Bitchin' Atheist welcomes careful drivers

I read a report in the media today that the DVLA may be considering the option of non-compulsory health tests for drivers, to ensure that they are still medically fit to drive.
To be quite honest with you I would go much further than having optional health tests every decade.
In my opinion every single person who holds a driving licence should have to undergo a medical and re-sit their test every 5 years to ensure that they are fit to be driving.
Firstly, establishing such a system would create many jobs, at a time when unemployment is high and we are in an economic downturn.
Secondly, and more importantly, it would go much further toward ensuring the safety of all road users. At present a person who is in their 90's, with impaired vision, hearing, reflexes and mobility may still be driving as they have done for the last 70 years. Someone who has developed a health condition which impairs their sight may not have informed the DVLA. I worked for a while in the same office as a lady who claimed to be blind. Despite this alleged visual impairment she drove to work every morning. There are only two possibilities here; she was lying about her sight in order to claim benefits or she is driving unsafely and endangering the lives of others.
If people were to undergo a driving test and theory test every few years it would ensure that people remained aware of the rules of the road, and the highway code, along with any changes to the above. If people failed once they would have the option of a short refresher course before they re took the test. If they failed again they would have to undergo a course of driving lessons before they could take the test and reapply for their licence.
I also think that a health test would be a good idea, as it would screen out the kinds of disorders which mean that people are less able to drive safely, giving them the option of having their cars adapted if necessary or removing their licence where their was no other option. After all their are growing levels of illnesses such as diabetes which can lead to problems which could affect driving ability such as sight loss and nerve damage.
As an aside I wonder if the increasing levels of obesity are having an effect on driving in this country? For instance does having 2 obese people in the front of a car change the stopping distance of the vehicle? and do the restrictions on mobility affect driving ability?
I would also say that those individuals who fail their driving test more than 5 times really should not be allowed on the road, and drivers who reside in this country yet only hold an international driving licence should be required to sit a British driving and theory test before they can drive here.
I am sure there are many who would disagree with my proposals but they seem like common sense to me.

parenting masterclass

I had arranged to meet a friend in the city centre today, and due to the bizarre road system in the city, and my friends unfamiliarity with it I was waiting a good half an hour for him to arrive. This was not really a big deal for me as it gave me the opportunity to indulge in some people-watching.
I stationed myself on some steps and watched the world go by.
The main thing I noticed today was the huge difference in styles of parenting displayed by the people of this city.
There were the Dads-with-bikes, who were all dressed in bright, high visibility colours, wearing helmets and those little clips to stop the bottoms of their trousers flapping, and were accompanied by rosy cheeked, smiling children who were either in seats or trailers of the parents bike, or on miniature bikes of their own. All the kids were wearing helmets, were well dressed for the cold weather and seemed happy and healthy.
Then there were the chilled-out parents, the ones who were wearing velvet skirts and woolly ponchos and carrying canvas shopping bags. They tended to have children who were dressed in quite old fashioned children's clothes - corduroy dresses, duffel coats, hand-knitted hats and scarves and so on. Most of them were talking to their kids about visiting the library as they went past.
The largest number of parents seemed to fall within the frazzled shopper category. They were wearing not quite right for the weather jackets and carrying large numbers of plastic shopping bags which advertised sales in various stores. They all seemed to be walking quite fast, and where either shouting at the children who had run ahead to slow down or shouting at the children who had fallen behind to hurry up. None of them seemed especially happy and the children appeared to be either hyperactive or sullen.
The last grouping of parents, and thankfully a relatively small one were what I like to refer to as the unfit parents. These were the ones who tended to be dressed as though it were the height of summer - parents and children alike. They were wearing t-shirts with jeans, short dresses, summer footwear and all seemed to be shouting at one another. The parents in this category were all smoking, even the pregnant women, and some of the parents were carrying open cans of lager. They were swearing a lot, screaming at the children, screaming at other people, screaming at each other and calling the children all kinds of names. Some of the parents in this category were doing something that I hate, something that is near the top of "things not to do to your child" on my mental grumble list - they were feeding babies coca-cola out of a teated baby bottle - ARGH!
It was a small consolation that there were not many parents in this category - however the ones that were had lots of children.
It seems no-one has told certain sectors of society about contraception.

post-christmas blues

I know I should write a proper post, but at the moment I am stuck in my annual state of post-christmas melancholy.
You know, when you have given out all the presents you bought for people, done your own unwrapping, eaten a big meal (or several) alongside an obscene amount of party based snack foods and have been in your house for a few days with the heating on and the windows closed.
I feel stuffed full of rubbish food with no real nutritional value, grimy from the central heating, twitchy from the amount of sugar and e-numbers I have consumed, worried about the price of the next gas bill and miserable because there are at least 3 more months of cold, miserable weather and long dark nights.
All I am left with is a messy house, lots of washing up to do, indigestion, a depleted bank account and jeans that are slightly too tight.
Roll on 2009...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

