The complete works of TGR Worzel

Fix Third Avenue...

2012-02-25T19:32:00.001Z

I logged a problem on the FixMyStreet website earlier today. It will be interesting to see if anything is done about the problem.

The problem is in Third Avenue, Southampton, where my fellow van drivers and I regularly have to go head to head with an assortment of ruddy idiots driving on the wrong side of the road. I've had days where it has happened three or four times, on virtually every other inbound trip along that road. It gets a bit tiresome after a while...!

The problem is that Third Avenue runs parallel to a dual carriageway, so anybody who is unfamiliar with the area can be easily fooled into thinking that Third Avenue is also a one-way road. But it isn't...

The problem has become worse recently, as Southampton City Council have moved their Recycling Centre into that area. Traffic leaving the Recycling Centre is directed up Manor House Avenue where the see a sign pointing left showing the recycling symbol and reading "Exit". It is at this point that anybody who is unfamiliar with the area tends to be fooled into thinking that it is a one-way road. With the gardening and spring-cleaning season almost upon us, the problem can only get worse...!

What is also needed, at the Head of Manor House Avenue, is a two-way traffic sign, as pictured above.

And some big white arrows painted on the carriageway, to make things clearer.

That's what I've suggested via Fix My Street.

I've had an email telling me that the report has been passed to Southampton City Council.

Lets see how long it takes them to do something...!

Nutter or Mugger...?

2012-02-23T21:54:00.001Z

Recently, whilst innocently stood on the pavement waiting for traffic lights to change so that I could cross the road to use a cashpoint machine, I heard somebody say "Hello mate..!"

That'll be directed at me I thought, as I'm the only other person stood here.

I turned round and saw a man with a dog in his thirties stood slightly behind me. I'd never laid eyes on him or his canine companion before, a Golden Retriever. I'm not sure how old the dog was.

The approach was unsettling. A prelude to a mugging perhaps, or an approach about drugs, or an approach about homosexuality. Whatever the reason, innocent or not, I didn't much care for the situation. My defences were raised.

"Do you have any animals?" the strange man asked.

"No I'm afraid that I don't" I replied truthfully, grateful that I'd been gifted a way of killing the unwanted conversation, discretely checking behind me and hoping that a little green man would pop up soon. Either to allow me to cross the road or to abduct the person who had distracted me.

Clearly not expecting that reply, the strange man said "Oh, um , er" then paused and thought. Clearly still determined to engage me in conversation.

"What football team do you support?" he then asked.

This is really wierd, I thought. It would be a sensible enough conversation whilst propping up the bar at the pub perhaps, but a little unusual when trying to cross the road. Why aren't we talking about the weather or something equally innocuous? Even asking me about the state of the pavements would make a lot more sense at the moment, in the context of that by-election..

But I had to answer the question about football.

Aware that even the hint of supporting the wrong team can sometimes lead to all sorts of bother, I very carefully said "I just support good football really. It doesn't matter who's playing, I just like to see a good game".

"Oh, um, er" was the answer. I'd successfully killed the conversation again.

"So if you did support a team, which one would it be?" was the next question.

I was stuck now. Unable to think of a way of politely killing the conversation.

"Well I suppose it would be one of the local teams. Its always good to see how they are getting on", I said non-commitally. Now grateful that the lights had changed and it was safe to cross the road.

"I support Man Utd and West Ham" the strange man replied as we crossed the road together, clearly pleased now that he'd got the conversation going.

"That's nice" I said, taking a snap decision to also say "cheerio", walk into the Bank and withdraw cash over the counter instead of using the cashpoint machine that was situated outside.

What would you have done...?

Worzel concedes defeat...

2012-02-20T18:36:00.000Z

After a great deal of careful consideration, I have taken a very big decision today. I know it will please some people and disappoint others, but my circumstances are such that I know that this is now the right thing for me to do.

I have been building up to it for some time and everything fell into place this afternoon. The decision is now taken. It is irreversible

What is Worzel waffling on about now, I hear you ask....?

Well, I'm aware that there's a brief summary of this posting in the feed on the Eastleigh News website, so I thought I would have some fun with my opponents in the Shamblehurst by-election...!

I'm sorry to disappoint you all, ROFL, but I've actually taken the decision to buy some reading glasses. I've been putting it off for as long as possible, but conceded defeat and purchased a couple of a pairs today.

I don't have too much difficulty reading, generally speaking, but occasionally I do find the small print difficult. I have noticed myself reaching for the magnifying glass on a couple of occasions, which is a good clue that I need reading glasses. At least I've been able to postpone the evil day until I turned 50. I don't think my eyesight has done too badly...

What made me decide to go for it today, was that I saw that Poundland in Eastleigh stocked reading glasses. I couldn't believe that they were only a quid, I had to ask, but sure enough that's all they cost. A quid per pair.

Great, I'll have two pairs I thought. One to keep at home and one for the van.

Perhaps that will stop me from delivering parts to the wrong customers now...?

In praise of Blue Badges, and Mary Portas...

2012-02-19T13:02:00.000Z

These blue badges are jolly handy. I don't qualify for one myself, but Big Joolie does so we use it when I take her shopping. The rules permit that.

The badge is allocated to the disabled person and is valid whatever car they are in. It is perfectly legal for me to place it in the windscreen of my car if I'm running Big Joolie around, provided she gets out of the car when I park it.

Even when going to the pub the blue badge is handy, as we can park in a disabled bay near the door and she doesn't have to walk any further than is absolutely necessary on her arthritic hip. Its brilliant.

A couple of days ago, we went to Portswood in Southampton. I couldn't find a vacant disabled bay, but the badge was still useful as it allowed me to park in a 30 mins only bay and not worry about that time restriction. We then had 3 hours to do what we needed to do, which was plenty.

I can even park on yellow lines if there is no alternative, provided there are no loading restriction and I'm not causing an obstruction. But I don't like doing that. Yellow lines are there for a reason and I'm conditioned not to park on them, so it is better to find another option like that 30 minute bay, if it is possible to do so.

The biggest problem that I can see with the blue badge is that it is so convenient and parking charges on the High Street are so extortionate, that many people are tempted to abuse the privilige. I can't prove it, but motorists "borrowing" Aunties blue badge to use for their own purposes could well have been why I couldn't park in the official disabled bay, with Big Joolie, on Friday.

