Two sets of thieves

30 April

Memory … That is what I wrote yesterday as an aid-wots-it for this morning’s blog. But guess what – I can’t remember what I was thinking of at time. Looks like another Neville Longbottom occasion.

SSE are up to their tricks again. We get our power from OVO and have done since 2009 when we came back here from Atherton. This morning there was a letter from SSE saying that we need to have a new metre fitted urgently because out current one is coming to the end of its useful life. Is it really? I’ve done a quick web-search and found that SSE is a rival power company who are trying to work a fiddle by scaring folk into having a new metre without realising that they are taking out a new contract with them. They have even included a threat to get an entry warrant if we don’t comply. Later today two emails will be winging their way to Trading Standards and Which? I’m sure they will both love to know about this one!

The flood of refugees from Turkey to Greece has just about dried up, at least for now. Perhaps ISIS has to train more people to their side seeing as all the others have already made it to Europe. That still leaves the smaller flood from North Africa to Italy though, which we still don’t all that much of these days. There’s been a few documentaries on telly about how ancient sites are being plundered by ISIS to fund their fight, or should that be to line their own pockets. The name of Islam is being abuse by these people to hide their thuggish thieving, thereby bring Muslim already settle here in the UK into disrepute.   

A short blog today because we are heading over to Coventry this morning. Jan is after a decent car-cam and wants to look at some in the larger stores over there. The same stores are here in Dorktown but they are much smaller and don’t carry as much stock as a consequence. At least it gives us chance to go out for a few hours.

Today’s photo …

This striking Georgian building in just off the city centre in Coventry.     

Today’s funny …

What do you get if you cross a ghost with a packet of potato chips?
Snacks that go crunch in the night.

South Yorkshire cops and Middle Eastern Violence.

29 April

Thankfully I’ve cooled down a good bit after yesterday’s rant. That doesn’t mean that I have forgotten or forgiven those involved in the animal skin trade. It remains and issue that needs to be dealt with and properly policed.

The new verdict on the Liverpool 96 has been seen as a breath of fresh air blowing through the lives of all the families who lost their loved ones in the incident. Sadly, I have little faith in anyone being held to account over it. South Yorkshire Police are in firing line again, ye again. It’s the same force that failed oh so many children caught up in the sex abuse ring in the town of Rotherham. Individually they are both serious problems for any one Police Force, but to part of both issues that have been proved to be so poorly policed and badly managed. How can anyone have any confidence in South Yorkshire really being an efficient service? I’m more than a little pleased we don’t live there.  

Middle Eastern violence continues. In Israel loan Muslims are attacking and stabbing Israel’s without reason, or at least that is what it looks like on the surface. Since the 1967 war which that Israel won, settlers have been moving deeper into Palestinian areas and building settlements on land owned by the Palestinians. Is it any wonder they might react to that? Of course not!

The big thing with this one is that if you speak out against Israel, you risk being called anti-Semitic. Yes, there are many people who are clearly anti-Semitic, but just because someone disagrees with Israel on any issue doesn’t tar them with hatred brush. It is legitimate the critical comments about what Israel, or individual Israelis do and say, is not showing a hatred of the nation or the people of that nation. I believe it is right to make comments about the clearly illegal occupation of Palestinian land and about how the Palestinian people as a whole are being treated by Israel. I find difficult to explain what Israel is doing to its neighbours. After centuries of being persecuted by every nation and the attempt of full genocide of Jews in WW2, should be more tolerant of minorities and should treat them as they themselves wanted to be treated.

Now there is a huge row within the Labour party about anti-Semitics, which has seen two Labour muppets being suspended from the party over the issue. As a life time supporter of Labour, I find this to be very unsettling personally, but it’s doing nothing to help the party win whatever argument they are making. The last time the party had such an extreme left-winger was I believe Michael Foot, and he just about destroyed the party because of his views. That time he turned up for the annual Service of Reembrace waring a donkey jacket didn’t help him any either.

The general election of 1979 which lead to Mad Maggie becoming prime muppet, was the start of a long period of wasteland living for Labour muppets. They just were not taken serious. MM hated Neil Kinnock and never refused to put him down. The sudden death of John Smith rocked just about everyone, and it ultimately lead to Terrible Tony taking control of Labour and his fresher out look of the role of Labour helped him win when John Major gave it up. Where will go next I wonder … … …

Today’s photo then …

Having a fag.

Today’s funny ...

Did you hear about the musical ghost?
He wrote haunting melodies.                

Waring fur supports murder!

28 April

Readers of a certain age may well remember the back lash over real fur coats when pictures like this …

And this …

 

… were splattered across the media. Of course the tabloids lead the way; but you know what? They were right to do so. However, the luxury end of the fur market is booming again. Last night we sat and watched a documentary in the This World series that covered this story. The man who presented it visited a number of places overseas to see how the animals are caught and processed.

He visited Russia where at a medium sized fur farm he saw how thousands of sable, mink. Lynx and other animals are kept in small cages. In Australia he visited a saltwater crocodile farm where wild animal eggs are collected and incubated at a temperature that will force the crocs to become males before being released and fattened up for harvesting. Why males? They grow bigger and are worth more.

