25 February 2012

Blast me to Heaven for loving you

Lots of post for me this morning...

5 speeding tickets, 3 for going through red lights, all for last Friday.

Mysteriously, when I went online to pay them, they didn't exist...

I can only assume Mrs Holmes, Fairy Godmother, has something to do with this. Thanks, Mrs H.

77 comments:

Small Hobbit said...

Aha, a fairy godmother who takes good care of her own.

I presume today is one of those when you favour the English half of your family as regards the rugby?

Greg Lestrade said...

After the Ireland/Italy result I may never admit to the other half again...

But yeah, definitely cheering England on against Wales. In between persuading Sherlock that you don't actually have to use all the paint in the tester pot. It's acceptable to have some left over.

John H. D. Watson said...

That tag...

Anon Without A Name said...

Heh, nice one, Mrs H :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

Are the sales still on? This might be a good time to stock up on cheap winter clothing, for my imminent posting to Siberia.

John H. D. Watson said...

I think you ought to have the 'people pushing their luck' one up there too.

Greg Lestrade said...

Don't know what you're suggesting, Danger...

I was expecting more protest from you, about my risking life and limb in the London traffic, as I rode my trusty stead to...well, I can't say rescue you, as you'd rescued yourself. But y'know, check that you'd done it properly, or something....

John H. D. Watson said...

And yet I see you've included it...

Yeah, well...I can't say I didn't know you'd ride over like a madman, so. I just wanted you there.

Greg Lestrade said...

Can't refuse you anything, you know that.

Assure you I was nothing like a madman. Just a concerned boyfriend.

Think when I take Mycroft back to school tomorrow I'll get downstairs to find my bike's got blues and twos fitted?

John H. D. Watson said...

Heh. One light on each handlebar?

Anonymous said...

Good to know someone is looking after the good guys. Good work Mrs H.

Anony

Greg Lestrade said...

...Mrs H, if you even think about that, please don't ruin the aerodynamics??

Hey, you must be pretty close to taking your big bike test now... set a date yet?

John H. D. Watson said...

Two weeks from tomorrow. :)

Piplover said...

Well, if your bike did happen to have lights added to it, it may end up looking like this: http://naraku.net/2008/07/31/massachusetts-state-police-motorcycle/

My sister and I are trying to understand the rugby, but her friends keep mocking us. What's wrong with being excited about the six nations rugby?

Greg Lestrade said...

Pip - that would be fine. Lights behind the flyscreen, nothing silly.

You're asking the wrong question - the real one is 'What's wrong with her friends?'

Danger - so your theory test must be this week, right? Tell me if you want any help brushing up on it. Happy to test you :)

John H. D. Watson said...

Says the speed demon...

Greg Lestrade said...

It was an emergency! Wouldn't have cared if I'd had to pay the fines and take the points.

Anyway, I still knew what laws I was breaking, even if I broke them...

Piplover said...

I think the term "silly Americans" came up once or twice, because they feel that only the 4 Nations rugby is important. My sister and I feel differently. :)

John H. D. Watson said...

Mmhmm... Mycroft said he'd test me this evening. You can listen in, see how much you remember. ;)

Greg Lestrade said...

Sure I'll remember everything.

Desert Wanderer said...

"Wouldn't have cared if I'd had to pay the fines and take the points."

Aww, Lestrade, you old softie you.

@----->------

Remember Doc, 19 passengers is the magic number.

Piplover said...

DW, lol!

Brilliant!

John H. D. Watson said...

DW - And the asbestos gloves are on top of the microwave, right?

L - I'm sure you will too, really. You can test me again Monday or Tuesday.

Greg Lestrade said...

Nothing shows true love like losing your clean licence for the one you love, right? (Unless you're an MPs wife...then not so much.)

Desert Wanderer said...

I'm sure that's a refernece I should get, but I find my mind curiously.blank...

John H. D. Watson said...

It's from the same Cabin Pressure episode I think. Arthur was using safety equipment as oven gloves.

Greg Lestrade said...

DW - only if you follow news about our politics. An MP allegedly got his wife to admit to speeding on his behalf, so he didn't lose his licence. Now they're divorced, she informed the police of this, now they're both being charged with perverting the course of justice and he has had to resign...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16866127

Greg Lestrade said...

er....and I was thinking you meant my comment, not asbestos gloves.
Ignore me.

