Archive for May, 2005

Couple’s 80 years of wedded bliss A couple from Hereford have made it into the Guinness Book of Records for having the world’s longest marriage.
Percy and Florence Arrowsmith, who are 105 and 100 respectively, celebrate their 80th anniversary on 1 June.

Aww, Percy and Florence!

(Thanks Steve for the link)

Married for 90 years

Zhu Yingzhou (L) and his wife Xiong Fazhen pose in the village of Fengtang in Qingzhen city in southwest China’s Guizhou Province May 24, 2005. Zhu, 102, and Xiong, 103, have been married for nearly 90 years, according to local police. Xiong married Zhu when she was only 13. They have three sons and three daughters, with the oldest daughter now 81 years old. Picture taken May 24, 2005.

Two years ago today C and I met for the first time after having met on the internet some months before. We had a lovely weekend getting to know each other (including a trip to the cinema to see the Matrix) and have stayed together ever since. I love you so much C (everyone stop vomiting).

Topsy and Tim have itchy heads, originally uploaded by Redmaiden.

Poor Topsy and Tim

Red panda attracts zoo fans by standing like human

CHIBA — A red panda at Chiba Zoological Park is drawing fans with its unusual ability to stand on two legs for long periods.

The panda, nicknamed “Futa-kun,” is a 2-year-old male. Red pandas, also known as lesser pandas, occasionally stand on their hind legs, but Futa-kun can do it for over 10 seconds at a time.

“It’s extremely unusual for them to stand for long periods like this,” a zoo official said.

The panda was moved to the Chiba zoo from a zoo in Shizuoka Prefecture in March last year. Some fans who had previously noticed Futa-kun’s behavior came to Chiba Zoological Park especially to see him. Zoo officials realized that the panda was able to stand up for long periods in January this year.

Futa-kun is in a mating period and a second red panda generation is expected to be born at the zoo next year. The panda’s fans are reportedly waiting eagerly to see if the offspring will imitate him. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, May 20, 2005)

A new bus stop sign has been installed in my area which is a bit fancier and also shows which towns the bus goes through. The sign should read “towards Burley in Wharfedale” but instead reads “Burnley in Wharfedale”. One letter makes a whole new place! I reported this matter to Metro and this is the pleasant reply I received, which made me chuckle!

Good Morning Emma,

Thanks very much for spotting the inaccuracies of the new “Bus Stop
Flag” recently installed in your area.

Having checked our database it would appear that the error was made
by our printer as the information we sent clearly indicates “Burley”
and not “Burnley”, which begs the question “ls all the other Flags
in the area spelt wrong”. There are 5 other Flags effected and I will
have these checked out by the Survey team before ordering the Flag
you highlighted.

This may mean that the amendments will not be made for a few weeks,
but rest assured it will be changed at our Printers expense.

Thanks once again.

Gary

PS like the e-mail address

Gary Campbell
On Street Renewal Programme Leader

Legwarmers, originally uploaded by Redmaiden.

At work today there was a power cut for an hour. We had to close the shop because you can’t have customers lurking around dark corners, you never know what they might get up to over the erotic “art” books. Well the lights, till and PDQ machine (credit cards) were all out of action so we had no choice. No rest for the wicked though as the kettle didn’t work so we couldn’t have a proper brew up! Instead we had to get on unpacking the weekly book delivery in the dark.

Today was Grandad Ron’s funeral, which took place at Rawdon Crematorium. The immediate family, my Nan, Mum, Dad, brother and other Grandad, all went in a posh black car provided by the funeral director. There was a large crowd of people who turned out to say goodbye, family, and many friends. I started crying as soon as we got to the crematorium but that’s what the day is for, it’s good to get it out of the system.

The service was simple conducted by a female, Methodist vicar. Our family isn’t religious but Grandad was brought up in the Methodist church so it seemed fitting for the occasion. As we walked in “Claire de la Lune” played, and on the way out Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade” which were my Grandparent’s special tunes. My Dad stood up and said a few words about Grandad Ron, his love of cars, building radio-controlled aeroplanes and that he still loved to play table tennis at 78. I’m surprised Dad managed so well to give his speech as I could see he was struggling to keep from bursting into tears. My Dad and Grandad were more like best friends than father and son.

As we left the chapel the heavens opened and it rained hard. On the way back the road was flooded and the pavements were covered in piles of large hailstones!

We had the wake back at my Nan’s house, with food and refreshments, because so many people had travelled up. Like all good English “parties” there was plenty of tea on hand in the best bone china cups. There many members of the family that I haven’t see for 20 years, so lot’s of catching up to do. There wasn’t enough space in Nan’s bungalow to move around.

The sheer number of people who travelled a long way (some rather old) to come to the funeral was touching. My Nan received over 50 sympathy cards and lots of donations to the R.S.P.B. (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). There was a donation box on the way out instead of flowers. Grandad’s ashes are going to sprinkled over the field where he used to fly his aeroplanes