It is estimated there are 7 Billion people alive on earth, I would like to think there is only one of me. Alas if only that were true. I think we are not unique and whilst we are products of our DNA, it does not make me the only one of me. For all my belief that I have something new and unique to say by blogging, I am not unique and my words are not new......they are just the random words mixed up in my head and then re-arranged into sentences posted on to this blog to make it sound like me.
...following on from my encounter with Rand E Wriggle..... I have now just read an email written by Throben Kocks.... I shit you not... and he works with someone called Ruedi Kunz.... you can't make this up....
.... what do you say about the plight of Daniel murdered by the fuckwit of a mother and cnut of a boyfriend of hers..... and throughout and beyond this, he was completely invisible it seems.....
How the fook does a tortured boy like that become invisible ?
My wife is a primary school teacher and at less than 24hrs notice, ofsted are due to arrive at her school..... I wonder if the energy Ofsted put in to catching out teachers is the same level of energy they put in to finding invisible boys ?
I have never seen my wife teach, but I know she can teach and teach very well, she don't need ofsted to tell her that..... how do I know....because at the end of each teaching year for more than 25 years, I have seen the notes from the parents...notes from the children..... and gifts of such a personal nature....and no I don't mean flowers and chocolates [although the chocolates are nice] but some gifts, that only a caring teacher could receive....... But it isn't just the gifts and words..... it is also various outstanding attributions to her classes on previous Ofsted inspections.
I am not against Ofsted doing their inspections, I am all in favour of auditing..... but next time ofsted select a school to examine..... I do hope on their check list, they have a box to tick......
.... my daughter asked me as we headed out in the car recently...
She was right, every car I've been in has radio 4 left playing.....much to wife and daughters annoyance.....
*And of course, my daughters reference to great music is relative, in that we have similar tastes in music [despite the 30 year age gap between us.... not sure she is a Matt Monro fan though] and music is only great if you like it....we all have different tastes.... I'm sure some who may have stumbled across this blog and seen the music and thought...shite...I prefer radio 4.
And so it was, listening to Radio 4 on my way into the hamster wheel factory this morning, and fook me sideways.... some lunatic of a Brazilian woman....[ I wonder if Brazil women have an english trimmed mary ?]..any way this nutcase of a woman, had apparently spent 2 weeks in this country under the auspices of the UN and now she was some kind of expert on our housing issues, and that we the tax payers [she didn't say this but she seems to have overlooked it] are being inhumane to those on benefits for making them move from their houses if they have too many bedrooms and blah blah bloody blah !
You can listen to her ramblings here . The BBC quote her as saying.....
Ms Rolnik told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she had received
"hundreds of testimonies" and said there was a "danger of a
retrogression in the right to adequate housing" in the UK.
She cited examples of disabled people, or grandmothers who were
carers, and said the measure seemed to have been designed "without the
human component in mind".
She said her recommendation was "that it should be suspended"
to allow time to better assess the human rights implications, and so it
could be redesigned
I often wonder about my tax payers rights..... I am sick and tired of people who have no authority what so ever, making outrageous demands on the funds raised by taxation, especially when she is not even a resident of this country and has spent only 2 weeks listening to a minority interest and now she has a prime spot on my personal radio channel.
I have no issue with paying tax, I have no issue with providing for social welfare.... but I do have an issue to paying money for people who think it is their god given right, and any change is an infringement of their human rights.
At the beginning of the year 2000, My wife and I, set up a company which I have continued to run successfully. We started the company with our own money [upon which tax had already been paid]. We had no state handouts, no bank leg ups, nothing, nada but our own cash. In those 13 [almost to be 14] years, we have never had an overdraft, or bailout or tax payers support.
What we do do though is raise taxes, through the wages we pay our staff, the VAT we charge our clients, the monies we pay our suppliers part of which the supplier pays tax on, corporation tax [yes we pay it unlike the global companies who trade on our land], and any other taxable benefits the HMRC see fit to take from us. All these taxes have been paid on time and without fail.
