I got caught by a 'phishing' e-mail this morning. First time ever. I knew it would happen one day. It was from Virgin Media and was my monthly statement it said. Stupid me. The Boy has a Virgin mobile account, not Virgin Media. Anyway, the anti-virus software went mad, and probably saved everything. I must be getting soft.
I see that Chessington World of Adventures/zoo/safari park has decided to ban anyone from Essex. No, it's not their fecking accents that's amiss, nor their orange suntans. The Park has banned anyone from wearing leopard spots, zebra stripes or anything which resembles an animal skin. As you will know, this is de rigeur in Essex. It's not on the grounds that such wear might offend the animals, nor on the grounds that it offends most people too, it is simply that wearing animal prints confuses the animals. And to illustrate the point, the BBC used a photo showing a man wearing a tiger print onesie crawling through the long grass....which was even more baffling on a number of levels.
As some guessed, The Boy did crunch the car whilst we were away. Not through driving like a lunatic after many beers, but driving slowly out of his grandmother's drive and not seeing the pillar as he turned. He'd safely navigated all the way from Essex to Wales by himself, and indeed managed the drive home as well round the busy, roadwork and traffic-jam infested M25 and M4, so to have done that was heartbreaking for him...especially as Grandma in Wales was watching. Poor lad...but then we've all done it (well I have anyway). It'll be a hefty bill, but I suspect not worth claiming for. Ironically, The Cat managed to get a ripple of dents on the other side of the car not long after she passed her test (although she denies it), but because they're quite shallow they've been left. It's the luck of the draw I guess.
As The Boy is being deserted by all his friends as they head off to university and he works until he heads off to the slopes of Kitzbuhel, it's given me an opportunity to have some Boys nights out with him. I'm rather enjoying it. Last night we headed off to the cinema to see Rush, the James Hunt/Nikki Lauder biopic. Obviously there's fast noisy cars in it and the women are nothing more than decorative sex objects. But if you can (and indeed you should), this is a brilliant film. The acting is terrific, the characterisation just manages to stay away from caricature, the cinematography remarkable, and the human story of the rivalry between Hunt and Lauder fascinating. Obviously we all know the outcomes..both the winning of the World Championship, and Hunt's early demise, but that doesn't stop it being a totally engaging experience. Very highly recommended indeed.
