A Torpor Day

 

I have been in the Island of Torpor for the past few weeks.  A virus has limited my energy, given me one uncomfortable night, and left me brain dead.  Some of course would question the last bit by asking "How can you tell," but I ignore these people.  Little has been done in my ken, not helped by little stimulation in the world around us.  With a pretend PM pretending to PM, and two hopeless pretending replacements mouthing to the Tory gallery (Omitting the bit about selling off the NHS which almost all of their listeners require), and holiday season meaning everyone else is away leaves no interest for us.

I could inform you of the goings on at Dundee United, the 'Courier' podcast is indeed very good.  I could inform you of the trials and tribulations at the Heart of Midlothian, the 'Scarves around the Funnel' podcast is also good.  There again I could speak, again, of a trip to Sainsburys late last night for bread and exhaustion, but I will forego that.  

Today the torpor was interrupted by having to post the one year olds 1st birthday card, repost neighbours mail that came to us, and dump the rubbish bag.  Such excitement!  

This however, was at least accompanied by the arrival, again, of the Ambulance Helicopter.  The Big Orange One landed over the road, missing the parks occupants, and quickly gathered a crowd of onlookers.  These were not voyeurs seeking to watch the sick, merely folks interested in the sight of such a flying machine so close by them.  Indeed, a noisy flying machine at that.  

Such beasts often cross our airspace.  The Ambulance often accompanied by an even more noisy police one, usually late at night with glaring searchlight, and often the idle rich pass over in their private, possibly self piloted machines.  Depending on orders we also catch many Apache helicopters on army manoeuvres, as well as the even noisier Chinooks, those great big and very useful American built machines.  Of course we will not mention the 'escaping fuel' problem, one which caused over 400 US machines to be grounded will we?  No.  At least they do not have prestigious aircraft carriers that break down because someone forgot to 'grease the propeller shaft do they?  Tsk!

Hospital Helicopter, NHS and Flanders Stew.

Another day of nothingness I am glad to say.  The excitement of watching Scotland win and therefore make it to the play-off last night meant I required a peaceful morning.  There was no disturbance, bar the Air Rescue Helicopter buzzing over my head several times while he attempted to get into position to land opposite.  Twice in a month I think, once again I have no idea where they went but it departed shortly afterwards and headed of in the London Hospital direction.  Quicker than waiting for an ambulance these days I suspect.

This graph tells us how governments spend cash on the NHS.  It is clear why the NHS has a bed, doctor and nurse shortage, and people are dying in ambulances outside of hospitals because of government cutbacks.  This is a deliberate policy of selling the NHS to their US friends and it may well go through before the next election.  Add a pandemic, send all the EU staff back home, do not employ new staff, and before you know it there is a shortage and Boris is at the root of this.  With NHS mask providers not being allowed to sell to the NHS while Tory donors make big money for providing too much or the wrong thing while making millions we must ask "Who voted for this?"

Being reduced, I bought some casserole meat, not the healthy stuff pictured sadly.  This I cooked for over three hours this morning, adding the usual tins of 'whateversinthecupboard' along with 'whateverfoodislyingaround.'  Thus I made the first 'Flanders Stew' I have made for some time.   This concoction, as you know, is called thus because once cooked it looks like and tastes like the sticky, thick mud that lies all around Ypres in Flanders.  The first dollop, and that has to be the correct term, was as expected full of strange tastes, hidden behind curry powder, with meat containing no flavour whatsoever.  This will not surpise anyone.  Now, I have three more 'dollops' of this life giving nourishment to go through. 

That reminds me, I must make out my Will tonight...

 

Thursday TittleTattle

 

The excitement of the day yesterday featured an appearance of the Hospital Helicopter.  I heard one flying around above, and naturally took it to be the Police one, but could not see it.  This was because the thing had landed right in front of me in the park.