There's no way I would borrow Big Joolies badge just to make parking easier and cheaper for myself. I only use it when she's with me and we're out on a trip together. If I'm out on my own, I park normally. I wish everybody would follow that basic rule.

But there is another side to this. If I'm out on my own, I tend to go to places where I know the parking is easiest. Which means I wouldn't go to places like Portswood ordinarily. So the blue badges can actually help bring more custom to the High Street.

Or put another way, difficult parking will reduce the amount of trade that is attracted to the High Street.

Its true. When walking round Portswood the other day, I thought it was quite an attractive little shopping area with a reasonable range of shops, but I wouldn't go there ordinarily because parking is tricky. I'd only go to Portswood if on a specific mission and I needed to visit a specific shop. If I can buy the items anywhere, I'll go elsewhere if the parking is tricky.

That 30 minute restriction in Portswood for instance, barely leaves me time to cross a tricky road junction and walk to the shops and back

The Portas Review picked up on this last year. If we want our High Streets to recover, Town Councils need to stop thinking of the motorist as a cash cow and/or a nuisance, and make parking easier.

Town Planners, please note...!

Campaign capers, no 1

2012-02-11T22:57:00.001Z

I've been out leafleting today, covering 450 letterboxes in 3 hours 45 minutes. Feet, hip and crotch were all sore when I got home, due to all the walking and chafing of trousers...!

Despite that, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Even the sub-zero temperatures were OK.

It was rather unnatural though, pushing leaflets that promoted myself through other peoples letterboxes. That's not the sort of thing that I would usually want to do, it is not my personality, I'm no extrovert, but it clearly has to be done if standing as a candidate in a by-election.

One of things that I thought might happen this morning, was that I would kindly be given one of the opposition leaflets. Sure enough, that duly happened..

My Tory competitor, near neighbour, colleague and mate had been out leafleting too, with a team of helpers, and he subsequently mailed me to say that he had had the same good fortune.

Although we are competitors, our politics are very different, we get on OK and agreed to meet up to compare "trophies", to see what the Lib Dem candidate was saying.

I thought I'd be courteous and also give my competitor one of my leaflets. He's going to pick one up anyway I thought, its in the public domain now so why not...?

On meeting, I was most impressed to find that he already had one of my leaflets, literally only a few hours after I'd stuffed it through somebody's letterbox. We had a good laugh about that...!

I expect the Liberal Democrats campaign HQ also had a copy of my leaflet in their hands very quickly. These party machines are really quite impressive sometimes, frustrating but impressive...

No wonder the independents struggle to get elected outside of the Parish Council environment. It is very difficult for one-man bands to compete with these well-oiled party machines, not least because of the considerable resources, people and money, that they can throw at election campaigns...

A problem more dangerous than speeding...

2012-02-10T22:12:00.004Z

There's a lot of fuss about speeding where I live at the moment, with a new Community Speedwatch team and our unimaginative, vote-hungry Borough Councillors being pictured on their newsletters holding fake smiles and a 20mph sign. I understand that next year they're going to be holding red flags...!

Now really chaps. 30mph limits are OK around town. 20mph limits should be the rare exception rather than the norm. We buy cars to get us from A to B efficiently, but doing so depends on us being allowed to drive them...

If we're campaigning for greater road safety, there is an even more dangerous problem that we need to tackle.

Undertaking. The act of overtaking another vehicle on its left.

The Highway Code, rule 163, states;

Only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so.
Stay in your lane if traffic is moving slowly in queues. If the queue on your right is moving more slowly than you are, you may pass on the left.

So you can overtake on the left when traffic is queueing, but rule 163 is clearly not a licence to undertake free flowing traffic doing Motorway speeds.

In practice, what seems to happen on the Motorway is that impatient motorists overtake on the left when the traffic is free flowing and moving at speed. If there's a gap and the opportunity to weave through traffic those impatient fools will go for it.

Now I write about this tonight, because I encountered a really good example today of why undertaking is dangerous.

I was in lane 3 of the M27 and shortly about to join the M271, so I needed to change lane. There's a huge blind-spot on the left of the van and another blind spot behind (due to the twin rear doors), so I tend to do such lane changes steadily, in two separate manoeuvres. Being cautious has saved me from bending the van on a number of occasions.

My lane 3 to lane 2 manoeuvre was routine. No problem.

But just as I started the lane 2 to lane 1 manoeuvre, I noticed a blue Rover in my rear view mirror, closing quickly, travelling probably 20mph faster than the 60mph or so that I was doing, and darting from lane 3 to lane 1 in an attempt to undertake me. A split second later the blue Rover appeared in the passenger door mirror and was virtually alongside me, just as I was driving over the dotted line between lane 1 and lane 2, part-way through my lane change.

Good observation allowed me to alter my line, leave a bit of room and avoid a big shunt. The driver of the Rover braked hard and ran over the hard-shoulder before dropping well back without any horn tooting or light flashing, clearly having realised his mistake.

When clear, I completed the lane change and slowed down a bit more. Just to make the point about impatience.

Personally, I hope the other motorist messed himself - big time.
I trust he has now learned the lesson.

Undertaking at high speed is contrary to the Highway Code and is dangerous, particularly when undertaking vans and lorries which have blind spots.

The rule is there for a reason.

Franchising and Local People...

2012-02-05T23:32:00.003Z

I've just been looking at a web page which describes the franchise opportunities with the Local People group, the people who own the HedgeEndPeople website.

I'm not really minded to take it on at the moment, I've more than enough on my plate as it is, but it was an interesting read nevertheless, comprising slick presentation and a sales pitch to be taken with a large pinch of salt.

Look at the a day in the life page. It is clearly an idealised situation, designed to appeal to Mums who are desperate to work from home and fit their life around school hours, but is heavily qualified by;

This timetable is for illustrative purposes only and your actual working hours will depend on how you decide to run your own franchise.

Or put another way, your day will usually be nothing like this really. Nice as it sounds, there are 1001 everyday problems that will stop you from living your life like this...

The your earning potential page is another good example. It contains a table which shows the earning potential of the franchise, but those statistics are heavily qualified by;

...we show some example numbers for your first year only to give you an idea of the sort of money that you could earn with a localpeople franchise. These numbers are built on very basic assumptions and are for illustrative purposes only...

Or put another way, the statistics in that table do not reflect the real world, where business are cautious about advertising in the midst of a recession.