Unless you really are interested in MPs and speeding...

John H. D. Watson said...

Ha. I could just as easily be wrong too.

Greg Lestrade said...

Well, now DW (and everyone else) is very well informed on both counts.

Desert Wanderer said...

Sorry, my fault. I should have specified. I meant the MP thing. I got then asbestos gloves one after listening to tje first two seasons on my last road trip.

The thinga politifians do...

Greg Lestrade said...

No worries, DW. And yes. Thing is, she grassed him up, and must have known she'd face the same charge, for agreeing to the plan in the first case. Not many people dislike their ex enough to go down themselves...

CzechReader said...

Just a random comment on an unrelated subject: I have the Ozzmosis album in my mp3 player. Somehow since I've started to read these blogs I always think about you four when My Little Man is playing - even though you or John won't be leaving the boys for quite a while :-) Decades, if possible ;-)

Greg Lestrade said...

I think it's more likely they'll leave us than we'd voluntarily leave them. And I don't mean leave for good...I just mean, grown up, move out. I'd...hope, I suppose, can't think of a better word, that we'll never lose touch with them.

Anonymous said...

Greg - Given how close you all are with each other, I don't think you'll ever lose touch with them. Not unless you move out to the middle of nowhere that has no phone/Internet bars... :)

Also, I withdraw the use of your full name yesterday, given that my parents did not inquire about pencils and rubbers last night. =)

Is Sherlock back to bed?

~A from NW

Greg Lestrade said...

A - you mean the sort of place John thinks I'll be posted to once Mrs Holmes sees my new tag? That sort of no-electricity-and-only-sunlight-6-months-of-the-year type place? :)

And yeah, he's back in bed. Think he's just a bit stressed out at the whole situation - I can sympathise - he was almost asleep before I'd carried him back upstairs.

Anon Without A Name said...

I have nothing of substance to say, except to note the number of comment on John's current blog post.

Greg Lestrade said...

You could have posted that over there and broken the weird spell DW seems to have cast over these blogs!

REReader said...

L, they'll be coming home to you and John for the rest of your lives, just, eventually, not every day. (Even if for a while it might seem like it's only for doing laundry and getting food. :))

(I suppose it's too much to hope that you won't see this 'til morning, but I'll hope anyway.)

(And I love that first tag, there.)

Greg Lestrade said...

I hope so, RR.

As for food and laundry...dunno, Mycroft is already adept at both those things. Sherlock's a different matter, but he is only young. And he does show interest in cooking, a bit...but he probably should diversify from just pizza...

You're right it is.

And thanks. But this time tomorrow I might be shivering in a hut in Siberia because of it...

Anon Without A Name said...

Yeah, I could have :-p And I don't think "weird" is the word I would have used...

I think it's understandable if Sherlock's feeling a bit out of sorts and unsettled at the moment. Poor little toad :-( How's Mycroft doing?

Greg Lestrade said...

Mycroft's...well, he takes a more balanced view, obviously. Sherlock's all rage and emotion, whereas Mycroft and I have talked about what the crash investigation teams will be looking for and things. He's worried, he's quiet, but he's putting on a brave face.

We had a guitar session early this morning - he played my acoustic, and I had my electric turned down very low, and I think we both managed to forget about it all for a little bit.

Don't know what to say to him, really. No point offering him platitudes, he knows the situation. He knows I'm worried. He knows there's nothing any of us can do. I wish he wasn't going back to school tomorrow, in some ways. But I do hope it takes his mind off it all a bit, too.

Desert Wanderer said...

broken the weird spell DW seems to have cast over these blogs!

Hey! When did everything become my fault? I see neither you nor Doc was in any hurry break the spell...

Greg Lestrade said...

I don't like to double post...and the doc is 'watching' the late night film (which actually means he's asleep in front of it, with his feet stuffed up the side of my hoodie)

Anonymous said...

Greg - She might take away your allowance, but I don't think she'll send you to Sibera. I'd like to think you bring as much amusement to her life as you do ours: lots. At least, I sincerely hope so. (Do they get 6 months of sun in Sibera? I thought it was 3 months...)

