please empty your brain below
If relevant, please start your comment with a number from 1 to 30.

(questions will not be answered)

diamond geezer | Homepage | 30.04.25 - 12:10 a.m. | #

23 - the crossword was clever but St George's day was transferred to the 28th of April this year so it didn't fall in the Easter Octave

gruntbuggly | 30.04.25 - 7:12 a.m. | #

9.1. Those hoops used to spray water. One local drove his car in and used it as a car wash

15. When we have power cuts, it often knocks out the power to the local (500m away) mobile phone mast too so that wouldn't help

23. I was more concerned about your wellbeing because of its late arrival than any perceived flaws in it.

26. But not unfolded e-bikes

Ian | 30.04.25 - 7:51 a.m. | #

12 - Who is better than it's been in a long while. Just in time to be put on a break again, I fear. Ncuti of course deserves to be working on bigger and better things, so I can't begrudge that much.

Chz | 30.04.25 - 7:57 a.m. | #

26 .. what a lovely sign. Long may it remain un-nicked

rogergh | 30.04.25 - 8:06 a.m. | #

28. Wow! I have just discovered that my 50+ year old memories of population is sadly out of date. Canada 40.0 million > California 39.7 million.

I had observed that my memories of city populations became redundant at least 20 years ago with the growth of mega cities. Looks like I'll have to go back to school to completely refresh my knowledge.Thanks dg.

Ken | 30.04.25 - 8:35 a.m. | #

14. I had the same treatment. First time in my life I'll have to wear a 15 inch size shirt...

DGD | 30.04.25 - 8:39 a.m. | #

25. A favourite of mine too.
29. Should be '8am Mon-Thu'.

dg writes: fixed thanks

Alan S | 30.04.25 - 8:45 a.m. | #

12. I sympathise with your views on Doctor Who. The new series has (in my opinion) displayed a marked improvement on the last but I can't help but feel that Doctor Who is best in a similar way to Star Trek in that good actors and good writing make up so much more than big special effects displays.

Although I didn't follow it as closely as the 2005-2010 series, rewatching the series 10 conclusion, World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls just showed how good Who could be for quality when the actors are given the room to act. The relative lack of Disney money didn't seem noticeable to me, although I can see that Lux from the new series in particular would have been impossible without it!

WoodfordWanderer | 30.04.25 - 8:49 a.m. | #

4. Seabrook Crisps do a Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce flavour crisps. You can often get these at Asda supermarkets or B&M stores.

Barry | 30.04.25 - 9:21 a.m. | #

4) I'm still mourning the discontinuation of Brannigans Roast Beef and Mustard crisps

5) I had a similar experience in Dover a few weeks ago, where it suddenly switched to a French mobile connection, but didn't get any extra roaming fee for data use. Maybe I didn't use any or enough in that brief moment to cause a charge, or maybe the system recognises that it was a temporary quirk?

12) I thought the opening episode was ok but nothing special. Lux was good though.

Mikey C | 30.04.25 - 9:26 a.m. | #

2 - you think Destabilising Global Trade was unintentional, it's part of the war on China - but China hit back.

3 - I'm pleased you recovered.

4 - If there was a fire, I'm not sure if I'd save the Wheat Crunchies Worcester sauce or the Walkers Worcester sauce.

10 - that's a difficult call - it could also be the insurers or TfL mandating it.

11 - but what if it was put there by a stalker and contained an Airtag?

12 - the numbers keep dropping, but its not the fault of the creators, its the toxic audience.

16 - yes, the Supreme Court had to rule what a woman was - Nero's looking rational now.

19 - vengeance is mine.

26 - so it's not just TfL that went into verbiage, what was wrong with prohibiting 'motor vehicles' rather than the list of exclusions.

28 - also they'd all vote Democrat.

Still Anon | 30.04.25 - 9:52 a.m. | #

15 - if you have the energy, press your landline operator (BT?) to provide a battery backup for the in-home router. If no broadband is required you can also campaign for "SOTAP for analogue" connection which does not require powered equipment in home (not universally available). Play the "vulnerable user" card for all it is worth (even if not vulnerable right now).