Of all the revenue that is generated by the company, more than half goes to HMRC in tax of one form or another...... and don't think I am a fat cat boss sat on my arse on a golf buggy lording it round the golf course each day. I am a classic owner manager who sits on his arse working to generate revenue just like the staff who work with me....my wife has a full time job outside of the company, and despite her tussle with cancer last year, cannot afford to give up work...... Companies house says there are 2 shareholders of my company...HMRC says who gives a toss about that, they are the biggest paid party between the 3 of us. Remember when Diana famously said there are 3 people in this marriage.....well it seems we are having a ménage à trois with HMRC, and I am well and truely being screwed
So when some stupid arse from Brazil comes over here demanding that my hard earned taxes should just be dished out like it didn't matter I start to feel quite pissy......
I am not a big fan of politicians but I did like the conservatives Grant Shapps reply, also available on the same BBC page but why did they feel the need to edit out his initial commentary that he said her comments were an absolute disgrace..... Personally I think Rolnik is clearly off her head....
Maybe my daughter is right, that I shouldn't listen to radio 4..... if I didn't perhaps I would hear more great music like todays SoD.......
.... I thought I would acknowledge the death last week, of Wing Commander Ken Wallis..... As a kid watching You only live twice, I was somewhat mesmerised by the sight of little nellie.....and no that ain't no euphemism.....
this was/is little nellie
James Bond flew it in you only live twice.... but as a young kid seeing it for the first time.... the reaction was simple...... wow a plane suitable for a kid.
Of course the reality is they are not for kids, and seems they are not really for everyone either, otherwise by now we'd be using them as our standard means of commuting....... Gyrocopters have a straight forward approach to flight, but somehow they have never been harnessed for the man in the street......
The original little nellie, was provided for and flown in You only live twice by non other than Wing Commander Ken Wallis. Little did I realise all those years back, admiring his little nellie [that's not a euphemism either], in my grown up life, I'd be watching it's creator on my local news program. A couple of years back they ran an article on him and his development of gyrocopters.
What a character Ken Wallis appeared to be. You see and interact with a lot of people through your life, many you do not meet and some you do..... and there are some people who leave a mark on your thoughts. Ken Wallis was one of those people. He was just so endearing to listen to.
We live in a modern world of crap and stupidity and yet every now and then something/one shines through. Ken Wallis came across as one of those people. Everyone who has commented on his death, has ascribed to the wonder of his life. His grand daughter on Look East last week, describing his last few years [still flying these Gyrocopters into his 90's !] gosh in her sadness at his death, she must have also been so overwhelmed at the out pouring for the wonder that is her grand father.
My wife is one of the 13,000 women each year who take the drug... because reportedly it will save her life, like the 12,999 other women.... problem is, I wonder if she will be one of the 400 ?
In July.......there was my wife, a 15 month [as I wrote then] cancer survivor, sat at
the computer looking up all the symptoms of why she feels crap [but she
has survived cancer you think,..... oh, not that easy I'm afraid ]
............
look she said..... I have all these symptoms that make me feel crap, all known side effects of taking Tamoxifen.....
so why don't you speak to your doctor, or your Oncologist or your cancer nurse.... tell them.... I react....
she said....why ?......they won't do anything....
oh so you are happy to turn to Dr
Google, but not those who are treating you..... what am I supposed to do
? I am just a ridiculous person........ she looked at me.....
I didn't know what else to say........
And there she was last weekend, a 16 month [as I write now] cancer survivor, sat at
the computer looking up all the symptoms of why she feels crap [but she
has survived cancer you think,..... oh, not that easy I'm afraid ]
............
.....the same conversation..... look she said, I have all these symptoms that make me feel crap, all known side effects of taking Tamoxifen.....
so why don't you speak to your doctor, or your Oncologist or your cancer nurse.... tell them.... I react....
she said....why ?......they won't do anything.... this time I said less...
I didn't know what else to say........ And so out comes today's latest report on Tamoxifen....
Reading the latest commentary as per the Guardian news article, on the one hand it suggests that the women who elect to stop taking the drug are either A) Wrong to do so....... or....... B) Wasting the NHS money [therefore the tax payers money] by doing so.