learning to, like, talk proper, innit

I would like to learn another language. Actually, there are several languages I would like to learn; German, because I love the way it sounds and I like the accent (yeah, I know, I'm weird), Greek so that I could talk to all my relatives, French because I learnt some at school so I have a small head start and Japanese because it is so different to English.
I have tried using an online flashcard programme to learn a few words of German, but I can't really form a sentence. Well, except those learnt from Rammstein lyrics, so if I ever go back to Germany I can say, with confidence "hier kommt die sonne" and "den du bist, was du ist" along with "weiter weiter ins vederben" and "stirbt nicht vor mir" which I am sure you will agree are all very useful phrases.
I recently purchased the Peter Fox single "alles neu" online (great song) so I can also say "ich verbrenn mein studio" and the rather brilliant line "brat mir ein pracht-steak Peter kocht jetzt feinstes fleisch" which babel fish translates as "roast me a splendour steak, Peter cooks now finest meat", an exceptionally useful piece of get-by German.
The real problem that I have encountered in my attempts to learn a new language is the fact that, like so many others, I was never taught English properly. I mean, I can speak and understand English without any problems and I have been able to read and write since I was about 3 years old, but nobody ever teaches you the grammatical structure of your own language. Therefore, when I reached year 8 French and the teacher told us to "conjugate the verbs" a class full of 12 year olds gazed back at the teacher with incomprehension plastered all over our faces. Nobody had ever explained the basics of our own language, so when it came to learning another there was no real comparison. We had all mastered our language to some degree, but few of us, if any, knew why it worked in the way it does.
I think this is a real flaw in the teaching of foreign languages in schools in this country. If we do not understand our own language it will be very difficult to master a new language, and with standards in English slipping in our schools anyway it leaves very little chance of producing bilingual pupils. I was ashamed as a teenager when I travelled abroad to visit my aunties and cousins and found that my then ten year old cousin, who a year before had not understood a word of English could now chat away with relative ease. By the time he was 14 he was able to read English novels, watch English TV and speak fluent English. By comparison, in 5 years of French class in an English school I was able to ask for directions, buy a loaf of bread and book a train ticket, and I was one of the kids classed as good at French - in fact those limited skills earned me an "A" at GCSE! Yet I cannot hold a proper conversation in French and struggle with written French.
There are also other potential barriers when learning a foreign language, for example in English we do not have masculine and feminine versions of words, so this is an alien concept when we encounter it in other languages.
I think though, that until the standards of English being taught in our nations schools are improved there is little hope of today's pupils learning any useful second language.

Hell on Earth

I was recently possessed by a strange urge to buy a microscope so that I could look at things in more detail in a way that was discouraged at school. I am not really sure why but I thought it may be interesting to have a closer look at my skin, hair, nails etc. As I am longsighted anyway I hope it will be interesting. Anyway, as a result of this I made a trip to "toys 'r' us" today to try and pick one up. Well, that place is hideous in my opinion, it was like hell on earth - screaming children, mega bright lights, psychedelic colours everywhere, extortionate prices for weird products displaying characters I have never heard of and the most confusing layout imaginable for a large store. It was like a walk-in migraine. I eventually managed to find a microscope and went to find a till so I could escape. The overall effect of the place was like a sugar and e-number induced nightmare. If ever you needed a reason not to have children, this should be it, can you imagine 16 years of looking after people who think that place is heaven? I now understand why my parents took me there once and then said "never again".
On a plus note though, the staff were very friendly and helpful. So it wasn't all bad.

you didn't really think this one through, did you?

I popped into the bank today to pay in a cheque and discovered that the local branch of my bank has become one of these fancy places with lots of different computers and machines but very few actual people - and no cashier counter. So while I prefer to pay my cheques and money (if I actually had any and it wasn't just the one cheque from my Grandma for christmas) in to a real live person I had to use the cheque paying in machine. Which was how I came to be aware of an utterly brilliant flaw in the banks plan for automated services.
I stood at the machine, brandishing my cheque and my paying in slip, ready to make the deposit. The machine was a nifty thing, all touch screens and fancy slots for different things and it asked me to touch the screen to begin. So far so sensible. The screen then asked me to insert my cheque and paying in slip into the designated (and now illuminated) slot. Rather brilliantly (or stupidly, depending on your perspective) each slot has a little braille label on, to tell you what it was for. The "enter" and "cancel" buttons also had braille labels. So some genius, when designing the equipment has obviously thought "lets be accessible to people with disabilities. Lets put braille tags on all the buttons" and has completely forgotten the fact that a blind person cannot read the touch screen, can not enter their details on a touch screen, cannot enter their pin on a touch screen and generally will probably be unaware that there is a touch screen in front of them. The visually impaired person who approaches this machine will simply find a large plastic object, randomly decorated with braille labels stating "enter", "cancel" and "insert here".
So my guess is that someone really didn't think this one through very well.