And of course the one very important thing that they don't tell you on this website, is how much the licence and monthly royalties costs. That sort of omission immediately tells me to steer clear of the idea.

My observation, partly from the response to the adverts that appear on this blog, is that in the real world there is a significant risk that the cost of a franchise might prove to be more than you can earn via the income from local advertising revenue.

So don't be tempted by the slick presentation and the sales pitch. Having personally contributed a lot to the HedgeEndPeople website over the last few years, my advice is to venture into this sort of franchise with great caution.

My top tip is if you want to get rich quick, don't become a franchisee. Be inventive and become the franchisor instead...

Where the Big Society would make a difference...

2012-02-05T14:06:00.000Z

I was very surprised yesterday, at how concerned Big Joolie felt about the prospect of snow and ice. She was petrified really, about the prospect of it returning over the next few days.

Big Joolie walks with a stick these days, partly because she previously fell over on untreated pavements whilst venturing out to the shop for a packet of fags. She clearly doesn't want the same thing to happen again, maybe breaking a hip or a wrist this time, risking being admitted to hospital on a Sunday and not coming out...

We did venture out in the car yesterday, to the local Toby Carvery for a liquer coffee. That was partly because I wanted to test the ABS on the Worzel-mobile, which I haven't been able to do previously. The other reason we went out was that Big Joolie hadn't been out for a couple of days, and was bouncing off the walls of her flat...

I was surprised to see that even the walk from the disabled bay in the car park to the pub entrance, through the light slush that had accumulated in a wintry shower, proved worrying for Big Joolie. She is unable to shift her weight or alter her balance very quickly if needed to avoid a fall.

So why is it that our local Council cannot be bothered to clear pavements of snow and ice...?

I'm sure there are lots of people having this problem, including the lady pictured in the photo.

I guess it comes down to the question of money, and Council Tax.

I'm always one of the first to complain when Council Tax goes up. That's because I now have to work for a whole month to pay my annual Council Tax bill, but if we could reduce some of the wastage, on new or refurbished Civic Offices, on outsourcing work (esp Care Homes) to Private Contractors at ludicrous rates that are milking the Taxpayer, on unnecessary Consultants and so on, perhaps it would be possible to do more about icy pavements...?

Even giving all the able bodied males in the area, esp the unemployed ones, a snow shovel, a couple of bags of de-icing salt and asking them to be prepared to clear a section of pavement would be a useful improvement on the current situation...

Another small step...

2012-01-30T18:14:00.002Z

Well I handed in my nomination papers at the Civic Offices today. I was told that all was in order, so I'm now expecting my name to appear on the list of candidates for the Shamblehurst by-election in Hedge End, when that list is announced on Friday.

Having gone through the "why am I doing this..?" phase a few evenings ago, it is a much nicer feeling being where I am this evening. The nomination process is out of the way, I'm up and running and now thinking about the campaign.

Looking back, getting nominated for the Town/Parish Council is also a reasonably easy process, just daunting when you embark on it for the first time.

There was no deposit to find and only two signatures are needed from people who live in the ward, plus their electoral registration numbers. I managed to find people who were happy to nominate me without having to knock on any doors, social networking can help here, and the electoral registration numbers proved ridiculously easy, requiring only a quick visit to the Town Council Offices.

So if I can do it anybody can do it.

Which is more than just an observation, it is a plea.

Too many elections for Hedge End Town Council have been allowed to go uncontested in recent years. That is not healthy for local democracy. We need election campaigns to help bring local issues to the fore, to challenge the existing Councillors and kick them out of their comfort zone. We need contests between candidates from opposing parties and independents like me.

We need ballots to take place instead of allowing Lib Dems to co-opt other Lib Dems.

We've certainly got to stop Lib Dem Councillors from being returned by default, because nobody can be bothered to challenge them...

The economics of leafleting

2012-01-29T21:13:00.001Z

One of the few disadvantages of standing for election as an independent candidate, is that there are no party funds to cover the cost of leafleting. I'll have to fund it out of my own pocket, until I get established locally and one or two donations start to roll in, perhaps...

My first leaflet is more or less ready to go, but where should I go to get it printed...?

Money certainly is an object when leafleting has to be funded out of my own pocket, so I'll have to do it in a way that is cost effective. A5 black on white, 80gsm paper will be absolutely fine. There's no need for anything too fancy. Particularly as many of the leaflets will quickly go into the bin...!

I've discovered that there are some interesting online print services, such as Instaprint, which could print 1000 A5 flyers for £44, but on 120gsm paper. That's quite a good price actually, but the paper is possibly a bit heavier than is really needed...?.

So it looks like my local print shop will be the place to go. Currently offering an unbelievable 2000 A5 flyers, black on 80gsm pastel, for £39.50. I don't think they can be beaten.

But its a pity I only need 1000 leaflets. I don't really want to put a huge pile of unwanted leaflets into my green wheelie bin, so I need a solution that is a little more flexible over quantities. Well, in the longer term at least. Due to the pressures of time, I'll probably have to run with my local print shop for this first leaflet, and ask them to just print the 1000 or so that I need. I'm not sure I'll get a reduction in price for the reduced quantity though. They didn't seem to keen when I enquired about that the other day, saying it wasn't worth their while. I can see their point, but I don't want to buy 2000 and throw 1000 away, risking the obvious "Independent candidate kills tree's unnecessarily" headline...

So what is the longer term solution, that is economical, flexible and reliable....?

Maybe one of these mono laser printers would do the job. The Samsung ML1670, pictured above, is quite cheap to buy and it should comfortably cope with the mass production of a couple of thousand leaflets once in a while.

Reams of A5 paper are also relatively cheap from Viking Direct, especially if I buy in bulk.

The main expense would be the toner cartridges, but that can also be minimised by buying from somewhere like IJT Direct

I'd have to try it to see how it worked out in practice, but if I assume that I could possibly get 2000 A5 flyers from one toner cartridge, using 4 reams of A5 paper, that would be approximately £65 per 2000 leaflets (or £32.50 per 1000), once I've purchased the printer.

But that unbelievable price from my local print shop still looks pretty competitive.
Whilst they can hold that offer, I might as well use them I suppose...

Chat not cheat...

