Boots On The Ground - Day 20

Another twofer.

First we see some tongue:



Then we get treated to some hand action:

Boots On The Ground - Day 19

Bobby contemplates how to pass the shrink sessions.

Boots On The Ground - Day 18

Time for some necking.

Boots On The Ground - Day 17

These people are really annoying our Bobby.

If I annoy you, will you punish me?

Boots On The Ground - Day 16

Feigned surprise. Just waiting for the eyebrow wiggle.

Lifeboat Ahoy!

When I was a child, we had yearly visits at primary school from the River Police. They had a flipchart of colour pictures showing the dangers of the River Thames - the dangerous muck you could cut yourself on and get blood poisoning, the current and the tides. A girl at my secondary school had a father in the River Police, and we were all shocked when he died in an accident while on duty.

I'm not sure exactly when they lost their rescue function, to revert to being a plain old police force, but in 1989 when the dredger Bowbelle hit a party boat, the Marchioness, capsizing it, with the loss of 51 young lives, it was not in a position to do much to help.

In the aftermath, there must have been some decision (though I can't remember it receiving much publicity) to employ the lifeboat service to supply search and rescue on the Thames.

The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Insitiution) is best known for its rescue work around the coast of Great Britain and Ireland. Its Severn class lifeboats cost £2.7 million, all raised by public subscription, all manned by volunteers. They can go up to 50 miles out to sea.

They can also handle the roughest of seas, and can capsize completely, then right themselves in less than ten seconds.

During our recent floods, however, the RNLI has been helping to rescue stranded people in flooded areas.

And today they were at school telling the kids about their service (and of course letting them try on jackets, lifebelts and helmets!)

Don't we do fun stuff?

Boots On The Ground - Day 15

Two for one. Bobby doesn't know whether to look at the blonde's face...



...or her boobs:

Insanity

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the government was planning to close Accident and Emergency and Maternity at my local hospital. It's getting really hard to get anyone outside the local community to sit up and take notice. A march last Saturday was briefly reported as having as few as 2,000 people taking part, whereas best estimates are between 10,000 and 15,000. The news coverage was minimal. It was raining, so the cameras didn't stay beyond the first few minutes, and didn't show the rally at the end or the "hands round the hospital".

Last night there was another public meeting in the local theatre.



It's clear that the stated aim of "reorganising local services to improve them" is a complete crock. The only plans are those which allow for these closures and the sale of two thirds of the hospital's land to developers. There is an assumption that there will be a fall in the number of people needing these services, though all the evidence is to the contrary. To get to the alternative hospitals, there being no decent public transport and relatively little (and rather expensive) parking, more people will need to call for an ambulance. There is no mention of the effects of the increase in these calls on the mortality rate of people such as heart attack victims. If the ambulance is dealing with another, less critical (but still very serious) case, it will be delayed. People will die. But hey, they won't be Conservative Party voters, so what the heck?

The person who produced the report didn't ask local people about how they would get to the alternative hospitals. They suggested we look on the Transport For London website. Yes, that's the first thing you do when you need to get to hospital urgently. They also consulted Deloitte's, a tax and corporate services company, to come up with travel times for an appendix to the report. Again, these geniuses didn't consult with the people who might be able to give them an accurate answer. They used online information, and came up with timings for conditions of "no traffic". THIS IS LONDON! Such conditions will only apply at about 2am, when there are no buses anyway. Multiply the time by three or four for most of the day.

Sadly, I think the government will nod this through no matter what we do. The only possible hope is that it is supposed to be put into practice over three years, by which time there will have been a general election, and with luck this bunch will have been kicked out and the next lot might listen to reason and stop it in its tracks.

Don't hold your breath there either.

Anyone who wants to see if they can sign the online petition please follow the links on www.savelewishamhospital.com

Boots On The Gound - Day 14

Did I surprise you, sweetheart, when I appeared naked in front of you like that?

Best Ever LOCI Scenes?

