More of Spain in the UK

British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia have signed a deal to merge and create one of the world's biggest airline groups. The merger, which was provisionally agreed in November last year, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It is expected to save the airlines 400m euros ($533m; £350m) a year.
The new company will be called International Airlines Group, but the BA and Iberia brands will continue to operate as normal. The company will have its headquarters in London, with BA shareholders retaining 55% ownership of the company. Sounds like a take over to me!
The merger is seen as a chance for the two airlines to cut costs following two very tough years for the airline industry.  Both BA and Iberia are expected to report heavy losses this year, with BA predicted to announce its biggest annual loss since privatisation.
The airlines are also regarded as a good match, having few overlapping routes. The merger will also allow the company to compete more effectively with other European giants including Air France-KLM and Germany's Lufthansa. The airlines are expected to complete the merger by December, subject to approval from regulators and shareholders.
One stumbling block could be BA's pension problems. Its two final-salary pension schemes have a combined deficit of £3.7bn, which it needs to cut. Last month, the airline agreed plans with unions to increase pension contributions to close the deficit.
But Iberia still has the option to call off the merger if it decides that the plans are not satisfactory. Plans for a tie-up between BA and Iberia date back long before the current troubles in the airline industry. The two airlines first began working together in 1999 following the privatisation of the Spanish flag-carrier.

Exchange Plates Part 2 - Forms and Taxes

Having got through the first part of the exchange of license plates ourselves we bottled it on the subsequent parts. The amount of forms and the number of separtments together with our basic Spanish was too much for us and we had a company do it for us.
It only took ten days for them to do it and the cost was as follows:

• Trafico (1st Registration Fee) - 115.38    
• Plates                                    -   24.00
• Import Tax                            - 383.50
• Suma (Road Fund Tax)         -    79.65
• Company Charge                  -    96.00

Total 698.53. This together with the ITV (MOT) charges (206.35) brought the whole cost to 907.88 euros. Not bad.           

Politicians Lie – The proof

Yesterday’s spat between Brown and Mrs Duffy is classic. In the discussion between the two the irony is that I thought Brown had actually managed to talk Gillian Duffy round. She'd said she was planning to vote Labour at the end of their conversation and was satisfied with the prime minister's answers.

He'd inquired about her family, told her he was pleased to see her, chatted about her grandchildren and even said that she had a "good family". So, what was Mrs Duffy's sin that allowed the PM to describe her as a "bigoted woman" once he thought he was out of ear-shot in the privacy of his own car?

She asked him how he planned to reduce the deficit; she asked him about her grandchildren's chances of going to university and how they'd pay for it; and she raised the question of immigration from Eastern Europe and what that could mean for jobs in her area.

In other words, not trivial, not irrelevant, but core political issues.

All smiles to her face and behind her back really what her thought. Did he then think, “I have misaligned the woman I should apologise”, I don’t think so. He later apologised because he was still ‘miked up’. If no mic was on he would have carried on and nobody would be wise to his real thoughts. In my mind he still thinks she is bigoted.

Hence the lying politician. Say what the public want you to say, but think differently and of course act differently. Apologise after, if necessary.

Mrs Duffy and people like her are core to Labour staving off a meltdown at this election. There is a good chance that Labour supporters may feel tempted to return the contempt with which Gordon Brown appears to have treated one voter.

The end of The Bill

Police drama The Bill is to be by ITV and I am not at all surprised. I did watch The Bill for many years and found it interesting and entertaining. However, when it turned itself into a soap opera it definitely lost its interest for me.
However, the number of ‘stars’ that made guest appearances over the years is very long:
· Paul O'Grady, who played drag queen Roxanne in several episodes between 1988 and 1990.
· David Tennant, recently retired as the most popular Doctor Who. He appeared, in a single episode of The Bill in 1995.
· Robert Carlyle, celebrated for his performances in Trainspotting and The Full Monty, guest-starred in a 1991 episode.
· Former EastEnder and one-time chart star Martine McCutcheon also had an early taste of TV when she joined the world of police drama in 1991.
· Former Spice Girl Emma Bunton turned up in 1993, aged 17, playing a troubled teenager.
· One-hit-wonder Chesney Hawkes also had a Sun Hill role
· In 1984, Lord of the Rings and Sharpe star Sean Bean appeared in a single episode of The Bill.
· Michelle Collins, also appeared just the once
· In 1995 Pirates of the Caribbean star Keira Knightley got a break on the show. She played 10-year-old Sheena Rose in 1995.
· Knightley's Atonement movie co-star James McAvoy, also had one of his first TV appearances on The Bill two years later.
· Russell Brand appeared in the show, aged 18, in 1994.
· David Walliams landed a role in 2002, a year before Little Britain appeared on our screens.
· Roger Daltrey of The Who also appeared
The writing was on the wall when they changed The Bill from its successful drama series to a twice a week, half-hourly soap format. Old school Sun Hill veterans like Reg, June and Tony were replaced by babes and hunks. Burnside and Tosh Lines's days were over and so was the Bill’s.

Chasing voters in Spain

Up until I read about it in the English press I did not believe it, but all the Brits abroad are being chased to vote at the next election, not only in Spain but Australia too.
Conservative Spanish branches are trying to persuade some of the hundreds of thousands of Britons resident in Spain to register as voters, emulating the efforts of the prominent US political groups.
In terms of numbers of British residents abroad, Spain lies fourth after Canada, Australia and the US. It is home to many Britons who maintain close ties with the UK, and Conservatives Abroad has more branches in Spain than anywhere else.
Spanish statistics show that just under 700,000 Britons have registered with the authorities as residents, although the real number is thought to be higher. Many UK pensioners live on the Mediterranean, especially on the Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca and the Costa Brava.
I really do not know how this works, the Lady of the Villa and I are registered with HMRC as living abroad and registered in Spain as resident and able to vote. So can I vote in the UK and Spain? I will look into this

Iranian cleric blames quakes on promiscuous women OR Did the earth move for You?