He visited Indonesia where he joined a snake hunt. Mainly looking for pythons but he saw a number of other snakes being caught too, including venomous ones. The hunters admitted there are fewer snakes now and have to travel further to catch them. He then watched as the hunters slaughtered the animals, by pushing a metal rod up their nose until they heard a pop, that I assume is the brain being penetrated. Then their filled with water to expand the skin, hung for a few hours before being carefully skinned, taking great care in not damaging the skin.

Back in the UK he visited a number of designers who didn’t seem at all worried about how the animals were being treated. One guy had a pair of red boot-trainers in front of him. He claimed they cost between £10-20K and pointed out the different skins used in them; python, crocodile, lizard, sting-ray, elephant, yes, even elephant skin. This moron was actually quite proud of his second hand clothes he was selling. Another designer showed so little concern about how the animals are caught and treated, he actually laughed when he was asked about it. His answer was, ‘Do you worry about how the animal is being treated when you eat meat?’

It’s time that more fuss was made on this issue again. In the past animal rights activists broke into mink farms and released all the animals with little regard to the damage they would, and did cause to the wider UK wildlife. I wouldn’t advocate that sort of action again, but why not picket the high end fashion shops which sell the stuff again? When you see someone wearing a fur garment, ask them if they are second hand and how much they paid the animal for it?

There are a lot of current issues here in the UK right now and some people will say they are more important than action against the fur trade. But are they? Let’s say that some good fairy comes and waves her magic want and sorts them all out for us. Yet she doesn’t sort out the fur trade. Eventually all the wild sable, mink, pythons crocs, elephants, lynx and other big cats can only be seen in a zoo. What does humanity do then? How much poorer will out world be at that point.

Not so long ago, all species of whales were on the verge of collapse. The civilised world took a deep breath and stood back from it. I said ‘civilised’ because there are some nations, notably Japan, who give an aura of being civilised, still continue to hunt whales. And don’t forget their annual dolphin hunt where the animals are herded together in a bay and slaughtered by the hundreds, maybe even by the thousands.

Bears are in decline yet in China there are bear farms where the animals are used to collect their bile for us in Chinese medicine; that’s where rhino horn goes too. Ivory from elephants usually makes its way to China. What will turn their sights on when all the rhinos and elephants have gone? Have you ever tried shark fin soup? I haven’t, not will I; why?

 

This is what is left of the shark after the fins are taken ...

Yes, I have eaten shark and although it was OKish, I wasn’t overly impressed with it. But at least the whole fish was being used then. Now the numbers of sharks are falling, mostly to feed the soup makers.

Do I sound angry over all of this? I hope so, because I am! There is nothing more thrilling as seeing a wild animal when you are out and about. Jan gets excited when she sees hares and rabbits; we both get excited when see deer or a fox. The sight of a weasel or a stoat running across the path or road in front of us. And don’t forget the birds we both love so much. OK, we don’t go off birding as often as we used to be still have them out the back here. Not many people will think about them, and of these I have mentioned, and yet they will ask why it is so quiet when there’s no more bird song and they only time they see a rabbit is on an Easter card. What will we tell them then?

So many animals at risk of going extinct, and yet the greedy rich just don’t care about that, just as long as they can have the next big think in fashion! These morons must be made to see the problems they are causing. But how do we do that unless we challenge them? Who’s up for it then?

I shall end this blog here, no photo after the ones I’ve already added, and no funny today, this issue is far too serious to jokes flying around.               

The costs of being a writer.

26 April

Horizon is at it again, predicts the end of the world and how it will happen – in 2-7 billion years’ time. I don’t advise anyone holding their breath waiting for it happen. In another show they were on about an asteroid slamming in Earth, and that can happen at any time. As it is the planet is by asteroids ever day anyway, that’s what a shooting star is, but they are small dust sized bits of rock and ice. Even if a big one was found to be headed our way, there’s nowt we can do about it, so why worry. I certainly won’t be worrying about it at all. I still like the show though, even if they do try to worry us all to death.

One of my writer friends on Facebook has reported that he has got his first one-star rating for one of his books. However, that is not so bad as it might seem. Robert had a look at that person’s reviews on other books; he hasn’t left anything but one-star ratings to any book he has reviewed. Perhaps he’s a troll, and picks people he can upset and bully on-line. Writers can be very protective of their work anyway, so they might seem like an easy target. As it is I am current reading one of Robert’s books, Spartacus; Talons of an Empire, and I’m finding it to be a good read, certainly a lot better than a one-star!

My own writing efforts are on hold again while I decided where to go with the projects I have on go right now. At least I am managing to get this blog written daily, so all is not lost. One of my projects if an older one; Finding Our Way is with someone who offered to edit it for me. Editing is my biggest drawback right now. To get the job done by a professional editor costs more money than I can afford right now, so when this lady offered, I accepted in a flash. It can take some time to get it done though, and patience isn’t my biggest virtue. So I really do need to get on with something else, after all, I have enough to be getting on with.

The literary/book festival season is well into its new session now. I’d love to go to one but some of the costs involved are huge. There’s the entry fee, fees for attending various event that are part of it. You can more or less guarantee that refreshment prices will be higher than normal because of captive market; and don’t forget the bookshop they all have. If you want to attend more than events on different days, then there’s the cost of travel and accommodation to take into account as well.

