Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

Farmer Gracy have jumped on the "elevate" bandwagon. They have sent me an email titled "10 stunning Alliums to elevate your garden". No thanks, I'd prefer to keep my garden at its current elevation. Otherwise, I might have trouble accessing it from the front door.

 

"Stunning" gets overused to.

 

Along with being devastated.

 

True. They plan to stun me and then elevate my garden. This is all getting very concerning.

 

I've had more issues with things coming from the US, the item arrives followed shortly afterwards by a letter from a debt collection agency demanding payment of VAT and Import Duty and threatening legal action if not paid promptly.
When I purchased a camera a few years ago it arrived from China a couple of days later with a green customs label on it describing it as a sample with a value of £5.00, no fuss, no VAT, no Import Duty; when contacted about a missing lens cap it was sent promptly in a plain envelope with a stamp on it.

 

It would probably have been more accurate to have said factoring agency, Customs and Excise selling their invoices to a factoring agency for collection at that time.

 

When ever I have had something delivered from abroad, that has import duty, it has been the company that is delivering it who has wanted payment before they release the parcel.

 

@Jiffy The reason the Chinese companies send items seperately even when ordered together is to avoid customs charges etc.

 

Ben came in choking the other evening, nearly calle the vet but he eventally stopped, not sure what went on as it was dusk and I was about to get him in anyway.
Next morning I found this on the grass, a tail, blood on one end, not sure if its a young fox tail or a squirrel tail, either way, I'm guessing he was responsible.
Not happy but its instinct I guess.


Yesterday evening I was round the neighbours house in the back garden having a beer when we heard a commotion out the front, a gang of teenagers from up the road, apparently outside my house, we watched them on the doorbell camera of the neighbours, when I left it appears they had just killed a dove, probably for fun, as they do these days, possibly with a catapult due to the bleeding wound it had.

Why do people rear such vile kids these days.

 

That is nasty @pete. Young people can be quite cruel and I think it is good that most grow out of it when they awaken their "empathy" skills. I must admit I do exhibit a mean streak when something goes after my plants but I'm not going "jeffrey dahmer" yet...

Our youth criminal act gives a slap on the hand to those under 18 who commit serious crimes, even those girls who swarmed a man in downtown Toronto and killed him. Some of them were already "known" to the police. I think our law should change that when they become a teen, they get a slap on the hand for one wrong doing and keep their anonymity. The second one, harsher punishment and loss of anonymity and the third, treated as an adult.

 

I'd send the parents to mandatory parenting classes too @CanadianLori It's all too easy to blame feral kids and teens but they aren't born like that unless the last few decades of ultra processed food in our diets is causing an epidemic of psycopaths and sociopaths.

Manners, respect, kindness and consideration for others are learned from the earliest age. I can understand some parents being naive enough about their kids not to spot bad behaviour outside the home but once brought to their attention they need help to retrain their darlings.

 

Children reflect society as well as their home lives. What they see on TV and the internet matters ... a lot.

 

Weather forecasters who say "Enjoy the sunshine". They never say "Enjoy the overpowering heat, lack of water and withering plants".

 

Yes @ViewAhead but they don't all grow up to kill toddlers, kittens, birds, attack OAPs, carry knives and use them. That's to do with parenting.