Women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes, an Iranian cleric says. Hojjat ol-eslam Kazem Sediqi, the acting Friday prayer leader in Tehran, said women should stick to strict codes of modesty to protect themselves.
"Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes," he explained. Mr Sediqi was delivering a televised sermon at the Tehran University campus mosque last Friday.
"What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble? There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam's moral codes," he said. “Now if a natural earthquake hits Tehran, no one will be able to confront such a calamity but God's power, only God's power. So lets not disappoint God."
You could not make this up! If this was a priest or vicar in England or even Spain you would have him put away!

You Could not make it Up – Playboy on TV

TV bosses in the US have apologised after preview clips of the Playboy channel were accidentally played out on two children's channels.
A Time Warner Cable (TWC) spokesman said a "technical glitch" was to blame for the mistake, which lasted two hours.
The company was made aware of the error after parents called in to report it.
TWC said it had procedures in place to catch errors, but it was not picked up as it affected only a small area.

Weather in Spain Week 19th April – 25th April 2010

Monday: Sunny and warm day at long last, temp of 20C. Overnight clear and warm with a temp of 13C.
Tuesday:Overcast day. Temp of 20C. Overnight temp of 16C
Wednesday: Sunny morning and afternoon with a Temp of 25C. Overnight clear woth a temp of 18C
Thursday: Sunny start but clouding over by mid afternoon. temp of 25C. Evening thunderstorms of high intensity. Overnight temp of 14C
Friday:  Sunny start and apart from a few dark clouds the sun shone all day. Temp 24C.Overnight clear and bright with a temp of 14C.
Saturday: Misty start that cleared up to give a sunny and warm day with a temp of 25C. Overnight temp of 12C.

Sunday: Warm and sunny day with a temp of 23C. Overnight clear with a temp of 13C.

For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site.

St Georges Day

The 23rd April was St Georges Day and my grandson who is at Junior School in the UK  wrote a St Georges story and it won him a prize at the school. He used a computer to type the words in and also to illustrate the story.

Here is the story:-

In a large, tattered Viking village, burned by a ferocious, vile dragon that had attacked without warning that night, there was pandemonium. There were Vikings everywhere either gathering weapons or treating the wounded, or putting out still flaming huts.

The chief Stoik the Vast (hear his name and tremble, ug-ug) looked out on his village in despair.

“Curse that dragon and its powerful flame, it’s scorched our huts and killed so many!” he raged murderously. “We must sacrifice our sheep to it so that it will not attack the village any more.”

Just then, Astrid walked in. She was the daughter of Stoik, she had flame red hair and muscles like a gorilla. She could take three enemy Vikings on at a time with one hand tied behind her back.

“Father, the people are panicking, we must do something and fast,” she said worriedly.

“My dear, I have already decided what we shall do,” he replied,” we will give our sheep to the dragon to stop it from attacking us.”

So, once all the farm animals were gone, the Chief ordered his council to help.

“We must do something, we must think of something else to give the dragon for it shall not be long until its next attack,” he shouted.

“We could give him our fruit,” suggested Gobber the belch, leader of the village army.

“Dragons don’t eat fruit you old nutcase!” replied Old Wrinkly the dragon expert.

“We should give them our cats and dogs,” said Speedfist the Brains.

So, all the cats and dogs were taken out one by one until there were no more, and they had all gone. So the chief once again called his council.

“Speedfist, do you have any ideas?” asked Stoik anxiously.

“I can honestly say I don’t,” he replied.

“Old Wrinkly?” asked Stoik, hopefully.

“No, not a one,” he replied.

“I have an idea,” said Tuffent Junior, the leader of the farms.

“What is your idea?” asked Stoik, suspiciously, for Tuffent never had good ideas.

“We should get a bag, put as many stones in as there are people who are in the village at a time. Whoever picks out the black stone will be taken to the dragon.”

Stoik felt terrified. He did not want to go through with this plan, but he knew he had no choice to prevent the dragon from attacking the village again.

Many days passed. Weeping mothers lost their children, children lost fathers, fathers lost wives, women lost husbands, until one day, when Astrid picked the black stone out of the bag. Stoik pleaded with the people not to take her.

“Why shouldn’t we,” they replied, “whilst we have lost family, you have not. It is time you felt the sadness of losing a loved one.”

Astrid was a brave girl and said “Father, do not worry, I shall die with the honour of a Viking warrior.”

As all this was going on a brave young Viking named Georvik the Great was trotting down the path to the village on his white stallion. He heard a girl crying. He looked to his left and saw Astrid crying tied to a post with ropes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Oh go, before you are eaten by this beast as well as me,” she sobbed.

“Beast?” Georvik asked curiously. “You mean as in a dragon beast?”

“Yes,” said Astrid.

“Do not worry, for I shall slay this dragon and save you, my dear,” he shouted. Georvik unsheathed his sword, Stormblade, and sliced through the ropes as if he were cutting through string.

“Thank you, my brave sir,” said Astrid. Just then, the dragon rose out of the lake. Its scales were shining black, its eyes were red with hate and its claws looked like they could slice through a man in full battle armour. Suddenly Georvik had an idea.

“Here, here dragon,” he called, shaking the rope at it, like a ball of wool to a cat. The dragon opened its eyes large and started to smile somehow. It pounced forward.

“Look out!” called Astrid, but the dragon wasn’t aiming for Georvik, it was aiming for the ball of wool in his hand. It snatched it up and started playing with it. Georvik jumped onto its back suddenly the dragon stopped playing with the ball of wool but it didn’t struggle. It knew it had lost. It waited for the death strike but none came. It looked up at Georvik. Kindness was in the young man’s eyes.

“If you promise not to terrorise the people of this village then I shall spare you.”

The dragon nodded, and Saint Georvik let go of the ropes and jumped off, and the dragon sank back into the lake. Astrid and Georvik walked away happily like nothing had happened at all. When the chief saw his daughter coming home he ran up to her, then he asked

“What of the dragon?”

Astrid smiled. “The dragon shall no longer bother us anymore.” All the Vikings cheered. Then she turned towards Georvik. “All thanks to this man.”

Stoik beamed. “Young man, anything you ask for you will get.”

Georvik said “All I ask for is a meal. A hero takes nothing and lives in happiness. Some alone, some married. I do not know which I am destined to be.”

