Going to start this again

Been a year or two since I wrote anything here...loads of things have happened which have got in the way.....now just need toput my thinking cap on and get on with writing more.

Catch you soon

Alone Again Naturally

It has been a long time since I have posted here and I must get back into this.

My youngest daughter is putting me to shame! She has saved is now in the land of XXXX beer and barbecues. Whilst there, she is writing a blog which is, quite frankly, excellent! Catch it here!

If that does not work try putting ' "Time as a Sheila" ' into a search engine of your choice and it is, at the moment, the only returned result.

The coach, the ex-sprinter and the ovoid

It is said that when Martin Johnson took the field at Stadium Australia on 22nd November 203, he gathered the team around him and simply said 'Let's do it'. Such a short phrase summed up the years of hard work, the beating the antipodean nations in their back yards and the winning numerous Six Nations matches were culminating on the big prize.

Almost two hours later, the big man was lifting the William Webb Ellis Trophy.

Now Mr Johnson is no fool and you know, as manager of the full England Rugby XV, that the future if the team is in the best possible hands, but is it?

It is rumored that Dwain Chambers is now to assist the backs and forwards of the national team. Why?

One of the current players said"I was looking to do some sprint training this summer and when the opportunity came to train with Britain's fastest man at a local track, it was a no-brainer."

Actually. the 'no brainer' is that with working with Britain's most high profile drug cheating sportsman, English rugby and the national team will constantly be under suspicion particularly if they regain the position of number one team in the world. Is Martin Johnson fully aware of the ramifications?

It is time that he used a short phrase to Dwain.

Two words and the second one is off.

Members of Parliment

Not content with exorbitant expenses, second homes funded by us the taxpayer, the 'John Lewis' list, the awarding of their own pay rises and 76 days of holiday over the Summer, it appears that we are funding the drinking habits of said representatives.

If they do not know the price of a pint, how can they honestly know what is best for the individual, families or the population as a whole?

Why are we paying for their alcohol consumption? Somebody tell me!

Changing tyres of the motorway.

When I had my blowout a few days, Mr AA man said that one should never change a tyre on the hard shoulder of a motorway. He knew of AA men and AA 'customers' who had died whilst trying to do so.

On the M1 today, there was a van on the hard shoulder with the drivers side rear tyre being changed. Along with the person levering up the van (less than a yard from articulated lorries doing fifty to sixty speeding by) there was five, yes five, men standing and watching the tyre changer's efforts. Do people not have any sense?

Further on, there was Mr RAC man doing the same on another vehicle.

Beggars belief!

The advice is simple. You have a blow out on the motorway, get the services to tow you to the next services and then change the wheel.

Otherwise you are a statistic waiting to happen.

Blow outs and Speeding

Had a blow out at 80 mph in the fast lane of the M6 yesterday. I'm OK and back home, tyre ripped to shreds!

Got to thinking in the ten minutes or so as I stood on the hard shoulder of the motorway. The speed of the vehicles was so fast! You do not realize it when you are sitting in solitude listening to Darkness on the Edge of Town doing seventy plus. but you do when you are standing by the roadside watching the lorries go past you creating blasts of air that make standing difficult.

Talking of speeding, just got the six points that I did have on my license removed. The government's argument has always been that speed kills so must impose limits on todays roads. However, if the government were so concerned about death and destruction as the result of speed, why do they allow cars on the roads that can do more than 70 mph? On my car, I can do 100 mph comfortably (but don't tell the Boss*).

Surely, if speed kills then cars that can go seventy plus should be banned at source, Top Gear should never again mention high performance cars and James Bond should ride in a Peugeot 106 to set a good example.

But I can't see that happening, can you? Would not be anything to do with the small matter of tax would it?

* Boss as in work boss, NOT The Boss

Another Springsteen gig. What a shame!

Another great gig by the Boss on 14th June last! Me, the kids and a reprobate from Caxton went. We sat at the back and the Boss and the boys were small but that did not matter. We were there again. The concert was great, the surprises many and the beer expensive!

All of that did not matter as this was another Springsteen gig and another time when the Boss made me laugh, made me cry but ultimately made me happy.

