The Chancellor has announced an above inflation pay rise for public sector workers. Hmm I thought, that sounds good. I had a quick look through the list and couldn’t find nurses. Doctors were covered and teachers but nurses? not a mention. Then I saw a report complaining that nurses and social care providers have been left out. The reason? These roles were covered by a 2018 three year pay deal by the NHS staff council. If memory serves me right this still left the nurses underpaid for the hours and work they performed. Now in the throes of a pandemic which looks as if it might be with us for years, what happened two years ago has got absolutely nothing to do with today’s pay deal. Let’s all make a noise about this, clapping just isn;t enough.
The Sussexes have dropped the price on their soon to be released book Finding Freedom. Honestly, anyone would think they’d been locked up in the tower of London judging by the title. Well, it hasn’t yet been released and already it’s cheaper than it was. Could be that times are hard right now and people are financially struggling, could be competition with another couple of books on the royals already appearing on the shelves and it could be that good old Joe public is fast losing interest in this whiney couple.
In Yellowstone Park, yes the one where Yogi bear lived, there are herds of bison roaming free. There are also herds of tourists roaming free and this week a couple was chased by one of the bison. As they tried to outrun the animal the woman tripped and fell. Several onlookers shouted out telling her to play dead which the woman did while the bison sniffed over her and then turned and ran away. Made me think of something I mentioned last week about bison being reintroduced into the Kent countryside. The report said that although the animals are large. weighing up to a ton they are really quite docile. Perhaps the one in Yellowstone just wanted to play.
I roamed free today but only on Bournemouth sea front and the scariest thing I saw were the seagulls. Went for a lovely walk late afternoon and it was nice to see families out enjoying the fresh air and a bit of freedom. The cafes are open and managing to do some trade. Of course the weather was quite nice so customers were sitting outside which makes social distancing much easier for everyone concerned. I saw what was left of the burnt beach huts and it seems that some of the debris has been taken away. Three huts need replacing but honestly, not a lot to worry about. The plants up the cliff will soon grow over and no one will see any difference. Well done firefighters. And Good night one and all. 😴💤😴