Month: July 2020

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. 😴💤😴

Ben & Jerry’s, yes the delicious and very nice American ice cream company, are sharing the recipe for their ‘edible chocolate chip cookie dough’ with the public, to help us through lockdown I believe. Now this wouldn’t be my first choice in ice cream but I know for a fact that it is for my grandson Jack. So there we have it, just do a search on the internet and you can start making your favourite treat at home. Yesterday I took another large tub of Gigi ice cream for desert and Alice had made a chocolate, caramel, hazelnut tart. Perfect combination.

I’ve just seen that Prince Charlie along with his wife Camilla opened a new footbridge at Tintagel Castle. The bridge is 190 feet long and apparently the duchess didn’t look down as she crossed it. Don’t blame her, I don’t like heights either. I always think how well they look together, really comfortable and as if they enjoy each other’s company. Made me wonder what we would be reading had they married all those years ago. There would be no William and Harry, no Kate and no Meghan. What would there have been instead? Life really is a matter of chance.

Still with the royals, it is reported that the queen likes to watch Netflix and, not sure if I believe this, enjoys The Crown. I keep dipping in and out of it but I am not a big fan and I find it especially difficult to identify the actors with their real life characters. I find I get quite irritated, as does Harry who apparently hates it. The Durrells is another favourite of her majesty and I did quite enjoy that one. Of course the family had a strong connection with Bournemouth where I believe Gerry had a small zoo in their garden over in Charminster. The life of the four siblings after they returned from Greece is also rather interesting, they were definitely an unusual family.

The online property company rightmove have said the tax cut announced in the recent budget has started a mini housing boom. That is why the cut was done rightmove, some sort of boom was needed. Sales agreed jumped by 35% while the price of property are now 2.4% higher than before lockdown. Twelve thousand on a half a million pound property. What is also surprising, to me at least, is that this report came via Reuters. A few years ago they wouldn’t have been looking to an online company for this sort of information.

A British man who in his 20s was homeless and living on the streets has become one of the top earning car cleaners in the world. He has cleaned Bentleys, Ferraris and has worked for the top racing car manufacturers including McClaren. He can charge as much as £6,000 for a single wash and travels to America, Dubai and all over Europe. That sounds like a lot of money for a car wash, I hope my grandchildren are reading this, they need some holiday work. Roman Abramovich flew him to Panama to do some work on his yacht and he regularly works for Eric Clapton. Makes me tired just to think of it. Nighty night. 😴💤😴

Here we are, just another day in lockdown although it’s now partial lockdown. Had a lovely meal with the family today in Sam & Paul’s garden, they always put on a lovely spread. The Bennetts were there and Elizabeth wanted a mention in this blog. What can I say except that she was there flaunting a fake tan and a nice black leather look jacket. Her lovely friend Chloe from Uni was visiting and ate with us and we found out that she blows on her ice cream presumably to warm it up. Well, she does come from Eastbourne so we can expect strange behaviour. I managed to embarrass the girls by asking Chloe if she thought Thomas looked good. She naturally said yes as he was sitting next to her. Just another family lunch with nannyjune.com putting her foot where it doesn’t belong.

The Times reported that the general manager of a pub in Wimbledon advertised for two barmen at £9 per hour. He was surprised to find that within five days he had received 484 applications and many of them over qualified for the position. He heard from air stewards, restaurant managers and retail workers who had been made redundant, He was so impressed with the quality of applicants that he hired six of them. That does of course leave 478 who were disappointed. Still, jobs will be out there for some of them. My daughter Elena applied for an admin job in a school, went for an interview and has been offered a place starting in September, Well done you.

So many people have been having a go at home decorating as well as diy during the lockdown. A woman in Nottingham just couldn’t decide on what colour to use on her front door – it needed changing as it was originally black, not very welcoming – so she painted a few dabs of different colour on it to help her decide. One morning she found a note that her postwoman had put through the letterbox. It suggested that the best colour sample was second green up from the bottom. The home decorator said she thought the note was hilarious and even though she had already chosen a different colour was wondering whether to go with her postie. We all love a helpful and friendly postie.