2012-01-28T23:48:00.000Z

I ordered a replacement telephone cord on Ebay a couple of weeks ago. I had a choice of a 3m cord and a 1.5m cord, so opted for the longer one. There wasn't much difference in price and the longer lead would be more convenient. The longer cord would allow me to sit on the stairs and chat, if I wanted to.

What I received a few days later was the 1.5m cord. I'm sure you can see the difference. It is obvious. Just count the number of coils.

I sent a message to the seller, but there was no reply.

I then opened a Case on Ebay and surprise, surprise, there was no immediate reply.

About a week later, just as the deadline for the seller responding was approaching, I did get a reply. In dodgy English. The seller maintained that he'd dispatched the correct item, the photo's were for illustrative purposes only, it was the length of the cable that was used to form the coil that was 3m and the cord should be expected to extend maybe only to 50% of that length.

I bet Trading Standards wouldn't agree with that I thought, so I insisted that by counting the number of coils it was clear that I'd been sent the shorter lead. It was also the same length as the standard 1.5m lead that I was replacing on the phone. I pointed out that the photo's were supposed to be accurate, stuck my ground and agreed a 50p refund. The difference in price between the two cords.

Yes I know. One can't even buy a bag of chips for 50p these days, but it was the principle. If Ebay traders are going to cheat, there's got to be a consequence to help make Ebay a safer place to do business. I felt that the partial refund did the job nicely.

Or it would have done if I'd received the refund. 3 days later, after agreement had been reached and the Case had been closed, I still hadn't received the refund.

I checked with Ebay who said they'd refer the Case to their "Trust and Safety" team, said that they couldn't issue a refund as the case had been closed but suggested that I leave "honest feedback for the transaction if the seller won't co-operate".

Which is what I did earlier today.
If you read this blog regularly, I bet you can imagine what I would write by way of honest feedback...!

Needless to say I've now received the partial refund and have now had a message, in perfect English, asking me to revise the feedback.

I can't actually do that unless I get a formal "Request to revise feedback" via the Ebay system. I've then got 10 days to "Agree and revise" or "Disagree and state a reason".

As this problem could have been sorted out within hours of my raising it, and I still feel that the seller was trying to cheat me, I'm tempted to use every minute of that 10 day period.

But lets wait and see if I receive such a request. Sellers are only allowed to issue five of these per 1000 transactions. I suspect this seller might have already used his allocation...

I know I'll probably get negative feedback myself, but that's better than giving undeserved positive feedback just for the sake of maintaining my own feedback score

I can easily neutralise any negative feedback by replying to those comments and frankly if I've sharpened-up a sloppy-seller, kicked him out of his complacency, I'll have done all you other Ebayer's a favour...

Worzels new blog

2012-01-27T09:30:00.001Z

Having decided to stand in the forthcoming by-election in the Shamblehurst ward of Hedge End Town Council, the Borough Elections too probably, I think it is time to start a new blog.

I have been blogging here, on The Complete Works of TGRWorzel, for a few years now. It is a personal blog where I write about anything and everything, from how I feel on a particular day to the merits of adjustable spanners. It has proven to be an interesting hobby and a useful tool. As I now have many regular visitors and an expanding global audience, I obviously don't want to bore the pants of you with the campaign material for these local elections, which are specific to Hedge End and Eastleigh.

I have therefore decided to post that campaign material on The Hedge End Independent instead. My regular audience can easily link across to read that campaign material if you want to. This new blog The Hedge End Independent will be more tightly focused on local politics than is the case here, on my personal blog.

But don't worry. The Complete Works of TGRWorzel will continue, as you know and love it...

I hope you will enjoy reading both blogs.

Taking the proverbial...

2012-01-24T22:56:00.000Z

Christmas seems a long time ago now, I'm already counting the shopping days until the next one (NOT!), but to mark the occasion in 2011, I was given some curiously labelled Ale in a special gift pack. For anybody who is baffled, the labelling plays on the name and the location of the Dorset Piddle Brewery.

What's slightly worrying is that two people had the same bright idea, I received two such gift packs last Xmas, but thanks anyway. Its the thought that counts...!

Now one of the things I like to do on a Tuesday is to get a little bit of interaction going with Tom Bott on Skyline Gold, that's 102.5FM if you are in the Southern Parishes area of Eastleigh. I can't do it every week unfortunately, but Tom's a good sport, he seems to appreciate the interaction and we've certainly had some fun on air over the last few months. We've probably bored his other listener witless actually...

Anyway, I contacted Tom this evening to say I'd bolted the door, taken the batteries out of the doorbell and taken the phone off the hook, ready to settle down and enjoy his show. Tom replied on air, suggesting that I settle down with my favourite tipple...

That's not a bad idea I thought, so in search of something suitable I stumbled across this Ale in my kitchen cupboard. Not exactly forgotten, but tucked away for just such an occasion.

There were five different Ales to choose from, all named along similar lines, so I picked this one, opened it up and settled down to relax.

The description on the back of the label reads;

Piddle: Full bodied Amber beer. Sweet and malty with a fruity caramel nose leading to a resinous hoppy finish with a twist of citrus. Filtered and gently carbonated.

I concluded that it was well labelled...

A giant leap...

2012-01-23T22:56:00.000Z

You know it is a really strange feeling, taking the various steps towards standing in a local election for the first time. One by one, getting ever closer to the point where my name appears on a ballot paper...

I know the established and more experienced politicians will laugh, but when tackling this process for the first time it is not as easy as you think. Perhaps that's why we are struggling to find local Councillors and some local elections are going uncontested...?

You see it is not what I do really. I'm not a career politician. I'm a blogger, a writer, an ex-Civil Servant, a semi-retired former IT specialist, now a van driver for God's sake...!

I'm only doing this because I'm thoroughly dissatisfied with the way things are at the moment and I want things to be better. I'd much rather that I could entrust it all to the career politicians, but experience has shown that career politicians from the main political parties are probably the last people we should allow to run local Councils. Certainly the last people we should allow to run Westminster and Europe and parties in breweries...

So I think that we need a little revolution locally. We need more ordinary local people to ditch their TV's as I have done, and become more actively involved with their Town/Parish Councils.

This evenings small step for career-politicians kind, but a giant leap for TGR Worzel, was working on an election leaflet. I've never done anything like that before. It was a completely alien experience. I'm satisfied with it this evening, it says what I want it to say, but we'll have to wait and see how well received it is.

