Eldery, bad food and a bribe.

12 July 2012

More talk about paying for the care of the elderly and little else other than talking is doing the rounds yet again.  One idea is to have someone's relatives pay for the care of their parents after they die; OK, fine ... but what if the relatives live abroad, or if the elderly person doesn't have any relatives?  But why are people living longer these days anyway?

There's no easy answer to that is there?  Improved nutrition and medical care; stopping smoking; more exercise; safer work practices, and yes, no world war to kill off the younger generation have all made a difference.  Right now health advisors are pushing for even better diet control and even more exercise to cut down on the obesity problem the UK has.  There's a push to find and treat the unknown diabetics in the UK.  Medical research is on-going to find cures for cancer and oh so many other illnesses that used to kill people in their thousands years ago.  Top and bottom of it is that a lot of us are living longer and may need care later in life. 

Of course we could throw away all the drugs and let nature take its course.  How many lives are saved each year by use of antibiotics?  Next move is to stop all health related research.  Do away with the current trend of health and safety at work and other places.  Can you imagine the outcry there would be if all that happened?  So if we want things to remain as they are or to improve even more, then we have to accept that it all needs paying for along with the results and benefits that all this activity brings to us.  We want a good and improving health service these days, but just how much are we prepared to pay for it?  We can't have the research and enjoy the results and then moan about having to pay for it in paying for a longer life!

Last night we watched Helicopter Heroes on telly.  One of the air crew was filmed on a walk up in the hills.  We saw him sitting down at one point and he gave a long list of things that all walker should have with them when they head for the hills.  It all made sense - but why didn't he have them with him at that time?  

Eating out can be dangerous to our health too.  How many people have come down with sickness and the runs and write it off as a bad pint the night before.  But the chances are it was actually food poisoning from the takeaway they had that night.  And it's not just the ethnic takeaways at fault here!  Today's News carries the story of a guy who ran a popular pub a few miles outside town.  Over an 11 month period he was given advice and warnings about the filthy state of his kitchen.  And from the report I do mean filthy!  He ignored all the advice, all the warnings and continued to serve meals from it.  Now the pub is closed and the ex-landlord was fined £15,000+ for all the offences.  Some people just won't listen will they?

I've had a look for a suitable photo to go with today's musings but I don't have anything to fit, so here's an unusual jackdaw I got at Bradgate Park a few years ago ...

A funny ...

A beautiful young woman gets out of the shower, wraps a towel around her form and tells her husband that he can get in the shower. As he enters the shower, the doorbell rings.  The wife says she'll get the door and goes downstairs.
When she opens the door, she sees her neighbour, Bill, whose mouth opens wide at the sight of her shimmering form.
He pulls out two one hundred dollar bills and tells her that they are hers if she will just let the towel fall to her waist.
She thinks why not and drops the towel down and takes the money.
Bill gasps at the sight and shows her two more hundreds and offers them if she will just let the towel go altogether.
She thinks she has come this far so what the heck and drops the towel to the ground.
Bill looks for a minute, thanks her and leaves.
When she got back upstairs, her husband had completed his shower and asks her who was at the door. She says just Bill.  The husband replies, "Did he say anything about the $400 he owes me?