musings on learning

2011-11-04T13:31:00.002Z

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

2011-08-10T19:06:00.002+01:00

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

2011-07-20T19:07:00.007+01:00

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 .

2011-07-03T18:47:00.002+01:00

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

2011-06-02T13:51:00.003+01:00

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 .

2011-04-19T12:29:00.005+01:00

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

2011-02-23T14:47:00.005Z

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 .

2011-02-15T11:41:00.002Z

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

2011-01-26T18:26:00.004Z

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.

2011-01-25T18:35:00.002Z

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

flowers

2010-10-28T09:23:00.000+01:00

Found this growing in a flint wall by the sea

electric dreams

2010-10-11T20:21:00.002+01:00

The new bike is a little odd , Not quite what I expected You can't just scoot off at the speed of a geriatric snail , and it doesn't really propel you up a hill of any camber , however it does make cycling a pleasure as even going up quite steep hills it feels as if you are on the flat , I have successfully negotiated a hill ,without getting out of breath which for the last 20 years has left me needing resuscitation half way up . I think I am a fan of electric bikes ( but I would still prefer a 650 cc Norton ) . Retirement is still odd I find myself talking to the dog a lot

gone electric

2010-09-14T18:19:00.002+01:00

Hi Back again , after getting rid of the bike I felt a little deprived , but ive gone electric, ive bought an electric bike .15 miles an hour downhill with a following wind . its fun but not on a day like today

2009-10-08T20:13:00.003+01:00

Not been on for some time , The bike is about to be consigned to history , much as I would like to be a 63 year old biker , it isn't going to happen , Still I have had fun tinkering , and I know its going to a good home . I tried to get an associate lecture post with the OU but they didn't get back to me , Ill try again next term just really to keep the academic side of my brain alive . Gardening is fine and for the first time ever I have the time to plan , and plant when things should be planted ,not six months after , Photography is interesting and I am getting to grips with the photo editing prog I am using . I have started botanical painting classes , I have painted for some years , mainly acrylics but I am finding the discipline needed for botanical painting quite hard , especially as it is in watercolour . The main thing I miss about work are the coffee break conversations , when all sorts of topics were discussed and the academic challenges offered by the expansion of open and distance learning . now I appear to have just myself to teach and its not the same , My grandson got mugged the other day in broad daylight , on a main road at half past three . Lots of people were around but no one helped and no one saw anything . Whats wrong with this town six blokes demanding money with menaces from two 18 year olds , and no one saw anything !!. I am a person of peace but there are times when I feel that the advice you get to not fight just makes it easier for the gangs . I am now facebooked as well as twittered , trouble is I am not doing much that is exciting to talk about . I need to find some academic challenge I might try writing a book about my nursing career "Mr Sister " springs to mind

2009-09-04T09:36:00.003+01:00

Interesting couple of weeks, I decided to change to cable broad band , but on the installation day the company decided that they couldn't actually reach the house with the cable, so I had two weeks without e-mail or Internet access, It was like loosing one of my senses. I eventually purchased a mobile broadband in sheer desperation , slow aren't they? Still it did the trick .Interesting piece on the news this morning about the fact that students who are supported by teaching assistants do not do as well as those supported by teachers , and its not because teachers are trained to do the job, its because they don't know how to use teaching assistants . Don't get me wrong I am not against teaching assistants I know very good and able teaching assistants and I have known some pretty dire teachers . But as a lecturer myself I know from my own experiences that training alerts you to tools and techniques that however naturally good at teaching(or otherwise) you are you would never think of . I am going into "old fart " mode now , Why is it in this country we train doctors ,nurses , teachers to do a job , Then decide that things that they are not prepared for (usually burgeoning paperwork) is more important, and get someone else (not trained ) to do the job that the professionals have spent years training for .You don't get assistant gas certifiers they had to be corgi certified ( sorry I cant remember the new certification) As a nurse teacher we were enjoined to providing a level of education that would satisfy public confidence ,however the actual care was unlikely to be provided by the person we were training , odd isn't it ? I have a theory about organisations , they start as a group of individuals who have a common cause or aim, then they develop a bureaucracy to further the aim , then the function of the organisation insidiously becomes the continuation of the bureaucratic organisation and the original aims become lost and the forms and functions of the organisation become the most important things. just pick any organisation and have a look .

