Been offline a while , and have been looking at adverts with some interest . Two in particular have aroused my ire .One is the one about the" germy soap dispenser handle " that then proudly announces that the soap used kills 99% of germs , So does it really matter that the handle is germy or not as presumably the only time you touch it is immediately prior to washing your hands. Incidentally I find it interesting that there is never a time load for how long the 99% germ clearance is obtained because the microbial and viral load in the air will make pretty sure it is re-colonised pretty quickly. The other one is for a fabric fresheners where blindfolded clients are shown into a a pretty scummy room and asked to sniff stuff , including a pair of dubious underpants .I find this frightening because however good the product is at covering the smell it does nothing at all to inhibit the bacterial and fungal processes producing the smell and actually could put the sniffers at risk. Its interesting that this remnant of the medieval "miasma " theory has survived in strong enough form to sell fresheners . What is really worrying though is the contempt of the advertisers for their target audience not just in these examples but in countless other adverts as well . Their disdain is shown in the acceptance that their audience is too dumb to work out the inconsistencies in their presentations .
To completely change the subject my pond is now complete (much to the dogs delight ) its about the size of a bathtub , so not very big then but has already had an occupier who's portrait I have attached to this blog.The dogs delight is due to the fact that when I open the back gate she now has an immediate water source to jump into .

violence and grass snakes

I have been watching the riots in London and other towns with some horror. I am ill informed of the original shooting so I wouldn't like to comment on whether the protests are justified or not . In fact part of the problem is the lack of information which forces people to interpret things as they will.I am however quite sure that the arson and the looting are opportunist . I have been at the end of rioting in the 1960s when a group of protesters in a town full of barracks found that they could make the best protest by attacking the local hospital and stoned the casualty where I was charge nurse . It was frightening ,more the hate than the stones .
One person was heard to say on the radio that he was going to go on looting until he was caught , and wasn't worried about being caught , and also intimated that he had no idea of the protest aspect. He obviously thought that the law would go easy on him . I would suggest that those who are so keen on violence , be forcibly recruited into the forces and sent to Afghanistan where they would be on the receiving end . Possibly in the role carried out by the old pioneer corps punishment battalions IE building things whilst under fire .
On a lighter note I have seen the snakes again several times . There are two of them and they bask in roughly the same place I have got one photo but its not very good my dog goes with me on my walks and has a habit of finding a duck to chase or a bramble bush to pull me into just as the shutter goes down .

public interest vs non of your business

I have been listening to the phone tapping debate with interest , it seems to me that what is happening at the moment is deeper than the illegality of phone tapping , this is about corporate power vs governmental /legal power . What made whoever decided to take this step of invading privacy , do it? I strongly suspect it was because the corporation was seen as being a more immediate and more powerful organisation than either the police or government . A science fiction writer ( I'm sorry I cant remember which one ) Once wrote a story in which the world government was run by corporations and all decisions were made relating to profit and loss , is this what is happening in an embryonic form here ? The other side of this discussion is public interest , Is it in the public interest to reveal through illegal methods that one footballer is knocking off anther's wife, probably not , is it in the public interest to use illegal methods to reveal details of ethnic cleansing , or say government conspiracies , yes it probably is , so we probably should be looking to define what constitutes public interest .Another question arose whilst listening to a wildlife programme this afternoon. I heard a well known naturalist explaining why we should start culling deer .I have noticed one thing in common with conservationists that once a species starts becoming successful , IE adapting well to the environment, they start suggesting we kill a few .Remember Zander in the great Ouse river system , Coypu , pigeons ,starlings , grey squirrels ,all mice except the st kilda field mouse , As humans we seem to have a problem with successful adapters , which of course raises a question about the most successful adapters ; Us. Still I suppose with cuts in welfare and health care services , and stupid wars( that despite the evidence of hundreds of years that they cause more problems than they solve ) we still keep indulging in , we are instituting our own cull programme . The next one will be non voluntary euthanasia for any one with chronic illness or above a certain age: just wait and see !!.On a lighter note I have finished my fence, I am quite proud of it it looks strong and reasonably well made.I think I have gone fence mad because I am now doing another one with the left over wood between two bits of the garden .
My thoughts today turned to Mick Jagger , David Bowie , and Ozzie Osmund , They must be a bit of an embarrassment for the anti drug campaigners . I am not as old as either Bowie or Jagger but I am unable to strut my stuff on stage and I have never indulged in illegal substances They seem fitter than I am , although Ozzie is probably not a good example of cerebral health .
I found some pictures today of the Cambridge Military Hospital My old training hospital , from the outside it dosnt look too bad but internally it is falling apart .It made me quite sad .quite apart from its historical role , for many years it was very important the the people of Hampshire I know the building is still standing because it is a listed building , but if you are not going to preserve it properly why not knock it down and build something useful in its place rather than let it fall down through neglect ?
I saw a snake today, a grass snake in the local park , I was bending down trying to get a shot of a Hover fly on a thistle and the bloody thing almost dropped on my head from a tree stump it has been basking on , needless to say I didn't get a shot. ps the picture is another hoverfly .