The next big step is to find a couple of people to nominate me, once the formal announcement of the by-election has been made. Later this week I think...

Any volunteers...?

So long as you live in the Shamblehurst ward of Hedge End and are on the electoral roll, you are eligible to do so. It would be great to hear from you. Thanks in anticipation.

Not least because it'll postpone the next giant leap, of knocking on doors, canvassing.
I'm really not looking forward to doing that.

If I'd wanted to spend my time knocking on doors I'd have become a Double Glazing Salesman.

It has got to be done though, if I want to help change things for the better in Hedge End.

The alternative is to let things carry on as they are, and that's an even less attractive thought...!

First encounter with a shopping buggy...

2012-01-22T14:57:00.001Z

Having managed to get my car out without further drama, I took Big Joolie shopping yesterday. We needed a new microwave oven, so went to Asda in Chandlers Ford. Because she's got an arthritic hip and can't walk very far these days, I've tended to push her around Asda in a wheelchair. Its a big store and if you want a loaf of bread which is in the far corner, you're stuffed if you've got a dodgy leg...

But there wasn't a loan wheelchair available yesterday, it was in use I guess, so we opted to use one of these shopping buggies instead. Big Joolie has been unsure of them for weeks, very worried about it running away with her, going faster than her reaction times and mowing down any little old ladies who got in her way. She therefore preferred me to push her in a manual wheelchair, but we had no choice yesterday. She had to use the buggy.

She actually found that its brilliant. Dead easy to use and very controllable. She loved it.

I found that it was a lot easier too. All I had to do was keep an eye out for any approaching hazards and give advice on how to manoeuvre it through tight spaces. She's never driven a car so manoeuvring the buggy didn't come naturally to her, espescially when going backwards.

The best thing though, was that I didn't have to push her weight around, using a wheelchair where the handles were too low. The buggy was a lot easier on my back...!

Well it was for a while.

After picking up the microwave, which sat nicely in the basket of the buggy, we went round the rest of the store. But just as we got to the furthest point, the bread counter, the battery started to go flat.

It held out for a little while and the buggy continued to roll with just a little assistance from me pushing gently.

But by the time we'd got back to the checkouts it was dead.

I thus had to push Big Joolie, the microwave, all of her other shopping and the buggy whilst fighting against the inertia of the motor....

So it wasn't that much easier after all.

The buggy was great, but I discovered that they're a pain (in the back, and lower) if the batteries aren't fully charged...!

That petition - the counter argument...!

2012-01-21T14:45:00.000Z

Now I do try to be fair, so I probably ought to write about the counter argument to my e-petition, which is to Prevent Councillors from serving on several Councils.

I am still of the opinion that is unhealthy. It can cause a problem if a decision impacting Hedge End is taken at Eastleigh Borough Council and the same people are then able to push it through at Hedge End Town Council. I'm afraid that I'll go to my grave feeling that situation is wrong...

But I will concede that the Borough Councillors being on the Town Council was jolly useful the other evening, as I was able to raise my parking problem with them at the full Council meeting. Parking is an issue for the Borough Council really, but the Town Councillors were pleased to be made aware of the local issue and I was promised that it would be taken forward at the next appropriate Borough Council meeting. Which was great. Literally all that I had wanted from the Town Council meeting. Thank you.

I feel it was a useful way of doing things because the Councillors have now had the chance to think about this for a few days, maybe even look into a way forward, before the Borough Council meeting on Monday. If I had turned-up with this issue at the Borough meeting and asked to speak, I'd have hit them with it cold and I'm not sure that's always the best thing to do. I know that I'd be cautious about answering questions off the cuff if I was put in that situation. The little bit of extra time, the forewarning, might help the process work more effectively...?

So whilst this multiple hats business can cause problems when issues such as new housing are being directed down the chain, there are clearly some advantages when issues are being directed the other way...

So what's the solution, anybody...?

I don't beelieve it...!

2012-01-19T21:45:00.001Z

What in the name of Bl**dy Hell...?!!

Just as I was recovering from the depression caused by that parking issue last weekend, I drove past the end of my road yesterday to find yet another thoughtless obstruction. I just had to take a photo.

I could theoretically come and go at any time, so the entrance to my property should really be left clear at all times. And there's absolutely no excuse in this instance, as there's plenty of room behind the black car.

So I'm afraid that set me back for a while. As I sailed past the entrance to a customer I was trying to deliver to, not realising that I had reached the point where I should turn in, and not doing it once but twice, taking three attempts to effect the delivery, it's questionable whether I should have been driving after I had encountered this latest problem yesterday...

But the last place I wanted to be was at home, so I carried on and somehow got through the afternoon.

I did manage to present the problem to Hedge End Town Council yesterday evening, who noted the issue and promised to take it up at Borough Council level. That was a good way of "dealing with the stressors", and recovering again. We'll wait and see what happens.

I also emailed Parking Services in Eastleigh yesterday evening.

It seems that they didn't read that Email carefully enough, or maybe I wrote in a rush and wasn't quite clear enough, or maybe they only want to tackle the easier problems, as the reply I received today reads;

... I have studied the two photographs and assume that the red Astra is parked across your neighbours dropped kerb. If this is the case the vehicle is not in contravention as the white line across the dropped kerb is advisory only and not enforceable except at the request of the resident. I appreciate that the road in ..... is quite narrow and does make exiting a driveway difficult with other vehicles parked close by but from an enforcement point of view there is nothing that our department can do.

Have Parking Services not noticed that the problem is actually the black Astra...?

Either way, I now know exactly how Victor Meldrew felt...

Update 20/1/12: I have had a further email from Parking Services today which reads;

Apologies Mr Turner, afraid I got the wrong end of the stick! If you ring us when the vehicle is parked across your dropped kerb we can enforce and issue a penalty charge notice to the vehicle. You do have to be in attendance when the officer arrives to confirm that you asked for enforcement.

In the pit (again!)

2012-01-15T22:16:00.002Z

It has not been one of my better weekends. I'm afraid one has been "in the pit" for a while. Fortunately I've been here before, I know the causes and the symptoms and I can usually get myself out of it. It is when people can't drag themselves back out of "the pit" that serious things can happen.

So my experience is worth a blog I reckon. Worth doing if it helps somebody else.