learning society

2009-08-04T10:30:00.002+01:00

in a discussion the other day with one of my school age grandchildren,they intimated that it wasn't seen as being one of the boys to be academically inclined ; nothing new really , the footballers and the sportsmen got all the adoration from other students and i am afraid, staff ,even when I was at school , However combined with the report that boys are constantly doing less well than girls,(Atkinson A , Wilson D, (2003)The widening gap in English schools" www.bris.ac.uk/cmpo/mpoissue8.pdf ,) this achieves a greater significance.Bandura rightly in my opinion emphasises the importance of social learning in the development of an individual and their capability for learning . However if the prevailing social ethos (of the students perceived 'most important ' societal interactions) are against academic achievement then the student unless on the fringe of the society , or a significantly strong willed individual will avoid academia . The "geeks" are probably on the fringe of the society before they become geeks not the other way round. Developing an interest in academia may well be a way of coping with not being part of the" in " society . I actually hate the word geek being more than a bit geek myself . If this is true then it is the society of learning that we need to consider. A television report yesterday, intimated that the division between boys and girls started in the primary school ,. However one wonders how much of this separation is a self fulfilling prophecy ? Will society be able to value academic development , are there any cerebral heroes on television apart from Sherlock Holmes and the Mentalist , and the day an academic gets paid the same for a lecture as David Beckham does for a game society will probably collapse out of sheer sup rise . However learning is not completely lost the growth and uptake of web 2 sites and the leisure learning activities available, show that people still wish to develop themselves but perhaps not in a traditional academic matter , is that food for thought ?

"you percieve with your mind"

2009-07-08T09:56:00.005+01:00

Nicking a line out of the gorillaz song. "You don't see with your eyes , you perceive with your mind" and a later line "its all in your head " . Tim Leary and others used hallucinogenics to widen their perception . Shamen have been using various vegetable products to do the same thing for years . My question is, that If as I believe perception is very individual , How do we work as a society ? Even communication is in doubt . This can be seen very clearly in one type of dysphasia where the words you speak are perceived by the patient as being different words. The brain is interpreting the physical signals in a different way . We achieve a consensus agreement in society through social leaning , conditioning . and constructivist learning about the meanings of stimuli that are necessary for the functioning of a particular society . They are almost agreed metaphors rather than meanings.As Susan Sontag(Illness as a Metaphor (1978) explains some illnesses are perceived , i:e have metaphors that are stronger and have more impact on the individual, and society than their physical symptoms : are perceived as being more or less important than the physical symptoms would suggest . So is this true about many other aspects of our lives , of course it is ask an arachnophobic about the importance of the spider metaphors to them . Perhaps what Leary and the shamen are doing is removing the brain from this agreed consensus . Some mental health issues have been described as socially constructed , perhaps this is another example of a mind that refuses to join the consensus club . I believe that Einstein was criticised as a poor student probably because he did not perceive things in a consensus way . This raises problems for traditional type education if the consensus parameters are set , then anyone moving out of those parameters is mad , bad , or confused . We don't value challenges to the group consensus as they will affect the structures that support our own perception and make us challenge our social and individual learning which contribute to our perceptions . Perhaps the only way foreward for society is the constructivist pathway ?

