Confused all round

June 30

The old saying, ‘You are never too old to learn’, proved itself true again yesterday, for me at least. On Monday I had a letter from my GP asking me to make an appointment to have a Vitamin B12 injection. This is what has come out from the memory clinic assessment I had done some weeks ago. Yesterday there was a something from the Diabetes UK group on Facebook that I read about the effects of long term use of Metformin causing B12 deficiency. Thing is, I was put on 2000mgs daily of metformin in 2009.

So I thought I’d have a look at what B12 does for us, as well as what a lack of it causes. Sorting out all the sales crap was easy enough and then found this little list …

• extreme tiredness
• a lack of energy
• pins and needles (paraesthesia)
• a sore and red tongue
• mouth ulcers
• muscle weakness
• disturbed vision
• psychological problems, which may include depression and confusion 
• problems with memory, understanding and judgement

on the NHS website. Guess what; I have each of these at some time or other, thankfully, not all together. So this morning Jan called and made me an appointment for both diabetic clinic and the B12 shot at the same time, at 5pm next Thursday. Now all I need to do is to remember a urine sample to take with me.

Kile is due at his GP today at 4.30pm. We have it on our diary because Jan is going to take him for it. So Jan has just called his mum to find out if he has been reminded to come here out of school and not go home. She had forgotten about it. So now it’s a mad scramble to get the school to let him know to come here. It’s no wonder the lad is so confused most of the time. Mind you, he doesn’t help himself at all, and Jan saw the other side of him on Tuesday when she took him home – and it wasn’t a happy side at all.

And Jan has just remembered something g else too. The appointment is over Kile’s asthma and he is supposed to take his peak flow chart with him, not that it’s of any use really cos he hasn’t been doing it. Sam had forgotten about it so he won’t have that chart with him, and the appointment will be wasted without it. Ultimately it means more running around for Jan, and she really isn’t up to that these days. She has enough to do with her own health problems and trying to keep an eye on me too!

Our true blue tory government is in trouble from another direction now. A UN report has accused it of crimes against humanity in how they treat the population. They cite the raising reliance on food banks; the rising homeless problem we have, along with the issue of high rental costs and slum landlords; the savage benefit cuts that caused a rise in child poverty …

And the report goes on and on. Of course, being tories, they won’t even acknowledge the report, let alone do anything about it.

Most of these problems have been caused by IDS, one of the leaders of the ‘Leave’ campaign. But I haven’t seen anything of him for some time now, and that worries me folks. Where is he and what is he up to now. He’s a sly one is that one and I don’t trust him at all. So, why has he gone so quiet? There’s another issue here folks, it seems to me that it has been released quietly where it could be hidden in all the fuss over the Brexit vote. That makes me wonder if they had a look at before it’s general release. You can’t trust any politian, no matter what their colour, but for me the tories are the most untrustworthy of the whole lot.

Today’s photo …

An alpaca.

Today’s funny …

 A man in his 40's bought a new BMW and was out on the interstate for a nice evening drive. The top was down, the breeze was blowing through what was left of his hair and he decided to open her up.
As the needle jumped up to 80 mph, he suddenly saw flashing red and blue lights behind him.
"There's no way they can catch a BMW," he thought to himself and opened her up further. The needle hit 90, 100.... Then the reality of the situation hit him. "What on earth am I doing?" he thought and pulled over.
The cop came up to him, took his license without a word and examined it and the car.
"It's been a long day, this is the end of my shift and it's Friday the 13th. I don't feel like more paperwork, so if you can give me an excuse for your driving that I haven't heard before, you can go."
The guy thinks for a second and says, "Last week my wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back."
"Have a nice weekend," said the officer.             

We're all lost at sea ...

June 29

Among all the fuss n bovver over Brexit, there are those who are saying we won’t leave the EU anyway, no matter how we vote. Here’s the story behind it …

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-wont-really-happen-second-referendum-markets-value-housing-pound-a7106996.html

So when we all thought the scare stories were over, now we find that they’re not over and will continue as long as there rags like the Independent willing to publish them. A pity really cos I used to like the rag occasionally.

The petition for a re-run of last week’s vote has reached 3.5 million signatures. Sounds a lot doesn’t it, but is it? The Coventry Telegraph ran a story yesterday about the number of signers by constituencies …

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/how-many-people-coventry-signed-11531024?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

In Dorktown and Bed’th only 2563 (as of yesterday), had signed it, just 2.8% of the electorate. It’s a long way from the 60% who voted in favour of Brexit last week!

This last week has been a bad day for democracy all round. Not only has the petition ignored the democratic proposes, but the Labour Party Muppets have done so too. By passing a vote of no confidence in Jittery Jerry, they have ignored the nationwide party members who voted for him. Now, instead of a united Muppet House that’s needed to clear the way for our exit in two years, the two major parties are pulling themselves apart over their leadership. I bet the leaders of North Korea, China and Pushy Putin are ribbing their hand in glee!