This is actually a really good diagram, from HealthHart.org, explaining how one can be dragged down into serious depression, but also showing that there are ways out of it. There is hope. If I've a criticism it is that anxiety should appear in this diagram too, though perhaps that's what they mean by "negative thinking"...?

I say it is a good diagram because it is similar to my experience/observation, which is that depression is like walking down a spiral staircase, accumulating a couple of extra Kg of weight with every step. Eventually you reach the stage where you physically can't go upwards, the only way onward is down into Hell, accelerating rapidly because of the weight.

Clearly, the only way out is to shed some of the weight, or gain extra strength somehow...?
But in the real world, gaining strength is often easier said than done...

In my case, when I first encountered this problem, I told the Office for National Statistics what they could do with their job. Dramatic, but it worked. I'd escaped the bad management that was causing the problem. The trouble is, once you've been that low, future resistance to the problem seems to be diminished. It can set in ridiculously easily. I know that sounds odd, but if you've experienced it you'll know what I mean...

So my experience is that it is much better to avoid the point of no return. My advice is to take early action to resolve the depression problem. Don't let yourself go too far down the spiral staircase.

So what's caused the recurrence of my problem this weekend...?

One of my inconsiderate neighbours, of course.

This one in particular has two dead cars on his driveway and has recently acquired a van which he now parks across the front of them. The car that he regularly uses thus has to be parked on the road.

Which is fine, except that if anybody else is parked where his car normally goes he'll either park so close that they can't move or he'll park either fully or partially across my drive. And if he doesn't obstruct my driveway, one of his many inconsiderate visitors might.

Parking across driveways obviously causes me a practical problem. It is doubly annoying as the dropped kerb is delineated by a white H bar. There is no excuse whatsoever...

It also causes stress, mainly because the situation is out of my control and I'm trapped, but also because I'd prefer to get on with my neighbours. I don't particularly want to be arguing with them. I get no satisfaction or pleasure out of it...

Now this obstruction problem happened yesterday, just as I was planning to nip out to Sainsbury's, so I went and spoke to my neighbour about it, trying to regain control of the situation, "dealing with the stressors" as the diagram explains it.

Neighbour reluctantly moved the car, but would clearly have preferred that I'd waited until he'd gone out himself, i.e. not inconveniencing himself at all...

As often happens with these neighbourly disputes, the guilty party tried to shift the blame onto the victim (me), for even daring to mention that there was a problem. He said he'd told all his friends and relations not to park there. "It applies to you too", said I...!

Now I would still have struggled to get my car out after he'd moved his, because it is a narrow cul-de-sac and there was still insufficient room to swing my car round. I was also expecting the argument to take off in another direction as neighbour had now parked millimetres from one of my other (more sensible) neighbours vehicles. I thus decided to have another cup of tea, not rush out onto the road whilst stressed, wait for Twat neighbour to bugger off and be ready in case any further arguments broke out...

Which subsequently got me branded a liar about wanting to go out. Nothing could have been further from the truth actually...

Anyway, my point is that this unnecessary stress sent me on the downward spiral on Saturday evening. I find it is really difficult to stop once the downward spiral has started, particularly if one lives on ones own. It was getting quite bad again. The only thing that seems to ease it, and give me a fighting chance, is sleep...

Which worked, I felt better this morning. But I was still stressed and anxious when out and about today, wondering if I was coming home to another unwanted and unnecessary argument. I could feel the downward spiral starting again...

Fortunately there hasn't been a recurrence of the obstruction problem today. That would really not have been good.

We'll see what happens next, over the next few days and weeks.

I'll close with one other pertinent thought.

1. There has been a lot of discussion recently about the 1000's of new homes that are to be built in Eastleigh, which will squeeze as many homes as possible onto the sites that are available. The development of such densely populated areas can only lead to greater incidence of these sort of social/health problems...

Make that two pertinent thoughts.

2. Do I really want to be a Town or Borough Councillor if I'm still vulnerable to this sort of health issue...? Hmmmm, maybe not, but lets see how I feel when fully recovered again.

Update 17/1/12: Just in case anybody thinks that parking issues are trivial, see this story. These parking disputes do spiral and not always into depression. I've checked with Eastleigh Borough Council and they tell me that a Traffic Order which will (amongst other things) extend the double yellow lines further into my cul-de-sac and past the front of my house should be issued in the new financial year, i.e. put out to consultation etc, so there is hope. It takes a long time but logging these obstructive parking incidents with the Police (via 101) and the Council does help.

As for being a Councillor, I'm tending to take the view that by having experienced these problems myself, I'm better placed to understand the problems that other people are having and that's a really good place to be if doing the Councillors job. Experience of life, good & bad, is everything...

Two weeks with no TV...!

2012-01-15T10:43:00.001Z

My TV licence expired on 31st December and I decided not to renew it. Two weeks on, I haven't really missed the TV. I knew I wouldn't...!

Everything is disconnected and stored away, in such a way that it is not easy to be tempted to cheat. I've taken fuses out and disconnected the aerial in the loft. It'll take me a while to get it operational again. I can't just switch-on for a sneaky peek at the weather forecast or the football results. My TV equipment is disconnected and de-installed and will stay that way.

I'm fed up with paying £145.50 every year. A better system of funding the BBC is needed. It was a sensible solution 60 years ago when the BBC was the only broadcaster, but things have moved on and the TV licensing system has had its day

I have filled out the "No licence needed" declaration on the TV licensing website, the TV licensing people have written to me acknowledging that declaration and have said that they might send somebody round to check. Their argument for doing this is that in one in five cases they find that a TV licence is needed. They seem to have lost sight of the fact that in four out of five cases, the householder is honest...!

But I haven't seen anybody yet, unless they've called when I've been out.

As I suspected I haven't really missed the TV. The main thing I've missed is the weather forecast, but I've discovered that I can legitimately watch that on iplayer if I want to.

The TV licensing website explains that;

The law states that you need to be covered for a TV Licence if you watch or record television programmes, on any device, as they're being shown on TV. This includes TV's, computers, mobile phones, games consoles, digital boxes and Blu-ray/DVD/VHS recorders.

You don't need a licence if you don't use any of these devices to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV - for example, if you use your TV only to watch DVDs or play video games, or you only watch 'catch-up' services like BBC iPlayer or 4OD.

So that's pretty clear then.

