It was inevitable that Bethany would come down with the flu bug as well and it, or the drugs we're filling her with, are making her very sleepy until of course we try to put her to bed. She has her brighter moments and these are increasing as she is over the worst but she still looks to the comfort of cuddles.
   Yesterday was Nathan's first birthday and as usual she did enjoy herself running around Louise and Paul's but still had moments when toys were not enough to placate her. Putting her to bed when we got back home Bethany slept for about half an hour before waking and not settling back down and staying up until we went to bed and she slept with us.

                                         *********************************

   Left unchecked the few radios at work tend to migrate to the kind of stations that must think Radio 2 is cutting edge and have inane interchangeable names that some focus group has been paid a lot of money to come up with and mean nothing like Smooth, Magic, Easy and Dull. This must be why apparently taxi drivers always have their radios tuned in to such stations to provide nothing more confrontational than background music. They tend to be national stations syndicated to former local stations so that you find former national DJs presenting programmes with local news and travel reports on the hour giving it a feel of Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse as Smashie and Nicey after being demoted to Quiet FM. This was amplified by trails heard on what I think is Smooth (like I say they are all pretty interchangeable and I wasn't particularly listening but I can't turn them all off) that Simon Bates was joining the station. Given that Pat Sharp was presenting at the time it seems another 80s revival is underway. For the duration of my coffee he managed the breathtaking feat of taking his own nonsense bit of fluff phone in seriously when commenting on some ridiculous survey that claimed Sandra Bullock came top of a poll of people we would most like as a neighbour. Asking his listeners for their favourites he dismissed one woman's suggestion of George Clooney as too fanciful and that she was out of luck as he had a new girlfriend. Considering that the whole item was fanciful this seemed churlish and at no point did the lady's response indicate that she was looking for a relationship and this had not been asked - perhaps she simply believed that he may be more willing to lend some milk or he would not start territorial disputes over fencing. Presumably those people who wanted to live next door to Sandra Bullock believe that she would be a valuable asset to the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.

What was to be our first family Christmas dinner alone was somewhat spoiled by both Alison and myself having flu. I spent Christmas Eve feeling feverish and Alison awoke during the night with sickness and diarrhoea and had to phone in sick at work - something that she was loathe to do as she felt that they wouldn't believe her. Rather than feeling self pity we gathered ourselves enough to ensure Bethany enjoyed herself although she seemed a little confused by all the proceedings and was as happy to play with the wrapping paper or the bows on other peoples presents. The sore throat and achey joints I can cope with but what is really annoying is being off my food and most things that I do manage to eat tasting of cardboard. The fridge appears to be tormenting me by still being stuffed to bursting with rich goodies that give me indigestion just looking at them.
   Bethany seemed to enjoy visiting other people more than anything else as it allowed her free rein to run around in newish surroundings as we were able to pop out to exchange presents and she particularly enjoyed playing with Joshua again although Nathan is a bit more wary of her. This may be due to her running around without due care and occasionally falling into him and him not able to get out her path in time.
   When we got home and put Bethany to bed I thought I would brave alcohol and got a beer which was fine but the medicinal whiskey afterwards proved a bit much and was still there when I woke up on the couch a couple of hours later whilst listening to the cricket. I might try wine after beer tonight.
   The mistake I made when ordering presents online worked out well in the end. Alison said that she would like some charms for her bracelet and I ordered a couple from Amazon - a seasonal snowman was fine and would thread through her Pandora bracelet nicely, however the fairy was a clip on type and after cursing myself and thinking how to send it back I thought of buying Alison the appropriate bracelet for that charm. My logic that her other bracelet was fairly full and this would offer some variety proved successful although I did confess the real reason behind the purchase and of some other charms so that the fairy did not look out of place on its own.

