Yes, it was a good Christmas this year. Last year I was without a job and early in 2009 I was lucky enough to get me a job in Leicester. There have been ups and downs but I'm settling in and just starting to feel part of the team. That has made all the difference to our outlook this year, and that has been reflected in our approach to Christmas. More contact with family and friends, spending time with mum & dad, the boys, everybody. Going to the "works do". Last night we held a well attended party and everybody had fun. Tonight we are off to a wedding reception. Andy started back at work today, I have to work tomorrow, but Andy is doing 3 days this week. Then we all have a long weekend. Because of the weather Angie & John haven't got up here to Derby but I've spoken to them and Chris in America - all on the phone.
Here's hoping that this pretty good end to 2009 bodes well for 2010. Happy New Year to you all.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Saturday, 19 December 2009
The Future
Despite everything that the politicains and bankers have done to destroy this world of ours, there is still a future. This is evidenced by the fact that as I sit here now I have four weddings, two 21st birthday parties, two Christmas/New Year parties and a graduation to look forward to - all of them already firm dates in the calendar and taking us through to October 2010.
And while there may be no pay rises to look forward to we can look forward to loans ending and freeing up money that has previously been commited to servicing those loans. So we will be better placed to save and survive.
As for the youngsters, Andy is almost there with just one module left to get to achieve his BMW Senior Technician certificate. Mark is starting to look for suitable post-graduate positions for when he has completed his degree course and he's still on for a first class degree, so let us all hope he achieves it. Their girlfriends are both studying for thier respective qualifications and while job opportunities are thin on the ground right now they continue in the hope and belief that the good times will return and that things will pick up.
So yes, there is a future and we just have to live it as we find it and the hand it deals us.
And while there may be no pay rises to look forward to we can look forward to loans ending and freeing up money that has previously been commited to servicing those loans. So we will be better placed to save and survive.
As for the youngsters, Andy is almost there with just one module left to get to achieve his BMW Senior Technician certificate. Mark is starting to look for suitable post-graduate positions for when he has completed his degree course and he's still on for a first class degree, so let us all hope he achieves it. Their girlfriends are both studying for thier respective qualifications and while job opportunities are thin on the ground right now they continue in the hope and belief that the good times will return and that things will pick up.
So yes, there is a future and we just have to live it as we find it and the hand it deals us.
Friday, 18 December 2009
My Rant - Bankers again...
The top plonker at Barclays Bank, John Varley, has said that the one off tax on bonus payments to bankers will damage the standing of the UK finance industry. He is concerned that the individuals likely to be affected will defect, leave to work in other countries - which just goes to prove how out of touch these overpaid ivory tower clad individauls are.
We trust these people to handle our money as trustees. Where they provide us with additional services they charge us hansomely for doing so. Then, while we go about our lives they grab our cash and "invest" it - their term for some very dubious forms of gambling, and when they get it wrong then we are the ones that suffer. How? With job losses, plundered pension funds, reduced interest (income) from savings and restricted credit (though that may possibly not be a totally bad outcome).
So why should we want to retain these plonkers - who created all the current economic problems? Why would we want to pay them even bigger bonuses for GAMBLING with our money? Why would we want to stop them going abroad? More to the point, why woud foreign banks want to emply our plonkers knowing that they have such an appalling track record?
If the bankers were in the position that many of us working outside of the banking/finance industry are in then they would (in my view) have reason to gripe. But they aren't. They are still expecting, and mostly getting, inflated, unwarranted and unearned salaries and bonuses. For years bankers have refused to aadvance investment funds to inject into British industry and IT development. They have been a driving force behind moving jobs off-shore. As taxpayers we have bailed out their industry and shored up their jobs, and now they want our sympahy!
Sorry - the sympathy cupboard is bare, and if they think they can do better elsewhere they go - I for one will be glad to see them go.
We trust these people to handle our money as trustees. Where they provide us with additional services they charge us hansomely for doing so. Then, while we go about our lives they grab our cash and "invest" it - their term for some very dubious forms of gambling, and when they get it wrong then we are the ones that suffer. How? With job losses, plundered pension funds, reduced interest (income) from savings and restricted credit (though that may possibly not be a totally bad outcome).