a kick in the teeth

I read a report today in the media about dentistry - the conservatives (you know, that bunch who are really supportive of the NHS and all other kinds of state welfare provision) are claiming that many dentists are recalling patients too soon, or are spreading treatment over a few weeks so that patients have to pay twice. Now, I am not a dentist myself, the thought of looking in smelly peoples smelly mouths all day really does not appeal, but I will stick up for them. I think that they get a bad press in this country, yet they are doing a hard job.
Many people seem quite disparaging of dentists and dentistry, but let us not forget that these are people who have trained for 6 years, who have attended medical school and are highly specialised and trained in their field. Considering the amount of money they will have spent to become a dentist, the necessity of their work and the difficulties they face in their job I think they deserve a good pay check (this belief also applies to all others working in the medical field, the government pays some front line NHS workers woeful wages then wonders why so many go off with stress, or join agencies)
The contracts that the government introduced a couple of years ago were really quite stupid. They put bizarre restrictions of practitioners, such as limiting the amount of private patients that NHS dentists could treat, capping pay, and removing any incentive for dentists to work over time or unsociable hours.
My step father is a dentist, an NHS dentist in fact and before the new contracts were in place he used to work at least one late night per week and alternate Saturday mornings. One of the other dentists in his practice would cover at weekends also, providing a much better service. However under the new rules he would not have been paid for working these additional hours and so now works a standard week. One of the other "bright ideas" the government introduced was a guideline of how much a dentist was paid according to a recommended number of patients seen. The result of this meant that by February of the tax year many dentists have seen their quota, and as such were not paid in February and March. With such silly restrictions as these dentists were leaving the NHS in droves to turn to the more lucrative private market. Many people now struggle to find an NHS dentist in their area. I am surprised that there are any left at all to be honest.
One of the things I find strangest about the whole situation is the attitude people have towards their teeth. Put it this way, by the time you are an adult you have the only set of teeth you are going to have. Teeth are fairly essential in order to eat properly, and even if you lose all your teeth you will still need to see a dentist in order to get dentures fitted properly. Yet people really begrudge spending any money at all on their teeth. They do not want to buy a decent toothbrush and toothpaste, they do not want to floss and they seem to resent paying out £15 for a check-up twice a year. In contrast people will often spend £15 a week on snacks, alcohol and magazines without batting an eyelid, they will spend thousands on their cars and consider it money well spent, but they balk at paying a few quid to get their teeth sorted. As a result many people let their registration with a dentist lapse and then complain when they can no longer find an NHS dentist!
I don't know if dentists are trying to scam a few extra pounds out of patients by recalling them at the wrong time, I have never had this problem (and no, I don't go to my step dads practice) nor has anyone I have spoken to. It is possible that certain treatments take longer to be completed than others, or that dentists are too booked up to see people straight away for non-routine appointments. It may be because many people do not follow up their appointments straight away or it may be that a few disgruntled dentists are trying to play the system. I cannot say what is really going on in that sense.
It would seem though, that dentists are in for another kicking.

introspective

As I briefly mentioned in the last post, I have had some bad news recently concerning someone very close to me, who has aggressive terminal cancer.
I have found it interesting to see the coping mechanisms that people use to manage their emotions when something like this happens. I don't mean that to sound callous, I guess it is just one of the ways I am coping although I realise that it may sound weird.
My approach to this is the same as I see other things. What I mean is that rather than allowing myself to go into denial I make myself look at the reality of the situation, work out the worst possible outcomes, the most likely outcomes and the hugely optimistic pie in the sky outcomes and do my best to understand the implications of each one of these outcomes.
I don't have any kind of spiritual or religious ideas, I guess I am quite pragmatic in my approach - I don't believe that any of this is some kind of weird predestined plan, I don't believe that there is some higher being who has decided to allow this to happen, or that there is any reason why this is happening. I think that sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen and this is one of the really stinky shit things that sometimes occur. There is no one to blame, to one to question why, no kind of logic or plan. It has just happened so we have to accept that and live with the new situation. That is not to say that I am not utterly devastated - I am extremely upset and I wish that this wasn't actually happening, especially to such a wonderful person, but it is and to be of any use at all I just have to accept that and move on.
The weird thing is though that some people seem to think that this approach is somehow cold or uncaring, that it doesn't bother me when it so clearly does.
Many of my relatives are quite religious. One relative is an extremely devout christian who lives her whole life according to christianity and the bible. Her approach on hearing the bad news was to immediately turn to god and the church, to offer up long prayers and to worship as much as she can. To me this approach is hard to understand as it clashes so greatly with my own beliefs and values and I find it hard to discern how this approach actually brings her any comfort. Yet I imagine that she finds my way of dealing with things equally baffling.
Another relative turns to "new age" methods of coping with bad news, turning to divining rods, crystals, pendulums and "white magic" to attempt to understand bad events and why they are happening. Again, I find this approach to be strange and I fail to understand what comfort it can bring. Don't misunderstand me, I understand the reasons why they turn to these things, I just don't get how it actually helps any. To me it is such a giant leap away from logic to expect any kind of answer from these methods, and the only way I can see to make sense of events like this are to turn to science and medicine for answers, and accept that sometimes the body just goes wrong.
I guess my point in all this, if there even is one, is that we all approach things in such different ways that it can be very hard to understand the actions of our loved ones especially at a time of crisis. Naturally I believe that my way is the right way, otherwise it would be a pretty weak belief. But there are times when it is good to debate faith and beliefs and other times when you just have to accept that if that religious belief is the only thing bringing that person comfort it is probably best to leave it unchallenged until the storm has passed.

