Update: rehearsal, house search etc.

Tuesday evening I rehearsed with the function band prior to our gig on Friday night. This had been rescheduled from Sunday evening. It was irritating because I'd been offered a freebie to go and see Spurs play Arsenal in the Carling Cup, but I hadn't picked up a guitar in three weeks so....
Anyway the boss had booked us in at a place called Arch Studios.

www.archstudios.co.uk/Location.html

I got there early ('cause I'm like that) only to find the Rehearsal Studio was full of those plug-in perfume dispensers that cause my asthma to start. It was so pervasive and strong I ran out of the door and coughed my lungs up and almost had to go home. Eventually they found one room without the aforementioned lung destroyers which I think must be much worse for people than tobacco smoke, but alas against which there is no legislation. I am reminded of Pubs that have replaced tobacco smoke with candle fumes: candle smoke, to my mind is at least as bad on the lungs, if not worse than tobacco smoke: but that could just be the nature of my particular allergies. I have no problems with tobacco whatsoever.

Yesterday we saw nine houses, one of which is a good possible. More research needed.

Also yesterday our Estate Agents showed a prospective buyer around our house.

The prospective buyer left muddy footprints on our upstairs carpet and left a greasy residue on the dining room dresser. Oh joy. Madame was just this side of furious. Then to cap it all, we found out that our house had been put up on the Estate Agent's website at what the Agent had called the pre-marketing price: which was not according to the agreement SWMBO had signed.

Madame's joy knew no bounds, as you can imagine. Oh well, such things are sent to try us.

Economics and the dreaded double-dip.

Over the last couple of weeks there have been a few comments on the possibilities of 'Double Dips' in various economies around the world.

community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/708538.html 

community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/710730.html

Nevertheless amongst many folk who follow economics in some casual fashion there was no agreement as to which countries' economies were liable to this second and difficult economic crisis. Some have argued that strict monetarist doctrine would enable whichever economy to right itself, others that Keynesian solutions were the only way to get economies back on track for growth.

We now have some more data and projections.

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/23/irish-economy-double-dip-recession

This is interesting to the UK because many of the Coalition's politicians have used the Irish example as the way forward for the UK. But this 'Double Dip' has inherent problems of its own. I quote from the article:

Investors warned that fears about Ireland's ability to generate growth would push up the interest rates on its debt.

"Does the panel think" (to use the old phrase beloved of the BBC) that if the UK does 'Double Dip' that interest rates on the UK's debt will necessarily increase?

Would this affect the recovery even more?

If the dreaded 'Double Dip' does happen, will the electorate even know whom to blame? After all, it's all Gordon's fault, isn't it?

x-posted to talk_politics