the parting words of stephen fry on the QI i almost missed were that when kids toys were packaged they came in two sizes - box (standard) and box (deluxe), which is apparently where we get the expressions "bog standard" and "dog's b llocks".

is this historically accurate?

for the record, 250g fully frozen mince, when placed in a refrigerator overnight, is not fully defrosted all the way through by the time it is needed to be cooked (approx 18 hours later).

fridge was not too cold, nor was freezer.

top tip - place entire package of mince in bowl of hot water to speed the defrosting process. microwaves (even on defrost) tend to slightly cook the meat in some places.

and get a profile set up on LinkedIn.
Good resource to learning links, jobs (not much in Wales), Q&As, Companies list and lots of experts, many of which will freely give advice.

Having recently been made redundant we had the services of a company called Penna to help us with job searches etc.

To help you with your career choice you could try:
http://www.cascaid.co.uk/home/main.do?section_id=373
This is Adult Directions online.

I believe you are a fellow country man so ReAct Wales may also be a good resource for training:
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/foremployers/reactemployers/?lang=en

This is part of the Penna site. It doesn't look like it requires any log in.
http://penna.bizwise.co.uk/main.asp

The PCG (Professional Contractors' Group) was set up particularly to fight a bunch of legislation called IR35 (you've probably read my rantings about this stupid law somewhere) but their website contains a wealth of information aimed at people who want to start up small companies.
Well worth a read if you're considering it, particularly if you intend to trade through a limited company rather than as an individual.

http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=island&id=804&Itemid=1318

Other than that, accountants are an excellent source of advice.  You'll probably be able to get a free first discussion and some advice from most firms.

Not wishing to defend Milton Keynes particular, the place you were at is really the central bus depot. For the type of information / services you required, you would need to visit the coach station. Amazingly, this used to be situated miles away by the M1 near junction 14 but burned down recently so is temporarily based on the other side of the city centre from the station. Still pretty rubbish but I guess they expect most people to look up the bus and coach times etc on line now-a-days.

There is no standard envelope in the EU for this letter size either. I think there are a couple of problems with this envelope size:

- It would be difficult to use with automatic machines
- Because of the length, it would cost the postage for a "large letter" (whereas a standard DL or even C5 with the paper folded the other way don't )
- The triple folded A4 sheet is used as the letter head is visible as soon as the letter is opened.

Dashed decent of you, but don't cry for me Argentina.

With sadness, I see that you are still trying to deny that there are people who act selflessly.  Possibly your skepticism shows that you may not yet have reached that stage of character development.  If so, then I am sobered and saddened to see it, and I trust that you will continue to advance and grow until you achieve it.  We don't need to strive to emulate Mother Teresa, nor even to become angelic.  We just need to become better than we are.

Yes, it's true that some people -- when they hear a cry to help in KwaZulu Natal, where 2/3 of pregnant women are HIV-positive -- will feel bad until they crank up the motivation to drop everything else and go there to serve. Or when they hear about flooding in Pakistan, or earthquakes in China, or genocide in Darfur, or whatever else ... they will feel bad about themselves until they act to give aid.

But that is far from being a universal motivation.  It is a worthy and respectable motivation, but it is not yet at the highest level of human motivation.

Above this there is the motivation to do good, because it is the right thing to do.  It is not stimulated by guilt, or anxiety about the salvation of one's soul, or a sense of noblesse oblige, or fear that one may be reincarnated into such a ghastly situation if one does not help during this lifetime, nor any other such negative thoughts.

In fact, the highest order of motivation to help others selflessly does not involve thought at all.  It is simply, as I said, one's recognition that it is the right thing to do.

This cannot be explained.  By analogy, it is not possible to explain to a young person how it feels to be a parent.  One has to become a parent, to understand parenting.  Those who have raised children will understand exactly what I mean.  Those who have never done so, can have only the most abstract understanding of it.

That is what growth is all about.  One has to strive to become steadily a better person, and when one achieves a more advanced state of being (s)he has understandings which were impossible at an earlier stage of development.

It seems to me that the motivation to act entirely selflessly is the highest level to which humans can advance.  When one reaches this stage, consistently and as an everyday matter, then (in Buddhist terms) one is ready for Nirvana.  This is, if I may say it, what I learned from Mother Teresa -- not by her words but by her example, her pattern of thought, her perceptions of what life is all about.

In my view, the Buddhists have the purest understanding and the clearest explanation of this.  For they teach that, when a soul reaches the stage of needing no more incarnations and achieving entrance into Nirvana (i.e., Heavenly bliss) -- after a lifetime of selfless devotion to others -- there is yet one further choice to be made.  The majority accept Nirvana and forthwith never again appear on earth.  But a very few of those voluntarily choose to forego Nirvana and choose still further incarnations, so that they can continue to prevent and to alleviate suffering in this world.  And that is the highest level of selflessness: to give up Nirvana so as to aid others to live a better existence, and thus move theselves toward their own transition from a succession of earthly lifetimes.