It seems we can use any of the following catch-up services to watch programmes that have already been broadcast and stay within the law, even if we don't have a TV licence. The only thing to be careful of, is that we shouldn't watch any programme that is being live-streamed, i.e. shown on iPlayer at the same time as it is being broadcast via a TV signal. Not too difficult if we are disciplined in the way that we use iPlayer...

BBC iPlayer
ITV player
4OD
Demand 5

It also seems that we can still have a TV connected to a DVD player and remain legal, provided the TV (or DVD player) isn't connected to an aerial or any other means of receiving TV broadcasts...

Finally, just in case anybody doubts me, here's a photo of where the TV used to be. I've found that it is an ideal spot to place the de-humidifer.

Watching the water drip down into the bucket is actually a lot more interesting than watching Eastenders...

Why do Trouser malfunctions always happen at inconvenient moments...?

2012-01-11T19:39:00.001Z

Oh dear.

How terribly embarrassing.

I spent an hour yesterday evening at the Community and Culture committee in Hedge End. I was keen to go because I'd written about the previous meeting (December) not being able to raise a quorum. I was keen to see if the committee did any better this time.

The agenda looked interesting too, and so it turned out. Enough Councillors turned up this time for a quorum to be formed and it was a very informative meeting, well worth my time. You can read about it on Eastleigh News if you would like to.

But a little more interesting for the Town Councillors perhaps, than for me...

Item 8 on the agenda asked the press and public to leave the meeting, as the final item on the agenda covered some "exempt business". The Committee needed to discuss the "Serving the Community" awards, and choose winners I presume, so it was entirely reasonable for that to be done out of the public eye.

As I was the sum total of he press and public, the only such person who turned up for the meeting, I collected my things together and stood up when asked to leave, exchanged a brief few words with the Councillors, wished them all good evening and tried to make my exit as inconspicuously as possible, not stopping to put my coat on, being careful not to drop things on the floor etc....

On walking down the stairs though, I noticed that something rather important didn't feel quite right.

On checking, I discovered that my trouser flies had burst open. The zipper toggle thing was at the top of the zip in exactly the right place, so I'd done them up, but for some reason the teeth on the zip had sprung apart....

OMG I thought, I've just stood in front of Hedge End's Culture committee with my flies undone....

Even Compo Simmonite, he of the dangerous trousers in Last of the Summer Wine, didn't manage to do anything quite as embarrassing as that...!

The end of the World isn't nigh. Well, probably...!

2012-01-05T19:01:00.002Z

BBC Radio 4's Material World have just broadcast another fascinating programme, this time with the whole 30 minutes dedicated to the end of the World, which some say is due to happen on 21st December 2012.

You can listen to the broadcast here if you missed it.

Besides being an interesting subject, it was nice to hear Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell on the programme, somebody I remember meeting on an Open University Summer School some 20 years ago.

Although she is most famous for discovering Pulsars, I particularly remember our discussion at that summer school drifting onto the railway line that runs from Fareham to Southampton. I was astounded to discover that when I was at school, still in short trousers probably, some of the trains that were trundling along the railway line under the bridge that I had to cross to get to school would have been carrying Dame Jocelyn to & from Southampton, where she was working at the time, in Southampton University.

So the main thing I learned at that summer school is that we live in a very big universe and an incredibly small world...

But I have digressed, again...!

Returning to the subject of the end of the World, the conclusion I think is that there is nothing much to worry about, but we never quite know what the future might have in store for us. Realistically, it is the man made threats such as "Global warming", Pollution and Nuclear Weapons that are probably the greatest risks to the World at the moment.

So just in case the Soothsayers really do know something that the Scientists don't, I'm going to shift my next Dental appointment back to the 22nd December and I have resolved to do all of my Christmas shopping at the very last minute this year...!

Fact or fiction...?

2012-01-02T22:08:00.000Z

Bored with TV, bored with the movies? Fancy a good read...?

How about this for a tale of institutional incompetence which allowed a couple of JMW Tuner's oil paintings to be stolen whilst on loan to a German museum, some imaginative dealing between Tate Britain and the Serbian Mafia, the Paymaster General having a "cunning plan", a ransom being paid, criminals avoiding arrest and a win-win outcome for the Tate where they get to keep most of the insurance money and also get the paintings back...?

Its pure fiction I hear you say, a story of the same calibre as The Da Vinci Code...?

Well I'm sad to say that it isn't.

It is a true story, and quite a sorry tale it is too.

Not least because the windfall seems to have been used to indirectly fund Tate Modern, via some creative accounting, when we still haven't fulfilled the terms of JMW Turner's will. If you've been following this blog recently, you'll remember that JMW Turner RA required that all of the finished works that he left to the nation (with a couple of specific exceptions) should be displayed concurrently in the same gallery...

Recently published by Reaktion Books (ISBN 978 1 86189 851 7), the author Sandy Nairne was pretty central to the recovery of these pictures so the story he tells in "Art Theft" is essentially straight from the horses mouth.

It is well worth a read if you have the time and the inclination, and maybe an Amazon voucher that you can't find a better use for...

You might also be able to borrow a copy from your local Library, if your local Council haven't closed it yet...!

Decision time...?

2011-12-31T23:59:00.027Z

It'll soon be midnight and the start of a brand New Year, 2012, the year the Olympics come to London. Happy New Year to all my readers.

More significantly, at midnight my TV licence is due for renewal.

I cancelled the Direct Debit 6 months ago, as I was not sure that I wanted to renew the TV licence this year. Now I've got to take the final decision one way or the other. Do I renew my TV Licence for another year, and pay Brucie's wages, or do I take what feels like the very big step of getting rid of of the TV...?

Because I live on my own, I've got the option of doing so. It is a question that is worth thinking about.

Many readers, no doubt, will think that I'm crazy. How can anybody possibly live without a TV I hear you all thinking. That Worzel's a Looney...!

Well you may be right, but I've observed that over the last few months I've hardly watched any TV. And I haven't really missed it. Nothing really interests me that much. I can get all the news that I need by listening to the radio and reading the interweb, possibly buying a newspaper if something significant has happened.

I tend to watch maybe 15 minutes of TV news whilst I'm scoffing my evening meal, then I turn off the TV and it stays off for the rest of the evening, a monument to the 20th century these days rather than an integral part of my life.

Breakfast TV is dreadful.

Daytime TV isn't much better.

If I want to watch Andrew Neil in the Politics Show, I can always use Iplayer.