thunder

2009-07-03T10:51:00.001+01:00

did anyone hear the thunder and lightening last night , It reminded me of when i was about 10-11 I used to go fishing on the great Ouse river and several times have sat on one bank in the dry and watched a raging thunderstorm going on on the other bank . The storms used to follow the river as if there was an invisible barrier .On the same note there was a programme on television earlier in the week which was exploring the east cost floods in 53 or 4 I remember being taken by my father down to the inland bank of the river and seeing nothing but an expanse of water on the other side ,where there should have been fields . Later that year we went to Hunstanton by train ,( pre Beeching days when we still had an effective rail system ) and all the caravans which should have been on the seaward side of the line were piled up as wreckage an the landward side .
Its My blog, so I can expand my theories, which I am about to do , Being a fenman I believe that the answer to flooding lies in the creation of more salt marsh wetlands , From my own observation as a child and since; reed beds and shallow water breaks up the power of the waves, and rather than eroding areas, the waves deposit particles in suspension . Look a at Castle Rising in Norfolk , Once close enough to a salt marsh to have a water gate, now some 5 miles from the sea. wildlife breed in wetlands and I'm sure if it was investigated reed beds could be harvested and turned into a renewable energy resource , fish farming is a possibility although the provision of shallow estuary type spawning beds could increase our own fish stocks , and reed beds mussel beds and sunlight are quite good at dealing with pollution. This is quite apart from the pleasure this environment gives to sailors ,fishermen,and others . Quite of the top of my head , and I don't know the answer , or even if it is a silly comment , but wouldn't more wetlands act as a heat sink and help compensate for global warming and the biomass of the reeds and the wetland trees would certainly process some of the CO2 . We need to learn to cope with climate change in a way that is not just coping but looking at what we need to do to maintain a standard of life that is acceptable . Rant over!!!

2009-06-25T09:56:00.000+01:00

Retirement has become a reality , for almost the first time in my life I am rally bored , Not frustrated at too much to do in to little time , which I had mistaken for boredom. However I wont comment on boredom just yet I think I will savour what is for now a new experience , and see if I like it . I never realised that day time television is such a collection of hoary old repeats . with a few gems shining through . I have to admit I have become an instant fan of loose women as for the rest my television viewing has actually gone down . Radio 4 has some good bits , once they get over their current obsession with finance . Its odd for the first time I only need to interact with the bits of the outside world I want to . I am actually finding the absence of transport more of a problem now I am retired than when I was working , when I quite happily used public transport , funny that . I am finding that I am putting things off because I have plenty of time . whereas when I had little time I got them done , "Strange" Attitudes from my family have differed as well, Its as if by retiring I have aged 15 years in a day I suddenly need advice and looking after , and being told what I should attempt and not attempt . This is odd because I am actually quite fit , and no one suggested otherwise before I retired . and the attitudes of public servants especially those in the council administration is amazing , talk about patronising once they find out you have retired .I think my Victor Meldrew is coming out .

bikes

2009-06-24T19:25:00.000+01:00

Not really about learning , I was looking at my bike today , I have a venerable jawa with a side car . I rode motor bikes up to the late 1980s .When a crash led to me being unable to afford another one until i bought the aforementioned Jawa at a barn sale . Unfortunately I never took a test because at that time you could ride indefinitely on L plates if the bike was below 250 cc . I wish I had taken it then because believe me its a lot more complicated now . I am going for a combo as I am also older and need three rather than two wheels , and don't worry all the people who wish to tell me how bad combos are Ive had two before , yes on an L plate life was simpler then . I am trying to add an image of the bike but blogger doesn't seem to want me to. Is it harder to learn as you get older or is it harder to learn several things ? I don't seem to be finding the theory test too hard although I haven't taken the real thing yet . is it a case of use it or loose it ? I can set up, programme, and to some extent troubleshoot computers ,small networks and IT functions , yet am just about literate with a mobile phone . Is this evidence of" just in time learning"? I think so because my calender ,scheduling and notes were all on my laptop and /or palmtop. I didn't need to use my phone for anything except calls,so never assimilated the other uses . I was probably too lazy to move the instructions to long term memory . Is this one of the problems with just in time learning ,that by restricting learning to what you need, you are also restricting to some degree your awareness of other possibilities and other opportunities? The same could be said about just in case learning , for instance one of the reasons I bought a jawa is I know about their foibles and have quite a large amount of" just in case knowledge" of the specis ( yes and I still bought one ) but were my options limited because of my previous learning ? I know the photo is 2006 but I have been restoring it since.

