Freakish Finds

l like to shop at a second hand store. The proceeds go to our local hospice service. Today I purchased a 15 piece set of china that matches my wedding china. I already have 12 place settings. Why is this dull? Because I live by myself with my dogs and a couple cats.
Pic of most of my dogs.

Being a very dull and happily single man, I often go on a wee date day with myself. Today I've taken myself into Glasgow .
It's started brilliantly! I got on at the very end of the train , thus avoiding any sparky conversation opportunities, and was first off and through the barrier.
I'll drink only Guinness, and if I'm feeling a little cheerful later maybe a vodka and soda (lots of ice, lots of vodka, little soda).
I'm even going to a gig on my own later, date day is brilliant 😍
Grant, 43, standing now as the stool was hurting my piles

Currently at the airport, waiting for boarding. It always amuses me when, as soon as an airline employee is visible behind the desk, all passengers jump up and run to queue for at least half an hour. I sit and wait until the queue is almost gone, and amazingly, we all leave the runway at the exact same moment.
47, single, three cats. Shoes 45EU.
For those interested: Amsterdam-Madrid.

I don't know if this is dull enough but hopefully the powers that be will approve it. I was recently in Tucson Arizona visiting my son and I realised that one of the places I have always wanted to visit was nearby. So my wife asked me just how near? "Oh its just 300 miles each way". And off we went to see a huge hole in the ground, full marks to my long suffering wife! Want to know more? 50,000 years ago a meteorite roughly 170 ft across struck the ground on the high plateau in Arizona at 26,000 miles an hour. The explosion that resulted was equivalent to a 20 megaton bomb and dug a huge crater 3/4 of a mile across and 600 ft deep. It killed a lot of Mammoths and giant Sloths. Because the weather at Meteor Crater is so dry it is the best preserved crater in the world and contributes to meteor science. Such collisions with our planet happen on average every 1,600 years but as the Earth is 71% ocean take heart that the next one will probably land there. There is a banana out there for scale!

Adding on to what Craig Winn and Peter Williams have offered, here's my segment. I wear slippers in my cab, with tomato soup spill spot! (I need new ones).
44, size 7, has Thermos food and drink flasks..

I was fishing one morning in 2022 and I saw this ship heading toward NYC. I was fascinated and soon discovered it was HMS Queen Elizabeth or possibly a sistership. It's taken a while for the excitement to wear off .
58. Size 12 US. I'd rather be fishing.

Last night, after watching Scotland capitulate to Hungary, I turned off the TV. The groaning that had accompanied the game ( my next door neighbour is also Scottish) had ceased. Instead, I could hear some light sawing. Now this is Sunday, 10pm in Shrewsbury, UK. This should be the bastion of hush. I tutted. The sawing continued. I decided to investigate and track the noise. Venturing outside, I found that it was not coming from the garden of angry Scottish Mike, dismantling his Scottish flagpole. The sound was emanating from my own garden. As the only people at home were Crumble the cat ( not into woodwork) and me, this was a mystery. I crept closer to the noise, detecting that it was coming from my hand-carved pergola. (Middle class but looking forward to July 4th) The light was dim but I managed to spot what it was. A giant rat! I ran away fast. After a minute, guilt got me. The rat had been panting, probably dehydrated. I couldn’t leave it to die. I returned with trepidation, crept towards the dark panting beast and placed a saucer of water beside it. It didn’t move. I leant in. It was not a rat. It was actually a fat hedgehog. I felt even worse. I ran back, vaulted over the cat, grabbed his cat food and returned. My sole knowledge of hedgehogs at that point was ‘Cat food is good. Milk is bad.’
I approached Prickles and realised there was another hedgehog there too. Poor hot hogs! I placed the food between them and sat down on the chair to watch and made sure they ate. Nothing. Not a peep. I turned to the internet where I learned that
1: Americans have pet hedgehogs
2: If you find a sick hedgehog it better be Monday to Friday 9-5
3: If a hedgehog isn’t moving, sprinkle water on it.
I performed the latter, much like a priest. Nothing. I was dismayed. Hedgehogs are dying out, I don’t want to be responsible for the death of these two. I returned to the internet… and discovered the awful truth. The sound I heard was the mating huffing of the male hedgehog. He can do it for up to two hours to impress the lady hedgehog- and I had plodded in, mid foreplay, and ruined his night. As I slunk away, I realised I had become my mother. As a teenager, if I had a boy over she’d last 5 minutes before joining us in the lounge with a plate of custard creams. I am both my mother and a hedgehog c*ckblocker. What a night.
For obvious reasons I didn’t take a photo, but here is Crumble voicing his displeasure at having his food given to two sexy hogs.

Aldi: we’d be happy to sell Birra Moretti.
Birra Moretti: fantastic.
Aldi: Great, just one thing before we go, we’ve copied yours and called it Birra Mapelli. Looks and tastes the same, but obviously cheaper. We’re expecting it to be a huge success.
Birra Moretti: you are joking right..
Aldi: you’d think so wouldn’t you but no, quite serious. *hangs up*

I went to a multipex cinema at lunchtime today and turning the corridor, I was fascinated to see the weekly or monthly popcorn delivery was yet to be stored away from the double doors to the right hand side where it had recently been delivered.
9 bags high, approximately 9 towers and 4 additional bags so I made it 85 bags of popcorn. I couldn't gauge how big each bag was volume wise to work out how many popcorn kernels there were but a lot. It made me wonder how often this volume of popcorn is delivered, how many bags they'd go through a day and the value of this considering prices they charge.
M. 34. Size 8 shoe.

I bought this in China 20 years ago and pulled it out as I’m about to gift it to a young friend who is collecting vintage gaming gear. Haven’t turned it on for 20 years and had forgotten it’s AA battery powered. Certainly had never changed the batteries in that time (going by the Chinese writing all over them). Not only had the batteries not corroded the thing still turned on. Proper impressed. And feeling pretty old.