Well, it’s finally here and we’re off on the whirligig that comes every four years – the World Cup. We’ve had Italy and next come dark horses Uruguay, with their volatile and mercurial Luis Suarez.
Some reckon they could prove an even stiffer test on their home continent than the Azzurri, giving England a tougher start to the tournament than most.
We’ve also got to overcome lowly Costa Rica to escape the group and after our recent unimpressive 0-0 ‘friendly’ draw with Honduras there’s no telling how that game will go.
But one thing is certain – the next couple of weeks will be a rocky ride for England fans so hold on tight!
Hail weather well met?
It seems like only a blink on an eye ago we were all deluged with extreme flooding across the UK. What a difference a month makes. Tennis is on the telly. The weather is positively tropical, with temperatures last week end – the hottest of the year so far – warmer than Rio, Brazil.
But in true British fashion, rather than just accept the seasons that follow each other as sure as we will be kicked out of the World Cup, the newspapers are full of skin cancer warnings. What is perhaps more remarkable is that next week sees the dawn of the longest day! Brrrrrr … I can’t wait to read the news that falling autumn leaves wreak havoc for rail commuters!!
Waiting for god-damn traffic lights
I know I have bored on before about how I prefer a sportier car and drive a little faster than I probably should, but what is it about people who slow down approaching a green light as if it is suddenly going to change and catch them out.
When we were all younger, it was easy to dismiss these drivers as ‘fuddy duddies’. But the older I get I realise it is the younger drivers that are far more erratic. If the vehicle in front isn’t booming out some banal racket drowned out only by the sound of their ridiculously over-sized exhaust pipe, it is an apparently inexperience young motorist driving as if they had a bottle of champagne on the bonnet.
Now, I am all for safety first, but this kind of driving is actually dangerous. I was tootling along recently looking ahead at a green light, with plenty of time to clear the junction well before an amber warning – when the car in front slowed to a crawl and waited for the lights to change!!!!
Needless to say, your editor tested his brakes and thankfully the new tyres did their job – but the skid marks, well, that’s another story.
Pass the port!
The Government seems incapable of doing anything without dropping itself in the proverbial!! The latest debacle over how to solve the current passport backlog crisis is laughable.
I feel for the average man and woman on the street whose holidays may be jeopardised because of this incompetence. But the proposed measures to ease the backlog sounds like an immigration nightmare waiting to happen.
A leaked memo revealed that Passport Office staff were advised to relax checks on applicants for British passports from abroad! These measures include dropong checks on countersignatories, as well as requirements for evidence of addresses and letters of confirmation from employers and accountants!
But what about security? Is it being compromised? Could passports be obtained more easily by criminals, fraudsters or those seeking to enter the country illegally? Own goal!
by Andrew Young, Mature Times editor
image by Marcello Casal Jr/ABr courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