When going to the gig we all put £1 in the kitty to see if we could name the first song.
I had 'Land of Hope and Dreams', My daughters had 'Murder Inc' and 'Badlands', my son had 'Prove it all Night' and the reprobate from Caxton had 'No Surrender'. We all lost!

Who would have thought that he would have played a song that he gave to a Welshman many years ago? Only those who are far too anal about Bruce and that ain't me!

The drive home was long...all seven hours of it!

But it was worth it, boy was it worth it!

From www.brucespringsteen.net

From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) { lyrics } Tour Premiere
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out { lyrics }
Radio Nowhere { lyrics }
No Surrender { lyrics }
Lonesome Day { lyrics }
The Promised Land { lyrics }
Blinded By The Light { lyrics }
Magic { lyrics }
Atlantic City { lyrics }
The River { lyrics }
Gypsy Biker { lyrics }
Darlington County { lyrics }
Because The Night { lyrics }
She's The One { lyrics }
Livin' In The Future { lyrics }
Mary's Place { lyrics }
Working On The Highway { lyrics }
Devil's Arcade { lyrics }
The Rising { lyrics }
Last To Die { lyrics }
Long Walk Home { lyrics }
Badlands { lyrics }

Jungleland { lyrics }
Thunder Road { lyrics }
Born To Run { lyrics }
Rosalita { lyrics }
American Land { lyrics }

Death to the Congestion Charge

Readers will know that I have expressed a view about the unfairness of the Cambridge Congestion Charge and the way that it is linked to a governement grant.

I would like to think that I had a small part in the council's U turn about this. From arguing with the councils representatives at the local shopping centre to highlighting the stupidity of the charge on here, I did my bit. Never underestimate the power of the little guy!

And know, some of the locals did lot more.

Read more here and here!

In your best Victor Meldrew voice please...

...I simply do not believe it!

GCSE exams give you credit for being rude!

How?
If the candidate who is taking an English exam writes a 'fuck off', he/she gets 7.5%. More if they were to capitalise the first word and if they added an exclamation mark

Honest!!!

Read about it here!

Slough - the new Warsaw

The Sun proudly announced that its Polish edition was most successful in Slough, Berkshire of all places

Slough, the home of Werner Hogg, Eton College & the Mars Bar.

What chance Eton has put Polish on it's curriculum? Or that the Queen has taken on a traunch of our brothers from Poland to do her plumbing?

Twas only 5p

I confess, I am a Sun reader.....Picked up a copy today from a local newsagent.

When handing over my 55p for the tome, noticed that there was twenty further copies on the counter....in Polish!

I thought that there was a net outflow of our fellow European neighbours over the last six months or so as they found the cost of living here too expensive so surely there is less of a market for such a publication. Seems like The Sun is trying to entice them back.

Actually, what really upset me that the price was 50p!

Another evening, another Springsteen gig

It's 7.46 p.m. and I am standing with my daughter on the covering that hides the green that Wenger's men kick the leather on. At one end there is a stage. Huge. though expected, as I have been in this moment before eight or nine times.

Then it happens. The Boss is back, baptising the Emirates stadium with the first song. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out! Bloody hell, one of the best songs first? No other gig that I have ever been to has had the artist play one of their biggest hits at the start! The standard has been set, can he keep it up? Well, of course he can.

Of course he can, and he and the E Street do. All night long. Hit after hit after hit. The old ones and the young ones watch in awe as they are played one after the other with most of us 'in the know' taking our cues and singing all in the right places. When 'Thunder Road' is played, Bruce stands as we sing to him..

'Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me'

He stands, he smiles and he knows. The audience is in the palm of his hand as we allow him to take us on his rock and roll ride.

For some of the crowd it must be their umpteenth gig, for a few it is their first. What will the few they make of the temple that is Springsteen?

In 2003, I got four tickets for Wembley Arena. I took all three of my kids to the gig in a old car that I prayed every mile would make it. The kids moaned and groaned all the way there asking why we are going to see a man play a guitar who was ten years older than their Dad. How can 'he' be 'that' good? I did not dare to mention that The Boss's sidekick another ten years older than him and decidedly the coolest man on the planet. That would have been the end and I am sure that when we arrived at Wembley they would have scampered into the London night.