And with that, he jumped off onto his stallion and rode off into the distance.

And that is the tale of georvik and the dragon georvik is now the patron saint of England and the Brazilian football team.

ShareLiverpoolfc Latest

I received this very recently from the ShareLiverpoolFC group. The email is headed New Hope in Our Hearts‏.

“Dear Spenner,
The long-awaited declaration that Liverpool FC is for sale is tremendous news. As soon as we heard it, ShareLiverpoolFC contacted the Club to reaffirm our commitment to getting involved in negotiations. After all, any potential owners must realise by now the value and importance of getting Liverpool fans on board, regardless of possible future regulations on fan representation.
The responsibility to find the right owner for our Club is a heavy one and we call on the current regime to make the right decision - and what can be better than to give those who care most about the Club - us, the fans - a real stake in its future? We would not just own the Club, we would be the Club.
We will email those of you who are registered on our database as soon as we have any concrete update on our negotiations.
ShareLiverpoolFC supports the democratic ownership of Liverpool FC by its fans. If you would like to become involved with ShareLiverpoolFC and wish to register your interest please register here.
Many thanks.
ShareLiverpoolFC”.
I do hope this is more than words and something comes of it. Liverpool owned by the fans. Oh I wish!

You could not make it Up - Titanic

A panicking sailor whose ship was sinking in the Caribbean phoned the only number he could remember – his best friend back in Britain.
Thankfully the friend, Alex Evans, is a life boatman. He calmly used his mobile phone to co-ordinate a dramatic rescue operation for Mark Corbett and two other crewmen aboard a motor yacht with the unfortunate name of Titanic near the island of St Kitts.
And he did it all without leaving the DIY store where he was shopping with his mother.

Mark was part of a skeleton crew taking the yacht from Grenada to Puerto Rico for a refit.
He told Alex: ‘I’m on a ship in the Caribbean, we’re taking on water and we’re sinking. ‘We’ve lost all power so we can’t use the long-range radio. We’re too far from shore to use the VHF radio so I’m using the satellite phone – and yours is the only number I could remember off the top of my head. The ship is the Motor Yacht Titanic.’
Mr Evans jotted down the ship’s latitude and longitude on a till receipt then called Milford Haven Coastguard and asked to be passed to the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Falmouth, Cornwall, which deals with all international incidents.
He told them the Titanic’s position – and stressed the boat was taking on water.
A major rescue operation was then launched for the 1,700-ton yacht owned by a company called White Star Ltd, the same name as the cruise line which owned the ill-fated original Titanic.
Three hours later spotter planes found it barely above water, and it was towed by U.S. coastguards to safety in St Kitts.

Liverpool FC Share Scheme

This post is all about the proposed buy out by Liverpool Fans. The proposal  has been around for a year or so now. The whole concept can be found on www.shareliverpoolfc.com.
Summary

• The concept of fan ownership of professional football clubs is widely supported (not least by the UK Government and Uefa). However, to achieve a successful takeover / buyout of the club, the bankers and the current owners have to be persuaded that what is being proposed by the fans is a viable option in the current circumstances. ShareLiverpoolFC with Spirit of Shankly – and the support of Supporters Direct – have such a proposal.
• The combined financial resources of tens of thousands of Liverpool fans can deliver a buyout for the Club.
• ShareLiverpoolFC (an Industrial and Provident Society Company) has been structured specifically to act in this role and has a high level of public / fan awareness as a possible fan buy out vehicle, with a database of thousands of fans prepared to subscribe funds towards a buy out. Also, its Constitution is designed to allow for a high level of democratic control by the fans.

HOW DOES THE NEW PLAN WORK?

• Our detailed proposal (which you can download at http://www.shareliverpoolfc.com/ ) focuses solely on a possible new group structure and a re-financing of the existing bank debt of some £350 million; its ongoing servicing and repayment, based on the current financial performance of LFC.
• The plan only intends to set out the broad principles behind a possible structure which enables fans to participate in the ownership of the Club. As such it is meant to start a discussion with the Club’s bankers and owners, and is not intended as a fully developed proposal.
• We set out the current capital of LFC and then how the capital structure of a new holding company (formed to acquire LFC) would look under our proposal. Initially, through the new holding company, ShareLiverpoolFC (SLFC) would have a 60% equity interest in LFC.  This would rise to 71% on acquisition and conversion of the LFC loan stock it is proposed the banks would acquire in exchange for £100 million of their current debt. It is also proposed that the banks’ loan stock would be acquired by SLFC in equal annual instalments over about twenty years, being funded by dividends from LFC.
• This would deliver ‘fan ownership’ of Liverpool FC to a broad base – and at the same time offer sound returns to investors.

WHERE WILL THE MONEY COME FROM?

• £150 million from the fans through SLFC. This cash would be derived from:

• Attracting up to 25,000 fan-shareholders (it could be many more), each paying £500 for a single, vote-bearing share; delivering £11 million plus in equity, and

• £140 million from fans who are able to provide more than £500. [This would comprise ‘subordinated loan stock’ in SLFC, offered at a 2% return annually.]

• £100 million from one or more commercial investors, through a Commercial Investors Holding Company.

• £100 million from the banks.  [Issued as ‘convertible loan stock’ and offered at 2% return annually.]

CAN IT WORK?

• On its own, SLFC currently has nearly 10,000 registered members – over 6,000 of whom are prepared to subscribe £5,000 for a share under the original proposal.
• Originally, over twice this number expressed interest via the SLFC website. However, as no specific proposal has been put to fans to date, many who originally showed interest in the concept have not registered their financial support and probably won’t until they see a specific plan.
• It is not thought unrealistic to project that membership of SLFC would be at least 20,000 if a specific proposal was agreed with the banks and the current owners, as fans would then think it realistic that a transaction might happen – and much larger numbers will be able to take part with a much lower ‘entry fee’: down from £5,000 a share to £500.
• Spirit of Shankly has over 2,500 members. It is believed that there is very little overlapping of membership between the two groups.
• We have evidence that a significant number of Liverpool FC fans would contribute more than the £500 share price, were there an opportunity such as the suggested loan stock.

