Monday 30 January 2017

The time has come ...


30 January


I’m finding it difficult to write this blog today. The reason is that it will be my last one. You see, even though I have enjoyed writing over the years but it’s taking up far too much time, time I could better use in my actual novel writing. On top of that I shall reduce how much time I spend on social media, again, lots of fun but so much time flies by with it.


So my friends a kind readers, I say farewell and goodbye.

Saturday 28 January 2017

SIMs, rain and woofers ...

28 January

Jan has just spent around 15 minutes on the phone to Virgin. We are expecting a new SIM card to arrive and this morning there was a package from them in the post, and open package! It seems that the SIM was in there at time of postage, now it’s lost. Jan phoned to let them know. If someone finds it or has pinched it, they won’t get anywhere with it cos they’ve blocked it. We have been promised a new one on Monday. That’s fine, but she really could have done without that crap today.

I’m sitting here looking out the window at wall to wall sunshine. I won’t be going anywhere though. The ground out back and the roads out front are well wet. The forecast last night were for a short of period of sun before the clouds of rain are back. It looks quite cold out there too – weather forecasters eh! Well, they’re at it again; according to an item on MSN the ‘big freeze’ is changing to a month of storms and rain from next week. Oh dear, should we be concerned, and if so, what are we going to do about it. I wonder if the Red Indian rain dance performed in reverse would help? At least this is a relatively short-term forecast I suppose, but do you remember the long-term forecast of the barbeque summer … … …

We both love dogs and we both would love to have one. So why don’t we get one? Two reasons really; 1, cats and dogs are not allowed in our ground floor flat. 2, and even more important, we both know that we are no longer able to look after one properly. It’s sad really, there are so many dogs held in re-homing centres all over the place. Dog’s Trust in Kenilworth, RSPCA in Coventry and one Leicester. We used to go and visit them often at one time. We visited Battersea Dog’s Home in London one time, and that was the last one we went too. The dogs there looked so miserable and dejected, that I left with tears in eyes and it took us some time tp get back on the road after it.

Sometime after that we did get another dog from the local Dog’s Trust, a little Pomeranian bitch, one of pair found as strays in Eire. The male was adopted fairly quickly but the bitch remained there at the Trust – until we saw her. We passed all the challenges they demanded we meet, paid our £100 and after three weeks we took Amber (her new name), home. We had been told that they had no history for her, but we took the chance. At the time we were assured that Poms don’t shed their hairs – wrong! They do and we knew I had an allergy to such dogs. I could increase my use of medication to counter that though, so not really a problem.

What was a problem was that she did not like kids at all and even went for Kile when he visited once. He refused to come again while she was there. We walked her along the canal to our favourite pub, The Greyhound (yeah, I know), and sat outside with our drinks because it was such a nice day. There were a number of kids running around and Amber stood there watching them and growling every time one of them got too close. That was it; we phoned the Trust and they agreed to take her back. Is was a sad time for all concerned but as the Trust staff said, they could now make sure she went to home with only adults.

Today’s photo …


Cindy-pup, the Yorki-duff.

Today’s funny …

I took my dog to the vet today because it bit my mother-in-law.
Did you have it put down?
No, of course not - I had its teeth sharpened.
          

Friday 27 January 2017

NO! It needs to be heard a lot more

27 January

Kids; I have a love/hate feeling about them. Even as a teenager I had no time for them at all. Even now my fear is being stuck in a small contained are with screaming little monster. And yet, it’s not really the kids fault, is it? In most cases the parents allow them to get away with pretty much what they want while at home, so when it comes to being told off or made to do something they don’t want, they kick up a fuss. It’s the adults who look silly to me, not the kids. At least our son knew what the word ‘no’ meant. When he heard it he knew that it did mean no, not in a short while. Tom still knows it too; that’s why he need something he asks for Jan, well, he used to now he lives in Ulster he can’t shout for help any more.

We know of one couple who would never correct their daughter and never refused her anything. They are paying the price now though. None of her brothers and sisters will have her anywhere near them, and certainly not near their own kids. She creates chaos in and around her where ever she goes, happily married couples have almost come to separate because of her. Not so long ago she caused a lot of hassle in and around Jan. At Jan had the support of her friends from church to turn to when they were around, and of course, I stood by her when she told me what was going on.

I am sure that she is just one of many people who are like that. I’m beginning to wonder if old Farter Trump is one you know. On face the face if it, US politics changes from president to president. However, the US civil service and the clinging lobbyists, never changes, just as happens here. At some time he will upset them enough for them to say, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ That is when the world will be most in danger. And that is when we will all need to fear what the man does next. Hopefully, there will be enough strong men around to keep him calm and under control.

The current situation reminds me somewhat of a Stephen King story, The Dead Zone, where a man comes out of a coma and has the power to see the future when he has physical contact with someone. Wrapped up in it is a charismatic politian running for the White House, and gets it. He then starts throwing nukes about. Coma-man sees this before he shakes the Politian’s hand. He works to stops him from getting the job, but dies in the attempt. WWIII averted. Let’s hope there’s someone around to stop Farter at some point. Today Tottering Terry May will meet him. Not much salvation there folks, talk about the blind leading the blind … By heck, how did we end up in such a state as this.