Well I think everything is just about sorted for Christmas now: wrapping done - check; got booze - check; the big grocery shop - check. Sainsbury's wasn't quite as manic as I was expecting (the other year I spent three quarters of an hour trying to get out of their car park on Christmas Eve) so I now have the worry that I've forgotten something. Too late now for when I return from work tomorrow afternoon we shall be dashing around visiting with presents and again on Christmas Day. Alison's working Christmas morning so I'll pop to my folks then get back to put the dinner on, after which we'll be calling on Louise and Paul who will be entertaining Anna. Yet another Xmas when I won't get a drink before 7pm - it's now traditional. Anyway panic over after Alison rang me when I was doing the shopping and I had to break the bad news that they had ran out of sprouts. Thankfully Anna was going down town and picked some up for us despite fears that there maybe a national sprout shortage. This simple procedure required several phone calls and military style planning as I was to ring to ensure that the sprouts had been successfully purchased or whether I would be needed to call into the 24 hour Tesco opposite work when my shift finished. As it was I only had to call at Anna's to collect the goods.
  I will enjoy myself.

Everybody still seems obsessed with the weather and while it is freezing cold we have yet to see any snow in Darlington although there has been a little in Hartlepool. That little bit came in quite useful today as my screen wash has frozen after I topped it up a few weeks ago mixing it 50/50. I called in to Tesco before starting work to spend our Christmas vouchers and I was able to use the snow in the car park to wash my windscreen. Not ideal but it worked. The media will get bored of snow once it leaves the South and we may spend the next six weeks having to build igloos but as long as Gatwick and the M25 are clear you would not think there was a problem. I don't seem to recall this much fuss being made when we spent a couple of weeks under two feet of snow a fortnight ago

I feel like I've achieved things today managing to wrap Alison's presents whilst she's at work and before taking Bethany for her 1 year immunisations. She was due them a fortnight ago but she was not feeling well and it was decided best to leave it until Tuesday. Alison could not get to the community centre and rang to let them know thus taking her to the drop in centre this evening. She wasn't impressed and unsurprisingly cried and I wondered whether it was worth getting her weighed but was keen to after she lost a bit last time. We quickly popped her on the scales still in her playsuit and saw that she had put a bit on and is now 22lbs. Thankfully she calmed down by the time I got back to the car and was happy to have a biscuit and some juice when we got home before running around as if nothing had happened.

Alison was worried last night after next door was burgled yesterday evening for the second time since we've been here. Four or five lads ran down his drive and past me when I went round the cornershop but after initially thinking it was kids fetching a ball I thought they may have ran away from elsewhere and cut through his garden as his property is at the end of the back lane behind our street before it gets to our house as they all had their hoods up and weren't carrying anything so I didn't think that they had actually been in his house. Another bloke was stood at the other side of the street carrying two carrier bags who actually looked more suspicious but he remained where he was whilst the other lads ran off. Returning from the shop he was still stood there and he got out his phone and loudly muttered "Where's the fucking taxi at? the twat." This actually made me more suspicious as it's not the place you would pick a taxi up from as if you weren't in your home you would not usually arrange for a taxi to collect you from the end of a residential cul-de-sac. Once inside I went upstairs thinking I would take a photo of him but, whether he saw me or got fed up waiting for his taxi, he threw a couple of snowballs and sauntered away before I could find the camera on my phone. The upshot of this is that Alison has moved the presents upstairs leaving a spartan looking tree in the living room.
   We're also slowly getting more organized for Christmas - the cards are all posted and I've a few stocking fillers left to buy with (Alison's aside) most presents wrapped. Hopefully after this weekend there will only the be the shopping left to do allowing a little relaxation time before Santa calls - a man of taste as he enjoyed a glass of my Singleton single malt last year. Despite this being the 2nd call he will be making to us Alison still bought a couple of Christmas outfits for Bethany with "My first Christmas" emblazoned on them with the logic that she was too young to know what was happening last December. The pedant in me agrees but points out that she is still unfamiliar with the concept of Christmas at 13 months and it still is technically her 2nd Christmas. It appears that I am in the minority, however, as no outfits with "My 2nd Christmas" were available and the sleepsuits that Alison bought were for the age range 12 - 18 months.