What did piss me off about this article, was the following comment:
This study is a timely reminder that it's so important that women are
given support to continue taking their tamoxifen so that they have the
best possible chance to outlive breast cancer.
How about giving them support to cope with the actual side effects perhaps ?
So I might like to suggest another option why women stop taking it......... Option C) Perhaps because Tamoxifen is making them feel ill and with terrible aches and pains, and absent any pain from Cancer, by not taking Tamoxifen the pain stops. My wife is a recently turned 50 year old woman, who was seemingly fit and healthy prior to her diagnosis last year.
Never smoked, ate [eats] the "right" foods, drinks in moderation, not even remotely overweight and perhaps the only major stress in her life is her ridiculous husband...... but now after taking Tamoxifen for the past year....when she first stands up after a period of immobility, hobbles around like an 80 year old woman. Now of course it's not the cancer that makes her hobble.... it's Tamoxifen.
What the article did not say is how many of the 13,000 women stop taking it. It suggests that 400 lives could be saved but 400 out of how many who stop taking the drug ? I would guess that it is more than 400 who stop taking the drug..... a lot more.
Statistics in Cancer are a funny beast. Remembering I am not the one who is ill, I am just the ridiculous husband, as a Cancer Husband your right to enquire is stymied by the apparent mis-representations that your enquiries can have, but one enquiry I did have, was post surgery what was the prognosis ?
So leaving aside all the possible mis-representations of my enquiry, here was the statistic....
Doctor: [words from gob] : Well Mr Ridiculous Husband, women with the same profile and outlook as your wife's diagnosis and treatment have very good odds. After 5 years of first treatment, 96 women out of a 100 will survive. That's good isn't it ? Very positive indeed.
Ridiculous Husband: [words in head, as gob felt no need to do anything].... so that means 100 women with the same profile as my wife will have been given this same rosey happy outlook, but 5 years later, 4 of them will have died..... Those 4 women were told that their chances are very good [because they had the same profile as my wife]..... but actually they died within the 5 years..... not that good a odds when you think about it...... because, they do not know precisely which of the 4 women out of the 100 women will die.....so they were all given the same statistic......
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, tamoxifen..... non of them are guaranteed to stop cancer coming back, but you daren't not take them.....what if you don't take the treatment and the cancer comes ? what then..... but take them and for sure they will make you feel shit..... but this the rub.....take them, any of them.....and the cancer can still come back. It comes back to sucking lemons..... sitting there listening to yet another Doctor explaining just what little is actually known about cancer...... with Cancer there are no good choices, there are just better or worse choices..... Tamoxifen is one of those better or worse choices......
Here is the NHS web site stated known side effects of taking Tamoxifen. Very common: More than 1 in 10 people who take Tamoxifen citrate
hot flushes
vaginal and vulval problems such as vaginal discharge, itching
of the vulvae or vaginal bleeding - seek medical advice if you have
abnormal vaginal bleeding, vaginal discharge, menstrual irregularities,
pelvic pain or have a feeling of pressure in the pelvis
Common: More than 1 in 100 people who take Tamoxifen citrate
bone or tumourpain
eye or eyesight problems
feeling light-headed
fluid retention
hair loss
headaches
high levels of cholesterol or other lipids in the blood which may lead to pancreatitis
leg cramps
nausea
thromboembolism of the veins – seek immediate medical advice
if you have a painful and swollen leg or develop breathing difficulties
or sudden chest pain
Uncommon: More than 1 in 1000 people who take Tamoxifen citrate
metabolic problems
vomiting
Rare: More than 1 in 10,000 people who take Tamoxifen citrate
abnormal laboratory test results
angioedema
blood problems
hypersensitivity reactions
liver problems
skin rash or rashes
Very rare: Fewer than 1 in 10,000 people who take Tamoxifen citrate
bone marrow problems
erythema multiforme
lung problems
skin problems
Stevens-Johnson syndrome
The frequency of these side-effects is unknown
blindness
endometriosis
secondary primary tumours
1 in 10 = 1300 of those women 1 in 100 = 130 of those women 1 in 1000 = 13 of those women
Maybe that explains why so many stop taking it...... how selfish.... thfra !