On a brighter note, I shall be going off into town in wee while for ride around. It’s cold out there and rain is forecast for later, but I’m looking forward to getting out and about for a few hours. A call into Smudges will be useful, and of course there’s the works to visit too. And I’m sure I can find a pub for nice sit and read while slurping a diet coke.

Today’s photo is another from QE hospital …


Two great looking motorbikes, a Triumph and Harley ...

Today’s funny …

What do you use when a tree gets a puncture?
A lumberjack.
 

Thursday 26 January 2017

Wrong hospital ...


26 January

Yesterday afternoon turned into a bit of a nightmare. Jan had an appointment for a bone density scan and she thought it was at the Royal Orthopaedic in Selly Oak. We arrived, parked, paid £3 for 5ive hours parking only to find out we were at the wrong hospital. We should have been at Queen Liz, Brum’s huge new hospital. As we were only ten minutes away we raced off to get there on time. Again we parked up and Jan set off straight away while I sorted out the car; she was five minutes late but they still did the scan, for which we were very happy about.

The plan then was for me to meet her at the main entrance. What I did see when I got there? A WH Smiths and a Costa; Smudges first and I bought Girl on the Train plus another one. Off to Costa and my normal plain black coffee, it was awful! I said I was drinking it outside and they put it in one of those cardboard cup-things they use. Never again! Jan joined me and we set off back to the car and made our way back to the car and off we went. By that time it was just after 4pm and the traffic on the A38 out of town was building up. The M6 wasn’t much different with the variable speed limit signs set of 40mph. We eventually arrived home at just after 6 o’clock.

That new hospital really is huge; I thought the new Walsgrave in Coventry was large, the QE is a lot larger. The reception area is a massive empty space, at least 50 feet high, perhaps more. Jan said she had to walk around a mile to where she needed to get to for the scan. The only down side to place, for me at least, was the silly revolving doors that so many places have these days. I’m always thing that I’ll get stuck in them one day. That’s not happened of course, and it’s the only thing of that nature that has me in it’s grip.

Have you heard of the Black Dog Tribe? It’s one of a number of organisations (this is run by SANE), that supports folk who suffer mental illness and the stigma that comes with it. One of their posts on Facebook yesterday showed pills being stung together. It stuck me that at the time I saw it that I was still on Amitriptyline, and anti-depressant medication that is an effective pain killer at lower doses. I’ve been on them for longer that I care to think about now. I hated taking them in from of other people, OU students at the time and I would them out and take them, hoping that no-one noticed. Why? Anti-ds=mental illness=stigma; go it? At that time, I wasn’t suffering depression, but I still felt some of the stigma that such pills carry, that came several years later. I’ll see about coming off them later when I get chance to make a telephone appointment. One more pill less has got to be worthwhile.

What is it with creative minds and depression I wonder? Robin Williams last year, Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers, Vincent and oh so many more brilliant artists suffered with depression so badly that they killed themselves. I didn’t rate Hancock or Sellers all that much but they are regarded as brilliant comics generally. It does make me wonder just how many more creative minds are troubled with mental illness of some sort. And not just in the Arts either; what about mathematician John Nash, who suffered severe schizophrenia for most of his adult life? How many more are there that we don’t know about?

Let’s go back to yesterday to finish off with. When we arrived back home we had to empty the car ready for its collection this morning to go in for a service. We took it easy getting it done, the car was actually in a bit of mess really. Jan’s scooter was first out; our walkers were next load down with six different coats, mainly mine. Jan brought in one bag that had the two new books in it. Imagine my surprise when I looked at them to find that I had bought two copies of the same book! I couldn’t believe I had done that, even the cashier didn’t say anything when I paid. They are listed on the till receipt as the same book too. I hope Smudges in town are in a helpful frame of mind tomorrow when I go there to change on of them.

And lastly – all this weight I’ve lost has had an unexpected benefit. My waist size is well down, no wonder my trousers keep falling down, so we’ve ordered me some new ones. Some years ago we bought me three pairs of shoes, all size 8; I tried them on they filled me well, but I was wearing mainly trainers then, so when I came to wear new shoes one time, I couldn’t get them on. So then, last night I went through to bed I decided to try on the shoes, and blow me, they actually fit again now. I never thought that fat could build up in my feet.

Today’s photo …


This hunk of metal is outside the reception of the QE hospital.

Today’s funny …

What do you call a ghost who only haunts the Town Hall?
The nightmayor.
              

Wednesday 25 January 2017

Writing and Reading, a never ending circle


25 January

The P word cropped up again last night, and it wasn’t directed at me directly either. It’s a longish tale, so if you are sitting comfortably, I’ll begin …

A couple of days ago, I mention that I have a tendency to procrastinate over my writing. In the past, I’ve also mentioned that my reading speed is quite slow, although that depends on what I am reading to some extent. Anyway, I began reading Game of Thrones 6 last week, and yet again I’m finding it rather hard going. This time I’ve only got to around page 140 and I just couldn’t face it last night. So instead I started reading more of the current edition of Writing Magazine, and is the where the P word comes in.