In France Nantes Cathedral caught fire yesterday in the early hours of the morning. Although it’s not correct to say that it caught fire as the police suspect arson as fire broke out in three different parts of the building. I can certainly see why they are suspicious. Today they arrested a Rwandan man who was a volunteer worker and who locked the premises on Friday evening. He was also housed by the diocese. Members of the church didn’t believe he would have done such a thing as he loved the cathedral and was also awaiting the renewal of his visa. I personally never go to church but I love cathedrals, this one was built in the early fifteenth century, it always amazes me that masons then could achieve so much. Something to dream about. Sweet dreams.😴💤😴

Do you remember there was a drama on tv called Life on Mars? Well, this has nothing to do with that but scientists are suggesting that there is indeed ‘life on Mars’. At the 3rd Interplanetary Conference in Texas US a team of stargazing academics (really?) said that aliens wouldn’t be living on the surface of the planet because it is much too inhospitable. They would be living in tunnels and caves underground. The team would like NASA to send a robot or a drone to explore through these tunnels and dig out any sign of life. Badgers, moles and chipmunks are the most well known of the animal kingdom for living underground.  But we mustn’t forget Dracula and his brother vampires, we might be sorry NASA went to look.

From Mars to Manchester where an escaped prisoner has been trying the patience of the local constabulary. Prisoner Cody was on his way to court and said he was unwell and was taken to hospital. That’s an old trick as we all know and naturally he escaped his guards. Now he has appeared on film eating sweets, showing off his handcuffs which it seems he snapped off and poking fun at the police force telling them “come and get me” when the cameraperson asked if he had a message for the cops. He also added a few choice words which I won’t print here because my grandchildren sometimes read the blog.

Also in Manchester, a woman and mother of one ran over her boyfriend when she found out he wasn’t who he had pretended to be. Linda Shaw had been going out with her new beau for nine months and thought she had found the perfect gentleman on line. Then she found out he had a conviction for rape and as if that wasn’t enough she realised that he was living with his long term partner and their two children. She lay in wait as he cycled to work, ran him down and then screamed “now look what you made me do”. This is beginning to sound like the TV Life on Mars. In court the judge told her that she should be going to prison but because of the extenuating circumstances it would be a suspended sentence. The rapist lost his job and now walks with a limp, he was also given a suspended sentence but I’m not sure what he was charged with. Sounds to me as if they both had a lucky escape.

In Spain the authorities have declared a lockdown in Catalonia due to a surge in coronavirus cases. The majority are in the city of Barcelona, La Noguera and El Segriá where residents have been asked not to leave their homes for 15 days. There are to be no meetings, private or public, of more than ten people, closure of nightclubs and gyms, restrictions in bars and restaurants etc. France is considering closing the borders. Let’s hope it doesn’t get any worse. Buenas noches amigos 😴💤😴

Airlines are constantly in the news these days.Today Icelandair have said it intends firing all their flight attendants and making the pilots do their job. Sounds more than a little bizarre to me. Are they going to be standing at the door checking tickets, hauling the old lady’s carry-on to the overhead locker and cleaning the loo when required? What happens when some kid throws up or a drunk passenger causes mayhem? We will have to wait and see if they have any passengers. Meanwhile and also today, BA who will be cutting 12,000 jobs has also said that senior staff will have to reapply for the remaining jobs or accept a redundancy package.  The new jobs will be on a much lower pay scale than the old ones. Last time I flew BA, just over a year ago, the service was definitely rubbish. Still on airline news, Ryanair has had its second bomb scare in one week this time on a flight from London to Oslo. Again a note was found stating that an explosive device was on board and a 59 year old man was arrested. It seems that all the nutters have taken to the skies.

