The wrong kind of leaves?

Railtrack, who are responsible for the tracks, stations and platforms, said leaves have been "bigger and juicier" this autumn, which has led to longer delays to services. The company said the problem had been particularly bad in the Midlands and they issued a joint apology with Central Trains. A Railtrack spokeswoman said, "There were 30% to 40% more leaves on trees this season and they were 20% bigger and juicier, which caused delays on tracks." The company is also trialling a new anti-leaf train and has promised to buy 25 of the vehicles if the tests are successful.

Some of the excuses that have been used include:

• Leaves on the line.
• The wrong type of snow.
• It rained hard for three months.
• A broken down Virgin ahead.
• The sun reflecting off the rails.
• An increase in vandalism.
• An increase in track and station repairs.
• There are too many people on trains.

Rail bosses have come up with a slick solution to their leaves on the line problem, hair gel. A special mix of gel and grit is being sprayed on tracks to keep trains running smoothly. Anglia Railways said after blasting leaves off lines with powerful water jets they were now using the gel coating to give extra traction. The only trouble is that rain washes the gel away. It seems that at every turn British Rail are thwarted by freaks of nature!

Copied from http://www.derbygripe.co.uk/trains.htm

UTC or ZULU time

Zulu Time is the world time. It is also known as UT or UTC (Universal Time (Co-ordinated)). All over the planet it is the same time. There are no timezones for UTC. UTC also has no Daylight Saving Time or Summer Time.

UTC is based on GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Greenwich mean time was based upon the time at the zero degree meridian that crossed through Greenwich, England. GMT was first used by the Royal Navy in the 19th century.

From http://navysite.de/what/zulu.htm

The Anti-Phonetic Alphabet

Long has the phonetic alphabet enjoyed dominance over the ‘can you spell that for me’ market! Well, no more! The following is my suggestion to make telephone operators lives complete hell…! If you’re not paying for the bill and you don’t fancy being nice to the operator on the phone for whatever reason, then consider making the conversation very complicated and interesting with the new Anti-Phonetic alphabet.

• Aubergine
• Bdellium
• Cygnet
• Djinn
• Ewe
• Fort
• Gnome
• Honour
• Igor
• Jalapeno
• Knot

See full list and article at http://amadiere.com/blog/2010/10/non-phonetic-alphabet/

The World’s Most Expensive Camera Lens

A Leica camera from 1923 became the world’s most expensive camera earlier this year when it was auctioned for a staggering $2.79 million.

The world’s most expensive lens has a similar price tag… and is also a Leica.

The Leica APO-Telyt-R 1:5.6/1600mm, is a massive telephoto lens that dwarfs any Leica camera that you attach to it. It’s the company’s longest, largest, and heaviest lens.

It was produced as a custom order by one of the world’s wealthiest photography-enthusiasts, Qatari prince Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani, who paid a whopping $2,064,500 for the hefty piece of glass.

See full article at http://www.petapixel.com/2012/08/27/the-worlds-most-expensive-camera-lens/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PetaPixel+%28PetaPixel%29

Two nuns

Two nuns are driving through Transylvania when Count Dracula suddenly jumps on their car.

"Quick, show him your cross!" says one of the nuns.

The other nun shouts "Hey Dracula! F*#k off.

Five Grammatical Errors that Make You Look Dumb

Here are five mistakes to avoid when blogging and writing web copy.

1. Your vs. You’re

2. It’s vs. Its

3. There vs. Their

4. Affect vs. Effect

5. The Dangling Participle

See full article at http://www.copyblogger.com/5-common-mistakes-that-make-you-look-dumb/

Hogg or Hog; Pig or Sheep?

Hog. A sheep up to the age of one year; one yet to be sheared

Hog. Domestic swine

 

Hogg. A sheep up to the age of one year; one yet to be sheared

 

from WordWeb.info

Get on my wick

Meaning - Annoy me; get on my nerves.

