Bob the Black Country Brummie

The Final Curtain - "Bring me Sunshine"

2010-05-17T16:21:00.004+01:00

Bob Tidmarsh passed away peacefully on May 2, 2010. As most of you know he had been battling Prostate Cancer for the last couple of years. Bob greatly enjoyed the discussions / debates that were exchanged on this blog. This is the Final Curtain for this Blog. As played at the celebration service, the appropriate music for now is from the comedy Morcombe & Wise "Bring me Sunshine".

It’s a done deal

2010-04-15T16:34:00.002+01:00

I’m delighted to be able to report that Sandwell Council Cabinet last night gave final approval for the funding of the refurbishment to Tanhouse Community Centre for conversation of part of it for a clinic. Project is due for completion end of 2010.
This issue has been a long standing battle with our Primary Care Trust and a wonderful example of people power and a good example of politicians ignoring their differences in the fight for what was needed in our community. I was involved from the early days when PCT kept telling us they had looked at sites which were unsuitable which went on for months. It wasn’t until residents like myself sought out political consensus to fight for what was blindingly obvious to us. The Tanhouse was the right place for our clinic. This decision will bring in new investment to our area but the health benefits are enormous and the facilities will be first class when it is open. This really is a win win situation. We get a super new clinic the council have a fully functioning community centre with a library, community activities, meals on wheels etc. and the PCT get a facility which will serve the people of Hamstead for the next twenty years.
I have a lot of people to thank for giving their support during the various stages of our campaign protests. Tom Watson MP, Cllr David Hosell and Cllr Joyce Underhill, Janice Bryan, Shirley Hosell and the Tanhouse Action Group members, Richard Nugent from the PCT who once convinced of our determination and sincerity became a supporter. And last but not least to my wife Pat who like always supported me throughout this struggle when at times my health was lousy she never gave up on me or the cause. Thank you all. This is the best news for Hamstead.

A tale of two councils

2010-04-14T11:30:00.000+01:00

Or library services to be more precise. I will admit to being well known at my local library in fact a few years back they nominated me for a learners award. But I digress. Recently I needed six copies of a play for a theatrical group I belong to. Sandwell quickly provided their two copies and offered to see if copies could be obtained from outside the borough. Four copies were found in Birmingham but this meant I had to become a member of Birmingham Libraries which I duly signed up for. “It will take about a week they said give us a call next Friday” A couple of weeks later I visited the library to collect my books. Jobsworth was on the front desk. “Sorry mate but we only have three copies” The conversation from here went down hill. “I’ll take the three for now” I said but when will the other copy be available and can you ring me to let me know its here” No chance of a phone call from here. It transpires that they will write to you but it costs 40p if you are a pensioner. (can all Sandwell Councillors who are regular readers please ignore the rest of this post) 40p payable upfront so I got my receipt, “Can I have your Library card” jobsworth asked sorry I said but I haven’t got it. This is apparently a major violation in Brum but I’m confused because he has all my details on his screen having given me the third degree when I advised him I had come to collect the books. He eventually conceded that you could have one issue of books without the card and proceeded to check me out. Having realised at this stage Brum is about four decades behind Sandwell in its Library service and customer care I asked about fines if the books were returned late. “6p a day” he said “even for old age pensioners? I enquired. “It’s 2p a day for them” In Sandwell it’s free as are phone calls when books arrive and Sandwell Librarians are so polite and helpful. The fact I made references to the differences between the two councils did not endear me to him.
Well done Sandwell and a big raspberry for Brum.

This little gem

2010-04-08T11:05:00.005+01:00

This little gem from the Labour candidate for West Brom East
A little too much opposition knocking for my liking.

Dear Constituent

In less than 100 days there will be a General Election. The opinion polls show it's going to be very close.

Who wins matters; particularly for families here in Sandwell.

That's because we're beginning to come out of the economic downturn that has hurt so many families. But the recovery is fragile. It's not in the bag yet.

The choice we make now will determine whether the economy starts growing or whether we go back into recession.

The Labour Government has said its top priority is keeping people in jobs. That's why we've said that we must make sure the recovery is secure before we look at reducing public spending. We've been backed by over 60 respected economists in the Financial Times.

The Conservatives disagree - they say if they form the next Government they will cut spending fast and cut it straight away.

But this policy is madness. Taking too much money out of the economy too fast will, in my opinion, put jobs here at risk.

That's too high a price to pay as far as I am concerned.

It is however, what we expect from the Conservatives. Remember the last recession?

The Tories crippled industry and said that "unemployment was a price worth paying". Last month David Cameron also backed the Tory decision to cull 2000 jobs at Birmingham City Council.

They haven't changed. What do you think? Who do you trust more to put jobs for working families first? Fill in my survey here and let me know. http://tom-watson-mp.net/lists/lt.php
If for any reason you have problems with the link, the survey can be found at:

www.tell-tom.com/economics

If you take out the references to the Tories following Bob the Black Country Brummie advice it would be more acceptable if it read:-
First five paras are ok "para 6 might be better if it read Labour is the only party who believe protecting jobs and reducing the deficit slowly so that it does not affect our economic recovery. We will not surrender to the view that unemployment is a price worth paying for economic recovery.
A future fair for all."
There is no need for the rest of piece. I’ve looked at the survey but declined to complete it.
I don’t expect much from the Tories or the Lib Dems on the general election but plenty from Lib Dems on the local elections.

Our politicians don't seem to have learned much from the termoil of the last year. I don't know about you but I'm getting bored with the campaign already

They’re off

2010-04-07T09:11:00.000+01:00

I had what can only described as a shitty day yesterday but it did give me time to watch the party leaders giving their first pitch. I was particularly interested to see little Nicky Clegg with his audience of students in Watford. He was totally upended by the first question which concerned a young man who was worried about his granddads pension being eroded year on year. Clegg waffled then settled for restoring the link to earnings immediately and then he talked about winter fuel allowances. Missing the point completely. No point in restoring the index link while wages are being frozen and he never understood how Brown had stolen pensions from thousands of us including I suspect this young man’s granddad and how the state pension geared as it is to RPI had eroded pensions under Labour. Verdict on Clegg day 1 needs to do better.
I think I might do a selective piece on one of the leaders each day health permitting.

Some advice!

2010-04-05T10:54:00.000+01:00

To the cretins running the Labour party campaign at the moment. The “A future fair for all” motto is a vote winner and much better than the Tory time for change slogan which will only worry a lot of people. Folks only like change if it can be seen clearly as for the better. Their offer can’t.
But back to the advice when publishing posters and policy statements:-
Keep it simple.
Keep it honest
Keep it positive
And don’t knock the opposition.
Tell them clearly what Labour are going to do and don’t get dragged into slanging matches with either of the opposition parties.
Lets have no more of the silly Ashes to Ashes stunts. Personally I’m fed up with hearing Cameron knocking Brown. I would prefer to see some positive stuff from them towards us older folks. Remember the effect the demon eyes adds had on Tony Blair.

Strike, strike, strike.

2010-04-01T15:52:00.000+01:00

It’s interesting listening to the main party leaders when dealing with this issue. Cameron was blaming Labour for all the industrial strife. If my memory serves me right the days lost through strikes under the last Tory regime was many times what have been lost under Gordon. Is it all right to be hypocritical during an election campaign? I never believed that striking solved anything and throughout my career I never lost a day due to industrial action on my part. After all the threats and double speak to get a solution you usually have to get around the table and negotiate. Thatcher tried to break the unions and because of their political objectives succeeded to a large degree. I hate the spectre of Union Barons spouting off about the issues and calling out their members on strike as much as I hate the Wally Walsh’s of this world dictating their terms and as I see British Gas managers adopting a regime of bullying. Unite is doing a lousy job for its members as is signal men and rail unions. We had a threatened bin men’s strike in Sandwell which has been avoided by sensible talk on both sides. These Union bosses don’t loose any money whilst their members are on the picket line. Maybe the law needs to change so that strike leaders loose the equivalent in cash to the low paid members they represent. I don’t believe there is a solution to the BA dispute without Walsh and Woodley being replaced. Walsh has a job to do to make BA more efficient how you can achieve that with your staff constantly in crisis mode I don’t. Woodley and Welch need their heads banging together.
The strike that really concerns me though is the misses who was flatly refusing to do any filing. We always had what we both considered a fair division of labour around the house. Because the wife worked part time prior to our retirements she did a lot of the paper work. When our filing cabinet became so full she asked for help in clearing out the out of date stuff but this required some considerable effort on my part. I will admit to not taking her seriously at first but as the months went on and the pile of filing got out of hand I was forced to act. We literally couldn’t find anything. I eventually capitulated and we spent almost a week trying to catch up and shred the sensitive stuff. Harmony is restored. Let us hope it can be restored on the industrial side soon.

A whole day to myself

2010-03-26T12:08:00.000Z

Well that’s what I thought when I went to bed last night. Unfortunately in the early hours the disease chose to remind me it was in charge in one of its less attractive ways. By 7am I was washed out and felt like I’d done a days work.

Undeterred I finally got around to doing what I intended to do first thing at lunch time. My blog. I’m a little confused with what is going on with national politics these days and the budget and subsequent political posturing are only making this confusion worst. Let me try to explain. Alistair is claiming that to cut to soon would damage the economy and make things worse. Vince Cable to a large extent is agreeing with a longer term view being the right approach. I know from voluntary work I do within the NHS cuts are coming in the short term. Our local Hospital Trust is being asked to save £22m next year with redundancies planned. However you look at it this will affect front line services. They had a surplus of £2.7m this year but because it is not a foundation trust this money cannot be carried forward. I’m inclined to agree with the longer term view. It will save jobs and it should help as growth starts to reappear. The Tories on the other hand seem to be saying this mess is all Bruiser Brown’s fault and we need to make severe cuts now to put things right. If I remember correctly it was irresponsible bankers who caused this recession and as most of these are Tories I hold them responsible. How he can stand up in parliament and blame Bruiser I don’t know. It seems to me their offer to the electorate is “its going to be bad if Brown gets back but it’s going to be much worst under us unless you happen to be wealthy” Now who in their right mind is going to vote for that? They aren’t going to mind if unemployment rises to 10m “It’s good for the country” and their jobs will be safe. I keep hearing them claim this government has run out of ideas but I don’t see any real policies coming from them, or have I missed a bit?
What is their hurry? After WW2 we had an enormous debt yet still managed to introduce the NHS, The debt was paid off over thirty years. I blame the Tories for this crisis and feel aggrieved that they have the audacity to expect working families to pay for it.
Unfortunately reactive PM Brown is saddled with another bunch of trade unions trying to pull the rug from under him. Have they learned nothing?
More on strikes later.

American health care debacle.

2010-03-24T08:36:00.000Z

I suppose having spent a lot of time in the states over last few years I am more aware then most of how their health care system works and how many millions often through no fault of their own find they have no health care insurance. If you have a decent job chances are your health care coverage is best in the world. If you have no job no health care. I’ve been in a doctors waiting room over there when a man with a badly cut hand was turned away because he had no health insurance. He was sent to a hospital about 30 miles away where they would stabilise his condition.
I cannot understand why the Republicans are so anti health care and what happened during the debate when they were claiming USA would become a Nanny state similar to Europe. Protesters outside were calling Obama a socialist with such venom. The Republicans are of course their equivalent to the Tories and knowing how their attempts in the past to destabilise the health service in UK I just don’t trust them. Europe and in particular UK have got it right in the main America has a lot to learn. They will afford it and the nation will benefit as a result. Which is why I so oppose the Tory spending cuts and the way they want to do it.
For me the slogan should be “Save the Health Service Vote Labour” I think however Gordon’s promise that cuts will not affect front line services is another of his porkies. The personal care bill which was to be ring fenced for bringing into law at the next Parliament has been scuppered by a group lead by a Labour Peer. When I hear of such shenanigans the sooner we get rid of this upper house and replace it with a fully elected chamber the better. The Lords must reflect the view of the people in the same way the Commons should.
I think it is hypocritical of America to try to tell the world what to do when it can’t look after its own affairs. The spiteful references to Europe were from Senators who seemingly have forgotten how much help they have been given recently and the high cost in lives of our armed forces.
I’m delighted the president has got his bill through and I wish him luck.

Christian values.

2010-03-22T09:03:00.000Z

You could not in anyway describe me has a religious man. I do believe in God but none of the churches fits with my thinking. I always describe myself when asked has Church of England. I am a totally honest man and have always attempted to do whatever I do to the highest ethical and integrity standards.
This is the first time I have commented on religious matters and I would not want to upset some of my readership and blogs I follow who are clearly very religious people. This week saw a lot of publicity from the Vatican on a visit to England and the scandal of Irish Bishops covering up abuse in the Catholic Church.
I can’t see why the Pope should be invited on a state visit to this country and we should have to fork out fifteen million quid for security. We are still largely a Christian society but the RC Church is not the largest faction and to many like me an alien faith. I suppose this relates back to my childhood when I knew nothing of the religious differences. I would have been about seven when my Mum enrolled me in the local cub pack. I thought this was a good deal and was looking forward to getting my uniform when one day we met the Priest in the street. The conversation seemed to be going well until he noticed the badge on my jacket from the Elim Church Sunday school I attended. He made it clear to Mum that unless I stopped attending this Sunday school I could not continue to be a Cub. I never got my uniform and scouting for me was never on the agenda.
I have recently come across what I see has some un-Christian behaviour in my dealings with a Methodist Church. I was lead to comment that Mr. X needed to go and review his Christian principles in view of his behaviour in attempting to undermine my integrity.
The biggest hypocrisy though is the Irish Bishops whose behaviour in the past was anything but Christian and they are still in office and I guess sitting in the Lords pontificating on legislation that affects me. I get a shiver down my spine just thinking about it.
I’ll prey for them.

My mate Norman & such

2010-03-19T13:53:00.000Z

It’s nearly three years now since I was diagnosed with this wretched disease. At the same time thanks to some funding from Cllr Bill Archer’s Mayoral year they were trying to start a support group for sufferers and carers. The misses and I went along to the inaugural meeting which was the week after my diagnosis. I was feeling very sorry for myself I could hardly walk and was in some considerable pain.
During the meeting they were asking amongst other things if anyone had the skills to undertake jobs such as chair secretary etc. Except for treasurer I had skills in abundance. I did not know how things were going to work out for me and I mentioned that not knowing how my health was going to be I was reluctant to take on any tasks. Quite frankly I thought I was going into decline and imminent death.
During an informal session a guy came up to me and asked if we could talk. The measure of how the disease is under control is a blood number known as PSA. He of course asked my PSA number and I told him. He started to smile which surprised me. He went on to explain that four years before his PSA number was twenty times mine. We got to chatting and later not only joined the group but became leading members and good friends. We sort of mentor each other when things are not going so well.
March is Prostate Cancer Awareness month and our group are organising an Awareness Walk at Sandwell Park Farm on Wednesday 24th March 12:30 for 1pm start. Yours truly will be there at the control desk and Norman his wife and mine will be walking. So if you would like to support us you will be very welcome. This is a free event organised by qualified walk leaders and the walk will allow for all levels of fitness. Sadly I won’t be able to walk far but I’m going to give it a try.

Any ideas?

2010-03-18T09:59:00.001Z

On my right hand side side bar there is a link to fellow blogger and local councillor Bob Piper. I am having problems logging on to his blog. The outline appears but no postings appear. This has happened in the last few days. I thought it was Bob’s site that was down but I saw him last night and he produced the blog fully on his Blackberry which suggests it might be me. None of the other links are affected and I have no problems with other web sites although at times they can be a little slow. Any ideas anyone? I haven’t knowingly changed any settings and if I had surely other sites would be affected.