Lynne Hackles is a regular writer in WM and was saying that she was living a very busy life but still managed to write 3,000 words a week. It came to a stop when she had an accident which meant she had to give up her day job along with having all her other activities cut short. She hasn’t taken up another day job since then, and guess what, she still only writing around 3,000 words a week. That is where the P word comes in. The whole point of the article is a reply to the question. ‘What should my word count be daily?’ The answer really is, ‘Write as much as you are comfortable and are happy with.’ After all, writing is supposed to be fun and if the writer isn’t enjoying it, how can the reader enjoy it? Fair dos there folks.

So, what of GOT6? I’m not sure really, same with #7 in the TBR pile. Reading fiction should surely be fun too, and right now I’m struggling with 6. Not only that, there’s rumours going around that #8 is on the way. Thing is, I don’t like waste and the two paperbacks I have cost £16, not a lot really, but still wasted if I don’t read them, and that is without #8 too. There are a lot of books in my TBR pile, I’ve added a couple since I took that photo last week.

Most of them will get read at some point, and I’ve been here before with piles of books to read and I keep on buying. At some point, I decided, ‘NO MORE!’ So I stopped buying any books. I paid a sad price for that one too. We were visiting Trish, Jan’s sister at a camp site just off the A12 in Suffolk. We went off for a walk around Aldeburgh where we found a local charity shop, so we popped in to have a look. I always look at the books when I go in a charity shops and there I found a really tatty paper back that I was pulled to buy. It was hard for me to but it back on the shelf my friends, really hard. Now I wish hadn’t. The books was Letters From America, a Charles Dickens book I had never seen before, and never seen since. A miserly price of 50p too, but my TBR pile was still large at that point, and I’d said, ‘No more’. Oh heck … … …

I have a fancy for a trip to Hay-on-Wye, the UK capital of used books. I’ve been there a few times before and it’s always been a good day out. Normally I got there and come back with a lot of books, it’s a book-buyers wet dream is Hay. Both of the town’s cinemas have been converted to books shops, as has the castle. The choice is bewildering, and I love the place. There’s a one bookshop that has separate section in a large upstairs room, which is full of piles of old magazines. I’ve also had a good look at that lot too, and left there with a number of old mags that interested me. See, recycling old mags can be profitable. Hmmm … maybe it’s time for another run out to Astley Book Farm … ……

Today’s photo …


Oxfam bookshop, Cambridge.

Today’s funny …

Did you hear about the couple who met in a revolving door?
They're still going round together.

Tuesday 24 January 2017

A quickie today ...


24 January

By heck, what a time to get up; 7 bloody 30 is far from being a civilised time in the morning. I’ve got up with Kile this morning to give Jan a lie-in for a change. Anyway …

Today I was due to stay in today because of my new mobile arriving at some time. It arrived around 10 o’clock. It looks pretty good too, I’m sure it work as well as it looks once I’ve worked out how to get it working properly. What doesn’t help is not having a printed manual; I’ve now found one on-line, only 330 pages, no wonder they don’t provide one. Another issue I’ve found is that there seems only one port for both the SIM and the micro-SD card. My old phone is on charge right now so as I’m going to use the SIM from that for the new one, I’m sort of in a bit of a limbo for now. I’ve finally managed to get the older phone charged and stripped down, well, all but the SIM card that is. It will get sorted though, honestly, it will, Jan will get it sorted for me.

So the government lost an appeal case on the BREXT issue. What that means is that because of some person not willing to accept democracy unless it works how they want it, then they can the courts to fix it for them. What a tragedy for us all! At some time, this decision will back fire on the UK in bigger issue that might cause us to be in real danger in some way. It is this sort of decision made by the European court that was one of the many reasons why I became disillusions with the EU. Now we have our own judges doing the self-same things. What chance do we have as a nation when things like happen, even today?

 London fire service had a busy few hours after an explosion occurred in a ground floor flat. Two men have been arrested over it. With ten tenders and 60 firefighters attended the incident, so it was certainly a serious event. Police are not saying much about it other than the two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson. At times like this we can only wait for the event to be investigated before we can know what has happened, however. We do have our imaginations though, and they won’t sit quietly will they. My first thought when I saw it was a bomb maker had made an error. Just lately there have been a number of cases of arson attacks on peoples homes because of some sort of falling out. I shall be watching this one to see what comes out of the investigation.

Good grief, I’m shattered right now. I’ll post this one now before I lose it.

Today’s photo …


A Penguin.

Today’s funny …

If the new president came under assassins fire would his bodyguards shout. Donald Duck?     

Monday 23 January 2017

Type 2s and comms ...


23 January

There is a lot of miss-information about diabetes doing the rounds these days. The two main types are T1, who use insulin, and T2, who don’t. To begin with, T2 is not a death sentence. When first diagnosed, it might seem that way but we quickly learn that it really isn’t. The next item is life style choices; being overweight and unfit is what causes it, not in everyone folks. Tom Hanks isn’t overweight, and nor in my mate who does the proof reading for me, and yet both have T2 diabetes, my mate is also a vegetarian too and is very careful in what he eats. I have another friend living in Devon who has always been careful with his eating and I was shocked to learn he too has been diagnosed as well. And don’t forget my friends, some pregnant ladies also become T2 during their term of carrying.

