D T Rave to be robbed of booze

So, we now have (at least from next Monday) a Designated Public Places Order for my village (Four Marks in Hamphsire).

This means that if a policeman has reason to believe that I have been drinking, am drinking, or am about to drink, he can accost me and confiscate any booze I'm carrying-on pain of arrest.

An obvious tactic will be to wait outside the off-licence; reasonable cause to belive that DTR emerging from there is about to drink.

Of course, this is all meant to be part of the fight against anti-social behaviour, and I'm not in favour of gangs of youths drinking and behaving badly in public.

But we do have established laws against under-age drinking, and also against disorderly behaviour. Why can't we just enforce those laws, rather than dreaming up a host of new ones (with enhanced police powers over all and sundry).

Here endeth today's rant.

Bloggers revealed

So, it's now likely that the 'real' identity of bloggers will be revealed in the public interest (story in yesterday's Times).

I can't wait to find out who Mrs Pouncer is (unless that's your real name, Mrs P).

I shan't reveal my real identity, because it's even less interesting than my blogging identity.

Anyway, Shakespeare's plays weren't written by him, but by somebody else with the same name.

Byee

DTR

And then the heavens opened

Bit of a disaster on Thursday.

I was just getting dressed (trousers not yet on) when I heard a great rush of water coming from the general direction of the bathroom.

On checking, enormous quantities of water were pouring in through the ceiling!

I was fairly quick thinking, and turned off all the stopcocks and similar I could think of before alerting la Duchesa.

Then it was a matter of trying to collect the water that was cascading into the bathroom and other places: most notably the bedroom, and in particular the big bed, which ended up flooded and pretty much ruined.

I must praise British Gas, who sent out a plumber within about an hour of my distress call (they must have caught the note of panic in my voice); he quickly sorted out the pipe problem in the roof, but of course the bulk of the damage was done by the water that had already flowed.

Anyway, we've now got a load of dehumidifiers in the house, a new bed on order, and just waiting to get everything dried out and cleaned up.

Another thank you to Legal & General from whom we already have a cheque for the new bed (la D must have been especially convincing on the phone to them).

The worry is that if it had happened when we were both out, the house would have been absolutely ruined.

Still, panic over, and we live to fight another day...