Official denial

I'm sure that many doctors have done what that GP did, and have done for years and years. Why are the Authorities so seemingly appalled by a practice that has been around for centuries.

Enfield Rolling Mills

I worked in the laboratory at ERM from 1952 to 1954 and after National Service went back to the Test House near the Sheet Mill. I was there from 1956 to 1961. I remember the rod mill well. A catcher missed the rod on one occasion and it wrapped around his ankle. He was given a job for life as many other accident victims were. I met quite a few men who had lost fingers, hands, arms and even legs from contact with hot metal. There was at least one serious accident each year as I remember. During my second period at ERM I was mostly working in the Sheet and Strip mills on process control. This involved sampling the product and testing its properties at various stages in production.

The Naked Truth

It's glaringly obvious that the Metropolitan Police need to get their act together. A few days ago a man who stripped on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square was ordered to put his underpants on. But another man parading in the nude in the same place was apparently doing nothing wrong and was committing no offence. Which is it? C'mon make up your minds!!!

Pandemic or Med panic

So swine flu is now a pandemic. This has set the medical world agog with excitement. It's been ages since they have been able to apply the term and they just couldn't wait to spread the word.
The panic aspect seems to be the important part of that word, but despite being widespread, swine flu is almost a damp squib, if you'll pardon the mixed metaphors.

But the aspect that most concerns me most is it's ability to survive on surfaces. I had always been comforted by the expert view that germs lived only a very short time off the human body. There was no need to worry about catching anything from the public phone box and as for toilet seats - no problem there. But now we are told that swine flu is sprayed around by coughs and sneezes and lays on table tops in cafes and on handrails in public places. How about shopping trolleys? Are we to wear rubber gloves when we shop and drop them in biohazard boxes as we leave the store?

But why has the common cold not been declared a pandemic? Surely it exists in most countries of the world? What a bout Asian flu?
So far swine flu seems to be claiming less victims than the other forms of flu with which we have become familiar. When will the panic be over?

Here come the spoilers!

Every now and again an invention comes along that makes daily life for the individual that much more enjoyable. One such invention was the CB radio. It functioned for years in the US and was a valuable communication tool, being used in emergencies on many an occasion. When it arrived here it didn't take the spoilers long to say it was dangerous and should be banned. The Government acted to regulate it and all the fun was destroyed and CB radio is hardly used now, limited as it is to low-power and short range operation.

Mobile phones appeared and very soon the detractors were looking for reasons to ban their use. Knee-jerk legislation (virtually unenforceable) created new offences where none were needed. There was already the "driving without due care and attention" catchall which has served for years. Is a mobile phone any more distracting than three kids on the back seat arguing or a dog licking the back of your neck. Where are the specific offences in respect of these distractions?

Now it's mobility scooters. These have provided a new lease of life to many otherwise housebound individuals. Freedom and independence are available without too many constraints. But now the spoilers want to stop all this. They are calling for action against all scooters users because there have been a few incidents caused by a very small minority of users. It's the old story of "Johnny's been naughty, keep the whole class in". Surely we don't need more regulation and legislation? Will the Luddites never go away?

Evidence

Do any of you watch the American detective series? CSI, CSI Miami or CSI New York?

How on earth do they keep the crime scene free from contamination? The men wear all sorts of strange clothes with loose fibres, and the women usually have long blond hair that drapes itself across everywhere.

They apparently handle obscene pieces of putrifying flesh and then make entries in their notebooks with the same soiled gloves on their hands. Or they sift through human "soup" (as they call a fully decomposed body) with rubber gloves and then type on their laptop without even wiping the gunge off!

The pathogist or coroner blithely removes bloody organs from a body cavity and then removes his clip-together glasses with the same rubber-gloved hands.

All this casual attitude detracts from the supposedly meticulous attention to minute pieces of physical evidence.

But then it's only a TV show and I shouldn't take it too seriously, should I?

Ageism - alive and well!

Just been informed that any additional borrowing I may wish to have will have to be paid off by age 76! Why 76? Company rule, I am told. What is the relevance? There is no logic to this, merely an arbritrary restriction imposed without proper thought.

This and other old age limits are imposed by most of the mortgage lenders, but they are unable to explain their thinking behind the rules. My own bank, with whom I have an account for 45 years, will not lend to anyone over 62! Yet another arbritrary age limit.

My mortgage protection life insurance will not continue past the age of 81, which means effectively that I have to die before then if I don't want my widow to be forced to sell our home!

TV again

It gets worse doesn't it. Drama programmes are being replaced by yet more "reality" shows! Is this what we have become? A nation of peeping toms, spying on the ridiculous behaviour of desperate "has-beens" and even more desperate "never-weres"?
The answer is obviously "yes"! The programme makers do their research and plan their schedules accordingly.
The paradox is that having reached "old age", and now, seemingly, part of an increasingly larger section of the population, my views are now considered to be a "minority" opinion. The "young" are calling the tune now, was it ever so? I don't recall.

Television

Yes, it is being dumbed down for our younger generation. Why else are we being subjected to grown celebrities trying to squeeze through gaps in a polystyrene wall to avoid being dumped in a tank of water? And this at prime-time on Saturday! This is really scraping the barrel.

But our credibility is also being stretched every which-way on a regular basis now. Having created presentable characters with clearly defined modes of behaviour, the latest scriptwriter (they give everyone the chance nowadays) completely changes this behaviour in order to fit the latest storyline! So we have previously mild-mannered individuals suddenly becoming irrational and prone to violent rage. (Ken Barlow - Coronation St) or a criminal psychologist being unable to understand his own behaviour (Dr Tony Hill - Wire in the Blood). Are we really expected to swallow all this? - apparently so.

Saturday

It's just that feeling that you've seen it all before. Perhaps time brings boredom and ennui. Who really knows, but it seems to affect a large slice of the older population. Victor Meldrew made us laugh but behind the humour was a sinister truth. As we age we become disenchanted with our surroundings and we lose faith in those that will inherit our world. Have we failed to make "the difference" we all wanted to achieve? Almost certainly.
We should have known better. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.