I don't think there is really anything anyone can do about the stress, except ride it out in healthy ways -- like painting, playing the guitar, making pizza (without sending someone to the A&E), and so on.

~A from NW

John H. D. Watson said...

am not asleep

Greg Lestrade said...

A - only 3 months? I'd probably still manage to tan...

Danger - okay, but you did only see about the first fifteen mins of that film, and the last fifteen seconds, which would have been quite hard to sleep through, they were so loud.

Want me to carry you to bed, too? With or without a glass of milk...

Anonymous said...

Sweet dreams, to both of you! =)

~A from NW

John H. D. Watson said...

mm maybe. bed anyway. i'll rub your rub before i fall asleep on you

John H. D. Watson said...

back, rub your back, shh

Greg Lestrade said...

,...didn't say a word.

was too busy laughing.

John H. D. Watson said...

shhhhhh, bed.

Greg Lestrade said...

and sleep.

you can rub my rub another time. you look like you'll stick you're toothbrush in your ear you're so nearly asleep.

c'mon, I'll steer you.

Might even hold it for you and aim, if you ask nicely. (the toothbrush, obviously. what did you think I meant??)

Greg Lestrade said...

and i'm tired enough that the apostrophes are escaping and multiplying...

John H. D. Watson said...

no comment.....

okay, tomorrow then

Greg Lestrade said...

...and he's snoring gently again.

Desert Wanderer said...

Good ness you two are so....warm fuzzy enducing. Have a good night, hope you sleep more soudnly than last night. <3

REReader said...

No, no, no Siberia! She strikes me as having a good sense of humor, in a subtle way. (I don't think she'll be wanting sparkly wings, however... :) )

As for food and laundry...dunno,

I did say "seem." :) I've a number of friends (and family members) with kids who use that excuse when "just wanted to see you" was felt to be too childish. (Although I somehow doubt Mycroft would feel the need to give excuses at any age. No way to know with Sherlock yet.)


Your turn for gentle snoring, L!

Greg Lestrade said...

Yeah, don't think Mycroft will feel like he needs an excuse. Hopefully neither of them will.

CzechReader said...

Guys, guys, are you aware that Siberia is larger than continental Europe? I mean, have a look. There are places on the same latitude as Berlin. :-) Now, if you were talking about Novaya Zemlya or Gulf of Ob, that would be closer to the idea of 3 months of sunshine per year :-D

We were supposed to have a contract for supplying stuff to Salekhard (probably the only city right on the polar circle) and we were stumped with logistics. Also the condition that somebody from the company would have to visit the place every 2 weeks had us drawing straws, as the conditions are really extreme there. Our director then refused the contract citing that there would be too many expenses and not enough gain for our company, coupled also with so many responsibilities and harsh fines that we would be basically a scapegoat of the whole project.

Pity though, I would really like to visit the place (only visit, mind you)...

REReader said...

Ha, CR! Siberia isn't supposed to be a real place, exactly, just a giant prison camp!

Even though we know better, really. :) Reminds me of a story about Cole Porter, who had inherited money and married money. When he was writing the songs for Silk Stockings, they needed a song for the Soviet comic foils to sing when they started getting worried. One of the book writers suggested he write a song about how Siberia probably isn't so bad, and Porter was all, "No, no, that wouldn't be funny at all." "Why ever not?" they asked. "Linda and I have been to Siberia, and it's beautiful--best hunting I've ever had." They had to then explain to him that for the audience, Siberia is just somewhere you don't want to be sent. He didn't really believe them, but he wrote the song anyway. :)

CzechReader said...

RR - ooooh, so it's a creative licence matter? :-D Okay, now I get it...

The sad part is, that there were a lot of Gulags (prison camps), but they are spread more or less evenly through the north of then-USSR. 9 months of darness, snow and ice and 3 months of swamps and blood-sucking insects of all kind. Or then the prison work camps - for example Salekhard was a prison city near to one Gulag and the prisoners were basically wasted on building a railway there. I think it's even called the Railway of the Dead...

REReader said...

(My iPod won't let me paste in the link, but if you google "Siberia Coke Porter", there's a clip of the song on the TCM website.)

Greg Lestrade said...