Origin - The slang term 'wick' features in several variants of this phrase 'you get on my wick', 'you're getting on my wick', we even find 'he got on her wick', although, as we will see below, the latter isn't strictly anatomically correct. The expression is of UK origin but sounds a little dated now and was much more widely used in the mid 20th century.

'Wick' isn't just slang, it is Cockney Rhyming Slang. For the source we have to visit the South West London district of Hampton Wick. The 'Hampton Wick' rhyme is with 'prick', which was later shortened to just 'hampton' or, less frequently, to 'wick'. As with other words that are now considered acceptable in everyday speech, e.g. 'berk',and 'cobblers', 'you are getting on my wick' is often used without the speaker or hearer considering the genital origin.

See full article at http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/get-on-my-wick.html

Types of shirts

• Camp shirt — a loose, straight-cut, short sleeved shirt or blouse with a simple placket front-opening and a "camp collar."
• Dress shirt - shirt with a formal (somewhat stiff) collar, a full-length opening at the front from the collar to the hem (usually buttoned), and sleeves with cuffs
  • Dinner shirt - a shirt specifically made to be worn with male evening wear, e.g. a black tie or white tie.
  • Winchester Shirt - a coloured or striped dress shirt nevertheless with white collar and cuffs.
  • guayabera — an embroidered dress shirt with four pockets.
• Poet shirt — a loose-fitting shirt or blouse with full bishop sleeves, usually with large frills on the front and on the cuffs.
• T-shirt — also "tee shirt", a casual shirt without a collar or buttons, made of a stretchy, finely knit fabric, usually cotton, and usually short-sleeved. Originally worn under other shirts, it is now a common shirt for everyday wear in some countries.
  • Long-sleeved T-shirt - a t-shirt with long sleeves that extend to cover the arms.
  • Ringer T-shirt — tee with a separate piece of fabric sewn on as the collar and sleeve hems
  • Halfshirt — a high-hemmed t-shirt
    • A-shirt or construction shirt or singlet (in British English) — essentially a sleeveless t-shirt with large armholes and a large neck hole, often worn by labourers or athletes for increased movability. Sometimes called a "wife beater" when worn without a covering layer.
    • camisole — woman's undershirt with narrow straps, or a similar garment worn alone (often with bra). Also referred to as a cami,shelf top, spaghetti straps or strappy top
• tennis shirt, golf shirt, or polo shirt — a pullover soft collar short-sleeved shirt with an abbreviated button placket at the neck and a longer back than front (the "tennis tail").
  • rugby shirt — a long-sleeved polo shirt, traditionally of rugged construction in thick cotton or wool, but often softer today
  • henley shirt — a collarless polo shirt
• baseball shirt (jersey) — usually distinguished by a three quarters sleeve, team insignia, and flat waistseam
• sweatshirt — long-sleeved athletic shirt of heavier material, with or without hood
• tunic — primitive shirt, distinguished by two-piece construction. Initially a men's garment, is normally seen in modern times being worn by women
• shirtwaist — historically (circa. 1890-1920) a woman's tailored shirt (also called a "tailored waist") cut like a man's dress shirt;[13] in contemporary usage, a woman's dress cut like a men's dress shirt to the waist, then extended into dress length at the bottom
• nightshirt — often oversized, ruined or inexpensive light cloth undergarment shirt for sleeping.
• sleeveless shirt — A shirt with no sleeves. Contains only neck, bottom hem, body, and sometimes shoulders depending on type. Also referred to as a tank top.
• halter top — a shoulderless, sleeveless garment for women. It is mechanically analogous to an apron with a string around the back of the neck and across the lower back holding it in place.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirt#Types_of_shirt

Phrases which contain 'dog'

• A dog’s life
• As sick as a dog
• Doesn't have a dog's chance
• Dog day afternoon
• Raining cats & dogs
• She's a dog!!
• The top dog
• Three Dog Night
• You can't teach an old dog new tricks

from http://www.puppygal.com/dogphrases.html

• Dog’s dinner
• In the dog house

From http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/az/d/dogphrasesandtheirorigins/default.aspx

• The dog's b****cks
• As happy as a dog with two d**ks
• Dog tired