Anyone need a bed? (Or whatever happened to manners?)

I believe that recycling is important.  I try to do my bit.  I have a compost bin, our council collects paper, plastic bottles and cans from the house.  Glass can be deposited in bins quite close by and there are collection points not too far away where I can deposit various other things such as batteries.

As I've got older I've become more conscious of the fact that we are becoming a very disposable society.  Things don't seem to last the same way either.

Consequently I'm glad of recycling websites for passing on furniture, homeware and all sorts of strange things.  I've got rid of quite a few things that we've no longer needed this way.  We once got rid of a cabin bed (a high bed with desk and wardrobe underneath) including the mattress to a guy who collected the whole thing in a VW Golf.  He crammed as much as he could inside and the mattress and other pieces were just piled on the roof, secured with bungee straps.  I was relieved to learn he got home safely!

Oops I'm waffling.

Right now I have a double bed to give away.  I posted it on a website recently and a young Mum responded.  We arranged a pick up time which had to be rearranged as she had no-one to look after her disabled son.  On the second day I got a message to say she was running late.  Then nothing!

No contact whatsoever.  She just didn't turn up.

Now I know that an emergency could have happened but surely after the event a message could have been sent to explain her no show.  Although of course as has been pointed out to me she could just have changed her mind or decided it was just too much bother to collect.  But why not just tell me?

Everyone has the right to change their mind.  "Sorry I've decided I don't want the bed that you are kindly giving away for free anymore.  Hope I haven't inconvenienced you."  Or just "changed my mind.  Not coming now."  would have been sufficient.

But nothing?  Really?  How rude!  Especially in this age of technology when it's so easy to send a message.

And now I find myself in the same situation again.  I relisted the bed and had several enquiries.  I had arranged with someone for them to collect the bed this evening after 6.30pm.  It's now gone 9.30 pm so I don't think they are coming. 


Once again I'm back to square one although I do have other people interested.  Hopefully one of them will actually turn up.

Rant over.

Oops - I've mentioned the B word!

Yesterday I said I wouldn’t talk about politics but it’s hard not to get involved in some sort of dialogue when your country is going through such a time of change.  Yes I’m daring to mention the B word. (Brexit)

Cartoon from Hedgeye

Firstly let me say I voted to remain.  I believed that we would be better remaining part of the EU and being able to influence its decisions.  The alternative, being on the outside of a large group of countries who would not be impressed by our decision to leave, (and I think this is becoming more evident as talks go on) was never going to be a pretty picture and to believe that we could just demand our terms and have them met, especially when we seem to want our cake and eat it (e.g control of our borders but oh wait a minute no physical border with Ireland)  just seems to reinforce the belief that Brits think they are better than everyone else.  Not a good starting point for negotiations.

Of course the biggest mistake made was the original decision to make it a straight Remain/Leave referendum question.   At the very least it should have required a set percentage of Leave votes for it to be carried.  A result of 51.89% voting Leave against 48.11% voting Remain is hardly conclusive.  Surely there should have been an agreed margin between the two outcomes.  After all, in tied votes on a committee where the Chairman has the casting vote, it’s usual to keep the status quo as there is no clear majority for change.

However, what’s done is done.  Now we have to get on with it.  All these constant suggestions that we should have another vote are not helping.  We are a democracy and the vote was taken in a democratic way.  Besides, do people really believe that if we had a second vote and the decision was to remain, countries like France would just allow us to stay in without any penalties? (Especially since they’ve recently won the Football World Cup.)  Of course not.  If we went back with our tail between our legs and asked to stay our position would probably be worse than if we get no exit deal.

As the date for completing the exit nears (11pm local time on 29 March 2019) there’s plenty of scaremongering beginning which is not particularly helpful.  The latest being the suggestion that the Government is stockpiling certain items, including healthcare essentials such as insulin in case no deal is in place on the 29^th March.  It feels like the Millennium bug saga all over again.   Will we still be able to buy European wine?  That’s the question!

I hope that we do get some sort of deal and I think we will.  Surely it can’t be in Europe’s best interest to have no certainty over what happens when the clock strikes 11pm next March? (Why 11pm?  Can’t agree a deal but we can decide on a time?  Why not midnight?)