But the reality is, women are simply told....take this..... take this.... this will save your life......
And so it's official ........
Cancer is shit....
not that the cancer will kill you though......
... or for that matter where is grain now germinated in to malt ?
Now as the world debates the good cop, bad guys roles in Syria.... I thought I would focus on more mundane conundrums.
I could prattle on for hours and hours about Syria but in short, what I will say about Syria is...... Michael Gove is a fucking hypocrite of the highest order..... blathering on last night about some of his fellow MP's being disgraceful...... did he fucking blather on about the disgraceful slaughter of innocent men women and children killed at the hands of "western weapons"in Afghanistan and Iraq ? .....err..... erm...... err.... aaaah course not.... they were not slaughtered...... they were collateral damage.... how silly of me.... what a tosser he is ! If I was doing tosser of the day.... then that man, Micheal Gove would be the tosser of the day.....
No for today, I am left thinking where do all the people now go to exchange their corn and get their grains germinated as it seems all the corn exchanges and maltings have been turned into concert venues or gastro pubs.
One such malting is Snape Maltings. For anyone who finds themselves on a sunday afternoon in that part of Suffolk, you can do a lot worse than visit Snape Maltings. As it was, it was a Friday night I found my self visiting Snape Maltings.... to listen to the divine Staveley-Taylor trio of sisters.
One of their songs was a previous Friday desert Island SoD and so it was on this day last week, the Staves sang and strummed for my pleasure, usually at the same time. What was interesting about this gig, was the ticket said 7:30pm and by gove they meant it ! Usually such notation would mean the doors open at 7:30pm, so between then and the band moseying on stage 2 hours later you grab a pint or two....but nooooo this is Suffolk, this is Snape Maltings, so 7:30pm on the ticket, means plonk your arse on your seat at 7:30pm ready for the Staves to appear on stage at that time. Thankfully, we made it.
So I got home from work at 6pm, managed to get funked up, drive to Snape, have a 2 course meal, watch the Staves live, and be back in one of my local pubs by 9:30pm..... that's one thing in favour of bands coming on stage the time the ticket says !
The Staves sing some gentle little numbers and whilst I am happy to see raucous bands, even bands with a singing penis..... I am also partial to some of the more gentle songs about life.... and the Staves delivered that.... well worth a visit to see them live if you like that sort of music.... [be warned they do witter on abit between songs....and of course being sisters, they think their sisterly banter is funny..... sometimes it's not... honestly ladies.... it isn't].
But as for their singing....well fab..... If you don't get to see them live, then at least buy the album Dead Born and Grown.
So here is this weeks Friday Sod
and not a germinated grain in sight.....
right I am off to exchange some corn..
assuming there are any proper corn exchanges left........
.... Long Beach Municipal airport wants to be up to date but at the same time doesn't want to loose it's vernacular architecture, so it retains it's art deco facade and very nice it is too.....
but what did strike me [as part of it's modernisation] is perhaps they assume Americans [or even us Brits] that having just got off a plane waiting for our luggage, we don't need to be reminded of the bit that is up is the sky [as we have just got out of a plane] but very importantly that they do need to tell us........ that what we are now standing on..... is the ground.....
ta dah....
Only Americans need to be told where the ground is.....
Seeing Shiad Mahmoon hit the rogues gallery of notorious speeders, reminded me of Captain Ranty's attempt to argue that he could not be punished for speeding under the doctrine of being in lawful rebellion. To be fair, looking at some of the punishments metered out in this rogues gallery, I bet some of the miscreants wished they'd declared unlawful rebellion too !
Captain Ranty offered up a seemingly detailed and well researched argument of why he should not/could not be prosecuted for the speeding offence.
Reading through various ripostes to the proposal of his argument and the counter argument for lawful rebellion, the reality is, no matter how reasoned the argument in favour of it, it was never going to win, not before the court at least.