Diet is another issue when comes to lack of understanding of the condition. A T2 diabetic can eat pretty much what they like. However, most of us do take great care with what we do eat, although there are the odd few who won’t do so. Sugar we can have if want, but at limited amounts. We know well enough that if we over do the sugar, we are likely to have an adverse reaction in some way. For me it’s a raging thirst and extreme tiredness, other react differently. We are regularly being informed about healthy food choices and how they help us to control our diabetes. Common sense about food and eating is all that is needed. What we need a balanced diet, nothing is out of bounds as long as it’s taken as part of the balanced diet.

We T2s do not use insulin injections. Some of us are able to control their condition by diet alone, where as some of us, me included take tablets and their control is excellent. So if you see someone injecting in public, they are T1 diabetics, not junkies. T1 usually develops in children and they have a major fight on their hands for the rest of their lives. What they need is understanding, not ridicule and anger. A lot of the fuss n bovver is down to the media hype, not real knowledge of the condition so it’s not really a surprise that there are so many people who don’t understand it. Sad to say, that they take everything they read in media/on-line as truth. Ah well … … …

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that my mobile phone contract was coming to an end. It didn’t take long before I had a phone call from India trying to sell me a new one. She got very short answers and I eventually hung up on her. I just don’t have the patience to sit and listen to tell-sales wafflers, no matter where the call from. Anyway, last night I had a look on line to try to see if there was any handset I fancied. There was a nice Sony but at £27pm it’s twice what I’m paying now, same with a Samsung I liked (not the Note 7 BYW). Eventually I decided on a cheaper Samsung with a monthly cost of £13, just £1 more than I’m now paying, it will be here tomorrow. You see, all I want, all I need actually, is a phone that I can make calls and texts from, I don’t need all the other stuff that get added or I can add. Life’s far too short to spend on looking at a little screen and typing while I’m walking, let alone driving!  

The account is in Jan’s name so she made the call to order it and by the time she was finished she had been on the phone for over 30 minutes, that’s why I’d sooner got to the Virgin shop in Coventry. Those type of calls I have no time for. So now I’m set for the next 24 months. And speaking of phones …

We keep getting calls from a company who is asking for a Mr Paul Sockett and it’s really beginning to bug us now. We don’t know anyone of that name, no-one has ever lived at this address using that name, and our landline number is now nine years old and was given to us when we had Virgin installed at our Bracebridge Street home. So where this company manages to link our nine year old number with someone else, I don’t know. Later I shall get on social media and try to find him and, and, and … I don’t yet but at least if do find him I can let the company know where to find him.

Today’s photo …


A moody sky from last year.

Today’s funny …

Car Driver (telephoning after he has had an accident) - Send help at once, I've turned turtle.
Mechanic: This is a garage not a pet shop.
  

Sunday 22 January 2017

PROCASTINATION!!!

Another bad day yesterday, hence no blog. Not much different this morning either but I have things to do today.

I wonder what has been happening over the last couple of days? I got fed up with wall to wall coverage of Farter. If nothing else, he knows how to create a fuss. Just a pity that his new job is a lot more than making a fuss. Apparently, there are islands that are ruled by animals. I knew about one off the coast of Brazil where humans are not allowed because of the number of snakes creeping around. Well, now the US is being run by the sleaziest snake of all time. As much as I would love to visit the place for a look around, I won’t be going while he’s in charge!

We have Kile with us again. After Thursday evening, he hasn’t been home since. It is his normal weekend to be with us anyway, but it’s a long way from home to school and making the trip twice in 12 hours was not really much fun at all. Tomorrow evening he has his young carers club in town; so, from school he walks back here, about a mile, Jan takes him carers and collects him. He will stay for Monday night, get up for school as normal and then head off back home as normal. Once he does get a place at Hartshill School, I wonder if he will miss coming here? It will happen at some time, sitting around with a pair of old codgers won’t compare with running around Hartshill Hayes country park chasing the girls, or not, depending on girls I suppose these days.   

Whatever, I have a feeling he will want to come back to us if I do get my driving licence back in the hope that we can go out for the day with us both driving. We had stopped going off because Jan found it too hard to do all the driving on a long trip. She did try to do it all but it was clear from the start that was finding hard. That was why we didn’t do any birding last year. I only had had one trip to London on the coach too, but that was before my operation and by heck I suffered for it the next few days. Not only that, but I didn’t get a lot of photography done either.

You know me and Facebook, right? Well, there’s a group on there called Creative Writing Support that I follow. The other day another user mentioned that she wished she was retired so she can spend more time writing. Opps … I am retired and I don’t spend all that much time writing anyway, so I said so – another opps methinks. However, considering we were not racing around the country birding or just out on day trips for the fun of it (not that birding isn’t fun of course), I had plenty of time to write. So why didn’t I get on and do more. One word my friends PROCASTINATION! A certain killer to all writing hopes and dreams. Quickly followed by another reason, too bloody lazy. I need to conquer both this year.