NHS

I know many people have a downer on the NHS and like to have a good old whinge about it. I would like to say that I think it is brilliant.
I have had several experiences myself of the NHS in action and it has always been positive. Yes, there are minor grumbles and gripes - a nurse who was rude or made minor mistakes, a doctor who didn't seem bothered, a mix up with your meals - but the actual health care provided and the speed and efficiency with which it was delivered has always been excellent.
It seems a common thing to complain that your ingrown toenail operation has been postponed, or that some hospitals aren't all that clean - but when it really matters the NHS does deliver, and I find proposals to remove the NHS in its current format chilling.
With regards to hospital cleanliness I think the patients and visitors are not helping matters any - despite numerous notices to please keep visitors off the beds, don't bring certain things onto the wards, wash hands frequently and use the alcohol wash often many visitors were totally disregarding these rules.
Yet again in the last couple of days we have had a positive NHS experience. Someone very close to me has terminal cancer. He took very ill at the weekend and on Sunday night was taken by ambulance to his local hospital. There, he was stabilised and when stable he was transferred to a specialist cancer hospital. He has received excellent and quick treatment from wonderful staff and today he is doing far better. The news is not good but we have been handled with care and the whole experience has been overwhelmingly positive (except the actual diagnosis, but that's another matter entirely).
So every time I hear people moan about some trivial matter I feel like banging their heads together and telling them to view the big picture. Yes, your minor non urgent operation may have been delayed just minutes before you were due in theatre - but the reason is most likely because an urgent case has been taken straight through. Yes, your planned admission may have been postponed, but this is probably because an emergency has arisen and someone else needs the bed. And yes, sometimes some of the staff can be less than pleasant - but one or two bad people does not mean the whole system is a failure.
Lets just get a little perspective, shall we?

euthanasia

It is a topic that has been in the news quite a bit recently and I thought it would make an interesting post.
Having considered the issues I have reached the conclusion that assisted suicide should not be regarded as a crime and euthanasia should be a right. I will attempt to explain why I have reached that decision.
I believe that each individual should have sovereignty over their own body. I would say that out of anything else on this planet your own body should be the thing you have absolute control over. For this reason I believe that an individual who understands the possible implications should be able to take drugs, drink alcohol, receive or refuse medical interventions, take part in dangerous sports, indulge in sado-masochistic sex, have body modifications such as tattoos, piercings, circumcision and breast implants, be obese, whatever. I draw the line when these things impose on others (such as children being overweight, mutilating someone elses body, non consensual violent sex, imposing religious beliefs on others and so on). I guess I am a true liberal in this sense, believing you should have these individual freedoms and liberties with minimal state intervention as long as you do not infringe the liberties of others.
For this reason I believe that if an individual has made a choice that they wish to end their life, and they have made that choice in sound mind then that person should have the right to die in a dignified way. If that individual has an illness which means that they would require the assistance of another to die then I believe they should still be allowed to do so.
I understand that a major concern of those who oppose these ideas is the worry that a person may be forced into an early death, or that people who have not expressed a wish to die will be killed off.
I think however, that with proper controls these situations would not arise; for example, it may only be in the case where a person has expressed this wish in writing beforehand would be allowed an assisted suicide if the need arose.
I realise this is an emotive subject and that people feel very strongly about this topic. I am also aware that a large number of those who oppose euthanasia are coming from a religious angle - such as the christian belief that all suicide is a sin. If those people believe that, and would not wish to take up this option themselves then fine, but they should not prevent others from having this choice.
I was quite disturbed to realise that in this country, as assisted suicide is not legal, that if an individual with a terminal condition were to reach a point where they were certainly going to die a painful death they do not have the choice of being given an overdose of morphine or similar to allow them to slip away with dignity and not endure a drawn out painful death. Instead, the most they could hope for would be a "withdrawal of treatment", whereby they would have all treatment halted, and hydration and feeding tubes would be removed. Instead of being afforded dignity that person would instead starve to death over a period of several days.
How on earth can people consider this to be the more humane option, for anyone involved?

I sincerely hope that I am never in a position where I would have to make the choice, but if I were in that situation I would rather have the option to pass away peacefully and without unnecessary pain and suffering and with less distress for my family.

However with current laws this would not be an option, and in that situation any relative, friend or medic who did carry out my wishes would be tried for murder.
I simply cannot see how this is considered to be the civilised way to treat this issue and the real people who suffer because of the current laws.

whatever you do, don't panic

You may have seen the story in the news today that indicates there is a strong link between panic and anxiety and heart attacks. The upshot seems to be that people under 50 who have panic attacks are a lot more likely to have a heart attack.
Reassuring that, isn't it.
"Hey, you anxious person, stop panicking. If you don't stop panicking then you are far more likely to have a heart attack. Hey, whats up now? I said stop panicking!"
Well, to reassure all you worriers, apparently although you are more likely to have a heart attack it is less likely to kill you.
So chin up, eh?

Anyway, I found this article on the NHS website which gives a bit more background on the study, it may put your mind at ease a bit more than the standard media response.

child abuse

I just came across this article on the BBC website and I wonder - can this be considered as anything other than child abuse, given that parents know the associated dangers?
Taken from the BBC website:

One in three adults in the UK will be obese by 2012, researchers warn.

