Switching off ... and on again

When I went for my physiotherapy appointment yesterday, I obediently turned off my mobile phone, as the notices told me to when I entered the hospital.

But what would be really useful is a notice as you go out saying, "You can now turn your phone back on again!" Then I wouldn't have missed two messages from my wife and I would have bought the shower gel when in Lidl!

Oh, the trials of everyday life!

Learning Lessons?

Another terrible case of child cruelty was reported in the newspaper today. A child had been starved to death by her parents. There were, as usual, social work 'failures' in the case. No doubt someone will soon say that lessons have been learned. The trouble is, they won't be learned. After a few months the lessons will be forgotten.

You see, we are in a recession. There must be spending cuts and cost cutting. So there won't be the money for adequate staffing of social work departments. So the same mistakes will happen again.

How did this recession start? Oh, yes, it was the bankers. And what's happened to them? Let me see, according to recent reports they are distributing bonuses to themselves worth billions of pounds.

What we all can't understand is, why isn't that money being ploughed back to the government? Then, just maybe, 'lessons learned' today will be remembered tomorrow.

Video abuse

Yesterday it was reported that an Italian court has found Google bosses guilty of privacy violations as a film of an autistic boy being bullied was uploaded onto a Google video site. They say they cannot be held responsible for user-supplied video. They further say they removed it quickly after the Italian police contacted them. But that was two months after it first appeared.

If the service provider is not not taking responsibility for content on their site, then the rights of individuals are going to be violated.

The trouble is they (and other video sites) have created a monster, which they cannot control. Like a dangerous dog, for most of the time it's very docile, but you don't know when it will attack and maim someone -as the video did to the autistic boy.

The US ambassador to Rome commented, "We are negatively impressed by today's convictions." Well, I'm negatively impressed by the fact that a video showing abuse to a minor was left up on their site for two months.

More Kneecap News

The sun was shining yesterday afternoon, so I decided to get back on my bicycle. It was a short trip to Lidl's about a quarter of a mile away. It all went very smoothly and no problems. So I'm officially riding again, although not on these cold mornings, just in case there's more black ice, like the stuff that caused the previous problem.

But let me tell you why we went to Lidl's. They advertised they were selling those office pencil sharpeners - the ones you clamp to the desk, then insert the pencil and turn the handle. And it was under £3! As they always worked a treat when I used them years ago at work, I thought I must get one.

I have to say it's brilliant! In no time I had sharpened all the pencils I could find - 19 in all (where DID they come from?). I've now taken it to the church office and done another lot.

The one difference between this and the old ones - this one comes complete with full instructions. If you've used one of these sharpeners, you'll know that when the pencil is fully sharpened, the handle just turns and it doesn't shave off any more pencil. So the instructions say, "Evenly turn the handle clockwise until a no-load rotation is clearly noticable" What??? (and by the way, that IS how they spelt "noticable")

But of course far more important is the "Safety information". I quote:

"This appliance is not intended for use by individuals (including children) with restricted physical, physiological or intellectual abilities or deficiencies in experience and/or knowledge unless they are supervised by a person responsible for their safety ..."

I never knew pencil sharpening was such a hazardous occupation.

Tea Trays?

Congratulations to Amy Williams on winning her Olympic Gold Medal! How anyone can go down a slope like that head first on what looks like a tea tray I don't know! So she deserves all the praise and accolades she can get. Not only did she do about 80 mph on that tray, she also did it faster than anyone else!

We celebrated her gold medal this morning with breakfast in bed. I took it upstairs with a more conventional use of a tea tray.

Kneecap news

You'll be pleased to know that from last Monday I "left behind" the single crutch that I had been walking with. God is good!

I've not yet got back on my bicycle but, I mean, look at the weather!

One day soon, though ...

That Spy Car

Today our local newspaper reported that one of Basildon's "spy cars" had parked illegally. These are the cars that 'spy' on other motorists parked illegally, film them and then fine them. A member of the public took a photo of the car parked half on the pavement and on a yellow line.

The manager for "Parking enforcement" for Basildon Council said that the officer had stopped for a few minutes to carry out vital log paperwork ... officers have been advised not to park in such positions again."

So if I get a parking ticket, all I have to say is that I had some important paperwork to do and I won't do it again. Then I'm bound to be let off - aren't I?

Is there life?

All this week Nick Robinson, BBC's political correspondent (the one who's usually standing outside No. 10 on any freezing cold night to report the latest political news) has been going round the country, "taking the pulse" of the nation concerning the general election.

Each day he's been to a different place and asked a different question, with a "Yes/No" answer. They are invited to tick or cross Yes or No and put the result into his "ballot box", which Nick has been taking round the country on top of his car, Mr. Bean style. For instance, in Dudley, they were asked whether it's time to cut public spending.

You may be interested in the results - so am I! But they don't tell you! Unless I've missed something! So what's the point of it all? Perhaps they're waiting until after the election ...

Actually the result I'd most like to know was from Thursday, where people in Harlow were asked, "Voting - is it worth it?" I don't want to know how many said yes and how many said no - what I want to know is how many, when offered his paper didn't bother to fill it in. Now THAT would be a good indication!

By the way, he's wearing my scarf! Well, almost my scarf, anyway.

Pretend Flan

My wife, who's a teacher, is doing World War 2 and she's found a recipe for pretend apricot flan. In other words, although it might taste like apricot flan, it doesn't actually have any apricots in it. Instead it has grated carrots, plum jam and almond essence.

I quote from the book, "According to the government's Ministry of Food, the carrots in this recipe taste a bit like apricots." I asked for a piece to be brought home for me to try. I doused it in custard, which I do with most things.

And do you know what? It tasted just like - - -
- - - a mixture of carrot and jam. Still, it wasn't bad with custard!

Round the neck

During the last cold spell I was watching the BBC News and all the male reporters seemed to be wearing the same scarf! I commented on this to my wife at the time.

So imagine my surprise when I went to get out my new scarf I'd had for Christmas, only to find it was also that same scarf!

Now on thinking about it, I'm sure all the scarves were different, but there does seem to be a certain fashion showing itself, and if that's the case, I'm unwittingly at the centre of it!

I was reminded of this today when I noticed a friend of mine also had one of these scarves. It's a bit spooky, isn't it?

Here is my scarf. Have YOU seen one like it??

Cloned cars

I heard on the BBC news yesterday that some people who have bought what they think is a genuine legitimate second hand car (i.e. they did all the checks), find they've bought a stolen and cloned car. So, the car is imponded and they lose the money they've paid for it.

How is this happening? Easy! In 2006 the DVLA 'lost' blank car log books - maybe up to 130,000 of them. How is that for incompetence?

If this happens to you, the DVLA simply say it's not their problem. They say the car cloning is a criminal act and they cannot be held responsible for it. But is was a criminal act that led to these blank log books being stolen in the first place! And they MUST BE responsible for that! Anybody else would be!

Read about it at - news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8487381.stm

VAT increase?

I saw today in our local £1 shop a notice proclaiming, "No VAT increase". That's great, er, except there wasn't any VAT decrease when the rate went down, was there? Otherwise it would have been a 97.5p shop.

(I'm not sure my calculation is correct there, but I am sure someone will comment if it isn't!)