Is it me?

Saturday with Ishbel

2013-05-19T09:33:00.002+01:00

Had a relaxing day with Ishbel on Saturday and rounded it off with a meal at the local Indian restaurant, The Raj Tandoori.

It is a nice wee place and serves good food, even if it did start of life as the local public convenience, don't judge and anyway recycling is good for the environment, even of buildings, isn't it?

The day was pretty miserable weather wise, cloudy and overcast with a cold wind, but by the time we left the restaurant after a two hour natter, laughs and a shandy for me and the usual red wines for Ishbel, it was a thoroughly pleasant evening for a walk to burn off the carbs as we strolled home .....

Ishbel, always chilled with a glass close to hand

Pilau rice, butter chicken, lamb peshwari and king prawn delight

The Raj Restaurant

Film Review: Star Trek Into of Darkness

2013-05-18T09:49:00.000+01:00

photo from IMDB

Went and saw this on Wednesady with Ishbel who I should add has a fancy smart phone and an Orange account. Needless to say all you with Orange accounts know about 'Orange Wednesday two for one cinema tickets', but it can only be used if you have your phone with you ...... Ishbel, you know what I'm saying .......

So the second outing for Messrs Pine, Quinto, Urban, Saldan and Pegg in the genuis of JJ Abrahams Star Trek franchise.

Was it as good as the first, where he cleverly re-wrote history and changed the time line? Yes

Are the cast and crew putting everything into these movies to give us the viewer a great cinema experience? Yes

Some Spoilers here

As usual it was action from the beginning with Kirk and McCoy on a planet that was still in the stone age and the inhabitants worshipping a volcano that is just about to explode and destroy the planet. The Enterprise has been sent to study the planet only but Kirk decides to break the Prime Directive and save it instead. His first and not his last disobedience of orders and if anything he is even better at that than the original James T Kirk..... A sub text in the opening sequence is Spock being lowered into the just about to explode volcano with a device to stop that from happening and as usual in these circumstances, everything goes to cock and he is about to die - can he be saved or not.....

Moving along to Starfleet headquarters Kirk is demoted to first officer and Admiral Pike is given back command of the Enterprise.

Then we meet Mr Cumberbatch -latterly of the BBC's Modern Sherlock and a fine job he makes of that - in London, as the villain of the piece. Abrahams uses a character from the original series reprised in the original movies and it works well. Cumberbatch, for the most part is very laconic, but then, his on screen presence in this part really calls for brooding malevolence and he does it particularly well. We then get a few moments and mention of an other original series beastie that probably falls into the category of 'everyone loves them and the episode' which if memory served also had an episode of Deep space nine 'dedicated' to them too, but not sure if they ever popped up in TNG, it was a nice touch and acknowledges the greatness of the original series and writers..

Ishbel particularly likes Mr Quinto and thinks he is so like Mr Nimoy, high praise indeed..... and I agree with her, Simon Pegg is hilarious as Scotty.

Overall a great 2nd outing for Mr Abrahams and the cast of this reboot and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact I am getting worried about my Ishbel there was a time not so long ago where most 'action movies' would leave her as cold as a flash frozen fish newly placed in the hold of a trawler, but she is getting right into them and I sometimes wonder if she is garnering new ways to beat the s**t out of me as I keep annoying her or is it the 'hunks' that are attracting her? I'm still trying to find out who Christian and Sean are that she keeps saying she would like to be the ....... well best not go there.....

My rating: 5 out of 5
Ishbel: 5 out of 5

Radioactive Alert!

2013-05-15T13:22:00.000+01:00

Went for my PET scan today at the rear of the hospital in the the car park. Why are these things in the car park in the back of a trailer and not in the actual hospital it seems like a third world thing to me.

Then you get the injection of weapons grade radioactive waste and have to sit for an hour or so and then they come and collect you and take you to the toilet so that you can empty your bladder, but remember we are in a trailer in the car park so being radioactive you have to march back to the main building in the freezing howling May cold weather with one operative walking in front of you and another behind you...

I fully expected them to be wearing Hi-Viz vests with KEEP CLEAR, RADIOACTIVE HUMAN IN CONVOY, with flashing red and amber lights on helmets on their heads, but no just one in front and one in rear but keeping their distance with the comment, 'we're not being rude, we just need to keep our distance or we will overdose being in here every day!

And then after I've had my pee, and I was fully expecting that to be glowing bright orange as it came out, yet the morning was so full of disappointments. The car park with the trailer with the scanner is located at the rear of the hospital, it's a bit of a hike and not really well signed, but never mind finally got there after being given some help by a nice young African doctor who saw my confusion plus point for the folk at the rear of the hospital. Got me to the main reception area where the funny voiced elderly European was sitting and asked me where I was to be. I responded PET scan, she replied through those doors, minus point as it was the wrong place for the pet scan as it turned out but I should have put my trust in the cleaning chap who asked if he could help me as I stood at the empty reception desk! If I'd accepted his offer then I probably wouldn't have picked up the questionnaire and spent 5 wasted minutes filling it in until the receptionist showed up, asked me my name, couldn't find it on her system and then asked me what I was in for... Pet scan

Nope, back out to the main reception, past the coffee shop hang a right and walk along to the next reception area. There will probably be no one there but just have a seat and someone will turn up!

So, off I went and true to her word, there was no one there but eventually (it wasn't that long really) Jodi a nurse from the trailer, in the car park, without the toilets and who hailed from, shit I've forgotten, rambling again, numpty - I know it was America and it started with a P, but she was nice and took me into a little cubicle to go through the routine when someone popped there head round the corner and said, would you mind terribly if someone from head office sat in while Jodi goes through the procedure, just to see how it all happens. Well I had no objections but asked Jodi if she minded as it was probably a review of her practices, did she really want to be spied on, bless her she didn't mind either.

So through the registration and the sticking of the cannula in the arm which was a baby one, they must have heard about me and my tantrums then a seat for 15 minutes then the injection of the radioactive waste material then the hike in the howling wind for a pee then the hike back in the howling wind in the open car park and then on to the skinny little slider bed thingy before being inserted into the doughnut with me arms above me head and by the time they had finished it I barely managed to get the ******* things back down as they had locked in place and my shoulders were numb, for gawds sake people why can't you just do it with the arms down by the side and then buy a good photo shop editor suite and rub the arms out, I ask you, is it me? Sheesh it feels like you are in there for hours. If I need to go back in I think they are gonna have to handcuff my hands above my head as there is no way that's happening again

Oh and as an aside I woke up this morning feeling as if I had had the best sleep in months and felt great until I had to have me arms above me head for bloody hours sheesh, and no Lesley, my sweet beautiful niece, I didn't even get to turn green like David Banner, nothing ever exciting happens to me not even turning into a radioactive zombie

Dickheads

2013-05-13T16:03:00.000+01:00

These are spam comments left on a post about some poor guy taking his own life in the back of his van in the car park of the Centre I manage

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"Great article. I'm dealing with many of these issues as well.."

Now I ask you, "IS IT JUST FUCKING ME, OR ARE THESE ANONYMOUS SPAMBOTS COMPLETE AND UTTER DICKHEAD MORONS?"