It comes as the latest government figures show no drop in the number of children who are obese, despite a raft of strategies to tackle the problem.

By 11, 33% of children are overweight or obese, data from the National Child Measurement scheme shows.

Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, UK researchers said 9,000 adults die early every year because of obesity-related illness.

Using data on 128,000 adults in the Health Survey for England, the team from University College London, calculated that 13m adults will be obese by the time London hosts the Olympic Games.

Almost half of them will be from low income and disadvantaged communities, widening the health gap between the richest and poorest, they said.

Measurements

The government introduced the child measuring scheme in 2006 to monitor the impact of strategies to tackle obesity.

Initially uptake was low, but in 2007/08, 88% of children in reception (age four to five) and year six (age 10-11) were measured - equating to almost one million children.

In reception, 10% of boys and 9% of girls are obese, the figures show.

By year six this increases to 20% of boys and 17% of girls - figures that have not shifted since 2006/07.

Public health minister, Dawn Primarolo, said: "These figures show that there are still too many children who are overweight and obese - that's why we're supporting families to lead healthier lives.

"Change4Life will provide everyone with the information and support they need to improve their lives."

Dr David Haslam, a GP and clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said prevention strategies alone would not help.

"We're still going to have a bunch of obese people, prevention is no good unless you also have weight management strategies."

Tam Fry, chair for the Child Growth Foundation, said he was unsurprised that the Department of Health's measures were failing to reverse the obesity trend.

"We had high hopes that there would have been a marked improvement after all the money that is being thrown at the problem but it seems that more radical measures will be needed to reduce obesity levels," he said.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman, Norman Lamb said it was "horrifying" that one in three children were overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school.

"The costs and impact of obesity, both for individuals and the health service are enormous.

"The NHS ultimately faces bankruptcy if we fail on this."

ice cream

Just a quickie, because I still feel dog rough and am not capable of forming one sensible paragraph, but why, at 6.30pm on a freezing cold dark December night is there an ice cream van going up and down outside with its Popeye chimes blaring out? Who wants to rush outside for ice cream in this weather?
Oh, I am so grumpy today.

of possible interest

OK, to be completely honest if I was feeling better I would be writing something about the topic of these 2 stories from the telegraph, but as I feel really naff again and want to go and lie down I thought I would just share the stories with you.

Firstly, a story about a 70 year old Indian woman who has given birth to a child conceived through IVF treatment. There is so much I could say about this if only I felt better, but suffice to say I do not agree with this at all. 70! She is extremely unlikely to see that child grow up, but I think that the saddest thing is the attitudes of the people around this woman, who has been stigmatised her whole life because she had not produced a child. Also, disturbingly, the man also married the woman's sister in an attempt to have a child with her instead, but still had no joy. Which makes me wonder why it is the women who, in so many cultures, are the ones blamed when there is no successful pregnancy. Anyway, the article is here, see what you think.

The other story is about words removed from a children's dictionary. The article is interesting itself, the argument being that as language evolves the content of dictionaries must change, though some of the omissions seem to be strange choices. However the really good bit is all the comments beneath the article - there are some really funny messages. Have a look here.

yet more stupidity

I managed to drag my poor weary body up the road earlier as I thought that the fresh air would probably do me good and I needed to order my repeat prescription (such an exciting life I lead, eh?)
As usual the locals were out in force, behaving in their usual bizarre manner. The pharmacist in my local chemist wanted to sell me all kinds of different cold remedies, so in the end I decided to get a bottle of menthol vapour inhalation stuff to try and clear my airways a bit, although there were, as usual many people round and about coughing and spitting their germs all over the place. I felt like coughing my own lovely virus right back at them, but I didn't because I am nice like that.
Anyway, as I walked along the main road to the shops I saw a young toddler break away from where his mother was stood talking and run towards the road. The woman ran after him but as she reached him he threw his little toy car into the middle of the road. I was staggered when the woman shouted "wait there" at the kid, and ran straight into the traffic to fetch the toy. Luckily the van that was approaching was not going fast and the driver managed to stop without hitting the woman but she just seemed oblivious - it seemed the only thing on her mind was fetching the toy. I waited on the path with the child so that he didn't run out after her but the woman just didn't seem to see anything wrong with her actions. So that child has just learned a terrible lesson in life - if your toy goes into the road, quickly run out to collect it without checking the traffic first.
Then, a couple of minutes later I saw another display of stupidity. Outside the library are some metal barriers, presumably to stop cars driving onto the pavement. There is only a narrow gap between the barriers and the wall of the library. However one woman with a pushchair decided to try and push her pushchair through this gap. Now I will be quite honest and say that I am not the greatest judge of distance and volume, but even I could see that the pushchair was much wider then the gap. Which meant that the poor child in the pushchair got a bit of a shock when it was suddenly jolted awake as the pushchair hit the wall and the barrier. At least the kid was fastened in though, otherwise it would have gone flying.
Then finally, in the library I approached the desk and said to the library assistant "Hi, I have some books saved on this card to collect please."
The library assistant looked at me for a minute, blinked and said "what?"
Me: "Erm, I have some books to collect?"
LA: "Books? To collect?"
She stood there for a minute just staring at me and then walked off! After a minute she took my card and fetched my books for me, but I was surprised by her reaction. After all you would have thought the concept of "books" would be familiar to someone working in a library.
At this point I decided I had seen enough stupidity for one day and headed home to curl up in my chair with the laptop and a bag of cough sweets. I think I am 23 going on 70.

blogging 101

Pah, I had really wanted to do something good for my 100th post, not just whinge about a nasty little virus. Double pah, I missed my chance with 101 as well.

