It's mad and bad and manic

But what is it?
The traditional friday piss up for office staff on the friday before christmas.
Hmm! very christmassy!
People getting drunk for the heel of it; cos they want to; cos it;s fun.
Is it? is it really?
Get outta here. What half-brained neanderthal truly believes that?
If you recorded peoples antics whilst drunk i bet there'd be a few embarrassed hangovered
sober considerations.
I have a right to enjoy myself
Now let me see if i can get my head around such a statement. For sure this statement has been made.
You have the right to
Get pissed, become incontinent (in all ways), puke on someone else, start arguments with complete strangers, fight with friends and complete strangers, fight the police, fall over and break a part of your anatomy, maybe get toxic poisoning from the alcohol, become unable to be responsible for your own well-being, demand that an ambulance take you to hospital (it's your right after all).... i'm sure i've left out a few things but that'll do for now.
So whilst you're exercising your so-called rights where does this put granny who's broken her hip? or uncle bert who've having a myocardial infarction (heart attack)? or young wee Jimmy who's fallen from his bunk bed after a nightmare?
these people obviously don't have rights.
Screw 'em eh? As long as you are having a good time well that's ok then isn't it. You've got your rights. Why should anyone else's get in the way? Yeah. Why not. Fuck 'em all... right? yeah? right?
WRONG! very very very very wrong. Instead let's say FUCK YOU!
You don't get an ambulance. You get a criminal record for wasting police and ambulance and A&E time and you get a hefty bill in the shape of a fine. If you can afford to get rat-arsed you can afford to pay for your miscreant antics.
There are people out there who genuinly need help and they have not brought on their need temselves. It's just life taking it's toll.
Be responsible. Give a shit about others. Be a bigger person. Instead of being self-absorbed try being self-aware. It's so much more healthy.
Be thankful there is no military service like they have in Israel.
Or you'd be bullet amd bomb-dodging in Iraq or Afghanistan!

So along with my ambulance service colleagues, and those in the police, the fire service, the RNLI, the NHS staff in and out from hospitals, hospices etc., the serving military personnel, mountain rescue, the vehicle recovery services, the Coastguard and the people who are less frontline but equally as valid keeping our utilities running and those who work the land and anyone i have left out ... i wish you all a very merry christmas (Nadolig Llawen) and the very best for the new year (Blywddyn Newyyd Dda).

I do wish everyone else a pretty good time over the festive period too cos some of you will probably wish you were in a job that took you away from home.

The Spirit of... human not-so-kind

He sits on the fence. It was, as ever, a lucky catch.
He's beautiful. He may not even be a he but i can not tell one way or the other.
Christmas approaches fast.
Whilst i do enjoy it it is not for the fact of being a Christian - for i am not. Dragged up as one yes but not practising as i can not do the god thing. The basic principles behind what Jesus supposedly taught i give a hearty thumbs up. In fact they're really quite buddhist in outlook.
And, the side of Christmas that has me spinning with confusion and frustration is the terrible commercialism that now goes with it.
It seems to have a stranglehold and even holds on to those that try to disentangle themselves from it's grip. I take the frosty grip of winter quite happily in comparison. A beauty not seen in summer

To disengage tempts insult to others who we love.
"Well it's like this mum/dad/auntie etc. I don't wanna give you anything and i don't want you to give me anything". It looks simple but it isn't and, after all these years, i am
1. used to it
&, stupidly,
2. enjoy giving and receiving.
Seeing loved ones faces light up cos you've got it right gives a warm glow. It's probably a selfish warm glow but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
The trouble within the commercial insanity is that it brings about huge greed. Those seeds are sown in the very young and it becomes a vicious circle.
And the stupid knock-on effect is the poverty that comes about from splashing out on what can not be afforded and do it wilfully.
Humans are stupid creatures.
All those brains but no idea how to use them properly.

We bring the insanity upon ourselves yet are always looking outwards at who to blame.
We're back to that word responsibility again.
I can't say that i stand head and shoulders above people in this matter. Far from it but maybe i am awakening. Maybe i will get it right - one day. And before it is too late.