I have been rather busy of late with overtime at work eating into my days such that I have been neglecting my blogs of late. Add to that Christmas preparations and birthdays and I am struggling to keep things upto date (the hill of ironing will soon need reclassifying as a mountain) but luckily that should be an end to the overtime for the time being. The local shopkeeper just informed me that I looked tired this evening which is worrying, especially as I'm off to work in ten minutes for a night shift.
   Anyway yesterday was Louise's birthday and we went round to theirs on the Saturday for a buffet along with Anna trying to take things easy. Joshua has always enjoyed being around Bethany and this time she reciprocated and had a whale of a time running around a house that she is quite unfamiliar with playing with Joshua. There were also a couple of touching moments when she tried to include Nathan in the games, passing him (his own) toys and giving him his drink. He appeared tired early on put picked up as the afternoon progressed whilst Bethany went the other way and tired herself out playing.
   I have had every intention of making a few notes here and there but not found the time and in the case of my News Blog http://richmarshallnews.blogspot.com/ I was going to comment on a story I heard on the radio going into work but on trying to research it could find no mention of it. Whether I misheard some details or because one of the principle names was, I believe, Emma Hamilton thus rendering any searches full of results for Nelson's mistress I'm not sure - suffice to say I wasted more time I don't have.

Anna was released from hospital today and looked quite well when we visited yesterday if rather tired, understandably. She is going to find it hard to relax and since returning home she has already rearranged her social life, phoning all her friends to announce that she would be unable to attend certain festive parties as well as updating them with her news. She is also worrying herself over her medication as they have taken her off the tablets she was taking for her arthritis in case of any complications and she is naturally worried about how this will affect her mobility. Probably not the rest that the staff were envisioning.
   Today is also Joshua's ninth birthday and we had a pub meal in the Brinkburn minus Anna, which upset Joshua a little as he pointed out that it was the first birthday he had celebrated without his Granny. He managed to console himself by opening presents and playing with his new DS game.
   I was a little startled the other morning when I got up and passed Bethany's room en route to the bathroom to hear her say "Dadadadadad". A not uncommon phrase for her to express and one that filled me with joy the first time I heard her say it until she then addressed the headboard in a like manner and has become a catch all utterance she makes usually when happy or wanting something. Much to Alison's chagrin her other favourite is "Mamamamamam" but this tends to be when she is upset or about to cry. Recently it sounds like she is trying to copy what you say but the only other distinct(ish) words we heard previously were, enigmatically "Barbara" and "Derek". We have yet to establish who these people are. Anyway the other morning - fearing that she had woken up I gingerly peeked in to see that she was still fast asleep and had taken to talking in her sleep. She can be noisy enough when awake, now she is not even going to let us have any respite when she sleeps.

An unpleasant and worrying day after Alison phoned me at 6:30 this morning at work upset but with the wherewithal to tell me first up that there was nothing wrong with Bethany. Her mother had been taken to hospital with chest pains and lack of any further information was increasing her concern. Allowing me to go home I left work and Alison called Helen and she went round to comfort her before I got home. After taking Bethany to nursery Louise and Paul picked her up after dropping Joshua at school and Paul took them to James Cook before returning with Nathan. When they phoned me they told me that Anna had suffered a heart attack but was stable now after having already been in theatre. Tired but strong enough to organize her daughters to cancel tomorrow's hair appointment they took the time she spent napping to visit old friends on the wards they had worked on before I collected them later in the afternoon. Anna's strength of character is well illustrated by the example Alison recounted how after suffering chest pains early this morning after apparently being unwell over the weekend she debated as to whether to call for help. Eventually compromising to ring 111 they sent an ambulance and she climbed upstairs to change into clean pyjamas and wait outside for them. Joking that given time she would have run round with the hoover to ensure her house was presentable to the paramedics was probably not that far from the truth.

