Did you know:

57 was the number of varieties that Heinz famously produced

57 is the number of days Obama has been President

57 was the number of channels in Springsteen's song in which there were all those channels and nothing on!

57, the numbers 5 + 7 make 12. Add the 1 + 2 = 3, a lucky number

have fun with numbers, Ki

So what is your favourite number and why?

I was never great with maths so numbers weren't big in my life but I found some that were lucky or some were just fun, nice numbers.
There were sweets called Lucky Numbers when I was a kid...7 was delicious. 3 always fascinated me, and 2 was a lovely house where we lived and 10 the same. 23 is my birthday so that's always figured and 26 was a great age!

Now whenever I see the number 69 I get all interested but I really can't think why! (lol).

Think of your favourite number!!! Enjoy and have fun!

Ki

I heard an interview earlier with Roger Daltry, lead singer of the Who. Firstly it was frightening to realise that he and Pete Townsend have been friends for 47 years; but equally amazing is to see how fit and YOUNG Daltry still looks....that impish smile is still present; the sparkle in his eyes, the energy and zest for life are still so obvious.

He was primarily on TV to talk about the charity he is involved with; it is to provide a teenaged oriented environment for teenagers who are suffering with cancer. Daltry said that environment has an effect of improving results and effectiveness of drugs and usual treatments by up to 15%. Fabulous. The camaraderie and mutual trust and support amongst the teenagers creates a much more positive atmosphere. They are not restricted by the "norms" of other hospital wards; they can watch MTV, play their MP3 players and so on...it is expected and not frowned upon.

One of the messages that came through from this spirited, rebellious character, was that sitting complaining about stuff will achieve nothing; get up and do something about it; we have personal responsibility for taking action. His final line (which may well be asterisked by the word police here) was "You'll achieve nothing if you expect someone to come and wipe your arse!" (Well done BBC for allowing that comment on Sunday morning TV!).

In the words of a singer of a younger generation, the wonderful Heather Small, "what have you done today to make you feel proud?"

Have fun, enjoy life, do something different, do it now! Ki

In the good old days of 2007 and before you could go to a mortgage company or bank for a loan...the process was simple!

Bank: How much do you want to borrow?

You: 500,000

Bank: How much do you earn a year?

You: 50,000

Bank: What security or assets do you have?

You: None

Bank: Sign here. The money's yours! (Ha ha, more profits, more on my bonus!)

Nowadays in 2009 the conversation is very different.

Bank: You want to borrow money? Don't you know there's a credit crunch on?

You: Yes, but I need a small business loan to keep the cashflow going so my business will stay alive!

Bank: But WE need to KEEP the money to preserve ourselves and protect us from the toxic debt our senior management allowed us to build up!

You: I have assets and security!

Bank: We have the ex-CEO's pension to pay; I mean it's 650,000 per year. Money doesn't grow on trees you know!

Now there's a thought! If only money grew on trees! We'd plant a forest and all those trees that were planted when I was a young guy in 1973 would have yielded millions! (Plant a tree in '73. Plant some more in '74). But plant a seed of an idea...the more you plant the better chance that one will really grow!

Have fun planting ideas today! Ki

I would like to thank the farmer whose cows produced the milk I had in my tea this morning. I would like to thank the tea pickers who provided the tea that I drank. I would like to thank the water company that provided wated to my tap so I could make tea this morning. The potter who made the mug from which I drank my tea, I thank you unreservedly. I would like to thank my parents who introduced me to tea at a very young age. My thanks go to the electricity company who supplied the power that enabled me to boil the water to make my tea! I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to my beautiful mug of tea this morning!

I must buy some coffee soon...I'm fed up with tea!

Happy Oscar celebrations! (Oh and thanks to the TV company for bringing me the news...........) K