Review of the week

2010-03-15T10:01:00.000Z

I haven’t been blogging much lately not because I’ve nothing to say but somehow time constraints seem to get in the way. Last week was test and treat week for me. My blood numbers went the wrong way and it took awhile for the implications of this to sink in. Treatment day is always a stressful time and this week was no exception. By lunch time on Wednesday I was glad to be out of the place. There was a good news story though in that our clinic down at Tanhouse seems to have missed the PCT cut backs and is due for completion November 2010. The council also seems committed to the project and the vibes I’m getting are it’s a goer. Final meeting on this is 25th March but I’m being told a project team is being formed to get it done. More on this later I’m sure. The super duper clinic though in Great Barr is deferred. I blame their and Charlemont Cllrs for this. Again more on this later. Once the Hamstead site is at a stage where we can see the end in site then they will need help in fighting for theirs. In my view a lead on this will not come from their Cllrs.
I was a little upset when the Lib Dems delivered their latest leaflet this week. Upset because in my view they copied the layout I did for Labour and quite frankly cheapened it. I wrote a long piece refuting what had been said. I thought better of it. This leaflet must be the worst ever produced its anaemic and bland and the late Martyn Smith would have been ashamed of it. The one thing though that does require praise was its honesty. He never claimed to have done much and he never promised too do anything much if he is elected. The sad thing is that he will probably get elected again on his wife’s name. Newton Ward needs another dynamic Cllr that will get things done. This bloke certainly isn’t it.
I took fellow blogger Bob Pipers advice and referred the increases in hospital car parking charges to the scrutiny committee so let’s see if they can justify the increases.
Watching bruiser Brown on the politics show yesterday I was surprised that no one asked questions on the price of petrol. Fuel prices are increasing almost daily yet no fuss from haulage companies. Perhaps they can pass on the increases or is there another reason? Because we drive economical cars and do low mileages the cost of fuel is not a huge issue for us but I know it is hurting by daughter and her family. I seem to remember when VAT was reduced a special regulator was introduced to fuel to help the exchequer has the regulator now been removed? Of course it hasn’t which is helping to drive up the price. We are being ripped off

What’s an anti-capitalist Granddad?

2010-03-12T10:19:00.000Z

I’ve mentioned before on the blog how much I enjoy my quality time with my grandkids when I collect them to bring them to our house for dinner on Thursday’s.
This week they both had colds and were not at all responsive. Knowing how much they enjoy Nan’s cooking I knew they would soon cheer up. Last week though chatter box grandson said after we had done the school and jokes bit. “What’s an anti-capitalist Granddad? This was quite out of the blue and a very serious request for knowledge. I asked him if he knew what capitalism was and he replied sort of. I went on to explain how profits from the sale of goods or services drove the economy and roughly how it works. He must have been giving the current economic woes of people around him some considerable thought because he then said how proud he was of his Mum and Dad because although they both worked hard they always had time for him and his sister. His observations about another member of the wider family were not so complementary. Referring to the person he said “he will have to work all his life because of the amount of debt he is in. Out of the mouth of babes eh. I think he is growing up with a good head on his shoulders and a practical approach to economics. He always manages to save some of the money given to him for birthdays and at Christmas. Well done Hippy

My mate barry II

2010-03-07T16:24:00.009Z

About ten years ago a Hawthorn tree on the grass reservation at the front of our homes died. We managed to get the council to remove the dead tree but they would not or could not replace it. I had a sapling oak which we had been grown from an acorn which we decided to plant. The tree picture 1 has survived a couple of yob attacks and about 9 winters and is now a very well established part of our scenery. I must say I love it. The winter before last and just before he became ill Barry planted crocus all around the base. Last year he had a nice display just before the leaves started to bud on our oak. I never expected them to show this year but here they are in all their splendour. Thanks Barry. A couple of the other trees have daffodil around their bases so we can look forward to some colour over the next month. The other pictures are of some of my crocus on the back lawn. The squirrels took their toll with about a quarter of the bulbs but there is enough to give five shows like this across the lawn. Spring is here at last.
Barry lost his fight with cancer in November.

Taxing the sick

2010-03-05T14:08:00.000Z

Stealth taxes are often hard to identify but over here in little ol Sandwell our hospital trust have just come up with a beauty. I suppose being a regular visitor I am more aware than most of the costs involved with being sick. Some four years ago they started to charge disabled people to park at the hospital an action which caused great resentment and objection. Like many other groups I fought against it but the trust was not for bending. They introduced a token scheme whereby you can buy ten tokens for £10 which means that for any token you can park for as long as you like for each visit. This scheme as saved me a lot of money over the period of my illness. Recently the hospital trust announced increases to car parking charges. Not 1% not 2% but twenty% increases on all parking charges except over ten hours. The new prices apply to the token scheme as well so now we will only get 8 visits to the hospital for our ten quid. This is of course an absolute scandal particularly as in some parts of UK charges have been abandoned. Gordon promised to do something about this anomaly but nothing happened in Sandwell.
The other piece of news which is also regrettable this week is MPs getting 1% increase when many more low paid workers are being asked to take a pay freeze. I sincerely hope our MP turns this pay increase down because it is clearly a vote looser. They don’t seem to learn constituents first.

Vote for change

2010-03-03T15:47:00.000Z

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? It’s all very well asking people to vote for change but what change? I think the Tories may have shot themselves in the foot with this slogan. People are always wary of change. I found when I was a manager that managing change was one of the most difficult things to do. In this they haven’t told us what exactly they are going to change except for slashing public spending in a big hurry. Cameron correctly identified that Bruiser Brown had destroyed the pensions industry but never explained what he was going to do to put it right. Any pensioner off the street could have told him that. What we want to know is, is he going to put right the anomalies with PPF & FAS and what about fair pensions for all (the citizens’ pension). Gordon’s use of “a future fair for all” is better and will appeal to all fair thinking voters. Under him though the future has not been fair for pensioners by any means so I’m not impressed with him either but on balance I think Labour win the battle of the slogans. What is the Lib Dems going to be and can anyone tell me what they are actually standing for this time round?
The Tories have always believed that unemployment was good for the country and from what I see of this lot nothing much seems to have changed,

Bad show Moto

2010-03-01T18:37:00.000Z

I’ve been neglecting the blog lately so apologies to regular readers.
Today I had to go up to Stoke on Trent for a fun day at a potters wheel. Excellent day. On the way back the misses and I stopped south bound at Moto services just north of Walsall. I of course need to pee. Anyone who knows these services will recognise that the toilets are on the north bound side of motorway. There is a disabled toilet south bound which for expediency I chose to use. The loo uses Radar keys which can be obtained from “Retail or catering” Non of the retail outlets near the loo seemed to understand what a Radar key was let alone have one. Fortunately I have a key but because it is so rare to need one I had left it in the car. The wife volunteered to go and fetch it but by the time she got back I was in some distress. The loo was an absolute disgrace, filthy and unfit for use. On the way out the misses sent for the duty manager to complain and low and behold the first person we asked for the key appeared. Apparently the key had been stolen and the powers that be above her would not replace it. When I reminded her that they were required by law to provide facilities for disabled people her eyes glazed over in that vacant way that says I’m listening but there’s no one home. So come on Moto powers that be let’s get this sorted before someone sues you. Disabled people deserve better than that.

Product recall

2010-02-24T09:41:00.000Z

The late news last nigh covered the inquires in USA re Toyota motor vehicle recalls that are going on. I was following a Toyota the other day and remembered the old advertising feature they used to use “The car in front is a Toyota” Nowadays it might read the car in front is a Toyota with dodgy brakes, iffy steering and a sticky accelerator pedal. I worked for a company who supplied Toyota for a couple of years and at that time their quality systems were the best in the business with the emphasis for quality placed firmly with the supplier. What is currently happening is a surprise to me as it must have been to Toyota senior management.
My wife owns a small Peugeot which was made at the same factory as the Ago and surprise surprise she had a product recall this morning for the same accelerator problems Toyota have been having. The difference is that the recall of Peugeot and it will apply to Citron too have not had any bad publicity. I was not surprised to get this recall knowing as I do how common components are used across the industry. I don’t think I would want to be in the shoes of the product supplier though. Having been involved with a potential product recall across USA about twenty years ago it is a scary experience. Fortunately for us our product was over engineered by us and no failures occurred. The manufacturing fault was corrected and although we had to meet the cost of a complete inspection of all products in the supply chain it never bankrupted us. My trips to the states during the crisis though were not pleasant.

Bullying & such

2010-02-23T10:26:00.000Z

Does it matter if our PM is passionate about his job? Does it really matter if he throws things around the office and goes into sulks? Probably no but these are not the real issues. I was astounded to hear the bullying helpline charity had breached confidentially and released some alleged details of complaints. I can’t help thinking this is part of a political smear campaign. The real issue though is whether he is fit to manage our country. I don’t believe the electorate are so much against another five years of Labour but another five years of Brown is more than we deserve.
During my career I worked closely with several senior managers, directors and MDs until I eventually held a senior management post. When you strip out all the bullshit there are two types of manager the Proactive and Reactive manager. I worked for both over the years. GB is a classic Reactor he waits for the crisis and then responds. This type rarely empower their team properly and are always ready to blame someone else for the crisis. The Proactive manager is a lot better to work for. They will spend more time thinking about the threats and opportunities and usually delegate well. They will often spot a crisis when it is on the horizon and steer the ship clear. I much prefer this type and I tried to be a Proactive manager who always had a plan B and often a sketchy plan C depending on the circumstances. A favourite quote from one of my staff used to be “don’t worry Bob it will all come right in the end” My view was that it would only come right if the correct decisions were taken at the right time.
It saddens me to see a Labour party going into an election in such disarray but while Brown is in charge we will continue to swerve from one crisis to the next that is the nature of the man. Events can often overtake the manager but these should be rare not everyday in the way our country as been lead in the last two and a half years. I’ve seen it many times, remove this manager and things start to improve. Do I think Cameron will be any better absolutely not! And Clegg? His ideas for giving carers a week’s break is potty. Respite is a complex issue not to be addressed in such an off hand way.

A future fair for all

2010-02-20T15:19:00.000Z

And the great personal care debate. The phrase a future fair for all is not new in labour circles, it’s the reason I joined the labour party and what I firmly believe in. I had too many years of Tory greed during the recessions of the eighties and early nineties. The Tories didn’t care how many were out of work in fact the more the merrier we were told it was good for the country. When I think of the communities that were destroyed during the Tory years my blood boils. Do we really want to go back to not enough books for kids? To schools falling apart to next to no invest in hospitals and high unemployment? Well I don’t. Gordon is right in saying Labour have made mistakes because he made more of them than anyone else. He is also right to say we should take a long hard look at what the Tory offer is. The starting point was the increase in Inheritance tax threshold which helps the few at the expense of the many. Their slash and burn policies to reduce the deficit in the shortest possible time whatever the pain scares me because it will jeopardise the recovery and make things worse. The arrogance of it though is the recession which is the main issue in this election is world wide and largely their banking buddies fault.
Yesterday Andy Burnham held an emergency conference to discuss personal care provision and how it might be funded. The Tories were conspicuous by their absence. Which leaves me wondering what if anything they are planning to do. One of Labours big mistakes was not sorting the personal care issue just after they came to power. Scotland has a free service and this has not caused a massive run on local council funds which the doom and gloomers are predicting here. It can and must be afforded from general taxation. The humiliation of older people being in effect evicted from their homes to pay for personal care is a disgrace and a shame on Gordon’s head. His attitude to pensions and pensioners has been a scandal throughout his years has chancellor and PM now Mr. Brown it is payback time. I’m looking for a much better offer for pensioners and the establishment of a fair personal care system before giving my support to this campaign.

Test and treat

2010-02-18T10:48:00.001Z

This week is the blood tests; see the consultant and treatment provided all the blood numbers are OK. After the blood tests I’m always a bit on edge and preoccupied and the wife recons a bit irritable. I can’t believe that. My blood numbers continued to move in the right direction but at a much slower pace than previous treatments. I still have a long way to go with this course of treatment so fingers crossed the numbers get near to a stable condition in a couple of months. The treatment left me tired and stressed out yesterday so unable to do much. Delighted to say today I’m almost back to normal if I know what that is anymore. Blogging you will have noticed as been slow. I’ve got a couple of pieces partly written so if all is well normal blogging should continue in a day or two.

Valentines Day

2010-02-13T16:17:00.000Z

In recent years since I learned how to make greetings cards with my computer I have made my own bespoke cards for my wife at Christmas, birthdays and valentines. She won’t let me do it for other members of the family because she thinks they’ll think I’m mean. Me mean? The misses keeps a close rein on my activities these days so it is difficult for me to fit writing a suitable verse and designing a card without her knowledge. This last week she must have thought I was visiting some porno sites because whenever she came into my office to check on me my screen did a very quick change. I had to save a lot more frequently than normal. I find I can write this mushy poetry quite well. I must be a big softy and no I am not going to publish the said poem on line. Suffice to say the wife loved it. The brownie points are stacking up. My valentine present was a 25quid win on the premium bonds. No begging letters please!

Death tax?

2010-02-12T11:45:00.001Z

It now appears that Labour is considering introducing a new tax to help to pay for care for the elderly. The new tax will be payable on death and will be set at £20,000 per death. This to me typifies the hypocrisy that is Labour today. Back benchers quite rightly complained about the Tory plan to increase the threshold for capital gains tax to £10000000. Now the health minister is considering this barmy idea. The tri party talks on providing care have broken down with Tory and Labour blaming each other. Even the Tories can’t stomach this proposal. If you think about it it will become the most hated tax of all time. Even Thatcher couldn’t have come up with worse. Can you imagine in Sandwell how many widows or widowers will be able to find 20 grand to pay up on the death of a loved one? How will this work? Another means test? Pay up or else? Time to pay? At a time after loosing a loved one is not the time for big government of any colour to be demanding money from the bereaved. Will they be sent to prison for failing to pay. Apparently we can’t afford to do this through general taxation. Well I think this claim is utter tosh. Brown could not afford to bail out failed pension funds but managed to find the money to bail out three banks. Utter hypocrisy. How much would it cost on income tax perhaps 2p on lower rate and much more on the higher rates.
I was please with the way Andy Burnham was dealing with this issue until now. This just shows how the leadership of Labour think and I don’t like it. It is not going to win an election and begs the question do Labour want to win?
Shame on you Mr. Burnham. A tax on death is just too horrible to contemplate.

Star ship Enterprise

2010-02-07T14:24:00.000Z

A bit of an exaggeration perhaps well a lot of an exaggeration but let me explain.
We lost an old friend last Sunday. Our phone rang late in the evening and then went dead. Nothing, no line or out. I blamed the phone company and reported it. On Monday I came to start to think about it and realised it was our phone system that had finally given up on us. It was very old ad hock system which we had added to over the years.
The search was on for a new system to meet our needs. We eventually settled on a Panasonic with three extra handsets. When the large screen lights up it’s a bit like the flight deck from Enterprise. It had some ideal functions like large screen, very big letters and easy to use touch pad. Able to make the rings louder and increase sound during calls. What it did not say on the box you need a degree in computer science to program the thing. Always looking to save a few bob I said to the misses when she had decided on this system why do we need a phone in every room? She replied in her usual frank and pragmatic way, because we can’t hear it ring and when we do we aren’t quick enough to get into another room before the answer machine clicks in. I couldn’t argue with that. Delighted to be able to report the new system is up and running. Easiest feature was copying across the address book to all the handsets. Biggest pain was manually inputting the address book and getting the answer facility right. The wife recorded the message in her posh voice. So far I’m very pleased with our new phones.

Is this the first snow drop?

2010-02-06T08:44:00.003Z

The misses and I were pottering in the garden yesterday when I inadvertently came upon this little beauty. Spring is just around the corner. I’m wondering is this the first snow drop in Great Barr? The crocus fairy rings seem to be growing well although the wife came within inches of treading all over them.

