Friday March 27th 2026 "Ever wondered why YOUR Chinese takeaway is suddenly out of meals?"

Yes, Friends, have YOU ever wondered by your local Chinese takeaway is suddenly mysteriously out of food? We've all been there, haven't we!

And by coincidence a possible answer to this, one of life's biggest mysteries, has been uncovered this week by a team from Columbia University, which is a relief - at last! Onion News has more....

And reading this story this morning here in rural, semi-professional Liphook, Hampshire brings a smile of relief to the faces of me and my wife Lois, as we take our near-daily walk, which today takes us through the mud-affected paths of pleasant, nearby, Radford Park, which is nice!

Tonight, by coincidence, we're going to be meeting up with "our son-in-law the hotshot London lawyer Edward" (as we always refer to him!), so we'll be able to get his angle on the Onion story! He's offered to take us out both for a Thai meal tonight with his family, to celebrate my turning 80 yesterday. That won't be till 6:30pm tonight, however, so Lois and I have to somehow "kill time" with a 4000-step walk followed by an afternoon in bed, before the big night starts, something we're particularly good at haha!!!!

to help kill time before the big meal tonight, my wife Lois and I take our daily walk

through nearby semi-leafy, mud-affected Radford Park, which is nice!

As you can see from my "bird log" (see above - top right!!!), all my very dearest bird-friends - the robin, wren, jackdaw, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, song thrush and goldfinch, have dropped by, some of them coming from as far away as Europe and Eurasia, just to wish me well, in their tiny bird-voices, on this, my official "80th birthday-plus-one day", the start of my new life as an semi-professional octogenarian, which is touching!

The day passes, somewhat hectically (!) - Lois and I have been retired for 20 years as of yesterday, and we always say we don't know how we ever managed to find the time to go to work back in the day! 

[Still waiting for evidence to back that statement up, Colin - just saying! - Ed]

18:15 Our daughter Alison arrives to pick Lois and up to take us into nearby Haslemere for tonight's meal, at the Thai restaurant in Wey Hill. Lois and I always try to avoid driving at night these days. There's nothing wrong with our eyesight - we blame the modern overly dazzling headlights. That's our story and we're sticking to it!!!!!

But what a crazy world we live in !!!!!

Edward is coming separately, with our three teenage grandchildren: Josie (19) who's on the first year of a maths degree course at Durham, and is now home for the Easter break; Rosalind (17) who's doing her A-Levels and hoping to do an international relations degree (with Danish) at UCL London; and Isaac (15), who's taking his GCSEs this year including Mandarin Chinese, and weighing possibilities for studying in China, either for his A-Levels or for a degree.

Lois and I are treated to a dinner at a local Thai restaurant tonight by

our daughter Alison, son-in-law Edward and their 3 teenage offspring

Josie (19), Rosalind (17) and Isaac (15)

The family lived in Copenhagen for 7 years from 2012 to 2018 - hence young Rosalind's desire to study Danish with her International Relations degree, that is, if she gets her expected A-Level grades and UCL accepts her. She'll get a study year in Denmark as part of her degree course, which will keep up the family's connection with the country, where they still have several good friends. All three children attended International School there.

flashback to 2017: Lois and I drop our 3 grandchildren off at 

their school in Copenhagen. We were spending a week there

looking after them, while their parents were away in Hong Kong

Tonight the talk turns to this week's inconclusive Danish elections, which has produced a hung parliament. We briefly discuss the efforts of veteran Danish politician Lars Lokke Rasmussen, dubbed "the Kingmaker" by the press, who's currently trying to sort out the mess, so that some sort of coalition government can take office.

Poor Lars !!!!!

If anybody can sort out the mess, however, it's Lars, Lois and I think!

Lars is the only senior Danish politician that both Lois and I have shaken hands with. Sitting at a table outside a restaurant in the centre of Copenhagen with our daughter Alison during Denmark's 2014 election campaign , we were taken by surprise when Lars suddenly appeared from around the corner with his entourage of supporters, plus demonstrators and a Danish TV camera crew - quite a 'circus'!

He shook all our hands but moved swiftly on after we told him we were foreigners and didn't have a vote.

flashback to 2014: Lars Lokke Rasmussen, seen here in happier times, on the election

trail in Copenhagen, stops to say hello to Lois and me, sitting at a table outside 

a cafe, until he realises we haven't got a vote, and he moves swiftly on (!)

It was certainly a memorable moment for Lois and me, and we like to think that that was reciprocal, and that Lars often remembers his little chat with us, perhaps regretting that he didn't take the opportunity to get our phone number.

I wonder....!

While we're sitting here tonight in this Thai restaurant in Haslemere, Edward gets one of his AI bot friends to compose a Elton John-style song for the occasion, "Lemongrass and Lime", which is a nice touch!

Just click on the picture, to hear the song - you'll be glad you did haha!!!

Told you!!!

Just play it over and over, and I guarantee that eventually you'll start to love it - suggested minimum: 2 hours haha!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!