It’s definitely a right fine mess the Conservative Party has gotten us into.  And now they’re making a bigger mess in trying to sort it out.  Unfortunately I don’t think the Labour Party would do any better.

 
Hopefully the World Wide Web will continue to work on 30^th March.  Otherwise it’s been nice knowing you!

Get the facts

Like most people, I'm sure, I have a love/hate relationship with social media.  I love that I keep in touch with family, especially Grandson Noah who's that bit further away.  (Apologies to Rory's long distance Grandparents but it's all relevant.)  I can't just pop round to see him like I can with the other two.

I love being able to see what the extended family are up to as well although keeping track can be tricky.  There are Whatsapp messages to reply to, Facebook posts to like oh and now there is Instagram too and some of it is just duplicated.  How many Likes do we all need?  (As many as possible because we all want to be popular don't we?)


What I hate though is some of the nastiness that creeps in on public posts.  Of course it's fine to have your own opinion but there are ways to express it.  I (mostly) tend to keep away from any really heated debates, life is too short.  However I do hate it when people post things and haven't even got their facts straight.

One subject that particularly annoys me, probably because it usually veers towards rascism, well actually it's definitely rascist, is "foreigners abusing our NHS system".  Many people are very vocal about their belief that people come to this county (UK) to take advantage of our free health service.

Well I can categorically state it's not free to everyone.  Posters on display in the A & E department I was in on Friday make it clear that if you are not a UK citizen or have the right to be settled here you may have to pay for your treatment.

A recent letter I received for a dermatology appointment also contained a questionnaire I had to complete requesting details that would establish whether I was entitled to free healthcare (such as passport details).

My American DIL who forgot to take the necessary information with her when booking in for her antenatal care received an invoice for over £8000. (Fortunately this was cancelled when she provided her details - she's legally entitled to use the NHS.)

It may not always have been this way, and I have no idea how good they are at following up on billing and collecting fees but it's wrong to say "foreigners come here to benefit from our NHS"

I'm also sure that if someone arrives by ambulance needed resuscitation/blood transfusions or other urgent treatment that they're treated first and status established later and would hope that any ongoing treatment would be billed as necessary.

I did find this useful link that sets out facts and figures when searching for an image for anyone who wants figures.

There, piece said.  Don't worry, I'll leave politics for another day!

Time

I seem to have lost my mojo when it comes to blogging lately.  I've just about managed to keep up with the Hodgepodge and Friday's Fave Fives most weeks and a few book reviews here and there but not much else.

Now that Joyce is taking a well earned break from the Hodgepodge until at least September I know that I need to be more proactive about posting.  After all it's not as if I don't have time.  But I'm discovering that time is elusive.  It just seems to disappear.

I can't even blame it on rushing around.  I don't rush anywhere if I can help it, certainly not in this hot weather.  They are promising thunder storms tomorrow - I can't wait!  Well of course I can wait as time is my own.

Well it seems that time is not always my own.  I started this post on Thursday and it is now Sunday.  I intended coming back to it on Friday but I was feeling very unwell.  Turns out (after a visit to A & E late Friday evening) that I have a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) and nothing more sinister.  I still have my appendix and thanks to an infusion of potassium, anti-nausea medication and antibiotics I'm beginning to feel better.

I have been taking it easy and wasting time playing games on my iPad.  As I said time is my own.  But I do still kick myself sometimes when I'm wasting it.

Of course spending time with the Grandchildren is never a waste of time.  The beauty of that is also that I can enjoy the time with them because there's usually nothing more important that needs doing.  That's the difference from being a parent to a Grandparent.  As a parent it was always:

• It's time to take the older child(ren) to school
• It's time to collect them from school
• It's time to do the shopping, cleaning, ironing........
• It's time to get the dinner on

I'm sure you get my meaning.  There was hardly ever time to just be:

• Reading the same book over and over because it was a favourite
• Building the stacking cups up, again, because knocking them down is still fun
• Singing nursery rhymes until you're getting hoarse because it makes them laugh
• Cuddling and sitting quietly just because you can

But as a Grandparent I can (usually) do all of the above and more at Nathan's pace.  I can be led by him because when I'm there to look after him that's what I focus on.   

And I'm loving it!