I have attended one conference though. It was run by Matador Publishing and it cost £50 for the day. For that price we got four seminars of our choice from the 16 on offer, all refreshments including a very nice lunch, and a welcome bag that included a decent sized note, pens and pencils a load of leaflets. They had a stall set up with examples of their published work, of which I managed to buy two of them at the end of the day, and yes, a bookshop too. I didn’t go last year because I couldn’t afford it and besides which, being on a Sunday and only having one car, well, there you are … I wouldn’t mind going again but because of my health I need to think it through a lot more. After dropping me off, what would Jan do for the rest of the day?          

Brum is off for some time now too. Jan isn’t keen on the idea and she is now the driver in the family, There’s not much I can do about it. There are good reasons for it though. I’m at Sleep Clinic tomorrow at Walsgrave, and we need to get some shopping done. Jan doesn’t feel like doing it all on the same day. But I can now post a photo from an earlier visit …

On guard at the Bullring.

 
Today’s funny …

How many civil servants does it take to change a light bulb?
45. One to change the bulb, and 44 to do the paperwork.   

The plans of mice and men ... and an invite

25 April

Monday morning and the start of another week. What will the next seven days bring I wonder? Seeing that we can’t see the future we have to wait and see as the events unfold, and that in itself makes planning for anything more than a little difficult at times. We all make our plans for tomorrow, but do we make space within those plans for events we didn’t or couldn’t plan for. It’s like today here in Jaronland for instance; Jan was up early to Kile off to school, fine. Later today the plan is for Jan to take him home. Nice and easy eh? Well, I forgot that part of it and off I went making my own plans for us for today. Ah well …

But hang on mow … I’ve stopped using my CPAP machine for a bit to see how I get on without it. For years I have had to use it if I wanted to keep my driving licence. But of course, I’ve already sent it back, so it’s not quite so vital that I use it every night. So there I was making plans for today while I’m sat here writing this, and I’ve suddenly come over very tired indeed. Yesterday I was fine after not using it overnight, so why the difference? Perhaps it was being disturbed three time to go for a wee. Once is normal for me, so an extra twice has really caught me out and now I’m far too tired to try to go out today. It’s called life isn’t it? It always gets in the way folks of us living our lives.

Rather pleased that my new bus pass has arrived this morning. I know I don’t use it all that often but it has proved itself useful in the past. The new one is valid until October 2020. Now all I need to do is to get and use it more often. My first plan is for a trip to Coventry for a photo shoot. Tomorrow though I’m looking at a ride over to Brum for the market, but is a car and scooter job. See, more plans ready for last minute changes.

Why Brum Market? It’s one of the best, if not THE best market in the Midlands. My favourite part of it is the fish market. Jan is not keen because of the smell, but I love it. I once bought some blue shark steaks form there and they were OK-ish, so I’m always on the lookout for another new fish to try. Snapper is not too bad; turbot I fancy but it’s very expensive. Hake too is pricey for what it is as well. Once done in there, there’s the city itself ready for another photo shoot, including the revamped New Street Station.

Yesterday I was having a read of my Twitter account (https://twitter.com/?lang=en-gb), and found an invitation to start a new blog, this one about books. I can see a point to it now, but when I first read the invite I wasn’t at all interested. Along with this one I already have two others, which I haven’t posted to for a couple of years now, and I’m not convinced that a new one will be the same. I’ll think about it some more before I decide.

Today’s photo …

A gorilla, Bristol Zoo.

Today’s funny …

"And exactly what made you suspect that these two men were drunk, officer?" a Glasgow judge asked a policeman in court.
"Well, Your Honour," said the policeman, "Jock was throwing five pound notes away and Hamish was picking them up and handing them back to him."                

Hill top history

24 April

Sunday morning and it’s a nice day out there again; Jan is off to church, Kile is sat here with me and he goes home as soon as Jan gets back from church and had a drink. Me? What am I doing? Sat at me lappy writing this … … …

With all the big names in the world of entertainment dropping like flies these days, there’s one man who I haven’t missed on the BBC News, Robert Peston. When he was reporting I hated the way he delivered his mumblings; slow, drawn-out words, and gaps where there shouldn’t have been any. I often wondered if that was his normal manor of speech. Either it wasn’t, or he has been and still is working hard to stop doing it. I recorded and watched him the other day looking at the upcoming referendum; a much better delivery, although I won’t be going after watching him every time he’s on.  

When it comes to watching the news on telly, I much prefer the BBC than ITN. I find the BBC gives a much better, professional broadcast than ITN, especially on the local news. Midlands today is by far the best local news I’ve seen. As for what you get in the Manchester area, well, no contest there. Various campaign groups are fighting to stop the government from force changes on the BBC, that would make it more pro-tory. I seem to remember that the last labour lot tried something similar too. I suppose it is what you get for being independent of all political and commercial ties, you get hammered from both sides of spectrum. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

There’s not much on telly again this evening anyway. Apart from Country File and Antiques Roadshow, the only show I’m interested in is the Channel 4 The Mystery of the Crossrail Skulls. The building of the new tube cross-rail tube line has found a lot of archaeological sites that were suspected be in the London area, or totally unexpected. This particular show is on the dozens of roman era skulls found beneath Liverpool Street Station. It makes me wonder just how much we have all lost as our towns have grown and developed. Dorktown for instance, can be found mentioned in the Doomsday Book, but what was here before that and how did the hamlet come into being.

