Its almost 9 a.m. and the rain is absolutely pouring down. I have just returned from Ronaldsway Halt. It was difficult to know whether I was actually trudging through the river or on the path. It always seems to be pouring rain every time a cruise ship visits Douglas. Today the cruise ship Black Prince will arrive at lunchtime. If anyone out there wants to make a quick buck today, then get yourself down to Mouchers market and buy all the umbrellas you can find and locate yourself in the sea terminal from mid morning onwards. Mind you this advice is probably useless as by the time you read this, the Black Prince will probably be elsewhere and hopefully so will the rain. Still, it wouldn’t do you any harm to have a stock of umbrellas handy, would it!

I have a couple of visitors popping in to see me later this morning. Tony and Jean have travelled over to the Island for a few days from Derbyshire. Tony like me, has cancer and is undergoing treatment. I met Tony and Jean one night in the Bay Hotel in Port St. Mary about 12 or 13 years ago. Somehow or other they came across the blog just after I began writing it, so the blog has not only introduced me to new friends, but has reunited me with old ones.

Now, the other day I was bashing on about the police tearing round the Island all day in their police cars, sirens belting out and lights flashing and I mentioned that I simply don’t believe that they are attending as many emergencies as they would like us to believe. Well it appears it’s more or less the same across the water. The blog’s foreign correspondent Anna, who lives in Chester, Northwest England files us this report. Although in her story it is actually an American gentleman, it proves my point.

George Phillips, an elderly man, from Meridian, Mississippi, was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked 'Is someone in your house?' He said 'No.' Then they said 'All patrols were busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available.'

George said, 'Okay.' He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.

'Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I just shot them.' and he hung up.

Within five minutes, six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two Fire Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Phillips' residence, and caught the burglars red-handed. One of the Policemen said to George, 'I thought you said that you'd shot them!'

George said, 'I thought you said there was nobody available!'

Tom Glassey with News where time don’t matter, on the banks of the Silverburn River.