So there it is. just like the Red Knights it needs more ‘meat’ on the proposal and of course the £500 from each registered fans. Mine’s in the post when needed.

The Times and Sunday Times

The Times and Sunday Times are to start charging for access to their websites and other digital services from June. Both newspapers say they have been left with little choice in the face of falling circulation and growing competition from the web.

Users will pay £1 for per day for access or £2 for a one-week subscription. The move opens a new front in the battle for readership and will be watched closely by the industry.
And as rich as it may sound I am one of the decision makers here. I have always bought the Times (both versions) until I moved to Spain and then I used the web site. On a Sunday I always buy the paper (£5) and its a cut down version (no magazine, not all the individual sub papers) and only very occasionally I bought the daily Times (£2.50). 
So I have to make a choice pay or change a habit of a life time.
Well all I can say is I hope the new site has all all the articles that the paper has, that I can print whole pages off and none of the advertising appears. The latter hope is forlorn, its the advertising that they want, by filling in an application form and paying, then watching what I read they can pin point the advertising “I need”.
I will look at the new site, free in May and make my mind up at the last minute. The Lady of the Villa says I have already made my mind up, but, I am not sure.

Germany and the PIGS

Watching the economic drama of the PIGS — Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain — keep telling us, reasonably, that you cannot have a Southern European economy and a German exchange rate. They mean that the euro, dominated by mighty and disciplined Germany, has become a straitjacket for deficit-ridden, debt-laden, unproductive economies that cannot devalue their way out of the crisis because they have ceded control over monetary policy to the European Central Bank.
As a resident in Spain it has been painful to watch the Spanish economy collapse with one out of every five adults and four out of 10 young people out of work, millions of mortgaged properties underwater, half of the savings & loan banks in a state of insolvency and a private debt almost twice as large as the size of the total economy, Spain is going through a “Thatcher Crisis” or a “Brown Period”
Spain's shock after realizing that being a member of the European Union entailed worldly costs and sacrifices and a refusal to even consider the possibility of giving up the euro. In a situation in which its domestic currency was free to reflect its deficits, high labour costs and low productivity, Spain's currency would have been naturally devalued by now.
The common currency contributed greatly to Spain's delusional economy by giving it an unrealistic purchasing power and is making tough to overcome the recession by not allowing it to devalue the exchange rate. But the real cause of what is happening is that the nation mistook easy credit, subsidies and social protection for real wealth. If they don't relearn the basics of what it takes to be rich in a competitive world, Germany and a few others will eventually say goodbye to them.

Spanish Home prices could have more room to fall - Recession

It has been reported in the heavyweight financial papers that most experts say there is room for further falls in house prices in Spain and it could take a further two years to complete the downward spiral.

Banks, which have acquired billions of euros worth of residential and commercial stock are doing their bit. They have unloaded hundreds of homes by offering discounts of up to 40 per cent.

On Spain’s overbuilt Mediterranean coast, heavy discounting has started to revive interest among Britons and other northern Europeans looking for holiday homes or second residences.

Petrol Prices

After major complaints, which lead to a drop in fuel prices last year, prices have jumped sharply in 2010 with weekly increases for the entire month of March recorded on Diesel and over the past weeks for Petrol. Currently, filling a 50-litre tank of a diesel engine car will cost about 20 per cent more than last year, about 53.60 euros for the privilege, almost nine euros more than in the Easter holidays last year.
It’s the same situation for petrol. For a few weeks last year, for the first time ever in Spain, petrol was actually cheaper than diesel! That didn’t last too long and today that 50-litre tank will cost around 59.20 euros; about eleven euros more. According to data collected by the Ministry of Industry and Energy, expect to pay an average of 1.05 euros for diesel and 1.16 for gasoline, although by the time you read this, it’s probably risen further.
And over in the UK the AA has reported that Petrol was selling at 110p a litre on 4^th January but is now 111.25 while Diesel sells for just above 113p, a rise for Petrol of 25p and 14.5p for diesel over the last 12-months. The UK now has the twelfth highest unleaded price in Europe and the second highest diesel price. With today’s exchange rate, Spain can’t be too far behind.
According to www.whatprice.co.uk, from what you pay at the pump, over 60 per cent of that goes directly into the government’s pocket, so when you next complain about the profits that the oil industry are making, remember who really is raking in the euros and pounds and euros, no matter how much they might preach about going green. If we all went green, from where would the government then find their tax revenue? That’s a quandary that they still have to answer to. In the meantime, you’ll just have to dig deeper if you are travelling by car.

What is my Team Worth?

For sale. Liverpool Football club. £800 million ono. Only partially used and abused.
What exactly are Liverpool worth? well what ever the buyer wants to pay, but looking at it realistically, I think, about £350. The accounts from last year will probably  show an operating profit of £30-35 million. Multiplying profits by ten to come up with £325 - £350 million. Lets take the top value.


However, like buying a car what is needed?

• £50 million to freshen the squad, for a start.
• £350 million for a new stadium.

So any buyers will need, or have access to £750 to get Liverpool on track. And don’t think for one minute that will not go in Bank loans on the clubs books! Cant see anyone paying that much out of their own pocket.
In the meantime how do the off the field ‘players’ get along?Christian Purslow, arrived almost a year ago to raise £100 million in investment. He failed. His prize? He gets to stay on, run the club and take the large salary for another year.
Broughton as Liverpool’s chairman, will work one day a week to oversee the sale at a nice salary, plus a bonus for success, not bad.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is owed £237 million by the Liverpool owners. Financial sources suggest it will receive fees in the region of £10 million for this latest six-month extension of the loan. Another winning player.
Barclays Bank, are on the bench, ready to run in and take over the loan after the six months is up. They reportedly offered £500 million to H & G, to take over the loan, supply operating money, oh and take some of it back (£50 million) in fees.
As for Hicks and Gillett they are also taking expenses and “Management Fees” for the holding company while they await their profit on selling my club.
So you can see why the price of £800 million has been touted. No way will H & G get that much, but they and the other players don’t care.
Profitable time for everyone but the fans. The fans overjoyed at the thought of the owners leaving Anfield should now be asking a simple question: ever had the feeling you’re being used and played with?

How Descriptive!