Yes, yes, I know. A lot of people are not interested in history and claim it to be boring. I don’t agree; after all, my hons degree is in history. I remember on one telly show where a historian was showing someone a series of historical sites. At one time the non-history buff says, ‘Why is it that all history is at the top of a big hill?’ That is a reasonable question you know, at least from a nun-history buff. For me the answer lies in the history and the site itself. By building castles, monuments great houses and so on, on top of hills is two-fold. The building or whatever, can be seen from miles around. The t’ther side is that the builders/owners/lords, could also see all-round them on top of a hill. That is plain common sense.

But I invite you to inspect any discipline or subject that you might be interested in more closely though. No matter the subject, there is always a ‘steep learning curve,’ in modern terms, when coming to a new subject. That learning curve is rising above the level ground from the starting point. All experts have had to climb to the top of their particular hill, and the better ones never actually stop climbing that hill. That is how knowledge is gained and human life advances. Some advances are not so good and are abandoned when seen not to work, but even that is not a wasted effort in that lessons have been learned.

And one example, one we all know about too. When was the last time you cleared your browsing history? See, its that one little 'h' word again.

So then, today’s photo …

William of Orange(complete with a pigeon!) I shot this in South Devon a couple years ago. How do we know who it is? Because of history my friends. That was last time England was invaded, not in 1066! The difference is that there was no battle and the then king ran away to France where he was safer.

Today’s funny …

Wife: You're always complaining. I wish you would make allowances for my mother's little short comings.
Husband: I'm not complaining about her shortcomings. It's her long staying’s I object to.                        

Peasoupers and nice grub

St Georges Day

For those of us are proud to be English I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what is happening on 23^rd April. Whatever, go slay a few dragons guys n gals.

Oh dear; last night I went off to bed, not quite as normal. There have been more than one occasions that I have forgotten to take my morning dose of pills, but last night was the first time I forgot my night time dose. What a silly billy eh?

There I was in bed reading some more of Val MacDiarmid and she mentions heavy fogs and car pollution. And that got my grey matter going. In the late1950s-early 1960s I remember there being some really think fogs and our village was the first place to lose its bus service. In London it got so bad that they became known as peasoupers. Eventually things got so bad because of the numbers of deaths from all the pollution coal fires, a new law was into being, meaning on smokeless fuels only could be used anywhere in the UK.

Slowly the pollution cleared up and the peasouper became a think of the pace, and I’m sure we all felt the benefit of it, even we never actually thought of it; at least for a short time. But are we any better off these days though? Pollution levels are increasing, especially in urban areas. Asthma levels in children are increasing too. It is thought the main cause of it is the amount of exhaust fumes from road traffic and other transport system. Add in the pollution from industry and power generation, and we are living in a thick fug of invisible chemicals. If you have ever followed an old vehicle throwing out thick, black smoke and you will know how bad it can be. So we may not be all that better off from the Clean Air Act.

I do enjoy watching food/cooking programmes on telly. Last night I caught the last few minutes of a Rick Stein show in which he visited a restaurant in France where they serviced a chicken dish I hadn’t seen or thought of myself. Basically it’s a cottage pie made with chicken and not minced beef. It really appeals to me; but with its garlic, fresh tomatoes, spices and cheese, Jan would not even think of trying it. However, I can have a play with it so she will eat it. A lot of these dishes on telly shows are fairly complex and use a number of ingredients that tend to be a bit expensive for just one of us, and that makes uneconomic for me for try.

I did find The Food Network last night too. The hope was that I might get some more ideas on there. The first two I tried have made me rethink it. Those two shows were based in the States, and true to form, they were full of OTT people who just don’t know how to show pleasure without making an Oscar winning performance. There are far too many of these morons on telly, and normally I keep well clear of them. Pity really, cos what they are showing is pretty good, but I can’t be doing with all their silly whoops, yells and fist bumping and hand and arse slapping crap! Enough of that …

Today’s photo …

a shark.

Today’s funny …

  What is the inscription on dead blues-singers tombstones?
"I didn't wake up this morning..."          

Pain and fear in the NHS

22 April

 Game of Thrones; I have got totally bored with reading these books. I’m just over half way through the 5^th one in the series and have #6 and 7 in my TBR pile, where they will remain for the foreseeable future. When I first started read them, I was well pleased with them. Now I have given up on them, although I may give them another go later.

Right now we are watching another recorded programme, this one is Medical Mysteries. It’s about conditions that baffle the medics for years and looks at three issue in each episode. The three in this one are a young woman who keeps vomiting day after day; an elderly lady who has suffered with giddy spells and light headedness for the last 60 years; and a young man who is suffering from a condition similar to fibromyalgia. All of these conditions have failed to find a diagnosis within the NHS and patients have had to go abroad to get it sorted, or are lucky enough to find someone who has come across it before, or has enough knowledge to be able to think across disciples. It makes me wonder just how many people suffer from these and other unknown conditions.  

