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A useless law
Now it's light when I stride back home for my second breakfast I can see drivers of passing vehicles. For the past four mornings I've noticed a neighbour in a red transit van drive down the road with his mobile phone to his right ear. He must have just set off. Why doesn't he phone before he sets off? Why risk a fine? I suppose he relies on the fact that police officers are rarely seen these days; the chance of being caught is low.
'Should hospitals be allowed to advertise to keep their beds full?' This was discussed on 'You and yours' on Radio 4 today. NHS hospitals are too full; they need fewer patients not more.
Thought for today
We have to ask ourselves whether medicine is to remain a humanitarian and respected profession or a new but depersonalised science in the service of prolonging life rather than diminishing human suffering.
Elizabeth Kuebler Ross, 1926 - 2004 Swiss psychiatrist
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2.3.06 19:33
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The meaning of life is that it stops*
Things I like: the smell of toast, woodsmoke; cups of tea; cheese and apples; walks in the countryside; Radio 4; spring.
Things I dislike: getting out of bed in the morning; shopping; the sound of the phone ringing; traffic jams.
Received a letter today from a woman, who had looked round my house a few weeks ago, thanking me for showing her round. That was a surprise.
*Franz Kafka
Thought for today
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.
George Santayana, Soliloquies in England, 1922
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3.3.06 18:32
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A touch of frost
Snowed last night, the clouds cleared and there was a sharp frost. Fortunately I managed to get round my route early this morning without falling over. Babies bounce if they fall; folk like me break bones if they fall. I tried another route later, a road that is never gritted, but had to turn back after a few meters because it was too slippery; the sun had yet to melt the ice. People who drove on it were either brave or foolish.
The PM will appear on 'Parkinson' this evening. In the extract I heard on the radio this morning, he said 'My decision to go to war with Iraq will be judged by God'. Good grief. He's becoming like GWB.
Thought for today
So long as you suffer any man to call himself your shepherd, sooner or later you will find a crook around your ankle.
H G Wells, Experiment in Autobiography, 1934
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4.3.06 18:51
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Look at the wind before you let loose the boat
Came across 'Proverbs from around the world' this morning. The heading is one from India. Reminded me of the holiday I had years ago in Wales with friends on a canal boat, the canal with the aqueduct with the long name. One windy day we moored the boat by the canal edge, anchoring it at both ends, and disembarked. Before resuming our journey, and before anyone got back onboard, two of us untied the painters. Thinking the other had hold of a rope, the two threw their rope back onto the boat, whereupon the wind promptly blew the boat to the other side of the canal leaving us all stranded. D'Oh! I don't remember how we got out of that.
Thought for today
Don't laugh at age - pray to reach it.
Chinese proverb
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5.3.06 11:22
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Searching, searching, searching
Spent several days unsuccessfully looking for the transit screws for my turntable in preparation for moving. Today I looked where I should have looked in the first place - the turntable itself. And there they were, stored safely underneath the platter. Not having needed them for almost nineteen years, I had forgotten where they were.
As well as keeping an inventory of the contents of the loft, I am considering keeping a 'House Book' with details of items, and their location, used only when moving. This would include items such as transport screws for the washing machine (I found those yesterday) and spin dryer (found that too). When replacing a machine I must remember to throw away the old screws and store the new ones. Convenience comes at a cost. In the book I'd also keep a list of things to stay with the house like the keys for the gas and electricity meters and (something I was surprised to find yesterday) a key for the new loo seat.
A writer in the Daily Mail asked what Tessa Jowell and her husband talked about over breakfast. I wonder how many couples with jobs have time to sit together let alone talk together at breakfast.
A questioner on Money Box on Radio 4 this afternoon said that her 25 year old daughter had money invested in stocks and shares and now wanted 'to spread it around'. An unfortunate choice of words I thought, like the Queen's reputed words to Alan Titchmarsh when she presented him with his MBE: 'You have given a lot of pleasure to a lot of women.'
Someone yesterday said 'I write books about human people'. What other kinds of people are there? Aliens perhaps.
Thought for today
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
Albert Szert-Gyorgyi, 1893 - 1986, Hungarian-born US biochemist
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6.3.06 19:42
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Leaving the sinking ship
The CE of the NHS has resigned. Which mug will take over? Waiting lists have fallen but at a great cost. When I worked in the NHS I can remember 'Waiting list initiative' sessions taking place at vast expense while the regular operating sessions were cancelled owing to a shortage of beds. The extra work was to no avail.
Went for my weekly shop at the supermarket this morning and stopped off en route to dump my plastic bottles in the nearby recycling skip. Next to the glass skip were boxes of wine and beer bottles. This made me wonder what went through some people's minds. When I returned to my car to find another parked closely to it, this made me wonder if anything went through some people's minds. My car was the only one in the car park. Why did the driver of the other car have to park so closely to mine? I'd reversed into the space, the other driver had driven straight in, so our driver's doors were adjacent which made getting in and out difficult.
There were few in the supermarket so the ladies at the checkout had time to talk to each other. While one checked my goods, another, a thin one, said that she was on a diet and now had porridge for breakfast instead of toast. She had also started going to a gym but hadn't lost any weight. A third explained that this would be because she was putting on muscle. No one asked why she felt the need to lose weight.
Thought for today
From a short pleasure comes a long repentance.
French proverb
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7.3.06 18:19
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If they believe that
The 'traffic light scheme' for labelling food was lauded by some on the news this morning. I imagine they think it will do wonders for the nation's health. Dream on. Are smokers influenced by the words SMOKING KILLS on packets of cigarettes?
The cost of the new consultant contract in Scotland has turned out to be four times that estimated. This has surprised ministers but not me. The new contract was introduced to ensure consultants worked hard for the NHS and didn't sneak off for private practice. However, the government hadn't done its homework and didn't realise how much work consultants did for the NHS and how little sneaking off they did. The new contract was more detailed than the old; the hours and work were specified. As a result some consultants were paid more for doing less because trusts couldn't afford to pay them for the extra work they'd been doing for years.
Another of my dislikes (see entry 3 March 2006) is the driving of taxi drivers. Fortunately, the last time I was in a taxi (in London) the traffic was so dense that the driver was unable to go fast enough to be dangerous. I sat and watched the meter spin round.
Another of my likes is the CSI series on Channel 5 though I do have two criticisms. One: most of the corpses look healthy and all have pin-point pupils. Dead people never look healthy; they look, well, dead, and always have dilated pupils. The heart stops and the pupils dilate (if brain damage hasn't caused this already). Two: the women dress for fashion rather than function. Their low-cut tops and high-heeled shoes are impractical for bending over bodies and running after baddies (although fine for onlookers and criminals).
Almost forgot; received an email from another poster on www.20six.co.uk who wrote that he enjoyed reading my blog entries. (I'll call him FB.) Thank you FB. He added that he found it slightly sad that no one commented on them and wondered if it bothered me. I confess that I'm not sure if I'd notice if anyone commented as I have yet to explore all that this blog site has to offer. When I've moved and had broadband installed in my next home, I shall be more adventurous.
Thought for today
The mouse that has but one hole is soon caught.
Arabian proverb
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9.3.06 19:28
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