I love Chinoiserie, especially the scenes where Bobby's having so much fun. It was on last night, and I smiled all over again, just like I always do.

Boots On The Ground - Day 13

Bobby looks like he's about to swear.

Brilliant Video

Just saw this on Cheezburger and had to share - it made me cry with laughter.

Watch It If You Can

Last night there was a fascinating documentary on Channel 4 about two brothers suffering from a form of the genetic condition Leukodystrophy so rare they are the only people in the world known to suffer from it.

The Clark brothers reached their 30s before begining to lose their faculties, and are reverting to childhood. It was extremely moving.

 

The Clark Brothers

Many of you will remember my student Alex who suffers from Adrenoleukodystrophy, a form of the condition that generally strikes boys aged between 5 and 10, disabling them comletely within months, and usually killing them within two years. The condition figured in the film Lorenzo's Oil. Alex, like Lorenzo, is a long-term survivor, and is now 19. He, his mother Sara and his brother Ayden featured in the programme (so did their dog JJ). The link below will take you to the programme via the online on-demand facility. Sadly, I doubt if it works outside the UK.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-curious-case-of-the-clark-brothers/4od

It's also repeated on Thursday at 11.25pm on Channel 4.
















on Channel 4 at 11.25pm on Thursday. I highly recommend it.

Boots On The Ground - Day 12

Back to basics. Woof!

Boots On The Ground - Day 11

This is a bit like that pose when he was a guest on that show with the fake Hillary Clinton before the 2008 election. Would have spilled the beans to him then, would spill the beans to him now.

Boots On The Ground - Day 10

What's Bobby thinking here? Answers on a postcard, please...

Boots On The Ground - Day 9

Bobby offers us his neck and chin to nibble.

Boots On The Ground - Day 8

Bobby's in the spotlight, where he belongs (after he's got out of my bed...)

Perfect Island Getaway

Here it is, off the north-west coast of Australia, but in French waters - the amazing Sandy Island:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=-19.119219,159.724731&spn=2.683137,5.410767&t=h&z=8&lci=com.panoramio.all

Sadly, the only sand is 1400 feet down under the sea, because Sandy Islad doesn't exist. No one knows how it got on to various maps - including, obviously, Google maps - but when some folks tried to sail there they found nothing but empty ocean. Som a oerfect way to get away from it all.

Boots On The Ground - Day 7

Bobby looks worried - or did he just burp?

Boots On The Ground - Day 6

Yes, I will tell you whatever you ask, Det. Gorgeous.

Come Fly With Me

Most people have heard of the Red Arrows aerial display team, but the Red Devils aerobatic parachute regiment are less well known.

The other day at school we had a visit from the Red Devils. Some of the children were disappointed that they wouldn't get to see them skydive off the roof, or that they wouldn't get to do that themselves (mm, where some of the darlings were concerned, some of us were disappointed about that too!)

They showed us their two kinds of parachute packs, standard and tandem:



They linked themselves up to show how a tandem jump is done. The guy behind lifted the guy in front off the ground by the shoulder straps!



They got some of the taller students to help them display their parachute:



Several of the children can't wait to turn 16 so they can do a tandem jump. One or two even want to join the armed forces. Hate to tell them they'll be lucky to join the newly renamed Reserves at the rate this government's cutting everything.

Boots On The Ground - Day 5

"Congratulations! It's Post 3900!"

Boots On The Ground - Day 4

"So I tried to fit a boob in each hand, but Val's just too well-endowed."

Boots On The Ground - Day 3

From serious to having fun. I love to see Bobby running the gamut of emotions (except misery).

Boots On The Ground - Day 2

Bobby's on the case, and he's taking it very seriously.

Boots On The Ground - Day 1

Now these are the boots I really want to see on the ground. Off his feet, which are up on my bed.

The Consoler - Day 10

This was going to be a pcture-free page till I found out how to go back to the old Photobucket.

Gotcha!

Treat for UK readers

Watch Flog It tomorrow afternoon! It's the episode with my neighbour selling her painting and I am in the background in the first part.

