Just a very short one thoughtful and enthusiastic reader, to advise that on Sunday 16 November Albertus Zwier Mangels, beloved of all of us, celebrates his 60th birthday.
What a pity if such an occasion were to go unmarked in these shadowy cyber pages.
I have made some researches into the proper rendering of his name, as there are those who suggest that it should be Zwier Albertus Mangles rather than the other way ‘round if you take my meaning.
Leading the way in their traditional, odious fashion are the nauseating desk jockeys of the Civil Aviation Authority, a curse on their houses.
It seems that our smug friends at the CAA foolishly sought to impose on our favourite iron thewed titan the fatuous restrictions of sub regulation 202.225 (5) of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.
How he must have laughed.
How I wish I had been there.
Anyway, the upshot seems to be that they deregistered his little home made helicopter in about July of 2006. Why there was not a howl of protest from the Civil Libertarians about this I don’t know. Surely there are many among us who felt just a little safer to know that in our hour of need this super man might appear from the sky in his kit copter and dispense justice on all sides.
Dare I say Deus Ex Machina?
Yes, I dare say.
Of course his dog may have been happy, if he did get another one.
Still, the happy occasion of his birthday this Sunday should not be sullied by our petty ruminations. We wish him well and hope he has many more.
