Friday October 24th 2025 "Has YOUR kid's education been disrupted by bad behaviour in the classroom? Well, join the club!"

Yes, friends - has YOUR kid's education suffered as the result of bad behaviour at their school? It's become a problem for a lot of people recently hasn't it. Did you see the story in this morning's Local Onion News for East Hampshire?

Phew!!! So Fisher's been "excluded" at last, and, as the Onion story indicates, the sense of relief in the county education department must be "palpable". Even my light-to-moderate wife Lois and I, in our semi-leafy street in rural Liphook, not a million miles away from Middle Wallop High, could "palp" it this morning, would you believe!

my light-to-moderate wife Lois and me - a recent picture

And that feeling of relief must be catching - is there something in the air of East Hampshire this morning? Because by 1pm today, Lois and I are feeling mighty relieved ourselves, knowing that the long nightmare of Lois being locked out of her phone has at last been lifted from our shoulders (!).

I had bought Lois a shiny new cheap "entry level" phone, which arrived yesterday, but we two "old codgers" were too timid to risk transferring the sim-card from her old abandoned phone, in case it was "infected". But that's just 'old codger mythology' apparently, as our 50-year-old daughter Alison assured us this morning, before just whipping the sim-card out of the old phone with a funny pin, and putting it into the new phone before you could say "Alexander Graham Bell" (!).

Even Ali's dogs, who'd been following the crisis intently, with worried looks on their faces, seemed relieved by the result - back of the net haha !!!!!

tension mounts as our daughter Alison, with a casual flick of her wrist, "pops" 

the sim-card out of Lois's old "compromised" phone and stuffs it into the new one

- even Ali's dogs seem worried: what madness !!!!

"And... relax!" - us all relaxing after the switch was done - even Ali's dogs seem relieved (!)

Yes, the long nightmare is over - we don't know why Lois was locked out of her old phone, but it didn't help the situation that Lois's so-called "recovery phone number" belonged to a phone we threw out, like, a billion years ago - more probably!!!

Nice result, because we then had time to catch up with Ali's news, including the latest pictures of our eldest granddaughter Josie (19), just starting her maths degree course at Durham, where she's already fallen in with a nice, rowdy group of fellow maths-"freshers". The girls, Ali tells us, have just had a day at the races in nearby Sedgefield, Tony Blair's old constituency.

Let's hope that the girls used their undoubted mathematical prowess to negotiate the Sedgefield odds and starting prices to win a fortune - results are not in yet, but watch this space !!!!

our eldest grandchild Josie (19) is on the left of this group

of Durham "freshers" spotted at the Sedgefield races this week

And this afternoon Lois and I could really relax in bed, without getting any more annoying texts telling us that a 6-digit code has been supposedly sent to one of our old phones that's probably "beeping away" in response, in some distant landfill or other. Let's hope that phone is not still beeping when it's dug up by archaeologists, say, in the far distant future, like a billion years from now.

The phone does boast a relatively long battery life haha !!!!

a typical pile of old phones in a landfill, many of them

"beeping" as they receive 6-digit "recovery codes" intended

for their former owners - what madness !!!!

What a crazy world we live in !!!!

We celebrate with an afternoon in bed. And, when we struggle downstairs at 4pm for a cup of tea, as if to symbolise mine and Lois's relief that she's got a phone she can use, with the original number and original contacts etc, what should happen but a lovely rainbow appearing over our little Liphook 1970's housing estate.

Yes, all's right with the world again !!!!!

we celebrate Lois having a phone again with an afternoon in bed

followed by a cup of tea, and a lovely rainbow to look at from our little back garden

here in rural, semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire - awwwwwww!!!!!

21:00 On "Have I Got News For You" tonight, the comedy news quiz, presenter and the teams are talking about the Government's continued commitment to "achieving absolutely nothing about immigration". 

The "one in, one out" deal between the UK and France, hasn't been going well, comments journalist Sophy Ridge, because "this Iranian guy comes over, gets sent back to France, and then basically just jumps on the first small boat back to Britain". 

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, however, calls it "a step forward".

Eventually this week's presenter, comedian Adil Ray draws all discussion to a close with some spine-chilling but amusing conclusions (!). 

What a crazy country we live in !!!!

[That's enough craziness! - Ed]

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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