So why should we want to retain these plonkers - who created all the current economic problems? Why would we want to pay them even bigger bonuses for GAMBLING with our money? Why would we want to stop them going abroad? More to the point, why woud foreign banks want to emply our plonkers knowing that they have such an appalling track record?
If the bankers were in the position that many of us working outside of the banking/finance industry are in then they would (in my view) have reason to gripe. But they aren't. They are still expecting, and mostly getting, inflated, unwarranted and unearned salaries and bonuses. For years bankers have refused to aadvance investment funds to inject into British industry and IT development. They have been a driving force behind moving jobs off-shore. As taxpayers we have bailed out their industry and shored up their jobs, and now they want our sympahy!
Sorry - the sympathy cupboard is bare, and if they think they can do better elsewhere they go - I for one will be glad to see them go.
Respite
Last Saturday Dad was collected by privet ambulance and taken to the Helen Lay Centre for his final period of respite this year. Unlike previous visits - this was one he had decided he didn't want to have. Due to a mix-up, mother hadn't packed all his medication so I took Mum and the medication down to the centre on Sunday afternoon and Dad was much more receptive after having had a damned good sleep and plenty of food and rest. He was in excellent spirits and glad to see us, as jovial as he can be and chatty from start to finish.
Mother was upset by Dad's initial bad attitude towards the respite trip but aftr Sunday's visit she was much happier. I've spoken to her most evenings this week and she seems in good spirits and (weather permitting) he will be delivered back home this Saturday.
Mother was upset by Dad's initial bad attitude towards the respite trip but aftr Sunday's visit she was much happier. I've spoken to her most evenings this week and she seems in good spirits and (weather permitting) he will be delivered back home this Saturday.
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
More news of Dad
Last night, just in from work and (fortunately) dinner consumed I got a phone call from Mum - the ambulance was already there to take Dad to A&E. I got down there just as the ambulance pulled out of the end of the road, so I slotted in behind and followed it to the Royal Derby - that was at about 20:20.
A&E was very, very busy. Once admitted we were shown to a bay to await a doctor. At 23:00 I took mum home before returning to stay with Dad until the doctor showed up. Now call me an old sceptic, but, the government has laid down guidelines / NHS targets that state everybody attending A&E should be seen inside 4 hours, so on the basis that he was checked in at 20:40 I was very unsurprised when a doctor mysteriously materialised at 00:30 and spent 10 minutes asking questions and checking Dad over. A plan of action was then laid down...
1. Replace the catheter that had come out
2. Take some blood samples and get them analysed
3. Based on the results of the blood tests, decide if he was to stay or return home - but beds are short and so were his chances of staying in.
So, at 01:20 I made Dad as comfortable as I could and left him in their care - by now I was falling asleep on my feet. I drove home via Mother to return the blister pack she'd taken in with her & Dad in the ambulance (just in case he was admitted) and to advise her that Dad would probably be coming back home but that she should get back to bed.
I got home and fell into bed around 02:00 and was dead to the world inside minutes and was only woken up by the morning alarm. I get to work this morning and make a call to Mum. Dad had been sent home as predicted, arriving a litle after 03:00. I spoke to Mum again at lunchtime and again this evening. Dad has some antibiotics for a urine infection and he's been seen by Dr Paul Moss and is much more comfortable than when laying on the trolley waiting in A&E.
The additional good news is that Social Services have contacted the Helen Lay Centre and Dad will still be allowed his week's respite starting Saturday so Mum gets some much needed extra rest.
I know that Angie has spoken to Mum & Dad tonight so hopefully the news is getting round the family fairly quickly.
A&E was very, very busy. Once admitted we were shown to a bay to await a doctor. At 23:00 I took mum home before returning to stay with Dad until the doctor showed up. Now call me an old sceptic, but, the government has laid down guidelines / NHS targets that state everybody attending A&E should be seen inside 4 hours, so on the basis that he was checked in at 20:40 I was very unsurprised when a doctor mysteriously materialised at 00:30 and spent 10 minutes asking questions and checking Dad over. A plan of action was then laid down...
