The Anonymous Widower

Only The Irish!

I love Ireland and the Irish.  My father always claimed that there was an Irish ancestor in our blood, but I’ve never found them, amongst a real mixture, of which any London mongrel would be proud.

In July 1990, our horse, Vague Shot, travelled to Ireland to run in the McGrath Stakes in the Irish Derby meeting at the Curragh. He was second and that paid the expenses of the trip. The Derby though was unusual that year in that Hamdam Al Maktoum’s filly, Salsabil, was attempting to defeat the colts. I remember that I flew myself, C and a friend, Gillian, over in my Cessna 340A to the main Dublin Airport.

I think we had lunch at the Regans close to the course andTadey and Moira came with us to the races in the afternoon. I remember that Tadey helped saddle Vague Shot and the horse duly delivered. I also remember C and Moira having a bet on Belmez in the Derby at outrageous each-way odds. When Salsabil won, they couldn’t find the ticket as their selection had been third, but Moira talked the Tote into paying out anyway.

So we had had a good day on the hospitality, racing and betting fronts.

We then left to go back to the airport in our hire car. Normally, this was an easy journey of about an hour, but as we approached the airport, the traffic had slowed to a crawl and people were parking on the roadside and running towards the airport. In the end we did the same and after half-an-hour we had dumped the keys with the car hire company and had walked to the general aviation terminal.

I asked what was going on only to be told, that the Irish team were returning from the 1990 World Cup and that Dublin had also given Nelson Mandela the freedom of the city. Only the Irish would organise three major events on the same day. But I think they had a great party!

There were people running about all over the airport hoping to greet the footballers on their return, so taxiing the aircraft was difficult and in some ways a bit dangerous for the trespassers.  In the end however, we scraped out of the airport almost in the dark and delivered Gillian to Stansted. The terminal was all locked up, so what about security? Finally, we arrived at Ipswich and went home for supper.

July 14, 2010 Posted by | Sport, Transport/Travel | , , , , | 1 Comment

Free As A Lark – Lingfield July 14th

C’s last big purchase for the stud, was a mare by Saddler’s Wells called Regal Magic. She was carrying, a foal by Oratorio. That foal is now called Free As A Lark and she runs today at Lingfield in the 15:30.

The comment in the Racing Post by her name is “Shown ability but more needed to make it third time lucky”.  That’s probably true! It might just have been her race at Yarmouth.

There are various things to take into account.

  • She will need some rain and hopefully, it rained at Lingfield last night.
  • She will be coming downhill, round a bend and hasn’t done that before.
  • There are a couple of very well-bred horses in the race, who are trained by the top rank.
  • There are some dodgy horses in the race, who could win or do nothing at all.

So here’s hoping. If you have SKY, you can watch it on At The Races.  That’s the free channel.  Why do we have two racing channels, one of which has to be paid for?

July 14, 2010 Posted by | Sport | | 2 Comments

Between Life and Death

This program on BBC1 last night, was not the sort of television I usually watch, as I jokily say I’m allergic to hospitals.  I suppose, that as I’ve seen the inside of them so much in recent years, what with the death of C and our youngest son, and now my strokes, it is quite understandable. 

But for some reason, I didn’t turn the program off last night.  Partly because it was Addenbrookes, I suppose and I do have a respect for the place after what they have done for my family.  I’ve also played tennis with several of the doctors and know the cutting-edge ethos of the hospital, which is pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

In the end I found it very uplifting and almost supportive of my recovery, albeit from a very minor problem to those shown in the program. I could relate to all the people in the program on various levels, as a scientist, a father and a patient.

If there is one lesson we should all learn from last night’s program, it is that we shouldn’t stop funding units, such as this at Addenbrookes, in these times of austerity.  You can’t put a price on human life and with this units, there must be much they are learning that can be applied across the NHS and the wider world. There are  also other lessons to be learned by us all and let’s hope that someone, who watched the program last night, is moved to improve his behaviour or driving skills, so that he avoids the need for going to hospital. That would be a positive benfit for everyone and everything.

We might all learn that human life is precious!

July 14, 2010 Posted by | Health, World | , , , | 3 Comments

Hail the Humble Crisp

I find that I have a bad taste in my mouth a lot of the time.  I suspect it’s probably caused by the hay fever, rather than any lasting damage caused by the stroke. You just feel that you want to clean and wash your mouth out all the time.

Last night, I felt I wanted a small snack and there was a pack of coeliac-friendly Kettle lightly salted crisps in the cupboard, so for the first time since my last stroke I tried them.  I’d been avoiding them, as I felt that the roughness might actually make my mouth worse.

In the end, they made my mouth feel a lot better.  Perhaps, the salt and that roughness, were actually good for my mouth.

There are just another five packs to go in the cupboard.

July 14, 2010 Posted by | Food, Health | , , | 2 Comments

Killing the Hand That Supports and Feeds You

Yesterday was a grim day, with four British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, three by their supposed Afghan colleagues. And then we had more rioting in Northern Ireland last night, with shots fired at police.

In these times of severe austerity, we should make sure that the monetary and people costs we spend on these trouble spots are well-spent. If we are not wanted in these places, then the troops, police and monetary support should be withdrawn. At least in Northern Ireland, the politicians seem to be condemning the violence. This is from the BBC’s report.

First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy, Martin McGuinness, said there had been “outright thuggery and vandalism”.

Mr Robinson added: “There is no excuse and no place for violence in civilised society. Both the deputy first minister and I have been, and will continue, to work for a resolution of the difficulties around parading.”

BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson said the violence had brought politicians together, “but the problem was the rioters don’t seem to be listening”.

He said so far police had been unable to stop the violence, but “they had been successful in containing it”.

The problem would seem to be the Orange parades, which give some the excuse for a bit of violence. I can remember these parades in Liverpool, when I was a student. We just used to go out and laugh at them, as to someone brought up in an area, where religious tensions were almost non-existent, they were an alien concept. Incidentally parades still go on in Liverpool, as this report from the BBC shows. But they are very different to those in Northern Ireland. I haven’t heard of any reports of violence for a start.

July 14, 2010 Posted by | News, World | , , | Leave a comment