“Right-wing Yankee leveraged buyout monkeys and turkey stranglers Tom Hicks and George Gillett”.

Rod Liddle so described Liverpool’s owners in The Sunday Times. I have heard them called a lot of things at Anfield and in Liverpool pubs but nothing made me laugh so much as I did on reading Rod Liddle.

The Prisoner

“Where am I?”
“In the Village”
“What do you want?”
“Information”
“You won’t get it.”
“By hook or by crook, we will.”
“Who are you?”
“Number Two.
“Who is Number One?”
“You are Number Six.”
“I am not a number. I am a free man!”
This if I remember right is the start of The Prisoner. I really enjoyed this series way back in the sixties and waited for the ending – what was it all about? Who was Number One? Would Danger Man reappear?
I read years later that Lew Grade (Head of ITV at the time) that he had in mind a series stretching to 30 episodes or more. “I simply sat down and waited for the ending, like everyone else,” he said. “I knew there would be an ending because Pat told me there would. Then one day, near the 17th episode, Pat came to me and said: ‘I cannot find an ending. I’ve become too confused with the project.”
Having no ending turned out to be the best ending of all. The enigmatic ambiguity of that series-closing episode sowed the seeds of four decades’ worth of fevered speculation about why Number Six was in the Village, who Number One might be and what the hell the show was all about.
So I hoped that the new of The Prisoner would finally solve the riddle.
Actually, it takes quite a while to realise that this is a remake of The Prisoner. The Italianate village in Portmeirion has been replaced by Namibian sand dunes and swaying palm trees, robbing the drama of its claustrophobic menace. It’s more like the landscape of Lost episode that my daughter watches.
I also missed the iconic black blazers, piped in white, that helped to make the colony’s surreal holiday camp mood and the canopied golf buggies have been swapped for 1950s-style taxis. The natives eat in American diners not in an English afternoon tea café.
The original Prisoner revolved around Number Six, (Danger Man) who, after resigning from some Secret government department is transported and kept a prisoner in a replica of his London flat, now mysteriously transplanted within the Village. But the central person in this remake seems to be Ian McKellen’s Number Two.
After so much anticipation I did not enjoy it and cannot see an ending that will satisfy the original “Prisoner”.

Weather in Spain Week 12th April – 18th April 2010

Monday: Very Sunny and warm day right from the start. Dark clouds appeared late afternoon. Temp was 18CC. Overnight cloudy with a temp of 13C.
Tuesday: Heavy cloud with rain off and on all day. Temp was 14C Overnight showers and a temp of 9C
Wednesday: Overcast day with showers some of which were heavy. Temp of 13C. Overnight

Thursday: Overcast day that brightend up giving a very sunny evening. temp of 17C. Overnight ovecast with a temp of 12C
Friday: Overcast day again but no bright ending. Temp of 18C. Overnight cool with a temp of 12C.
Saturday: Overcast start that lasted all day. Temp of 17C. Overnight cool, temp of 10C.

Sunday: Overcast with rain at times. Temp 16C. Overnight cool with rain at times. Temp 9C
For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site.

A little bit more of Spain in the UK

Some 350 branches of the RBS Bank (including customers accounts) are being put up for sale by action. The deadline for the first round of bids is expected to attract at least two Spanish players—Spain's  Santander and BBVA.

The price tag for the assets is estimated between £1 billion and £2 billion.

The branches in England, Scotland and Wales, will allow the new owner to expand fast in a mature market that analysts say still has strong potential. Spain's Santander—which entered the UK market in 2004 when it bought Abbey National—scooped up Alliance Leicester and Bradford Bingley at fire-sale prices in 2008.

The bank has made no secret of its interest in the UK assets ordered for sale by the European Commission.

Strike is Off!

Even a work stoppage can't stop Lionel Messi.
Strike action had threatened to halt the world's top striker, but the Barcelona forward is now free to continue his tear through the record books this weekend after Spain's football players' union, the AFE, called off a walkout over unpaid wages that would have prevented matches in the country's top four leagues.
Lois Rubiales, the AFE president, said late Friday morning that enough progress had been made during emergency talks with Spain's professional football league (LFP), the Spanish Football Federation (FEF) and Spain's Sports Council to enable his organization to call off industrial action. "An agreement has been reached in record time," he said, adding that all games will now go ahead on match day 33 of the Spanish season, which is highlighted by the Catalan derby between Espanyol and Mr. Messi's Barcelona.
Had the strike gone ahead, it would have been the first time since 1984 and the fifth time in history that football in Spain was halted by a labour dispute.

Exchange Plates Part One – The ITV station

We need to change the Rover 75 that we brought from the UK to Spanish plates.
Having researched the process, off we went bright and early, to the first  stop, the ITV station.

ITV stands for “Inspeccion Technica de Vehiculos” or MOT to UK readers. We got there with all our technical details on the car, proof of ownership and our money. We were sent home! I also needed my NIE (Spanish National Insurance Number) and my Padron (Registration for my Spanish Region).  Arriving home  at the time we thought we would but without the ITV document we decided to go later on in the day with all of my Spanish documents and all the cars documents, oh, and our money.
Arriving after the siesta we found a queue of 10 cars in front of us, which did not matter as we had to go into the office with all our documents. After much photo copying, transfer of numbers and 200 euros we had completed the office part. We now had the ITV to do.
It was a bit like a production line but with one inspector doing the car. The car was first checked for all the lights working, emissions, wipers, horn and a cross check on all the documents to the vehicles VIN plates in the engine compartment to ensure that everything matched.
Moving on to the next station the brakes front, rear and hand were checked and at the third and last station the steering, suspension and tracking.
All was well, it passed. At no time were the tyres checked!
We went into the office and were given a pass certificate and a sticker for the windscreen indicating a pass! The whole thing took just over an hour but we had to return the next day for the main documentation and the all important equivalent of a Spanish Log Book for the car.
After this it is on  to the Traffico Department to have the car registered in my name and licence plates allocated and finally to the SUMA (Tax) Department to pay the import tax and the road tax.