And yet isn’t not really that I didn’t do a lot of writing last year; I mean, I did get this bog done most days of the year, but even so, once that was done I was ready for a break. The inevitable followed, I didn’t get back to doing any more writing on my novels. Ideas came and were noted; mini-rants were also noted (I’ve always found it useful to get things out of my system by shouting about it on paper). And yet none, or very little has been turned into useful things for the novels, yes, novels, plural. I do have several on the go that I play about with at different times. See what I mean – PROCASTINATION again, do anything but getting on and doing what needs to be done.

Enough of that – today’s photo …


I’ve posted this one before, but I like it, Arnie nit-picking.

Today’s funny …

Did you hear about the kidnapping? He woke up.        

Friday 20 January 2017

More odds n ends ...


20 January

We’re up early this morning to be with Kile for when he goes off school, he’s already left and I should think he’s got there by now. Jan tried to get to the bottom of his free meals school meals last night, and I’m still confused. If he has free meals, then why does he take cash to school too? Not only that, why does he have to have a sandwich before they will let him buy anything else? Hopefully Jan will get to the bottom of it when she goes off to spend the day with his mum in a wee while. Whatever, Jan has made him a chicken batch this morning, at least we know he like that! Oh yes, I nearly forgot; we received a text message to say that he was coming here after school today to get ready for an after-school kick-boxing class. Now we have through to Tuesday.

With Jan out for most of the day, I shall be getting on doing some writing. My pen is full, my paper pile is sat here waiting; all I need to do now is to get done on here so I make a start. What I haven’t decided on yet is when to start typing up Arathusia, but I think I have learned something at least. Currently I’m using an A4 pad for the hand writing; it’s a large fairly heavy to lug about. So many other writers use A5 notebooks, a lot easier to carry around ready for use. Maybe I should try that too seeing the large number of them I have here, most of which Dave left. That is for the future though, right now I need to get on and get finished here.

Wednesday I commented about Doug Paully and his win in the courts over a disability issue and suggested it is a much wider issue than the UK bus industry. The airline industry has come under fire too. EasyJet has been fined by a French court for refusing to allow a disabled passenger to board one of their flights, and not for the first time either. Their reason for the refusal was security issues and the disabled man travelling alone. £51K this last time and they are considering appealing against it. Jan and I are fortunate in that we don’t use air travel all that often, but when we do, our disabilities mean we can’t have access to the seats with the extra room. The reason is that the emergency exits are there and must be kept clear. We accept that as being reasonable and don’t make a fuss. As I said the other day, it’s that 10 letter word again …

Australia is now having to deal with a nutcase – err, no, I’d better change that, a mentally ill  driver with a history of violence has deliberately driven at a crowd of pedestrians and killed three of them. So, the UK is not the only place where such people are allowed to roam freely in public. How many other places do likewise and when will they learn that care in the community doesn’t work. Perhaps the body count will never reach a high enough figure for that. To admit a mistake is hardest thing any politian can do. To do so will allow questions to be asked over other issues they are responsible for. And it is the politicos who make those policy decisions, not the health-care professionals.           

Farter’s big day today my friends, and I’m sick of it already. The news will be full of it today and for the next week too. How on earth did he manage to win an election? I don’t know if he had help from outside to get there, but I doubt he could do it on his own. Ye gods … I shudder to think what he will do to the US economy and the effects it will have on the world economy. The real-world skulldugeries in Washington must be rubbing their hands with joy at the prospect of an easy target and the huge amount of dollars that will come their way.

Whatever … today’s photo …


We still have this little beauty.

Today’s funny …

A little girl asked her father if all fairy tales begin with "Once upon a time?"
He replied, "No, some begin with 'If I am elected.”

Thursday 19 January 2017

Writing marches forward+

19 January

Handwriting vs typing, which is best would you think? No matter what I said yesterday, I can’t make up my mind on this one. I did spend a fair amount of time hand writing day before yesterday, but as I said, I will need to type it up later too. I suppose really, what I am wondering is when is it the best time start typing. Is it wait until the work is completely finished, or type it up as soon as you finish that’s day’s work. The fear of losing work is a worry for many writers. There have been a few times that I have thought I’ve lost a whole days’ work. Luckily, I have found it soon after.

What I have lost though is over 100,000 words from this blog. The word count was reading 940,000+ words when I had finished for the day. I closed down the doc and saved it as normal, but the next day when I came to open it, I had to search for it. When I eventually found and opened it, the word count was down to 830,00+ words, and over three months of work had gone. I still haven’t found it either, not fun, but in reality it’s not all that a worry, the blogs concerned are on-line anyway. Now I have copies saved to three different sources as well as the cloud, hopefully that will work.

But I wonder about that too.  Apparently there some computers manufacturers who have stopped adding USB ports to their machines. In such cases the users will have no choice but to save the to the cloud, and pay for the privilege too. So, when we will our USB devices become redundant? I’m thinking of our cameras and how they connect to the lappy, but there again, as long as there is a SD card port, that should be a problem. Printers will need to be wi-fi machines too; I know ours are but we’ve never bother trying to set them up that way. Perhaps we should really?

And so the pace of technology races ahead. I wonder if that SecDef in Washington thought about just how far his decision would go when he was faced with three different systems to contacting the three US armed forces. Alan Turing and his code breakers using their Colossus machine would have not thought that the computing power in an average wrist watch these days would be greater than the power of their big beastie. There’s a law in computer that goes something like this, the power of computing chips will double every 18 months, while their size and cost will reduce at the same rate. I can’t remember who said that now, but at least the first clause is right, and maybe the second one is too when you compare what you can get today with what you got two years ago for the same cost.

