Hoist with my own petard

Yesterday afternoon I was sifting through old photographs at the request of my son and his fiancée.  They were after pictures of our various dogs through the ages for what seemed to them a perfectly sound reason.  I, of course, became distracted and started fishing out pictures that could have been mildly embarrassing to my son, when I came across this one dating from about 1950 showing me, my father and my brother on the sea front at Broadstairs.

I'm sot sure which is the more embarrassing, that one or this from 1947!

Nuisance calls and naivete

I had one of 'those' telephone calls this morning.  The gentleman (I use the term in its loosest sense) on the other end of the line claimed to be from the Telephone Preference Service, the service to which we subscribe in order to block those unwanted cold sales calls.  I was immediately suspicious because:
a) my caller had a strong accent that originated from the Indian sub-continent;
b) it was only 8:20am;
c) the TPS are not the sort of body to make unwanted telephone calls.

My interlocutor asked if we receive unwanted telephone calls, to which I responded in the affirmative and told him that his call was unwanted, especially at that time of the morning.  he carried on talking but when I repeated - loudly - that his call was unwanted, he simply put the phone down.

I might have contacted the TPS myself to complain about this call, but the caller ID told me that the number was unavailable so there seemed no point.

I do have a modicum of sympathy for those young people (and I imagine they are young people in the main) in places like India who, desperate for a job to earn money, work in those call centres from which so many nuisance calls originate.  But I have no sympathy for the companies that employ them.  Nor do I have any sympathy at all for those people who use emails and telephone calls to con people out of money.  I sincerely hope that I am not and never will be sufficiently gullible to fall for the sort of trick I heard about only yesterday.

This involved a gang on men who telephoned elderly people claiming to be from the police.  They told their intended victims of problems with their banks and persuaded them to draw out their funds and hand them to the "police" for safe-keeping when a gang member called at the victim's house.  I find it incredible that anybody could be naive enough to fall for that - but one woman aged in her 70s drew out £130,000 and handed it over!

An English tradition

Today is a bank holiday in England.  It's known as the May Day bank holiday even though it is held on the first Monday in May regardless of whether or not that day is also the 1st May, May Day proper.  Mind you, in Oxford they still celebrate the proper May Day.  Yesterday it was estimated that the crowd on Magdalene Bridge to watch the dawn numbered as many as 25,000 people!  Meanwhile the choir of Magdalene College sang Hymnus Eucharisticus from the top of the tower.

And in keeping with another tradition, the weather today is wet (ish), dank and drear.

Darling buds of May

So here it is again - May Day.  And the Weather Gods seem to have entered into the spirit of the occasion giving us a beautiful day weather-wise.  Granted, there is quite a breeze up on the Downs, but that is nothing unusual.  I think the weather must have gone to my head as I have spring cleaned what we call the conservatory.  In reality it is not much more than a lean-to at the back of the house providing an entrance (and exit) for the dog and a place to keep wet-weather gear, wellingtons, dog leads and all that type of paraphernalia.  And the freezer and tumble dryer as well.  It really was in desperate need of cleaning but the weather has to be just right to undertake the task - and today it was.  So, for the first time in months, I cleared the cobwebs, swept up the dead and dried leaves, the dog hair and the mud and then washed the floor.

Not content with that, I took the dog for a walk round the Roman Camp.  Since my nasty bout a couple of weeks ago I have not really been 100% and so the walks have been somewhat less energetic that I would consider normal - driving to the park in the morning instead of walking 10 minutes each way and cutting the afternoon walk, quite drastically some days.

What a delight it was to see bluebells, primroses, cowslips, violets and other flowers - and to catch a snatch of a skylark's song.  But of the darling buds of may there was no sign yet.

Elections

Many people here in the UK will be voting next Thursday.  In London, there will be an election for a new Mayor; in Wales, they will be electing members of the Welsh National Assembly.  Here in Brighton we will be electing a new "Police and Crime Commissioner for the Sussex police area".

As an off-beat comment, I must say I find the title Police and Crime Commissioner a little strange.  I always thought a commissioner was somebody who ordered something to be done or made, such as a picture or a statue, or an administrator like the old colonial District Commissioners.  It seems to me that a Crime Commissioner should be somebody who organises crime, not a person responsible for fighting it!

But that is all by the bye.

It is highly probable that I, along with about 60% of the local population, will not bother to vote, which does go rather against my self-imposed principles.  I think that we who live in democracies where elections for officials are - on the whole - straight and unrigged (and there are exceptions, even here in England), we who live in such countries have both the right to vote and the responsibility to exercise that right.  I don't suggest use it or lose it, but I do think we should take our rights seriously.

On the other hand, I would suggest that those standing for election also have a responsibility to the electorate, a responsibility to tell voters what their policies and proposals are so that the electors are able to make a considered choice.

The only reason I have heard any of the names of the candidates for the Sussex Commissioner's post is because the Old Bat is registered for postal voting.  I asked to see her voting paper so that I could find out who is standing for election.  None of the candidates has made any attempt to persuade voters to elect them and there has been no attempt by any person, authority or organisation to even say who the candidates are.  How can anyone possibly decide which of the five candidates is most suitable if we don't even know their names until we reach the polling station?

Another reason for my abstention in this farcical election is that each of the five candidates claims to represent a political party., the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and UK Independence parties.  In my opinion (humble or otherwise), a Police and Crime Commissioner's post should not be the subject of party politics.

So, come Thursday, I shall just go and play elsewhere.

Well, it tickled me

An advertisement in today's paper read:

Hand-made shoes; buy one get one free.

In praise of youth

There was a time - I'm sure there was! - when the "older" generation moaned about the "youth of today".  That said, I don't recall hearing any old gits (like me) complaining recently about the younger generations.  Personally, I have never felt that there has been anything wrong with the youth of whatever day.  There are rotten apples in every barrel - but there are plenty of good, healthy ones as well!

I thought that today I would highlight just a couple of the success stories I have heard recently.

I'll start with Kidane Cousland.  Now aged 24, he grew up on a rough council estate in Tottenham, north London, one of three sons of a single mother.  At the age of 11 he was still unable to read and he left school with just 3 GCSE "C" grades.  He joined the army at 16 and was eventually selected for officer training.  He has now graduated top of his class at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and been presented with the Sword of Honour.

Then there is Zoe North.  Diagnosed with cerebral palsy just before her second birthday, her family were told she would never be able to walk unassisted. Yet, 18 years on, she has managed to defy the worst of the doctors’ prognoses to take part in the London Marathon - although she was given a head start.  In fact, she started last Wednesday and spent each of four days covering about five miles in about 3 1/2 hours.  Yesterday, the day of the marathon, she set off to complete the final stretch.  Her efforts had raised more than £90,000 for charity when she started yesterday, and could well bring in over £100,00.

And there are just so many more youngsters to whom I am privileged to take off my hat.