MilesT | 30.04.25 - 10:24 a.m. | #

15 - BT (and other landline providers) say they will provide a battery back up (UPS) for customers without mobile coverage. I got one from Vodafone broadband, the only hassle is getting an agent who is aware of the policy.

You can also see if 999 would work on your mobile by doing a manual network search - if other providers appear you should be OK (as an emergency call will use any network, not just the one you pay for).

M | 30.04.25 - 10:27 a.m. | #

3 - knee
After nine times in the operating theatre over the last few years, and now on my second knee replacement, you have my full sympathy.
You might need to raid the piggy bank and pay privately, but seeing a physio is my suggestion. They know their stuff and will give you advice on fastest recovery technique and be able to spot if there is any lingering issue to be aware of. I shudder to think how much I've paid but they've enabled me to regain my ability to cycle and to walk for miles. Going down stairs still no fun.

dg writes: read number 3 again.

IslandDweller | 30.04.25 - 10:35 a.m. | #

19. That'll teach them.

mclm | 30.04.25 - 10:50 a.m. | #

19 as Badger said in the Wind in the Willows; you don't want to *teach* 'em, you want to *learn* 'em.

David B | 30.04.25 - 10:55 a.m. | #

15 - this perception that landlines (whose lines are already at their end of life and failing) are indestructible and uninterruptable is rather quaint, and baffling to anyone under 50. Frequent power cuts in this country don't feature in the memories of virtually anyone under that age; for that matter I don't know anyone under 50 who even owns a landline.

P(need to call 112/999) x P(power cut) x P(mobile out of battery) x P(landline works) x P(landline within reaching distance of fall) is so miniscule as to be negligible.
P(have a fall outside reaching distance of landline) is far higher.

Tellingly, many ISPs now use "don't pay for a landline you never use" as a selling point for their broadband packages even on copper DSL. Hyperoptic / Community Fibre etc don't even offer it at all.

If your mobile network has poor signal at home, change your mobile network. Porting the phone number to the new network is trivial.

Suffolker | 30.04.25 - 11:35 a.m. | #

26. The sign does not only prohibit motor vehicles. It also prohibits horse drawn carts, which would have been quite common at the time.

Malcolm of Kent | 30.04.25 - 11:41 a.m. | #

15. On the day we rang BT, my Dad’s house suffered two power cuts.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 30.04.25 - 11:44 a.m. | #

15. Suffolker's probability calculations seem attractive. But major snag,a fall is not the only reason to need 999. Many other emergencies do not prevent someone from making their way to a landlines phone, which also has the benefit of being fixed to the wall and thus unlosable.

Malcolm of Kent | 30.04.25 - 11:49 a.m. | #

11. I would have left it there for others to enjoy too.

12. Still loving Ncuti and Doctor Who, but my other half isn't impressed with the writing. He went right off it as soon as he learned Disney was involved!

13. Yay for warmest days of the year, so far! I wonder what the criteria is to becoming 'hottest' days?

15. That's really bad.

21. I thought the Pope died from meeting JD Vance, in the same way the Queen did after meeting both Boris and Liz Truss on the same day!

26. Splendid sign!

28. Trump is urging Ukraine to give up part of its territory to Russia, but I bet he wouldn't be so willing to give up America's border states to Canada if they invaded!

Cornish Cockney | 30.04.25 - 12:15 p.m. | #

15. suffolker’s equation assumes that p(need for 999) and p(power cut) are independent. As recent storms have demonstrated, they're not

Ian | 30.04.25 - 1:21 p.m. | #

15 - I hope the recent events on the Iberian Peninsula kick some sense into them. Even if you did have mobile connectivity, it'll most likely go down too.

matthieu1221 | 30.04.25 - 2:24 p.m. | #

15. My apologies on the multiple power cuts, though if power cuts happen multiple times per day I imagine there'll be something seriously wrong with the power supply to the house or the local power network that ought to be reported to UKPN.

dg writes: best stop imagining.