Software changes at a similar rate. I current use Photoshop 12 for my photo editing; every so often I get an email arrive telling my P/shop 15 is better and faster. Oh really? It’s only faster when the user able to use that extra built in speed. No, I think I shall keep using 12 until I buy a new camera, and that day is a long way off. The Office 2016 I use is working OK for now, but the change to it has caused a few upsets along the way. I have a feeling the change from 2010 to 2016 is what caused me to lose all those blogs entries. Windows 10 has been out and in use for around 18 months now, I wonder when the next one will come out. Yes, I know they said there won’t be one, but do you really believe was MS says? But which comes first? Is the software trying to catch up or is the technology racing ahead to keep ahead of the software?   

Computers are everywhere these days, I’m sure you don’t need to be told that. Everything we do is being recorded somewhere or other. Pay for your petrol by at Tesco, they’ve got it in the data; pay for your lottery tickets, two new paperbacks and a daily paper at WH Smiths, and they have your details in their data. That is something else that SecDef wouldn’t have thought about, but I bet the current one has. We already know that all our intelligence services use computers and hackers on a regular basis. Maybe the days of Tom Cruise and his Mission Impossible isn’t that far away my friends. Just watch your back next time you get your credit card to buy that curry n chips in the local chippy … … …

Today’s photo …


A tufted duck – nowt ter do wiv ‘puters!

Today’s funny …

Judge: ''Do you wish to challenge any member of the jury?'' Prisoner: ''Well, I think I can beat that little fellow on this end...''              

Wednesday 18 January 2017

Disabled access victory?

18 January

I really don’t believe that I got some writing done yesterday, other than the blog that is; yes, around 2,000 words of Arathusia now safely on paper. I got to a point where there was a natural break in the story line which made it the right place to stop. Hand writing is a good way for making sure you have cut the chances of losing your work to a minimum, but it all needs to be typed up at some point. However, the hand written version really is a first draft, something that I wouldn’t be happy for anyone to read through.

Yesterday I finished Parry Hotter 6, and began GOT 6. The Prologue took some working through, very hard actually, but once I started the main story it was a lot easier. The Imp is at the start but haven’t looked any further on yet. I read something on Facebook about Mr Martin is due to release or begin, #8; about time too. There was another article about him writing another series. My thought was it looked like another series he could get bored with. It’s a pity really, I do like his work, I just wish he’d get on with it. I would not be surprised that someone isn’t holding a large mirror on me over that comment – ah well … ... …

Disability access has come to the attention of the courts again. This is due to a guy I know personally who had a problem on a bus when I passenger refused to leave a dedicated seat for wheelchair passengers. That happened in 2012 and finally Doug has won his case, or has he I wonder? As with all legislation issues with disability rights, nothing is totally clear. Ambiguous words like ‘reasonable, could, depending on circumstances’ and so on can be argued over for years. The passenger who refused to move was a young mother with a sleeping baby. She claimed that her buggy couldn’t be folded down. I don’t know about you but I do think she had a point at that time. As a mother, she needed to be close to her baby, and that does seem reasonable to me. Yes, it was difficult for Doug who had to wait for another bus, but under the circumstances, I would agree with the mother.

I first became aware of Doug during my time with the OU. At one time myself and a few others got together to form a Disabled Students Society in the OUSA (Open University Students Association). The word Society was soon ditched in favour of Group. Doug was one of our supports at the time. As we moved forward as a group within OUSA, it became clear that the word ‘disability’ was also ambiguous, no, wrong word really. It became clear that there were far more medical conditions that caused disability, and various degrees of disability too, that there really was a major difficulty in providing a level playing fields for everyone.

For example; I was a member of the geology society. They arranged field trips to various venues where clear signs of interesting geology could be studied, I got to go on one of them and that was when I first saw a trace fossil and understood what it was. Anyway … it occurred to me that if the GS organised a trip to walk up Mount Snowdon, there was no way that they would be able help someone who spent their lives in mobility scooters/chairs to attend that trip. To my mind it was unreasonable for us expect them to do so.

Different disability’s effect people in different ways, for example mental illness. How many conditions are there that come under that banner I wonder? Diabetes is another one. In my case it’s well controlled by diet and the metformin I take twice a day, they there are many diabetics who have to be very careful in what they eat and what they do on an hour by hour basis. To be funny useful for all diabetics would be impossible to my mind. Along this line, a student from Telford I know was allergic to lettuce, yes, lettuce. At one meeting I attended she had indicated that no lettuce in her lunch. It arrived OK, nice presented in a covered plate with her name on the cover – but garnished with, yes, lettuce. And on it goes …

This little rant began over a court case in London. It’s not just on bus services that they are access problems. Nuneaton railway station has lifts install to get from platform to platform, great idea from someone. However, if a mobility scooter rider or wheelchair user needs to travel by train, they are advised to book a few days early, ‘so the kit needed can be there for use.’ Oh really? And what happens if the journey is an emergency? How do those passengers manage? I heard of one lady who got on a train but because there were no wheelchair spaces, she had ride in the baggage car. The rail industry is still not doing very well on this one.