Maybe I should just go to bed.

snotbags

Bleurgh. I am made up with cold at the moment, it came on suddenly last night and today I have the full blown runny nose, sinuses filled with soggy cotton wool, gritty eyes, saliva made of sandpaper, spiky golf balls in throat and 60-a-day smokers style cough feeling. Not nice. So I apologise for the lack of interesting reading material but I can barely focus on the computer screen.
On a plus note though I took some co-codamol earlier to try and relieve the symptoms, and while they are as bad as ever I really don't care as much. I feel all kind of floaty. Floaty yet pained. Opiates are great.
Anyway, I am not much use for anything else so I am going to go and play with my cat. (And no, that is not a euphemism, I really am going to go and spend some time with my felines as I can't read/type/surf the net/watch TV)

supermarket sweep

I find supermarkets fascinating (if infuriating) places. I went to the supermarket today, as I often do on a Saturday (more fool me, I reckon Tuesday morning would be a much better time to go) and found myself avidly people watching as always.
It is incredible what some people put in their trolleys.
I do find it quite amusing, seeing what other people like to buy. I know I have my own favourites, the things I seem to get almost every week (tofu, broccoli, smoked salmon, lots of apples and pineapple, bagels, porridge oats and 12 eggs) but I sometimes see products on the way around and think "who eats that?", then see it in someones trolley and think "oh right, yeah, that explains a lot" - things like super excessive cakey things, mega packs of doughnuts, that kind of thing, that tend to be in the trolleys of overweight people. Actually one of the things I find really amusing every week is the amount of overweight people who have a trolley full of crisps, fizzy drinks, cake, chocolate, pizza, sweets - and a token bag of salad or weight watchers ready meal. Who do they think they are kidding?!
I am surprised by how many people opt for brand name products too. If there is a generic or own brand equivalent I tend to go for that instead - a box of own brand cereal today cost me 89p, but if I had gone for the branded alternative it would have set me back £2.79. That said I have actually known people who will buy the branded product once, then keep the packaging and refill it with own brand produce - so the "Kellogg's" cornflakes are actually from asda, the "Heinz" ketchup is really from tesco and so on - how weird is that?!
Also, I find it staggering how much fizzy pop people buy - there are always several people walking around with 5 or 6 two litre bottles of fizzy drinks in their trolleys and I have no idea how people manage to get through so much of the stuff. On the rare occasions that I have a fizzy drink I tend to go for the pure carbonated fruit juice, and even then I struggle to finish one glass, so how people get through a whole bottle a day is beyond me. Mind you most people I know seem surprised that I drink 4 pints of water every day, but I think that is because they imagine that on top of their usual tea, coffee, juice, pop and wine. As I only drink water I would be in a pretty bad way if I was not drinking about 4 pints!
The thing I find weirdest though are those people you see buying 20 loaves of bread in one go - what are they going to do with 20 loaves of bread before it all goes out of date? I wondered if they were sandwich makers or something, but then surely you would go wholesale, not to the supermarket. Also, there seems to be at least one person every week buying about 40 pints of milk. I wonder if they are bathing in the stuff, as I cannot think why you would need that much otherwise.
The way people behave in supermarkets is also very bizarre - people will hang their handbag from the trolley and then wander off down the other end of the aisle leaving it unattended! At other times people are so fixated on whatever product they are heading for that they just walk straight into you. It is like being surrounded by zombies at times.
And what is it with people who feel the need to walk around the shop already eating and drinking before they get to the checkout? If you are that hungry why not pop in, get a banana or a sandwich, eat it outside and then do your shopping. If you are not that hungry then get some self restraint and wait until you have paid before you start stuffing your face. The only legitimate exception I could think of would be if someone was diabetic and urgently needed some sugar. Otherwise there is no excuse as far as I can see.
Anyway, the upshot is that you get to see large numbers of people behaving in bizarre ways whenever you visit a supermarket and I am sure there would be some interesting social and psychological studies that could be done in this environment.

accidental life saving

I got off the bus today right behind this rather unpleasant man who spent most of the journey swigging cider, got off the bus and lobbed his rubbish into the woods, when he was right by a bin, something that always infuriates me (as I told him).
Anyway, we were both waiting to cross the busy main road, when the man just stepped out - right in front of an ambulance! So I grabbed his collar and yanked him back onto the pavement. I was really shaking as he had very narrowly escaped being run over. His thanks? He spat at me. I really do sometimes wonder why I bother.

