Hi guys, it's Michelle the EssexBird checking in again from the Costa del Sol and this week we've had a few happenings here in the land of heat and to be honest, it has been the land of eternal heat for the last few months but they say this week the temperatures are coming down, so we've got our fingers crossed and we're all breathing a sigh of relief because I can tell you that I think this honestly has been the hottest summer that I've endured in my 12 years of living here anyway, talking of heat, we've had a another dreadful fire over the weekend, this time in Estepona. That's just up the coast from me a little bit what we're hearing is a guy lit a bonfire on the other side of the road. And because of the strong winds that we had on Saturday, the embers blew across the road onto the beach side, and completely gutted. a really well visited resort called Laguna Village. Unfortunately, all the Chiringitos the restaurants the shops on the beach side have thatched roofs. So, it just went up like a tinderbox. Thank god there were no casualties, but the entire village is just a shell, it is so sad. I have seen the video I've even posted video on my own page on Facebook and it was just abhorrent and it was really horrible. Even the five star Kempinski hotel sustained some damage, as it's at, as well as some other businesses in the wake of the fire, and it just makes you so sad for these people, especially in a time where ordinary folk are just trying to regain a much needed financial boost after having just opened. You know, that's just the saddest thing that their businesses now are all gone. The next story happened on August, the 26th, how this ever happened. I have no idea but a British man apparently was rescued after floating on a surfboard for three days. The guy was fully dressed in a white shirt with rolled up sleeves and claimed he fallen from a cruise ship. I kid you not !  I thought, all the cruises have been stopped at the moment. Mate, if this is an insurance claim, you have so got your timing wrong. He said to be dehydrated and hypothermic, and was taken to Estepona Medical Center or medical the hospital there for treatment. It's all going on in Estepona this week. It seems a bit of a strange yarn to me because no one from where I can see has been reported missing to the Casa Del Sol police that have fallen from a vessel. There have been absolutely no reports and when I say police. We have three branches here, we have the Guardia Civil, we have the Policia National, and we have the Policia Local is unclear at this moment, how this guy managed to survive, but the police are hoping this 55 year old British National will soon be in you know well enough to be identified and questioned and I bet when he's questioned is gonna give them one hell of a story, I mean can you imagine ? I will try and chase that up and see what that was about. We have also had a report this week in Spain, that we have secured. Our first doses of the vaccine of this awful virus. Now according to Spanish sources. The Health Ministry and the Government have told the European Commission, that it will participate in a plan to purchase 300 million doses for EU countries from a British Swedish pharmaceutical company. The name of the company called AstraZeneca, they once the vaccine has been proven safe safely and the optimum word that's the word we all want to hear isn't it safe. Once its safe.

 

then they will announce it. Under the agreement announced on August 14. Each European Union Member State that joins the plan will receive the proportion to their population. So this means that Spain will probably receive somewhere in the way of 31 million doses. The drug known as AZD7442 . Why cant they get it's just a normal name we can all get to grips with ? is currently being developed by AstraZeneca, and the Oxford University. It's not clear what EU states will be paying for this, but the company said that the vaccine is only going to cost a few euros. So it will be made easily accessible to everyone. In the meantime, Spain is also looking into other options like from Germany. It's not expected to be distributed until the end of the year. Possibly the beginning of 2021. Let's just hope it's quicker than Cross Rail. Now, what the heck is happening on your side of the globe people ? The BBC seemed to be falling apart since they were going to make the over 75s pay for their TV licence. They have run a poll (not the BBC) but there has been a poll run 61% of you would like to see that license scrapped. The UK is the only country in the world, where you need a license for your TV. That's crazy. Lord Hill retired last week and the corporation has been taken over by Tim Davie, and they're now talking about scrapping the TV licence, and replacing it with a house tax. So, does that mean that every household in the UK, will have to pay this regardless of whether they own a television or not ? I mean come on BBC  put adverts on, raise some revenue, nobody cares ! Besides, it gives us all a chance to go make a cup of tea or turn the oven down or go to the loo. It's absolutely nuts. The BBC does have a private company too, BBC studios, which is quite capable of earning money commercially, so it's outrageous that it makes you pay 157, pounds to watch rubbish and sometimes slanted erroneous news, and I gotta tell you, according to OfCom, Al Jazeera has better ratings and reputation for the news. Now I bet that shocks you, the rules, apparently, are if you watch tv live or record a live program, you need a license. If you watch from a tablet device, or an iPad, this is covered by your home license but if you plug that device into a wall to watch your tv live if you don't have a TV. You then need a license for your iPad or Android device. What is this madness ? In this already crazy world. They are supposedly taking 3000 people to court, every week for not paying their license fees and spending ridiculous amounts of your license fee money to chase the over 75´s. I'm afraid to say this but the world of technology has changed, and the BBC is becoming a bit of a dinosaur. They seem to forget that these days. We have a choice of how we watch television. For example, if you just want to watch Netflix and you have a subscription to Netflix. You are entitled to do that and you don't need a TV licence. There you go, BBC go to a subscription, then the people that want the service can pay for the service and if not, cut them off. That's what the other services do just cut them off as the Meerkat say simples. Now I heard a bizarre story this week about some man cutting his ears off, and paying 6000 pounds, according to the Daily Mirror for the pleasure of doing this. Why ? but he's a tattoo addict. He's had his ears removed which is now keeping in a jar, because he wants his head to look more like a skull WHY ?   Sandro, who is known as Mr Skull Face on social media insists that even though people call him sick. It's transformed his appearance and made him more confident. He's currently unemployed and not in a relationship. Are we surprised ? hmm

 

The 39 year old from Germany has undergone 17 body modifications people. This includes having foreign implants forearm implants, the back of his hand he's got implants, as well as having his tongue split. Oh, I hate that I hate that That to me is completely vile, his ears were the removed in 2019. He's now planning on cutting off his nose, you cant make this up, cutting the tip of his nose off and having his eyeballs tattooed. He said that this decision to change his body in such a drastic way comes from the heart as opposed to any desire to look cool. I'm sorry I think you've just absolutely lost your noodle mate. He said his extreme body modifications was ignited in 2007 when he saw somebody else have spikes putting their head. No kidding. No kidding. Right. Finally, I would like to finish on a story that I find a little bit Karma and I thought totally hilarious. Now, I don't know if you remember the hate preacher Abu Hamza. You know the guy from the Finsbury Park Mosque. That was preaching terrorism with the hooks on the end of his arms, he was imprisoned for a while in the UK and then he was extradited to the USA. He's now complaining that his human rights are being violated, because he is having to eat kosher food. Palm face,  absolute surprise shock horror. He even went on a 14 day hunger strike. Well, let's be honest this guy could do with shedding a few pounds. Anyway, he's having to eat kosher food, which I can tell you from experience hallal meat is exactly the same as kosher meat, you really couldn't make this up. He is also complaining that his hooks have been taken away from him. Mate, you're in prison, you could harm somebody with those, you could take your own life with those of course they're gonna take them away from you and then on top of it always says that when he turns the taps on to wash in  his cell. It's making his stumps sore. Now this is where I got to apologize and say, I'm really sorry folks. I don't want to sound politically incorrect. I do not want to offend anybody. I don't care what caste, creed or color you are good, I hope, Abu Hamza you suffer for the longest time to come in your American jail cell. After all the terrorist atrocities that went down. I'm sorry, I've got no sympathy for you. I hope I haven't offended anyone I really, really do. I think people are people just that we should all be kind to others and let's just live our lives and enjoy it. Anyway, that's it for this week. That's my rant. Until next week. Have a good one, much love from the Costa del Sol, Hasta Luego