Do you know who is missing from all the talking heads this last week? IDS, or Ian Duncan Smith, that’s who. So where is he and what is he up to I wonder. Forget Boris, if IDA gets the top job, then we really will be in a rough ride until the next general election. At the start of the Brexit campaign he was right the front of the fight among the tory party. It un-nerves me as to where he is and what he’s up to now. Even the media are not mentioning him; why is that I wonder? Or have I missed something?

On labours side, have they got anyone who is leadership material if it comes to choosing a new one? A few names come to mind, Harriet Harman for one, but maybe, just maybe Tom Watson perhaps? Now there’s a man I could support as leader and could even be enough to bring back in line with as a full labour supporter. But there again, right now, none of them seem to be worrying all much about anything other than their own place within the party and within Muppet Central. How sad …

Today we are hoping for a quiet day so that we can get on and catch up with other things that have been sitting idle. For Jan that means a day painting. For me it’s a day of editing Shipshape and then getting some more writing done. I’m not actually being lazy with my writing though, and just like so many commercially successful writers say, ‘Write every day.’ With that in mind then, most days I sit and write this blog, and that means I am writing every day. On Monday I also wrote two book reviews for the Facebook group, For Reading Addicts, which made the word count for the day around 1500 words. That’s not far off the amount needed to do NANOWRIMO during November. Even so, I want to Shipshape published as soon as I can, and that is what I shall be looking to do.

Today’s photo is …

A female chimp.

Today’s funny …

A man was out for a walk one day and on his travels he wandered through a farm. Strangely, he saw a pig with a wooden leg! This intrigued him so much he found the farmer and quizzed him about it.
"This be no ordinary pig" said the farmer. "For example, only two days ago there was a fire in the chicken shed when I was away from the farm. The pig noticed this and immediately went and let all the chickens out into the yard. He then phoned for the fire brigade and came straight back to hold the fire until they arrived!"
"And a few weeks ago, I was driving my tractor down a steep hill, when I lost control and the vehicle overturned - knocking me unconscious! The pig saw this, phoned for the ambulance and then rushed to the tractor and pulled me clear of the cab just before it set on fire."
The farmer was just about to launch into another tale when the man said "Yes yes, but what about the wooden leg?"
"Well" said the farmer "when you've got an pig as good as that, you don't eat it all at once!"      

Building new houses and do we really need so many?

June 28

I got up this morning to find a leaflet stuffed through the letter box inviting us to a viewing of a proposed housing development off Higham Lane, which looks as though it’s an increase in the building that’s already going on there. On the reverse is and map of the area to be developed and it’s a huge site. I’ve just been looking at my A-Z of the town looking for brown field sites, and yes I’ve found some, but not as many as I thought there was. On the map you get the wrong impression of the sites in that they don’t look all that extensive. In reality they are really large areas.

The way things are going our town will run along the length of the A5, taking all the green belt land with it, well almost all of it. The block of land involved here is about 2/3rds of a block with boundaries along Higham Lane to the A5, north along the A5 as far as a disused railway line, then back along that line to Weddington Road. The current proposed site swallows up Top Farm and if things go how I expect them to, then Lower Farm will be next to go.

Another are that looks to be in their sights is the land bordering to left of The Long Shoot where building is already going on. Should that development be allowed to continue to grow, along the length of the A5, it won’t be long before the A5/The Long Shoot/Higham Lane will be one massive housing estate. But I wonder … how many local people will be able to afford these houses? For some time now Dorktown has been a dormitory town for Coventry, Birmingham and other larger cities.

Another concern is the local infrastructure and whether it can handle such large developments. As it is our medical and education provision is bursting at the seams. All this added housing will add to an already struggling system. As for the roads in the proposed areas, they are already very busy roads and the addition of so many new houses, with at least one car per house will just add to the overall congestion that the whole town struggles with.

All of these points can be applied to every planning application submitted within the UK as a whole of course, and indeed, have been raised many times, with the same rejected decision being made. But hang on a mow; last Thursday we vote to leave the EU. Once that decision is fully implemented, are we going to need so many new houses? Our population is rising, we know that, but that is mainly down to people living longer as well as the birth rate increasing, and without the influx from Europe. When that stops, I ask again, ‘Will we need so many new houses?’ Builders will always find reasons to build even more, after all, that’s their living isn’t it? However, it does seem that we are being held to ransom by them at times.

Oh dear, the kids are upset because they didn’t get their own way in the voting last weekend, so now they throwing a mardy-arse and want it run again. I’m wondering though if this is part of the way that youngsters (and from what I’ve seen its mainly youngsters who are kicking up the most), have been brought up. These days it seems that they not being told, ‘No!’ when they start demanding stuff from their parents. Perhaps that is why so many are not happy now, they have been given a firm ‘No’ from a lot people. The tantrum will die down at some point … I hope!

Today’s photo is …

A flower I snapped at Twycross. All the photos for the next few days will be from there anyway.

Today’s funny …

 Bob had been out diving off the Florida Keys for days looking for sunken treasure, but had had no luck. One day, while wading back onto the beach, he tripped over a chest filled with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds! Bob was heard to say as he carried the chest away, "Well it just goes to show you that booty is only shin deep!"                            

Not a bad day really ...