And reading the dialogue, is it/was it a valid argument ? couldn't say if I am honest. If I had nothing left to do in my life and was feeling a bit bored I am sure I could research it fully and come to my own conclusion, but no matter how pernicious speeding fines may seem, I think on the whole I have done quite well in my 33 years behind the wheel....not continuous I hasten to add, but I have clocked up a few miles, and in those miles I have clocked up a speeding ticket or two.
And on every occasion, yep I was unlawfully speeding. Normally the policeman/woman {delete as appropriate} when issuing said tickets, make you feel like a naughty child, and yet the last one I received, the police officer was so nice and so charming I nearly wrote to the Suffolk Chief Constable to tell him how pleased I had been with the service...... I didn't though.
Where every village in Suffolk is fixed at 30mph and with most built areas of Suffolk [and even the non built up] being a village, your chances of getting a speeding ticket are quite high.
The last time my vehicle was registered for going faster than the speed limit permitted, I was duly invited to a night class for the speed awareness course. Fantastic I thought. A night out, no fine, no points.....result.
The woman running the course, thought I had just admitted to microwaving a cat, when I happened to declare that I once drove on the German Autobahn at 145mph.
She seemed so disappointed when I told her I had broken no laws when doing so.
But having successfully graduated from the course.......now when PC Police officer stops me and says...... do you know wot speed you woz doin sir ?....... I can say yes officer..... I've been to night school for speed awareness......... and look I've got a certificate to prove it.
But looking at Captain Ranty's crusade on the speeding prosecution [part of a much wider campaign it seems] I'd have let the speeding one go, to be quite honest.*
I have a paid a total of £410 in speeding fines over the years and in 33 years covered around 495,000 miles. So overall that works out at around 0.08p per mile, twat tax. That works out at 0.0067p per litre, on my chosen brand of fuel.
Now there have been many occasions where perhaps/maybe/possibly {delete as appropriate} where the speed limit has been exceeded by me and I've not been caught.
So if one brave government said, we are not going to prosecute for speeding anymore, but we will add say 0.0067p to the cost of a litre of fuel instead, I would say that is pretty good value for money...... a lot better value, than the shit load of Duty & VAT we currently pay on fuel.
Now that idea would get my vote for sure......and to those of you out there who claim speed kills....... yeah, yeah, fucking yeah..... next you'll be telling me that wind generated power is the answer to all our energy woes.
My SoD... is this....
At the time it came out.... something different
but if only slightly dated now....
*[Captains Ranty's Crusade Postcript: He recently published an open letter to our illustrious PM - Dave I'm a Wanker Cameron . There are it seems two versions of this open letter available but I prefer this more uptodate one It is erudite, well articulated, unambiguous, and well constructed. It offers meaningful debate to DwC and most of all conveys honesty and integrity, something most of our politicians seriously lack......]
...... man boasts of his own importance to the planet, his superiority to the other animal life, his ability to change the climate, for the bad...for the good..... even claiming to harness the weather for cheap and sustainable power.....yeah right....
But you can only marvel at the ability of nature to create something that man could never achieve.....
A fire red sky.....
From the white heat, through the hot reds to the smouldering greys....sure Dawrin may have said we came from apes.....but no monkey could make this scene......
The one thing that humans are good at though..... is the ability to evoke emotion through the choice of certain words arranged in a particular order for maximum effect. Interestingly it is not limited to the english language [though mine is] and so it must be an innate talent handed down through our DNA.
Not every one has it either, but some do, and those that do, do and those that don't [like me], read and appreciate. George Orwell for me, is one of those that that do. Coming up for air especially.
For others it might be Shakespeare, for some, dare I say it.... it might even be E L James, but whoever it is for you, you know it when you see it, and when the words enter your mind, the trigger is sprung.....
Well it happens in songs too....... the killer line, and when you hear it, you just get hooked by the line..... rumer has it........so for a series of killer lines in songs.........the start is this.....
When I wake up, I see a fire red sky
And I get my down on my knees and praise in disbelief
As this beauty lay before my eyes
.... before the harmonisation of our european cross border duty and taxation joys, we would look forward with some excitement towards the visit at duty free at the airport. The prospect of cheap fags, booze and goodies.
