A Victory For Patient Safety
I have followed the Ubani case for some years. I am glad to see he’s lost the case to clear his name.
Let’s hope he gives up and goes back to where he came from.
The outcome of this case and hopefully it’s the final one, gives me hope that in the end good law always triumphs.
Faggots Anyone
I’ve never eaten faggots and was surprised to see them advertised outside a Wetherspoon‘s pub in Wolverhampton.
Faggots Anyone
I wonder if you can buy faggots outside of the UK. Where lets face it, they are not always common. I don’t think they’re gluten-free either, as they are rolled in breadcrumbs.
Incidentally, the pub was reserved for home fans only.
The Friendly Wilfrunians
I went to see Ipswich play Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday.
After a sort of brunch in Carluccio’s in Islington, where I had a gluten-free eggs florentine with a portion of pancetta added to mop up the egg yolk and sauce, I took the 12:23 train from Euston.
The ticket was good value in that after my Senior Railcard discount, I paid just £15.50 each way for the direct train. That would have been good value in Standard Class, but I was travelling First both ways. And like most First Class in trains timed for three o’clock football, there was plenty of space both ways. Compare this with the nearly 80 Euros I would have been charged for one way between Brussels and Den Haag.
It was a ticket, that I’d bought a few days ago on-line, but then if you’re going away to watch a football match, you have your schedule days or even weeks before. It would certainly cost you more than £31 to go by road, and you wouldn’t be sitting there doing nothing, except read the paper and drink free coffee.
We arrived on time in Wolverhampton and it isn’t the longest walk to the ground from the station. Especially after directions from a friendly local policeman, who was pleased to give me excellent directions. Not a feature of all places in the UK.
But I’d forgotten my ticket, so I had to buy another one. The supervisor said that if I returned the unused ticket to Ipswich, I might get my money back.
Molineux is a good stadium, with wide comfortable seats. Not that I need the wide bit! The view was good too!
Inside Molineux
Wolves too, followed the tone set by the city and were very friendly. So Ipswich left with a two-nil victory.
The only unfriendly thing, was the loud booing of the home side by their own fans.
I don’t think I’ll return the unused ticket, but at £24 to the £14 I paid on the day, it wasn’t as good a value.
So perhaps on large grounds well away from Ipswich, it might be better to buy the ticket on the day.
I finished the day by getting a 30 bus to the Angel and having a curry in the Angel Curry Centre. This is ideal after a trip that ends in one of the stations on Euston Road, as the bus stops just a few metres from the door.
The Dutch And The Belgians Create A Mess
I have read in Modern Railways that because there is now a high speed rail line from Rotterdam to Brussels, that the Inter City service from Den Haag to Brussels has been withdrawn.
I’ve used this a couple of times, by buying a Eurostar ticket from London to Any Dutch Station. This ticket has been withdrawn as well.
I also looked up how to get from Brussels to Den Haag and you either have to use the high speed line or go halfway round the Netherlands to places you don’t want to visit. Apparently, Dutch who commute into Brussels aren’t pleased either!
The high speed tickets aren’t cheap!
I think next time I go to Den Haag, I’ll fly to Schipol and get a train from there.
A pity that, as Eurostar does a rather nice gluten-free meal with wine and easyJet doesn’t.
It all seems a bit like making passengers arriving on Eurostar at St. Pancras, who want to go to Scotland, always go via Newcastle and change trains there.
I just wonder how many tickets, Eurostar will sell to The Netherlands in the next few years. Not many, I’d venture.
I’ve also found this report on a Dutch news web site.
An Early Morning Raid On Waitrose
This morning I needed the usual Saturday morning shopping and as I’m going to Wolverhampton later this morning to see Ipswich play, I went to Waitrose early.
Or should I say two Waitroses, as due to their stocking policy, neither stocks all of my favourite gluten-free brands. First it was a visit to the littleWaitrose at Highbury Corner.
Highbury Corner littleWaitrose
All I bought was a Genius brown loaf, as my previous one was past my view of an eat-by date. It was then on a 43 bus to the Angel.
A 43 Bus To The Angel
And a walk round the corner to one of the smallest proper Waitroses in the country.
Waitrose At The Angel
I got the rest of my shopping here.