10 days and counting

On Thin Ice

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/7769953.stm
takes you to the media view of what happened when an ambulance was conveying an already very sick child from Preston to Leeds
This always makes my stomach somersault. I feel sick and this time is no different.
We'll turn out to all manner of bumps and prangs but seeing one of your own type as i see this one makes me feel distinctly uncomfortable.
My hopes and thoughts go out to all involved.
For those inside and those who turned out to attend this incident.

Looking from a crew member perspective i hope that the crew involved have all the help they need. That they are not pre-judged as is so easy to do. That management explore what has happened with a sympathetic, empathetic and understanding heart.

thank you to the bbc for this pic.

I also hope that the services across the UK look even more closely at crew safety.
The fact that we have to stand to do anything indicates that we are using vehicles that are too big.
By rights, we should be able to do emergency work within the confines of something no or little bigger than a Renault Espace/ Ford Galaxy.
They allow some height for forward vision but also afford less chance of turning over in the event of a slippery incident. The attendant can remain sat and find kit within easy reach and be safe.
they're also alot more comfortable than vehicles in the light goods sector.
Mercedes make great cars that are very comfortable. Mercedes make great lorries that are very comfortable but the LGV sector is forgotten. Not just by Mercedes but VW, Renault, Ford etc etc. They are perceived as moving merchandise over comparitively short distances.
Lorries may be carrying loads but they travel significant distances so the driver must feel comfortable for as along as possible. Cars need to appeal to everyone else so they, too, have a better ride.

If we must continue to use LGVs for ambulances then the companies must look at improving suspension and general ride comfort... and stability.
It wouldn't go amiss if councils were more aware of the state of their roads and actively did something positive to rectify the bumpiness that is in existence all over the UK.

The other knock-on effect of bad roads is the damage done to vehicles. We regularly have suspension and bearing issues as the front wheels (usually the nearside) drop into potholes. The rest of the weight of the vehicle follows and creates further damage - to say nothing about playing rock n roll on some poor spinal case perched on a long board after parting company with their 1000cc machine on a marble-laden corner in mid Wales.
Helicopters are not always available and air ambulances.

The ambulance service is just that. The National Health Service is just that. Whilst each require a business plan of some description it should not be forgotten that the NHS and it's various departments is...... a service.
It is the biggest money pit but if this country truly wants the best healthcare system in the world then money does have to be put in. And a few more indians and a few less chiefs wouldn't go amiss.

Again, my thoughts go to all involved with the accident.

Haw Haw Haw!

It's the end of November and the weather is telling it it is no longer a mild autumn. We're heading rapidly in for winter and a bank of fog has landed at the same time as the chiller temperatures creating the Hawfrost. This leads to beautiful sites like the included spider's web. Not putting away the rotary clothes line does pay off.
I woould think that a large proportion of Britain has had a dose of fog or is having a dose of it. On tele is a live football between Wolves and Birmingham and there's obvious fog at Molineux tho' it's not impeding the match.
Oh and BC are ahead as i type.






On a sadder note:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45252000/jpg/_45252181_hotel_466.jpg

Mumbai came under attack by terrorists. Terrorists = people who create fear and terror in others. Noteably in large proportions. They took hostages at the Taj Mahal Hotel in the city and fired upon people at a jewish centre. 6 were killed. Another hotel, the Oberoi, also came under attack.
Roughly, 200 people have been killed in this single attack and, about, 300 injured
But India has had a bad year

BOMB ATTACKS IN INDIA IN 2008

30 October: Explosions kill at least 64 in north-eastern Assam

30 September: Blasts in western India kill at least seven

27 September: Bomb blasts kills one in Delhi

13 September: Five bomb blasts kill 18 in Delhi

26 July: At least 22 small bombs kill 49 in Ahmedabad

25 July: Seven bombs go off in Bangalore killing two people

13 May: Seven bombs hit markets and crowded streets in Jaipur killing 63

The Deccan Mujahideen, a previously unheard of group, have claimed responsibility.
Responsility? pah! makes you wanna laugh... haw haw haw!.... how can you be responsible and carry out such an abhorrent act?
Blame religion!... Blame religion?... bollocks! religion has naff all to do with it. These are insane power-hungry ignorants with a so-called cause who come up with that kind of bullshit.
They know nothing about responsibility.
It's, comparitively, easy to take a life. Try bloody saving one for a change.
Try sitting down and talking properly. Not shouting like little school children (three cheers to the House of Commons... NOT)
The unbelievable selfishness of the most negative variety of these people is boundless.
No one is perfect but living an essentially good life you ain't gonna go too far wrong.
Karma will step in in the event that you really cock up. Of course it doesn't always step in in this life so the schadenfreuder bird in me can't laugh at what goes around comes around. Damnit! >:¬/


