Cholesterol check

Had the results of my updated cholesterol check (see bacon cheese and chocolate May 2011).

All in order (back down to 5.0) so I am off to celebrate with a double bacon cheeseburger, chips and chocolate cake. Then an early starter breakfast at Little Chef "The home of the British Heart Attack".

If I survive, I will have porridge for breakfast just to make sure I don't slip back in to bad old ways.

Bloody Blog

I get a few free minutes to re-design my blog and end up wasting hours trying to get the "Follow by email" header to show up where people can see it. If anyone knows how to do it please leave a comment with instructions.

Hope you like the new template - just got plain bored with the old one

My employers have finally sorted my endless It problems and given me a brand spanking new IPad 2. It is simply brilliant! I may even be able to blog during the week whilst away on work in the exotic locations of Basingstoke, Bristol, Birmingham and elsewhere.

On holiday for a wee while so no new posts until I get back - unless I take my IPad with me....

The last post entitled "Censorship" deliberately had no text - I thought I was being cleverly satirical but apparently not.

PS the spell check I just ran thinks Basingstoke should be Bassoonists.

Censorship

Running

At last! After nearly a year I am back running. Or at least I have managed to run every day for five consecutive days without injury. However, it is not all good news. I was overtaken by an eighty-five year old man with a walking stick, but it is a start.

But then he did have "go-faster stripes" on his walking stick.

No more chilli jam!

Disaster has befallen us here in Scotland. The maker and supplier of the world's best Chilli Jam is leaving. Tomorrow is the last day in the UK for Happy Heather - chum, student of a modern thought (yes just the one), ambassador for the United States, friend of daughter-blog and all round good egg.

H H you will be missed by all Chilli Jam addicts. Farewell and bon chance.

Keeo in touch and keeping reading the Blog.

Mrs Blog's Complaint

Mrs Blog works part-time in a coffee shop. A very nice, up-market coffee shop. Yesterday she received her first complaint.
When I heard, I was astounded,
"Mrs Blog makes perfect coffees" I thought "Who on earth could possibly find fault?"
She explained that a family of well-to-do types had pitched up and the mother had asked what an iced coffee was.
"A scoop of ice-cream, two ice cubes and a shot of coffee" replied Mrs Blog.
"Sounds delicious" said the well-to-do mother.
The daughter also opted for one.
Five minutes later the mother was back.
"My daughter didn't like the iced coffee."
"Oh" said Mrs Blog
"It was too cold!"

Proof of this story is in the complaint book at Cocoa Black Coffee Shop, Cuddy Bridge, Peebles.

Another serious one

I did not plan to write a serious post for a while; events in the Netherlands have changed that. Though not well reported here the Dutch government has banned the slaughter of animals according to the rituals of Halal and Kosher. These are practices dictated by the religions of Islam and Judaism respectively. The argument appears to have been that the rights of religions are subservient to the will of the people - in this case the issue of cruelty to animals versus the right to practice ones faith according to long established rules.

On its own you may agree with the Dutch position. From what I can see they have not gone as far as banning the importation of animals or animal products that have been slaughtered according to Halal or Kosher rules somewhere else. If true , this is at least inconsistent.

Now that the precedent has been set, how long before the Dutch government decide to legislate against men-only priests in Roman Catholic or Orthodox Churches? There are dozens of ways in which this precedent is disturbing because it sets the state as controller over religious belief and freedom.

In the past we have seen many moral precedents in Holland end up on the statute books in many other European states over time. I really hope that this is not one of them.

There are few followers in Holland - it would be good to hear what you think.

My new message

I have decided to change my mobile phone message on my voicemail. Henceforth it will say
"Thanks for calling , I am sorry I cannot take your call right now. Please leave a message and someone from the News of the World will ring you back shortly!"

Burning Bridges

Daughter-blog, who must have run out of moeny, is back home for a few days. Last night she decided to impart some wisdom with the quote "May the bridges Iburn, light the way". All I could think of was Jeff Bridges being arrested for homicide and arson!

Serious post on pensions

This post might well bore the backside of anyone outside the UK. Then again it might bore the backside of just about anyone in the UK as well! Nonetheless - the blogsite is called "drivel and wisdom" and it is time to rebalance. There has been too much drivel lately, both on this site and in the debate on UK public sector pensions.

We had a national strike of public sector workers this week, complaining about having to work longer and pay more into their "gold-plated" pensions. On the face of it you want to sympathise. However being in the private sector I have seen my pension eroded in terms of my retirement date and my contributions (I have to pay more and more in to get the same benefit). The argument from civil servants has been, for many years, that their pensions are a compensation for lower incomes than the private sector.

Here are some facts from the Office of National Statistics.

In 2010 the median weekly income in the public sector was £554
The median weekly income for the private sector was .........£473!

(The "median" is used as a more accurate measure than a simple average)

A difference of over £4,000 per annum in favour of public sector workers. My sympathies are now a little stretched!

Why are the government choosing to take action on the cost of public sector pensions?

Because the current cost of them will rise from £21 bn to £80 bn over the next forty years - to put that in context - ten years ago the cost was 1.5% of UK GDP. If nothing is done that will rise 2.0% of GDP.

In the last five years the contributions made by empoloyers in the private sector to pension schemes fell by more than ten per cent.

I am going on stike next week, a one-man-band strike, protesting about how much I have to pay in taxes to let other people have a better retirement, higher income and who make no contribution to our economic success!

Come the revolution brother....

All comments gratefully received!!