I am developing a new skill , building a close board 8ft high fence .I am actually finding it a very relaxing process . just banging nails in boards one after the other and a fence slowly appears .
I notice a lot more people riding push bikes I suppose its the nice weather so I looked up organised cycle rides It was quite funny, all of them were in places an older person could only get to by car and all advertised their good parking . Some irony there .
I have just become a great grandad at the ridiculously early age of 65 . It does make you think, I wonder what sort of a world he will inherit ? and whether the human race will sort out its problems . The main one is greed . I saw the salary of the chief executive of Suffolk's county council I have now forgotten what it was but it was huge , how can one person need that sort of salary or even imagine that they are worth it . I would like to see the council survive if all the refuse collector disappeared and I bet they don't get anywhere near 1/6th of her salary . How do you spend that sort of money ?
I am finding some of the adverts on TV rather worrying , or rather the minds of the people who invented them even more worrying . If you watch a few you will see every stereotype exploited for the purpose of selling something , The small man syndrome in the car insurance advert :"all elderly people are daft" in the specsaver advert , Bullying appears in quite a lot of adverts , and one advert for tea appears to promote gin drinking . There are a few that don't seem to be advertising anything , at least anything comprehensible

More Musings .
My wife has recently become wheel chair bound, and we are discovering a whole new aspect to life . People especially old men, tend to tut when you are trying to manoeuvre a wheelchair on to a bus, and I tend to loose my temper ,much to their surprise , as they seem to consider it their right to comment . Bus drivers sometimes have a blind spot when it comes to stopping for a wheelchair at a stop and sail past. Although I must admit other bus drivers are very helpful .
We haven't had any of the "does it take sugar incidents " and most people do speak directly to my wife , although getting served is sometimes hard , as if my wife buys something , she pays for it , not me ,its her money ! and some shop assistant's find this hard to cope with . Now for the major gripe . You go into a shop which has an access ramp and looks inviting to wheel chairs, it has nice wide isles between the merchandise , which the shop then blocks up with boxes of special offers, Rymans in Ipswich, is a classic example; today we couldn't even manoeuvre in the front part of the shop due to piles of paper on special offer, but they are not alone . One other shop even boasts "wheelchair access" and just inside the door is three inch drop to a tangle of trolleys . Gripe over.
I see the health service is taking some stick over the care of the elderly. I was associated with one of the hospitals mentioned and remember one of the executives stating that he wasn't looking for "excellence" just "good enough " this was several years ago but perhaps he should have been looking for "excellence". Several of my colleagues of past years have left the service because the targets and rules of the modern health service have made them feel they were not doing the job properly :their words not mine .There will always be nurses who treat people without respect and they should be in a very small minority , but I would ask if the nurses themselves have been shown much respect over the last few years . It doesn't excuse what happened, and as my past students will tell you I valued the personal interaction of nursing above all its other functions and felt privileged to have taken part in this for over 30 years ,but if people are not valued they find it hard to value others .
I'm still on the electric bike and I finding it easier to travel further and further either I'm getting fitter or the bike is working better . I can even get up hills without switching to the new battery .