They found it an enjoyable experience FFS......... Why can't they just roll over and die and give the rest of us a break, because I think, without them at least, the world would be a better place ....

The original post was here

A Walk in the Woods

2013-05-12T21:18:00.003+01:00

Had Jennifer, Steve and the girls, Mollie, Shannon and Lacey Mae over this weekend and I am glad to report that 2 year old Lacey Mae seems to be getting over her screaming for no reason mode, that's a relief.

Any way the girls thought it would be a good idea to drag grand dad into the woods for a walk, with camera woman Mollie in charge of photography, including a couple of self portraits and then catching Lacey Mae later licking her dinner plate, sheesh, you can't do anything privately these days.

Oh, and Shannon had to run on ahead back to the house as halfway through the walk stupid granddad realised that he had uncovered the ham joint he was cooking for dinner for its' last 30 minuted in the oven and neither daft granddad or Mollie had taken their phones with them, why would we on our nature walk of course.......

Apparently when Shannon appeared breathless on the doorstep grandma Ishbel and mummy Jennifer had dire thoughts about granddad (I've no idea why they would think there was anything wrong with me ...) until she breathlessly informed them, 'turn the oven off before granddads' ham burns .......

Mollie and Shannon looking at the noisy Parakeets

Moody Moo Lacey Mae

A fallen tree

The fallen trees' root base (it was a biggy)

Mollie, Lacey Mae and Shannon

Headless granddad

Shannon can't resist striking a pose

Pretty wild flowers

A wood lice

Look, it's me, Mollie

Little and large

Pretty trees

Lacey Mae can't get enough of her granddads; cooking (and it saves him having to wash up too

Update: My meeting with the Nice Doctor

2013-05-10T18:03:00.002+01:00

Well I told you on the 24th of April that I had been into the local hospital for some tests and that the initial results were suggesting that it was something serious, as if a sliding hiatus hernia wasn't serious enough as it attempts to choke your gullet from the inside... what the hell. I know tit, right.

Anyway there was good news after all, I don't have a hiatus hernia, pauses for applause and to take a bow ......

But we got a phone call last Thursday, 2nd May to go in and see the consultant that I saw on my first appointment earlier in the month. Once again it was confirmed no HH but that I appeared to have a wee bit of a lump at the bottom of the gullet where the flap should be that opens for food to be discharged into the stomach and that this was an oesophagus cancer tumour which actually looked quite large, he even had some high def pictures of it and numpty that I am I forgot to ask for copies to show you all, what am I like!

Anyway, the scan I had earlier was concentrated around the gut area looking for the hernia so I was back in for a couple of hours on Saturday to have a full scan to give them a better picture, I can show you the mess the kid made of my arm looking for a vein to pump the iodine in, will that suffice for now?

So the scan has been taken and I am being referred to Broomfields Hospital for further tests and surgery. Until they do that they don't know if it is localised or not but I suppose the scan on Saturday will give them a better understanding of what they are dealing with, me and Ishbel and the kids, well we just wait with me having my usual 'so what' attitude, which is getting on a few nerves .....

Anyway, took a break from writing this and have had the other CT scan but have now also been told to report on 15th for a PET scan too. I must remember and ask for the photos so I can upload them!

Had a meeting with my GP today and for the first time since 93 we actually had a conversation, I have to say it was nice and she has told me if I fell bad or just need to talk to call and make an appointment .....

So, that's about it then, no problems, Aunt Julia tells me I'm going to be fine and if I die before hugging a Redwood in her back yard and having a serious talk with Jake about hunting mountain lions, there'll be hell to pay, so I'll be clinging on regardless until we save enough money for that trip.

No outpourings of sympathy here folks, I am still as active as Mr Fat has been over the last couple of years, and in fact since been given the news, have never felt better, so I'll keep you posted with any gory and funny little happenings, there's bound to be a least a couple in this little development that will be worth reporting on even if it's the fact that my death is reported at the hands of Ishbel and not the other as she decides she can't take any more of my cheerfulness , what, I only said you'd think that, 'after 37 years together that the get out jail card would have have been to a party and not the grave' ... I think the slap on the head was a tad over reactionary, and it hurt too, sheesh .......

Our Boss!

2013-05-08T10:59:00.000+01:00

Got these postcards delivered in the post today from Sharon one of my receptionists, I have no idea what she is trying to say about me ?

Pork Chop, Apple, Cider and Sage

2013-05-07T14:55:00.000+01:00

Quick and simple recipe for you and tasty too....

Ingredients;

2 or 3 pork chops
1 tbsp of sunflower oil
2 Large apples, cored and quartered
Couple of large potatoes, skins on washed and quartered
80 ml (3.5 floz) each of cider and hot veg stock
50g (2ozs) blue Wensleydale (but any good cheese will do as well
1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh sage

1 large pan /skillet
Preheat oven to 230c (210c fan)

If fat on chops, snip with scissors at 2cm (2/4" intervals) this will stop them curling on hitting the heat

Heat the pan / skillet and over a medium to hot flame adding the oil.

Add the chops and brown on both sides, remove from pan and set aside

Add the potatoes to the pan and coat with the oil and roast all over for 12 - 15 minutes (careful not to burn)

Place the chops back in the pan and add the apple quarters. \pour over the cider and the hot stock adding salt and pepper to taste

Place in the oven for 15 minutes or until pork cooked through

Remove from oven, crumble the cheese over and return to oven for 2 - 3 minutes

Remove from oven and sprinkle over the chopped sage

Serve, spooning over the juices, and enjoy

original recipe seen on Good housekeeping

Book Review: In Her Name: The First Empress Trilogy - 'Forged in Flame'

2013-05-04T21:11:00.000+01:00

Look inside Amazon UK here
Look inside Amazon US here

What can I say about Michael R Hicks and his 'In Her Name' books that I haven't said before. The guy knows how to weave a story creating whole new worlds and people who live and die by a code of honour that is so savage that it takes your breath away, yet, at the same time they are a species endowed with as much passion for love and life as they have for killing......

Hicks has clearly spent many hours in deep thought thinking about the characters of these books so that he can pass on a clear and descriptive narrative to us, the readers; introducing us to a new species on a new planet and he just isn't giving as a story he is giving us a living history of a species in meltdown over hundred's of thousands of years and then going back and telling us how it came to be.

This is the eight book in the In Her Name series by Hicks and his writing get's better with each book, that's not to say that the writing was in any way bad or poor in the previous books as all seven that came before, drew you in from the first page and you, at least I, didn't want to put the books down until I had devoured each story, and neither, I believe will you. When they ended I do believe that I suffered withdrawal symptoms and being an avid reader with lots of other books by other authors in my TBR pile, after reading a Hicks book you find it a wee while before you are ready to go elsewhere.

I am not going to spend any time on characters or back story in this review, as part of a series it will be meaningless to you and if you have read any of his books you will already be familiar with them. What I can say is, if you haven't read any of these books and you are a fan of science fiction, war, and love with an anthropological study of a alien race from the beginnings of time when the Earth was still in a primordial pool and then bypassing us by before finding and killing us (and even when they are, you still can't help but like them!!!) then these books are for you.