June 27

Yesterday went off fine, even if there was little if any sunshine; so how did my forehead and nose get a tad red I wonder. After the zoo we drove a few miles more and took Kile for his usual McDonalds, which he enjoyed, so usual too. Back home I began sorting my photos and I found 55 worth keeping out of the 300+ I shot. For most snappers that is a fairly high hit rate, but for me, if I like the result, then I keep it. I only reject items which are clearly out of focus or the exposure is too far off to be clearly rescued. The first from yesterday will be here later.

Of course yesterday was a Sunday, so therefore there were a lot of families about. Most of the adults were considerate and helped when the saw us on our scooters. However, the majority of the kids didn’t, and neither did their parents; in fact, some of them seemed to go out of the way to make things difficult for us. And it wasn’t just us either; I saw the same things with other scooter/wheelchair users too. Neither of us are keen to be in big crowds these days, so we have decided that we will go back later sometime, but in the week so we won’t be crowded out everywhere.

Sadly, this thing isn’t confined to tourist sites; no, I’ve seen it just about everywhere I go on my scooter. It seems to increasing too. Perhaps there’s growing resentment towards disabled folk these days? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, simply because of the lack of patience I see whenever I go out. But, you know something? A lot of the blame for it is down to a number of scooter uses who use their disability as an excuse to do just about anything. I know one woman who used to ask if she could get past someone; if they didn’t give way, she would ride straight into them – no excuse for that at all.

There’s another group who think that claim they are allowed priority in everything, and therefore when someone helps or moves out of their, they do not say ‘Thank you’. In most places disabled are not given priority as a right, but it’s down to the company concerned, not the law. Rugby town centre had a problem with a small minority of scooter riders who ignore everyone and rode though crowds as if they were not there. A number of people were injured by them, and they didn’t even look back to see what had happened or if the person they hit was OK or not. There was a lot of resentment there are the time.

Such incidents don’t any of us any good at all. To make it even worse, the police can’t do anything about them either. Scooters don’t have registration plates on them, nor are they insured (ours included actually), and the law is a fairly grey area really. Scooter come in two speed ranges; ours are within the lower 4mph range, which is fine and we can use them on town pavements, but not on the roads.

The 8mph range are not supposed to be used on pavements, only on the road itself. However, what use is that when a rider needs to get into town to do some shopping? At some point they have to ride on the pavement. This speed difference is where the grey areas lie in wait for the unwary. When I bought my first scooter all of this was explained to me, including the advice about drinking booze and riding it. Our current scooters are from a local company and we’re happy with the company and the scooters. When we collected our new scooters we were not told any of the advice I was given first time round; however, with me being an experience rider at that time, they didn’t really need to tell us.

Here’s something else you may be unaware of; there is no requirement for rider training. That means you can enter a shop, buy a scooter and ride it off without any training at all. There’s a lot of hazard out there for scooter rider’s folks, and not all of them are the street furniture all towns have. Pedestrians are our biggest concern overall. They don’t seem to care or to be bothered as long as they can get where they are going, and sod all the others. Guessing what these people are going to do next is impossible, honestly. And as for those on their phones texting or playing a game are so involved with it, they just don’t seem aware of where they are or why.

Today’ photo then …

Covers both the zoo and a scooter rider; Jan in pixel-packing mode.

Today’s funny …

A petrol attendent is filling a man's car, when he notices that a small penguin was sitting in the back seat. The attendant turns to the man and asks what the deal is with the penguin.
"Well" the man says. "I found the little guy a few weeks ago wandering around looking sad. I've been going crazy thinking of things I can do for him."
"There's a zoo just down the road," replies the attendant. "Why don't you take him there".
The man thanks the attendant, pays, and drives off to the zoo.
A few days later the man pulls up to the petrol station and again is met by the attendant who notices that the penguin is still in the back of the car.
"I thought you were taking him to the zoo" asks the attendant.
"I did thanks" answers the man. "He loved it, so I'm taking him to the beach today".     

We're off out at last ...

June 26

Many years ago our town had loads of cinemas. I clearly remember The ABC Ritz, The Scala and the Palace, where I watched oh so many major films, and more than enough crap ones too. In addition to those three I have memories of one in Stratford Street, one in Market Place and another in Bond Gate. One of the great films (for its time that is), I saw was The Planet of the Apes, with Charlton Heston in the lead role of Taylor. This one left a big impression on me, even if the full impact didn’t really strike me until many years later.

Yesterday evening, we sat and watched the latest version of the series of eight movies, Battle For the Planet of the Apes, released in 2014. Again I was well impressed, for my money it’s the best one of the eight so far. We certainly enjoyed it, even if I was in various parts of it I was pausing it to do bits n bobs towards dinner. Kile helped me too, and for that I was grateful. So the question is, which DVD will be watching when we get back for Twycross later?

It’s Sunday morning and telly is usually full of politics and talking heads and I don’t have a lot of time for any of it. Today there will be the inevitable talk about last week’s vote to leave the EU, and I’ve had enough of it now. All I want now is for the withdrawal process to start, the sooner it starts the better for all of us. I’d like to see that hole under the channel filled in too, but I’m realist enough to know that won’t happen.