So France has banned the Bhurka . I don't really know how I feel about this, in medieval England certain clothing could only be worn by certain classes of people, certain cloth could not be worn by the common people even if they could afford it . When I first read this I thought" how ridiculous" and really the banning of the Bhurka is the same , one group of people telling another group of people how to dress . When you look at fashion it becomes even more ridiculous because over time what was not acceptable to one society has become the height of fashion for another look at hot pants ( if you have to), in the 30s even men wore long shorts but in the 60s they were perfectly acceptable . But of course there is another reason , which is the one that causes doubt , the Bhurka is a mask , and in western society a mask carries with it connotations of secrecy subversion and even violence . It is inbred in us very young, even in comic books most villains wear a mask ( although so do most super heroes) . and part of me feels the mask gives a signal that the individual concerned is not even going to accept or even consider western views whilst in a western country. Odd isn't it how covering the face causes more controversy than covering the genitalia . Perhaps it shouldn't be banned but the individual concerned should be made aware of their accountability if they continue to wear it . I cannot go into a bank or post office if I wear a crash helmet . or surprisingly enough one convenience shop, if I am wearing my hooded jacket ( I'm 65 by the way) so I suggest the same applies to the wearers .
I have just been watching an advertisement for Great Ormond Street Hospital an appeal for funds sandwiched between an RSPCA advertisement and a accident compensation advertisement . It strikes me that as a country we are a bit weird when a hospital which is world renowned,and deals with children has to appeal for funds. (When banks could probably fill the appeal with the bonuses it gives to top staff , who far from being as dedicated and successful as GOS, have managed to mastermind one of the biggest cock ups in history ). I wonder if they have to pay for the advertisement ?
As you can see above the cat takes a dim view of the whole affair.

debate on the nhs

I have been listening to , and reading the current debate about the NHS , as an ex nurse and nurse tutor I feel I have some views on the subject which may have value . At the time they were introduced I was against the six bay wards, the six bay bed design does not increase the patients privacy to any extent and as I said at the time this can only really be done by single rooms . The Nightingale wards were more efficient in allowing less staff to supervise more patients as all were visible , and also allowed better supervision of staff .The social aspects of the ward for the patients were also improved as patients would wander down the ward to talk to one another . I have run both types of ward and give me nightingale every time. The writer in the I paper this morning was also decrying the loss of a clear leader and again I unfortunately agree , Some of the old ward sisters were frankly insane ,but they all had one thing in common by virtue of experience and knowledge they were the clinical experts and clinical managers for their wards . The buck stopped with them. In the army where I trained if a patient developed a pressure sore the ward sister had to go to the matron and explain what care deficit had allowed this to happen . Noise was also mentioned .I remember well the creep down the nightingale ward at night every half hour to check the clients being very quiet . For even as Florence Nightingale said an excess of noise is evidence of an absence of care. This is not just an old farts ramblings as I realise things change and the knowledge base of present nurses is much greater than when I trained , as is all to often the severity of the illnesses cared for. But as my students often heard me say "never treat people as things" and "get the basic care right and the rest will follow "
The photo is me in those days , The photograph was taken for an RAMC pamphlet ,at the time I was working in orthopaedics; so actually didn't have the faintest idea what i was supposed to see whilst peering down this guys throat .