Book 1 - EMPIRE
Book 2 - CONFEDERATION
Book 3 - FINAL BATTLE
Book 4 - FIRST CONTACT
Book 5 - LEGEND OF THE SWORD
Book 6 - DEAD SOUL
Book 7 - FROM CHAOS BORN

Book 8 - FORGED IN FLAME

and if you head over to Mr Hicks web page here you will be able to nab a free copy of Empire to get you started

The pages for Hicks Books on

Amazon US is here and

Amazon UK is here

Ratings:

Editing for Kindle: 5 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Mr FAT'S day with the nice doctor.....

2013-04-24T16:42:00.001+01:00

Well, went to hospital last night and had a CAT scan and today had a gastroscopy. Had to wait for about an hour and a half for the young doctor to then come and see me. I knew there was something up looking at his glum expression and then he paused and hesitated when we had sat ourselves down in the consulting room off the recovery room. "Well, is it bad news"? I asked He still looked glum and hesitant so with my best smokers smile I said, "what's the problem then, don't hang about I've taken the day off and the sun is still shining out there and anyway, it's my bad news and not yours, so let's get it over with.

As you know I have been feeling a bit lifeless for the last couple of months but in all truth I have actually been feeling much better over the last week or so and again I thought it was nothing more than a sliding hiatus hernia, bloody uncomfortable, but manageable and that was the point of the camera down the gagging throat today.

As it turns out there is a hernia, but, "We have another problem" says he. We won't fully know until we get the results of the biopsy and then we will arrange a multi discipline consultation (what the F... Is one of those - I didn't ask - which got me into more trouble from Ishbel) but in the meantime we are organising a full MRI and another CAT scan. You may need to start a course of chemotherapy but we will sort all that out on your next consultation"

"Any questions"? Says he
"Well yes" says I and he looks expectantly at me and I say. "I've been in here all morning, any chance of a fag break"?

I know, I know, but what can one say to the above, he says there is something wrong with me. I ask if I am going to die and will it be a painful death, he looks glum and I again say what are you looking so glum for, it's not you with the problem and anyway the bottom line is that yes I may have a serious life threatening illness/disease that has no doubt come about by being a fat git who smokes, has asthma, a touch of arthritis and who's idea of exercise is walking to the kitchen to make a coffee and then of course there is the final point that until we get the results of the biopsy we don't really know what the extent of the problem is ..... So no point in worrying at all, is there? Mind you if he can't tell me what is actually wrong with me, and I never thought about it until I was lugging the tonne of medicine and energy drinks home from the pharmacy, what the hell did he give me it for, just a thought, but they were all very attentive and nice and I did get a wee packet of ginger nut biscuits with a coffee while in the recovery room, so that was a result.... If you've never dipped a ginger nut biscuit in your coffee you haven't lived

Oh, and if it does turn out to be bad news I've told Ishbel that if she continues to put plastic in with the normal waste and not in the non recyclable I will be back rattling the bins against the window at night haunting her until she learns to do it properly and another thing when I say it goes in the oven when the correct temperature is reached, WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT, that doesn't mean putting it in there just after you turn the oven on, otherwise I will come back and make sure all her food is burnt.... Loves ya babes

An Apology and A Post [SPA DAY]

2013-04-17T15:45:00.002+01:00

Well it's been about 9 weeks now since I have posted a blog or indeed visited any of the blogs that I support and for that I am truly sorry. I have even been absent from twitter too and while not deliberately ignoring my many friends, casual and dear ones too, at least I was inclusive to everyone by not interacting.

Holly and Charlie K

Had a few health issues, still no idea what the root problem is, although I am scheduled for an MOT test at hospital tomorrow, but whatever it is it has left me feeling a bit blue. Still am if truth be told, but as is the way with these things, you finally get an appointment and you start to feel a little better.

That feeling of well being was made even better by seeing Holly and Charlie the other week and then seeing Mollie, Shannon and Lacey Mae yesterday, collecting the first two from school and heading into Woking for a meal with them with 9 year Mollie, soon to be 10 (on Monday) reminding us so much of her Aunt Marie (takes charge and leads from the front) deciding which restaurant we were going to eat in and then marching us up and down streets to get to it......

Charlie, Ishbel and Rhiannon

And then even more amelioration from the blues at the hands and I do mean hands, of a couple of gorgeous young ladies, Rhiannon (for me) and Charlie (for Ishbel ),as I had booked a Spa day for both of us at Bannatyne Health and Fitness Club to celebrate our 37th Wedding Anniversary.

We were giving 15 minutes to relax in the relaxation and mood room which consisted of six heated tiled loungers in a mood lighted room with candles and soft relaxing music, and then we were shown into the massage room where Ishbel elected to have a head, face and neck massage from Charlie and poor Rhiannon was left to give me a head, shoulder, neck, back, arms and chest massage ..... our first massage and I can tell you Rhiannon used her elbows too and I have never felt so utterly relaxed in my life before it was just so wonderful and calming and I could feel the knots dissolving under her expert hands and this went on for about 45 minutes.

After this, and there was a variety of treatments to be had, including a chocolate massage, surprised that Ishbel didn't go for that, manicures, pedicures, all in all a pretty long list including a massage with hot stones. We then had a tour of the facility after which we were giving free range to use all of the equipment by just going back to reception and saying that we wanted to try out the equipment although Ishbel decided that she was going to try the x- trainer and spent a few minutes on one of them. But the draw of the outside Jacuzzi was [roving too much for her and after 30 minutes in the indoor hot tub (they recommend 5) she spent 40 minutes in the out door one. We then got dried off and changed and went for a wander round the rest of the facility watching people go through their paces, and it was quite busy for a Wednesday morning and there was a creche too for toddlers so there was a lot of ladies visiting the club. After a light brunch in the cafe' bar it was back to the wet area, I had a swim and a sauna and Ishbel, guess where she was ..............

Am I happy or what......... Oh yes!

Relaxation / Mood Room

You can go dear, I am happy and content, right here ............

Apparently we are going back, no complaints from me on that .......... Bannatyne's Therapy staff looked after us and treated us well and for what we had and for the facilities you are allowed to use at a cost that was not going to break the bank - thanks folks particularly Charlie and Rhiannon for looking after us, hope to see you again soon.

Film Review: A Good Day To Die Hard

2013-02-24T08:07:00.001Z

image from the IDMB site

Went and saw the latest offering from the DIE HARD franchise on Saturday with the lovely Ishbel, who is a big fan of the movies and indeed of Mr Willis. Me I can take or leave him although my favourites with him were the TV series Moonlighting and the movies Hudson Hawk, The Fifth Element, Tears of the Sun and Red - but the whole ensemble cast was outstanding and funny in that last one.

Die Hard, I have been able to take or leave but did really enjoy the one set in New York with Samuel L Jackson and Jeremy Irons although the rest of the cast weren't so good but the interaction between Willis, Jackson and Irons were great, every time. Even the first DIE HARD movie and I suspect the others too, although can't remember that much about them, was the bullet speed of the dialogue. It was sharp, it was funny and it was brilliantly delivered.