musings on worth

2009-06-18T13:50:00.000+01:00

I was watching television again and several items awakened my interest on perception .This time it was how human beings perceive worth . three areas really , number one was a discussion on antiques road show about a piece of glassware , the discussion was around
if it could be attributed to a specific maker , in which case it was worth several thousand pounds more than if it couldn't . What then was the intrinsic value of the object ? Tom Keating asserted on his death bed that there were several of his paintings displayed in museums as works of the old masters .My feeling is that if they are unable to be distinguished from the original , then they are as intrinsically as valuable as the original especially as many of them were not copies but were "in the style of" .Later on a footballer was discussing his ( to my mind) somewhat obscene amount of money he got per game whilst as the evening progressed a newly qualified nurse was talking about leaving the profession as the stress involved was not compensated for by the wages . I once ran an intensive care unit and at that time I was the lowest paid of three of my friends , one lorry driver , one trainee footballer , and a club entertainer . I would not hesitate to admit that the situation has changed and present wages are much better , but the perception of worth is still an important factor. The third area was about food ,one of the cookery shows was extolling the virtues of belly of pork.I grew up in a farm working family , and my father always maintained that the only part of the pig you couldn't eat was the squeak , belly of pork was cheap tasted good , and provided lots of calories .Ideal for a farm workers family . It definitely was not trendy . However now it appears it is and the price has risen accordingly , So is it the endorsement by some TV chef or is there a real change in perception taking place ? Especially as the food in question although undeniably tasty, would seem to go against the lean and keen ethos of today . a fourthbut somewhat risky example does occur to me , benefit fraud is as we are told punishable by having a criminal record , but alowances fraud (oh yes, to my mind just as fraudulent and more criminal as many of the benefit fraudsters have very little , but i know of very few poor MPs ) does not .Fraud is fraud the difference must be in the perception of the act

more thoughts

2009-06-14T19:32:00.000+01:00

Odd how when you think you have lots of spare time, life expands to fill it . We are having our loft insulated and there is 30 years of junk ( sorry !treasures! ) up there . No-one wanted it when it was up the loft, but its interesting to see how much is needed now I want to bin it . I took the dog for a walk today and saw a five spot Burnett moth . They used to be very common on a patch of waste ground which was covered with thistles . but disappeared when it was built on , its nice to see one back even if they are loaded with poison . The dog did try to eat it, as it does with most things but I dissuaded it . It tried to eat a bee yesterday and walked around with a fat lip, as the bee objected. but it still tried to eat another one today . She will try most things in the hope they are edible. and so far the only thing she will not have a go at is orange peel .Oranges are OK she will eat them but not the peel. We found some of my old nursing notes from when I was a student in the 60s , strange how much that we thought was gospel, was wrong , anyone remember preventing skin breakdown by vigourous rubbing with soap and then rubbing with spirit? Two ways of removing oils from the skin . but our patients (the word clients hadnt been invented ) didnt break down because the ritual of "the backs " involved strict two hour turns and inspection of the pressure areas. ritual does have its place some time . I was discussing just in case and just in time learning witha coplleague and cant help feeling that we are missing something important here . There should be a third category "just about" I have allways held that education is about allowing people to use their mind . Just in time is learning that is needed for application to the business or process you are engaged in , just in case is a business you may be engaged in but what about learning that allows you as a human being to develop and explore your environment and expand your perception ,( Im not talking Timothy Leary here) just learning .If you teach people to think they will challenge, they will explore, and they probably will reject concepts you as the teacher hold dear; but is that such a bad thing as Dylan says "the times they are achanging"

First Thoughts

2009-06-11T14:11:00.000+01:00

First post in my new blog , Getting to grips with being retired after having worked since I was 15 , Great having the time to do all the things I need and to explore all the "I wonders".But a bit worrying having to organise direction and structure rather than having it imposed by the needs of work . I wonder if my changed perception of life will affect a lifelong need to learn , I hope not . The availability of life long learning has been enhance by the use of IT , I hope to re-learn German on live mocha the web 2 site and later perhaps Hindi . I don't know why people say you cant spend all the time on the garden . I spent all day yesterday weeding, and after a nights rain you can't see where I've been .That's a thought, a database of weeds, their uses ,and Achilles heels; accessed as a podcast and downloaded to mobile media. So when you see the little swine you can find out if they are useful and how to deal with them on the spot .