The girlfriend of the German man suspected of kidnapping Madeleine McCann has been identified by a Portuguese couple who say she helped the German rob them of one hundred thousand Euros. According to their report she was his accomplice in robberies he carried out in the Algarve. Police who are still investigating the McCann case suspect he might have entered the holiday home with the thought of burglary but couldn’t resist kidnapping when he found the sleeping child. The German certainly sounds as if he should have been locked up long ago and maybe even thrown away the key.

The queen has had probably her busiest day since she went into lockdown along with the rest of the country. Her niece Beatrice, daughter of Andrew and Fergie, married her Italian fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzo in a secret ceremony and the queen was keen to attend the nuptials. It was a very small affair with just a few guests in the chapel on the Windsor estate. It’s believed her father walked her down the aisle and her mother and sister were among the guests. Under the circumstances she probably chose the best option for her wedding. Let’s hope they have a happy marriage.

The queen also knighted Captain Tom and bagpipes were played as she stepped out onto the lawn. She used a sword to bestow the insignia of Knight Bachelor upon him and he will now be known as Captain Sir Tom Moore. His family including two grandchildren, who looked very proud, were there with him. The queen also thank Sir Tom for his efforts in raising such an enormous amount of money for the NHS. I wonder if anyone from the royals made a donation, just wondering. Good night one and all. 😴💤😴

Now here’s a bit of interesting news, in my opinion of course. In the Spanish province of Aragon (yes, that same one where Catherine came from to marry Henry 8th), an outbreak of coronavirus has been identified in a mink farm with 87% of the animals showing infection. The wife of a farm worker contracted the illness in May and tests were carried out on the mink in July and found to have been infected. All the 92,700 animals will need to be culled to stop the spread of the virus and financial compensation will be paid to the owners. I’m surprised that mink are still being farmed for their fur especially in an EU country. It is still not known if the disease was past from humans to the animals or vice versa.

Lots of people have been growing vegetables while at home in lockdown. Courgettes have always been popular as they grow quickly and the lovely veggies are very appealing to the new gardener. A young Essex mum who had done just that and couldn’t wait to get cooking. Within hours of eating the roasted courgettes she was taken ill and had to be rushed to A&E. It seems that the Unwins seeds were a rogue batch and had to be withdrawn from the suppliers. The vegetable in question contain a natural toxin which is normally bred out for human consumption but some seeds can turn rogue and cause sickness and even death to the person consuming them. Well, who would have thought that, not a good one to add to your five a day.

The BBC today announced that climate change could cause summers becoming too hot for humans. Not sure about that, we keep being promised a heat wave here in England but in Bournemouth at least we are still waiting for it to happen. Nice day today but just that, nice. Yesterday drizzled a bit and then turned chilly in the evening. This weekend and into the following week BBC’s own web site is showing 19º, 20º or even maybe 22º not exactly a scorcher. So, I’m not adding ‘too hot to handle’ to my list of things out of my control to worry about.

I had a lovely visit this afternoon from two very charming granddaughters. They were in town together and called to see if I would like a visit. So grown up now, they popped in for a cup of tea and a snack and were quite happy to sit chatting for well over an hour. We got onto the subject of long lost relatives such as my aunts and cousins that they never met but that crop up in family conversations. Elizabeth thought it strange that there could be some second or third cousins wandering around in the world that she might bump into and not know they were related. Could even be at her Uni. I don’t suppose we will ever know. Nighty night.  😴💤😴

A quick update regards the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, it appears she has at some time been married but is refusing to let anyone know the name of the lucky man. Don’t suppose it could have been bonny prince Andrew, could it? I also read today that having been refused bail her trial will begin in one year’s time. Well, if she is found guilty that at least will knock one year off her possible 35 years in prison. She will be awaiting her trial in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and she might have a friend there. The Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen who was taken back into custody after breaking house arrest. ‘Liberté’ I don’t think so.