Dodgy David.

2010-02-03T10:43:00.001Z

I luxuriated this morning and used my prerogative has a pensioner to have an extra half hour in bed listening to the today program. The Tories have been caught out by Auntie Beeb sending around to constituency parties violent crime figures which are woefully misleading. They apparently claim that violent crime has in creased by 200% under Labour. What they forgot to mention was that the method used and what constitutes violent crime changed a couple of years back. Oh naughty naughty. I have some sympathy though because I refused to carry on editing and publishing our local neighbourhood watch newsletter because I could never get timely figures or consistent methods of recording from our local cops.
It was interesting to hear the shadow minister trying to justify their actions and making out we all live in fear of our lives.
Over here in little ol Newton we have a new Inspector who is very proactive and although I have some misgiving with our neighbourhood Bobbies we have been spoiled by having two first class police community support officers. Although these two have now moved on their replacements seem to be getting to grips with the neighbourhood. PCSOs were a product of Labour investment in neighbourhoods.
I also noticed the Tories have moved away from swingeing cuts to a slower pace nearer what dear old Gordon has been preaching. I wonder what other dodgy data they have up their sleeve. Would I trust them with the NHS or our economy? I don’t think so. Time I think for another poster.

Norton virus

2010-02-01T15:09:00.000Z

This week end I had to renew the virus protection on the lap top my wife uses. The cost was 65 quid. My desk top which I have had for eight years costs £30. Well I’m a bit peeved about this but OK it does have features mine doesn’t. This is OK until I get the email confirming the order and they advise me I have signed up to have automatic renewal. This means they can tap into my bank account every year and pretty much take what they want. I’m not having this so I revoke the clause expecting them to continue warning me when renewal is due. This snotty email followed:-
“This notice is to confirm that you have elected to opt out of the automatic renewal feature for your Norton 360 subscription. As such, Symantec will not automatically renew your Norton 360 product subscription.
Your current security protection will expire in 369 days placing you at significant risk of losing the critical Internet threat protection counted on by millions of users daily.
Customers with up-to-date subscriptions automatically receive protection at no additional charge as they become available.
If you think you have received this notification in error or incorrectly cancelled the automatic renewal feature, please contact Customer Support”.

Basically I think they are saying tough luck next year mate we aint going to remind you. I think it might be time to look at the alternatives. This is not the way to treat long term loyal customers.

500 and struggling

2010-01-30T09:17:00.000Z

Whenever I reach these milestones with the blog I am amazed at how it has survived, remained interesting and attracted the interest it has. In just over two years I have somehow managed to patch together this remarkable log of my life and interest and the things around me that are making me mad or happy. The start of the blog was just after my diagnosis of this dreadful malignancy I am forced to live with. I have tried to put this in the background and get on with living a positive and useful life and I have to say I have and am enjoying writing my little regular contributions to the blog. It now has a regular group of eight registered followers and a small but loyal readership. The other surprise to me is the international aspect with 72 countries visiting the site since thanks to Fat Prophet I introduced web counter.
The misses still thinks I’m crackers writing to myself almost everyday but when she does read it she usually makes a constructive series of comments.
Although at times I find getting about difficult I can usually prop myself up at the computer and blog.
Can I express a warm but belated welcome to my small group of followers? I know two of you but the rest are total strangers. It’s nice to know that despite what my editor in chief says I’m not writing to myself and judging by the regular comments I receive I do have a small but regular readership. So until the next milestone thank you all for your support.

Where have all the birds gone?

2010-01-29T09:06:00.000Z

Over the last few days our garden has become almost bereft of birds. There is plenty of clean water and the feeders are full with fresh food. During the snow my wife kept steady supply of water and food and we saw birds’ not perhaps as many but usual suspects. Except yesterday one pigeon appeared strutted about for a few minutes and then left. Since then nothing. The garden usually goes quiet when a sparrow hawk has been around but never as quiet as this.

Bulletin on the railings

2010-01-28T09:44:00.000Z

His majesty has asked me to pass on the following brief communiqué. After his regular meeting with his consulting physician his blood numbers are showing a steady movement in the right direction. More importantly though is that his majesty is feeling much better and advises me that he hopes to be able to continue some of his public duties in the near future. He wishes to express his thanks for all the good wishes the family have received.

In real life.
Numbers are moving in the right direction but very slow and they are still dangerously high. I always breathe a big sigh of relief after the consultations with specialist. I am though feeling a lot better and able to do more. My minder however is insisting I only participate after her approval.

Worst meal.

2010-01-25T11:48:00.001Z

Because my walking is restricted these days the wife tends to drop me off and do the walking whilst I wait. On Saturday she took me to Asda bought me a breakfast whilst she shopped. I think I was feeling sorry for myself because I started to reminisce about meals on my own. It’s not just the food quality that makes a meal but the company and circumstances around it. When I was kept in hospital before Christmas I commented on the quality of the food being the worst I have ever tasted and this was so but not my worst meal ever.
Some years ago during the Major years my wife was diagnosed with what could have been a life threatening condition. She needed surgery quickly. This was in the bad old days of Tory Britain when waiting lists were over 12 months to see a specialist and operations were limited to “if you were lucky”. Fortunately at this time I had private medical insurance as part of my contract of employment so we were able to get the treatment in a timely fashion. I hate the idea of a two tier health service where the rich get the service and the poor wait. The NHS principle of health care when needed not on ability to pay is what I believe in but in this circumstance I had to prostitute my principles and why I do not today trust the Tories with our health service. After her operation she was heavily sedated and for awhile did not recognise me or what was going on around her. I had sat with her for most of the day holding her hand and waiting. In the evening she appeared to be sleeping soundly so I decided to try the hospital cafeteria for a meal. The refectory was closed so after checking on my wife I decided to try the nearest pub. The food quality was I’m sure very good but after a couple of mouth full’s I couldn’t eat I kept thinking about what was happening around me and how the women I had loved for ever was so sick in that hospital bed. I left and went straight back to my wife’s room. I think I fell asleep in the chair with my head on her bed because I was awakened in the early hours by my head being scratched. The concerned smile showed she recognised me and was soon able to talk. We shared her breakfast that morning. Best piece of toast ever. She made a good recovery and came home a couple of days later.
The Tory principle of market forces being applied to health care nearly ruined it. Although Labour has made many mistakes their commitment to the NHS is solid. They have invested heavily in both the infra structure and the health professionals and we must not let the Tories reverse this. A poster on this later. Many young people would not remember those days so it is up to Labour to start telling folks what the real stark alternative are. The nasty party has not gone away just changed it’s coat for the coming election.

The dog mess is back

2010-01-23T11:44:00.002Z

The misses and I decided to clear up at the front of the house after the snow. There was some litter which I suppose was inevitable when the bin men came in the snow but two weeks late. What I did not expect though was the amount of dog mess on the front grass. This irritates me as much as the smoking at the hospital and I see it as a serious social evil. The irresponsible owners couldn’t be bothered to clean up after their pets in the snow. I think it’s time for another poster but not so polite this time. We have a dog mess disposal bin on a lamp post about 300yds away and two nice new litter bins one at each end of our road.
On the bright side the garden seems to have survived pretty well with only a few casualties and a lot of new growth starting to form. Many spring flowers were starting to peep through and my favourite crocus fairy rings were starting to show.
The hour in the garden though really tired me out and reminded me just how much my physical condition has deteriorated since I last did some gardening. With any luck though I hope to continue to be able to at least mow the grass for a few more months when spring is here.

Posters 4 a bit more

2010-01-22T08:24:00.003Z

My posters are an attempt to show my views on the policies that could help labour win the coming election. They are not necessarily policies that Labour is following. I am tempted to do a poster with a picture of the PM and the headline “Gordon Brown will go” with the sub headline “for a better country vote for a Brown free Britain”. Perhaps that’s a bit hard and not at all helpful but I believe he is the biggest reason the party are where they are. To change at this stage though would be even worse particularly as he has been doing better at PMQs and generally but I fear he has left it too late.
I watched PMQs on Wednesday and thought he had Cameron on the back foot. He would have won the day until Cleggy stood up and asked about Cadbury and why Kraft were borrowing heavily from our taxpayer owned bank RBS to help fund the deal which will make workers in UK redundant. GB could have answered this in many ways but he chose to attack the Liberals instead of giving a caring answer to a question that is worrying thousands of people in the midlands even his second attempt was less than reassuring. I wonder would he be answering this way if the workers were in his constituency or in London. I doubt it. Good news on unemployment though. I designed this poster before the recent figures were announced.

A really bad day

2010-01-21T10:40:00.000Z

Tuesday it was disease 6 Bob 0 which was a poor result for me. I had to cancel a couple of meetings and was washed out all day. Things were bad because I watched day time TV in the afternoon between naps and I fell asleep watching the Manchester derby. I’m pleased to be able to report I’m a lot better today and normal service can be resumed. Perhaps it’s about time I did another “Bulletin on the railings” next week is test and treat week so perhaps that is a better time.

Energy savings

2010-01-20T10:31:00.000Z

You may remember at the time of Copenhagen we invited Warm Zone to check on our preparedness for energy saving. At that time we seemed to be on top of most of the obvious things without major financial investment. Warm zone loaned us an electricity monitor which revealed some anomalies. After the Christmas lights bonanza had ended I started to look more closely at what it was showing us. The electric kettle for example at 3.1 kilo watts was one of the biggest users of electricity. I like my cupa tea. During the night we were still using approx 190 watts and even allowing for clocks on cooker micro wave and bedside this seemed high to me. On investigation I found we were using a number of extension leads which contained warning lights. I have now replaced these with no light versions which I had in my little electric store and I am getting a saving of 40 watts per day. Warm zone supplied us with an Eco kettle which is only 2.2 Kilo watts. The time to boil is slightly longer than the old model but nowhere near a third longer. The other advantages of this little beauty is it has two water compartments a larger storage one and the heating compartment with a clever little devise on the lid which enables you to fill only the amount you want to heat. Because of the large window on the heating compartment you can see very clearly when it boils and although it contains an auto cut off I have not used that yet because at 2.2 KW, seconds are expensive. I almost always allowed the old kettle at 3.1 KW to auto switch off.
We have ordered an energy monitor from British Gas which will monitor all our energy. I wonder what else we are going to find.
Has anyone had any experience with Halogen cookers? On the face of it these seem to show a substantial energy saving. I have found dealers on the web but have not been able to find a store that stocks them. I want to have a look and feel before investing in one of these.

Guest blogger two

2010-01-19T08:40:00.000Z

From youngest grandson 8yrs old Oscar over in the Tennessee valley this lovely piece on their trip to England last year.

My trip to England

The first time I went to England, it was incredible. I remember getting off the airplane, and I about passed out. My grandparents were waiting for my family and me. I ran into my granddad's arms and never wanted to let go. Finally I reached my Nan and gave her the biggest bear hug.
I and my dad went to get the rental car and we got in on the wrong side. I had no idea how to drive! But thank goodness I didn't have to!
It seemed like every house was crammed together! It was defiantly not Tennessee!!!
The first place we went to was Cadbury World. The greatest place on earth! The chocolate was so wonderful. I think I could've had it for every meal of the day. That was my favourite place of the whole trip!
We also went to the Black Country Museum. We got to ride in a canal boat and use our legs to push us through a tunnel. They had the best fish and chips ever! All the old vehicles and houses were very interesting. I went down into a mine that was somewhat creepy, but very cool.
London was excellent. It was the first time I had ever rode in a Double Decker bus. And of course I rode on the top. The London Eye was huge! It took us awhile to go all the way around, but it was amazing to see all of London. I saw Big Ben while I was on it. Buckingham Palace was amazing! There was gold on every gate. I thought saw the Queen but it was just a carriage. I saw the Guards change position. I tried to get their attention, but it didn't work.
I loved spending time with my family. My experience was great! I would love to go back again!
Well done mate.

Clarification/correction

2010-01-18T08:45:00.002Z

Just occasionally I get a comment that is blatantly wrong or on occasion I think mischievous. Yesterday I got one of those from anonymous who believes Labour are going to “kick the s*** out of older people” This comment almost did not get published because it veered close to bad taste on a family blog but it was so incorrect I thought the record needed to be put straight. The following is a press release on the subject:- 22/10/2009

"Health Secretary clarifies Government position on disability benefits.
The Secretary of State for Health has made it clear that Disability Living Allowance for the Under 65s will not be affected by Government plans to create a National Care Service.
Speaking at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Harrogate, Andy Burnham MP said: "I am encouraged by the response to our Big Care Debate and welcome the fact that other political parties are beginning to put their ideas on the table. There are big differences between what we are saying but we are beginning to create what I wanted to see - unstoppable momentum for legislation in the next Parliament.
"But, while the debate is moving quickly, I do want to stress that the door is wide open for discussion. We are still in a consultation period. No decisions have been made on funding options. We are still listening – about funding, about structures, and about how to build a forward-looking system of care.
"One avenue I do want to close down, however, is the debate and controversy over Disability Living Allowance.
"We recognise that this is an important benefit for disabled people, and I can state categorically that we have now ruled out any suggestion that DLA for under-65s will be brought into the new National Care Service.
"This is because, whilst there will be increases in the numbers of disabled people of working age who need care, the majority of the people needing care in the future will be older people.
"However, we do think there may be a case for bringing together elements of some disability benefits, such as Attendance Allowance, with social care funding, to create a new care and support system to provide for the needs of older and disabled people.
"But the important principle is that people receiving any of the relevant benefits at the time of reform would continue to receive an equivalent level of support and protection under a new and better care and support system.
"And let's not forget, everyone - regardless of wealth or asset base – will benefit from the protection and piece of mind that the National Care Service will provide."
The Government is currently carrying out a consultation – the Big Care Debate - on the new National Care Service, a vision for which was set out in July’s Green Paper Shaping the Future of Care Together. The Big Care Debate continues until 13th November".

I hope that clarifies the position.

Posters a bit more.

2010-01-17T10:47:00.002Z

This political poster campaign is intriguing me. The more I see and the more I think about it I realise just how powerful a media it is. Where are Labour and the Liberals for that matter in this race? I saw the Cameron bill board poster for the first time the other day. You know the one “We can’t go on like this” “I’ll cut the deficit not the NHS”
Some wag had done a bit of careful painting out until it read “We can go on like this” “I’ll cut the NHS” Now this is nearer the truth.
Doesn’t Cameron look scary on these posters or is it just my natural aversion to Tory leaders? I think my Labour posters are much better. Theirs are really posh though with all that lovely blue background and the logo and all. Come on Gordon time to bring in Bob the Black Country Brummie.

Permission to publish

2010-01-15T15:11:00.003Z

You might remember in my last proud granddad post I mentioned a picture painted by eldest granddaughter well I got permission to publish. I hope you like it as much as I did. Fear ladies and gentlemen by Freddie. Who knows we might even get a post from her in due course. Grandsons seem totally indifferent to contributing in fact eldest gave an emphatic NO. The face top left reminds me of the Magic Roundabout character Doogle.

Campaigns

2010-01-14T11:13:00.000Z

You will remember there are three issues that I am campaigning to improve
1) Smoking outside Sandwell Hospital
2) No 16 bus driver
3) Clinic in the Tanhouse Community Centre

I am able to report some progress but there remains a lot to do.