A Good Day To DIE HARD had, like it's predecessors, lots of Boom and Bang but absolutely little in the way of dialogue and certainly not delivered with bullet speed. Nor did I think it was sharp, or funny and it was most definitely not brilliantly delivered. It honestly seemed to me as if Mr Willis was a bit tired with the whole thing.

It opens with him in New York honing his firing skills in an underground range and being approached by a scruffy looking cop with the ubiquitous NYPD badge hanging around his neck carrying a file. The file as it turns out is on Maclean's son who is in a Moscow jail awaiting trial on a murder charge and Maclean feeling sorry for himself as he recalls never being there for his kids, so it's all his fault. Oh, Oh, first warning shot across the bows here then. John Maclean feeling sorry and guilt ridden, yeah, we know he is getting older, the scruffy cop calls him grandpa (sic) and this might explain his guilt, But FFS it's John Maclean there isn't a sorry bone in his body!

And that's another thing, you know if you follow my blogs that I don't swear a lot, not because I don't, swear like a trooper at work and where appropriate and as one of my niece's said to me a while back, Unky Tom, sometimes you just need to use a 'good Fuck' and she's right of course, some situations and dialogue just aren't the same if there isn't a 'good fuck' in there somewhere and there has been plenty of that in the past in the DIE HARD franchise and it wasn't out of place, but the best we got in this was 'Let's go and kill us some bad guys' between Mr Maclean and his wayward CIA operative son! And not a Yipee Ki Aye to be heard anywhere throughout the too long ninety seven minutes the movie was on, even when the baddy was professing his love for westerns while doing his impression of the next person to be voted of from Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars....

Oops just given a bit of the plot away, never mind.... Maclean is driven to the airport to go and help his son in Moscow, by his daughter and they are professing their undying love for each other and then he is in the back of a Taxi in a traffic jam in Moscow, outside the courtroom and then it's boom bang a bang for the next 85 minutes with pretty much drivel for dialogue and me wishing Ishbel had left me to my nap......

Apparently we can't wait for his next outing in GI Joe and @JuliaRBarret is bullying me into watching Loopers too, come on ladies 'gies a break will ya'

So from me I give it a 1 out of 5 and
Ishbel gives it a 5 out of 5

Book Review: Force of Nature (Joe Pickett 12) By C.J. Box

2013-02-23T13:09:00.000Z

Look inside Amazon UK here
Look inside Amazon US here

Well after 4 years, that's me finally caught up with Mr Box's Joe Picket (although I do believe another one is due out shortly)! And what an explosive way to end the current crop,

This was more a Nate Romanowski tail than a Joe Pickett tail. Over the last 11 books we have come to not know too much about Nate Romanowski as knowing who he is or what he has done would be more dangerous than stepping into an unprotected nuclear waste site, youd get a fatal overdose of contamination and your life expectancy would be reduced to milliseconds rather than years....

Force of Nature changes all of that and those that know Romanowski are dropping like bugs who've just been sprayed with DDT.

Nate's old bosses in Special Operations have decided that having him still on the loose with the knowledge that he has is just too dangerous, for them, and the only way to remove that danger is to kill him and anyone that he may have confided in, whether they know or not. If they are loosely connected to Nate, they need to die, including the Picketts, all of them.

The best thing Joe can do is stay out of the way, pack up the family and head out of dodge until the smoke clears and the body count can be checked and then to wait and see who survives, although it doesn't look good as Nate explains that the hunter on his tail is even better at hunting and killing people than he is, and we know from past experience that Romanowski is skilled in his craft!

Is everyone we know to be trusted? People we have known for years, newcomers with seemingly impeccable bona fides, who can be trusted, who can't? Box mixes it up here for us and we end up trusting some we shouldn't and doubting others who we should have more sense about and then the final showdown, who survives and who doesn't and the biggest question of them all, does Sheriff Maclanahan get re-elected and I can tell you now, Box has left us to stew over that one, the swine.

Book 1 - Open Season √
Book 2 – Savage Run √
Book 3 – Winterkill √
Book 4 – Trophy Hunt √
Book 5 – Out of Range √
Book 6 – In Plain Sight √
Book 7 – Free Fire √
Book 8 – Blood Trail √
Book 9 – Below Zero √
Book 10 – Nowhere to Run √
Book 11 – Cold Wind √
Book 12 – Force of Nature √

Editing for Kindle /iPad: 5 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Page length on kindle /iPad: 396
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Aid, I need Aid!

2013-02-22T21:21:00.000Z

Much is being said on the internet and the press about Prime Minister Cameron's latest uttering s about maybe taking money out of the overseas aid budget to prop up security instead.

Now I have to say that I have become so disillusioned with politicians and politics that I have been fairly quiet on that front recently and not even any feel good stories have drawn me out of the stupor that I am in, have there in fact been any feel good stories that I may have missed, thought not!

I even have to confess that I am not up to date with what the latest hulaballoo is all about, as I really can't bring myself to look at in in any great detail!

But, what is annoying me even more and prompting this little return to the fray is the mention of oversees aid, again. £10 billion is the UK's budget for overseas aid I believe. Don't get me wrong I am all for helping out those less fortunate than ourselves and we should do it without any strings attached, and hope those we are giving aid to, manage to get their countries together making them a better place for their own people to live in. We hope the aid we give to the leaders of these countries is going to be put to the most beneficial use, but unfortunately, and all to often, all we end up with, is feed back from news specials about the corruption and the misappropriation of funding in the countries that we give to. Or, as in the case of India and Pakistan who we have giving millions if not billions of pounds to over the years, and who are continually firing shots at each other, while they both spend billions on their nuclear arsenals, and while the majority of their country folk live in abject poverty with no proper road, hospital, school, sanitary or welfare infrastructures.

The same can be said for most if not all of the African countries who also receive aid from us too. And then over the last couple of days I have heard that we should be proud as again, Prime Minister Cameron has stated his intent that the overseas aid payments will be maintained and that Britain's should be proud as we are the 'ONLY COUNTRY TO CONTINUE TO DO THIS'.

Now this brings me to another point about our own 'Green and Pleasant Land' where aid is also needed in the form of food banks to stop our own unemployed and out of work and low paid folk who are finding it increasingly more difficult to feed and clothe themselves on a daily basis let alone from week to week as we did not so long ago with our weekly trip to the supermarket, stumbling back to our cars with the burden of the overfilled trolley safe in the knowledge that we had enough food and detergent and toilet paper to last us the week before we had to make the return trip.

Now, people in our country are the starving masses, as they are in every other Western democratic country, with the only thing, free to us, for the moment, the air that we breath. Everything else is taxed, food, clothing, fuel and in the UK the poorest in our society are to be hit with the latest Tax invention, The Bedroom Tax. yes, you read that correctly, the current government, made up of a coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are bringing in a Tax system that will take those on low paid or out work and receiving state benefits, with a reduction in the benefits they receive if they have empty bedrooms in their homes!

Prime Minister Cameron came to power with the war cry of 'our big society' the idea I think was to make us all be inclusive and to think not only about ourselves but our neighbours and our towns and villages and districts and ultimately our country. That everything that we do should be done on the basis that it will not only improve our own lives, but everyone else's lives by the help and the sacrifices and the tightening of our belts; And the Government would do their part too! This was a policy that every one should adhere to, government, councils and businesses. But it seems to me that penalising people for having empty bedrooms is not a moral or just way to go about it, as it was our Governments who created the problem in the first place.

