A Stranger's London
What A Way To Go
I HAVE heard of people dying in (for want of a better word) interesting circumstances but until I heard of Mr Jim Fixx, King of Jogger's demise, I rated one millionaire's epitaph the best. He was buried near his bank with the inscription "Even though you can't take it with you, it helps to sleep next to it", or words to that effect.King of Joggers, Jim Fixx has died doing what he loved most of all jogging. The one time journalist who became a millionaire after writing the best selling The Complete Book of Running was happily striding out on his daily 10 mile run when he collapsed and died. Doctors say he suffered from heart disease and used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day.
Observed his 23-year-old son, "I'm sure he died very happily in his running shoes".
Apart from the feeble hearted who have hung up their running shoes never to run again, the immediate effect of the death of Mr Fixx is to reduce the number of joggers on my running route.
That may be alright for Mr Fixx but the reaction after the news had swept through the fraternity and sorority of joggers in London is devastating.
As an African proverb goes: "you never stop drinking water because your child had drowned in the river," do you?
Keep on running, folks.
The Poisoned Prawns Scandal
BRITISH Airways is currently faced with the biggest food poisoning disaster in aviation history. For two days in March, 766 first class passengers were struck down by a salmonella bug. They all became ill after eating infected prawns in aspic on Concorde and Jumbo-jet flights.The astronomical bill facing the British Airways whose famous advertising clip is: "We take good care of you", runs into millions, not to mention the human suffering that this unfortunate incident has unleashed.
Already one passenger has died of a heart attack. An Arab politician is suing for £7 million compensation, British Airways has paid 135 cabin and flight deck crew £200 "out of pocket" expenses each and about two-thirds of the 631 passengers have got something higher in addition to refund of ticket, in many cases worth £1,200.
According to a Daily Express report it was the aspic on the hors d'oeuvres which spread the salmonella so deva- statingly. Aspic is such a good breeding ground that it is often used in laboratories to cultivate bacteria.
A secret local authority health department investigation has concluded that the disaster probably started with one worker failing to wash properly after a visit to the lavatory. A veritable case of human error?
M15 CHIEF WAS MOSCOW SPY?
IT WAS stated in the 'World in Action' programme, on ITV that Sir Roger Hollis, director general of M15 from 1956 to 1965 was a Soviet spy. The assertion was made by a former M15 officer Peter Wright who investigated the M15 chief. "It was 99 percent certain he spied for Moscow' according to Mr Wright. Sir Roger who died in 1973 had been named as a suspected spy, but Mrs Thatcher told the Commons in 1981 that no evidence had been found against him. Mr Wright said it was Whitehall deception and no Prime Minister had ever been given the full details.EATING THE NATIVES' FOOD
THE strikers were not likely to find much sympathy among the black immigrant community. All the normal places where plantains are sold had rapidly run out of the stuff. A ship load of plantains from the Caribbean was reported to be in port unable to be unloaded because of the strike and while many Carribeans and West Africans started thinking that they would have to eat potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, plantains (which the British insist on calling 'cooking bananas') rot away on the boat.Time enough, I suppose to learn to eat the food that the natives themselves eat.
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