The Grumpy Old Blog

ON THE PASSING OF THE 46A To those of Irish descent (I was thrown out of an Aer Lingus Dublin to Milan flight in a shamrock-green parachute over Manchester myself), you may care to join me in a minute's silence for the passing of a well-loved Dublin institution. So well-loved, that a group called Bagatelle mentioned it in their 1980 worldwide hit "Summer in Dublin". This passing institution is no less a monument to Irish society than the 46A bus from Dublin City Centre to the port suburb of Dun Laoghaire, the one no one outside Ireland can either spell or pronounce. Actually, it's getting to the stage that not many people in Dublin can spell it either (according to a poll undertaken in Allahu's Snackbar, Glasnevin) Yes, the passing of this great institution. I remember standing at bus stops in the rain myself, putting my hand out and seeing this great 46A pass by. It was one of the first buses in the world to follow the "safety in numbers rule", where yo...

A small charity committee get-together has concluded. Having been one myself on several contractual occasions, one can always spot a civil-service lifer. They have this inane ability to naturally inject meaningless bullsh*t into the conversation "through the chair" (we were sitting on the sofa and armchairs, so it was an absolute bugger to get the 'chair' into the air so that "Sha" [Patricia] could speak through it. Sadly, I haven't the space to be able to get away with playing "HR bullsh*t bingo" on the laptop I was taking minutes on, but I lost count, as well as the will to live, as a result of the number of automatic interjections of pure drivel she added to everything she said. We had ringfencing, bar raising, envelope pushing, blue-sky considerations (it's bloody dark outside woman!), gaining viable traction (I thought my laptop was the four-wheel drive version - plainly not). And then she finished by discussing the DNA of Manchester C...

Well, the Wokists have had two weeks over the holiday to ruminate over the delights they are bound to hit us all with tomorrow, the first "real" day back at work. I wonder what feats of wonderment they will have in store for us all. Here are some inspirational thoughts if you are a Wokist and struggling. 1. "White" Christmas - you need to set the record straight for Bing. 2. Expanding the line from Michael Jackson's song "It don't matter if you're black or white" as well as the John Kongos – Tokoloshe Man and Gary Moore - Out in the Fields song lyrics "It makes no difference if you're black or if you're white". Use a rhyming dictionary if you struggle with matching up "LGBTQ" and "Sam Smith" with something 3. You have until 20th April to come up with some reason to spoil Easter for everyone (get your skates on Birmingham Council - you seem to champion ruining normal people's fun) 4. Changing the name o...