Beingdrivenmad

Thespacebar onmylaptophasbeen playingupforweeksnow.

I'vetriedfixingit but I can't. Alladvice - andImean all is tohave areplacement keyboard.

I'mreluctant totryfittingit myself. Ihaveseen themon ebay for anything between $6 and $60.

I foundaguy whowoulddoit, including thekeyboard, for $40 whichseemedagooddeal.

But thenhedidn'thavetheright oneafter all. Sowhat wasthepointoftaking the serialnumber andsaying hehadone?

He'sordering one but it'staking longerthanoriginally said. Hegot intoacash flow problemthatIcouldrelatetoandIpaidupfront. I regret itnow. Idon'tthinkhe'sgoing todisappearintothenight, after allIhavehisaddressand phonenumber andI'vecalledandspokentohim.

Butit'snowlooking likeanother 4 weeks. AndifIorderonemyself it'sstill going tobe 4 weeks and thentheremy becustoms andcouriercharges making it another $60 or $70.

Obviously I can use a USB keyboard. I canpickupacheaponefor $10, but having gotusedtomy lovely laptop,I want anicekeyboard totypeon.

Ah well.

Some recipes are just too involved

I'm all in favour of  'cheat' recipes. I don't mind made up sauces at all, as long as they are good. Colmans, for example, work a treat.

What I really dislike are those recipes that require an expedition to the back of beyond, or across the Andes by frog, for the ingredients that then sit at the back of the cupboard, never to see the light of day again.

The Guardian recently had one of their helpful 'leftover' recipes. This one was for leftover carrots. Why they'd be leftover heaven knows, but one of them was for Carrot Kofte. It sounded very nice.

But olive oil, dried apricots, spring onions, lightly toasted pine nuts, garlic clove, dried breadcrumbs, Aleppo pepper or chilli flakes, fresh coriander, fresh parsley, dried mint, egg, salt and freshly ground black pepper, tahini, yoghurt, juice of 1 lemon, smoked paprika.... all for "leftover" carrots.

Really?

A picture is worth a thousand words

Bodies from the shot down plane arriving back in The Netherlands.

A short way of saying what I said before

Just a research piece really, for later use.


England's UEFA/Europa cup entrants since top four entered the champions league:

2001-02: Leeds (5th place) Chelsea (6) Blackburn (10) Fulham (13 intertoto) Ipswich (18 and relegated)
Competed with: PSG;Porto; Lazio; Parma; Lyon; Bremen; Sporting.

2002-03: Liverpool (5) Blackburn (6) Southampton (8) Man City (9)
Competed with: Valencia; Sporting; Roma; Dortmund; Benfica; Barcelona; Parma; Marseille; Inter

2003-04: Newcastle (5) Middlesbrough (11) Millwall (league 1!! cup losers)
Up against: Lazio; Benfica; Sporting; Parma; Sevilla; Valencia; Villarreal; Schalke

2004-05: Bolton (6) Middlesbrough (7)
Up against: Sporting; Monaco: Roma; Sevilla; Marseille

2005-06: Spurs (5) Blackburn (6) Newcastle (7 int) West Ham (9)
Against: Braga; PSG; Parma; Sevilla; Benfica;

2006-07: Spurs, Everton, Bolton (567) Blackburn (10 int)
Against: Villarreal; Braga; Bayern Munich; Benfica; Marseille; Sporting

2007-08: Everton (5) Villa (6int) Portsmouth, Man City Spurs (89 11)
Against: Milan; Braga; PSG; Sevilla; Valencia; Benfica; Schalke; Dortmund; Marseille

2008-09: Everton,Villa, Fulham (567)
Against: Roma; Villarreal; Benfica; Valencia; Sporting; Benfica; Juventus

2009-10: (567)

2010-11: Spurs (5) Fulham (8) Stoke (13) Birmingham (18 rel)
Against: PSG; Sporting; Lazio; Braga; Valencia; Porto;

2011-12: (458) Chelsea champs out top 4

2012-13: Spurs (5) Swansea (9) Wigan (18 rel)
Sevilla,Valencia, Lyon, Porto, Napoli, Benfica. Juventus

2013-14: (5+6) Hull (16)
Lyon, Inter, Villarreal, Sevilla.....plus the parachuters.


Summary - 13 seasons.

03/04 seems to be the change. Most years since then have not been the next top  places.