It’s an issue not confine just to the railways though is it. There is a tendency these days for anyone who is disabled to classed as being a faker, and scrounger or just generally looked down on for not trying enough. The people who abuse the blue badge systems don't help either. That is an attitude that needs to change; however, there a number of disabled people who do not help the rest of us. Rugby has more than just the odd one or two, and even here in our town we have more than few too. Public concerns will never really change until all disabled people show themselves to be just like everyone else, but unable to do everything an able-bodied person can.

Today’s photo …

Perhaps J K got the idea of the house hour glasses from here?

Today’s funny …

A man and his wife were watching golf on tv and the sound on the commentary was rather low. The woman went to turn it up. 'Ssh,' said the husband, 'ssh. Not while he's putting.'      

Tuesday 17 January 2017

Whate happened to the Jobsworth caps?

17 January

Do you remember Esther Rantzen and her Jobsworth Caps? A case has come to light 2015 when two enforcement officers gave a fixed penalty to a 65 year old woman because she poured her coffee down the drain. She paid up but Ealing Council have apologised and refunded the fine. Fine; but why was the fine issued anyway? I mean, come on; cops tip booze down the drain whenever they find some kid under 18 drinking in a public place. Would they be issued with a fixed penalty ticket? I doubt it very much! No, this case was two council employees behaving like school yard bullies by picking and what they thought was an elderly lady who would pay up without question. I would hope that they are no longer employed by any council, let alone Ealing.

There are quite a few such jobs within councils where these ‘officers’ can raise fines against the public. Dog control officers are another one, but who would object to them issuing a ticket for leaving doggie doo on the pavement? Litter tickers I’ve already mentioned but the largest group are the traffic wardens of course. Where does the council get the authority for these people to fine people without the case going to court? What has happened to our right to fair trial by our peers?

Even so, can you imagine the state of our towns and cities without these people giving out those tickets? I live in Germany for around 18 months, Cyprus for 15 months, and even in Kenya for eight weeks, I don’t remember seeing any litter lying around. My three holidays in Mallorca I didn’t see all that much litter, and certainly no dog mess. So why is it that these places are so clean and yet some areas of our own country is such a mess most of the time. It could be that it’s the minority of yobs that cause it, but why are they so lax in their personal discipline? Is it that they have never heard to the word ‘No’ in a meaningful manner? I wouldn’t be surprised.

Challenge anyone over an illegal act and all you get is the mouthful of abuse. The last time it happened to me was when I saw a woman driving through town while using her phone. She turned really nasty over it. Why? It was only days after that trucker was jailed for killing those people in a car when he was messing with his iPod. Another time I challenged a guy when he drove through a no entry in town, parked up in a blue badge space. He told me to mind my own business. So I did, and called the cops. Some of these people just don’t like being told ‘no’. Tough luck on them.

Here I sat happily thinking Jan would be out until sometime this afternoon, and then the doorbell does its normal dingdong twice in quick succession. I always lock the door when I’m here on my own, but I forgot to take the key out, and Jan wasn’t happy about it … opps. She had gone up to spend some time with Sam, one of her church friends, but she isn’t too well right now, so she is due to go back to bed for a few hours before the kids come home from school. So Jan is now going to the hairdressers this afternoon from here, not after she had been to Bed’th for a few hours.

Today’s photo …


This is an old photo I got when we lived in Atherton. I sue it for the cover of my novel  Web of Hate.

Today’s funny …

Waiter, waiter, do they ever change the tablecloths in thls restaurant?
I don't know, sir. I've only been here a year.
            

Monday 16 January 2017

Wealth, poverty and cheating the system

16 January

I don’t suppose we will ever really know if Russia did hack the US election, however, France seems to be taking the idea seriously because it taking extra measures to prevent it happening there. Either way, none of those elections will have much of an effect on us here directly. The thought came to me though that perhaps the ‘remainers’ might well claim the same has already happened here with the BREXIT vote. That may well have an impact on us. Even now the losing side is fighting a vicious rear-guard battle to stop what the people of the UK have voted for. I shall leave you to make up your own mind on this one, just remember where you heard this one.

We have another run over to Selly Oak to do later this month, this time for Jan to have a CT scan done. That’s two of those and a MRI scan she’s had done in the last 12 months. We are hoping the operation gets done more quickly than 12 months though. We are also hoping my licence arrives back in time for the scan to be done, then I can drive for that one. As for me and my back, I’m still taking the same pain killers but not as often now, and then because of hip pain, not back pain.

As if the NHS hasn’t got enough to deal with, BBC Inside Out show on at 7.30 this evening, is showing a patient selling his NHS prescriptions for cash. The reporter paid £250 for a drug that costs £10,000 a year to issue. If the guy is selling them, then he doesn’t really need them does he, and £1 to pinch of brown mucky stuff, he’s not alone in this one. I’d like to bet that he is cheating the DWP and local council as well, in which case, it’s time he was caught and dealt with.