That'll do for now
I am feeling hungry and imagining streaks of bacon awaiting my consumption. Trouble is, i have no bacon in the house.
I shall have to rethink my luncheon strategy

Too many Es are bad for you

I recently attended the christening of a friend's son.
Someone made a very nice cake for him......
Hmmmm! been a long time since i was in school but.....!

Then we have the speed limit.....i must remember not to walk so fast at 00.20 on a star and moonlit November night.

Spot which part of the UK this might be... haha!



Nothing to report otherwise. i wont say that nothing has happened it's just that some things needs to be pushed to the back of the agenda. Maye, even, not used at all.
We'll see :0)

So... something i've already been fortunate to see and will be seeing again in June of next year is as follows.
Jeff Wayne! diolch yn fawr!

Ten years short....

... of a century since the guns of the Great War fell silent.
On the 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th month it was decided that peace would fall across Europe.
Never mind that both sides actually threw soldiers in to battle, fire round after round right up until that time.
The commanders didn't see fit to think "Hey! after 4 years of blood-letting we now have a fixed time how about we dont give the order to go over the top. Perhaps we can save just a few extra souls in this insane action." But no!

Taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7696021.stm

The respected American author Joseph E Persico has calculated a shocking figure that the final day of WWI would produce nearly 11,000 casualties, more than those killed, wounded or missing on D-Day, when Allied forces landed en masse on the shores of occupied France almost 27 years later.

The treaty was signed a few hours before 11.00 in a railway carriage near Paris.

The french were, apparently, so ashamed that a soldier of their's died on the last day that they marked his headstone as his being KIA on the 10th.
Sadly, there is little doubt that men died even after the official time for the Armistice and even after the 11th.

- the war to end all wars-
sadly.... not so!

B.O. goes to The White House

Barack and Michelle hug

A new era in United States history is dawning.
Barack Obama has been elected to become the next President of the USA.
Thank goodness. Sense has prevailed in a country which has seen little over the previous 8 years.
To vote in Gee Dubya once was a pretty crazy notion but to repeat the ludicrous process 4 years later.... for sure there is NO god.
Thankfully, there is a goddess somewhere tho ;0) and she has smiled upon not only the American people but the people of planet Earth.
Whether or not we destroy Man's ability to live on the planet Nature will take care of herself but with Obama in office in the world's most powerful democratic country Mankind does have a chance.
"Somehere somewhere in the spirit of man" (jeff wayne The War of the Worlds)
I really don't know a massive amount about this man but i have a good feeling about him. Some say that you can't live on gut-instinct. I say bollocks. Just a feeling ya know :0)
I also, uncomfortably, have a sad and underlying fear.
That dear man and his wonderful family are now targets in a way that they weren't before and there are alot of people who would have him dead rather than a ::whispers....:: black man in the White House. To some it doesn't bear thinking about. And, in that group, not one is muslim. These people have no love or tolerance beyond a narrow band of misguided loyalty to those who think - i use the term lightly - as they do. They are those who applaud the crazed thinkings of the K.K.K. and other such white supremiscist groups.
Until then i cheer and applaud the arrival of Senator Barack Obama as he sits in the cyber ante-room outside the beckoning Oval office.
January can not come quickly enough.

I wish him well. I say Llongyfarchiadau and Pob Lwc.
It was 5th November yesterday and us crazy people in britain will keep lobbing fireworks up in to the sky in memory of a wee incident back in 1605 when a bunch of traitors tried to blow up Parliament whilst the King (jamesI) was in attendance.
However, i just wanted to pop up this pic as a wee celebration for Obama, Biden, the Democratic Party of the USA and all americans who saw fit to hit the button by the right name