The bedroom tax is, I fear, designed to push people out of their homes, homes that they may have lived in all of their lives so that those homes can be given to people with families, regardless if your sons and daughters and grandchildren visit you on a regular basis. When you are forced to downsize you are effectively being told that you are now no longer allowed to have family visits. There are even cases where couples who might have two bedrooms but one of the parties is sick and or disabled. This may mean that they can't sleep together in the same bed in the same room. But the rules say that if they are married or in a common law relationship THEY MUST SHARE THE SAME ROOM, and therefore one room is technically free and therefore if they are on benefits, as they are likely to be as one is unable to work and the other is a carer, then they will receive a cut in their benefits!

Since the 1980's when the Tories introduced the 'right to buy' scheme where council tenants were actively encouraged to buy their own homes from the council, at below market prices, and with councils NOT ALLOWED to reinvest the shortfall in monies raised by building replacement stock, a policy that the Labour did not change when they were in power for 10 + years, the number of council houses available to the public has shrunk to the dwindling numbers that we have today, and as families have grown up, children have had families of their own, there has been insufficient housing stock built in the public sector to meet the needs of the unemployed and low paid, so family members who are on benefits now, must pay a price for the inadequacies of our Governments who continue to mismanage and govern badly on our behalf - So much for an inclusive and caring society.

The other battle cry of the politicians is the attack on those people on long term benefits in that they have been conditioned into receiving these benefits and because generations of the same families have never worked, their children and their children's children are therefore also conditioned into not working but to sticking their hands out to receive the 'free' benefits that those of us who work must pay for through taxation. So coming back full circle to overseas aid my questions are:

Are there countries out there that receive overseas development aid from the UK and other countries who are conditioned into receiving this aid?
Is the aid given to these countries being misappropriated by corrupt local politicians?
Is the aid being provided, the wrong aid?

Let's quickly look at the last question there. It's that time of year again in the UK for RED NOSE DAY where we are encouraged to donate to charities to help out the poor in third world countries. So, the millions that they raise, added to the already £10 billion that we pay for through taxation means that third world countries are certainly getting a lot of money each year, just like benefit recipients do, and they need do nothing at all to receive their 'reward' except live in abject poverty with starvation, drought and who knows what else thrown in for bad measure!

But there is one other constant, and it has been a constant for as long as I can remember seeing these images on the TV screen and even when I have been to Africa, and it is this.

You have large cities, and let's take Mombasa and Nairobi. Cities of gleaming steel, concrete and glass in the centre but surrounded, like a doughnut with shanty towns with little or no sanitation or clean water supplies. No power lines, no sewerage or water pipes, no metalled roads, nothing, nada; no infrastructure that allows a country to grow and develop, yet we continue to give hand over fist and investing in schemes that maybe help a few thousand instead of tens or hundreds of thousands? It is madness, yet we keep doing it, Why?

Why not, instead of giving these countries millions of pounds in cash each each year do we not just say enough is enough and every developed country who does try and help, instead just send their Army Corps of Engineers with all their equipment and we build proper roads, with sewerage runs, with the plants that go with them, Water pipes, electric pylons and metalled roads. We can then give them prefabricated houses that can be built along these metalled road routes and get the people of the slums they are living in with the infrastructure in place. Surely this would be better than continually pouring our money into an abyss of apathy and greed feeding local politicians and their corrupt regimes?

I only ask this as I seem to be unable to understand it all, maybe I'm just thick!

A Wandering Cloud

2013-02-21T21:29:00.000Z

Cirrus clouds. (Picture taken by Marylin Warner)

Caught up with some blog posts during my lunch break today. As usual in the office a bit fed up but as usual after reading a few of my twitter friends posts I was in a better mood.

Marylin Warner over at 'Things I want to tell my Mother' wrote another inspiring post entitled 'The Way to Love Anything', calling on a past conversation and painting session with her mother, on cloud formations as the theme. Marylin's Mom suffers from Dementia and her blog is her weekly letter to her Mom reminding her of the life she enjoyed as a mother and friend and teacher. Marylin's post, inspired me to this little bit of nonsense

cirriform, cumuliform and convective

rolling and rippling in the sky above

Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria rolling, rippling and stumbling in the seas around us

clouds in heaven painting our imagination and being, sometimes, our inspiration

Ships in the sea of a bygone era slowly bringing to us men of inspiration

Well that’s the best I can come up with, but as usual your posts seem to bring out something in me and make me do what I usually avoid,......

Marylin liked it, so I thought I would share

You can read Marylin's post here

Pondering!

2013-02-17T08:12:00.000Z

RETIRED

As I was lying in bed pondering the problems of the world, I rapidly realized that I don't really give a rat's ring. It's the tortoise life for me soon!

1. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal.
2. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water, and still it is fat.
3. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years.
4. A tortoise doesn't run and does nothing, yet it lives for 450 years.
And you tell me to exercise? I don't think so. I'm retired. Go around me.

Some Senior Thoughts

God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Now that I'm older here's what I've discovered:

1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.
2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and all-bran.
3. I finally got my head together, and now my body is falling apart.
4. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.
5. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.
6. If all is not lost, where is it?
7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
8. Some days, you're the pigeon; some days you're the statue.
9. I wish the buck stopped here; I could use a few.
10. Kids in the back seat cause accidents.
11. Accidents in the back seat cause kids.
12. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.
13. The only time the world beats a path to your door is when you're in the bathroom.
14. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he'd have put them on my knees.
15. When I'm finally holding all the cards, why does everyone want to play chess?
16. Its not hard to meet expenses . . . they're everywhere.
17. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
18. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter... I go somewhere to get something and then wonder what I'm hereafter.
19. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.
20. I'M UNABLE TO REMEMBER WHETHER I'VE SENT YOU THIS BEFORE...

Via Tony Watkins

Chicken Breast with Olive and Caper Tapenade

2013-02-16T00:09:00.001Z

A simple quick tasty recipe that anyone can make:

Chicken breast with an Olive, Capers, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Garlic Tapenade rub.

First lets assemble the ingredients:

Decent sized chicken breasts
Pomodoro or Plum tomatoes
About 10 to 12 olives
Tablespoon of capers
Tablespoon of sun dried tomatoes
Herbs of choice (optional)
Salt and pepper per your liking
Extra virgin olive oil
Ciabatta Bread slices for grilling

Turn the oven on to heat up now 200 degrees, and whatever your equivalent is in gas or other......

The Tapenade can of course be made in larger quantities and kept in the fridge for a few days and used on other dishes or to brush on toasted Ciabatta, your choice.

Chop the olives, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and capers and put into pestle bowl and add, if using your chopped herbs and crush down adding about a tablespoon of EV Olive Oil.

You can keep grinding away until you get it as smooth or as chunky as you like adding salt and pepper to taste.

Once at the consistency for your tastes, set aside.

Take your chicken breasts and slice along the top of the breast

Place the chicken in a decent sized dish and rub the Tapenade into each breast getting it into the cuts on the breasts, add the pomodoro or plum tomatoes and cover with foil.

