Are we the stars of CCTV?

[peterbirks]

You can't fault the intelligence of senior police officers. The spokesman for Kent police, speaking after a £40m raid on a banking facility in Tonbridge, Kent, said that "this was a meticulously planned operation". You don't say. And there was I, thinking that they were just sitting in a pub on Tuesday evening, had nothing to do, and decided to kidnap the site's owner, his wife and child, tie up 15 staff, and drive the money off in a 7.5 tonne van, all on the spur of the moment.

The trouble with getting rid of about £40m is that there is an awful lot of it. I half-expected the thieves to be caught straight away after the police arrested the driver of the only white 7.5 tonne van in the UK that was properly licensed, had legal tyres and was being driven in a careful and considerate manner, but it didn't happen.

I hear that they now have a number of plain-clothes officers situated in Tonbridge sweetshops, awaiting a a spate of customers coming in to buy single packets of polos with £20 notes.

One thing that you could do with the money is take part in the merger and acquisition fever in Canary Wharf. Just imagine it. A man walks into Merrill Lynch and says "Hello, I would like to bid for a listed company valued in the £25m or thereabouts range, please. No need to get the banks involved; I have the money in a van outside".

What's more worrying to think about is that there might be some investment banks willing to accommodate him.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry to bring up an old topic but I can't understand your comment about us gaining an 'hour in the week'.This calendar suggests that we only gain 100 minutes in the entire month!

http://www.sunrisesunset.com/calendar.asp?comb_city_info=London,%20United%20Kingdom;0;51.5;0;2&month=2&year=2006&time_type=0

DY

[peterbirks.livejournal.com]

David

It just feels like the fastest week in the year for gaining daylight. What, you expect me to check this? I leave that to dissolutes with too much spare time on their hands, such as your good self.

BTW, it was nearly light when I came out of Charing X station this morning and it was light when I arrived at work. Pshaw to these official statistics. Lies, sir, lies.

PJ

The Dawn Treader

[geoffchall.livejournal.com]

David's being a little prosaic but the charts actually do give the lie to your suggestion, but I understand why you feel this way and it's all back to that marginal utility stuff.

The sunrises and sunsets actually alter fastest at the Spring and Autumn equinoxes.By the end of March you're getting 15 or more mins per week added at both ends of the day. Right now we're at 13 mins per week at both ends. By the time you get to mid June or mid-Dec the sunsets barely move at all.

What's going on is that the change in light at landmark points in your day is marked. When that change alters a point of your daily routine from dark to light it feels a much more substantial change. In April you don't care that sunset has moved from 7.00 to 7.10 and most people stop caring about sunrise just as soon as it has tracked back to before they get up.

This is one of the reasons why Jan 25th (?) is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. This is the point at which credit card bills from Christmas hit, you haven't been paid since you were paid early for Christmas and the increase in light has yet to have any negligible effect on commuting.