1. Replace the catheter that had come out
2. Take some blood samples and get them analysed
3. Based on the results of the blood tests, decide if he was to stay or return home - but beds are short and so were his chances of staying in.
So, at 01:20 I made Dad as comfortable as I could and left him in their care - by now I was falling asleep on my feet. I drove home via Mother to return the blister pack she'd taken in with her & Dad in the ambulance (just in case he was admitted) and to advise her that Dad would probably be coming back home but that she should get back to bed.
I got home and fell into bed around 02:00 and was dead to the world inside minutes and was only woken up by the morning alarm. I get to work this morning and make a call to Mum. Dad had been sent home as predicted, arriving a litle after 03:00. I spoke to Mum again at lunchtime and again this evening. Dad has some antibiotics for a urine infection and he's been seen by Dr Paul Moss and is much more comfortable than when laying on the trolley waiting in A&E.
The additional good news is that Social Services have contacted the Helen Lay Centre and Dad will still be allowed his week's respite starting Saturday so Mum gets some much needed extra rest.
I know that Angie has spoken to Mum & Dad tonight so hopefully the news is getting round the family fairly quickly.
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Visit to Dad in Ward 404
Today I picked Mother up just before 2pm and took her to the Royal Derby Hospital to visit Dad. He seems to be making progress and have told Mother that they will be sending him home on Monday. While I was there I phoned Angie on my mobile and after chatting with her I passed it to Dad so that they could chat. Having it on speaker-phone meant that Mum & I could join in the conversation too. We had intended to stay until 4pm but nurses came to tend to Dad at 3:50 so we left those few minutes early. On the way home in discussion with Mum it became obvious that she now believes Dad to be on seriously borrowed time but he has confounded us all for the last 2 years so who knows how long he'll keep going. The fact remains that the longer he keeps going the more of a problem caring for him will become.
As a foot note, Angie still hasn't been given a start date due to the need for her new employer to get a CRB check done as Angie will be working with children and people with special needs.
As a foot note, Angie still hasn't been given a start date due to the need for her new employer to get a CRB check done as Angie will be working with children and people with special needs.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Busy day off
Last day of November, a day off work and a planned service on the motorbike before the winter sets in. Last Wednesday I had a puncture repaired after a couple of weeks trying to find the time to get it done. Riding the bike I realised it wasn't running at it's best so today that was sorted. A fellow Deauville rider and good mate of mine Phil Swain popped round to give me a lending hand and some instruction. He's always taking his bike apart and putting it back together so knows his way round the model real well. Thanks to his advice and guiding/helping hand my machine has now had it's tappets adjusted, loose exhaust bolts re-tightened, spark plugs and airfilter replaced and carburetors balanced. Tyre pressures, all lighting and brake pads checked and all that's left to do is a quick oil and filter change (I thought I had a spare filter, but hadn't) which I will probably do this coming Saturday. All told, a very good day's work - Thanks Big Phil.
Chaotic weekend as Dad is rushed to A&E
Friday night I'm on my way ome when my modile rings, and as I'm stationary in traffic I answer it. Andy has gone straight from work to his grandparents for tea (as usual on a Friday) and there's nobody home. Now as Dad can only get about in an ambulance the conclusion is simple and Andy has rung to say he's going straight off to A&E to look for his grandparents. I quickly ring Sue and tell her that I'm going to head straight to the Royal Derby myself.
I've made good ground on the M1 but I'm stuck juct before J24 in the road works when Sue rings back to say that she's phoned A&E and mum & dad are both there as Dad has a problem. I get tgere and find Andy, Mum & Dad - he's in a bad way and has been there since 2:10pm (it's now 6:00pm) so I ask Andy to take Mum home with him, collect his other nan and drop them both of at the Derby Assembly Rooms as they are supposed to be attending a Choral Christmas Concert there and I'll stay with Dad - which is what happens. At a little after 7:00 Dad is moved to the Medical Assessment Unit, where they suddenly have a frantic hive of activity around him for over half an hour which ends with his bed being moved to a quieter corner of the MAU. Andy arrives at about 7:40 and after getting Dad fully checked in and a report on what had happemed we both leave.