I completely forgot yesterday was Bastille Day in France. The biggest celebrations take place in Paris but there are parties all around the country. Sandy and I used to be in Nice in July for the annual jazz festival and it always coincided with the 14th July festivities. We were treated to a wonderful firework display which took place off barges anchored off the coast. In Bristol the Edward Colston statue which was toppled into the harbour has been replaced, unofficially and temporarily by a BLM protestor. The artist Marc Quinn has produced a statue of Jen Reid who jumped onto the plinth during the protest with her arm raised in apparent triumph, the Black Power salute. The new work shows her in this pose and looks rather striking, quite wonderful. It is not expected that the Bristol City Council will allow the statue to stay there but perhaps it should be put into the museum along with the Colson and placards from the protest which have already been installed there. ‘Egalité’ I hope so.

The trump has a new look, his hair has changed from peroxide orange to grey. Could this be from worry or is it just that the barbers remain closed in the US?

Victoria’s Secret went into administration earlier this year and now they have decided that the UK fashion chain Next  is their preferred partner. This only refers to the British operations of VS and would add a nice lingerie brand to the Next label. M&S were interested in taking on VS but lost out to their rival.

 

No Bail for Ghislaine. Her lawyers offered five million dollars bail money and home confinement with electronic monitoring. The judge said ‘no’, the defendant is too much of a flight risk and so she will stay in jail at least until her trial. I still can’t understand why she sat around, with her phone wrapped in aluminium foil, in her fancy pad in New Hampshire even if it did have 156 acres. I’m sure there are places in the world where she could have hidden without being sniffed out. We await the trial.

Trouble in paradise? Sunbathers on the beaches of Costa del Sol have been arriving early to bag the best spot reserving it with lounger, towels, bags and any other paraphernalia that might stop late arrivals from moving in on them. The beaches have been divided into four metre plots due to coronavirus distancing. Nothing wrong with that you might say and you might be right. But not say the authorities when you then wander off to have a few beers and tapas leaving the best spot on the beach unused for, at times, a few hours. Police and beach patrols have been confiscating the belongings and the owners have to pay a fine to get them back. I wonder if it’s the Germans who have long been famed for grabbing all the sun beds around the pool by putting their towels out at at the break of dawn?

It seems that the First Daughter Ivanka (is she the first, I don’t know how many kids the POTUS has?) has upset some people in America with the stupid suggestions she keeps coming up with. Obviously she has no idea whatsoever what it might be like to be a normal working citizen, she was born into a life of privilege. This time she is encouraging the unemployed to ‘learn something new, get a new skill’ along with a list of suggestions. Nurse is one,  wind turbine technician another, or perhaps go back to school and become a lawyer. The FD doesn’t say where the money is coming from to pay for the training or who will look after the kids while they’re being home schooled. No, just tally ho guys ‘Let’s do something new’. I wonder what salary she receives for doing zilch.

Banksy paints again, this time in the London underground in an attempt to encourage people to wear a mask (while some conservative members have cut up their memberships cards in fury at having to wear one).  He, or someone pretending to be him, has boarded trains dressed as a professional cleaner. He stencilled rats in pandemic poses with one sneezing and another using anti bacterial gel. Transport for London had the artwork removed in line with its strict graffiti policy.

In Japan a woman who thought she had tonsillitis was found to have a 38mm worm in her glands from eating the raw fish dish sushimi. It was removed using tweezers and afterwards the woman said she felt very much better. Good night one and all.

A Ryanair flight on its way from Krakow to Dublin was diverted today and had to make an emergency landing at Stansted airport. The flight was accompanied into the airport by two RAF Typhoon jets which had been scrambled following the security alert. It’s all very James Bond, isn’t it? Well no,  a note had been discovered in the toilets stating that there was a bomb on board and the captain had to follow procedure. The plane landed in a remote area of the airport, passengers disembarked and then it was being inspected. Krakow to Stansted is quite a distance so it took a while to discover the note, could this be someone’s idea of a sick joke? Travelling in the middle of a pandemic is already bad enough, we can do without jokesters.

