Middle Aged Tip

I have so many remote controls, I have had to start stacking them as I haven't the space on my desk. Today though I put into practice an idea I'd had a few days ago. It involves buying a meter length of Velcro (furry side) and another meter (hooky side). I've cut a small piece of Velcro (furry side) and stuck this to the back of each remote. I've then cut a small piece of Velcro (hooky side) and stuck this to the shelf edge of my desk unit.

Now each remote 'sticks' in place where they are easily visible and more importantly, off the desk.

A Week of Finds

The past week hasn't been at all bad. I have come to the conclusion that I am at my happiest rummaging through the contents of a local charity shop or better still finding a new toy or gadget. It's not an age thing - I've been like it all my life, buying things no one else has a use for and giving them a home. Having said that I am by no means a hoarder like those you see on TV at the moment. My wife prevents things from getting out of control and I have perfected the art of hiding things and making them fit seamlessly into my existing collections. Two items have been given a new lease of life. Yesterday I came across a rather nice turntable in a local charity shop window. I knew it was 'rather nice' as it was by Acoustic Solutions and I could see it was in excellent condition. The price tag of £5 also played a large part in deciding to buy it. I had actually been saving a £5 note for a few weeks hoping to find something like this. I had hoped to find a cassette deck (to replace the one my wife encouraged me to sell a couple of years ago), but it wasn't to be.

Although I already have two record decks, I do have problems with the stylus weight finding that it is far too light for the majority of records I buy. This causes it to jump rather too often, treating a spec of dust in a groove as a speed hump. The deck I had found had a perfectly weighted stylus, I could tell. As I went to walk away with it, the woman running the shop pointed out there were two speakers to go with it. Well this I didn't expect as I was planning to simply connect it to my amplifier. The speakers in question were actually made by Sony and rather expensive looking - and very heavy. These were included and I left the shop just managing to carry everything with a big smile on my face.
Although I had no need for the speakers as I have them built into the ceiling at home, they would come in very useful for my Blue Skies group especially for watching films or playing music. I was very pleased with my latest haul hurrying home to test it. Needless to say it worked perfectly.
My second 'find of the week' was a D-Link MediaLounge Wireless Media Centre. Now I already have one of these and we use it every day to stream TV and films from hard drive array. I knew its potential straight away and being on eBay, it's opening bid bid was just £4.99 which I met straight away expecting others to bid against me. To my surprise they didn't and that evening I won the auction paying just £4.99 and £8 postage(!) Nevertheless, this was a real bargain. Again this would be ideal to use at my group as it can play DVD's and stream media from a variety of different sources.

Being wireless, it negates the need for cables and I know from experience of my own that it will connect to the projector we will be buying in the next few weeks. I took delivery of it yesterday and it too is working perfectly, seamlessly integrating with my other equipment.
I think it is true that I am happiest when I have something new to fiddle with or configure. My mood certainly improves at the prospect of a Saturday morning rummage and I am like a teenager with his first Sony Walkman or PacMan game when I do find anything slightly 'gadgety'. What's even better is the fact that, for the most part, the people selling these things haven't a clue what they are or even less what they do and sometimes I struggle to maintain a normal expression for fear of appearing too excited. Only when I have paid for my treasure and leave the shop do I allow myself a little triumphant 'yes!' and head for the safety of my car.
That is why this past week has been good for me. We are all different and different things make us feel good or content with our lot. I think the people around me have come to accept that the same things that fill me with excitement now are those same things that would fill me with interest and delight when I was a teenager. Back then I was intrigued by how things worked. Now I'm just glad that they still do.

RIP Richard Briers

Such sad news to hear of the death of Richard Briers. I will always remember him with fondness for his role alongside Felicity Kendal in The Good Life but he his acting skills extended to all genres including stage where he was an accomplished and acclaimed Shakespearean actor.
A remarkable man who will be very much missed.

Just Around the Corner

A sure sign that Spring is just around the corner, daffodils planted in neat rows in a field opposite my parent's place here in South Holland begin to emerge from the soil and will soon form a huge carpet of yellow flowers.