Overall, the NHS does a great job considering all the problems that beset it these days. We hear a lot of complaints about what happens all over the country, mainly these days concerning lack of resources, and the issues that brings. Of course it’s not just that is it? Yesterday I had two texts come in from the Walsgrave hospital in Coventry for my appointment there on the 27^th. The last one also reminded me that if it wasn’t convenient I could call and remake it for another date. OK, fine, as it is I’m planning it as made now. They then made a comment that I wonder about how they come to the amount of £185 for every missed appointment.

The same things happen in dentist’s, and GPs as well. I understand why they might get uppity when the system has that amount of money. Another issue here is that of wasted prescriptions. When we came to sort out mam’s house after Dave died, we found a heck of a lot of full pharmacy bags which had not been opened, let alone used. They were mam’s prescriptions too, we found none for Dave, not even his current ones he was supposed to be taking. Now multiply that by an unknown number other prescriptions that are repeated month on month without have them looked out for each patient’s use. And remember, some of the medications are very expensive and most of us don’t pay for them, even the fairly low level due right now.

All of this loss of funds will of course affect the whole service, and that doesn’t take into effect of inflation or the growing number of people using the service. Right now A&E isn’t hitting its target for treating people, and that has a knock on affect right through the hospital part of the system. At the other end the largest drain is that of bed-blocking, simply because of a lack of places for elderly care within the community, again down to a lack of resources. And so the merry-go-round continues on it’s up and down circle. A blames B who points C who points back to A and so … … …

And so Mr Yankiedoodledandyland wades on to back Daft Dave and his rush to keep us in the EU. One wonders just how much some of these muppets will benefit personally by us to be allowing ourselves to be ruled by faceless unelected morons in Brussels. The Yanks objected strongly to part of that idea in the 18^th century and yet they say we should submit to it. Bolshi Boris reacted well to the intervention; good for him. I can’t believe I’m agreeing with a tory, such a strange feeling.

Today’s photo …

Market colours.

Today’s funny …

What is round and nasty?
A vicious circle.

April leaves are falling ...

21 April

I’m a bit upsy-downsy today. You see, I do love trees, and even more so when they are part of wood or forest. Well, we don’t have a wood out back, let alone a forest, but we do have a single alder tree out the back door. Last year the council sent their ‘tree officer’ round to look at the trees and see which ones needed felling. Our alder is one of them because it’s what is known in the trade as being co-dominate; that means there are two main trucks divided part way up the original trunk.

Add in the fact that they were beginning to split at that divide, the tree was condemned; this morning they are out there cutting it down. No matter how much I love trees, I’m also a realist and know the job has to be done. We already have had one smaller branch come down and hit the corner of the building. So down it will come. The main problem trees are the evergreens along the side border. They started on those a week or more ago. They stopped when they found bird’s nests in the next one to fell. I’m certainly not going to complain about that!

Last night I had another storyline come to mind, loosely based on some of my experiences and why I finally left the Army. It’s a story I have been playing with ages now, wondering how I can write it without being too obvious who it is based on. I made a hand written note of it last night but I have a number of other projects on the go right now, so the best thing I can do for now is to make a start on the first page and save it to disc. Later I can make more of it when I have the time.

Kile is due after school tomorrow and the plan is to take him to Kingsbury Water Park for a few hours. We will hire him a bike so he can ride around while we potter around on our scooters. Weekends are the best time to go to Kingsbury because that is when the water skiers and jet skiers are out in force. The jet skis make some really nice action shots that make it all worthwhile. I’ve tried snapping water skiers but I just can’t get it right. I’ll try it again if they are out on Saturday – and of course, if we are out too. Tomorrow evenings local weather forecast will let us know if it will be worth it.

Queen Liz is 90 today, I suppose Facebook will be full of it, just as the news will be too. Regular readers will know I’m not great supporter of the monarchy overall, however, I can’t say that she isn’t a remark lady considering her age. She goes up and down steps and stairs unaided by anything, or anyone. There’s a lot of other ladies of her age who would wish they were as fit and able as she is. My mother was a month older than her but she was confined to bed for last six months of her life, and the last five years were no life at all really. They seem to be long-lived family so maybe we will her on our stamps for a few mores before Charlie Boy takes over.

I really do need to sort out my photo folders, I let them become a real muddle. Today’s photo is …

A jet ski I shot years ago. But it will take some time to find it though.

Today’s funny …

Fred: My girlfriend is one of twins.
Brian: How can you tell them apart?
Fred: It's easy, her brother's got a beard.              

Changes by the minute ...

20 April

We’ve just had a call from Virgin asking if their engineer can come next instead of later this afternoon. After snatching their hand off, I gave it back, very nicely too, said yes please. That means we can both go out on our scooters today, and not just me. And he’s here so it won’t be long before we can get out; except that Jan now tells me she has two deliveries due today; ah well … … …

The reason I want to go into town is simply to get my bus pass renewed at the town hall. I don’t use it very often but I’ve found it very useful when I’ve needed to, so it’s worthwhile doing. OK, we use the car mostly but by using park and ride we can get a bus into the town, very useful. Of course, I’m sure to get a few new photos to play with, and that’s always worth the effort.       

