A Pinkish Letter Day

Our Washing Machine Is Working!
So, rather than a red letter day, I am honouring the tradition of a scarlet sock infiltrating it's way into your whites wash (an idea I nicked from Eddie Izzard the Marathon Man) and turning the whole lot a delicate shade of rose.
     It has taken two weeks for it to get fixed, and you don't realise how much you depend on the damnable thing until it goes bust.  We have got through half the backed-up laundry and I'm so looking forward to doing even more*.  Art?

Back when it was broke

     I'm not going to post a picture of the repaired version as one washing machine alive is very similar to another washing machine dead, and you're here for the sheer adrenaline ride, aren't you?
     Hmmm.  Better post something a bit racier than a washing machine, then.  What?
     Aha!  You recall that we've been banging on about the Bussard Ramscoop design of late?  Well, there is an obscure television series from the Sixties called "Starry Trek" featuring a starship called the "Enterprising" - I think, the details are a little hazy - and if Art can put down his plate of coal -

A remarkable design, nicht war?

     Okay, I shall try to get a close-up shot of the engines that power this mighty beast.  Art?

No, those are not the largest lava-lamps in the galaxy!

     Those twirly orange things are apparently "Bussard Collectors", which use electromagnetic fields to acquire gas molecules in the interstellar medium, especially any deuterium that happens to be lying around, so that said gases can be used for fusion power.  Your Humble Scribe suspects this is what powers the Impulse engines, those stalwart standby slowbies that occasionally get used.
     There you go, from pink to orange.
     Motley, would you like a blood satsuma?

Thus

Your Daily Dose Of DANGER!
Because no day is ever complete until you've been informed about something deadly dangerous that lurks in your home, because you wouldn't believe how toxic some of the constituents of plastics are.  Or - it's not just me, is it**?  
     Today we are dealing with - Aldicarb!
     Right away you know that this is some pretttty hazardous stuff.  It's the active ingredient in a pesticide called "Temik".  Art?

Ah.  "Peligro" appears to be Spanish for "Do not use to garnish food"

     And straight out of the door I note that it's a cholinesterase inhibitor.  You know, like nerve gas.  What it does is prevent the production of the chemical that breaks down the other chemical that bridges the gaps in nerves; so your nerves go on firing, and firing, and firing, and with sufficient dosage you will die as your breathing stops.
     Okay, this is one poison you won't find in the home as I alleged above.  So sue me.

Nope.  No Aldicarb here.

"Quondam"
Ah yes, another word that I've seen used, probably by Thomas Pynchon because he loves to use obscure wordery, and though puzzled and curious at the time, Your Humble Scribe didn't dare to put down "Against The Day" lest he lose the plot.
     It means "From an earlier time", according to my Chambers Concise, and is derived from the Latin "Quondam" which meant "Formerly".
     So you might say that quondam grey-haired Conrad is now all snowy white.  Art?

Conrad looking extremely suspicious about something.
(Probably worried about pen-thieves)

     From Google, it also appears to be a brand of watch.  Someone thought they were being clever there, hmmm?

Back To Retro Monsters
You know what?  I'm only up to number three on this list of horror novels as seen over on the Abebooks feature page.  There's lots to go, which is great for me as it removes some of the requirements for creative heavy lifting.  I don't care if you don't mind, either, because i) I'm horrid that way and ii)  Whose blog is it again?
     So - Art?

That is, indeed, a pseudonym.

     Conrad has never seen the film, nor read this novelisation of it, either, and from what I know I doubt either of those ducks will be broken.  I am afraid that Your Humble Scribe's relentless forensic logic comes to the fore here.  Apparently there is only one Creature.  Okay, is it the last of it's kind?  Where are it's parents?  What does it live on?  Why is it amphibious?  What attracts it to human females?  (any answer that includes "bikinis" will be ignored).  Why has nobody ever seen it before?  Why would you want to go swimming in a body of water described as "Black"?  And so on.  In fact I think it best I never watch the film, or my list of questions will probably increase exponentially.

How to scare cats the Gill-man way***!

     It did well enough at the box-office to spawn a pair of sequels, which means another two films I've got to keep clear of or risk an extra-large attack of Scientific Criticism whilst viewing.  Thank you, Universal, thank you so much*!

Finally -
I only need a short item here and then it's off for walkies with Edna.  She was a big hit with the Hotpoint engineer who came to fix matey at the top of the page.
     What else?  Oh yes - Skype.  I'd never used this app before Wednesday of this week, because I've never needed to.  We are using it as a means of keeping in touch with other staff members, and it's a bit disconcerting when you suddenly see yourself on-screen with a day's worth of stubble and rather greasy hair.  I did distract people by pointing the camera over to one corner of my mancave, showing a couple of bookcases and the book-cave atop the fitted wardrobes.  "Oh my go!" exclaimed Frances, either impressed or horrified or possibly both.
     Speaking of Frances, she was originally on "Mute", which of course inspired Conrad to make a rejoinder about -

The best ever bonkers prog-metal band!

     Perhaps you had to be there.


*  That was irony, in case you were wondering.
**  So what if it is.  See if I care.
***  It's a long story.  Go look up "Mark Kermode" and "Cats" on the blog to understand.