40 Years & Metroland

It is 40 years since John Betjeman's Metroland had its first TV broadcast in February 1973, shown to a record audience and repeated two weeks later.

 
I was reminded of this by a feature in the Sunday Express newspaper which explored the  creation of the programme and its appeal. The article was superbly written and for me filled in many gaps in my knowledge relating to its origins and its production. To this day, Metroland remains my favourite work by Betjeman though his rediscovered programmes on Swindon & North Lew and Marlborough come a close second.

My introduction to Betjeman was through Metroland. I was compelled to find out more about him and in doing so I amassed a large collection of his television, radio and literary work. His love of the music hall is reflected in Metroland including his passion for the railways and architecture. It is a programme that has everything. To learn about Betjeman is to watch Metroland.

Metroland is actually as old as me - we are both 40 years old, born in February of 1973. In a way, I have literally grown-up with Metroland. With every year that passes, my affection for Metroland grows stronger yet each time I watch it, I never tire of it. Like a masterpiece in a gallery, it finds new audiences year after year. For me it is a particular work of Betjeman's that keeps giving, and this I think is its lasting appeal.

A Lucky Find

I love second hand shops. I can spend hours in them sifting through stacks of records and rummaging through boxes of bric-a-brac. You never  know what you might find from one week to the next. It is also important not to dismiss the humble box. Open it and look inside, you never know what it might contain. It was just such a box that caught my eye this morning in Long Sutton. The box in question was quite blank apart from a BT label. Opening it, I found two mains plug adaptors, both wrapped and an Ethernet cable. There were no instructions but on closer examination, I realised what they were.

A few years ago, I had read an article about how someone was experimenting with the mains circuit in a house and using it to transfer data from one point to another. In effect, it was being used as a data network as well as carrying domestic power to sockets. The idea seemed to me a little fanciful at first and the thought of high voltage and data mixing wasn't that appealing but as I thought about it a little more, it did all begin to make sense. It occurred to me that every home does have its own ready made network. It's primary use is to get electricity to every room but in theory, it could certainly be used to carry data if the current could be separated from the data stream.
Holding the adaptors it became clear that someone had in fact made the idea a reality - I had to have them! Looking at the box more closely, I could see that £5 had been written on the lid. I know for sure that they are worth a lot more than just £5 and to be honest I doubt if they have ever been used. I bought them instantly and was eager to get home so I could try them. As I drove home, I thought about how I could put them to practical use. I already have a good wireless network covering the house, well three in fact - each for a different type of data. But there is one gadget that would benefit enormously by being 'hard-wired' to my data network. We have a wireless media centre that streams video and TV programmes from a set of hard drives to our TV set. It's a few years old, but works very well. Not having a cable long enough and being loathed to drill a hole through our lounge wall, we have plumped for the wireless option but I've always been aware that the device can be hard-wired. Wireless is brilliant, but it can be subject to the odd stutter and this can be quite frustrating when watching a film.
I set about plugging in the adaptors, connecting data cables between the 'access point' adaptor and my data hub and between the 'receiving' adaptor and the media centre. A button on the front is all that is used to configure the devices and in a few minutes they were talking to each other. This was a very good sign so I tested the media centre and it worked perfectly, markedly quicker than it is on WIFI.
I always set out hoping to find something different, unusual and 'gadgety'. I was lucky today, doubly so as I was able to put it to really good use. I like days like this.

Falling Sky

It's not often you get two asteroid events in one day, but that's what has happened today. This morning we awoke to stunning pictures of a meteorite streaking across the clear central Russian sky and exploding. The resulting explosion caused significant damage to buildings and caused over a thousand injuries. It's a miracle that the meteorite didn't strike a heavily populated area or the fatalities could easily have been in the many hundreds or even thousands.