1) Smoking, it was a good idea to involve PALS in this complaint. Since I first contacted them they have been very pro active in following it up and in communicating with me. It seems the current position is that a quote is being sought to clean up the entrances. A technical meeting of directors is being held in January to discuss the problem and my suggestions are tabled for discussion. New banners have appeared at the out patients entrance giving advice on help available to stop smoking. This does not seem to have worked because the other day in the snow I saw a lady with her husband in a wheel chair under the No Smoking sign, he was smoking and she had a lit ciggy in both hands. The misses gave me the don’t even think about signs took the car park ticket and left me to get the car.
2) No16 bus, West Mids Travel eventually got back to me on this issue. Although I had crossed the Ts and dotted the Is they wanted to check they had the facts right. It appears that the drivers are not required by law to make sure you are seated safely it is courtesy on their part to see that you are. This policy if it is true is totally potty and I wonder if it was challenged in law it would stand up I think not. They are however going to pass the complaint to the driver’s manager for a full investigation. More on this I’m sure.
3) Our clinic, this seems to have gone really quiet. A small positive piece in one of the freebie papers and I am advised a report in the PCT communications newsletter which is nothing new. The concerns remain about delays and likely scrapping of the project. They were supposed to notify me of date & time of board meeting but of course this has not happened. The even bigger worry is why if all the other hurdles are jumped we should have to go to another lengthy consultation process when it is our community who have been demanding this. I do intend to attend the board meeting. Much more on this I’m sure the greased snake (PCT) continues to wriggle. If there is one group of NHS bodies that need reform its PCTs.

Posters 2

2010-01-12T08:32:00.002Z

I designed this before little Nicky Clegg shot himself and his party in the foot. I don’t believe they are serious about getting elected and their attitude to pensioners is becoming clear. We did not do well under Brown & Co but I firmly believe under the other two we will do much worse. Get the deficit fixed at any cost seems to be their only real policy. What’s the hurry is my view. We will need to increase taxes but not at the expense of the old and vulnerable in our society.
So Mr. Clegg & Mr. Cameron go have another look at what can be done. BBCB is always here for help and guidance should you require it. During the last local elections I outlined top ten local issues which needed attention. Strikes me some of this is needed nationally.
Any news on Brown meeting last night?

Posters 1

2010-01-10T12:57:00.003Z

A couple of days ago I did a post on logos and included posters and sound bytes and how they had won and lost elections. With our election campaign getting underway several posters have already been published. The above is my first attempt on this campaign it’s a bit negative knocking the Tories but so are the Tories posters. I’ll do some positive stuff over the next few weeks with policies I think might help Labour win. Ps I’m a lot cheaper than Saatchi and Saatchi and just as good.

Guest blogger

2010-01-09T08:36:00.000Z

After reading a piece of creative writing by my eldest granddaughter I asked my grandchildren if they would like to write a piece for my blog. No restrictions were placed on subject matter or length and I promised not to edit the work except for anonymity aspects. The following is the first of their creations from the Tennessee Valley USA. Thank you LOLA

Wakeboarding

The best thing in the world is family & friends, and being with them. Every other weekend, in the summer, for about 3-4 months, my family gets together at the lake. One way we bring our family closer by wakeboarding. Encouraging and pushing each other. But most importantly… Having fun. The best times of our lives. I’m going to explain a little more about the sport of wakeboarding.
Wakeboarding is a very physical sport that requires a lot of balance and coordination. It also requires much muscle strength. All of your muscles are working together so that you may be able to pull off this amazing and incredible trick. It’s like magic…
Imagine…you look across the water; it’s as smooth as glass. You feel a little tug on the rope, your up and riding the wake. Time stands still as you soar through the air. You stick the landing and your friends in the boat cheer you on. That’s a good afternoon.
Wakeboarding gives you that rush and adrenaline that makes you want to push yourself all the way.
My cousin’s husband, Randell, is phenomenal at it. He has taught me everything that I’ve learned, and of course with the help of his wife. If it wasn’t for him I would still be trying to stand up. And look, I did a 180 this year!!! Who would’ve thought that??
My English family doesn’t get to experience this feeling, but when I’m wakeboarding, I know that they are there also. 6 hours ahead. Across an ocean. Cheering me on.

Some folks never learn.

2010-01-07T09:35:00.000Z

I’m talking about politicians of course and yesterday’s disgraceful behaviour by Hoon and Hewitt. The whole of the country is covered in six inches of snow. Trains and flights are cancelled, roads closed and power lines down. Schools, offices and factories are empty and the economy is going to pot. Food is running out in some areas, we have predictions of gas running out and not enough grit to clear our roads. But what is the priority for these two? Getting rid of Gordon. Three months ago I would have been on their side, yesterday no chance, the country has other more pressing requirements. Whatever happened to the concept of having a minister for crises? We could do with one right now and away with this silly political posturing. If either of these two were my MP I wouldn’t vote for them. We can do without politicians like them.
The Tories though rather slipped up with their poster which portrayed this pair with the one liner “Even these two can’t stand it any longer”. It’s what I said in my previous post though the Tories have a lot of advertising money and they seem to be using the Blair one liner approach which helped him win in 97. Come on Labour time to fight back.

Logos

2010-01-05T19:44:00.000Z

Since I retired I have developed an interest in logos and catch phrases (politically they’re call sound bytes). These seemingly innocent little designs can have a powerful influence on all our lives. I’ve designed a few for small local activities and enjoyed it very much.
The picture is a logo from a company I worked for for almost thirty years. The designer is unknown but it would have been designed in the mid fifties and was the company’s trade mark until its absorption into AE Piston Products in the late eighties. The company was Aeroplane & Motor Aluminium Castings and our speciality was die cast pistons for cars and boats and trains plus the odd aircraft and a few tractors. We were the largest producer in Europe. The logo expressed who we were and what we did. Our customers included RR, Bentley, Austin, Morris, Jaguar, Rover, Cadillac, Buick, Lada, and Ford in fact we used to claim that if it moved our products moved it. I was very proud of our logo and the products it appeared on. Unless you were involved with advanced manufacturing no one would ever see our logo because the products were built into engines. In fact my kids thought I produced nothing of importance.
Some logos are instantly recognised like BBC or NHS not because they are of good design but because they have been around for so long. Which brings me to catch phrases? This Christmas a couple have caught my eye as outstanding. An ad for alcoholic drink “See your wife’s face light up this Christmas! Buy her a torch” and the best “If you pull a cracker this Christmas make sure you wear a condom”.
Advertising has won and lost elections and I can think of several good examples The Tory ad “Labour isn’t working” on a poster with a long dole queue. Labours campaign in 97 with the theme tune things can only get better, brilliant, but their advertising campaign was just as good. Simple ads referring to class sizes getting smaller, waiting lists coming down. The Tory campaign representing Blair has the devil just turned people off and the phrase Michael Howard used “are you thinking what we’re thinking was total rubbish. With the election campaign now in full swing we can expect to see the ads start appearing. Some pundit this morning was complaining that the Tories had so much money to spend on advertising they must win this aspect of the campaign. Nonsense, but Labour has to think carefully and creatively about their output. It’s difficult to image that any ads approved by GB will have flair or creativity associated with them. I might do a couple of designs for each side.

The Daily Moan

2010-01-03T15:55:00.000Z

My posts these days are a bit like waiting for a bus. You wait forever then two come together. A friend of mine suggested that my blog had some negativity about it these days and having my health in mind suggested that positive thoughts were much better for me than some of the negative stuff I have been writing lately. She asked my wife if she could speak to the editor of the Daily Moan, well honestly, I don’t know what the world is coming to, us wrinkles are supposed to moan, it’s what we do. I’ll do my best to be more upbeat but it is very difficult when every third week your blood numbers come under review and increases in one specific antigen mean bad news. Thank you Gerry for your concern I know it’s my best interests you have in mind. I love the title though I’ve been looking for a new name for the blog. The best I came up with so far was Great Barr Bob or perhaps the Great Barr Groan. Wadaya think?

Proud granddad a bit more

2010-01-03T15:38:00.000Z

I haven’t mentioned the grandkids much lately for several reasons. It’s not that they haven’t been doing much or excelling at what they do, more that granddad gets a lot of criticism from them over what I write, that is when they read it or I tell them about it. I need to be careful. Recently though eldest granddaughter entered an art portfolio competition for Birmingham secondary school pupils. 160 pieces of art work were chosen for a book of kids’ art. She chose a subject that both puzzled and surprised me “fear” and her semi abstract painting showed a remarkable maturity around the subject as did her description of it which was extremely well written. Whenever we looked after them has little ones we always participated in constructive activities until recently when they decided they wanted to come to our house to “chill out” which means watch the box and be waited on. In respect to her art she is definitely granny taught and my wife has done an extremely good job. She is of course doing art at school and there is an influence there but the basics come from Nan Pat.
I wouldn’t dream of publishing the picture itself without her permission which I will seek in due course. While writing this I just wonder that perhaps she might be persuaded to become a guest blogger.

I remember

2009-12-30T08:48:00.002Z

A couple of weeks ago I published a poem from St. Bernard’s Hamstead church magazine. I mentioned at that time I had written a poem in a similar vane. The following poem was written in 2007 and inspired by a poetry workshop run by Poetry Wednesbury. What I wrote (sorry Erne) on the night was second rate but a few days later I came up with this version. I hope you like it.

I remember!
I remember when chips were tuppence a bag
and the News Chronicle was the daily rag.
Adolf’s air force bombed our town
and lots of houses came tumbling down.
We played on the bomb peck in all the rubble
And very often got into loads of trouble.
Pig bins were common with an awful smell
Recycled food for dogs, cats and tramps as well.

I remember my trousers ragged and torn
Mom shaking her head and looking forlorn.
Charity boots from the Daily mail
they were given out free and not for sale.
The boots were too big by a size and more
For the first few days my feet were so sore
“Yo’ll grow into um” my Mum explained to me
When your feet hurt that’s hard to see.

School dinners were wholesome and also free,
they kept us nourished my brother and me.
Marked with an F my ticket cried shame
We stood in line we weren’t to blame.
Dinner ladies in white with spoons of wood
“have some cabbage it’ll do you good”
Lumpy custard, treacle pud or rice
Our meals were cheap at half the price.

I remember the loo at the top of our yard
with newspaper wipes that were ever so hard.
You never lingered on our bog
Especially on cold nights or in a fog
You often went with hesitation
But none of suffered with constipation.

The cold at night when we said a prayer
the faces around all in despair.
Fire in our grate when we were ill
No Doctor to come with a magic pill
I remember the cock roaches under the stair
And lying bed thinking this aint fair
The room was filled with the sweet smell of pee,
From the chamber pot that you couldn’t see.
Lumpy mattress and cold floor,
Oh yes I remember and lots more.

Christmas cheer

2009-12-27T13:46:00.000Z

It has become a family tradition over the last few years (I haven’t been counting) since the English grandkids stopped believing in Santa. The whole family go to the cinema on Christmas Eve. Our grandkids usually choose the film. This year they chose the Disney version of Christmas Carol. I was much impressed by the standard of animation achieved throughout the film. Storey line followed Dickens book well and great special effects. Not bad value for money either at 4 quid for us wrinklies. The cost of pop corn though is scandalous at £3.75 a pot is disgraceful. I guess you’re wondering why I’m rabbiting on about this. Well about ten days earlier the misses & I went along to the Repertory theatre to see their version of the same book. I was much impressed and I think live theatre won hands down. The cost though was more than double the cinema. When I mentioned that I thought the Rep version was better the rest of the family looked at me with total incredulity. Granddad has finally gone of his rocker.
“Oh no he hasn’t”.
I bet the first comment is “Oh yes he has”. I used to like it when the little uns were little and we could go to the panto.

Happy Christmas & such

2009-12-24T11:24:00.001Z

A very Happy Christmas to all my regular readers.
Not very original that is it but sincerely meant.
I think perhaps I ought to review a few of the campaigns I’m working on seeing as it’s almost the end of the year.

Clinic, this is not looking good at this time. The PCT are playing their usual game of perhaps, maybe, never. They were supposed to let me know the date time and venue of the board meeting when our clinic was to be discussed but true to form no info yet. We were told the meeting was end of January but I’m hearing 11th of January is more likely. The questions remain, why does it need to be discussed behind closed doors? Why will they not release artist’s drawings to the press and why are they coy over date and time? The action group are discussing tactics.

Smoking at Sandwell Hospital. PALS got back to me to assure me they are trying to move this complaint forward. They have apparently had other complaints. I gave them some practical suggestions on how this might be tackled. 1) New larger posters around all entrances.
2) The Sandwell stop smoking banners displayed inside the hospital with leaflets on help available.
3) The areas need to be manned from time to time handing out the leaflets. If these fail then policing of the areas with some form of penalty applied. I think 1 & 2 will be enough but why the chief exec would not even consider such basic approaches is a mystery to me. If PALS approach does not work then its letters to Chair of trust and the strategic health authority.

West Midlands Travel. Surprise surprise these folks have not yet acknowledged my complaint. I’m sure this will run on for awhile. I’m not sure but I think a criminal offence was committed here so maybe if they do not action it satisfactorily I might have to bring in the cops. With other problems I have witnessed on No16 route maybe the franchise for this company needs to be reviewed.

What was it Churchill said “the way that evil can prosper is for good men to do nothing”? For us it is not evil as such just incompetence. I don’t intend to sit back and do nothing.

Bus drivers grrrrrrrrrrrrr

2009-12-22T08:41:00.001Z

Well, West Mids Travel being the chief source of my present frustration. Warning this is likely to become a bit of a rant. The wife and I went into Birmingham on Sunday to meet up with some mates for a coffee and seasonal chat. We took the No16 bus from Hamstead terminus. You would think that seeing an old bloke having difficulty getting on and using a walking stick would register in the brain of the driver to take a little care. Not so this knuckle head. I think he might have sadist macho tendencies. As soon as I was on the bus he started to move off throwing me against the stairwell bulkhead. Although I shouted he ignored me and carried on until he was required to stop to pick up other passengers. I then managed to get to my seat but now in some pain. The rest of the journey was; how can I put it? Eventful. He drove as if it was a formula 1 instead of a double decked bus taking islands far to fast and breaking hard. I had to hold onto my seat. The final humiliation was when he drove past our selected stop. When he finally stopped I was about to remonstrate with him but my tame rockwiller (the misses) stomped off and set about him verbally. I felt quite sorry for the bloke because he protested that they (West Mids Travel) did not stop there any longer. He ignored all the other complaints against his driving. Folks could not get on or off his bus whilst we held court over our journey. He was correct about stopping places but WM Travel has not notified customers of the new arrangements. We had a long walk to get to our destination which was not good for me. Apparently Diamond buses do stop there and we used their service on the way back. What a difference, polite driver who waited for us, waited until I was comfortably seated before moving of fand drove carefully all the way back. I have written to WMT about their driver because he is in need of some serious re-training before he either badly injures or maybe kills someone. They also need a company wide training package in customer care. His actions spoiled my day and left me in considerable pain in the late afternoon.
My advice to local residents “Go Diamond” we will be using this service again.

Nice doggy poem

2009-12-21T09:25:00.001Z

The poem was written by Dorothy Gray and appears in the 1984 Friendship Book. It came to me via our local church St. Bernard’s magazine. I’m very fond of poetry but not so fond of irresponsible dog owners but I have to say in the main they are behaving themselves locally these days. Not so the litter louts who have left their evidence recently. More on that later.

Casual

2009-12-18T09:56:00.001Z

I was getting ready to go to the theatre when the misses came into the bedroom and said “you’re not taking me out looking like that” I protested that there was nothing wrong with my trousers they were casual. After a brief discussion which the wife won by stating that I could make a dinner suit look casual these days. I changed my pants to a pair she approved of. This post has been approved by my editor in chief.