Maybe we're all showing our respective ages here, but do people really think landlines are infallible? While yes p(power cut) and p(emergency) are not independent, a storm is far more likely to take out the landline than the power just because far more telephone cables than power cables are carried overhead on posts. I recall emergency calls can be routed on any mobile network, so as long as one operator has signal then you'll be fine ("emergency calls only" displayed in place of the network name); try making a landline call when a tree has fallen through the telephone cable.

I imagine it's probably generational:

>50: What if I need 999 during a power cut?
40-50: I haven't called a landline in years, other than to one relative.
30-40: Do people still use landlines?
20-30: What's a landline?
<20: What's a telephone?

Suffolker again | 30.04.25 - 2:48 p.m. | #

15 east of England has far higher rate of power cuts than urban areas.

And transformer fires are a thing creating local outages not affecting landline/mobile (N London yesterday).

In home security pendants now available with mobile and battery backup but have a high monthly monitoring charge (similar to landline phone)

MilesT | 30.04.25 - 2:52 p.m. | #

2 & 28. I shouldn't have to apologize for his behavior....having not voted for the Orange-faced Menace anytime in my life....but I feel I must. We're being led by an infant in an ill-fitting suit and the clowns that did vote for him.....they understand very little of the world around them. Please hold your collective breath for the next 3 years and 7 months.....we're just as pissed as the rest of you.

steven crosby | 30.04.25 - 3:35 p.m. | #

4. Bring back the Tuba Loop!!!

Taffy | 30.04.25 - 3:52 p.m. | #

19. I can't find an evil hound in your 2004 link to the northernmost point in London, not even using 'dog' in the search box. There was a report of one in 2014, which was also in Essex.

Bob L-S | 30.04.25 - 4:32 p.m. | #

15. Try putting the question "what is BT's process to obtain a battery backup device when my phone line is converted to digital?" into Google Gemini. It gives a very comprehensive answer with all the options. If the BT call centre person will not arrange for a BBU to be supplied ask to raise a formal complaint. I had to do this recently (for other reasons) and the complaints handler was very helpful.

HW | 30.04.25 - 5:03 p.m. | #

28 - If Canada were part of the U.S.A. I would be interested to know how many votes it would be allocated in the presidential Electoral College (be it one state or multiple). But then the whole thing is a slogan and not a carefully-formulated proposal.

cau1khead | 30.04.25 - 5:52 p.m. | #

28 - Whether Canada joins the US as one state or multiple is very significant in terms of representation in government.

In the House, seats are based on population, so the number of states it's split into has little effect.

But in the Senate, each state gets two seats, meaning Canada could get 2 seats as a single state or 26 seats if each province and territory is a separate state.

The Electoral College, which elects the president, is based on the number of house and senate seats combined. That means, if Canada is split into 13 states, it would get 24 more electoral votes.

TLDR: If Canada joined the US as multiple states, it would get more votes.

TW | 30.04.25 - 7:15 p.m. | #

Days that haven't attracted comment:
1 6 7 8 18 22 24 30

(but the majority have, thanks)

Days with excess comment: 15

diamond geezer | Homepage | 30.04.25 - 11:59 p.m. | #

15: Conventional landlines take power from their exchanges, which have battery back-up, so they don’t go down in a power cut (though a handset might if it’s a roaming phone with a base station reliant on the mains). The existing landline network is specifically designed to be resilient, which is why converting it to digital is stupid, and the July bombings in London showed that in a widespread emergency the mobile 999 service can also go down because of overload. Hope DGD will persuade BT to offer a solution, not an excuse.

Labourer | 01.05.25 - 12:27 a.m. | #

5. I thought receiving SMS texts was usually free when roaming abroad. Just everything else which is expensive without a deal of some sort. Perhaps I am wrong.

Henry | 01.05.25 - 12:58 a.m. | #

17 The word 'claim' does not bring any situation to my mind where it would be possible for an employee to intervene, and even do so unprofessionally.

John | 01.05.25 - 2:34 a.m. | #

7: Refusal seems a thoughtful design in this case.

Patrickov | 01.05.25 - 4:19 a.m. | #

15 useful summary about transitioning landlines for vulnerable people.

MilesT | 01.05.25 - 7:50 a.m. | #

30. A flip flap.

Simeon Bennett | 01.05.25 - 9:29 a.m. | #











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