crunchilicious

Everybody seems to be talking about the credit crunch these days, and about how terrible it all is. Well, lots of people have done stupid things leading to us being in this position but I don't think it is all bad.
The people who are being worst affected seem to be those who have not really acted in a particularly sensible manner. OK, there have been lots of redundancies and that is never good, and I do feel for the people who have suddenly ended up out of work due to cut backs, restructuring and redundancies - I am in a very similar position myself. But I have to admit that I do not have any real sympathy for people who have got themselves into this position.
I have even heard people with babies, or pregnant women complaining about how difficult things are financially, how they cannot pay their rent or bills and so on. So, erm, why are you having kids now then? Surely you should make sure you can actually afford to look after them before you get pregnant, instead of expecting everyone else to carry the financial burden.
I know a few people who have borrowed thousands on credit cards, taken out loans and generally frittered their money away, who are now complaining because they cannot get more loans or credit cards to pay for the things they want. I know people who are whining because they are struggling to repay loans that they cannot repay. Well, nobody forced you to take out that loan, you have no one but yourself to blame. I live by a very simple financial strategy - with the exception of my mortgage I follow one rule - if I do not have the money I do not spend the money. This applies even to money I should be getting. If I am expecting a pay packet on the 7th I do not go out and spend on the 5th - you never know if there will be some kind of delay. If the money is not in my account then it is not mine to spend. I do not think there is anything difficult about this, but it seems most people do not follow this one rule.
The reason I regard my mortgage as a loan worth taking, is because when it comes to housing costs you really have 2 options: buy a house and pay your mortgage or rent a house and pay off someone elses mortgage.
About mortgages and housing; I myself am in a reasonable position at present - I have no plans to move house, so the possibility in a drop in the value of my property is not currently relevant. I am also on a tracker mortgage, so at present interest rates are low, reducing my overheads. It is definitely cheaper for me to pay my mortgage than it would be to rent a similar property in the area.
The people who seem to be struggling are the people who did not act wisely, taking out mortgages they could not afford, overstretching themselves or buying properties with the hope to sell them at a higher value. People are trying to lay the sole blame for this with the banks, yet nobody forced people to take out these mortgages, each individual had to read the contract and sign on the line to say they fully understood the implications of the mortgage. If they did not understand they should have said so and not signed until they did. The onus is still on them.
Lastly, I have seen several articles recently from would-be first time buyers who are complaining that it is still too difficult for them to get on the housing ladder. Basically, as interest rates and property values drop, lenders are being very picky about who they lend to, and are requiring larger deposits than seen in recent months and years (understandably if house prices are still falling). This means that even though houses are cheaper than they have been for a while first time buyers need a larger deposit, up to 25% in some cases. And this is the point at which I lose all sympathy for the the would-be first time buyers. Most of the articles I have read have been from people in their late 20s and early 30s, who still live at home with their parents and yet are complaining they cannot afford a deposit. So they have been living for the last few years with minimal overheads while earning a decent wage. Why do you not have a deposit? What on earth are you spending all your money on? Why do you expect me to have any sympathy?
Maybe the people I know are exceptional, but a few examples:
My boyfriend bought his first house at 18.
I bought my first house at 21.
My step brother and step sister were both about 20 when they bought homes of their own. My step sister currently owns 2 properties.
I have several friends who bought their first home in their early 20s. All of us did so with our own money and a mortgage.
Of the people I know currently renting they tend to fall into one of two categories
They are happily renting in a shared house with no intention to purchase property.
Or they are wishing to buy, but have left themselves in a weak financial position.
I think many first time buyers are expecting too much; they expect a large, well maintained house in a desirable area and are not prepared to compromise.
And that is why I do not really have any sympathy for them.

an update on an earlier post

Some time ago now I wrote about preventable deaths in the elderly over the winter period each year and I just found an update on this issue on the Help the Aged website. I thought I would share it with you:

Cold kills 25,000 older people

27 November 2008

The Office for National Statistics has revealed the latest annual excess winter death figures.

Last year, 25,300 people died as a result of cold-related illnesses.

Mervyn Kohler, Special Adviser for Help the Aged, says: 'This year’s winter deaths figures are a continuing disgrace to a government which is there to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

'Fuel poverty is a blight on society which affects one in four pensioner households. The Government must act now to prevent the nation’s grandparents becoming casualties of winter.

'The Government must act now to prevent the nation’s grandparents becoming casualties of winter'

'Money which has been made available to insulate homes is an important part of the solution but will have little impact this winter. The £60 addition to Christmas Bonus promised in the pre-budget report will help, but the Government needs to provide more crisis payments for older people struggling to heat their homes this Christmas.