This is one item that has come to light, but I do wonder how many other such cases there are. The NHS costs us billions every year, and with that kind of money floating around there will always be those with an eye on where to divert some of it into their own pockets. We occasionally hear about cases where NHS employees have managed to find ways to cheat the system, sometimes these people are in senior management positions. They know how stretched the service and keep pushing for more savings, ‘to meet budget cuts’, but also to make the lining of their pockets thicker. Such people should be given serious jail-time when they are caught, not wrist-lapping jail-time.

I do like Who Do You Think You Are? the BEEB show on family history. The last one saw was Ricky Tomlinson. He knows Liverpool, of course he does, he was born there and still lives there. His back ground is as a strong union man and did a two year stretch one time because of it. As he traced his family line back he found out that due to accident he lost two of his distant family. Their widows were then plunged into poverty and that really angered him. Liverpool was a prosperous city in the mid to late 19th Century, yet the rich lorded it over the people the people who were creating that wealth, the men on docks.

My thoughts were pretty much the same as his, at least to begin with. Then I realised that things are not so different these days, are they? Liverpool is no different to the rest of the UK, with thousands of people being fed from food banks, and with numbers due to rise too. Then I began to think a wee bit more; Tomlinson is no longer living in poverty, is he? So I began to wonder just what he was doing personally to help out those less fortunate than he and his family is. It’s all well and good bleating about how unfair a system is, but those bleats need to matched by deeds on the street, or they are just hot air.

The same question can be asked of me too. What do I do to help? That’s a hard question to reply to, isn’t it? Let’s face it, if I was listed what Jan and I do, it look like boasting, but please rest assured that we do help as and when we can. However, there is one we never do, and that is to give money to beggars on the street. Some are in genuine need, a lot aren’t, but how can we tell? We can’t. Perhaps if we want to help them, take them to a pub or chippy and buy them a meal, don’t give them cash.        

What happened to yesterday’s blog? Simple, I just didn’t feel up to it, very tired when I got up and I remained tired for most of the day. In fact, I was in bed just after 9 pm but didn’t settle until just on midnight, and I must have dropped off pretty quickly too.

Today’s photo …


A dog rose.

Today’s funny …

 What is green, has four legs and two trunks?
Two seasick tourists.
   

Saturday 14 January 2017

BREXIT delays, unreliable weather but loads-a-reading matter

14 January

Yet again a minority group may delay the triggering of Article 50. First, we had that silly woman going to court over it, now we have the prats in Stormont causing waves over long held hatred of each other, and of Britain as a whole. When will Scotland try it on again as their first minister is threatening. Not sure about Wales though. I said at the time that it should have been triggered as soon as the result was known. Another item on MSN newsfeed is that Farter Trump wants Europe to pull apart; I’m almost temped to change sides and become a remainer over that one just to spoil his fun – almost, but not quite.

It seems that the weather fears over the weekend were unfounded. That’s the problem with weather forecasting I suppose; damned if they do, damned if they don’t get it right. And yes, I’m well aware of my dislike of their less than accurate predictions. I was hoping we could get into town today but it was raining when I got up, so that one is out now; pity really, I was looking forward to an all-day breakfast in Whetherspoons too. Something to look forward to for next Saturday. Even so, our weather is not as extremes as other parts of the world, for which I am grateful.

Last night I finished Robert Southworth’s third Spartacus novel, The Pharaoh’s Blade. It’s an excellent series of three novels that ultimately leads to the downfall of the arch baddie – although I’m saying no more on that one other his greed finally catches up with him. This series I’ve read on my kindle app on my tablet, and after ending that one I began the last novel in a series of four sci-fi, The Synchronicity War. Again, it’s another great series, space opera at its very best. One that one is finished I have others in a similar vein to start, more space operas too. They always seem to be in series, probably because of the size of the story line is just too large to fit into just one volume.

Have you noticed that fantasy novels are in series too? Game of Thrones, in seven volumes, as are the Parry Hotters, Lensmen books. Michael Moorcock and Anne McCaffery seemed to produce stand alone and series of books. Moorcock’s Count Brass and McCaffery’s Dragonriders are both worth looking out for. Moving away for sci-fi, crime writers also produce series don’t they. Rebus, Roy Grace, Peter Diamond, Tony Hill, Alan Banks … … … and oh so many more, all series but each novel a stand-alone story. I’ll sneak in another one here, Ron G Clark’s Fred Cooper series, House of Pain and Web of Hate. His third in the series is stuck at the moment and needs an extensive re-write. OK, the last two are my own novels, but just a mention them in passing.

On Facebook yesterday there was a post from one group I follow, ForReadingAddicts, which I heartily recommend my friends by the way, in which one of the admin team said her TBR (to be read), pile is at around 35 books. That got me think and I went off to the bedroom to snap my TBR pile, or at least part of it, and that is today’s photo …


When I said ‘part of it,’ I really do mean just a tiny part of it, only 40 in that pile. We were out the day shopping and in the Coop they have a charity book stall now, so I added two more which are not in that pile. In addition I have well over a hundred on my kindle app too, plus even more books on my book shelves. Sitting here I can see a Lynda la Plante waiting to be read.

Today’s funny …

An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed him to hear perfectly.
He went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing’s perfect. Your family must be pleased you can hear again."
To which he said, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've already changed my will 3 times!"