Just One Bag And A Loaf
It was just one small bag and a loaf, when I got home.
I suppose I could go to another bigger Waitrose, but then I’d have the problem of finding things in an unfamiliar store. And the Genius brown bread, seems to only be in the littleWaitroses. and decent gluten-free sausages don’t seem to be in any shop in London.
I think the bread and sausage problem is the same. Waitrose believes it’s own brands are good. They are very very wrong!
At least today, I didn’t have to get any EatNatural cereal, as you can only get the vinefruit flavour in Sainsburys. At least it’s at the Angel next to the Waitrose.
The chuggers were also still in their beds.
Where Are The Chuggers?
Or at least they hadn’t arrived yet!
Kenneth Grange Gets A Knighthood
The BBC has at least flagged this up on their web site. But they are not talking about it on the radio.
Kenneth Grange has created some of Britain’s most iconic designs. This from Wikipedia perhaps sums up his philosophy.
He has also said that his attitude to designing any product is that he wants it to be “a pleasure to use”
My question is why has the knighthood been so long in coming?
We may idolise some worthies and a lot of non-entities in this country, but there are few who have achieved so much and created objects for us all as Kenneth Grange.
C’s Worst Nightmares
Reading the story about the little girl taken to Pakistan against her mother’s wishes, reminds me of C’s worst nightmares in her job as a family barrister.
The first was obviously not being able to protect a client from a violent partner. I don’t think she actually had it happen, although she was very worried, that a body found on a Norfolk beach, was a former client. I know she was critical of the law in that she felt as time progressed judges couldn’t give the same level of protection to clients.
Strangely, I can’t remember any child being abducted, whilst she was dealing with the case. Although, she did go to court to get children returned to the jurisdiction.
I can remember though, her discussing how some countries that you might find were a nightmare to deal with were not and others you think would be easy weren’t. It all depends on whether the country has signed and/or adheres to the Hague Convention.
In one case, a child had been abducted to a southern state of the United States and she wondered if it would be a difficult case. Everything was organised by phone and fax and the Americans said to send a responsible adult like a social worker. I think though she did have a difficult case concerning a country much nearer to home.
So the happy ending to today’s case fits the rather random pattern. Although it did take a long time to resolve.
Does A Country, Company Or Organisation Need A Woman At The Top?
There has been a lot of news today about the release under the thirty-year-rule of secret documents concerning Margaret Thatcher and various subjects like the Falklands War, Jimmy Savile and her son, Mark.
Nothing is particularly contentious, except perhaps the fact that someone misjudged what was happening in Argentina and gave Mrs. Thatcher bad information. But then the Secret Intelligence Service, didn’t give Tony Blair the best information either.
On the other hand, when dealing with Mark lost in the desert, she seems to have acted to make sure that the state didn’t pay for her son’s folly.
If we go through the history of the United Kingdom, you’ll find that at various dark hours, women have been to the fore. You could start a list with Boudicca, Elizabeth the First, Victoria and Margaret Thatcher. You could argue that our current Queen has been a safe pair of hands for most of her life. She was also part of that vast army of women, who stepped in to fill the gaps in the factories, in transport and as support staff during the Second World War. Hitler didn’t mobilise the German women and he of course lost. Some historians say the mobilisation of women in the UK, was a major factor.
I would argue that you don’t need to have a woman at the top,but once you have, it changes a lot of the culture, even if it’s just other talented women believe they can get there. And competition is always healthy, as it promotes the best!
Look at Margaret Thatcher’s effect on British politics. Before her stint as Prime Minister, there were few women at the top in British politics and there have been a lot more since she resigned.
Look at the basket cases of the Eurozone! How many of them have had a woman Prime Minister or President. Only Ireland and that is the one country in trouble, that is making progress towards sorting its finances.
An Aptly Named Program
I switched on the television to get the News at Six on the BBC. Instead I’ve got the most aptly named program called Pointless Celebrities.
Are they anything else?
Savile And Margaret Thatcher
The recently released papers show lots of details of meetings between Jimmy Savile and Margaret Thatcher. The details are here on the BBC.
It would appear that Margaret Thatcher did nothing untoward. In fact some of things that were suggested by Savile, were being thought of by the government anyway.
So there doesn’t seem to be much guilt by association here!
The Anonymous Widower 