Saturday afternoon Mum makes her own way to the hospital, but later that evening I take her up for a visit 7:00 - 8:00pm. By now Dad is much better and I get to talk to the Sister Nurse who I'd finished the checking in process with (that Mum had started) the previous evening. Her assessment is that he'll be OK, probably in for 4 days and that the antibiotics were working, however, it had been a very close run thing and they had nearly lost himduring that aforementioned activity the previous evening.
Sunday Mother came to have Sunday roast with us before going off to visit him again. Sue & I had other commitments so I popped down to see Mum around 7:45 that evening. She said that Dad was even perjier than he'd been Saturday night and appeared to be well on the way to fighting off whatever it was that had infected him.
The summary is that he'd had a blood clot on the lung, had managed to pass it into his urine (which Mum had seen in his catheter) and that following that he'd got a viral infection. When I got to see him on that first visit in A&E his pulse was 130+ and his breathing 34+ a minute. When I saw him again on Sunday evening the pulse was down to 88/89 and they were no longer monitoring his breathing.
Today (Monday) Mum has been uo to visit him and he is now in ward 404 on the 4th floor, room 1. Andy had made arrangements to take Mother up there again tonight so I'll (hopefully) get to see Dad tomorrow night. He's just got in and says that Dad'sthe best he's been for a few week snow, so he should get released home sooner rather than later.
I've made good ground on the M1 but I'm stuck juct before J24 in the road works when Sue rings back to say that she's phoned A&E and mum & dad are both there as Dad has a problem. I get tgere and find Andy, Mum & Dad - he's in a bad way and has been there since 2:10pm (it's now 6:00pm) so I ask Andy to take Mum home with him, collect his other nan and drop them both of at the Derby Assembly Rooms as they are supposed to be attending a Choral Christmas Concert there and I'll stay with Dad - which is what happens. At a little after 7:00 Dad is moved to the Medical Assessment Unit, where they suddenly have a frantic hive of activity around him for over half an hour which ends with his bed being moved to a quieter corner of the MAU. Andy arrives at about 7:40 and after getting Dad fully checked in and a report on what had happemed we both leave.
Saturday afternoon Mum makes her own way to the hospital, but later that evening I take her up for a visit 7:00 - 8:00pm. By now Dad is much better and I get to talk to the Sister Nurse who I'd finished the checking in process with (that Mum had started) the previous evening. Her assessment is that he'll be OK, probably in for 4 days and that the antibiotics were working, however, it had been a very close run thing and they had nearly lost himduring that aforementioned activity the previous evening.
Sunday Mother came to have Sunday roast with us before going off to visit him again. Sue & I had other commitments so I popped down to see Mum around 7:45 that evening. She said that Dad was even perjier than he'd been Saturday night and appeared to be well on the way to fighting off whatever it was that had infected him.
The summary is that he'd had a blood clot on the lung, had managed to pass it into his urine (which Mum had seen in his catheter) and that following that he'd got a viral infection. When I got to see him on that first visit in A&E his pulse was 130+ and his breathing 34+ a minute. When I saw him again on Sunday evening the pulse was down to 88/89 and they were no longer monitoring his breathing.
Today (Monday) Mum has been uo to visit him and he is now in ward 404 on the 4th floor, room 1. Andy had made arrangements to take Mother up there again tonight so I'll (hopefully) get to see Dad tomorrow night. He's just got in and says that Dad'sthe best he's been for a few week snow, so he should get released home sooner rather than later.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Service time comes around
Motorcycles require servicing and after an expensive 20,000 mile service I've been doing just oil and filter changes in the expectation of another big bill at 32,000. However, I have a day's annual leave to take before Christmas so I've booked Monday 30-Nov as a day off and arranged for a mate to pop round to assist in drinking tea and carrying out a full and thorough service.
In preparation I've started to get the bits together, searching out the best price / deal on the internet in order to save a few quid. So far so good and finger crossed I get everything together in time.
Same day a nice man is coming to service the house alarm. Another is coming to fit a shower in the bathroom. And I have to pop out to see the nurse at our local GP practice for an injection. It's going to be a fun and hectic day.