We queued in the October night, listening to the sound check and I heard the moans once more. When we eventually got in, we were some fifteen metres from the front, standing amongst the variety of ages.

Then the band came on, walking methodically, to pick up their respective instruments.

From 'The Rising' to 'Thunder Road' and 23 songs in-between, he made me cry, laugh, sing, dance and made me reflect on things in my life. The kids were enthralled and captivated but most of all captured by the man and his band. My son went out and bought most of the records and my daughters 'have borrowed' ever since.

'Better than the records' they said but they missed the point there. The records only tell us what is in his mind, the concert shows us. 'He was THE best' they said and I did not disagree. 'Did you see when...', of course I did for I was there and absorbed it all. On the way back, with T shirts in hand that they still wear, they relived the concert for the two hour plus drive home. There was one happy dad in the car with three more converts to the message of the 'legendary' E Street band.

Friday night was the same though I only shared it with my eldest. Twenty eight songs and two of my favourites that I had not heard live ever before ('Candy's Room' and 'Point Blank'). The same emotions, the same feelings and the same escape from real life for a few short hours. To say that the band was good would be insulting, they were great as they are 'night after night after night'. An apparent rag bag of characters, they work seamlessly to provide the very best live entertainment that exists in the world today. The Rolling Stones may have started earlier and be great live, U2 may have better power anthems and play to bigger crowds but both of these are pretenders to the throne. No band in the world plays tighter, with more emotion and longer than the guys I saw on Friday.

Bruce, Gary, Max, Steven, Soozie, Patti, Roy (with whom I share a birthday), Gordon, Nils & Clarence, we will almost certainly never meet but thank you for everything.

If people would like to donate a little spare cash, take a little time and check out the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund.

Complete set list courtesy of www.brucespringsteen.net

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out { lyrics }
Radio Nowhere { lyrics }
The Ties That Bind { lyrics }
Lonesome Day { lyrics }
The Promised Land { lyrics }
Magic { lyrics }
Atlantic City { lyrics }
Reason To Believe { lyrics }
Candy's Room { lyrics }
Prove It All Night { lyrics }
Because The Night { lyrics }
Working On The Highway { lyrics }
Cadillac Ranch { lyrics }
Livin' In The Future { lyrics }
Mary's Place { lyrics }
Waitin' On A Sunny Day { lyrics }
Point Blank { lyrics }
Devil's Arcade { lyrics }
The Rising { lyrics }
Last To Die { lyrics }
Long Walk Home { lyrics }
Badlands { lyrics }

Thunder Road { lyrics }
Born To Run { lyrics }
Glory Days { lyrics }
Rosalita { lyrics }
Dancing In The Dark { lyrics }
American Land { lyrics }

The Credit Crunch and Global Warming

Due to the global credit crunch sales of baked beans have rocketed. People are spending less on the more luxurious food stuffs preferring to nosh on cowboy food for basic sustenance.

Now has anyone got any ideas on how to use all that additional methane?

We had better think of something or we can no longer blame cows for global warming

Babylonian Constellations

Chaos Theory tells my brain.
A butterfly can bring us rain.
Journalists with negative views.
Seems only angels bring good news.

Look at me emotionally broke.
My bank account is newly choked.
I’m riding high on waves of misery.
Needing more of life’s chemistry.

Love is as old as the Babylonian constellations.
The mirror in my ‘scope is missing a Contessa’s reflection.
She is out there but she ain’t coming in my direction.
Love is as old as the Babylonian constellations

You said your piece, got angry
I let you have your say.
In the end I made it easy.
For you to walk away.

…Walk away

…Walk away

Love is as old as the Babylonian constellations.
The mirror in my ‘scope is missing a Contessa’s reflection.
She is out there but she ain’t coming in my direction.
Love is as old as the Babylonian constellations.

© CTM 18/06/02

Congestion charge in Cambridge

Just got this from the local council about the proposed congestion charge. Comments later!

Dear Sir/Madam
Tackling Congestion in Cambridgeshire
I have noted from our records that you have contacted us during the consultation on our plans to tackle congestion in Cambridgeshire.
I would like to thank you again for your involvement and advise that the results of the consultation will been announced today, 6th May 2008 and these can be found on our website www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/congestion  You can find the results on the left hand side of the screen, at the "Consultation Results" page. These should be available from 5.00pm onwards.
Should you have any issues accessing this site or require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me

Kim Armitt
Communications and Engagement Officer
Transport Policy & Strategy

Tel: 01223 718414

Email: kim.armitt@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Post: Cambridgeshire County Council, ET1041, Castle Court, Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge, CB3 0AP

..and apologies...