Smoking at Sandwell Hospital again

2009-12-17T08:13:00.000Z

I had to go to the hospital yesterday for my regular poison fix. I was feeling a lot better, that is until I got to the main entrance to check in for my treatment. The smokers were there puffing away and ignoring the signs. They smoke in packs it’s a sort of mating ritual. I had had enough. There was a small group at one entrance a lady on her own not far away. Big brave Bob chose the lady, well easiest route I thought. The conversation went something like this.
BBCB excuse me Ma but this is a no smoking area would you please put your cigarette out.
Smoker (S) uh ya what
BBCB would you please put out your cigarette this is a no smoking area I have to go to the hospital for treatment and I do not want to breath your second-hand smoke.
By now the small group had moved off and were looking at the heavens for divine guidance.
S do you buy these she said pointing to her lit cigarette.
BBCB No Ma and I do not want to breath your second hand smoke.
S then mind your own business.
Clearly I was getting nowhere. She did however move away from the door so that we could enter without further conflict.
I complained at reception who said it’s not our job and it’s not securities either go around the corner to PALS.
Which of course I did once I had reported in to the ward to get my drugs.
I gave them my details and they assured me it would be followed up. Apparently they have a lot of complaints but if they had more something might get done.
I will wait with great interest to see what does happen.
Mr Adler if you think Bob the Black Country Brummie was going to go away with a pat on the head you are so wrong.
On the way out there was another group puffing away. My minder the misses whispered “don’t even think about it”

Copenhagen two too

2009-12-16T08:25:00.001Z

Since having the electricity monitor fitted some interesting facts have been revealed to us. Firstly how expensive it is to use an electric kettle. New policy in BBCB household is now to only fill the kettle for what we need and switch it off when it boils. Don’t wait for it to switch off automatically. Secondly the dishwasher although ours is an A rated machine it’s still greedy. We now only use it every other day, washing up by hand the odd few items that the new policy does not cover.
Best idea I’ve heard though is youngest daughter who has introduced a ban on using her dishwasher if the grandchildren leave unnecessary lights on around the house. They are instead made to wash up by hand. Strangely enough I have not heard any complaints about this policy. Perhaps they are at last turning off unnecessary light. More likely they’re blaming Dad.
Any other ideas? I like the idea of saving money whilst saving the planet.

I know they're in there somewhere

2009-12-14T10:24:00.003Z

And we thought it was the squirrels. Neighbours cat caught in the act. Better get the lid off first.

For those interest the moggy is called Dusty.

Councillor switches on Christmas lights.

2009-12-13T08:34:00.005Z

I know it’s not the town centre or town hall but our lights are just as important to us. Since my kids were little we have always had a small but tasteful display of Christmas lights around our house. The grandkids have done the honours of officially switching them on but now they are both teenagers they were not interested this year. We needed to find a local celebrity to do the honours. I wouldn’t call our local councillor a celebrity exactly but he did help us to put up the lights so I felt he was the right person to do the switch on honours. I hope you like the display. Seems in a way to contradict the climate change argument but I do my bit for eleven and a half months a year so I’m going to enjoy Christmas. And thank you David a) for getting the lights on the tree and b) for doing the honours. This year they are the best lights in the road. My friend Barry used to do a tasteful display and we are missing his contribution.
American granddaughter who when I told her her cousins would not switch on our lights this year suggested I ask “that bloke with the big necklace”. She had met our Lord Mayor on her last visit couldn’t remember what we called him but remembered he went around starting walks and switching on lights. Nice one lola.

Apologies for the poor quality of picture 1 I have no idea what went wrong.

Happy birthday Bob's Blog

2009-12-12T09:22:00.001Z

It’s been two years today that I made my first post. Since that time I’ve made to date 470 posts with I hope not repeating myself to often. I’ve made some new friends via the site and had the opinions of lots of folk on some of the things I’ve said. Not all of them have been complimentary. I have only had one offensive comment which never got published. My first comment was a week after my first post and from a friend who I had no idea used google. What surprised me most was the international interest in the site with 56 countries visiting since end of May.
I have used the site to promote our fight for better health facilities in our area and I intend to continue with this. Local newspaper picked up on the clinic campaign form reading the blog.
The down side is that I started the blog just after being diagnosed with the condition I have to live with and probably die from. I have tried to report on my feelings and concerns at times but without making it an overriding aspect of my life. I’m not about to give in although at times life is getting more difficult.
Many happy returns Bob’s blog

Leaflet

2009-12-11T12:06:00.004Z

A couple of weeks ago I posted on my involvement with a political leaflet I had helped design for our local labour councillor. At the time I mentioned how pleased I was with the design and how pleased the Councillor concerned was. I am now happy to be able to publish the front page. I hope you like it. Distribution around the ward will begin early next week.
The back page ends with my catch phrase: - keeping his promises, no outrageous claims and no knocking the opposition.
To enlarge the image double click on it.

Copenhagen

2009-12-08T17:22:00.000Z

56 different countries have visited this blog since end of May 2009 when I introduced flag counter. That is roughly a quarter of the nations attending the climate change conference. If all of us make a small contribution to this then we will have done our bit. I am firmly of the belief that it is man who is causing the changes on the scale we see today. One of the biggest affronts to our climate was when George Bush refused to sign up to Kyoto and his expansion of dirty fuels during his early years of office. We all now have a chance to put things right including the Americans. About ten years ago I got teased by my American family for trying to get them to use energy saving light bulbs. It’s still a bit of a problem but they have moved in the right direction.
Just to make sure we were doing our bit we invited the local Warmfront charity to come around and check us out. We are apparently doing it more or less right. Any new savings would have to come from some big investment in new kit such as new double glazing with wider gap or a solar panel on the roof. As there is no grants for any of this it is not likely to get done. They fitted us with an electricity monitoring devise and I have ordered a smart meter from British Gas. The monitoring tool is making us more aware of when our usage is high and how much devises are costing in units of electricity terms.
Eldest granddaughter was doing a project at my house the other night on saving the planet. She knew exactly what was required and very happy with her project until I pointed out she had every light on upstairs in my house when she only needed one. Use the finger I indicated but I had to go around switching off the lights.
What I’m trying to say but not very well is that we all have to do our bit if we are to save the planet for our grandchildren and great grandchildren.
I wish them well with their deliberations in Copenhagen and “switch it off” Freddie.

Round up of the week

2009-12-07T10:06:00.001Z

A funny old week really. I had a lot of pain and great difficulty walking for a good part of the week. I found myself driving the misses and waiting for her whilst she ran the errands or did the shopping. This gave me the opportunity to observe folks going about their business. The usual mix of bad manners and traffic offences at the Scot Arms. I was parked up there one morning just over the red line indicating a loading area. Along comes traffic warden who insists that despite my displaying my blue badge I can’t park there. At this point he disappears and negotiates with white van man behind to move his vehicle back to give me room to park legally. He then guides me back to a correct parking position. I thank him and off he rides on his little motor bike. Talking of motor bikes the worst piece of dangerous driving was a youth driving a mini moke in the dark with no lights, no crash helet and on the pavement past my house. When I yelled at him he accelerated left the pavement and sped off. I’d tell the local cops if I thought they’d do anything about it.
Another piece of pure piggish behaviour was a young man who drove past me in a shopping arcade car park, opened his window and spit out his gum.
I had to wait while my wife delivered some papers to Sandwell Hospital and guess what folks? the smokers are still there puffing away surrounded by No Smoking signs. My letter to the Chief Exec was a total waste of time. I wonder what the legal position is because they are failing to provide a safe environment for patients to receive their treatment.

Audacity

2009-12-05T16:46:00.000Z

You have to admire the Tories for their absolute conviction that they are the party of government. Not all but most of the top bankers and city financiers are Tories. It was irresponsible bankers (Tories) who caused the worst banking crisis and subsequent depression since WW2. The audit commission recently reported on the amount of bail out funding and praised the government for taking the decisions they did to bail out the banks. RBS now want to pay out massive bonuses to their top staff or as I understand it the board are threatening to resign. In my view not a penny in bonuses should go to this bank until some essential criteria have been met. Every penny of script issue money to share holders as been paid back. Every penny of government money used to bail them out as been paid back with interest at 10% and Sir Fred has had his pension stripped. The treasury should now sack the board of RBS for attempting this scam. They clearly have not learned. Which brings me back to the Tories. They have consistently blamed the government for this crisis and to some extent Brown is to blame but his actions to get us out of this mess have now been seen to have been wise. (Me praising Gordon I had to go and have a lie down). The Tories are now saying we (the public) are going to have to repay this enormous debt to bail out their chums in the city. If that is not bad enough they are threatening cuts to health services, education etc ect. I don’t think any of this rhetoric is acceptable. Cameron today is promising to double the money given to service men returning from a tour of duty and Gordon is refusing to extend the winter fuel allowance to cancer sufferers. Double your money David (to his chums) might think this is a vote winner but I don’t. What is an absolute vote looser is refusing folks with chronic illness winter fuel allowance. Although I get the allowance being a cancer sufferer I know just how harrowing it would be to be cold on top of everything else. I do hope Gordon will have a re-think he has a good record on care for cancer sufferers and cancer treatment now they get free drugs but much more needs to be done,

Great Barr & Newton Forum

2009-12-04T08:59:00.000Z

I went along to our local resident’s forum the other day. The usual mix of concerned residents and a few Councillors. I had a couple of issues I wanted to air and of course the man from the PCT came along to give an up date on our clinic. I won’t bore you with the agenda because that is what it is, important but a little boring, the clinic is still a hot chestnut for me and many others.
The usual standard rhetoric from the man from PCT about supporting our area then the possible get out clauses. The next key stage is January meeting of the PCT board. I have asked for date time and venue for this because someone from the action group needs to be there. I have I think mentioned before dealing with our PCT is like handling a greased snake. I have many concerns that the plug will be pulled on the project due to funding. My concerns were heightened when I could not get them to release the artists drawings to the local freebie newspaper with an accurate story. The reasons given for not doing it did not stack up for me. During a discussion on car parking at the clinic a local councillor suggested we should approach the management of a Tesco Express being built about 600yds away for use of their car park. This tells me just how much this Cllr. is out of touch. Some wag suggested if we did not get our clinic we should march on Tesco. I was forced to mention that I thought if this project did not happen there would be a riot with a march on PCT headquarters and stopping the traffic in the High St. When I relayed this fact to my wife she said did I mention lying down in the road because if I did the man from the PCT as probably gone back to his office to hire a steam roller.

Council meeting

2009-12-03T13:51:00.001Z

I went along to Sandwell Council House for a Council meeting this week. I felt I ought to because I had complained about the public address system in the public gallery and this was the first meeting since the new equipment was fitted. Very nice, with two large TV screens so that the councillor speaking can be seen clearly. The new system is better but not good. It did not pick out some of the speakers and the sound was better but still poor. Some Councillors could be heard very clearly the best being Cllr Elling the worst being Cllr Smith who had a bad hair day which showed up well on the screen. My editor in chief insists I have to be nice so some heavy re-writing as gone on here. Some of the Asian members were also difficult to hear and understand because of their heavily accented English. A good well mannered debate though. Tories did absolutely nothing positive with silly questions on swimming pools which had already been answered and of course their old chest nut THE PUBLIC. The question claimed the audit commission had said in their report the building should be moth balled or demolished. They had clearly not read the report properly because the Chief Exec had a copy and spelled out very clearly where the relevance of that item came, which is apparently a standard phrase if projects do fail and THE PUBLIC is a long way off this. There was a call from cabinet member that it was now time for cross party support for this building. I can’t see that happening somehow.
During the exchanges on extra care housing the leader of Lib Dems who is one of our councillors made an excellent response and subtlety asked for a site in our ward (we all know this is not going to happen). It was a pity she did not lead on the other liberal responses the quality of debate would have been improved. Well done Joyce and I like the top/frock.
Cllr Darren Cooper was elected leader and I wish him well in his new role. Our council have promised two new pools one for West Brom and one in Tipton the first being ready for 2011. Long overdue but a result as far as I’m concerned. There is a lot to do but I think Sandwell are doing well under the circumstances.
On the negative side a short discussion took place on a consultation about elected mayors. It was reported that only 21 people had replied. The council accepted this as public apathy. Not so councillors. I take a keen interest in local politics and I knew nothing of this consultation so I suspect a bit of slight of hand here. This matter should not be allowed to drop off the political horizon. It will be scandalous if it does.

Poetry

2009-12-02T09:40:00.003Z

As many of you will know I am very fond of poetry and at times I put pen to paper and use verse to express my feelings or to highlight wrongs. My first poem Dirty Sandwell was written because at the time many parts of Sandwell were litter strewn. I am happy to report that is no longer the case and I like to think my poem and some campaigning work I did helped.
I am also very appreciative of other poets work which brings me to the above poem. The author is as far as I know unknown but if anyone recognises the piece please let me know. I always like to make sure the original author is credited. I wrote a similar piece called “I remember” a couple of years back and it was published in St Bernard’s Church Hamstead magazine which is where I saw this piece. Thank you Glenis and keep up the good work with our church mag.

And yes it was very much like that. Oh yes I remember it well.

Smoking at Sandwell hospital

2009-11-28T09:41:00.004Z

Reply from chief exec above:-
Bobs comments.
I do wish our civil servants would not give such willy nilly responses to what are serious complaints. This letter says to me sorry old mate we know about this problem but we don’t ever intend to do anything about it. I don’t think this response is adequate in any way. In view of my experiences at the hospital a few days ago and the recent reports and concerns about Basildon and other hospitals I am concerned that other more serious poor practises might be revealed.
What to do about it though is another matter. A second letter now seems pointless. Going up the tree might be the only option.
To see the image larger double click the image.

F for Foxtrot

2009-11-26T09:18:00.000Z

Having family in America we have over the years sorted most of the language differences. Things like trunk, in English boot. But occasionally we get one which is new. Over there the grandkids and Dad are on holiday for Thanksgiving. As is our practise now we Skype at these times. Yesterday I told them the joke about my mate who had Gammon flue, he said he had a touch of swine flu but he is now cured. My son in law thought this funny but the grandkids never understood. Gammon of course is ham over there.
Son in law then had to read out a long identity number which for some reason got confused in the email. Things were going well, he improvised with the letter id D for delta etc until we came to U he then said U for udder which at the English end caused us to burst out laughing.
There must be a dictionary somewhere of these ID codes because they are used by police and emergency services. A google search is required I think.
Anymore swine flu jokes?

Getting behind or making excuses

2009-11-25T16:51:00.000Z

I guess you noticed my posts have been a bit sporadic lately. Having a couple of days at the pleasure of our local hospital trust and this week being packed with fun activities like meeting with consultant and chemo. Life’s a little thwart at the moment. Never mind and no ahhhs please. I mentioned in an earlier post how the entrance to the hospital seemed to have improved with no fag ends or smokers on one visit. I’m afraid I can’t report the improvement as being maintained. The fag ends are back at both entrances and smokers puffing away like there’s no tomorrow. Best couple of examples I saw whilst I was checking in were the guy who was leaning against the wall between two No Smoking notices. I counted the notices in the area at seven. Another was a young Muslim man in a wheel chair who got his wife draped in scarf to push him outside to the same spot for a ciggy.
Having made enquiries of staff I know other complaints have been made so I wonder what it will take for hospital security staff to fulfil their duty and do something about it. The chief executive appears to have ignored my letter so perhaps it is time for letter number two a little harsher perhaps or a complaint to the Health Authority. I am not scheduled for a return to the hospital for three weeks so who knows there may still be time.

Ah yes I remember it well.

2009-11-23T11:16:00.000Z

Fellow blogger Fat Prophet sent me his book on his early life. I wrote a similar effort many years ago now and entered it in a British Library Life Story competition. Fat Prophet is 14years younger than me so the differences between his early life and mine are quite significant and show me the progress being made to rebuild our country after the war. My thanks to FP for stimulating those memories.
My book was written in the early eighties mostly during my lunch breaks at a particularly bad time when people all around me were being made redundant. Immersing myself in writing helped to block out the horrors of what was going on around me day after day. My close family of course have all read it and have pressured me a little to publish but I’m having none of it. Youngest daughter has requested I leave it to her in my will so that she can publish it. I have also had requests to do a later volume on my career. Perhaps now is a good time to do this and perhaps the blog is a good place to do it.