'When billions have been spent to save our financial institutions surely some can be spared to save our older people'

'When billions have been spent to save our financial institutions surely some can be spared to save our older people.'

pigeons

I popped out to the shops earlier, and decided that seeing as it was a nice day I would walk. It is only about 2 miles to the supermarket so I wrapped up nice and warm and set off walking. I had only got about half way when I saw a pigeon not quite make it out of the road in time. It was not hit full on, but it's wing was obviously broken. I quickly went over and took the bird out of the road, setting it on the pavement (which was stupid really, because it waddled straight under a parked car to hide). Another woman had also stopped and I asked her if she had seen what happened. She had, and agreed to help, so with her help we got the pigeon out from under the car and gently held onto him. The woman asked if I had a phone, which I did, so I took the pigeon while she went into a few of the local shops to try and obtain a small cardboard box. I rang the RSPCA who said they would come straight out, so when the woman returned we put the pigeon in the box, moved out of the way on the pavement and waited. And waited some more. Now by this point in the late afternoon it was really cold. The puddles on the pavement were solid ice, it was getting dark and my hands and feet were completely numb. After waiting nearly 45 minutes with no sign of the RSPCA I rang them again and was told it may be another 4 hours until they arrived. The woman said she only lived about half a mile away so we decided to take the bird back there and have the RSPCA people collect it from her house. I hope that it will be OK, I know they can recover from broken wings, but I worry that the shock will have killed it.
What surprised me was the reaction of some of the other people in the area after the bird was injured. People walking past, when they saw me holding the bird made comments on how it was "disgusting", another woman commented that it was vermin, and better off dead, while another even said I should "stamp on it".
What is wrong with these people? How can someone look at an injured creature and not feel some kind of compassion towards it? I was glad the other woman stopped to help, and was prepared to take it back to her house but I was appalled by how callous some other people were. Maybe I am just a bit soft but I could never walk on by if there were an injured person or animal that needed help, so I find it a bit disconcerting that others do not behave in the same way.
It reminds me of an incident a few years ago. A friend of mine from another city had been to visit, and I went with her back to the train station. I had felt a bit unwell as we were waiting but had put it down to hunger. However just after she got on the train, as I was leaving the station I suddenly felt a terrible pain through my abdomen and collapsed on the floor. Now this was a busy city centre train station at rush hour on a weekday, yet even though I had collapsed on the ground no one stopped to help me, or even ask if I was OK. I can remember laying there on the platform, in too much pain to get up, wondering why on earth no one was helping. In the end a station employee came to see me, after seeing me fall on CCTV. He called an ambulance and I was whisked off to hospital where I spent the best part of the next 2 weeks. I still do not understand why no one tried to help me. I mean, I know about psychology experiments that have been done on this topic, diffusion of responsibility, people assuming you're drunk and all that, but it is still shocking to be in that position with people all around you and nobody stopping to help.
I guess if other people are treated this way, pigeons and other animals don't stand much of a chance, do they.

A few things I shouldn't have said

Sometimes I say things that I really ought not to have done. I am sure we all do it, although I do occasionally suffer from verbal diarrhea and push things slightly too far. I was thinking about this earlier when I was talking to a cat down the road. By talking to a cat I mean I had stopped at the end of someones drive where it was sat and had a conversation with it. I don't see anything wrong with this but from the reactions of people walking past it would seem that others find it odd. I must admit though that I like the average cat more than I like the average person.
Anyway, it got me thinking about things I have said recently that may not have gone down so well.
First off, when I was on the phone to the council recently I got really wound up. I had received a letter saying I was in arrears on the council tax, when my bank statements clearly showed I was paid up to date. I phoned up to try and sort the problem out but the woman on the other end of the phone sounded lobotomised. After a few attempts at trying to work out what the problem was and being met with contempt filled and irrelevant answers I finally snapped. A little voice at the back of my head kept reminding me not to swear. Some other part of my brain, realising a swearword was coming kicked in with a solution - that weird "izzle" talk used by rapper types. I have no idea why that popped into my head but it did and I found myself snapping "jesus fucking chizzle" down the phone. And promptly died a small shameful death. Not only did I izzle, I izzled the wrong word. The shame!
So when I was stopped in the city centre a while ago by a gouranga monk (nope I have no idea what they do either) I should have really learned my lesson, been polite and just walked away. Instead I decided to tell him "Δεν μιλώ τα αγγλικά", an obvious lie. Of course I speak English. unfortunately I do not actually speak Greek. The monk did. Humiliated, I turned and walked away.
And still I don't learn.
Last week when walking through the pedestrianised part of town I was approached by one of those irritating people who work for charities, trying to get you to sign up to monthly direct debits to whatever organisation they are collecting for that week. This time it was the NSPCC. Now I have nothing against them in principle although they are not one of the charities I support regularly, but I get really peed off with people coming up to me in the street trying to get me to part with my bank details.
The first overly chirpy employee approached me and asked what I thought about the fact that children were being tortured and killed. Now obviously I think it is horrible, but I don't want some idiot coming up to me when I am trying to run a few errands to try and ram it down my throat. So when she asked the question I told her I thought it was great, since the world was already massively overpopulated. She actually staggered away. I was still laughing to myself when a man working for the same charity approached me a minute later. His opening gambit was "so what do you do with your time then?" I answered that when I wasn't being patronised by charity collection people I liked to cut off children's limbs with a rusty saw. THIS IS AN OBVIOUS LIE. I do not, will not and have never taken part in such activities, nor do I condone them. It was worth saying though, to see the look on his face. Although I quickly realised that it was probably not the best thing to say in public and quickly moved on.
The thing is I am a nice person really, I just occasionally say really stupid or offensive things. I accept that the above probably doesn't paint me in the greatest light but come on, you think these things too don't you? Or is it just me?