And I did get some work done on Arathusia yesterday as well, not writing though; no, I spent most of it going through it, doing a bit of editing and creating a time-line for it. I’ve found that a time-line keeps the story clear in my head as it grows. Not only that but if I get an idea about changing or adding to the story earlier on, I’m not having to go through the whole thing. I look at the time-line and can go straight to that section. Well, I’ve a good bit more of that to do before I can start writing again, later on today.

Our trees being cut down out the back. I say ‘Our Trees’ but they’re not actually ours as in as much as they are mine and Jan’s. Last year one of neighbours fell over and broke her hip standing on a pine cone one the outside of her flat. Her family were really upset by it, they and Kath had been complaining for years about how the trees were over grown and cutting off their sun light. Apparently, her sons told them that they could either sort out the trees or explain to a judge why they haven’t done so. So now we have very noisy work going on right outside our back door.

Things change minute by minute in Jaronland and Jan’s delivery has just arrived so we are both going into town now, as originally planned. So for today’s photo …

My all-time favourite car.

Today’s funny …

What is black and white and makes a lot on noise?
A zebra with a drum kit.     

No excuse for not writing today ...

19 April

Yesterday afternoon I decided to put me lappy down and watch a bit of telly instead, easy eh? Nope, Mr Virgin wasn’t having it. So after farting about trying to get the TIVO box sorted we gave up. I picked up HP2 for the evening, Jan played on her lappy until bedtime. This morning nothing has changed with the TIVO box, Jan is on the phone to Virgin and tests are being done to find out what the cause it. It’s all done through the fibre-optic cable of course, but I have a feeling that the TIVO box is knackered.

Now she on the phone to them and still getting nowhere. I suppose after 20 minutes of this they will give up and send someone out – and is what is happening now, between 12 and 4pm tomorrow. I’ve just thought that all this time can now be used to get some writing done instead of sitting reading HP2 for the third time.

This the longest break in service we’ve had with Virgin and we’ve been with them for years now, from 1998/9 I think. I can’t see us moving to any other provider though, the poor reports I’ve heard about them are putting me off. Why these companies act in the way they do over customer service I just don’t understand at all. It can’t do them any good in the long term can it?  

Last week a load of travellers set up camp on the carpark at the Walsgrave hospital. This will of course have knock effects on both patients and visitors. Over the weekend another group set up in part of the Hussy carpark too. The local paper this morning is urging those attending to give themselves extra time find a space so they are not late for appointments. This silliness has to be stopped but various governments have dragged their heels over it for years now, afraid of violation of human rights claims. Maybe there’s a little cowardice there too because of the violent reputation travellers have?  That ignore the human rights of the general public who end up paying through the nose so they can live for nowt; just not good enough!

With Virgin being down means I need to go elsewhere for me daily news fix. I opened Edge browser, which opens on MSN home page for me, the first item I saw on there is about two children’s writers who live within 15 miles of each other, have gone missing. I’ve not heard of either of them, which is not surprising considering how many writers there are in Writersland. Yet two going missing from the same area and within days of each other, that does sound rather strange to me. I hope they turn up safe and sound. Meanwhile …

In Cambridge a man has been arrest in the connection with the death of a 6-year-old boy found naked and strangled in woods near Peterborough. I hope they have caught the right man, who was probably only a teenager when the boy died. Interestingly, the boy’s mum was charged and cleared of his murder but later admitted cruelty and served a seven-year jail term. Perhaps she knows more than she is saying? It wouldn’t be the first time would it?

Today’s photo …

I’ve gone back to before 2008 for this one. It’s my study area in the spare room of our bungalow in Bed’th.    

Today’s funny …

What do you call an alien from outer space who is overweight?
An extra-cholesterol.

Monday, again ...

18 April

Another Midland dairy farmer is going up and selling most of his stock before diversifying into something different. After four generations in the same family, they are not a happy group of campers. Milk prices are now to 17p per litre, that’s well below the cost of production and it’s costing the UK dear. Then in the same report (Country File, last night), I learn we are still importing milk and milk products from France. Why the hell are we doing that when our producers are going bust? This another nail in the coffin of the EU in my mind.

I’m sure you have heard of Val MacDiarmid; well, she’s a new writer to me and on Saturday night I began one her books, The Torment of Others, and it’s a pretty good read to. So there I was reading away and Carol Jordan is speaking to her techy-cop and I learn something new from it. A photo is obtained from a paedos computer and it was claimed by techy-cop that you might be lucky and get the serial number of the camera that took the shot, the software used and the license number of that software. Hmm, thinks I, look into I will.  

And look into it have done this morning. And I found out that it only works with a RAW file; once its converted to a Jpeg those details are lost. What I did find though was that the computer I used to process the shot was listed, along with a number. In the book it is hope that such data might lead to the person who took the shot by tracing that info. I knew that the EXIF data was there and what it held, but the not about the camera details and so on. I usually look at it when I want the exposure details.

