I’m not an expert, but…

When I heard this song on 6 Music, it did get me wondering if all of the other potential options had been considered, and if there might actually be a better, more efficient solution to this rather common problem.

As I say, I have no huge expertise in this particular field, although we did recently do A LOT of research on one potential alternative to Indo’s very specific need.

I have to be honest, men get a bad rap a lot of the time, but while it is at least occasionally deserved, there are lot of good points to men which are often overlooked. However, I really don’t think that anyone needs to put up with the difficult, high maintenance aspects of having a man, simply for a requirement as straightforward as this.

Surely a hot water bottle or one of those beanbag things you put in the microwave would be a better idea? More economical, no potential emotional attachment, plus the ability to stick it down by your feet without any danger of suffocation should you need hotter toes. Sure, it won’t be able to assist with other helpful stuff like unscrewing the top from the pickle jar or clearing the snow off the driveway, but these are very much occasional needs when compared to the requirement of keeping you warm at night, which could be a daily requirement for maybe 6 months or more.

This time last year, I was have been hesitant to recommend an electric blanket, given the issues we had with loadshedding. And this year, despite loadshedding having disappeared, I’m still hesitant to recommend an electric blanket given the price of electricity now that we’ve actually got some.

My fok, Marilize.

It does seem that there’s actually no simple answer to this (the electricity price or the keeping warm at night thing). But may I respectfully suggest some extra clothing: PJs and socks, and maybe an extra blanket from Mr Price as being the best place to start, rather than this sudden, seemingly irrational desire for a bloke?

Helpful

Dumped on a narrow country lane in the Daily Challenge on Geoguessr today.

First thought was maybe Wales?

Then I turned the camera around, and… hang on…

Well, that looks very much like the Lady Isabella – the largest working waterwheel in the world – which would make it just over the other side of the valley from here:

Very helpful.

And 5,000 useful points in the bank before heading off towards Indonesia and Colombia.

Last night’s quiz

I’m always interested about the varying standards of local pub quizzes. There are two main things at play here: the average difficulty of the questions, and the ability of the competing teams. And there are well known examples of all four of the possible outcomes from these two variables at quizzes in Cape Town.

Last night’s quiz turned out to be the easiest from this point of view: without wanting to sound rude, the standard of the teams playing wasn’t great, and the level of questions was fairly basic. I’m comparing this with other quizzes we sometimes attend where at least one of the two variables is set to “difficult” mode.

Still, it was good fun, good company and nice to win some good prizes.

What last night’s quiz did offer – aside from the winnings and the enjoyment – was the most annoying woman in quiz history.

And I’ve been doing pub quizzes for 30 years.

We all know at least one of those people who always need to be the centre of attention, even when they’re actually already it, but for all the wrong reasons.

This lady was like that, but on steroids cocaine.
Loud, shrill, squeaky – ruining everyone’s evening.

God, she was irritating.

Even her teammates were embarrassed. One of them actually left early rather than continue to sit next to her.

There were numerous warnings from the host, but he tried valiantly to keep it good-natured until, during the second half of the evening, she decided to shout out the answer to a question, at which point he (quite reasonably) snapped, looking her directly in the eye and delivering the long-overdue and much-appreciated line:

Shut the f**k up!

Delicious.

I mean, sadly it had very little effect, but it got a decent cheer from the audience, and it was genuinely a nice thing to hear.

Thankfully, all of the other good things about the evening just about outweighed the mouthy bint. And thus, we will likely be back to defend our title next time around.

Nothing has changed

This is from the early 1980s.
Presented here without any further comment.

OK, actually presented with one further comment – the one 27 seconds in:

Don’t forget, once you start interfering in the internal squabbles of another country, you’re on a very slippery slope.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.