Chapter ??? Extracts from my probable book “can yer read a drawin it” or something like it.

Back in the early eighties; at this stage my daughters and grandkids usually raise their eyebrows start to yawn and make excuses to leave. As you are still here I guess I should continue.
Back in the early eighties during one of the Tories recessions I was working for a large engineering company. Six months earlier I had been made redundant but saved at the eleventh hour and given a new job. I had found myself another job so it was a bit of a dilemma as to whether I should stay. Although I was enjoying what I was now doing redundancies were still a common occurrence near the end of almost every month as new business was hard to find. I had a couple of very talented daughters at school so I needed to keep my job.
We were a jobbing foundry but we had some other sophisticated services many of our competitors didn’t. Tool design, repair & manufacturing, Lab testing and a top end quality control system coupled with some excellent metal pouring facilities.
Our directors had decided to concentrate on one product which we were very good at manufacturing to see out the recession. I knew the technical & manufacturing aspects of this product very well. Getting towards the end of every month I expected to get the call to the Works Directors (WD) office. My wife was on full alert so that when a call came for me to see him by appointment I feared the worst. I telephone her and told her. At the appointed time I knocked on his door and entered. After the usual niceties I sat facing him at his desk. The conversation went something like:- WD why are you looking so down in the mouth? BBCB well I don’t suppose this is good news is it? WD (smiling) why would you think that Bob in fact your stars are on the ascendency. I thought what the bloody hell he is talking about. He went on to explain. The directors had decided that when we came out of recession we would need to embrace new technologies if we were to stay competitive and ahead of our competitors. I thought what the hell does this have to do with me and I wish he would get on with it so that I could start to look for another job.” We want you over the next year or so to do some research, get out into the wide world, look at new technology and how it can impact on us and make recommendations has to what we should invest in”. I was gob smacked, at first I must have sounded like a blithering idiot before I finally got my head around what he was offering me. We discussed the project at some length but it was pretty open ended and down to me. When I got up to leave as I was approaching the door he said “oh and by the way you will have to run it in with your existing job. I never argued.
Back at my desk I pondered the situation for awhile and then phoned my wife. When do you leave she asked. I don’t I blurted out I’ve got a new project. Did you get a pay raise was her next question. She seemed disappointed in me when I told her no and I still had to do my existing job. Having more or less guaranteed employment for at least a year did not seem to impress her or the potential the project offered us.
Three weeks later I was on a plane with our MD bound for Hamburg to look at some machine tools. I was 42 and this was the first time I had been on a commercial flight. I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. Six months later my salary had doubled and I had my first substantial bonus.

The above was a taster on what the book might contain. I wonder if I continued to write extracts like this the stories would be of interest to anyone? No perhaps not!

The patient’s journey

2009-11-21T07:49:00.000Z

A couple of days ago I was taken to A&E at Sandwell by para medic. This was the result of a “funny turn” a medical term when they can’t establish what caused it. I accidently tried head butting our kitchen floor from a standing position. When they mentioned funny turn I thought I better get on stage quick before it wears off. I digress. I possibly fainted but when I was lying on my side on the floor I noticed the bottom edge of our sink unit and thought, “that is starting to break up”. The misses quick as a flash dials all the nines then her mate from down the road. It wasn’t long before I was on a trolley in A&E then relatively quickly transferred to Medical Assessment Unit where I was kept overnight for observation. It was early hours of the morning when I got a bed so I was very tired. I was awakened very hour with a bright light shining in my eyes followed by blood pressure, pulse, temp ect. I had difficulty getting back to sleep and this routine continued all night. Come the morning I was, well; knackered. I don’t want to go into the gory details except to point out the good bits and unfortunately the bad bits.
The good bits; they did a very thorough job of checking me out. They were straight and honest throughout even when the news was not particularly good.
The not so good bits. In the morning they took away my bed and never found me another. I was there all day with nowhere to lie down. It is essential I stretch out during the day. Although I asked for a bed and told them why they never took me seriously. So by late afternoon I was in pain and really stressed out. I felt abandoned and neglected. It wasn’t until the wife started to make a fuss that action started. The ward does not have adequate washing facilities and I did not have the motivation or strength at that time to shower.
But the worst bit is the food and the way it is served. I can honestly say lunch was the worst meal I have ever had, in fact it was uneatable. I asked for lamb casserole but got some sort of pie which was almost cold. I got my wife to bring in a sandwich when she came in mid afternoon. At tea time no food at all was served. The service was poor. When I asked for toast at breakfast she said something like toast (with a sneer) you must be joking mate, bread and butter or cornflakes or porridge. I watched the porridge served to another patient and decided against it. As for B&B in the mornings when I’m not feeling well is not an option. I thought the hospital trust had been praised recently for the quality of its food. Not on this performance. More needs to be done.
The good news though is I’m now back home bruised and sore but without any more major damage.
Our PCT used to organise a training course call “The Expert Patient” I’m becoming an expert in all the disciplines and all the departments.
Am I really becoming a moaning old git?
Perhaps if someone from the PCT reads this blog they may want to ask the hospital trust some searching questions on this.

Smoking at Sandwell hospital II

2009-11-20T11:45:00.000Z

You will remember (I hope) I wrote an open letter to the chief exec of the hospital trust concerning the above. My minder and I had to go to outpatients this morning and I have to report that not a fag end or smoker was seen at this entrance either going in or coming out. Could my letter have worked? I have not yet had a reply but I’ll settle for the entrances kept like this.

Thank you.

2009-11-20T11:39:00.000Z

I wish to make a big public thank you to fellow bloggers Fat Prophet and Methodist Preacher and to my friend Gerry. A couple of days ago I was taken into Sandwell hospital by para medic because of a fall. Because of the blogs prays have been said for me by these folks which I appreciate very much. I am happy to say I got away with it quite lightly and although I am still very sore and feeling sorry for myself the news of their concern cheered me up.
I’ll do a more detailed blog on it later.
Many thanks BBCB

Local politics & such

2009-11-18T13:49:00.000Z

I haven’t blogged much over the past few days because a) my minder (the misses) keeps finding me “little” jobs around the house and b) our local Labour councillor asked me to help him design a newsletter. I was flattered by the request and very happy to do it. He and his wife have helped the misses and me on several occasions over the last few months without being asked. He is also a leading member of TAG Tanhouse Action Group which is lobbying for our clinic. I couldn’t do much worse than the bland effort put out recently by the Liberals I thought. Although I say so myself I’m pretty good at these things. It is something I can do well and am not prevented by my physical limitations from doing.
I was given a free rein in terms of design. Dave outlined what he wanted to say and a rough idea of layout and then left it to me. I have to say Dave is delighted with the design and so am I. It covers more on the front page than the last two Liberal efforts put together. I will perhaps publish the front page at a time I am sure no political advantage will be given away. The content is reminiscent of “Election Specials” put out by a now deceased ex councillor who could make a something and nothing story sound like he was saving the world. Well our ward anyway. This one contains none of the usual swipe at the opposition or any outrageous claims. In fact in a piece on the clinic, councillor colleagues are thanked for their support. I coined the quote “Keeping his promises, no outrageous claims and no knocking the opposition” at the finish of the leaflet. It’s full of surprises like that and those of you who get a copy I hope you enjoy it.
I referred to the bland nature of recent Liberal efforts and I suppose they lack the input of the ex councillor I mentioned. Newton as always been the battle of the leaflets. Martyn Smith realised this some 30yrs ago when he started his quarterly newsletters. Residents thought somebody was actually working for them. Labour never engaged with this process and as for the Tories we get one very poor quality leaflet just before an election. They spend most of the leaflet complaining about THE PUBLIC in West Brom and little else. It will be interesting to see if this starts a leaflet war so to speak. Will the Liberals raise their game? Will the Tories actually print one? Will Labour match the quarterly output of the Liberals? I ought to offer my services to the other two parties. I would of course have to make a small charge for Liberals and a much larger fee to the Tories to help pay for my health care and the education of my grandkids if they do come back into power. I might have to learn to talk propa. You know plumb in the gob.
Casting becomes carsting Sandwell becomes Sarndwell etc. Gi us good ol black cutra any da.
If anyone wants a good quality leaflet/newsletter designed I’m your man. Have computer, have software but can’t travel far.

Round up of the week

2009-11-14T15:54:00.001Z

I never intended for this blog to become an online diary. "Dear blog went to bed early tonight etc etc." That could get incredibly boring but looking back over this week I have seen some ups and downs. With my disease I suppose just living with it is bad enough particularly at the stage I now find myself. The stress on me and my wife is enormous. She copes very well and we continue to try to live as normal a life as possible. Today for example I am incredibly tired; in fact I can hardly keep my eyes open to write this. With this tiredness comes a feeling of great frustration because I am so capable yet today almost incapable.
I mentioned in my previous post bad driving which seems to have been prevalent during my journeys this week. We are trying to cut down our mileage in line with the latest fad 5 miles per week but walking for me or the bike is not an option.
I have mentioned many times traffic conditions at our major road junction The Scot Arms. The Birmingham side of the Scots is a duel carriageway with three cross over points within about 500 yards of the junction. Going towards Birmingham the first crossover is for traffic coming from Brum side only and is designed to allow buses to turn. The other two allow traffic to turn both ways. Simple enough wouldn’t you think? Thursday I was driving from the direction of Brum on the north bound carriageway and was forced to stop partly blocking the one way cross over. This crossover has two signs on the south bound carriageway instructing “Non entry” I happened to look to my right where a large LDV high sided, long wheel base van was ignoring the sign and attempting a U turn from south bound to north. Because I was waiting for the lights to change it never dawned on me the vehicle was performing an illegal move and I moved up to assist him. It was at this stage the lights changed and I moved off and I realised what he was doing. Yes girls it was a bloke and he gets wanker of the week award. But dur to yours truly for not realising earlier what he was doing. This must be the ultimate in driver idleness because he only needed to drive another two hundred yards to be able to do it legally.
No response yet to my letter to the Chief Exec of Hospital Trust. Watch this space. I have to go to the Hospital on Friday so I’ll see if there is any improvement and report back.
We had a good press from our local freebie newspaper concerning our Clinic campaign. I understand the PCT are putting out a press release which I hope includes some pictures. More on that later I’m sure. The Tahouse Action Group or TAG was mentioned. Legit or what?

Animal behaviour

2009-11-13T19:25:00.004Z

No I’m not talking about our local drivers although I could talk for hours on their behaviour this week. I mean the local bird (feathered variety)life and squirrels.
My second picture shows one of only two remaining pigeons visiting our garden. One you will remember was eaten by a sparrow hawk and two have since committed hari kari on my patio windows. This one which I’ve called “I’m the king of the castle” is looking for his now deceased mates.
Picture one shows a squirrel trying to get into our new small bird feeder. He and his mates have been crawling all over it but so far without success. The picture I have entitled “I know there’s food in there somewhere” The lid is designed to tilt to allow easy access to refill the table. I fully expect to see the lid on the lawn one of these mornings.

Smoking at Sandwell Hospital

2009-11-11T08:29:00.002Z

I have commented many times in my “Bulletin on the railings” series on the disgusting habit by smokers at my local hospital. Despite notices to the contrary smokers continue to bloke the main entrances puffing away in complete oblivion. Last week was the worst ever with about ten around the main entrance blocking my escape and the car park pay machine. I’ve had enough. The following is an open letter to the Chief Executive of the trust asking for some action. Let’s see if the power of the web can get something done.

"John Adler Chief Executive.
Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Hospital Trust.

Sandwell Hospital.
Dear Mr. Adler,
Because of a serious illness I have to attend Sandwell Hospital has an out patient on a regular basis. I am pleased with the treatment I have received over the last two years.
There is however an issue that needs to be brought to your attention. At both entrances to the hospital there are notices advising people that they are no smoking areas and you have supplied a smoker’s cabin where smoking is allowed. I have to advise you that these notices are being ignored. Because the pay machines for the car park are situated near the main doors it is impossible to avoid breathing in second hand cigarette smoke. Because of the blatant disregard of others it is time I feel for further measures to be taken against these smokers. I have no objection to them ruining their health and putting at risk any treatment they may be getting but I do not want my health to be put further at risk by their behaviour.
I propose to make this an open letter to you and publish it along with your reply on my web site at http://midtids.blogspot.com
Something needs to be done and urgently.
Yours sincerely,"
BBCB

Clinic update

2009-11-09T11:11:00.002Z

On Friday afternoon, along with a couple of other action group members I attended a meeting at our local PCT headquarters to get an update on progress with our clinic at Tanhouse Community Centre. My wife has been working on a snappy name for our group and finally came up with Tanhouse Action Group or TAG. It does what it says on the tin and gives us a bit more legitimacy I suppose, but I digress. The meeting had initially been with elected representative and we had been invited at the eleventh hour a fact not missed by one councillor who sitting next to me ringed up the fact on the meeting papers which were handed out. This particular Cllr. I have not been well pleased with lately because of what I see has spurious claims on her web site and in the press. I found her meeting etiquette unacceptable interrupting other speakers and she was very rude in fact at one stage I though my wife was about to jump on her. This Cllr. was more concerned with a clinic for her ward which however way you look at it is a long way off but she persisted although she was careful to prefix her remarks with the caveat that she did not want to prevent this project going forward. It was not until another Cllr. pointed out quite forcibly that we were there to discuss the Tanhouse Clinic feasibility that she quietened down.
The feasibility study is progressing well and we were shown architects drawing of what the site might look like. Two local Doctors have expressed an interest in going into the new facilities. The proposal along with full costing is to go before the PCT board in January and in February the Council who are the other partner, should sign off any funding if it is required from them. We were given assurances that the costs would be included in the PCTs financial projections for next year. A consultation process will take place but I have concerns at how this might be conducted. The PCT do not have a good record in doing surveys in our ward. Why do they have to waste money on this consultation when it is the local community who have been pushing for the facility?
The time line for completion gives me concerns because if you listen to what they say you could be mistaken for thinking they are building the Forth Bridge instead of re-furbishing an existing building. My estimate for completion would be May next year; theirs is August to Christmas 2010.
So, progress I hope. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep TAG together just in case further protests are required. I requested a joint press release but I don’t think that had much support.
I’m convinced that without a Labour Cllr. in our ward forcibly pushing for this facility within the controlling Labour group and the work of TAG and support by MP Tom Watson this project would not be moving forward. All our ward Cllrs. are behind it but clearly adjoining ward Cllrs have their own agenda. The Tories never turned up. Can they be trusted with the NHS? Not on this occasion.
What did surprise me was the amount of money that had been spent on refurbishing the PCT headquarters. The loos were so posh it was a shame to pee in them. I do hope they don’t try to tell us a little further down the line that they can’t afford our project.