Late last night I decided to make sure Kile’s camera is ready for today; good job I did cos the battery was well down, so it got charged overnight. My Nikon however, hasn’t been looked at yet, but when I do in a short while, it won’t take long to sort out. Even if the battery is dead I still have three spares that I always take with me. There’s a 16gig SD card in there too, and I have yet to fill it on a day out. Yet there snapper about who use 32 and even 64gig cards and still take spares with them. OK, I like snapping but that does seem OTT to me.

Part of the fun of being out and about is looking around and enjoying the place you are. Spend the day filling a 32gig means that you are likely to miss a lot of the broader picture of the place. As it is, I shall be snapping the animals and will be on the lookout for candid shots too, and of the abstract and full colour shots that I like shooting as well. Should be a good day.

And so it’s time to get ready for the off, so I’ll end here and get it posted. Today’s photo …

Bright colours on display at the Merry Hell shopping centre.

Today’s funny …

 A Scotsman was on a fishing trip in the northwoods of Canada. "What's that over yonder'?" the Scotsman asked of his guide. "That's a moose, eh," said the guide. "Aye!" exclaimed the Scotsman, with raised eyebrow. "If that be a moose, I'd be sure an to hate to see your rats!"  

We're out, but Jan brings it down to earth

June 24

Well, we’ve done it! There’s an almost 4% majority, but I wish it was a larger gap, but now we have to live with that decision. The first result is that vote is that Daft Dave has resigned, which hasn’t surprised me really, but even with my doubts, I do think he should have stuck with it. Now the Tories will spend months pulling themselves apart even more apart while choosing their new leader. That is the last thing the UK needs after yesterday’s vote. However, we have decided and we now have to live with it. I just hope that we don’t pull ourselves apart as a nation because of it.

Last night wasn’t a good one for me, not only because of how hot it was in the bedroom (I woke up dripping with sweat and my bedding needs washing now,) but twice I was woken up by music been played somewhere close. But where was it coming from? This isn’t the first time it’s happened either, but it is the first time that it’s happened twice. The first time last night was just before 3am, the second time just before 5am. And the music was different each time.

Trying to describe the music is difficult really.  It’s not loud as such and it doesn’t sound like any music I’ve ever heard. It doesn’t wake Jan either, so it makes me wonder if it’s all in my mind. Or perhaps it might be like the echo sounds that you get when you put a large shell to your ear. I should say that I do have tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and just now my ears are tending to be either dry and itchy to being damp and waxy. At sometimes I shall have to make an appointment and see a doctor about it. But I see enough doctors as it is without adding to it.

Kile hasn’t gone to school this morning. When he arrived here from his carers club on Wednesday from school, his left eye was streaming badly, and he said it was stinging badly too. He got up this morning getting ready for school and his eye was really badly crusted. His mum said to take him to his own GP, they have a drop in clinic there on Friday, He has conjunctivitis and now has to have drops in his eye four times a day, and he hates it. Well, he’ll have to get used to it.

Today is really turning into a red letter day for us now. Jan has just left for a taxi up to the hussy A&E. Earlier this week we bought a new camping bed for Kile. Jan wanted to see how it needed to be sure how it worked, and she managed to drop it on to her left instep. Not good; it’s been getting worse as the time has gone on since and now she can’t even get her shoe or slipper on.

So she’s off to A&E. And now I sit and wonder what she has done. The result could well cause us a good bit hassle, mostly for Jan of course. Here’s part of the problem for her. She is always in pain in her shoulders and hips, pretty well everywhere really, due to her fibromyalgia. If her foot has a fracture, then she won’t be able to use crutches. There’s a pair in the bed that haven’t moved since we first put them there. We’ve dealt with all this before and we’ll do so again.       

And so Kile and me are sat here waiting patiently for when she calls us to let us know what’s going on. I have a feeling that she got a fracture. Ah well …

Today’s photo …

A busker.

Today’s funny …

How many politicians does it take to change a light bulb?
Four, one to change it and the other three to deny it.

A no-satnav zone please

June 23

At 2201 tonight it will all be over apart from the counting and end result … at last! I’m in favour of leaving the EU and that’s how I shall be voting later this morning. Whatever the result I shall have to live with it, even if I don’t agree with it. However, my biggest concern is that if there is a vote to leave, Daft Dave will not be making much of an effort to sort out the details of our withdrawal. We shall soon see …

Not so long ago voices were raised because of the cuts to library services across the country, mine as well. And yet I rarely use our local library. The last book I borrowed was a guide book on Mallorca, which ended up about eights overdue. That’s not the reason as to why I don’t use it though. Basically, it’s because I know that whatever I take out, will not get read, simply because I am a slow reader. To spend time sitting and reading a library book in time to get it returned, means that something else will be put off or delayed. That means nothing will get done while I have the book, so I don’t use the Library.    