The crew wandered down the street somewhere and I never saw them for an hour.  Then they sauntered back, without wearing all the clobber, and headed off into the sky.  This leads to lots of questions such as who were they visiting?  Why did they not take them aboard?  Were they too late? And again, who was it?  Do I know them?  24 hours later and I still have no idea who they visited.  This is very annoying to a nosey person like me.  Flying a helicopter to an emergency, and not making use thereof is a lot of money to waste if nobody is carted off by the helicopter.  It is not the first time it has landed here and with an ambulance station half a mile away to the west I wonder how serious the patient was that they were called in?  

I may never know.

I must say Murdoch's 'Steak Pies' are very good.  I got some of his 'Chicken Curry' pies this time also, but I am not as keen on them as on the others.  Time will tell however, I still have 5 of these to get through and my opinion might change.  

For some reason my weight has reached 16 stone once again, and two of my jackets, plus old jeans, no longer fit me.  I blame lockdown!  This appears to have shrunk outfits everywhere.

 

Orbital Today

 

Today is 'Earth Day!'

Did it make any difference where you live?

Nope, not here either.

Nothing will improve the earth, it is broken and will continue broken, however, better management, less abuse of natural resources and less greed will of course help to sustain the earth and sustain those living thereon.

I hope the kids leaving their rubbish strewn across the nations parks are not joining in those various 'Climate Change' demand groups.

Trouble at Mi...er, Town...

When I came here in 1996 I read all the local papers to discover what the town was like I found it was full of crime!  Garages robbed, cars stolen and various other local problems like flashers and so on.  However a month alter the annual results were published and the stats were very revealing.  Back in London my area came under Paddington, car crime here, stolen radios etc, amounted to about 650 a year, Maida Vale was top with well over 700 such crimes.  This town had 24.  The screaming headlines in the press were a bit over the top I mused.  Today, with some 10,000 extra people arriving the somewhat laid back town is a wee bit different.  Add to this the shortage of police caused by government policies, police misuse of funds (funding 'gay rights' and 'trans' events for PC reasons rather than policing), and the increase of drugs availability often via outreach from London gangs, and the atmosphere is a wee bit less wholesome.  That said it remains a good place to live, especially for the folks with young kids and those er, past their best.  Excitement has however reached fever pitch with two incidents in recent days.

 
Not long after 5 pm on Saturday, as the market was closing and many were leaving Tesco with their shopping, a fight between what appears to be two large groups developed outside in the space between the store and the 'Bull' pub.   In the mellee which followed one man received a knife wound in the hand and a general 'fear' element affected the local facebook page, especially among those who were not there and unlikely to be there any time after five.  It appears among those arrested were people aged over 50!  This is understandable and many posted about their fear, the way the town has decayed in recent years and only a few, mostly men, indicated that such situations are rare and we are unlikely to meet one.  I have had only one real confrontation, with a few neds, in 22 years for instance.  However the fear is understandable.  Burglaries have increased as street lights are extinguished late on, criminals from outside pass through stealing what they can from town and village and move on, impossible to catch unless the police get lucky.  Situations like this lead to fear, women especially, and more so if on there own.   
The fact is this may be two groups known to one another, local lads maybe or folks from outside seeking trouble.  It could be drug related but we will not know for some time I suspect.  Several people have been arrested, know doubt soon to appear charged and remained in custody, and hopefully the police who reacted reasonably quickly can put folks minds to rest.     

Today, with the town rested and at ease, children returned to school, all others returned to work while I remain at home enjoying my leisure, suddenly an ambulance helicopter lands in the park opposite.  This curtailed my screening of the 'EPL on Quest' while I attempted a photograph through dirty windows.  It was worrying at first as the four men unhurriedly walked down the street round the corner as I know people there and wondered what had occurred.  
Later, much later, an ambulance arrived and a man with serious injuries was transferred to the helicopter and taken away.  All this took time of course and soon the social media and press were filled with speculation and little information.  
The individual involved did not come from round the corner but further away in some flats where a confrontation had occurred.  Another gentleman (note the use of this word) was removed from the flats and arrested for 'affray.'  He also assaulted an 'emergency worker' and is now helping police with their enquiries.  This does not set hearts at peace though I suspect if drugs were not involved in the first incident bad words have been exchanged between groups of young and old 'gentlemen' and the second one may well be neighbours or 'friendly gentlemen' who have fallen out.  I suspect the populace are no way involved nor need to fear.  

