For those of us who pay attention to strange dates, there are only five hours left to make the best of it. In the UK and China, of all places, Registry offices are open today for couples who believe.

I do, On 8.8.88 I sold a bungalow for £88,000.

And we were married on 20 02 2002! Unfortunately the registrar wouldn´t do his stuff at 2002 hours!

I noticed that the Savoy Hotel, after being closed for three years for refurbishment, opened today at 10.10am. I had a meal there once and couldn’t stop looking around at all the celebrities. Joan Collins was there with Bungalow Bill. And the American singer Cher, with about a dozen minders. And a smattering of Tory politicians. And a drunk Rolling Stone.

I had to take out a bank loan to pay for the meal.

I expect we'll be talking about this sort of thing in ten days time as well.

I suppose the chattering classes have seven minutes to go, unless they’re living in the UK. I’ve fired off several emails to make sure the date is recorded for posterity.

OK, I can’t resist it. I got a tip for a horse years ago on a drunken night in the East End. When I had a recuperating bath the next morning, I lay there and suddenly remembered the tip, and the date, the name of the horse and its number (8). I rushed down to the bookmakers and put a score each way on it. It won at 66/1.

I bought myself a lovely Cortina with the proceeds and the wife got a fur coat. I’m ashamed to record it now, but it was rabbit fur.

Ahhh, numerology.

Always remember there have to be coincidences, where unusual numbers occur and so on, because if there weren't, that would be something wild, as it would mean that something somewhere was tampering with our existance.

Another one to ponder.

My sister-in-law was married on the 23rd. The only house she and her husband lived in was number 23.

...and sadly, she died last month on the 23rd!

Coincidence or what ...?

Well, unless she was killed in order to make the numbers match, then yes, it is.

Consider how big the odds are against that, then look at the population of the world. It HAS to happen to someone.

The big trouble with numerology etc is that people have very great problems understanding what random really means.

Plus, usually, you have to take into consideration that it means random-within-the-parameters.

Wonder what the odds were against coming up on the Euro Millions lottery, 5 correct numbers plus 2 lucky stars,whatever they may be.
A record 113 million euros and the lucky UK winner still hasn't turned up yet.
To be hoped he hasn't lost his ticket.

The Málaga metro is due to begin service at 11:11 on the 11/11/11.

I used to buy the odd lottery ticket until someone pointed out that if the draw was on Saturday evening, and I bought a ticket on Saturday morning, I would have a greater chance of dropping dead before the draw than I did of winning.

Yeh, that's what I like about you Bil,

Always looking on the bright side of life.

A lot of people see me as a pessimist, but I think I'm a realist.

The glass contains 50% by volume of liquid.

Yes, well it would be nice to hear about the 50% you still have in your glass.

That's providing it hasn't gone off, while you were sitting there looking at it.

I liked the Gary Larson cartoon that shows the 4 basic personality types.

Each one is standing in front of a half filled glass. This is what each one is saying.

1. " The glass is half full."
2. "The glass is half empty."
3. "The glass is half full. No, it's half empty. Ummm,. wait a minute...."
4. "I ordered hamburger."