Busy week end

2009-11-08T15:00:00.000Z

Although I was not feeling 100% we decided to continue with our plans for the week end. Saturday evening we went along with some friends to Hamstead annual fireworks display at Tanhouse Community Centre. This is one of the best value for money events throughout the year and attracts a good crowd. Nice display of fireworks and the kids having a great time. Because of the amount of time I would have been required to stand and the fact I was in some pain we decided to take the wheel chair. My friend who accompanied us is wheel chair bound permanently these days and his wife is very good at manipulating him. The misses is a delicate lady and inexperienced at pushing a chair so it was going to be fun. The first problem was drivers who left their cars parked across the pavement so that a wheel chair could not get passed. The worst piece of parking though was from a large BMW who parked across the wheel chair cross over point which was at the road junction. Only one car with a blue badge was allowed to park inside the perimeter and I wonder why? Before the display started I needed the loo and decided I would propel myself to the toilet inside the centre. There is a ramp for chairs but I have to say I could not propel myself up the ramp it was too steep, despite me “having a run at it” A couple of kids decided to help, despite me telling them I wanted to do it myself they pushed me up the last bit. Getting into the loo in a chair is not possible without a lot of manipulation. Using a chair in a crowd can be a harassing experience because people do not look where they are going. The entrance ramp needs to be re-designed because I don’t believe a chair user was consulted on this design. Finally for the inconsiderate drivers who had parked illegally, when they are caught they should be sentenced to spend a week in a wheel chair they would soon become more considerate. Grrrrrrrrrrrr
I’m thinking of producing some “Polite Notices” telling them about their inconsideration and warning them that their parking will be reported. Now should I be polite or down right rude?
Interesting footnote there were plenty of cops at the event enjoying the show but non on the approach roads making sure drivers parked correctly. Ummmmmm
Perhaps Ch. Supt. Dugmore you would like to look into this?
Sunday morning the misses and I attended the memorial service at the war memorial in Dartmouth Park. What a splendid turnout and a very emotional service. I can’t remember seeing that many for a long time there must have been 2000 people there of all ages.

Nice surprise

2009-11-07T10:28:00.000Z

I was feeling a bit below par (BBCB terms “crap”) this morning so the wife got up to make the tea. When she came back she had a small package in her hand addressed to me. Be careful she said when opening that it could be from Cllr X who I have been giving a hard time to lately. I fondled it carefully and decided it was safe to open. Surprise surprise it was a copy of the book “A bang or a whimper” written by fellow blogger over at Fat Prophet http://fatprophet.blogspot.com
The accompanying note said to an honorary black contra man; hope it cheers you up during your treatment. Thank you FP I will treasure it and I’m sure it will cheer me up. Your web detective work in tracking me down is also very impressive.
Best wishes BBCB

President Blair

2009-11-06T09:05:00.000Z

Or not depending on which newspapers you read. Personally I don’t give a toss who gets the job but I have some concerns on what the post represents and how much it is going to cost us Euro tax payers. He will technically not be elected so who does he represent? I suppose he/she will be a bit like a Lord Mayor chairing the council but largely ceremonial. Tony would I’m sure turn it into a powerful role and would be respected abroad. I can’t understand why we need one and why now? If some Europhile in Brussels think that having a single voice for Europe is going to work he/she must be off their trolley. Britain can speak for itself in the world and long may it continue. We have enjoyed peace in Europe for all of my adult life and I think this is largely due to the reliance the Euro nations have on each other. With the rise of far right parties and with some of them getting MEPs elected I have concerns for the future. I was listening to the Today Programme when they interviewed Lord (on your bike)Tebbit who as I understand was defending Cameron’s stance on referendums as more or less what ever it takes to get rid of “this wretched government”. I can remember when he came out with his now famous “On your bike” statement the state of our economy and the uncaring approach they showed to the unemployed at that time. If ever there was “a wretched government” it was the one he was associated with. I’m afraid the nearer the election gets and the more I listen to his smug lot the more I realise a vote for them would be putting us back 25years. Leaking school roofs, waiting lists and run down hospitals etc. No, not for me, I like fairness in our society and we will certainly not see it under Cameron & Co. Brown has done a poor job for pensioners but I prefer his approach to the alternative. The lesser of the evils not much of a choice is it? Coming from a dedicated anti Brown campaigner this seems like a U turn but not so, just a realisation of what we now face. It would seem inevitable that Labour are going to go with Brown whatever the consequences. I wish I understood this strategy. Cameron’s smuggies on the other hand don’t seem to have any real policies except that they expect to win. Remember Kinnock?

Bulletin on the railings

2009-11-05T14:30:00.000Z

His majesties blood numbers continue to give cause for concern. The medical team looking after him advise me that the disease has not spread to other organs. A more intensive course of treatment is now required. We do not expect his majesty to be able to continue much of his voluntary and charity work in the short term.
No further bulletins will be posted unless there is significant change in his condition.

In real life;- Oh s**t Its disease 1 Bob 0 which I suppose is not a bad result. My defence played well against overwhelming odds but the mid field and strikers played total rubbish. I’d put the lot on a free transfer if I could but I guess I’m stuck with em. The treatment regime is has I expected and I started the first cycle yesterday. I have not been very reliable recently and I expect this to continue at least until I see what after/side effects of the new treatment are. So far so good if this continues I should be out and about a lot quicker than I thought.
Three of my regular readers are what I would describe has religious and I envy them in some ways having the commitment they do to their respective churches. I was discussing this on the phone the other day with one of them when she said in answer to my doubting frame of mind that god finds you not the other way around. Well he better hurry up in my case. But thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. Something seems to be working so keep up the good work.

Blogging & such

2009-11-03T10:19:00.001Z

Blogging is likely to be a bit sparse in the next few days. I have a crunch meeting at the hospital this afternoon and the treatment options are not likely to be pleasant.
The action group campaigning for our clinic have finally been invited to the meeting with Councillors/PCT on Friday and I hope to be well enough to attend. I will report on that in due course.
I expect a “Bulletin on the railings post “sometime later in week might allow me some time to continue blogging. In the meantime please be patient I still have plenty to say.

Ouch

2009-10-31T08:51:00.001Z

I had to visit my doctor and had almost the last appointment of the evening. It has been a long time since I visited the surgery in the dark and what a depressing place it is. Poor lighting around the site only adds to the gloom. This is the only surgery on the south side of the canal that splits our ward. During my consultation it was interrupted by yobs climbing on and rattling the window protection screens. The doctor was about to start a delicate procedure on my body when the interruption started. A second or two later and the result would have been eye watering for me I jumped but the doctor who was used to this stayed calm. The yobs were peering through the slits in the blinds at me on the couch. These facilities are old fashioned and totally inappropriate for our need. The doctor deserves better and so do we. Apparently this type of interruption is quite a common occurrence during surgery hours. I felt quite intimidated by the behaviour. The perpetrators were not around when I left the surgery. Cllrs. from Great Barr with Yew Tree please note when you are considering the health facilities in our area these are the kind of conditions we have to put up with. There is no practical alternative. I think if the Tanhouse Clinic does not get the go ahead there will be a massive public outburst of anger.
In Oldbury a temporary clinic was constructed using Porta Cabins. We need these facilities now. Why is no one from the authorities asking for a recovery plan? The very best possibility is our clinic will be at least a year late. We need these facilities NOW. Councillors/PCT PLEASE NOTE. I can see some difficult times ahead. 6/11/2009 2pm meeting with PCT and Councillors when I believe we will be getting news on “some positive progress”. Could the long suffering residents of Newton at last be getting our clinic? More on this after 6/11/2009.

Word of beak

2009-10-30T08:28:00.001Z

Tits are the smartest. Yes it’s true folks The Great Tit is the smartest bird visitor to our garden. Within five minutes of Mrs BBCB’s installation of our new small bird feeder, it’s top up of seed etc and the humans leaving the site a Great Tit was in and eating away. He was followed shortly after by a Robin who took a little while to examine the new restaurant before entering. The misses and I had a little wager over which bird it would be but I have to say she cheated a bit by adding grated cheese to the menu because she almost has the Robins eating out of her hand with it and as one was watching us preparing the site I was surprised. We didn’t have many visitors yesterday but I suppose it has to get around by word of beak so to speak “new restaurant open at BBCB’s great new menu ect ect”
It also struck me when I read my previous post about construction of the feeder how what is a tiny and irrelevant structure such as this can be so important to us. It’s not the feeder itself or what it does in our lives it’s the fact that I could actually do it (with a little help from my wife). My wretched illness prevents me from doing a lot of the routine physical stuff I used to do without thinking about. Twelve months ago I couldn’t change a light bulb so although it was painfully slow the wife was patient and we finally did it. For me it was progress.

A Sparrow Hawk ate my pigeon

2009-10-28T15:53:00.002Z

My wife has always fed the birds in our garden and as such we have a lot of feathered visitors. Some years there is a preponderance of one species and later years others are predominant. A year or two ago Magpies were by far the largest number and what a nuisance they were. They are perhaps one of the noisiest birds with that warning rattle they have. We rarely see a Magpie these days but Wood Pigeons have taken their place. These birds are an absolute nuisance. This year they bred extremely well. We have designed and built a small bird feeder from an old hamster cage fitted to the top of an old bird table. Small birds can get in, Pigeons can’t. These however are smart birds and they are persistent until some of the seed is worked outwards.
One afternoon last week I came home to see a Sparrow Hawk eating his lunch of Pigeon on our back lawn. He saw me but ignored me. I stood still watching him strip the flesh off the bird. I called the misses who arrived a little too enthusiastically and the Hawk took off leaving very little of the Pigeon. No tears shed for helping to redress the bird balance in our garden. Birds have no gratitude for the food left; they nosh away and poop wherever it takes them. I forever have to clean the patio table and chairs.
This week end we got a new bird table and modified it for small birds only. See picture.

I hope it works. Wada ya think?

Care & Support Green Paper.

2009-10-27T08:22:00.002Z

There are no ends to the lengths this blog will go to too get the facts. I have involved myself in the above debate because I feel it is something that is long overdue. Last week along with 100,000 others I received the following email from the Secretary Of State for Health. I can tell your impressed, both of you. It is however serious and about time the position was clarified. The options were giving a lot of disabled and older people cause for concern.

"Health Secretary clarifies Government position on disability benefits"
"The Secretary of State for Health has made it clear that Disability Living Allowance for the Under 65s will not be affected by Government plans to create a National Care Service.
Speaking at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Harrogate, Andy Burnham MP said: "I am encouraged by the response to our Big Care Debate and welcome the fact that other political parties are beginning to put their ideas on the table. There are big differences between what we are saying but we are beginning to create what I wanted to see - unstoppable momentum for legislation in the next Parliament.
"But, while the debate is moving quickly, I do want to stress that the door is wide open for discussion. We are still in a consultation period. No decisions have been made on funding options. We are still listening – about funding, about structures, and about how to build a forward-looking system of care.
"One avenue I do want to close down, however, is the debate and controversy over Disability Living Allowance.
"We recognise that this is an important benefit for disabled people, and I can state categorically that we have now ruled out any suggestion that DLA for under-65s will be brought into the new National Care Service.
"This is because, whilst there will be increases in the numbers of disabled people of working age who need care, the majority of the people needing care in the future will be older people.
"However, we do think there may be a case for bringing together elements of some disability benefits, such as Attendance Allowance, with social care funding, to create a new care and support system to provide for the needs of older and disabled people.
**"But the important principle is that people receiving any of the relevant benefits at the time of reform would continue to receive an equivalent level of support and protection under a new and better care and support system.**
"And let's not forget, everyone - regardless of wealth or asset base – will benefit from the protection and piece of mind that the National Care Service will provide."
The Government is currently carrying out a consultation – the Big Care Debate - on the new National Care Service, a vision for which was set out in July’s Green Paper Shaping the Future of Care Together. The Big Care Debate continues until 13th November."
careandsupport@dh.gsi.gov.uk.

On the face of it, it seems that at last a realistic approach to this is being made. The re-assurances contained in the email (para 8 asterisked) are good news and something that the labour party should be trumpeting in its lead up to the next election. There is still a long way to go with this consultation but I hope the positive aspects are continued. Getting the Bill before Parliament before the next election is unlikely I think and I hope it is not one of those vicious cuts the Tories are planning. For me, although very late in Labour’s programme it sets clear water between them and the Tories. Let’s have a lot more of this and start telling the electorate.

Royal mail

2009-10-26T07:57:00.000Z

I went along to our local mail collection site to collect a long overdue parcel which was a guaranteed next day delivery. I noticed some of the posters displayed in the window of the collections area. “Trying to build up a business?” this poster was suggesting the royal mail could help. Their current behaviour and recent history (industrial disputes, loosing money etc) would not give me any confidence in using them to help me build my business. A couple of real classics though. “DISABLED BELL: - please ring”. And No Smoking: - “from 1st July is it a no smoking area in this building”.
We had an email from an art company who supply the wife with a lot of her art materials which said basically they were suspending their contract with Post Office until both sides started to act like adults again. I’m tempted to write a lot more on this later because of my past experience I can see this dispute from both sides. At the present time though a strike like this is just about the daftest thing any company should be involved with. I urge them both to get back and talk whilst they still have a business to talk about.
Adam Crosier interview on the Politics Show did nothing to help the situation telling your customers and others (in the nicest possible way) to shut up is a bad idea. I think he is the real problem here.

BNGA

2009-10-25T07:11:00.000Z

I’ve mentioned before on the blog how much I enjoy Thursday evenings when I collect my English grandkids for tea. Seeing the enthusiasm from them I know they enjoy it to. It is the only time during the week I get them all to myself. It is also the only time I don’t mind being stuck in traffic. During the joke spot this week grandson said “I got a text from my mate which said BNGA, so I texted him back and said that’s BANG out of order”. I collapsed laughing. Perhaps telling jokes while driving is as bad as using a mobile phone because at that stage my driving was appalling.
Granddaughter who is now old enough to appreciate how talented she is and that with her school results straight A/A* she can do whatever she wants as a career. She has over months come out with some amazing career choices all of which show great aspirations. I of course have encouraged this. This week she calmly announced she was going to be Prime Minister and would I help her get started. You know that MP guy granddad could you ask him if I can do my work experience in his office. I explained a bit about local politics and how it worked and suggested she write to him directly. This morning I collected her letter just to check it over and I was amazed. She could indeed be a future PM the quality of her prose and the detail are most impressive. But I would say that wouldn’t I.
I never got to establish what party line her politics might follow so I guess that is a mark of a good future politician.

I’m famous

2009-10-24T08:02:00.000+01:00

Well, sort of. I went along to our local Neighbourhood tasking forum the other night. Minutes from the previous meeting made interesting reading. The previous meeting was held at a community centre attached to local Roman Catholic Church on the north side of the canal. It was attended by 14 residents which included four councillors plus cops & fire service. An item from the minute said “PCT to bring report to the next meeting to talk about the Health Centre for the area”. The following meeting was held at a church community centre on south side of the canal and attracted 7 residents including one councillor (the chair) cops & fire service. Someone from the last meeting must have raised the Health Centre but no one from that meeting was present. No one from PCT was present and no report was given in fact the whole situation seemed embarrassing to the chair who did not seem to understand how the minute came to be there.
So what is going on here? Did the PCT deliberately snub our area again? Two of the councillors present at the earlier meeting have spoken out against the sighting of the clinic on the south side. Why call for a report then not attend the following meeting? Is it to much of a coincidence? I was pondering all this when the better of our local freebie newspapers the Observer arrived. Our MP Tom Watson chose the Health Centre issue for his regular Westminster Observer feature. He mentioned me and the work of the campaign. He also included as he has done in past articles to the importance of all the political parties being behind this and how Newton Cllr’s were supporting this. It appears from his piece that negotiations are well underway with Sandwell Council and a scheme should be ready for presentation to PCT board in January. This would make the clinic a year behind schedule and I put the blame firmly for this on the shoulders of Cllr’s from adjoining wards. That all sounds fine except he also feels that we should continue to keep the pressure on by our action group. A big difference to the article in the Chronicle a couple of issues ago. A much more balanced and accurate assessment of the present position.
After the meeting I had the chance to talk to a couple of the campaign members. Knowing now how easy it is to cause traffic chaos at Scot Arms perhaps it would be better if we protested at or near the home of the Cllr at Scot Arms. I wonder would we be breaking any laws. Still not convinced that a new protest is essential but it looks to be moving that way. My agent/manager or principle carer has she is now know (the misses) is shaking her head and giving me that don’t you dare look. Ummmmmmmm
I’m going to write to the Chair of the PCT to see if I can establish what did happen over the minute I mentioned above.
Well done Tom keep up the good work.