CR -yeah, it's sort of a shorthand. In context, it means a very undesirable place to be. We're not suggesting all of Siberia is horrible. But I was suggesting Mrs H wouldn't send me to a nice part of it...

Desert Wanderer said...

Actually, RR, I think if you Google "Siberia Coke porter" you'll get something very different indeed. Perhaps a visit from the DEA or US Customs, for example. ;)

(the Drug Enforcement Agency, for the.non-Americans among us)

Greg Lestrade said...

DW - I thought it was a suggestion for a job I could get over there.

"What's this white powder you're carrying?"

"Err...would you believe 'snow'?"

REReader said...

AAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

Desert Wanderer said...

Sorry. :(

REReader said...

You are not either sorry--you're just glad to see you're not the only one with autocorrect errors/typos!

Anonymous said...

Mm, I don't get it, I though the worse darkness can get is 6 months of the year, isn't it how the whole solstice thing works ? (not that it mean the snow stops on the 21th march of course, but I'm talking daytime, not sunny weather)

Anon from Paris

CzechReader said...

Anon from Paris - You're talking about Polar Night. But you have the twilight as well - the darkness for 9 months I basically meant as "not enough damn light for me to wake up at least a bit". Which is much longer. The sun goes above horizon on the poles themselves for 186 days a year only. That's a scientific fact. But sun above the horizon doesn't mean a full-blast daylight either.

Sankt Petersburg, which is much more to the south, basically got something you could call day break around 11:30 a.m. - and by 3 p.m. there was dark again. On the other hand, there was enough light to read a book sitting by the window through out the whole night in the summer - I always forget about the fact when I'm there the first night, so I always decide to read until it's dark. And then people start to wake up and search for the breakfast... :-D

CzechReader said...

Missing part:

Sankt Petersburg, which is much more to the south, basically got something you could call day break around 11:30 a.m. - and by 3 p.m. there was dark again when I was there at the beginning of November...

Anonymous said...

So something like, the winter is totally dark, the spring and autumn twilighty dark, and only the summer is bright ?

The most north I've been is south Iceland, and I was definitely traumatised by the sun getting up at 3am at a different place than it used to in january.

Anon from Paris

Desert Wanderer said...

Am too.

CzechReader said...

More or less yes.

Imagine you would have a scale and two markers on it. A bit like the first scale on this picture. Only to the left of the first marker would be dark and to the right of the second marker would be dark as well, the light would be between the two markers.

This would represent the night-day-night cycle in 24 hours, midnight to midnight, in terms of hours.

You and me, sitting tight more or less in the middle of Europe, are used to the longer days in the summer and longer nights in the winter. So the markers get closer to each other during the winter and further apart during the summer, allowing for less or more daylight. Due to our latitude we are also used to a more gradual twilight than, let's say, people in Sahara. When I was on Tenerife island it was more or less completely dark at 7.15 a.m. and full daylight 15-30 minutes later.

The change in position of the markers on the scale is much more pronounced the more to the north you get, also the twilight is much more gradual. So in Sankt Petersburg you get these awesome long white summer nights when the markers would be close to each end of the scale, as well as extremely close during the winter, allowing only for a few hours of not-really-full-light in between.

Then you cross the polar circle and you get exactly 6 months of polar night when the sun doesn't astronomically go above the horizon for at least 24 hours and 6 months of polar day when it stays above the horizon for longer than 24 hours. But you still get gradual darkening or lightening of the sky in between, much slower than what we are used to in here.

Imagine the light you get about 8-8.30 p.m. in the summer. Now imagine not getting anything darker than this for several months - or not getting anything lighter than this for several months. That's what makes it hard for people to bear...

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm not trying to be thick, my brain just has trouble getting around it. One day I'll look for, like a 3D representation of it or something. I mean I kinda get it, just not 100% (thanks for explaining anyway !)

(I really hated the long white summer nights in Iceland, but I certainly was in the minority ^^; )

Anon from the middle of Europe.

Piplover said...

When I went to Sankt Petersburg it was August, and it was wonderful for sight seeing because the sun didn't go down until around midnight. So we wandered all day and most of the night before heading back to the hotel to sleep, and then got up bright and early to do it again!

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