Dogs and Airlines

Hypocrisy seems to be alive and well everywhere these days – Highland region have had a vigorous anti-smoking policy for quite a while now, but news has filtered through that £27,000,000 of their funds is invested with a tobacco company. They defend their action by stating that it’s a jolly good investment in a time of recession, and not to be sniffed at. It seems that where money is involved, integrity disappears in a puff of smoke.

 

Talking of sniffing, we know that lampposts were invented for dogs to use as conveniences whilst on their daily jaunts. In Sweden apparently, the acid that they leave on the posts as a by-product is being blamed for corrosion on those particular items of street furniture. Someone there has come up with the bright idea of attaching dog urinals to the posts, consisting of a rubber cup with a hose to carry the offending urine into the gutter. Although I haven’t carried out an intensive study of dogs, I do wonder at what height those contraptions are to be placed – I mean what’s a poor Chihuahua (9 inches high) to do when he’s caught out and is faced with one of them that has been placed at the correct height for an Irish Wolfhound (nearly 3 feet high)? It’s got me so confused that I think I have to go and see a man about a dog myself.

 

Toilets for the pooches; now some news for us humans concerning them as well. It’s been aired today that “Ryanair”, one of the low cost airlines, is thinking of starting to charge for the use of the toilets on their aircraft, a "Pee As You Go" scheme, I suppose. For those who suffer from incontinence, that cheap flight could turn out to be rather more expensive than usual. For others, I would advise you to unload your excess baggage before you board, in other words, “Go before you go!” The idea has been aired by the fim's chairman, Michael o'Leary. I rather think that he's taking the mickey or the p***.

 

It’s been rumoured that Tesco is about to become a stand-alone High Street bank. This could definitely be a threat to small banks and building societies, but given their impressive reputation up till now, I think I should withdraw the £11.40 from under my mattress, and deposit it with them. After all, “Every little helps!”, as they say in their adverts.