We have Kile with us now until at least Sunday. He asked his mum yesterday if he could come to us early, he was due on Friday anyway. The hope is that come Saturday the weather will be good enough to take him to Twycross Zoo, about eight miles from here. We’ve taken him there before but he doesn’t remember it. Hopefully I shall get some new photos for sharing on line. Kile will love running around with his Sony Alpha 350 too. He’s not bad snapper either, and often gets shots I missed or didn’t see.

At least we won’t have to set the satnav to get there. I really do hate the things. To me they are a lazy way to drive, and like all lazy methods, they are prone to make mistakes, like truckers turning down a narrow country lane when it’s clear that the road is not a suitable route, because the satnav says, Turn left/right’ or whatever. There was a show on telly about the Ordinance Survey that I recorded a few weeks ago. And just love their maps and have several of them ready for use.

The biggest problem with satnav is that they can’t take into account any of the local information, temporary or permanent. Things like one-way streets or pedestrian only area. There are so many different road signs that drivers have to take into account, and yet the good old First Lady of the road, ignores them all. Another issue is that they don’t take into account the type of vehicle they are installed in and seem to take artics over bridges with a 7-ton weight limit.

The biggest problem with them as I see it, is that so many drivers switch on the satnav and switch off their common sense. This applies to all types of drivers, HGV or car drivers. Part of the driving test is to read and apply the information on the road signs. Having passed a driving test you have shown that you are able to drive without that First Lady. So why do so many people become dependent on the box of tricks? It’s all down to laziness, plain and simple.

Satnav errors are not the only problem that face HGV drivers, like this one (which will suit as Today’s photo,) and was this driver’s own fault …

Taken on the old M6/M1/A14 junction, just as it started raining.          

Today’s funny …

After a car crash one of the drivers is lying injured at the side of the road. 'Don't worry,' said a policeman, a Red Cross nurse is coming to attend to you.'
Oh no,' groaned the victim, 'couldn't I have a blonde, cheerful one?'

Silly games and youngsters

June 22

Fun and games in Jaronland yesterday afternoon. Our new Blue Ray/home cinema system arrived at the same time as I was on the phone to the Walsgrave Hospital. We tried setting it up in the afternoon, oh dear … I sit back and let Jan get on with it whenever we need to do this, and she did a good job. That is until will tried to see the difference in sound when we watch a DVD. And we couldn’t get anything from it at all.

So I phoned the Samsung help line. What a farce! When was the last time you spoke to a Pilipino living on an island on other side of the world? Talk about pulling teeth … However, she said something about using an ARC cable. In the end I gave up on her because she was having to repeat what she was saying two or three times before I could I finally understood what she was saying. Next task was to re-read the telly specs, and guess what? The telly is ARC compatible, but only on HDMI 1. This morning I swapped the cables over and right now we are watching telly and I’ve had to reduce the volume by a small amount. We’ll try a DVD later.

OK, so it was difficult to fully understand what that lass was saying yesterday however, I’m finding the same thing with some English youngsters; and no, it’s not the normal them n us thing either. With some of these kids there’s a tendency to speak really quickly, and that makes it hard to understand what they are saying. Or is it just me? Whatever, I do wonder about though, is what is the point is of such fast speech.

And while I’m writing about youngsters … As you will know, I am a Type 2 diabetic, and for that reason I follow a number diabetes groups on both Twitter and Facebook. Quite regularly they post stories of young kids, that is, three and four year olds who are Type 1 diabetics. These kids are highlighted because they are managing their condition themselves. What amazes me is that it means taking regular blood sugar tests and taking insulin as and when needed. More power to them I say. But I also wonder just how they do it without supervision. To be able to do the whole thing at their age really does make them heroes.

What is it about kids who are able to play through pain and discomfort, conditions which many adults can’t handle. Our son Tom had a tooth extracted and was out playing straight after it. A few weeks later I went to the same dentist and had just the one tooth taken out, and I could hardly move after it. I don’t ‘do’ dentists anyway and this is just one instance of how I feel after visiting them. It’s a big ‘no no’ for me.

Enough of my rabbiting on; the pet shop at Merry Hell we went in didn’t seem to have all that many animals in stock, err, you don’t think perhaps …

Today’s funny …

A commercial traveller was passing through a small town when he came upon a huge funeral procession.
"Who died?" he asked a nearby local.
"I'm not sure," replied the local, " but I think it's the one in the coffin."         

50,000 words in 30 days ...

June 21

I really don’t know why we bother making and plans at all. Today’s plan was to go a ride out and look at some garden centres and then do our shopping before heading out. That sounds easy enough but the other day we bought a new camping bed for Kile and Jan wanted to try setting it up. It comes in a bag and she un-tied the top and tried to get it out, let it slip and it bounced off her left instep. Now she has a really nice bruise there, but can hardly put any weight on it. We don’t think she’s safe to drive right now, so the ride out is now off for at least one day.

Al letter arrived late yesterday from the Walsgrave Hospital asking me to contact them about my upcoming operation. As I said, it was late arriving, just before 4pm, so when I called them the help line was closed. So I left a message and they called me back this morning. Top and bottom of it, is that they wanted to know if I still wanted the job done – ddddeeeeeerrrrrr; I was polite, honestly, I was. I mean, it’s only just been decided and agreed to, far too early to even consider not having it done. I’ve also said I would except a short notice call too in case they get a cancelation.

