PeterRS

And the point is . . .?

Excellent guide, thank you.

No I think it is a stupid idea! As others have written, we all age and we age in different ways. Some have had plastic surgery and may not look as old as they are. Others have had the same surgery and look worse! Ageing is an issue for families, friends and neighbours - not cheap pot shots taken on internet sites.

We were already advised some time ago that visitors to Europe from non-Shenghen countries will have to start paying a visitors' fee of around €20 from the end of 2026. And that includes UK visitors. Venice started the movement last year in an effort to cut down on the number of day trippers who pay no accommodation tax and often bring in their own food. For many days in the year, they have to pay a €5 tax. Now Rome is jumping on the bandwagon. One of it smost popular sites, the Trevi Fountain, will charge €2 to get close to it from February 1 next year. Personally I think it's a good idea. There are now so many tourists around it it is often impossible to see the fountain, only the sculpture at the back. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp89p41gr06o.amp

And you were about the only one to so misinterpret what was perfectly obvious. Where was the ambiguity you mention?

But that really isn't true, is it? In theory it should be. But when a President has a majority in Congress, has the power to sign Executive Orders and has a Supreme Court that is weighted massively on political grounds, this is a good deal worse than the UK monarchy system. Trump has redefined what the American political system is capable of - and it's not very pretty. At least under a monarchy in the UK, the monarch has no say in the political system. Naturally some monarchs have in the past have wielded an excess of power. (Perhaps it's a wonder that under King James VI and 1, the son of Mary Queen of Scots, more in the nation did not become gay ) But that was the system then. Now the monarch can influence but it is the two Houses of Parliament that decide policy. My American friends tell me that Trump is an anomaly. That may well be. On the other hand, as countries move politically further from the centre and become more and more allied to right and left wings, it may not be. To my way of thinking it is a key problem with a two-party system. It splits the country more or less down the middle politically. Surely it can never have entered the minds of the founding fathers that the system of government they devised would throw up a King Donald. But it did and it has. And it is a perfect illustration of a country sticking blindly to a Constitution written centuries ago - even with the possiblity of amendments - when the founding fathers had no clue about the internet, the atomic bomb, the developments in flight and so on. The world changes, and countries have to adapt to that changing world. As for an elected President in the UK, I loathe the idea. That would have extended Margaret Thatcher's reign and thrown up an electorate bent on voting for past-it politicians or merry comic figures from the entertainment industry. I'll take my chance on a monarchy as the symbol of the Head of State.

Years ago in Tokyo I had a meeting with the head of Rolex and the executive of a different company. The Rolex guy complemented the other on his new shiny Rolex! It was a fake! Even the boss could not tell. I have never liked Rolex watches - too chunky and obvious. Many years ago when i left one company i knew the Board would not give me a leaving present. So i decided to get one for myself. I had always loved the classic Patek Philippe watch with the simplest of dials and a dimpled gold surround (no lonoger made, I believe). When I checked, the price was then US$5,000. End of the dream. Then I realised: what is the point of a classic watch? If worn every day, I'd no doubt drop it on the beach at weekends. If not worn every day, it needs three-yearly maintenance at very considerable cost. So I wore Swatch watches for several years!

Fires in a sauna are surely exceedingly rare. In Tokyo on Monday two were trapped inside one and died. It appears to have been a chapter of disasters. A faulty door knob, fire alarms switches that had been switched off for two years, and a burnt towel that it is assumed had caught fire when accidentally touching the hot sauna stones. Worth checking all in future visits. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14v5625l8eo

And a host of others makers. Although many do not actually make the watches; they only put their names on them. There are several watchmakers in Switzerland making for a variety of customers. Many years ago my (wealthy) brother asked if I could bring him and his wife a pair of fake Rolexes. I did so. As both were working there was usually no one in their large house during the daytime. One afternoon my sister-in-law had to return to the house for something she had forgotten. On entering she heard a noise upstairs. Beijing a somewhat feisty lady, she shouted up "Who's there?" By the time she got up to the bedroom, the thieves had disappeared out of a window. Checking for what might be missing she noticed that only the fake Rolexes had been stolen. She chuckled at the thought of their trying to pawn worthless trinkets and expecting to get a few thousand $$s.

Interesting to know why ads are being put out now at the start of the high season and I hope regulars may be prepared to comment. Might it be because staff have migrated to other bars? Are staff leaving the business altogether?

Thank you @Moses. I much appreciate your comments.

I wonder if it really is sloppy thinking as opposed to bad upbringing, especially in schools. How to converse is as important as how to behave in public - and neither seems to be taught in schools any more.

The favourite story about the Queen Mother is that she genuinely had a soft spot for gay men. Most of her household servants were gay. One day having woken from her afternoon nap and slightly annoyed that her tipple had not arrived, she went to the balcony and shouted down, "I don't know about you queens down there but this old queen is still waiting for her drink."

In this case, i am sorry but that is rubbish! Why should two posters deserve a spanking when all one has done is report percisely what was written in the media and the other has called him out for being a liar? Sometimes your sitting on the fence is misplaced! I have never doubted @unicorn's qualifications. I myself am from a very medical family as I have pointed out here before. My grandfather, father, all my uncles, brother, sister, niece and two of my cousins are members of the medical profession and my late brother-in-law was in charge of a hospital for the mentally challenged. I have nothing but praise for those working in the profession. But I will not have one poster call me a liar when it is perfectly plain that i did no such thing!

Mention of Jeffrey Dahmer reminds me that the police who returned the 14-year old naked Laotian boy to him should have been jailed for failing to do their jobs. Was anyone even admonished? Nope! The three ladies who had reported the matter to the police had drawn their attention to blood on several parts of the teenager's body. They were furious that no action was taken.