What is particularly stunning about this event is the fact that it has been recorded in crystal clear clarity by so many who were either on their way to work in their cars or walking to their offices and factories. This is due to the fact that many cars in Eastern Europe have 'dash cams', an insurance requirement in most cases used to record journeys and the actions of other drivers. The ease at which mobile devices are able to capture video literally makes everyone a potential reporter able to capture news-worthy events as they happen.
What is slightly worrying is the fact that this particular meteorite wasn't spotted. Whether no one was actually watching out for it is the subject of much conjecture but I'm assuming most eyes (and telescopes) are focused on '2012 DA14' which is due to pass Earth at about 7pm GMT at a distance of just 17,000 miles. This may sound a lot but when you consider that some of our communications satellites orbit at approximately the same distance, in cosmic terms, this is really very close indeed and certainly the closest near Earth object in recorded memory.
So it's been quite an interesting day, the sort of day when you half expect something just as weird and fantastic to happen. One thing's for sure, we've certainly had a stark reminder of just how vulnerable we are to the many lumps of rock floating round all around us in space. I wonder if we'll be as lucky the next time?

An Onerous Transfer

As I thought, NPower's solution to our problem is to pass us back to Eon, the very people we had run from in the first place due to their crass incompetence. The process will involve NPower refunding the money we have paid them since joining in January of last year. They call it an 'onerous transfer'. Eon will then take over as our electricity provider and we will pay them anything we owe from the money accrued from NPower.
At the centre of this fiasco is our electric meter which, according to NPower, is quite unique and cannot be supported. I find it therefore pretty much a given that Eon will have the same problem and we'll before long be back in the same position as we are now. I expect you're thinking why we haven't asked for the meter to be changed. Well we have and this would cost more than we are worth so this is why NPower would rather get rid of us and pay back what we've paid them. How ridiculous this whole saga has been.
We now await a letter from NPower explaining everything and the prospect of having to go back to the supplier we had originally fallen out with.

Success

I have just received word that we (Blue Skies) have been successful in our bid to the Mental Illness Prevention Fund for finance to support arts & crafts and computer skills training! We had originally requested £5000 and we have been granted £3600 which isn't at all bad and will enable us to achieve the bulk of what we'd set out to.
A huge thank you to all involved in the bid process and to all those on the approving panel for considering and granting our application.
I'm a happy bunny :-)

NPower - Why, Thou May Have a Solution!

As an update to this little saga, NPower have called to tell us that they were in the wrong to sell us the product in the first place and that our meter isn't supported by them. There are two possible resolutions - either to go back to Eon with a cheque from NPower for the amount we've paid them to date or have our meter changed over to one they can support (which I don't think they want to do as this will cost them money in contractor charges etc.).

I have just had a conversation with the Complaints Department at NPower who's remedy for our problem (and complaint we have lodged with them) is to pass us back to our previous supplier Eon, who incidentally, were just as incompetent hence our reasons for selecting NPower in the first place, if that all makes sense.
Our basic argument is that NPower sold us an electricity supply contract last year promising us a monthly bill of £126. They told us this would not change and we would be consulted when this had to be reviewed. This was more than £50 less than we were paying Eon previously. We were reeled in.
Despite paying this, we have also incurred a debt of more than £800 in usage charges. We were informed of this at Christmas and on January 1st, NPower emptied our bank account to pay off some of this debt. This left us in arrears with our mortgage provider and our council.
Having spoken to them this afternoon, they now do not know when we joined them and have obviously been unable to retrieve the recording of the telephone call we originally had with their sales department. Their suggestion for resolving the problem is to pass us back to our previous supplier Eon. If this includes writing off the £800 in spurious usage charges, I'll be more than happy to do so, but I doubt it very much.
Apparently, according to Eon, we also have an Economy 10 meter. I had no idea there was 'Economy 10'. The only conversations we have had with Eon have been about Economy 7. Because of our 'odd' meter, we do not fit into any of their tariffs so we appear to be paying more than we need to. Why weren't we told about the meter right at the start?
I'm already preparing my letter for the Financial Ombudsman.