The One Show never challenges me intellectually...

Bloody Eastenders doesn't interest me in the slightest. Neither do any of the other TV soap opera's. They seem to drive societies decline rather than reflect it, so I won't give them houseroom...

TV documentaries seem to be very drawn out these days, filling two hours of airtime with 15 minutes of vaguely interesting new material...

Formula One is going to Sky and I'm certainly not going to pay Murdock to watch his channels if I've also got to buy a TV licence to keep Auntie's show on the road....

Dr Who completely lost me earlier this year, with some ridiculous plots. I watched the Christmas special which was OK, very Xmassy, but generally speaking Dr Who is no longer worth the expensive electricity that I have to burn in order to watch it...

Christmas TV in general was useless this year. Mind numbingly boring...

Top Gear has gone a bit silly, I'll miss the daft buggers, but they're not worth £145 a year..

I doubt I'll watch much of the Olympics, even if I had a TV. Athletics etc doesn't interest me. There are no events that burn petrol in the Olympics....!

News 24 and Channel 4 News will definitely be missed, but I think I can adapt to live without them.

The analogue signal is due to be switched off in the Meridian region in a couple of months time and I've been told that my old ITV Digital set-top box will no longer work, so I'll have to invest in some new equipment in the near future...

So not having a TV is not such a crazy idea, if I look at it rationally.

Trouble is, I've grown up with the TV. It has been part of my life for the best part of 50 years. Can I really do without it? It is a big decision, a life changing decision...!

One has got to question these things though, rather than carry on regardless because that's what everybody else does and what I'm expected to do.

Whatever I decide over the next few hours, I'll be playing it completely straight.
If I haven't got a TV licence, I won't have any TV receiving equipment installed in my house.
Anybody and everybody is welcome to come in at random and take a butchers.

My TV will be disconnected and stuffed in the cupboard under the stairs, stored carefully for somebody to take to the Antiques Roadshow in a hundred years time...

End of year update on that petition...!

2011-12-30T20:18:00.003Z

Well it has taken a while, but my e-petition which proposes to "Prevent Councillors from serving on several Councils" has now amassed 50 signatures. There's still a long way to go, a very long way to go, but my thanks to everybody who has helped to get it this far, particularly Cllr Dan Clarke who has helped enormously with the last ten signatures, which have accumulated in less than a week...!

50 signatures is an important milestone.

Important because the petition has now reached the point where it falls into the first few pages of the e-petitions website, particularly if you filter down to view only those petitions for the Department for Communities and Local Government. That should mean that it is viewed more often when people are scrolling through the list of petitions. Sooner or later, it will gain momentum and attract signatures just through being somewhere near the top of the list...

My original posting on this subject can be seen here.

One thing that I hadn't realised at the time I launched the petition, is that there are other problems with Councillors serving on several Councils.

One of them quite unexpectedly came to light at a Council meeting I attended recently. It was something of a gift actually. I couldn't quite believe my luck.

One of the Councillors at the Town Council meeting quite innocently queried the minutes of the "Community & Culture" sub-committee, which appeared to be missing, whereupon it emerged that the meeting had to be abandoned because a quorum (of three) couldn't be raised. It then emerged that at least one of the Councillors due to attend had thought it more important to attend a Borough meeting which had been scheduled for the same evening.

Cllr Bloom clearly noted my presence and made the connection to my petition. I noticed that she tried to limit the damage (well done Louise, honour is due!), but Cllr Dan just walked straight into it. Any citizen journalist or professional hack worthy of their name would have reported this, maybe not on the front page, but it was an obvious story.

The full story is here, on Eastleigh News, which has blown up into a much bigger discussion than I ever expected when I reported the story. It is currently the second most commented-upon story in the history of Eastleigh News.

Which is amazing, because I just wrote about what happened at the Town Council meeting as factually and as neutrally and as boringly as I possibly could, and posted a link to the petition without any sort of promotional comment. I thought I had been quite restrained...!

What I hadn't realised, was that Cllr Dan Clarke was the Labour PPC for Eastleigh who defected to the Lib Dems in 2009, clearly annoying the hell out of his Labour colleagues who still have a few scores to settle. I don't blame them actually, as they'd clearly invested a lot of time, money and personal support into their PPC...

As you'll see in the discussion, I concede that it probably was the right decision for Cllr Dan to attend the Borough meeting, but the key point is that because the Town Council couldn't raise a quorum for the "Community & Culture" sub-committee meeting, it was unable to get its business done...

My argument is that if Councillors were only permitted to serve on one tier of Local Government, this sort of situation would be less likely to arise. Hedge End Town Council would have been more likely to raise a quorum for this meeting if it didn't have some of the Borough Councillors in its ranks...

Though to be fair to Cllr Dan, in this particular case the problem seems to have at least as much to do with some of the other Town Councillors simply not being bothered to attend...

But that's another story.

Things aren't quite as they should be in Hedge End...

Please sign my petition...

2011-09-29T14:27:00.000+01:00

My e-petition to Prevent Councillors from serving on several Councils has now been published and you can all sign it if you would like to. I hope that you will. Thanks anyway, just for reading about the problem...!

If the petition gets more than 100,000 signatures, there's a chance that it will be debated in Parliament.

If that happens, there's a chance that the law might be changed in a way that would strengthen and improve local democracy in England & Wales.

The objective is that it would no longer be possible for any one Councillor to serve on Hampshire County Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, Hedge End Town Council and Bursledon Parish Council, as happens at the moment.

I think that is a problem we urgently need to address, as it potentially allows all the bad and/or questionable ideas to be massaged through the various tiers of Local Government without proper discussion or debate, without scrutiny from a completely different set of people at each tier.

This is even more of a problem if the Councillor concerned also happens to have been elected as the leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, is leader of the local Lib Dems and thus has the power and influence that will force other local Councillors to be subserviant and meekly do as they are told, through fear of an early end to their political careers...

Its time to stop this from happening and thanks to the new system of e-petitions we've now got a realistic chance to do so. Here's your opportunity to make a big difference in the way that local politics works.

Do please sign the petition if you feel you are able to support the suggestion.

Even better, please share the link to this posting and the petition as widely as possible.

This is not just an issue for Eastleigh, it potentially affects Councils across the length and breadth of the country. Wherever you live, do please sign the petition if you agree...

Thanks for your help and support, and for reading this far...!