Cook for 20 - 25 minutes remove the foil;
TURN THE GRILL ON TO HIGH FOR THE TOASTED Ciabatta
and leave for another 5 -10 minutes until the Tapenade begins to just colour, remove from oven.

As you remove the foil, slice some Ciabatta and drizzle one side with olive oil and place under the hot grill, olive side up to grill - don't let it burn

You can also spread some of the Tapenade over the grilled bread

Plate up and Serve and Enjoy

Total Prep and cooking time is about 40 - 45 mins so, get cooking

Book Review: Cold Wind by C.J. Box

2013-02-15T11:52:00.000Z

Look Inside Amazon UK here
Look Inside Amazon US here

Oh my goodness! Just when you think that after 10 previous books with the same characters, the author cannot surely surprise you any more - he goes ahead and does so with horrendous consequences for the cast of players....

I really can't say too much without giving spoilers but it turns out that the meanest person in the sequence of 10 novels is finally revealed in the closing pages of this book and one should probably not have been surprised at the revelations.

Gruesome death, land grabs, family pulled apart, potential million dollar bribes in the form of promises, politics, wind energy and the power grids to nowhere, it's all here as well as the usual family battles between parents and daughters with familial ties put under even more strain and stress than usual, who would have thought that possible, but it is.

Nate Romaowski's world is ripped apart as we begin to finally find out more about his shady past and why he is so secretive and this marks new beginnings, I suspect, for more violence and retribution in future books.

Box just gets more convoluted in his writing and in bringing in unexpected twists and turns that throws the reader of the track until he is ready to reveal the truth. A truth that Joe, as usual stumbles upon as he fits together all the pieces, pieces that for once he cannot reveal to ANYONE

Book 1 - Open Season √
Book 2 – Savage Run √
Book 3 – Winterkill √
Book 4 – Trophy Hunt √
Book 5 – Out of Range √
Book 6 – In Plain Sight √
Book 7 – Free Fire √
Book 8 – Blood Trail √
Book 9 – Below Zero √
Book 10 – Nowhere to Run √
Book 11 – Cold Wind √
Book 12 – Force of Nature

Editing for Kindle /iPad: 4 out of 5*
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Page length on ~~kindle /iPad~~: 400 in print I believe but no page numbers on devices*
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Guest Blogger: Shannon Ing - My First Concert

2013-02-10T12:18:00.000Z

Daddy lifting me up

last night I went to my very first concert with Daddy, Mummy and Mollie. Mollie has been concerts before but she is 9 and I am only 6,

We went to Birmingham the second biggest city in Britain and had to drive for hours before we got there and we were going to stay in a hotel after the concert.

we went to see Rita Ora it was my first one and there was lots of people there and some men in bright jackets let mummy and daddy put mollie and me on stairs so we could see the stage

Rita Ora

Me, Mollie and Daddy

Rita Ora

Me and Mollie

Book Review: Nowhere To Run by C.J. Box

2013-02-05T13:56:00.001Z

Look inside here Amazon UK
Look inside here Amazon US

What can I say about C.J. Box and Joe Picket that I haven't said before? Nowhere to Run is No 10 in the Joe Picket series and it totally knocks your boots off. We have watched Joe Picket change over the years from an honest upstanding game warden who would rather cut off his right arm than break the law to become an honest upstanding game warden who has had to kill people in the line of duty. He has become hardened and with that hardening comes conflicts of conscience as he struggles with doing the right thing as opposed to up-holding the law that he has sworn to do.

Joe is still in the wilderness, literally, after his last outing, but his banishment from his re-extended family to Baggs, was about to be over with his reassignment to Twelve Sleep County and home.

All he needed to do was set out and complete one final check of the district around Baggs on horseback, to investigate the case of the missing and butchered elk, or, he could have just finished some paperwork……

Part of me was mouthing, ‘do the paperwork Joe, go home to Marybeth and the girls…’ but then I knew that was impractical and it wouldn’t make for compelling reading. So, Joe riding Buddy with Blue Roanie trailing with his equipment sets off into the Sierra Madre of Southern Wyoming and as usual all hell breaks loose.

Joe Pickett is one stubborn man. If he come across someone hunting or fishing it doesn’t matter to him as long as they have the correct permits and they have those permits on them, if they don’t, they get a ticket, end off, no discussion.

Maybe if Joe hadn’t been so stubborn when he came across a strange looking guy in the mountains who was fishing in a cirque, and after telling himself that the guy was strange and ‘threatening’ and if he wasn’t so stubborn, he might just have kept riding on bye, telling the guy to get a permit as soon as he got back to town…

But Joe was stubborn and sworn to uphold the law and he just couldn’t let it go….

Joe loses everything, his horses, his gear, his guns and his dignity and only barely manages to escape with his life after discovering that there was not one ‘strange and threatening’ guy, but two, identical twins and they don’t want no government man interfering in their simple way of life.

Having followed Joe’s exploits over the years you feel so helpless at seeing him so powerless and hating the brothers for what they are doing to him. You find yourself fearing that Marybeth and the girls are going to be left to cope on their own and we have finally reached the end of the trail with Joe Pickett, Wyoming Game Warden, who after all these years can still barely hit the side of a tree with his Glock handgun; cursing at him for never getting better with it, relying on the spray of his shotgun, which he has lost…

The brothers are the archetypical anti-heroes, nasty and mean without one redeeming feature and you find yourself despising them throughout but , Mr Box has one or two surprises left in store for us and as you quickly turn the pages trying to keep up with the pace of the story as it unfolds over 10 days in late summer, you find that your sympathies are stretched to breaking point, and may well shift., as the climax explodes on to the pages in the most unexpected of ways ….. You will not be disappointed.

Nowhere to Run, has all the usual suspects coming in and out Nate Romanowski, who finds his loyalties tested. Governor Rulon who is giving Joe back his life but as usual, Joe’s honesty and integrity finds the Governor wishing that he could find an even remoter out post to lose Joe in. and FBI Special Agent Coon finds his cohunes. Marybeth is in trouble with the girls growing up; Sheridan is now 18, sheesh I remember when she was just a baby, it seems like yesterday and Lucy and the newly reunited April Keeley back into the family wasn’t exactly the bed of roses everyone thought it was going to be and of course Missy Alden, ne Van Bruen, nee, nee, nee, Marybeth’s mother who kept trading up for richer and more powerful husbands is here too annoying every one. Box also throws in some humour too, to lighten the mood from time to time. Dave Farkus ‘Shut up Dave’ doesn’t get tired, although if I was one of the 4 men in black I would probably have shot him after the first stupid sentence out of his mouth, but then I suppose I wouldn’t have laughed every time he appeared and that’s why Mr Box writes and I don’t ….

Book 1 - Open Season √
Book 2 – Savage Run √
Book 3 – Winterkill √
Book 4 – Trophy Hunt √
Book 5 – Out of Range √
Book 6 – In Plain Sight √
Book 7 – Free Fire √
Book 8 – Blood Trail √
Book 9 – Below Zero √
Book 10 – Nowhere to Run √
Book 11 – Cold Wind
Book 12 – Force of Nature

Editing for Kindle /iPad: 5 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Page length on kindle /iPad: 368 Book ends on iPad on page 357 & then as usual 1st chptr of next book
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Seared Plaice with Spicy Butter Beans

2013-02-02T18:20:00.000Z

Saw this on the telly, so thought I would give it a try,

You'll need a couple of good size plaice fillets, I asked the chap on the fish counter just to de-skin them for me to save time, they are always happy to accommodate.