In preparation I've started to get the bits together, searching out the best price / deal on the internet in order to save a few quid. So far so good and finger crossed I get everything together in time.
Same day a nice man is coming to service the house alarm. Another is coming to fit a shower in the bathroom. And I have to pop out to see the nurse at our local GP practice for an injection. It's going to be a fun and hectic day.
Nothing for ages, then they all come along at once
They say that about policemen and busses, but this time, it's about a job. Well more than one to be precise. Angie has been without a job for more months than I was, and that was too long. Yesterday she learnt that she'd been successful in applying for 2 positions one in cleaning and the other in patient care - both requiring CRB checks which are now being carried out and should be just a formality.
Well done sis. Hopefully 2010 will be a much better year for you!
Well done sis. Hopefully 2010 will be a much better year for you!
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
R & R
To take our minds off the possibility of me being made redundant again, Sue & I took time off to go to London last Thursday to take in a show and spend 2 days in our capital city. I've never been a friend of London, or any big cities for that matter, but I really enjoyed this trip. London is now much more car free with pedestrian areas predominating and the Congestion Charge keeping vehicle numbers down - result being fewer cars with access to even fewer streets.
We walked miles. Oxford Street disappoints, being all cheap and down market. Everywhere else is nice and clean with a mysterious absence of pigeons fouling and pestering for feed. Trafalgar Square is a really nice place to be, as are most of the streets. Convent Garden - I loved it with it's market stalls and cafes.
We saw the show "We Will Rock You" based on the music of Queen. Fabulous, funny, full of music and wit with great lighting and a humorous story line (Simon Cowell is responsible for the dead of Rock & Roll!). Other than that well... we had a nice meal out, just the 2 of us. We walked miles in the glorious (and un-seasonally warm) sunshine under clear skies. We took a boat trip down to Greenwich and back - a 2 hour trip, well worth the fare. And we walked miles (again). Stayed at the Strand Palace Hotel, and had an enormous full English breakfast - which was just as well as we walked.....
We needed the break and today's news that I've still got a job made it even better.
We walked miles. Oxford Street disappoints, being all cheap and down market. Everywhere else is nice and clean with a mysterious absence of pigeons fouling and pestering for feed. Trafalgar Square is a really nice place to be, as are most of the streets. Convent Garden - I loved it with it's market stalls and cafes.
We saw the show "We Will Rock You" based on the music of Queen. Fabulous, funny, full of music and wit with great lighting and a humorous story line (Simon Cowell is responsible for the dead of Rock & Roll!). Other than that well... we had a nice meal out, just the 2 of us. We walked miles in the glorious (and un-seasonally warm) sunshine under clear skies. We took a boat trip down to Greenwich and back - a 2 hour trip, well worth the fare. And we walked miles (again). Stayed at the Strand Palace Hotel, and had an enormous full English breakfast - which was just as well as we walked.....
We needed the break and today's news that I've still got a job made it even better.
How many more times
I shouldn't complain but it is getting a bit tiresome. Late January 2008 I got made redundant when the company I worked for went to the wall. Two weeks later I'm working only to get made redundant again late June after 4.5 months work. That lead to 7 months job hunting before I secured my current job... less pay, longer commute and unfamiliar teritory as it's more systems and test analyst than business analyst - which is what I am/was. But ever grateful I'd got a job.
Then 3 months in, on the last day of my probation period, I got a "your job is at risk" interview and letter. One week later I advised (in writing) that I'm no longer at risk. Last Tuesday the "your job is at risk" interview and letter was repeated. Today I got another letter to say that (again) I'm no longer at risk.
Doesn't exactly fill one with confidence for long term prospects and leaves one wondering - how many more times....?
Then 3 months in, on the last day of my probation period, I got a "your job is at risk" interview and letter. One week later I advised (in writing) that I'm no longer at risk. Last Tuesday the "your job is at risk" interview and letter was repeated. Today I got another letter to say that (again) I'm no longer at risk.
Doesn't exactly fill one with confidence for long term prospects and leaves one wondering - how many more times....?
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