Customer service

2009-10-23T09:27:00.000+01:00

In days of old when I had a propa job with a salary, exes and perks I used to run an engineering business which was part of a large group. To keep supply and demand in the correct proportions it was necessary at times to sub contract a lot of work. This was usually done by specialist companies with highly skilled workforce. I would visit these suppliers regularly to keep up to date with what was happening within the sector and because our competitors used these same suppliers to understand what the market was like. It only took the loss of a couple of skilled workers to change the picture in some cases. The company could go from a reliable quality supplier to a lame duck in a very short period of time. I could tell almost as soon as I set foot inside the factory what was going on. They also knew me well and I almost always got a warm welcome. A valued customer who they looked after. Nowadays I see this same change in stores that I use regularly. We have a small office supplies store at the Scot Arms usually they are very helpful and go out of their way to look after their customers. The misses and I recently went into the store at the same time but for different items when we came out we both commented how unhelpful they were. I thought very little of this, dismissing it has having a bad day until another friend quite without prompting made a similar observation. I wonder what is going on here? As anyone else had a similar experience with this company. Locals will know the shop so I need not name here.

Lateral thinking

2009-10-22T07:42:00.001+01:00

I have been critical of our MP Tom Watson on occasion but last week he really excelled himself. Our local Tories have continually sniped about our cultural centre in West Brom THE PUBLIC but without any real practical alternatives being offered. At one stage they wanted to turn it into a bowling alley. The thinking I suppose from them is whenever they moan about THE PUBLIC will always get the majority view against it. As you all know I don’t hold this view. Tom came up with a brilliant idea which he is going to put before Parliament. The plan is to permanently house the Staffordshire Hoard at THE PUBLIC for display. He also criticised the Arts Council for abandoning the project. Well done Tom this is exactly the kind of out of the box thinking we need and sets Labour apart from the Tories who have not changed and never will. Let’s have more Mr. Tom.
West Brom is the southern most town in Staffordshire and a perfect place for the treasure. I just love the idea. Sandwell needs a cultural/arts centre the idea of a bowling alley is a load of balls.

Birthday cards

2009-10-21T08:25:00.001+01:00

One of the better things about getting old is seeing your grandchildren growing up and turning into proper little people with minds of their own and more importantly senses of humour. This is evident from some of the birthday cards I received this year from them. The best though came from the youngest granddaughter in America. Knowing my dislike of George W and all that he stands for she sent the above card. Inside it read “Err unless unequivocally means don’t”.
The youngest grandson sent a card which played “Hail to the Chief” smart lad.
It’s good to have a president that is articulate and shares many of my core values. I do hope he can eventually win the health care debate over there.

Incident on the Queslet Road.

2009-10-20T10:41:00.001+01:00

I mentioned before on this blog problems I sometimes have with getting to toilet facilities quick enough. My condition dictates that when I’ve gorra pee I’ve gorra pee. I also mentioned I had recently had a CT scan. One of the preliminary procedures is drinking a pint of liquid to enhance the images. The literature supplied with this liquid states “you may experience loose bowel movements this should pass within a few days” This statement must have been written by the worlds most optimistic estate agent because it kept me confined in the smallest room for a good few hours. On the day of the scan a further 1ltr of another enhancing chemical is drunk and you are advised to drink plenty of fluids following the scan to clear the toxins from your system. This was fine until it became time to visit my youngest daughter and her family for a meal in Sutton Coldfield (proper name dropper me). I planned it down to the minuet which was fine until we arrived at Scot Arms the busiest road junction in the midlands when we were told by this police officer who I swear was no older than 13 that Queslet Road was closed due to an incident. The cop was not local because when I quizzed him on alternative routes he looked at me with that blank face which was saying “what planet is this guy on I’m only stopping the traffic”. Being local a plan B was quickly devised but by this time the junction was totally snarled up. Moron of the month, dope of the day, wanker of the week etc were all there doing their best to screw things up. We decided to take a diversion past our local swimming baths because by this time my waterworks were somewhat uncomfortable (same estate agent must have written that). The traffic by this time was screwed up for a couple of miles around the junction so by the time I got there a quick dash across the car park was the only way. I was followed in by some ghoul who wanted to see what I was doing. The Great Barr flasher was happy to oblige.
When we finally get to the restaurant I again have to visit the gents. Getting my aim right these days for a urinal can sometimes take a few minutes. On Saturday I’m aimed and ready to go when the guy behind started the hand drier. This was one of those high pressure things that make a lot of noise. I will admit to being somewhat startled by this (same estate agent)and subsequently sprayed the wall a nice shade of yellow.
The incident turned out to be a false alarm bomb scare. Scared me I can tell you.
Better not show this to the editor in chief. She was not a happy bunny on Saturday evening.

Bulletin on the railings

2009-10-19T08:51:00.000+01:00

The medical team looking after his majesty have expressed concern over his present blood reading. More detailed tests and examinations need to be made. His majesty has asked that you all remain positive. Further communiqués will be made later but in the meantime he will have to cut down on a lot of his public duties and charity work.

In real life;
What a difference a day makes. I wrote my previous post a couple of days before my routine visit to the Consultant. Since then I have been prodded and poked, zapped, scanned and had enough blood taken to feed Count Dracula for a week. All to try to establish where things have gone wrong. My agent/manager (the misses) insists I need to cut back on a lot of my voluntary/charity work. I had already cut back quite a bit. I got rid of some of the more ungrateful groups that I belonged to like Neighbourhood Watch. NHW co-ordinators have a completely thankless task. So it was good riddance there. Some of my other activities though are really worth while and I am valued by the groups concerned. It will hurt to have to stop (even for a short time). The action group role in respect to our clinic and the antics of some of our councillors is a likely casualty but I’m reluctant to stop at this stage. I’ll try and negotiate this with the boss but I’m not confident on that and if it comes to a trade off with my kid’s charity it’s a “no brainer”. Shame though because if it made them stop and think before making outrageous claims it would have been worth it. I intend to keep on blogging because I can do this whatever happens. So keep the comments coming?
In fact with the exception of hospital stays I’ll have more time to do it. The best case scenario I suppose is some unpleasant treatment which I have had before. The worst case I suppose is something I don’t really want to think about with some scenarios in between that are unpleasant and painful.
As soon as is possible I’ll be back operational with all my interests.
PS there will be queues at the bulletin board in Little Lane.

Gutter politics?

2009-10-16T09:32:00.001+01:00

You can’t believe everything you read in the press.
Last week one of our local freebie newspapers carried a story on its front page with the headline HEALTH CENTRE NEARER. It contained a comment from a Cllr. in Great Barr with Yew Tree ward and a quote from a deputy director at the Primary Care Trust (PCT) but no reference to Cllrs. in our ward or to the action group. Very strange this particularly has Cllrs from Great Barr with Yew Tree have spoken out against the clinic being situated at the Tanhouse Centre in our ward. It was claimed they now had an agreement over the clinic. Nice work Cllr. but no one else seems to be aware of this agreement. The man from the PCT’s quote was standard non committal blah blah blah stuff we have come to expect. The PCT are holding a meeting with Cllrs on 6th November to outline their plans. Despite being asked by our MP to invite people from the action group they have not done so. We need to ask the question, why not?
Some members of the action group have asked me to organise another “protest”. This one would have an element of surprise, be more focused, larger, louder, and disruptive and to invite the press. To achieve this we would need to hire a mini bus. I’m not convinced by the need to do this yet because there are indications that things are moving in the right direction and I may not be around to participate. When I read the remarks in this article and the way it was presented in the newspaper I fear for what might happen to health services in our area. If this scheme fails, funding and time to organise an alternative would not be a viable proposition so we would loose out for about ten years on facilities. All because Cllrs. from other wards delayed the process. This is a now or never situation but they don’t seem to have grasped that. We have a situation here where local residents are fighting for much needed facilities in their area and from what I believe Cllrs from an adjoining ward are using this fight to tout for cheap votes.
For many months these same Cllrs sat on their hands and did nothing excepting month in and month out the excuses the PCT were telling us. It wasn’t until local residents became angry with the lack of action and started to galvanise local (Newton) political support and protest that something was finally done. For this newspaper to print an article which by its very nature suggests that the Cllr. mentioned has actually achieved what is so far only a moderate success is credit by association. It is gutter politics. I have spoken to the editor of the newspaper concerned and to the reporter about my concerns with the article. I have also asked Sandwell Council for advice on referring this to the Standards and Ethics Committee. I was asked a few days earlier by a rival newspaper to give them an update on the clinic situation. Except to mention the meeting date I declined because at this stage there is nothing really to report and I’m not a politician with other agendas.
I do hope the Cllr concerned will have the decency to apologise.

Traffic chaos.

2009-10-15T08:36:00.000+01:00

I’ve mentioned before on this blog traffic conditions at our busiest road junction the Scot Arms. I don’t often go there but on occasion it is unavoidable. It doesn’t seem to matter at what time of day parking is impossible and our Liberal Councillors for Great Barr with Yew tree want to add to this chaos by having a clinic built near this junction. Totally bonkers in my view. Today the misses and I had to go to the bank. Usually the folks are very polite and although crossovers are sometimes blocked and double parking is very common motorists accommodate each other. Today there was horn tooting angry encounters and poor behaviour and that was just me. No; I jest, I’m talking generally here I was my usual self effacing self. The best bit of bad behaviour though was the lady (this is not knocking lady drivers, honest) parked in front of me on the duel carriage way she moved off did a U turn and drove about fifty yards the wrong way along the duel carriageway until she came to a cross over place that enabled her to move to the correct carriageway. My open mouth must have been big enough to park a bus. I just couldn’t believe my eyes or that she was lucky enough to get away with it.

MPs expenses

2009-10-14T09:24:00.000+01:00

This lot are just back from their hols and what do we get? The whinging goes on about their expenses. They don’t seem to understand the public anger over what went on so they start to dig it all up again. Ann Widdecombe was on the lunch time news complaining about what she feels is an injustice and claiming that some MPs are just about getting by and some may not be. Now if they can’t get by on 65 grand with exes should they be there in the first place? The other complaint was that the auditor had in effect changed the rules. If you have an expenses account and theirs is a very generous one although the local accountant may approve the expenses claim when the accounts are audited if the auditor feels the expenses are not justified then the recipient would have to reimburse the employer. This is in effect what has happened here.
I would say this to all Labour MPs pack it in, smile, pay back any monies if you are asked to and let’s move on. Labour have enough to do if they are to even get close at the next election without this constant whinging. The public have had enough. Cameron once again takes the moral high ground and Clegg seems to me to be about to shoot himself in the foot. You are in effect undermining our democratic process.

Senior moment.

2009-10-13T07:52:00.000+01:00

I was having dinner on Sunday with some close friends including my friend Gerry who sometimes comments on this blog and occasionally gives me a tough time. She thinks David Cameron is such a nice man. I must address this issue of my tastes in friends. I digress because when she reads this I’m going to be in deep dodo. Getting back to my tale! I was given a birthday card from her addressed to herself. I haven’t opened it yet because it was sent a little early and no I’m not revealing the date or my age except to admitting I’m past it. The misses has a birthday a few days before me and has to have a special delivery because she literally gets a ton of cards. I get the regular six or seven which I’m extremely grateful for. The misses leaves her cards on display to make mine look better. How thoughtful is that?
Sorry Gerry please read the poem and have a nice day. I hope you are still speaking to me.

Council meeting part IV

2009-10-12T08:25:00.003+01:00

I now have permission to publish the response from Democratic Services at Sandwell Council. My thanks to them for permission to publish and for their timely response to this problem:-

"Dear BBCB" (I edited this bit the rest is as it came)

Thank you for your recent e-mail to the Leader regarding you attendance at the Council Meeting on 29th September.

The Leader has asked me to look into the issues raised and rather than provide the information to the Leader I thought I would reply directly to you in case you had any follow-up questions and also to reply by e-mail because of the current postal difficulties. I hope this is acceptable to you.

I will try to answer the points you raise in the order of your e-mail.

In relation to the speaker system I am pleased to advise you that the Council is already in the process of making improvements to its audio visual system in the Council Chamber which will include a new microphone and speaker system. Similarly, the Council was aware that it needed to improve its presentations equipment and this is also being addressed as part of the improvements. The work begins in two weeks time and should be completed before the end of the month.

The Council has known for a while that it needed to take some action but it is one of those situations where we felt we cannot win. In the current economic climate it was considered that the Council may be criticised through the media for spending money on such equipment so we held back from doing the work as long as we were able. However, we reached a point where we felt we needed to take some action and your comments have borne out that we were right to do so which is reassuring, thank you. We still do expect to get criticised as Walsall MBC recently were for doing similar works but again we are now a little more assured that there are residents like yourself who will appreciate the need to have such facilities in good working order.

In an attempt to improve accountability and because not all the Council Chamber is visible from the public gallery, the Council has also agreed to link its microphones to a camera system so that when a member is speaking, visitors sitting in the public gallery will be able to see the member clearly on two large display screens, to help identify who they are and to provide a complete message as body language and facial expressions can also add to the understanding of what is being said.

This conveniently links to your point regarding the comments made by Councillor Sadie Smith. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the Council meeting on this occasion but my Democratic Services Officer representing me at the meeting tells me that the exchange of comments between Councillor Smith and Councillor Rowley were light-hearted banter based on an ongoing series of events at recent meetings and that both members appeared to be smiling as they exchanged comments. With the difficulties with the sound system and not being able to see both members fully from the gallery, I can understand how easily what was said could have been perceived as rude or offensive by anyone sitting in the gallery. Had it been anything other than political banter, I am confident that the Mayor would have intervened.

The comment made by Sadie Smith to Councillor Derek Rowley related to the decisions which are made by Cabinet Members during the weeks running up to a Council meeting and on which they take questions from other members. At the last two Council meetings, Councillor Rowley has not had any decisions placed before Council and Councillor Smith picked up on this by asking, light-heartedly, if we therefore still needed a Cabinet Member for Community Safety if he isn't taking any decisions. Councillor Smith will, of course, have been aware that Councillor Rowley has a much bigger role than just making decisions. Councillor Rowley took the comment in the spirit it was made and responded in the same way.

Exchanges like this within the Council Chamber are not uncommon and do provide a little light relief between the consideration of what can sometimes be very serious matters of business or quite dry subjects but which the Council has to address. I understand the evening was quite a difficult one in terms of the political exchanges around some of the issues but we do have times like this in the political environment in which Council's have to operate. As well as representing its citizens, members are affiliated to political parties and are expected to represent the views and policies of those parties.

I do hope that the events of the 29th have no disillusioned you too much and that you will attend future meetings of the Council. The Council does find it very disappointing that more of its residents do not take an interest in local affairs as you and your wife do but again looking at national figures for attendance at public meetings, it appears to be a reflection on today's society.

Can I thank you again for taking the time to contact the Leader as feedback from the community we serve does help us to improve our services for the future and in closing, could I take the opportunity to promote our CMIS system which allows you access to all the decisions the Council takes and the reports that members will be considering or have considered. For example, you can se what will be on the agenda for the full Council Meeting before you attend. If this is of interest to you, log on to the Council's website www.sandwell.gov.uk and click on the link towards the bottom of the page 'committee information'. The system is quite easy to use but if you need any further guidance please do not hesitate to contact any member of my Democratic Services Team who will help you (0121 569 3184 - direct line)

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like any further clarification of any of the points in my response."

Two issues come to mind for me. 1) The over reaction to what the press might say. We live in a democracy it is the people’s views that matter not what the press say but I can understand to some extent where they are coming from here. 2) Cllr Smith’s remarks seem to me rather flippant during such an important debate. I am unhappy with the behaviour of this particular Cllr. on some local issues but more on that later in the week.