Also to save time I used tin butter beans too, cuts down on the cooking time (and the scum - never like scum when cooking)

So;

1/2 a red onion sliced and diced
1 red chilli almost de-seeded (the recipe on the telly called for de-seeded- but this is my version)
Rind of half a lemon
1 garlic glove crushed
4 teaspons of grated ginger
Sprig of Thyme
3 Table spoons of chopped Dill
2 tins of butter beans
1 or two tablespoons of creme fraiche
400 ml of chicken stock

Prepare your herbs

Cook your butter beans with a sprig or two of Thyme and I drain and wash the tinned butter beans and cook them in the chicken stock

Just before the butter beans are cooked, add the onion, chilli, ginger and garlic to a good sized pan with a couple of table spoons of vegetable oil and cook gently for a couple of minutes. Don't let the onions garlic brown.

Add the butter beans and the stock to the pan and stir to combine the beans with the herbs. Add two table spoons of the chopped dill to the pan and stir.

Add the creme fraiche and stir and allow to gently cook through

Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to a non stick pan and add the plaice fillets. As yo can see I cut the fillets down to more manageable sizes, and sear on one side for two minutes. Use a pallet knife to turn over and squeeze the juice from a half a lemon on top, remove from heat after 1 minute

Spoon the butter beans and sauce onto a plate and serve the plaice fillets on top sprinkle with more chopped dill

Enjoy

Don't forget to clean the hob afterwards

original recipe; BBC Saturday kitchen

Commemorating 2012!

2013-01-31T08:32:00.001Z

To commemorate the release of the topless photos of Kate Middleton,

Royal Doulton will be releasing a Collector's Edition of two small jugs

-----------------------

7 wheelchair athletes have been banned from the Paralympics after they tested positive for WD40

------------------------

A mummy covered in chocolate and nuts has been discovered in Egypt
Archaeologists believe it may be Pharaoh Roche...
---------------------

Just A Reminder to those who stole Electrical Goods in Last Years Riots....
Your One Year Manufacturers Warranty Runs Out Soon

-------------------

"ITS A BOY" I shouted "A BOY, I DON'T BELIEVE IT, ITS A BOY" and with tears streaming down my face

I swore I'd never visit another Thai brothel!!!

-------------------------

2 Indian junkies accidental snorted curry powder instead of cocaine. They’re both in hospital... one's in a korma…

The other's got a dodgy tikka!

----------------------

Author Unknown, but thanks

Film Review: The Hunger Games by Shannon Ing age 6

2013-01-26T21:37:00.003Z

Film Review: The Hunger Games by Shannon Ing age 6

My Name is Shannon and my Grand dad let me guest post on his blog, I like to cook with Grand dad too....

I watched The Hunger Games it’s really good. In it there are two girls and there was a flying ship and a lady comes out of it. And one boy and girl face death and the two that did was called Katniss Everdeen and Peter Malark. Let’s just carry on and they were district 12 I’m going to give you a question have you watched The Hunger Games and at the end they won thank you and I do not want comments only joking from Shannon

Essex PCC wants more money - A Response

2013-01-23T13:59:00.002Z

There I was minding my own business this morning took a quick break from work to see what was happening in the big bad world and saw this tweet from one of my favourite local Policemen;

Marc Jordan ‏@InspMarcJordan"@EssexPCC: PCC Nick Alston makes the case for an extra 40p a month to pay for policing and community safety work.http://www.essex.pcc.police.uk/ "

So I followed the link to our new PCC (Police and Crime Commissioner - feel I had to point that out as many people will still not have a clue to who or what that is or what good they are to us), but anyway Mr Alston has been busying himself with getting to grips to what I liken to as, a Government sponsored Quangoess type position. And for those of you not aware of what a Quango is, here is the link to Wikipedia, but I think my explanation is easier to understand, which is this;

A Quango is something set up by the government of the day that costs the tax payers £millions to set up. It is an organisation the taxpayers didn't know about, care about or needed. It is funded by government out of central taxes (PCC's Local taxes I think) but those involved with running it quickly become demigods ignoring the needs or wants of the local populace and or councils, and they run roughshod over local opinion while continuing to spend £millions of tax payers monies on expenses and salaries with no one seemingly, able to reign them in, in my opinion........ Same, I suspect, as a PCC....

Mr Alston goes on to make his case as to why he thinks tax payers in Essex should be asked to spend an extra 0.40 pence per month towards Policing in Essex. Now, right of the bat please let me make it perfectly clear that 40 pence is not a big amount to ask for policing, it's not, but;

He starts of by telling us that "The simple truth is that the amount of council tax we each pay to fund policing services in our county is the lowest in the country."

Nice, let's get that in there first, that we are already the most tight fisted tax payers in the country, but lets not forget that the previous budgets were set by those elected in the borough with dear old 'I'm resigning Chief Constable Barker-Mcardle', who handed in his papers days after Mr Alston was elected!

Mr Alston goes on to inform us that since budget cuts were introduced that, "All the evidence suggests that Essex Police is already a lean, efficiently run force, with over ninety percent of officers deployed on the front line and the seventh highest police officer to police staff ratio in the country. This means that most of our money is spent on “front line” policing."

He also informs us that, "This is the context in which to judge the impact of the budget savings that the force has already made. Compared with the levels of 2010, Essex Police will soon have lost 875 posts: 353 police officers (around ten percent of officers); 112 PCSOs (around 24 percent of PCSOs); and 410 police staff (roughly 19 percent of the total). It is also the case that the four year plan agreed for Essex Police to meet over £42 million in budget cuts included a 2.5 percent increase in the portion of council tax paid to fund policing in both 2013-14 and 2014-15."

But did you notice, and maybe I am misunderstanding it , but the last sentence in the previous paragraph seems to say that Essex Police are already in line to receive a 2.5 percent increase from the council tax, over the next four years to give some amelioration to the £42 million they have been told to save? Is it me? Am I misunderstanding that. They have been told to make a £42 million saving, they say OK, but can we have an increase in our share of the council tax by 2.5 percent over the next four years to compensate us for that budget saving , and the powers that be say, yes you can!

He then goes back to the little bit of moral blackmail that he started off with by stating, "One further striking fact is that if we, the people of Essex, paid the equivalent to the national average for policing from council tax, it would fund 470 extra police officers. We are at the bottom of the pile and will only fall further behind if we don’t take steps now to invest in our police."

So, hang on, we have lost 353 POLICE OFFICERS but he wants an increase to give him back 470 POLICE OFFICERS. Now he breaks the losses down into, police officers, pcso's and police staff. So are the 470 all going to be front line police officers or is it going to be a mixture of, officers, pcso's and staff? Who knows he doesn't break it down or make it very clear.

Then just for good measure he throws in the scare tactic telling us that, "Ultimately, there must be a risk that continued cuts in the number of police officers will make Essex more vulnerable to crime."