..to my reader(s)...

Long time since I posted due to a house move, an 18th birthday and my work sending me all over the country.

Oh, and playing and agonising over scrabble with one reader on Facebook. You know who you are.

Normal service will be resumed from now on.

Motoring charges

Heard on the news recently....

One in three motorists have a motoring offence whether it is speeding or parking or something else. I wonder how much that means the government and local authrities have gotten in charges or fines.

Read in the paper recently..

About 75% of motorists get off speeding fines due to technicalities and most becasue they claim in court that they never received the paperwork for court....


How do these statements stack up?

Michael Jackson Beware!

Apparently, the Jacksons en mass are moving to Devon soon...

They had better beware... the completion is here!!!



Loved it!

Money, Money Money

In the middle of a house move at the moment so really have not time to write more here BUT I simply had to spend my coffee break between boxes commenting on two parts in the news recently.

Community Tax - Simply unbelievable that our leading politicians claim this charge on their expenses except for the slightly whiter David Cameroon! Should now all government employees have the same right? Read the list here.

More on the Cambridge Congestion charge - Staff at Addenbrookes hospital have voted a resounding NO to the charge claiming that staff cant afford it and that, as they are public workers, they should be exempt! They want hospital staff to be exempt as it is on the outskirts of the city. However,in the coming years, there is a large housing estate to be built on the southern side which would encircle the hospital. Similarly, the residents of Girton are stating that they should be on the outdide of the zone. read about it here

Who next to become protest and demand exemption for this ridiculous charge? The boys in blue get an exception (as they would have to help to enforce the charge), council workers, social workers, black welsh one-legged male lesbians, company car owners?

Seems to me that once you make one exception, you have to make several exceptions and then you have to abandon the proposal as it becomes unfair.

Every time I am asked to declare my ethnicity, I fancy the idea of stating that I am a welsh black one-legged male lesbian.

Just for fun!

Education - A Simple Idea.

In the light of active disruption by spoilt children, the snobbery that can exist within the educational world, the suggestion that class sizes could rise to 70 when the teaching unions about to vote on class sizes, memos about the 'toxic nature' of family breakdown and the perceived increased need for support for the tweenager, education is much in the news at the moment.

It seems that everyone, and teachers in particular, want to teach only the best motivated students and then in groups of twenty or so. However, class sizes are around thirty and there are some in every class that seek to disrupt lessons.

In the next government where Jeremy Clarkson is PM and I become the Secretary of State for Education. At least and unlike many education secretaries before hand, I can speak of having many years experience in this field.

Back to the point!

Here is the manifesto of solely one item but the one item that will radically improve all schools.

Attending school becomes OPTIONAL for all pupils over the age of 14.

This will have the following effects;

1. Only committed students will attend school and hence teachers will only be teaching the motivated. Teachers now happy!
   
2. Parents will have to take more responsibility for their children as those who will decide to stay at home will have to be looked after. They become actively responsible for the futures of the kids. Parents focused
   
3. Funding released by the non attendees can be used for the motivated. Head teachers happy!
   
4. The 'bad' teachers will be redeployed out of the classroom and thus the overall standard of teaching will improve. Parents happy!
   
5. Schools will have the right to exclude any pupil that is a pain and transfer the care of that pupil to the parent. Schools happy!
   
6. Children will rapidly learn that if they want to attend school they have to behave. Thats it. Simple! Schools happy again!
   
7. With the wealth of training opportunities outside of the classroom funded by the government, pupils who do not gain GSCE's/NVQ's/Diploma's can pick up their education when they need it and when they become motivated to learn. Government happy!
   
8. Most of all, the function of school to educate will become paramount rather than to baby sit the currently ill-mannered and destructive pupil and allow them to disrupt lessons. Schools happy yet again!

I await my call up to the next government.

Alas, I do not think that it will happen as I am pathologically honest and would be unable to complete an expense form.