OK, confession time then … I’m not looking forward to spending time in hospital. The operation itself isn’t a worry cos I’ll be knocked out and won’t feel anything at all. No, it’s being in the geriatric ward that I don’t like. I don’t know why it is that so many men tend become senile when they are in there, but a lot of them do, and that is why I’m not looking forward to it.

At least the surgeon told me that once it’s done I should feel the benefit as soon as I come out of the anaesthetic and I should only need to be in hospital for three or four days, and once I was mobile I would be able to come home. Last time the guy said that I would be stuck lying on back for around six months; in reality I was up and about and climbing stairs the day after the op. Within two days of getting home I was walking around the block without any problems.

NANOWRIMO, is the National Novel Writing Month. It’s one yanky import I don’t mind. The idea is to write 50,000 words during the month of November. I’ve tried it three times, and finished it. The first attempt resulted in Finding Our Way, the second was Shipshape. The third was a follow up to Shipshape and had the title And Bristol Fashion. I just wasn’t ready for it at that time and I failed miserably. This year I fancy having a go again so before I do I want to get Shipshape sorted out and published so that I have a clear run at it when the time comes. I don’t have a plot line yet, or any ideas but they will come over the next few months. Role on November.

Writing 50,000 words in 30 days is enough to frighten some people half to death. It’s a big ask really but as I’ve proved twice, it can be done. Those taking part get lots of encouragement and suggestions, and one such suggestion has helped me quite a bit, and not just with NANO work. That idea is to forget about editing and so on until you have finally finished it. Once you’ve got your 50,000 words you can spend as much time as you wish sorting out ready to publish. My first attempt Finding, stood at 50,300 something. By the time it was ready it stood at just over 56,000 words. I tend to do this with all my writing now, after all, what you are producing in reality is a ‘first draft’. The finished work is still months away, and it’s that added extra work that I don’t enjoy and find hard, the writing itself is great.

And so to a photo …

Our noisy wee brat of a budgie.

Today’s funny …

Jill: You remind me of the sea.
Jack: Because I'm wild, unpredictable and romantic?
Jill: No, because you make me sick.         

On reading and books

June 20

Heresy was spoken in Jaronland last night, the horror of it shook me to the core. You see, we were talking about rearranging the living room and how hard it was simply because we so much stuff squash in here. Then came the heresy … Jan uttered the words books, too many and charity shop in just one sentence. Oh the horror of it, the shock that I’m still feeling here this morning. And yet …

In the past we have done just that; when space became tight we passed a load of books on. When I think about it, if we still had all the books we have had all the books I’ve collected over the last 36 years, we wouldn’t be able to move for them getting in the way. So what will we do this time? We have a walk-in cupboard off the hall and there is a set of six shelves in there. Right now they are filled with all sorts of stuff that won’t get used again, so later today I will be in there sorting it out. Then there will be room for a lot of my books in there.

Meanwhile, Jan is sitting with a smug smile on her face knowing that several thousands of books are safe on her kindle. I too have a quite a few on my kindle as well. Is that even more heresy I wonder? There are some who will say it is. There’s a skit song about this one doing the rounds on Facebook now. It features a group of librarians poncing about throwing books about and singing about how much better real books are compared with a kindle. Oh yes? Then why are they throwing the books around like that?

You see, there is use and a market for both types books. Like us here, I read both, Jan uses only her kindle. When we go out anywhere we always take our kindles with us, just in case we decide to go for a drink, which is pretty much every time we go out. So now Jan sets up the kindles while I’m at the bar getting our diet cokes, or J2O for me these days, cokes make me too gassy. Then we can sit and read for a time, and chat as and when we feel like it, which quite often really seeing as we are both chatter boxes. Indeed, the only time we sit in silence is when I’m sat writing.       

Reading is perhaps something we all need to do at some point on our lives. A student has to do a lot more reading than most other people. During my OU days I have no idea how many books I read on top of the course materials, which added up to huge amount anyway. At one point I began getting concerned my memory. You see, all that reading and yet how much was actually sticking in my memory. At the sane tine a retired teacher was asking how I was getting on with it. So I told her what I was feeling and she said something along the lines of, that I wouldn’t remember all of it, no matter what I do. The trick is to just remember the main points of what I was reading. To help with that, is efficient note taking. This was invaluable advice for me at that time.

These days I read very little non-fiction, and when I do it’s related to diabetes and healthy living/food. So in most cases it’s not so important to remember story plots and so on. That’s why I’ve read Michael Connelly’s The Poet twice. Other books I have read a number of times intentionally, Asimov’s Foundation series for example, The Ryanville books from Tom Clancy, and of course, the Parry Hotter series are now into their third reading. The best book I have read more than once, is an easy choice, The Bible, although I haven’t read it for some time now.

Add in all the papers and the mags I read, then reading is important to me. And it’s great for passing time when waiting for someone, like the guy in today’s photo …

Today’s funny …

Son: My teacher must be really old.
Father: Why is that son?
Son: Well, today in class, he told us that he used to teach Shakespeare.  