In the photo concerned in the book, the location of shot was also of interest and that is not included in the EXIF data from my camera, simply because I have never used the GPS app that so many cameras have these days. Oh dear, poor paedos; now they have something else to worry about eh … I do feel sorry for them … NOT!!!

There’s a good few earthquakes going around the world right now. Yes, I know they happen all the time all over the place but these ones have been large enough to kill folks. The numbers are not as large as in some other recent quakes where thousands have been killed, but I’m wondering if it’s a sign of things to come, a sign of a much larger, and stronger quake waiting its time to give way.

We get some quakes here in the UK too, but on scale of those in and around a Pacific Ring. In a way I have been lucky I suppose, in that the only one I have felt, well, more heard than felt was around 2007/8. I was woken by the doors on Jan’s wardrobe shaking. I thought that she might be having a fit, not unknown around that time, but no, I woke her calling out to her – sorry chuck.

The growing fracking industry is likely to cause a lot more. Over in the states they get in then in fracking locations fairly often, so how can we not expect anything different here? There have been reports of polluted water courses, some giving off a flammable gas; again, are we likely to see that happen here too? I think so. It makes me wonder just how much in backhanders has been going on behind the scenes. Something else we won’t hear about because of the restrictions placed on the papers.

It’s time we saw the papers relating to the 1982 Falklands War. It’s been well over 25 years now, and we still have ex-services people suffering from what happened there. Then the first Gulf War, a ‘legal’ war, sanctioned by the UN at least. The second Gulf War wasn’t sanctioned and that is part of the reason why we will never see the papers regarding. The usual excuse is that some of the leading participants are still alive and the papers might prove contentious. For me, they should have thought about that before they marched the soldiers into a no-win war. Even with the Falklands War there are still political leaders living in retirement.        

Another strange dream last night/this morning. This one was a mix up of an OUSA event along with a field kitchen I was responsible for and a load of locals stealing from me. All sort of stuff went missing, both personal and signed for kit. Jan and Kile joins me at one point, and a large, buxom woman comes, leaving Jan not a happy wife at all, even though nothing had happened between me the other woman. Next moment I was at the window of larger moving building peeing on everything and everyone we passed. That was my signal to get up and go pee for real. Me and me dreams … … …

And so it’s time for a photo …

Another colour mix I like shooting.

Today’s funny …

My brother went to three parties. At the first party he broke his arm, at the second party he broke his leg, and after that he got Third Party Insurance.       

Horizon X3

17 April

Sunday afternoon and it’s nice and sunny out there and we are remaining here at home having a nice, quiet day. Jan has started painting and I shall be working on Arathusia after I finish todays’ blog.

While Jan was at church this morning, I took the chance to watch three Horizon shows That I had recorded earlier. I have always liked these shows, even if they may be dumbed down. The first one was on the rise of the British motor bike industry. It charted how it all started, how the riders were always looked down on by everybody else. The role of the various cafes on the A406, the ‘Ton-up Boys’ and the general speed of bike use. Mods and Rockers were covered too.

Like so much of British industry, the bike manufactures collapsed. Triumph bikes were not helped by the chairman at that time. The factory in Meriden partly closed down because of a strike. Eventually both sides agreed bring in ACAS to help sort it out for them. I remember watching the news on telly at the time as the ACAS reps left from meeting the chairman, and they looked shattered. It is the only time I have heard ACAS make a statement; one of them said, ‘The man is impossible. He won’t engage or listen to others. It’s no wonder there’s a strike on here.’ It wasn’t long before the plant was closed permanently. Such a shame.

As a young boy I always wanted to be a RAF pilot. That ambition was torn away by a career advisor at school. All he wanted me to do was the be farmer; both me and mam more or less to ‘get stuffed.’ So now I had to rethink things. Then we had our second and last family holiday, that time to Paignton. There were only twelve passengers on the Black and White coach and I got to sit close to the driver and chatted away to him more less the whole way. And I was hooked! From then on I wanted to be coach driver, and even now I would love to have a go, well, if I hadn’t sent back my license that is.

The last show was on the British Board of Film Sensors, which I didn’t enjoy quite as much. BFFS has always been a contentious body of what some people claimed were miserable kill-joys. In reality though, they were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. We all have our like and dislikes, our thoughts on decency and so on. The film Rambo 3 was released the day after the Hungerford shootings and many people panicked by it and whether the two could be linked, something which was tried when the shooter was supposed to have said he enjoyed watching the previous Rambo films. The panic increased with that one comment.

Today’s photo …

A boomslang snake, shot take at London Zoo before Parry Hotter books and films were read/watched by me.   

Today’s funny …

Did you hear about the man who wouldn't wash until he became a millionaire? He's now filthy rich.    

Thursday's Maly Dale

16 April

Yesterday, if you hadn’t guessed was a bad day for me. Right from the off I was feeling really low and run down. I didn’t have a bad night but I was still tired out all day. It’s the way the black dog bits at times and I have to try to live with it; but it is hard … I finally picked up in the afternoon when Kile arrived here. He comes here because every other week Jan picks up Vicki, his step sister and takes her up to spend the weekend with Kile and his step dad. So Kile comes here and Jan takes him up home at the same time. He’s not here long enough to settle down really, but it was enough to cheer me up at least.

