James Barlow

Police Appeal following Copper Theft

JMB — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:05:38 +0000

Nobody likes a bent copper. You can’t get them in the machines.

Police are asking to residents in Bristol to be vigilant following several incidents of copper theft.

In recent weeks copper piping has been stolen from a number of electricity sub-stations in North Bristol. Concentrated in the BS9 and BS10 areas offenders have been breaking into the substations and stealing the copper piping inside. To do this they are pulling out plugs carrying 11,000 volts which puts themselves at risk but can send extra voltage to nearby homes and damage electrical appliances.

Speaking about the offences, Detective Constable Matt Stanford from Southmead CID said: "These offences are mainly in the North Bristol area in places such as Henbury Road and Sea Mills. The people committing these offences need to be aware of the danger they are putting themselves in. They also put at risk homes in the surrounding area which could well damage televisions and other electrical equipment. Homeowners can us tackle the problem, and in doing so reduce the risk of their homes being affected by remaining vigilant and reporting anything suspicious to the police."

Anyone with information should contact Southmead CID on 0845 456 7000. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-org.uk - they never ask your name or trace your call. Call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org We never ask for your name or trace your call.

Copper is currently trading on the London Metals Exchange at USD $7,384.00 per tonne, which is about £4.87 a kilogram. Not really worth the danger, I think. For example:

John Roberts, aged 39, then fled from Park Mills before driving to his girlfriend's house in Bramley in a panic where his hair, skin and t-shirt began burning off.

Mr Roberts, of Winrose Avenue, Belle Isle, died in the burns unit at Pinderfields General Hospital 10 days later where he had 37 per cent burns.

That’s one of almost a million search results for “copper thief death”

Blood Donation and Hypothyroidism

JMB — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:15:04 +0000

Something I didn’t know earlier today:

If you are diagnosed with an underactive thyroid, you can still donate blood as long as:

Your (levo)thyroxine dose has not changed in the last 3 months
You feel fit and well
Your hypothyroidism is not due to any malignancy, nor have not undergone surgery on your thyroid

Via the National Blood Service.

A quick thought on Compulsory pet insurance

JMB — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:01:02 +0000

The following analogy seems relevant:

Boy’s Tragic Death Could Have Happened To Any Family With 20-Foot Pet Python

Tali-banksy

JMB — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:03:12 +0000

Via War is Boring:

photo: Una Moore

Here’s an SVG version if you want to play about with it yourself

Today’s NHS anecdote

JMB — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:59:34 +0000

A transcript of a call to a British primary health care service:

Patient:   I've been asked to call this number for the results of my sample tests
Operator: Bear with me (keyboard noises)
Operator: The results are negative
Patient:    Er, is that good or bad?
Operator: I'm sorry, I'm not medically trained
Patient:   ...(long pause) I am through to the Health Centre?
Operator: Oh yes. What would you like to do?
Patient:   Well, it's difficult to know, since neither of us understands the results.
              ... (long pause)
               Could you perhaps ask someone “medical” if it's good or bad?

(2 minutes of on-hold music)

Operator: (sounding relieved) It means that you are All Clear, Nothing Found.
Patient: (even more relieved) Oh, Jolly Good!

Democracy Club – scan your local election leaflets

JMB — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:48:19 +0000

Via Democracy Club:

A massive thanks to the volunteers who organised and attended over 18 local meetings across the country last week. We gathered many more local issues and made lots of new friends. Now it's time for a new Democracy Club task!

Please dig out of the bin any election leaflets you've recently received. Or ask friends or neighbours, or wait a few days until you get one through the door.

Ready? To complete this task you first need to photograph or scan a leaflet (or several, if you want), transfer the image to your computer, and then [upload them to our website.]

Why am I being asked to do this?

Leaflets normally get thrown away and the authorities do not have an official process for monitoring dodgy election leaflets, so it's down to us to make sure there is no funny business going on where we live!

Democracy Club is doing this in partnership with our friends at The Straight Choice. They are creating a live online archive of election leaflets throughout the campaign. There are 2 reasons why this is a helpful thing to be doing:

1) Promises that candidates make in their leaflets can be compared to what they promise to do elsewhere, for example in responses to the local issues you helped collect over the last few weeks. In the future we can also compare the voting record of MPs with what they promised on the campaign trail.

2) It helps catch parties or candidates who are breaking electoral law - 2 parties have been reported to the authorities based on leaflets uploaded to The Straight Choice in the past couple of weeks.

Thanks,

Democracy Club and our friends at The Straight Choice

http://www.democracyclub.org.uk

http://www.twitter.com/democlub

Commonwealth War Grave - Bristol - Surrey Street

JMB — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:17:11 +0000

THOSE HONOURED HERE DIED IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY AND LIE BURIED IN THIS CEMETERYSERJEANT G.H. KITE // ROYAL ENGINEERS // 23.2.1919LIEUTENANT T.J. OWEN // ROYAL AIR FORCE // 13.11.1918PRIVATE W. ROBBINS // GRENADIER GUARDS // 16.1.1919PRIVATE A. TYPE // CANADIAN INF. (QUEBEC REGT) // 1.2.1918

Javascript is required to view this map.

These aren’t the thyroids you’re looking for

JMB — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:24:11 +0000

Funny thing. One day you feel slightly more knackered than usual. You shake it off, but the next day you still feel knackered. Then over the next few weeks you start forgetting things; you can’t seem to maintain concentration; finally a few months later you’re standing in front of a projector talking to a group of prospective customers when your brain just fills with fog and you end up slumped in a chair with all the productivity of a necktie wrapped round a sack of spuds.

Now a quick scan down the long list of potential diseases this could indicate – courtesy of Google Health – suggests all sorts of fascinatingly named and really unpleasant diseases that this could be. Early-onset Alzheimers sounds like the nastiest. Fortunately, after a bit of prodding by the GP, it was established that I’ve got one of the less problematic ones.

It would appear that my immune system has staged a modest industrial action and knackered my Thyroid. The down side of an underactive thyroid – Hypothyroidism - is having to take a daily dose of levothyroxine for the rest of my life, and the occasional bouts of tiredness, muscle aches and sensitivity to the cold. But, there are some pretty good points as far as illnesses goes.

Having filled in my Form FP92A, I no longer have to pay for prescriptions. So they are “free” in the modern sense of the word, in that I don’t pay for them directly.
If I’m ever asked to do any work around the house, I can regretfully decline on the grounds that “my hypo is playing up”. So far, the wife has bought it.
I’m now getting an in-depth, up-close and personal look at the mechanics of the Department of Work and Pensions. Which is something to blog about.

So, having purchased my Pill Box with Day of the week compartments about forty years ahead of schedule, I’m now suitably medicated and vaguely inclined to start blogging again.

I’m also skint, hence you will note the large quantity of Google Advertisements displaying all manner of items for your delectation and amusement, from which I have just earned about fifty pence (which is better than a poke in the eye). I heartily endorse these events or products.

Normal Service will resume shortly

JMB — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:38:25 +0000

Righto, give me a moment to blow the dust off this lot, and I'll see if I can manage some insightful political commentary. Or failing that, perhaps just some cheap shots about the local council. Pop back toward the end of the month if you're still interested in that sort of thing.

On Hiatus

JMB — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Normal service will resume shortly.