Battle Scarred

Anyone who suffers with depression will know how crippling and painful it can be. People often ask me how it feels to suffer a bout of depression. Sometimes I am asked by people who suffer themselves. They want to know if I feel the same as them, for they like me find it impossible to make the majority of people who don't suffer understand what it is really like. To complicate things further, every sufferer is different. There isn't one 'flavour' of depression. Everyone seems to experience it differently. I can only really talk with any certainty about myself. I know how it feels for me and I sometimes assume that others will feel the same way. This isn't always true. Some suffer excruciating headaches whereas others become very tired and unable to even get out of bed each morning. We are all different but at the same time have one thing in common, we suffer.
I have just 'come out the other side' from another dark bout of depression. There was no trigger, no event or barbed comment - it just enveloped me as it often does. It chose Sunday, my most hated day of the week, to appear and stayed with me well into Monday night. Forcing myself on Tuesday to attend group was, in hindsight, the correct decision - despite my mind telling me not to. It made me feel better, a lot better. I was with people who understand and they instinctively know what to say and do. They are practised in it.
That afternoon I was 'dragged' to a short training session in Boston on the subject of fund raising. I really didn't think I would stay awake through it, but to my amazement, I did and by the end of it I was awake, in a better mood and hungry once more. Every bout of depression acts as a very effective appetite suppressant, switching off those things inside that regulate hunger and interest in food. It happens every time, but for a diabetic it's far from good and I often end up force feeding myself something sweet to prevent my blood sugar falling too low.
People I know who suffer alter the dosage of their medication to suit how they are feeling. This is something I haven't done as yet, but I did call my medical centre to find out if my dosage could be increased. Knowing I wasn't coping well, I would have expected someone to have called me back. They haven't. How fortunate it is that I'm not having a crisis.
I'm due an appointment soon to meet my new GP and have my medication reviewed. No doubt I can discuss this then.
I was talking the other day with a friend and we remarked at how depression is one of the few illnesses that doesn't leave a mark. From the outside there is really nothing to indicate a person suffers with depression. For this reason, I suspect that some turn to self-harm to provide this sign. They do it through frustration to provide something physical that another person can relate to. It is also done to release some of the pain caused by depression, and it does actually help. This may seem a mad statement to many but it can be seen as a very effective safety valve, often taking the form of scratching or cutting. Again I know people for whom this is a coping mechanism. It does work. How do I know this? I have the scars from my latest battle.

A Lincolnshire Privy

An authentic Lincolnshire privy

An Uncomfortable Truth

In the news at the moment is the Great British Meat Scandal, as I choose to call it. In a month or two I suspect it will have been overtaken by something else but at the moment, it has us all thinking about the food we eat, how it is made and where it comes from. The 'uncomfortable truth' for many is that for the most part, none of us really know where our food comes from, particularly processed meat. One thing that is clear is that very little of it originates here in the UK, most of it coming from Eastern Europe. I try to avoid processed meat as much as I can and I'm a naturally fussy eater anyway, inspecting most things before deciding to put them in me. If I have eaten horse meat, then I suspect like many I wouldn't have known or tasted any difference. I have no doubt that the procedures for checking what goes into our food will be tightened, but even then, how can we be sure of what we're being given to eat? I do believe that cost has a lot to do with it, though I don't believe the consumer is to blame for the cheapness and lowering of quality in the food we eat. The supermarkets are in ferocious competition with each other to sell us ever cheaper food. The economy has shrunk household budgets to such an extent that many have no choice but the buy the 'value' brands. Lower quality ingredients should be expected, but to substitute the main ingredient, i.e. beef for something entirely different is simply wrong.
This whole sorry saga will have a significant impact on the way we shop for food. Already, there is a decline in the sale of ready meals with many shoppers opting for alternative meats such as chicken and pork. A shake up of the whole industry is needed and I think that is what we will see over the coming weeks. This will inevitably come at a cost as greater emphasis is given by food producers and retailers to the processes involved in getting meat from the farms to our plates. If this means an increase in the cost of meat, then so be it. Perhaps that has been needed for some time. Perhaps it is cost that has driven quality and standards so low that even basic ingredients can no longer be guaranteed, or the origins of these ingredients truly known.
This has to be a wake up call for the whole industry. Consumers should expect a minimum standard of quality and assurance. I want to know what I am eating and where it is from. Don't you?