Loving food ...

June 19

Can you believe this? It’s June 19^th already. Where has it gone? Part of it was when we watched, or that should be when we re-watched crap films like Left Behind and Meteor Storm, just like we did last night. Mind you, we also watched the last two of the Wallander series of programmes, and they were good. I wish now we had watched them from the start, ah well …

An interesting piece on the MSN home page this morning. Someone has started a petition to get Thursday’s referendum vote to be postponed after the death of Jo Cox. Now, call me cynical if you wish, but as the piece goes on to say, the leave campaign is ahead in the polls right, that makes me think there might be a different agenda behind this move. Daft Dave and remain followers are on the back foot right now, so why not try a trick like this one. If it’s ignored it will cause a lot of friction if the leave vote wins, and it remain vote wins there will cries of anguish because of the attempt to sway voters by this petition. As I said call me cynical if you wish but … … …

I wonder how many of you have been caught up in the latest yanky craze, that of Father’s Day. I’d never heard of it until about ten years ago, but now it comes up every year, and what for? I can imagine how my dad would have laughed at the idea, and as for his dad, well, I never met him, he died in 1945 I’ve found out just lately. But come on guys n gals, it’s just another way to pull open the wallets/purses of the gullible so they can pinch even more money in exchange for shoddy bling crap. That’s what it is all about folks, honestly.

OK, I’m over weight, and yes, it was my fault that I am like I am. I ignored all the warnings about how would affect me later in life and now I’m paying the price in Type 2 Diabetes and very high pain levels most days. I take a lot more care with what I eat these days, and not just the what, but also the amount. One of my biggest gripes these days is the odd occasion that we buy fish and chips. The fish is so big they have to use more wrapping paper for it. At the same time the amount of chips you get is enough to feed two, let alone one. Perhaps that’s why you see so many screwed chip wrappers in the streets these days.

So much waste from the food industry; then the other day I saw an ad for Morrisons who are selling a ‘tomahawk’ steak. This massive 42 ounces on the bone steak is on sale at £15 a go. Of course, this weight is uncooked weight and will also include the bone, even so, I think this one will come out at around a 2lb lump of steak. I like a good steak, as I’m sure most carnivores do, but 2lbs in one sitting? Thanks, but no thanks.

Warnings are common these days about Britain’s spreading waist lines and rise in diabetes. In an effort towards reducing this, a ‘sugar tax’ has been introduced. Will this be enough? I don’t think so, although it might have an effect on reducing dental decay in kids. The food industry needs to take a much bigger lead here. These offers of 42oz steaks will only entice some people to go for them, never mind the health consequences.

A lot is made of the waste in ‘bogoffs’, but do we really need that much of an item. Loose bread rolls come to mind; Jan likes crusty rolls and you can buy them in Asda for 25p, or five for £1. By the time we come to use the others they are no longer crusty and are a bit stale. But do we really need five of them anyway? No, we don’t, so now we only buy what we need. Another item that annoys me is those large trays of doughnuts you see in different places these days. I love them (yes I know they’re sugary), and so does Kile, but Jan is so keen. So now we only buy them when we know Kile is coming, like next weekend. The problem is that there’s 15 of them in those large trays, far too many for just a couple. What do we do if we buy a tray? Do we pig-out on them and maybe cause an upset in out digestion, or do we have a few and throw the rest? What we could with is smaller trays with fewer items in them, simple eh? It seems too hard for the food industry though.

Food: we all need it and some of us love it, perhaps a little too much. So with this mind I offer today’s photo …

One of my salad dinners I’ve had just lately.

Today’s funny …

Waiter, waiter, I can't eat this.
Why not, sir?
Because you haven't given me a knife and fork.                 

Guns and mental illness

June 18

Some of my happier days while I was in the army were when we were on the ranges doing our annual classification in various weapon systems. My last such day was the day before I handed in my kit in ready to leave the army late October 1979. This one is memorable simply because of the total waste of ammunition, and therefore waste of time in case at least. Even so I did enjoy it.

That day was SMG (sub machine-gun) shooting. This weapon was light weight and I found it was the easiest one to use. It wasn’t all that effective really in that it was a close quarter weapon. It’s range was fairly short too and never fired it over a 30ft range. Even so I had to classify with it and in so doing we all fired off at least 100 rounds of 9mm ammunition. As I said, a total waste of resources.

There was an item on Facebook yesterday afternoon relating to the latest mass shooting over in Yankyland. It showed a car and the words, ‘Killed 30 people; withdrawn.’ Next was a pill, Tylenol with the words, ‘Killed 70; was withdrawn.’ Next was a picture of a handgun with the words, ‘Killed 32,000 a year for many years; not withdrawn.’ That seemed to speak fairly clearly about the whole issue, at least to me it did.

Not only that, a supreme court judge has said that the NRA stance on the Second Amendment is a flawed understanding of the Amendment. He claimed it was brought in for law and order measures, not so that every man woman and child could have and use a gun. No, it written at a time when many parts of the America really were the frontier. And don’t forget, they were, or just had claimed independence from England and an invasion was expected. Sadly, none of this takes into account, the 20/21^st Century earnings of the amount of almighty dollars. And of course we all know that nothing is allowed to get in the way of the advancement the dollar collectors.