Private Eye

Footballer’s strike in Spain

Spain's players' union (AFE) is threatening to strike unless clubs will pay wages owed to their players.
While the majority of the professional players back this move, the AFE continues negotiating with the football federation (RFEF) and the professional football league (LFP) in a bid to find a solution.
If no solution is found, the AFE will order a strike during the weekend of April 16-18. It will be the fifth time that footballers called for strike in Spain, with the last strike call in 1997 ended in an agreement at the last moment.
Our local Spanish team, not in La Liga, is always compromised by accusations of not paying the players. Last year the Supporters paid the players wages for a month, as a loan, but the Directors paid themselves first and there was no money for the players. And then said the money was a gift and did not have to be paid back!
Since then the directors have resigned leaving debts (some of which, allegedly, are not the clubs, but the Directors) and the club is about to go under.
Shades of Chester City here.

Out of the mouth of Sepp

Sepp Blatter has taken another pop at the Premier League this week, saying it has fundamental flaws and should be run more like La Liga.
Blatter trotted out a bunch of facts and statistics which, as is often the case with the Fifa president, don’t stand up under scrutiny. He said that most clubs in Spain belong to the fans, or socios. It turns out, after research by The Guardian, that the actual number is four out of forty from the top two divisions; hardly most then.
More disturbing are the figures on debt. The overall debt of clubs in the top three Spanish divisions is £5 billion, more than in England. Of that, Barcelona and Real Madrid between them are £1 billion in the red.
Added to that, 85% of clubs are behind on the payment of players’ wages and there are fears of a players’ strike. (see next Blog).
Of course, fans of Portsmouth will probably testify that the system in England is far from perfect but putting up the La Liga as the preferred model in taking yet another pot shot at the EPL shows just how poorly informed Blatter is.

Tempus Fugit

 The 21st Hillsborough Memorial Service will take place today at Anfield.

The service will commence at 2.45pm prompt, however access to the Stadium will be available from 1pm.
I was there with my eldest daughter, Z. Time flies.

Tai Chi

The Lady of the Villa and I do Tai Chi twice a week and this intrigued me.
A vicar and senior members of the church community saw a more sinister side to Tai Chi and decided the ancient martial art, with its roots in the Chinese Taoist philosophy, was incompatible with Christianity and should be banned. So the Rev David Rhodes told the group of around 20 regulars who attended the classes at the All Saints Church Hall in the South Yorkshire village of Totley that they were banned and must find an alternative venue.
Needless to say, the decision has brought ridicule upon the vicar and his church 'elders' who have been condemned as 'bigots'.
Tai Chi combines deep breathing and concentration with slow, controlled movements aimed at developing strength, balance and calm. It is beneficial to the joints and works the muscles gently.
The Rev Rhodes said 'Within the church we see Tai Chi as being an aspect of the Taoist religion. We want to promote a whole life spirituality which centres on following Jesus and and we feel that the two things clash. Our understanding is that the basis of Tai Chi is in Eastern religion and from the church's point of view that isn't something that we want to be involved in.
Ronnie Robinson, spokesman for the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain, said 'These little old ladies in the church hall will have no knowledge or concern about Taoism or anything like that.'
We have been involved in Tai Chi for a year now and religion has never ever been mentioned and I don’t expect it ever to be!

UK public happy to be scanned at airports

While surfing the ‘net I occasionally get asked to join a survey, if it looks interesting and if I  have the time I fill it in. I always wonder what the results of the survey was.
Just recently I filled in a survey and one of the questions was would I use a full-bodied scanner at the airport. I answered yes. Anything for security and speed.

Again surfing the net I came across an article in The Scotsman:- As many as 90 per cent of the UK public are happy to use the new full-body scanners at airports, according to a poll yesterday.
Acceptance of the scanners, being rolled out at UK airports, is far higher in Britain than in any other of the 11 countries in the survey of 10,000 people by IT company Unisys. As many as one in three people in Germany and Belgium would object to the scans, the poll found.
Interesting!

Apollo 13 – Forty Years On

Apollo 13 is one of our favourite films and the whole mission was called "a successful failure".
Hard to believe it was 40 years ago.We will watch the film again I think, tonight.

Apollo 13 is a film based on Lost Moon, Jim Lovell's book about the event, was released in 1995. It was directed by Ron Howard and starred Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell. Lovell  and other principals have stated that this film depicted the events of the mission with reasonable accuracy, though some dramatic license was taken. Technical inaccuracies have also been noted. The film is among several to misquote the famous statement, "Houston, we've had a problem". However, the filmmakers purposely changed the line because the original quote made it seem that the problem had already passed. The film was a critical and box office success, and was nominated for several Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

The film engendered new interest in the history of the Apollo program and American space flight in general.

Resident in Spain

We have been in Spain a couple of years now and we both have NIE numbers (National Insurance numbers) that were required so that we could purchase a villa and open a bank account to be ‘officially in Spain (despite being an EEC resident) takes more. We needed to become fully resident.
We found a English/Spanish translator (Mark from Liverpool) previously when Theresa had her handbag stolen, and from conversations with him we knew we had other documents to be obtained.
We needed a Residentia. This is an official document allowing us to reside in Spain. Mark also said that having got our residentia we could get a Padron each. A padron is the English equivalent of the Electoral role and means we can vote, but more importantly get us a SIP card. The SIP card allows us access to the Spanish NHS. (I hope you are following this, because it gets more complicated).
So we started off, with Marks help, in getting a residential. Mark got the forms and filled them in and we trooped off to our Area Administration Offices to get registered. Taking our forms, our passports, our NIE, copies of the house deeds (all 72 pages) and 80 Euros each. Having got there and queued in the English tradition (there is no Spanish one and when you add the Germans, Rumanians and Russians into the mix, please imagine the bedlam).
Anyway after waiting for 2 hours we got to the desk had the forms scrutinised and stamped we received our residential. Total time including travel, parking and waiting time 4 hours.
The next day The Lady of the Villa and I went of to the local town hall to get our Padron. Carrying our Residentia, copy of our NIE’s and copy of the deeds to the house (yes all 72 pages). While waiting we looked at the residentia and found that Theresa was living at no 72 Calle (Street) Ebro while I was at no 19 (She was correct). This we thought was going to be a problem at the desk.
It was not. The lady took out a large scale map and asked us to point to our plot. We did and she produced our Padrons (after scrutiny of our documents). The Padron said we lived at no 72 Calle Guardiana! Although we had been told by the builders we lived on Ebro we don’t. (Please remember that all the documents at our Area Administration Offices had stated our address as Ebro (as we thought it was) - Bugger.
Never mind, we went off to the local Hospital to queue again for our SIP cards, got to the front with our Padrons and explained what we wanted and were promptly asked for our UK E111 cards, which by sheer luck we had, so we got our SIP cards. They last 6 months and we have to go back and renew them every 6 months just like the Spaniards do. Weird.
A couple of days later we got in touch with Mark  and when I explained to him all the address problems, he just laughed, he had seen it before. He could fix all the documentation more or less online once the documents as they stood were on file which could take 3 to 6 months.
Anyway we are now fully registered in Spain. Next we are off to the Tax offices to sort out our Spanish Tax.

