On the bright side this means I am just ahead of the full-on commuterati and instead of the usual hullabaloo I share the carriage with a few older city gents who probably don’t sleep much anyway and who don't feel the need to toss the first business gauntlet of the day by thrashing away on their laptops. It’s also too early for combat phone calls, which is a blessed relief.
The terrible news continues to roll in from Japan at a rate seemingly index linked to the importation of career journalists. There’s not much we can do to help, not with words, and I pity the prey that are unlucky enough to wander into the path of a news team. Stop him, ask him his name, has he seen any bodies? How many of his family are missing? Doesn't he know he’s lost everything? At least the world can see this appurtenant wave breaking on the rocks of Japanese dignity.
“If anything good could come out of this,” the writer, David Mitchell, told Channel 4’s culture correspondent, “we should change our view of the Japanese...for the better.”
The Markets are spooked and investors are pulling out of equities by the bucket-load, not just Japanese ones. The rawness of it all has everyone in a risk-averse financial stampede for 'safe' havens such as cash and government debt, but in the cold light of a banker’s lamp, the misfortune of some is a fortune to others. “Business is business” confesses today's FT and as the Robin Trower song goes, “The takers get the honey, the givers sing the blues” (Too Rolling Stoned, Bridge of Sighs - 1974).
For my part, I see a huge opportunity failing, spectacularly, to materialise. Middle Eastern oil and global atomic energy are taking a beating but Europa Oil & Gas (LON:EOG) seem incapable of capitalising on it. Unless they’ve got fundamental problems, the share price is bargain basement right now (+/-26.00p). I’ve toyed with pulling out of property (LON:WICH) and doubling up on my energy stake, but that’s against the rules, my rules, and as Andy Murray says, “Where would we be without rules...? France.” So I’m stuck with a paper loss at the moment.
Perhaps the lesson is to always keep an opportunistic cash float. Thing is, I probably would have spunked it on that other bike by now.
Spring has arrived and as it's nice to be outside again, at last, I pulled the Black Bullet out of the shed this weekend for a rub down with an oily rag. I took some arty photos for the website project and went for a short blast up to the Ridgeway and back, which was just great (see photo).
The shed smells of petrol and it's clear that the tank, now that it's almost full, is leaking around the taps. It's not that offensive but it is a waste which needs to be addressed.
Judging from the colour of the fuel filter, the tank could do with another swill-out anyway, that'll be the time to deal with the leaks. There must be a petrol resistant gasket sealant, or something else that I can use on the threads.