Looking at the news today I see the latest celebrity behavioural Nazi is spouting forth again. I refer of course to Jamie Oliver . Who has now seen fit to comment on the nations youth being lazy and having no work ethic . He of course being a "self made man"??? doesn't count the massive amounts of homework that children today have to complete as he obviously doesn't count academic work as work . I am really getting tired of celebrities telling us how hard they work and talking about the work ethic .Most celebrities are pretty self centred and their work ethic means fame or lots of money for them, the same goes for most successful business men . I ran an intensive care unit and worked long and fairly stressful hours for very low wages at the time , to be told by a business acquaintance that public services should have their wages cut as nobody with any ambition would work for such low wages . I am sure I and my students since, work as hard as Mr Oliver has for much less remuneration: so will he get of his soap box and get on with cooking. Which is something I have done since my wife became ill with little training . Admittedly I couldn't charge £50 pounds per setting as some of these celebrity chefs do for ingredients that cost £5 but its not rocket science .Incidentally in a previous career I was a Sargent in the army, after which I ran the unit ,and since then a team of nurse educators, and at no time have I had to resort to language used by another of our celebrity chefs and unlike a chef I couldn't eat my mistakes .
I see the prime minister is strengthening the economy and promoting the "Big Society" This I find quite ironic as a predecessor of his stated that there was no society . I refer of course to Mrs Thatcher. However the dropping (devolvement ) of governmental functions begs the question what is the role of government .I always assumed the role of modern government was to protect all of its citizens Whereas the strong economy that the pm talks about ,seems to be strong enough to ensure the bankers get their bonuses ,but not strong enough to support the poorer members of society (who incidentally were not responsible for wrecking the economy in the first place ). If the citizens are so capable of running themselves it begs the question ,Are Governments of the size we have really necessary , and couldn't bigger savings be made by getting rid of the lords and two thirds of the commons . Or insisting that governments are truly accountable .For example every war is due to an absolute failure of politicians . and ,as in the involvement in Iraq, 70% of the population are against it ,shouldn't some one be accountable? I was for any decisions I made as a nurse .

more thoughts

I have decided to ramp up my blogging , and visit the site more often. We have a couple of squatters in our garden .two collared doves have taken up more or less permanent residence . They are very tame and almost settle on your hand . They are mildly contemptuous of the dog and will sit on a fence post just out of reach andf coo at her , it drives her mad . Its funny to think that whenI was a child they were a very rare bird in England now I can see four or five by just looking out of the window . The news was interesting tonight apparently there is a chance that we may all be returning to the economic level of the fifties . The government seem to think that this is necessary to "save the economy " If we are going back half a century, who are they saving it for ??
Yet again I see that education especially higher education is being starved of funds , It might seem strange coming from a leftie like me ,but I believe that not everybody needs academic qualifications to do a worthwhile job , and be of value to society .My father was very kowlegeable and able at his job as a farm labourer, highly regarded by his employers and always did the job to the best of his ability :However I do believe very strongly that higher education should be based on merit and application .You want to save money ? then stop supporting the students of higher and further education that do not apply themselves , are never seen at lectures or in any place of study , but regard it as a right that they will get a qualification. Let there be less degrees and diplomas but let them mean that the student has worked and applied themselves . I once had a student ( not of nursing ) who took 3 years to do the first year of a course , as far as I know she is still in the system some 6 years later . Sorry rant of the day over.

I took this picture some time ago , when the dog was even smaller than she is now & I was wondering how she perceives the world . These trees look big to me but they must look enormous to her .I don't think its silly to talk about perception and concept forming in animals . The dog clearly has categories of people she recognises as "friends " and friends of different types as well . for instance she knows those who bring her gifts , those who don't and those she mustn't greet with her usual spittle laden ,wriggly madness . So to my mind there mus be some categorisation and the beginning of the concept "friend" .I wouldn't like to guess what that concept is in dog language . but there are definite reactions for disparate groups that importantly she has not been trained to do. These are categories that have been set by the dog due to some cues that I do not recognise. I think that implies at the least, behaviourist learning. As an aside ,a definite example of behaviourist learning, is that she has learnt that if she brings in a pebble from our garden , and tosses it around, I will give her a biscuit to drop it before something gets smashed. There are now less and less pebbles in the garden, as I seemed to have trained her to "fetch" pebbles