Everyone wishes to see what is happening!  The press have of course listed all the stabbings, fights, crimes in one long list forgetting to state that almost all are yobs of suitable behaviour, domestic incidents and robbery, still it's the 'shock' element that sells innit?
The police policy has changed recently and they claim officers were nearby patrolling when the first incident occurred, this may be true.  Better organisation sees more police on the ground, even if just PCSO's, and the public prefer this.  History tells us the town has seen worse, crimes have always occurred and common sense and good policing, with public support, helps alleviate the damage caused.  

        

A Quiet Wee Town.

This is indeed a quiet wee town, ideal for rearing small children and resting older folks.  Teens and twenties might feel aggrieved at the lack of enjoyment, hence the 'Boy racers,' high pregnancy rates and single mums, and a few wee neds in town centre.  It remains however quiet and safe.
This morning I safely cycled to St P's where I enjoyed a morning service while avoiding arguing with Vicar 2, indeed I only fell out with one woman which is near a record for me and that when helping dry the dishes which I need not have done.  Cycling back the quiet road, and most are quiet during this holiday period, I searched for nourishment, found a stream for the poor Aberdeen v Rangers game followed by the poorer Manchester City v poor Chelsea game, ate, snoozed and awaited the Hibernian v Motherwell game at six pm.
While this was going on I heard the police helicopter overhead.  It is easily recognisable as it circles around noisily while keeping an eye on some event way over there.  Busy with the games I took little notice.  Later I heard it back again but once more my attention was distracted by important issues, until half time that was, then I had a quick squint and forgot it.
It transpires the quiet wee town had seen a fire in a field in one part of the town, possibly deliberate possibly accidental, and an accident at a major turning possibly caused by the driver watching the smoke from the burning field rather than the road which has caused much blockage to traffic.   It transpires that a car knocked down a 'moped' rider in his 50's, 'moped probably means 'Scooter,' a 'Vespa' type I guess as lots have them around here during the summer. In fact the road was only opened at 8:30 pm so much police work there.  This required another helicopter, the ambulance version, which landed and collected at least one person.  
However the police helicopter was required to show itself once more as not far from me a police operation was underway with the usual plethora of police cars we normally never see and armed officers in attendance.  Someone it transpires had taken possession of a Crossbow, an instrument of death that I believe may be illegal to own, caused an 'affray' says the media and wandered across to the other side of town, near me, where the gentlemen of the law overtook him and asked him nicely to decease his affray, pass over his crossbow (and knife) and assist them with their enquiries.  More blocked roads, good job this is Sunday, more nosy people taking pictures for the local press, more flashing blue lights, more police saying nothing except the bare  minimum while we all follow facebook and Twitter to discover who the bad man was.  Oh yes and there have been sightings of Wallabies wandering the streets, owners unknown!
I think I may stay in tomorrow and do housework... 

To What Purpose?

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                                                                               Sky News

Last night two Apache Helicopters flew from one of the few remaining Royal Navy ships and attacked targets in Libya. To what purpose I ask? I still find it difficult to comprehend the reasons for being in this conflict in the first place!

Alongside our French comrades (they also sent helicopters after targets last night but our media tends to play that down) we have been bombing and strafing Libya for how long now? This was, we were told, a short intervention to support the peoples demand for a removal of Gaddafi, but he still remains and we are still unsure as to who exactly these 'people' who rebel actually are!

Where is this leading? Nobody knows. Removing Gaddafi may well be a good idea, but is that not the Libyans problem, not ours?  We really want him out, and his oil under our control, yet we are caught in this stand-off about which we can do little.  A short intervention we were told, costs covered by reserve cash, yet already a billion, possibly three, have been wasted on 'Dave's' adventure in 'macho' politics. Like most of 'Dave's' PR stunts this one is not working and looks like it will soon be costing us more servicemen for no good reason! Have we not wasted enough of our men in a needless intervention in Iraq 'Dave?' Another died in a failed operation in Afghanistan last night, just how many more 'Dave?' And for what?

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