Scafe Cartoon - Just Brilliant!

Weather in Spain Week 5th April – 11th April 2010

Monday: Overcast day with a temp of 17C. Overnight overcast with wind and  coldish at 11C
Tuesday:Very Overcast day with 10/10 cloud. Temp of 14C. Overcast night with a temp of 9C
Wednesday: Bright start to thye day with the clouds disappering by the afternoon. Cold wind kept temp to 16C. Overnight cool and a temp of 12C
Thursday: Sunny start to the day and it got warmer in the afternoon. Temp of 19C. Overnight temp of 14C.
Friday: Very sunny and warm day. Temp of 22C. Overnight clear and bright with a temp of 16C
Saturday: A bright and sunny day, unfortunatley the wind had a bite to it that kept the temp to 17C. Overnight clear with a temp of 12C
Sunday:Sunny all day but the wind again kept the temp to 18C. Overnight temp of 13C
For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site.

Are You Blind Ref?

It was the referee’s fault that Manchester United went out of the Champions League on Wednesday night. Ask Alex Ferguson. “He showed insufficient resolve when surrounded by the Bayern Munich players. The referee has got to handle it.”
I thought it was down to Rafael Da Silva being sent off for two obvious fouls.
“With 11 men, no problem, we would have won the game. They got him sent off. Everyone sprinted towards the referee.” Eh, don’t your players do that Alex?
When was the last time the referee cost United the result they so clearly deserved? Their last match, actually. Mike Dean turned down two appeals for penalties as they lost 2-1 to Chelsea and Simon Beck, one of the assistants, ruled that Didier Drogba was onside for Chelsea’s second goal when he was not.(A mistake admittedly).
Referees have done many other terrible things to the Mancs this season.
Alan Wiley was “unfit” when United drew 2-2 with Sunderland in October. Not that Sunderland played really well.
The same month, when United lost 2-0 against Liverpool, it was because the referee, Andre Marriner, did not “have the experience”. Not that Liverpool were the best team on the day.
When Chelsea beat United 1-0 in November, it was Martin Atkinson’s fault. “The referee’s position to make the decision was absolutely ridiculous. The goal shouldn’t have been allowed. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes.” Not that your defenders were at sixes and sevens for the goal.
In his consistency, Ferguson ref-bashing takes attention away from his players’ — and his own — failings. Without the latest rants, we might all be talking about the unprofessional behaviour of Rafael or United’s overreliance on Wayne Rooney.
Look Alex Ref’s make mistakes, players make mistakes and believe it or not you make mistakes. Live with it and stop moaning

The Leaking Pool – Part 2 – Fixing the Leaks

Having found that the autofill was leaking how to fix them was the next problem for Mr. Fixit.
To describe how the leaks occurred and how they were fixed needs a description of the autofill, so here goes. Consider the autofill to be a bucket with a controlling ball cock, not unlike a toilet tank. The water comes in at the top and goes out at the bottom through sealed entrance and exit and the water controlled by a floating ball cock that keeps the water level in the autofill and pool exact.
The leak on the pool side had been caused by a piece of concrete being lodged in egress pipe. This had been noticed by the installers but instead of getting it out they drilled another hole through the top of the pipe, unfortunately, they also drove it through the bottom. However, it only leaked a little, hardly noticeable in the overall evaporation that takes place in hot weather.
On the inlet side, they had not allowed for any movement of the soil and had only just by a couple of turns joined the inlet pipe to the autofill. so over a couple of years the soil around the pool moved causing the inlet pipe to leak more and more and this leak causing more erosion until it the outlet pipe started leaking more and more. Now as this was under water this caused the pool to leak but then it auto filled causing more erosion and more leakage. Only when we stopped auto filling did the cycle stop.

To correct the poolside leak Mr Fixit removed the blockage and inserted another smaller pipe in the hole. He then created a false bottom in the autofill tank and pushed the pipe through. Finally he sealed the false bottom and the pipe to make them watertight.

This was the connection through the autofill tank.
A further L shaped connection at the left hand end went into the pipe in the concrete.


The Inlet leak was fixed by taking out a tile at the side of the pool and excavating through the concrete until all the pipe was exposed. Then by taking all the individual bits off he found that there was not enough of one of the connecting pipes connecting to another pipe. He refurbished what he could, bought some parts and an extension. Over one or two hours he carefully fitted everything back together and ensured a watertight fit. It was nearly over.
The addition of an extension caused a problem, the ball cock float did not fit, but cutting a piece off (it was made of polystyrene) he mad it fit. This, however, caused the ball cock to not float correctly. He found another piece of (polystyrene) and fitted this and hey Presto it all worked. Replacing all the excavated concrete with sand and a broken tile and the job was a good ‘un.
From this point it just need filling in.

Thanks Mr. Fixit.

The Grand National – Spenner’s tips

The Grand National is run in my home town and not far from where I spent my youth.

I enjoyed it more on the TV than actually being present, mainly because you can see more!

However, the atmosphere at Aintree is electric.