If a trip was planned we'd save our purchase till we reached duty free. My wife still does it now....next time you are at the airport can you pick me up some estee lauder lipstick/face cream/bum rub{delete as appropriate}.
But the reality is, there isn't really such a thing as duty free at airports any more...... with the boredom of more air travel looming, I wandered round the delights of London City Airport, and checked out the price of one of my favourite tipples...... Cardhu 12 yr old malt.
On the high street it's available at £31.45 inc VAT ......whereas in Duty Not Free, my Cardhu would cost me a whopping......
£44.99 if I keep it in the EU and £40.99 if I take it out of the EU....
well that's a bargain then.... nothing to do with the ban on liquids of 101ml or more being taken into the airport in hand luggage I would think.
So not only is it not Duty Free, it's not even bloody VAT Free..... I wonder why in these day's of smart phones, so many people buy goods at duty free thinking they are getting a bargain and yet if they checked their smart phones before handing over their credit card and boarding card they might see that perhaps they are simply buying Duty Not Free.
Talking of boarding cards, I brought a packet of fruit pastilles and a bottle of coke from W H Smith at the airport...... at the till there was a big sign saying have your boarding card ready...... my bloody boarding card ready ?..... just to buy fruit pastilles ?? ....... me being the belligerent traveller I am, queried the till assistant why she needed my boarding card when she requested it from me.....[despite the sign I had not volunteered it] ......
she said so we can track your purchasing habits sir...... do I have to show my boarding card ?...... I asked in a sneering tone.... no.... she said...... I gave her cash instead.... it worked..... I walked out of the shop with my fruit pastilles and coke and W H Smith have no way of knowing it was me what brought them. Why do these friggin retailers think they are the FBI and should track our every movement ? Of course it was not the assistants fault, she was merely following orders. I did say to her....and not in a sneering way.... that I respected it was not her fault as I handed over cash sans boarding card.
Talking of coke it turns out that at Frankfurt airport, coke is more expensive than beer......
The coke was €uro 3.30...... I choose the coke
Talking of Frankfurt airport...... the things you see at an airport...... I saw this......
My immediate thought on seeing it was....... that is going to be a complete bugger to fit in the overhead locker...... no way I thought.....
Talking of things you see at an airport..... on my way home from Frankfurt... I then spotted this......
Thinking about it, they must be quite difficult to light..... and also they are quite big, I can't imagine you could smoke a whole one on your own...... I wonder if [once you've finally got it lit] you have a drag then pass it round.....bit like a shisha pipe ?.....
but when it comes to lighting it, you'd have to make sure you lit the right end....light the wrong end and it adds a whole new meaning to the phrase......christ, this tastes like smoking camel shit !
Talking of smoking I also saw this at London City Airport.......
Now as it happens I am not a smoker, but if I were I'd be looking at these and thinking......erm err erm mmmmm...... I best have the ones on the left, they are only going to seriously harm me, whereas the ones on the right are going to kill me ! I think that would be an easy choice.
They are both Monte Cristo brands, so they must have like two separate production lines, one for the cigars that will kill you and the another one, where they don't fill the cigars with as much toxins so they only seriously harm you rather than actually kill you.
Imagine at the factory....... err Bert I see you are on the killer production line today...... yes arry I thought it would be more exciting on this production line......what do they put in these cigars to kill people anyway ? ....... dunno Bert.... I heard a rumour it was camel shit...... ere arry fancy going out for a smoko ? ......sure Bert...shall we have one of your killer cigars or one of my harm you cigars ?...... err err err I think we'll have one of my killer cigars arry....bin a tough day today I could murder a cigar.
Air travel is quite boring really.... causes the brain to think lots of shit...... my brain thought lots of shit yesterday..... but as always, my way of helping switch off, is through music.
So wandering around airports/going through security/boarding planes I plug in my Sennheiser IE6 and create my sound track moments. I always have the same playlist for airport travel and there is always something quite paradoxical watching these people meandering/being herded around like cattle whilst listening to some great tracks.
Here is my Friday selection of the highlights.........