At least I hope it is.

Owl be seeing you

Just for a change I went to the zoo today. I was supposed to be taking my friend as my membership card admits two, but sadly (and even more sadly not for the first time) she phoned at the 11th hour to cancel, as she and her mother were poorly. I'd already turned down a day's work so as not to let her down, so I felt a bit peeved.

But you cannot stay annoyed or upset for long when you have a day like this. It was sunny, and really warm for November. The big cats loved it, and gave us great show. Then there was the gorgeous soft owl to scritch.



Head keeper Dan is training Jae Jae to position himself conveniently on the fence so that he can be visually examined or sedated without darting, to make intervention less stressful. He didn't like it when Dan left - he wanted more grub!



A bit later he went for a stroll calling - don't know what this particular moaning cry means. Maybe he wanted his lady to come outside - she's being rather shy.

Happy 90th Auntie Beeb

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the first radio broadcast by the BBC (then the British Broadcasting Company rather than Corporation as now) though the lack of a special Google page logo display means this illustrious tax-cheating organisation does not recognise this as an important landmark in the history of electronic communication). Damon Albarn of Blur was commissioned of write a piece of music to celebrate the occasion. He incorporated various iconic sounds, such as birdsong, the chimes of Big Ben and the time signal ("pips"). At 5.33 this afternoon every single BBC radio station, national, regional and international, joined together for Radio Reunited to broadcast the piece from the Science Museum in London. I think it's quite good considering...

The Consoler - Day 9

No prizes for guessing why I chose this one!

What price manners?

Today I had an unexpected work booking, and because it was unlikely I'd make it home and then back out again with Dandy to get to the vet's by his 5pm appointment. So I did the polite thing, and phoned up to warn them I might be late. There was a 6.50 appointment, and I asked them to book me into that as well in case I was too late for my 5pm. In the event, the traffic was not too bad, and I got home, managed to box Dandy up, parked right outside the surgery (across the car park gateway...) and stepped inside at 5pm on the dot. Booked in. And waited. And waited. And waited. And saw person after person who'd arrived after me go in to get their pet seen. Eventually I asked what on earth was going on. I mean, I was patient, because when Dandy and Beano went along last month they took 45 minutes instead of the usual 10. That's when I found that the nurse I'd spoken to had actually cancelled my five o'clock. And the practice manager with whom I'd booked in (the practice manager) didn't wonder why I'd arrived nearly 2 hours early, or think to mention I'd have to wait so long to be seen. Happy bunny I was not. After 50 minutes I finally got seen. Poor Dandy. As I left, I told the practice manager that next time I thought I might be running late, I wouldn't bother to phone them and let them know. When I got home, I found I'd dropped my fleece on the way out. Damn. So much for the dignified superior exit.

The Consoler - Day 8

This is more in his comfort zone.

The Consoler - Day 7

Bobby is NOT looking happy at his first therapy session.

The Consoler - Day 6

He could be puckering up ready for a little shortie like me...

Sorry, folks, I'm having to redo all my S10 posts as the new Botophucket made me delete the album. I'm busily restoring it as I type. But at least I've made it give me back the old PB!

Congratulations, Botophucket

Yes, against all need from the poor user, the photo service previously known as Photobucket has changed so completely that it is no longer possible to navigate through it. You cannot see the numbers of your pictures, so if, like me, you are doing a string of postsworking through the pictures for an episode, you can't find the previous one without scrolling through the whole album again. When you find what you want, if you are lucky you can get the HTML code, if not, you have just wasted your time and have to go back to the beginning, because the "back" key on your browser will take you back to the beginning of the album. You then have to scroll through the whole thing (as you get to the end of each page you have to wait for the next one to load, but if you have just gone back to the album from a particular photo, this facility will not operate, so you have to leave the alcum then select it again, and so on ad nauseam). And that's just from trying for an hour or so, during which time I managed to complete 3 posts. The fourth has no photo 'cos Photobucket wouldn't let me select the code. Pissed off with a wasted evening in which I could have set up my new printer? Moi? The very thought...