My tips for this year (and please remember I can’t tip rubbish) are:

• King Johns Castle
• Mr Pointment (an outside bet so each way)

The Premier League – Spenners Tip

The BBC news web site, in its sports section, has a predictor for the Premier League.
What you do is identify the remaining results for games in the Premier League and it predicts the final placings in the league.
I did it and the results were
1st Arsenal
2nd Chelsea
3rd Man U
4th Liverpool
Have a go yourselves!

The Leaking Pool - Part 1 - Finding the Leak

As you may recall we have been having pool problems were the pool leaked from time to time. Over the last two months this had happened so regular that we had stopped filling the pool to see what happened. It had eventually stopped leaking, just under all of the possible ‘leak areas’.
The pool is tiled and if any of the tiling had broken it would have stopped there, however, we also have other possible ‘exits’, skimmers (which move the water towards the filter exits), the filter exits themselves and the autofill.

We checked all the tiles above the waterline and found no problems, the assumption was: as the water had stopped no tiles below the waterline were leaking. It must be one of the ‘exits’.
As luck would have it our friends and business partners from Crewe where coming over for a visit. Mr. A likes his projects and challengers and being an all round Mr. Fixit  he wanted to investigate and fix.
Her had only been over a day or so when he decided, early one morning to seal all the exits and by opening them up one by one identify the leak. Here he is in the pool (which believe me was very very cold) doing the sealing.

The water was clean and blue, what you cant see is how blue Mr. Fixit is!
By a process of elimination and trial end error a few days later he had found not one but two leaks, both in the same area. It was the autofill. A low pressure leak on the pool side and a high pressure leak on the land side.

Looks OK from here but the installers (5 years ago) had made two errors that over time had caused our pool too leak and cost us about 250 euros in excess water charges.

The Full Penny

Congratulations to V & J for completing the Liverpool 2010 Half Marathon.

Love to you both. Well Done!

Officially an Abnormal winter in Spain

Scientists from the Spanish Council of Scientific Investigation (CSIC) say that this winter in Spain had the most extreme weather since the year 1900. Temperatures throughout the winter have reached new highs and lows for the time of year and rainfall has been above average across most of Spain.
Scientists have been reported in the daily press as saying the erratic climate has been due to the persistence of atmospheric instability linked to the crossing of polar front Atlantic storms. They continued to say that there is not enough evidence to suggest that the abnormal weather is an effect of global warming.
I can without doubt confirm the above report. This is my 3rd consecutive winter in Spain and it was by far the coldest. I even bought a mobile heater! Still we did not see any snow and the extra rain has improved the contents of the Spanish reservoirs so there should be no shortage of water.

Weather in Spain Week 29th March 2010 - 4th April 2010

I think at long last the winter in Spain is over. This week has been sunny and warm with warm to cool evenings. I had shorts on during the day so that must say something!

Monday: Misty start to the day. The sun burnt off the mist by 9:30 giving a very sunny and warm day. Temp of 24C. Overnight clear with a temp of 15C.
Tuesday: Fine sunny start to the day that lasted until sunset. Temp was a very warm 24C. Overnight it was clear with a temp of 15C
Wednesday: Another sunny day with a temp of 21C. Overnight clear and a temp of 14C.
Thursday: Fine and sunny with a bit of cloud around. Temp was 20C. Night time was partly cloudy and a temp of 13C.
Friday: Fine and sunny with no cloud, temp of 24C. Overnight clear with a temp of 15C.
Saturday: Warm and sunny day with temp of 19C. Overnight cool with a temp of 12C
Sunday:Sunny and bright day with a temp of 20C. Overnight clear skies and a temp of 11C.

For an advanced forecast in the area I live in see http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/europe_forecast_7days.asp?locationID=3222 which is Mercia Airport, our nearest point on this site.

Easter in Spain

Easter is celebrated throughout the world with great pomp and show. It is a major Christian festival which marks the resurrection of Jesus after the crucifixion. It is one of the holiest days according to the Christian calendar and is celebrated in many different ways across the world.
Easter celebration in Spain is a manifestation of ancient rituals that provide glimpses to the country's fiercely religious history. The Easter Week, known in Spain as Semana Santa, begins with the Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) and end with Lunes de Pascua (Easter Monday). The holy week of Easter consists of 2 holy days - Ash Wednesday, and Good Friday. 
On Palm Sunday, people go to mass in the morning and children carry palm leaves to be blessed by the priest. On Palm Sunday most churches organize a parade to mark the arrival of Christ into Jerusalem. The congregations in Spain carry huge, leafy palms or olive branches that have been blessed in the church.
As Ash Wednesday is the first day of the penitential season of Lent in Spain, the day is marked by a special ceremony where the ashes are placed on the foreheads of the worshippers as a sign of remorse.
On Easter Sunday, in Almaden de la Plata near Seville, rag and straw effigies of famous people are placed at different locations of the village. These dolls are finally torn apart and the pieces thrown into the air. In Castilblanco de los Arroyos, they place similar dummies in the streets which are later set on fire. The dolls are known as ‘Judas dolls’.
The feast of Easter Sunday on Spain is also special. On this day, godfathers presents their godchildren with a cake known as ‘La Mona’. These are generally traditional pan shape found in various shapes from simple round or oval to Disney characters, toys and anything else. Another popular Spanish Easter dish is the torrijas. It is a blend of slices of warm bread soaked in milk, sugar and egg, then fried in olive oil. They are served along with wine, syrup, honey, sugar or cinnamon for extra touch of festivities.
Note no chocolate Eggs!

Dr Who

Maybe it’s me, it probably is, but with a new series starting with a new Doctor over Easter, I still like the older series of The Doctor. It is not so much as missing the old flimsy scenery or the ‘best we can do effects’ its the story lines.
I enjoyed all the battles with the daleks (what an invention!), the cybermen etc. more science fiction than the science fantasy it has become. I will still be watching it after all these years. Lol.
The doctors in order:

William Hartnell 1965 – 1966

Patrick Troughton 1966 –1969









                                                                                                                       Jon Pertwee 1970 - 1974

Tom Baker 1974 – 1981

Peter Davidson 1981 – 1984

Colin Baker 1984 – 1986










Sylvester McCoy  18987 -1989

                                                                        Paul McGann 1996

Christopher Eccleston 2005

David Tennant 2005 – 2010





And the latest Matt Smith