And that sadly is whole of the pro-gun lobby story. They claim it’s not guns that kill but people. People are dying at the hands of knife wielding killers or drivers in their cars, and yet neither knives or cars have been banned from use. Well, that’s true enough I suppose; however, the killer who was behind the last mass shooting also had knives and a car, yet he chose to use a guns to do his killing.

It might be claimed that we do not have mass-shooting here in the UK; well, go tell that to the people of Dunblane and Hungerford, and more recently in the north west of England. Both of these shooters had well know mental illness issues. So how did they manage to get gun licences? That it really the biggest question that needs asking and looking at.

These events are few and far between of course, but what we do have is the shooting dead of individuals in all areas of the UK. Most of them we don’t hear about, it’s only when a high profile victim gets hit that the media really kicks up a stink. Jo Cox, a MP was gunned down and stabbed. I don’t need to retell the story. Now the killer is already claiming mental illness, with his brother coming out to say he too has mental health issues. Can you see where this going? I can, and I don’t believe on word of it! I just hope the jury sees through it too.

A Johnny Cash song has the words, ‘I shot a man in Memphis, just to watch him die …’ I wonder just how many killers, anywhere in the world, would say they kill for the same reason? Of course, that would require some sort of honesty from them, but could we really be sure that the killer is being honest or just stringing us along. I would suggest that in such cases there has to be some sort of mental illness. After all, no sane person would even think of such things … would they?

So where does leave crime writers who happily sit and write about someone out and about killing just for fun, or so it seems. In my first book The Mission, my killer runs about killing people, more to take the pee pee out of the cops and to try to show them up as fools. In a later one, Web of Hate I have a young woman killing students across the UK. The body count in that one actually huge. So what does that say about me? I’ll leave that to you to decide …

Today’s photo …

The cover for Web of Hate; the photo is one of mine.

Today’s funny …

A cowboy rides into town, goes into a bar, has a beer, walks outside and finds his horse has been stolen. He walks into the bar, and fires his gun through the ceiling. "WHICH ONE OF YOU MOTHERS STOLE MY HOSS?" he yells. No-one answers. "ALRIGHT, I'M GONNA HAVE ANOTHA BEER, AND IF MY HOSS AIN'T OUTSIDE BY THE TIME I FINNISH, I'M GONNA DO WHAT I DUN IN TEXAS". He gets another beer, walks outside, and his horse is back, so he get's on it and makes to ride out of town. The bartender wanders out of the bar and asks "Say partner, what happened in Texas?". The cowboy turns to him and says "I had to walk all the way home..."                               

A large black visitor

June 17

I have a visitor. She came in while out shopping at Asda yesterday afternoon when I saw some of the worst parking in and around the disabled parking bays there. Then the security staff refused to deal with it, claiming that it’s a private carpark and therefore not their problem. The twin subjects of laziness and selfishness brought the not so wee dog to visit.

Last night I got in a row with dead family members over what happened to mam just before Dave died. Of course it was dream but added to yesterday it hasn’t done anything to help chase the visitor off. Now I’m trying to write this; when I tried it yesterday I just couldn’t do anything with it. This is the one dog I really do hate!

There I was lying in bed reading last night when I had a fancy come on me. I talking of around 11.15 now, and there I was fancying a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich. Jan made joke of it when I told her and quipped, ‘Sure not pregnant?’ Hahaha …

No matter how I feel right now, the family of the MP shot and stabbed in Yorkshire must feel oh so many times worse. We will learn at some time what it was all about and why the killer did what was done. Right now all we have is a lot of questions, but I’m intrigued as to if there is a link between the dead MP and injured man shot a short time later. This is a real tragedy for all those involved, but even so, it’s not the first time such an attack has happened in similar circumstances. A few years ago a Lib/Dem MP was attacked and injured and one his staff killed by a man using a sword. Fortunately, these attacks are few and far between, and I don’t mean just the people involved, but for democracy as a whole.

Anyway … while we were at the check-out I noticed the DVD The Martian at £5. I quickly picked one up and we sat and watched it last night. It’s the best movie we’ve seen for a long time, so a very good buy. We normally like these Sci-fi films and we also bought Interstellar, and we were not impressed all much. We stopped it about half way through and I shall watch the rest later. It’s a slow plot line and that is what got Jan down with it and although I thought the same to some extent, I can manage the rest of it.

Yet again, what I have written here is subjective, and merely my view. I have to wonder though, where being subjective on something moves into shear stubbiness in not being willing to even look at something someone else has seen/read/heard. There’s tread going about on Facebook and Twitter along the lines of ‘Am I the only one who hasn’t seen or read Game of Thrones? The Parry Hotters are another one I’ve seen along a similar line. We have read and seen both and enjoyed them, and I keep thinking, You really don’t know what you’re missing.

Today’s photo …

Jan’s nodding doggy in the car.

Today’s funny …

Where do shellfish go when they want to borrow money?
To the prawnbrokers.