Many travellers are expecting to board a plane with at least half of the seats empty. This doesn’t seem to be the case as passengers are saying that flights are full. Travel experts say that we will have to get used to new types of planes and companies are coming up with ideas to give passengers some protection from the people around them. We all know that this means less seats on the plane and consequentially higher prices. I can see air travel being taken away from the masses and mostly being used by the wealthy or business travellers. It would be a shame, I loved airlines like Ryanair that flew from my local airport at a price I could easily afford. It used to cost £350 to fly to France or Spain and Ryanair brought the price down to between £50 and £150. What’s not to like?

“Breaking News” The government has made face masks mandatory in shops from Friday July 24th. Anyone who doesn’t comply can be fined a maximum of £100. All very good but who is going to police the shops? And will it be like the ‘mandatory on all public transport’? because down here in Bournemouth the drivers are allowing anyone on the buses even if they don’t have a mask and say they cannot impose it. I have my supply of masks and I intend wearing one when I am in an enclosed space. It’s not to protect me but to protect others. If everyone wore one it might actually work. And, BoJo why the 24th, what are we waiting for, the second wave?

Have you ever heard of a band called Ed the Dog? I haven’t but they’re in the news. Charlie Lashmar a member of this band was involved in a car accident on New Year’s Day on the A1 in County Durham. His car flipped over on the icy road but he managed to climb out and stood shivering in the snow. A guy stopped, had traffic cones, high vis jackets and took control of the situation helping everyone till the police arrived. He even gave Charlie a warm jumper from his car. Charlie has been trying to find the guy ever since and has even written a song thanking him. Is it you? Although he wants to keep the jumper, says it still keeps him warm on a cold night. Good night.

 

 

 

As I mentioned yesterday, BoJo was considering making masks compulsory in shops and enclosed places. Today Michael Gove said he didn’t think it necessary and he trusts people’s common sense. I beg to differ Mikey, many people have shown no common sense whatsoever during the pandemic, just look back at the pictures of the beaches and beauty spots when the weather turned warm. Of course we should be made to wear masks, it has been proven by WHO and many scientists that it is the best way to control the spread of the virus, along with social distancing.

Speaking about BoJo, a report has mentioned that our Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak  is behaving in a very non conservative manner with his borrowing and promises on spending. He is being predicted as the next PM, maybe even pushing Boris out of number 10. Boris was described as the Big Mouth Billy Bass and if you don’t know what that is it’s a mechanical singing fish attached to a plaque. I remember a colleague buying one when when I worked for the software company.

Rishi in his mini budget promised employers £1000 for each employee who returns to work and is still there in January. Primark has announced that they will reject the bonus saying they will not add to the tax payers’ burden.  They further said that they removed their staff from the furlough scheme when reopening was introduced. They said that under the circumstances it should not be necessary to receive a government bonus. William Hill have said they will also reject the scheme, Next are considering their position but M&S say they welcome the support. Well I know who I will be supporting when I go shopping.

I haven’t seen it but apparently there is a programme on TV following Liverpool paramedics. Viewers it seems were left feeling very proud of out NHS when the medics went to the aid of a Frenchman who had been mugged and badly beaten. As he was lifted into the ambulance he asked how much it was going to cost him. He was completely astounded when he found out there was no charge for the service. That’s so sweet he told them and thanked them for helping him. He also managed to take some selfies of the three of them in the ambulance. Next time I go in an ambulance I must remember the selfie.

Living in a sixth floor apartment there is one thing I haven’t thought about since I left my house in Wimborne. That is the flying ants that tend to make their appearance in July. It seems that this year the conditions have been perfect for them and huge numbers  have been spotted across the UK today.  I hated them as they somehow managed to come out of the ground and into the sun lounge. I could come home from work and they were everywhere, mostly roasted alive as it could get very hot in there. That’s it my lovelies, nighty night. 😴💤😴