A Bad Day for Our NHS

I will start this post by saying that I am proud of our National Health Service. I suppose it could be argued that I am biased in my view as I 'work' for the NHS providing support for mental health services here in Lincolnshire. Whilst there is much good done each day, the report published today into Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust highlights an unacceptable failing in basic care, respect and duty. The report will bring no comfort whatsoever to the families of those who's lives were lost as a result of these failings, but good must come from it. The Prime minster has announced the creation of an Inspector of Hospitals. Frankly this shouldn't be needed if hospital management did their jobs properly, checking the work of their staff and consulting patients on the quality of the care and treatment they have received.
It is a bad day for the NHS. People oversees will read about massive failings within one Trust, but their perception of the entire NHS will be influenced by this. This is of course wrong. Our NHS, although one organisation, is split into regional units which themselves are broken down by county. Each one of these, for the most part, operates independently and management policy can vary from Trust to Trust. I know myself that Lincolnshire operates differently to other county Trusts. There is huge emphasis on ensuring the views of patients are gained and this process is run by an independent body. There is also a programme of hospital inspections across the county, something I have volunteered to become involved with.
The wrongs which were allowed to take place in Staffordshire cannot be allowed to happen anywhere else and those in charge at the time should be held responsible. What would be equally wrong is to assume the entire NHS is riddled with bad practise and poor care.

Foraging for Vinyl Gems and a Truly Private Record

It's nearly a week since my last post and I would like to be able to say that something significant has happened in the past week. I'm afraid there hasn't, apart from the transition from January to February.
Group has been very poorly attended this week and I worry that if we are successful in our funding bid, we will have insufficient numbers to justify the money we have requested. We are really going to have to look at increasing our numbers somehow though I'm aware there are members of the Group who are uncomfortable with new people joining. I can understand this. It has taken them time to build the trust and confidence to feel able to discuss anything they wish in a secure environment. When new people join the group, there is a tendency for members to become reserved and reticent to discuss things openly.
There is a lack of energy generally at the moment. Group meetings have been quite downbeat and moods have been lower than normal. I too have felt this and it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise any enthusiasm for tasks. My writing is the only thing that really keeps me afloat, besides my music of course which can certainly influence mood. I feels almost as if the January 'blues' are a little late this year. Weather may be a factor. Whilst we had the snow, there was something interesting happening. We now seem to be in a bit of a lull but there is severe weather forecast for next week which threatens a return of the snowy conditions of last month. I suspect in a week or two, I will feel different.
I wouldn't normally be here on a Saturday afternoon. I'm normally to be found at my dear friends Roy and Jan. I'm suffering again with my back today having strained it sifting through some records in a second hand shop this morning. It has the effect of lowering my mood so I've taken the precaution of staying at home this afternoon and have sent my apologies via email.
My rummage through the second hand shops this morning unearthed a number of vinyl gems among them a twin LP set of Bob Newhart and a 'Joe Loss Plays Glen Miller' LP. Others were of popular music from the 70's and early 80's. In one of the shops, there were so many records there simply wasn't the time to go through them all and frankly I would have crippled myself if I had attempted to. Instead, I left some boxes and shelves for the following week having taken note of a Tijuana Brass box set featuring Herb Alpert destined to join my collection in week's time. So all in all, a very successful morning.

I'm making good use of my typewriter. I have decided to begin keeping a 'paper' diary. I've never really been very fond of writing and I have always preferred to type. Since I have a nice 'new' Imperial 80 typewriter, I have decided to use it for the purpose of typing my diary. The reason for doing so is so that I can leave something physical for whoever is interested when the time eventually comes. I know my blog and other digital musings and ditties will drift around Cyberspace for the rest of time but it is nice to have something that is really 'private' and that no one else will see until the day it is discovered. In this digital age, it really is difficult and almost impossible to label something as 'private', but I know that with my paper diary, I can, and that is hugely reassuring.