The Consoler - Day 5

No use looking up to heaven, sweetheart, you're the only angel I can see.

HP - Hopeless and Pathetic

Aha, I hear you think - doesn't HP stand for Hewlett Packard? Well, maybe for you. And I was quite fond of my HP laptop till it was remastered with a Samsung recovery disc (long story).

My old printer wasn't bad for most of its life, and when it needed replacing in February I went for another HP, this time a wireless one:

It was pretty straightforward and the quality was good, though the ink for HP printers ispretty expensive. But then, in July, it went wrong. The black ink wasn't finding its way on to the paper, so colour printing was anaemic at best. B/W printing was, well invisible. Back to the shop it went, and I brought an identical new machine home. Last week it went the same way as the first one. HP couldn't be bothered to answer an email asking if this was a known fault, so I couldn't be bothered to swap it for another HP one. Time to give poor beleaguered Kodak a try. It seems to have the same features as the HP, but the ink is MUCH cheaper.

Mine is pure white, which is a bit dazzling.

All I have to do now is set it up. On three computers. And an iPad. Good thing it's the weekend.

The Consoler - Day 4

Ooh, he looks mean!

Health Care For Sale To Highest Bidder

We own our hospitals in the UK. Except for those built or upgraded by PFI. That's Private Finance Initiative - a way for our corrupt politicians to give huge amounts of money to their rich corporate buddies at the expense of our health service, and therefore our health. Private companies build them, then rent them back to the hospital at a rent greater than their total annual budget. Because of this wonderful money-making (or stealing, depending on your point of view) scheme, a group of local hospitals is bankrupt. And a commissioned report thinks that the way out of it is to close the (brand new) Accident and Emergency and Maternity services at my local hospital, which is not one of the bankrupt group. Then the people who use those services will go to one of the others, even though they are pretty inaccessible to those from my locality, and already too busy to cope with their own workloads. Not to mention there are no spare beds. Tonight there has been a public meeting at the hospital, which I have just attended (and along with a local council meeting yesterday means I have not been around the blogs for a few days) and folks are seething. How can these bastards take away what is ours? It wasn't enough for government to steal our water, gas and electricity supplies, and the oil industry and sell them at knock-down prices to their friends. There is a march on November 24th to join hands around the hospital (which, frankly, is probably too massive to manage such a feat on) but now I get to regret my decision to rejoin my opera group, 'cos we have a concert that afternoon. In an aside, you will probably be totally uninterested in the fact that 1960s pop icon Sandie Shaw with designer Jeff Banks had her first (and for all I know only) child in Lewisham Hospital. Not only was it her local - though there was a private hospital nearer - but it was one of the first to use epidurals.

The Consoler - Day 3

He knows, you know.

Resurrection Blogfest

Last week JoJo did a post about a resurrection blogfest, with people publishing posts from their first year of blogging.

I was spoiled for choice - lots of cat posts, zoo posts, and of course Vincent posts (a lot of naked pictures back then from Guy and Naked Tango!) I settled on thiis post because it represented a momentous victory for the local residents.

A developer had bought an undeveloped plot of land between the houses opposite and the railway line behind them. The site had been left wild since being used as allotments during WWII. He also purchased the house opposite me that would give him access to the site. He applied for planning permission to knock down the house (a 105-year-old end of terrace) to make an access road on to the site where he planned to build 5 houses (wittled down from 9).

He still owns the land and the house he wanted to demolish, but so far he hasn't reapplied to build on the site.

Round 1 To Us

The good news this week was that the developer who wants to tear down a house to make an access road, and build nine others on some wild land, has lost the first round. He has the right to appeal, but the very least he has to do is get all sorts of reports done on the site he wants to destroy.

The aerial picture, from Google Earth, shows the land between the houses and the railway line. The house two down from the one with the blue paddling pool in the garden is the one for demolition. The land is the big green blob in the middle.