Before finally telling us that he wants an increase in the budget, "Therefore, I have decided to ask for a 3.5 percent increase in the portion of council tax used to fund policing and community safety in Essex, which amounts to an extra £4.77 per year for a Band D council tax payer."

But, and again, if Essex Police are already to get an agreed 2.5 percent increase over the next 4 years and Mr Alston is asking for a 3.5 percent increase, is that on top of the 2.5 percent making a total of 6 percent or is it 1 percent on top of the 2.5 percent? It's as clear as mud, just like a Quango would be if making the same points!

Now I understand that Essex has decided to impose a freeze on the council tax for the third year in succession and let's face it the cost of everything else is going up, energy bills, food, fuel, travel and the government has imposed wage freezes on public sector workers and if you work in the private sector try getting a pay rise out of your employer.....

No Doubt Essex County Fire and Rescue will be looking for an increase too. So they and the Police get their rise but the council doesn't put up the tax to the residents in the borough where is the money to come from then? Well it will come out of reduced spending on housing, road and street repairs and improvements, welfare and healthcare, education and the many other services that the councils are required to provide; we will all miss out because the police can't cope and make adjustments.

I'll say it again £4.77 is a ridiculously modest amount, when said like that, but put into cost, the total they are asking for becomes an immodest and large amount of money. I am not saying they don't need it, I'm not saying that it won't be spent wisely but........

I am a great supporter of the Police, I also take them to task and they have a thankless job and I am glad they are doing it and not me, but I also see first hand how inefficient they can be. Even before Essex Police started losing 'officers' the joke with us was that an incident report would turn up on my desk marked 'UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE' Observed Essex Police Officers out on patrol, Front line Policing seems to mean two different things to the two groups involved, i.e the Police and the Public. Not really sure what it means to the Police but to the Public, 'Front Line Policing' means seeing police officers out and about and on patrol or attending to an incident that has been reported. And from my point of view, they have always been sadly lacking from both.

So, while it is your right and duty in your position of PCC to try and maintain a budget that can be worked with and not see any further deterioration to our policing, you need to do it in line with what you are given and stop trying to make us feel bad and that it's our fault that you don't have the funds. Maybe, and I don't know if this is a reason why we have oner of the lowest 'police budgets' in the the country, but could it be that unemployment and the number of people on rent rebates and council tax exemptions are higher than other counties in the country, I don't know, maybe you or someone from Essex CC can tell us why it has been consistently lower than other regions. Have your money but do it in line with the restraints that are being placed on all of us. Policing is special I want Policing and I want a strong well paid Police force, with men and women who are going to stand there on the front line protecting me from the moron anarchists and the every day criminals who make all our lives miserable And at the end of the day the Justice system, lazy and incompetent magistrates and judges who are continually letting offenders off and back out on to the streets are all adding to the costs that you need, and that we end up being bled for....

The full text of Mr Alston's report is here

Related Posts:

These Green and Pleasant Lands

Jody McIntyre - Police Brutality

KETTLING - Is this Police Tactic Wrong?

Essex Police to Replace Human Cops with 'RoboCop Athena'

London Metropolitan Police - Baton Rounds

Private Policing in the UK, is it New?

Essex Police: Incompetent or just plain lazy

Book Review: Incorporeal by Julia R Barrett

2013-01-20T23:22:00.000Z

Look Inside: Amazon UK
Look Inside: Amazon US

Firstly, I have to declare; I know the author. Secondly, I don't think I have ever read a paranormal love story before, so there that's out of the way and maybe I should say, thirdly, I didn't think after reading the first three or four chapters that I would finish my first paranormal love story.

Well as it turns out I did have one or two problems and it took me longer to read than I normally take to read a book, but I think that was purely because the first few chapters were a bit on the slow side. I used a phrase while reviewing another book once and it applies to this one as well, it was this; "What we ended up with was a book that began with a forgettable stroll around the park, jumped over the railing onto the running track and into a gentle jog and then burst into a sprint as the story progressed."

I think this sums up Incorporeal quite well as and unless I go back and read the first few chapters again, I couldn't tell you much about what was going on. I'm not putting all of that on the author, remember, this is my first paranormal love story, so it was, in all likelihood down to me adjusting to the different genre...

SOME SPOILERS

But from about chapter 4 on, I was hooked. It turned out to be a well written story and probably things that I missed at the beginning were made clearer to me as the book progressed. Sara Wise slogs away in an office by day and writes paranormal love stories by night. Ever since she was a girl she has had the ability to see and communicate with spirits from the other side. Sometimes good experiences sometimes bad. Her mother never understood, her father did. her father was the buffer between her and her mother and when he dies her life falls apart and her mother puts her in an orphanage......

Usually ghosts turn up, ask her to pass on a message, she never does, and then they disappear, Nathan on the other hand had turned up two months ago and had steadfastly refused to move on saying that he was not permitted to...

Sara dreamt of Nathan but couldn't see him and while she didn't like the thought of not being able to get rid of a ghost she was becoming used to him being around. It was doubly annoying that Nathan would not tell her anything about himself, to begin with. But, as time passed she discovers that he has been dead for over 500 years. His family were wealthy Jewish merchants in Spain but the king and Queen of Spain wanted their wealth and their ships and so arranged for the family to be killed by Inquisitors. Nathan had not 'crossed over' as he was not present when the family were murdered and he had blamed himself for not being there to protect them. He had eventually escaped on a ship to England, the birth place of his mother also from a wealthy family, but who had ostracised their daughter for marrying a Jew, where he later died.

What Nathan hadn't told Sara was that he was not permitted to move on as he had been placed there in that house with her as her Guardian to try and protect her from something or someone, he didn't know what, that would place her life in danger, nor could he tell her, even if he knew, when this danger would manifest itself. Well that's all I can tell you about the story without actually spoiling the book for you.

What I can tell you is that the story did have substance to it, well if you can believe in ghosts - and why not - we largely suspend our belief in almost anything when we are reading a work of fiction or watching a movie - so do so here and you will find a love story with a bit of suspense and a bit of 'murder, death, kill' thrown in for good measure. A single woman who finds love with an incorporeal man who becomes corporeal, but can it, and does it last, or are there shades of the Ghost and Mrs Muir?

The syntax flowed along and there was no problems with this, and as I mentioned earlier once I got past the first couple of chapters it kept me entertained and ready to turn the page. The Love Scenes seemed well written without being over the top and I didn't feel uncomfortable reading them and they didn't take up all of the book.

There was a couple of minor inconsistencies and I found it, at first, hard to believe that in the modern age Sara didn't have an actual phone in her home, only a mobile but then I thought about a friend of mine who relies solely on a mobile and doesn't have a land line either but has a USB toggle for wi-fi, so not all that inconsistent there I suppose! There was a couple of blank pages between the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next, and when this happens you at first think that your Kindle has suddenly shut down, but as I say, only a couple of these so not a major problem. All in all I'm glad I kept reading it.

Editing for Kindle: 4 out 5
Reading Enjoyment: 4 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
No of Pages: 185 estimated
Chapters: 22

Trailer: The Ghost and Mrs Muir