On Thursday while we were shopping, I picked up and Maily Dale, and I forgot about it. So last night I began reading it, late I know, but it wasn’t totally wasted though. On the letters page, page 59 I small item caught my attention. The letter was from an English man living in Spain who ask if it is time for major constitutional changes here in the UK. He points out that we don’t have a constitution as in the US. That document and War of Independence came about because of the excess in British rule that prevent the Americans from taking an active part in political life.

Right now this ex-pat sees exactly the same in how the EU rules supreme in Europe with our own government being limited in scoop. So he calls for a change and for the UK to have its own constitution. However, he seems to have forgotten that our current leaders are the ones who need to on board to board such a move to make it work. Can you see that happening? No, nor can I! The only other way is a civil war, and I see very little appetite for that, thankfully.

On the same page, another ex-pat writes, ‘I believe the monarchy will die with our current queen.’ He then goes on to explain why, with references to all four of her kids and what they have done and how they live. Regular readers will know that I am no lover of the royals so this letter really does strike a chord with me because I feel the same about Charlie-boy and his siblings. However, (I do love that word, makes ‘but’ almost redundant) There’s a change that Willy and Cate might be a lot better than any of them. I’m willing to give him a chance anyway.

And finally, on page 12 there’s a piece about the migrant crisis in Europe, and it seems that the writer feels that same as I do and this is an unstoppable crisis. While our attention has been drawn to Greece another 9,000+ crossed the Med to Italy, and we didn’t hear a word about it! There’s so much poverty in Africa and in most of the Islamic countries, there will always be those who are ready to die to make a better life. Countries like Saudi are oil-rich and all the earnings from it go straight to the royal family, little if any is spent on the welfare of their people.

With such outrageous behaviour, is it really any wonder that some of those poverty stricken peoples turn to a radical form of Islam for help and succour, only later to discover that they have jumped into the wrong fire. There is little choice for them; remain in Saudi in poverty, join an Islamist group, or try to reach the wealthy western Europe. Again, they arrive here and find that the grass isn’t any greener here either. Here bleeding hearts cry saying that we have to help them. Instead they should be crying to the national governments of the country they fled from to help them. I wonder why that doesn’t happen? Is it perhaps because the criers know that is easier to emotionally blackmail us because they won’t get anywhere with the governments who should be doing what needs to be done.  

Last photo for our Cambridge trip is today’s photo – except it isn’t Cambridge …

Jan’s nodding dog on the dash of the car. There’s a couple of dinos on there too.

Today’s funny …

How many British Rail staff does it take to change a light-bulb?
Two. One to change the bulb and one to apologize for the delay.

The way ahead?

15 April

Every year at this time I have to have photos taken of the back of my eyes. This is because diabetes can cause bleeding on the retina. Treatment is by laser surgery performed in hospital as an outpatient. So far I haven’t needed it, which is a great relief to me. Part of the reason for not needing it is that my diabetes is well controlled, with my continued weight loss helping a lot with that. Having said that, we are having fish fingers and chips for dinner today, but seeing as it’s been probably three weeks since we last had chips, I’m not all that worried.

One thing I am getting more worried about as time goes on, is that bloody lump in my back. I don’t think it’s getting any bigger but it is getting more painful. Yesterday I nearly fell over in the kitchen when I lost all feeling from the waist down, again. As I got up this morning my legs were so painful that it was a really hard to get going. I think it’s time I began to shout at the doctors a wee bit. The only problem with that is that you never know whether or not they take any notice of you. Whatever, I need to get something done.

At long last the bright sparks across the channel have decided that if they can get from Turkey to Greece by sea, why not try it to get in to Britain the same way. Two guys got here that way by using a mobile phone to call 999. They were finally picked up a mile of the Kent coast. OK, they will be sent back, but they did get here, and that will not be lost on all those others who are waiting for their chance. How long will it be before a lot more of them try it, and don’t forget we have long stretches of coast where there is little if any housing or industry. If they come ashore in such places, we wouldn’t know about it until the boats and life vests and so on are found. Time will tell I suppose.

These people will continue to come here simply because we are a more prosperous than their own country. The reasons for that are many and varied, but corruption and violence are major ones. No-one knows how to prevent them so the flood will continue washing up on the shores of Europe and Britain. If anyone did manage to stop it, would it make any difference I wonder? I doubt it, the old saying about greener grass everywhere but your own garden will still be there.

Another thread of that is the violence, and the news now on are saying that five people have been arrested in Brum in connection with the attacks in Paris and Brussels. This issue in usually linked with religion, Islam being the main culprit these days. Sadly, groups like ISIS claim to be Islamic and think excuses their thuggish violence, while in reality, there is no excuse for it. Equally though, the religious fundamentalists will never be happy with whatever they may gain from their violence. Sorting that out can never be done and victims of it will continue to march on Europe.

Today’s photo …

A display in the Eagle pub in Cambridge.

Today’s funny …

This woman and her husband came out of the supermarket. She said, 'I'll put the shopping in the car and you get the baby.'
The husband said, 'Alright.' And off he went. A few minutes later he was back at the car.
The woman said, 'Hey, that's not our baby.'
The man said, 'Shut up, it's a better pram.'