Swan-neck garlic

Despite an improvement in the weather and in the state of my sniffly/sneezy cold, once again I didn't move outside the house. This was because of what was in this morning's post -- a notice of an 'alleged' Fixed Charge Offence, charging me with speeding at 10.23 am on 6th December last and including a snap of my numberplate. I have 28 days to pay a fixed fine of 80 euro, failing which the fine increases to 120 euro if paid within 29 to 56 days. In either case I'm informed that I'm subject to 2 penalty points on my driving licence (or 4 if I opt to bring the matter to court and am convicted there).

I'm hopping mad! I detest hidden speed cameras, I abhor the notion of the automatic imposition of penalty points, and I fail to understand how an arrangement such as this can be considered just or fair. As it stands, an offence is 'alleged', but if I pay the fine then I'm apparently admitting that the offence was committed, even though I have no recollection of the circumstances and the reproduction of my numberplate, presumably offered as 'evidence', does not show my car in the described location or in relation to an indication of the specified speed limit. The rationale escapes me. Are fixed fines like this intended to free up the court system, or are they merely another part of a cynical plan to generate income for the exchequer? As presented, I certainly appear to be stuck in a bit of a cleft stick, and I suppose I will end up paying the minimum fine to stop things getting potentially worse. But I am very, very wary of the prevailing trend of relying blindly and absolutely on electronic devices, without recourse to further examination and allowance for the likelihood of their being defective.

Anyway, the whole thing spoiled my day right royally, and I reverted to sulk mode. I read a bit, ate some, slept some. I didn't even feel like going out into the much improved weather for blip purposes. By evening I'd calmed down sufficiently to lift the camera and think about blipping something indoors. Lots of inanimate objects spent a while as unobjecting models, but it wasn't that difficult in the end to pick this shot of a clove of garlic as today's offering. (Thinking of garlic in the first place was prompted in the first place by Shy's wonderful blip, reinforced by the notion that garlic was especially apt in view of the nasty speed camera business.)

EDIT: I only later realised that, as if to add insult to injury, the date of the 'alleged' speeding offence coincides with my most recent auspicious Blipday. I didn't think until now to check here for a clue as to what I was up to at the stated date and time. What I have to say in my blip entry is of no use at all. I can't think why I would have been coming off the M1 motorway at that time of the morning on that day.