He said he didn't have to chop down any trees to build his houses...

Congratulations!

Now the rest of the world can  stop holding  its breath.

Well done Good Sense USA for re-electing Obama.

The nuts are back in their box for a few years more.

Thank you!

The Consoler - Day 2

Bullshit monitor fully operational.

The Consoler - Day 1

The distinguished Det Goren.

Fire With Fire

Just a little snippet of Vincent being as mean as only he can - when in character, of course.

Remember, remember...

...The fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

There can be no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

 

 

Bonfire Night. Guy Fawkes Night. I'm not sure if my readers abroad have even heard of them, or of the gunpowder plot.

 

On November 5th 1605, with the new King James I of England and VI of Scotland just two years on the throne, a group of plotters planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament when James was attending the state opening. They were Catholics appalled that there was another Protestant monarch in the kingdom.
 

The plot was discovered because one of the plotters warned his brother-in-law not to attend. The plotters were caught and tortured.

Guy Fawkes was one of the plotters.

You can see the effects of his torture by comparing these before and after signatures.

 

Some of the group were hanged, taken down alove and disembowelled. Fawkes and another were hung, drawn and quartered. They were not burnt at the stake, but this is the fate to which Guy's effigy has been subjected ever since.

 

When I was a child, we used to make a Guy by stuffing some of dad's old clothes with newsaper. The head was a stuffed stocking, on which we put a Guy mask, made of pressed paper, and  bought at Woolworth's.

 

 

 

 We'd put our Guy in a pushchair (stroller) and park ourselves on a corner to ask passers-by for a "penny for the Guy", and with what we collected we bought fireworks for November 5th.

On the night, we had a bonfire and fireworks party in our back garden, with friends and relations in attendance. Dad would build a bonfire and stick Guy on the top. The fireworks were kept in the outside toilet and each one was carefully examined with a torch before being safely set off by dad. There was never an accident of any kind - though we might have been unlucky if my sister's best friend's boyfriend (later to become a copper) had done things his way, such as putting jumping jacks near our feet to chase us up the garden. 

Potatoes were baked in their jackets at the base of the bonfire, and at the end of the evening, we would go inside and draw patterns in the air with sparklers, then tuck in to our potato supper. It's one of the many wonderful childhood memories that has stayed with me through over 50 years.

These days kids don't even seem to know the slightest part of the Gunpowder Plot story. They have embraced Halloween, and beg treats for just going and knocking on doors and threatening havoc if not rewarded. A strange celebration for a country where fundamentalist Christianity has such a strong hold. Wonder if Romney would ban it if elected?

Well it's one tradition from across the pond I wish we'd shun.

Fireworks used to cause a lot of injuries, and their sale is now severely restricted. But there are always professionally run official displays on or near the night. I remember one years ago where they did burn the Houses of Parliament - in effigy. And the then Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher too.

Sadly, last year a rugby club put on a display too near the M5 motorway, which led to a crash that killed 7 people. Almost a year on, the organiser has just been charged with manslaughter.

Meanwhile, the time for keeping my cats safely inside is upon us. November 5th being on a Monday this year, I think we might have 3 days of disturbance, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Rispetto - Day 16

Why don't they look happier now the job is done?

What everyone's watching

Saturday nights are useless on TV. If you don't like The X Factor, a hospital drama that must be a century old, or some action thriller movie, you might be reduced to switching off. Or you could do what most people I know seem to have done, all independently of one another, and watch Inspector Montalbano...

 

 

It's a most understated cop show. The hero is not handsome, but he has little trouble pulling. The stories can be nasty, and as the show is set in Sicily, there is often a Mafia link. The scenery is stunning.

 

Criminal Intent it isn't, but I've been enjoying it immensely. Next week is, sadly, the last, so heaven knows what I'll watch after that.

 

Anyone else been watching?

Rispetto - Day 15

And boom! there goes the perp, little twerp!