you're left with fresh meat and fish, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, pasta, yoghurt.  Not so bad, really.

But no, they couldn't possibly change the way they eat.  It is written in stone that there shall always be processed meats. Now lets talk about something else.

Today's menu chez viellards ennuyeux? Bacon for lunch, sausages for tea.