aboveboard
http://20six.co.uk/aboveboard
powered by
20six.co.uk
|
|
Surface features--or the enemy below
Having lived in the neighbourhood for eighteen months, I have been surprised by two things (apart from the amount of litter). The first is the number of potholes in the roads. The second is the number of people who drive through them. The latter puzzles me. Do drivers fail to spot the potholes or do they drive too fast to be able to slow down sufficiently or stop when there is oncoming traffic?
Small potholes are not a hazard, though they grow remarkably quickly, but big ones I regard as obstructions, like rocks or branches in the road. I stop in front of them until I have room to drive round. The difference is that they project down rather than up.
Thought for today
The Organ Donation Taskforce is currently conducting an inquiry into the practical, ethical, legal, and societal implications of presumed consent. It will report its findings this summer. With at least two people dying every day from preventable deaths we cannot wait any longer to have this debate.
BMJ 2008;336:230
|
1.2.08 19:34
|
|
A day of walking
Spent the day searching for tiles and taps. There is so much choice--too much choice. By the time my kitchen is finished there will be less rubber on the soles of my shoes (and less money in my bank account).
On Any Questions? on Radio 4 today there was a question about social care for old people. As far as I can remember (my brain is too full of kitchens at the moment) no one came up with anything new or useful. One chap said supposing you needed help with everything--getting out of bed, washing, dressing, cooking, going to the loo--then what? What kind of country had we become? He implied that this was shocking and the audience seemed to agree. However, no one added anything more.
Someone like he described needs twenty-four hour care which is probably best provided in a nursing home. Once someone needs help going to the loo, then keeping them in their own home is difficult and expensive unless a family member gives up their life for them. The panelist gave an extreme example. If we became as disabled as that, what kind of life would we have even with help? Our quality of life would be greatly reduced by whatever had left us that disabled.
Quote for today
I was the first woman to burn my bra--and it took the fire department four days to put it out.
Dolly Parton (1946 - ) American singer
|
2.2.08 20:49
|
|
An unusual hazard
A small dog attached itself to the group I walked with today. As we were about to set off from the village green where we'd parked our cars, the dog appeared. It ran between us seemingly paying us no attention; we took no notice of it and set off on the footpath across fields and through woods. The dog accompanied us. One minute it was in front, then it disappeared into the undergrowth, then it reappeared, sometimes in front, sometimes behind us. I think we all decided it must have belonged to one of us, and were puzzled why the owner allowed it off its lead. Eventually we realised that it had joined us from the village.
At a fork in the footpath we turned left, the dog turned right. By the time we reached a main road there was no sign of the dog. However, a few minutes later when we were walking on the grass verge by the main road, the dog caught up with us. It ran down the middle of the road to the front of our line. Cars swerved, slowed, and screeched to a halt. The drivers probably thought the dog belonged to us and no doubt wondered why we were irresponsible enough not to keep it on a lead. After about ten minutes we managed to catch the blasted creature. Fortunately, one of the men, who had a nautical background, had a spare pair of bootlaces in his rucksack; this made a lead. He tied it to the dog's collar with a bowline, a knot, he said, suitable for the job. Someone else had a mobile phone and rang the number on the dog's collar. The owner was in and drove to us to collect her pet.
The dog, she told us, was called Hazard. Lately it had taken to following strangers. When I got home I put a long piece of thick string in my rucksack and learned how to tie a bowline. I shall practise daily for a week to make sure I remember what to do.
Thought for today
I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone.
Bill Cosby (1937 - ) merican comedian
|
3.2.08 21:23
|
|
Childhood can be tough
Parents say odd things to their kids. As I walked into town today I caught up with a woman with two small girls, probably her daughters. One of them lagged slightly behind and stopped on the pavement when the woman turned to speak to her. The woman saw me stop to avoid the girl and said, somewhat sharply, 'Don't stop there. That poor woman can't get past.' I moved to the side and walked past the girl as she wasn't that much in the way; I felt a bit miffed to be called a poor woman. When adults stop suddenly on pavements no one speaks crossly to them. I think it unfair to criticise one when you wouldn't criticise the other.
Thought for today
The chief product of an automated society is a widespread and deepening sense of boredom
C Northcote Parkinson (1909 - 1993) British political scientist
|
4.2.08 19:53
|
|
A fortunate discovery
Habits can be useful; they save one from having to think. This evening, as usual, I took out two slices of bread from the freezer to thaw overnight for my breakfast. I needn't have bothered; the bread was cold and limp, not icy and firm. Oh dear. The freezer was off. A quick check with a table lamp revealed the source of the problem; the socket was without power. I remembered that the socket was a spur off a socket in the sitting room. The sitting room is being redecorated and all the sockets have been unscrewed from the walls. I moved the suspect socket cover to see if any wires were disconnected, and heard the freezer come on. My diagnosis was correct. I left the socket alone as power was restored to the freezer. The p and d can sort it out tomorrow.
Fortunately, the two packets of minced lamb and the pack of sausages in the freezer were still frozen. I can eat a lot but even I couldn't have eaten all that in a few days; and the house is in no state for an emergency party.
Thought for today
Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809) English political theorist, Common Sense, 1776
|
5.2.08 19:08
|
|
Steady progress
Took about an hour and a half for the red light to go out on my freezer last night once power was restored, so the contents couldn't have thawed much. I doubt I'll die of food poisoning. The p and d tightened the loose connection in the socket this morning. I shall be glad when I can use the sitting room again; when I can switch on the telly without thoughts of electrocution.
A comment after my entry on Monday (greetings Simplelsie) said: ' ... human beings are supposedly programmed to care for human young ...'. Well, I'm not sure about that. We might start off programmed to care for the young but, by the time we reach adulthood, we are conditioned to care for ourselves. At least, some of us are. Some ignore the weak, and that includes women as much as kids.
Daft story I heard yesterday: the Ripon annual pancake race held for the last 600 years on Shrove Tuesday (yesterday) was cancelled because of, wait for it, health and safety!
Thought for today
Here then is the origin and rise of government; namely, a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral vitue to govern the world; here too is the design and end of government, viz. freedom and security.
Thomas Paine 1776
|
6.2.08 20:11
|
|
Beavering away
Spent most of the day working on my magnum opus--a revamp of a website for an amateur organisation to which I belong. I want to have achieved something by the end of the year; I want to have learnt something, to have produced something by the end of the year. I hope it won't take that long, but a website, like housework, is never done. As I don't possess a colour printer, the website is my chance to design with colour. I am learning about cascading style sheets. Today I said 'Why has that not worked?' less often than yesterday. A sign of progress, I hope.
Thought for today
Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity ... It is a part of nature.
Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903) English philosopher
|
7.2.08 19:56
|
|
[next page]
|