A bit of exercise for a change today whilst Good Samaritanning helping free two cars stuck in the snow. The first one even resorted to another pusher and myself fetching shovels from our cars. Both incidents were just after I had parked up in town for the dreaded Christmas shopping and that should have provided enough warning as to how frustrating an afternoon it was to be. Saying that I knew beforehand I was not going to be rolling around in thralls of ecstasy as I trudged through the slush and when Alison invited herself along to make it a family day I knew that this year was not going to be a one visit trip. Even though we split up and gave ourselves an hour before meeting back up I felt hamstrung to get Ali's presents. Added to the fact that I couldn't remember what I had already bought online for people I ended up getting some cards, paper and bows and vowing to check my e-mails when we got home to see what I had ordered. I did manage to smuggle a couple of little things in Bethany's pushchair which thoughtfully came in see through bags and despaired at the knowledge that I would have to return down town and once again suffer my hatred of crowds.

Well I managed to venture out in the snow today after digging my car out from two feet of snow. The dead end in our street ensures we don't get much through traffic so the snow was still banked up and quite deep around the kerb but once I got out of our street the drive to work was not to bad. I had more trouble pushing Bethany in her pram to the nursery this morning as the pavement was very bobbly with piles of snow intermittently blocking the path where people had cleared their drives and dumped it in the way making it easier to push her on the road itself and having to reverse up and down the kerb.
   It's reminded me to look for my gloves and when clearing my car I squeezed into Alison's (fashion being a low priority at that moment in time) and when I got back I was looking forward to a restful couple of hours before setting off for work. That was before the sink overflowed and flooded the kitchen. Believing that the snow may have compacted over he drain I went to clear it to no avail and after checking that the U-bend was clear started boiling the kettle to pour over the external pipe which had frozen solid. It finally cleared about half an hour before I left giving me enough time to make my bait (half the cause of he problem in the first place as I had left some boiled eggs to cool under running water in the sink whilst the washing machine was running) and get changed. After setting off earlier it did not take that much longer to get to work so I could have had a bit longer at home after all but unsure what condition the roads were in after using up my holidays earlier this week I thought it best not to take any chances.

Another sign of my ageing as I put Children's TV on to distract Bethany whilst I prepared tea and found myself narrating to her "Ooh look it's Makka Pakka" and realized that I can name every character from "In the Night Garden" but was not fully au fait with the England Rugby team in the recent autumn internationals. It's one more of those youthful tests that I can no longer pass like Who is number one in the single charts? I long ago stopped even caring about that and I suspect that the chart compilers aren't too bothered either now that you can make the top 10 by selling about 50 records. I was still vaguely aware of who was in the charts as I would listen to Radio 1 for a couple of shows that still had some merit but that stopped when John Peel died and 6music started.
   I had an earlier portent that my life as an individual was over when we were on holiday in Ilfracombe the other month and some children came over in the pool to fuss over Bethany and I realized that I am no longer Richard but Bethany's dad. I quite like that actually.
   Bethany has taken her attempts to tidy up after herself to another level today after previously replacing toys in the box (before taking them back out) by helping me with the laundry. Pulling the wet clothes out of the washer I started carrying them to the clothes horse to find Bethany copying me and walking back and forth with Alison's underwear and placing it on the one rung she could reach - it's about time she started puling her weight!

Bethany was due her one year jabs this morning but it was postponed a week as she was a bit out of sorts with the runny nose she has had for the past week giving a little cause for concern. Instead we just got her weighed and she had actually lost a bit, although they expressed doubt over the scales as a number of other children had apparently also slimmed a bit. She has not been eating as much as normal recently and she is walking around so the loss is possible but was still within the parameters nonetheless. After the upset and fuss undressing and redressing Bethany we took her for her first shoe fitting where she was good but too tired to play ball and walk around in the shoes to see how well they fitted. For the record she was measured at 3.5E on one foot with the other slightly larger. Obviously the smaller size was recommended and I cynically assumed it was so you had to buy the next pair sooner but rode with it. I think Alison was more impressed with the shoes as the little lights on the side entertained her when the shoe was banged slightly as Bethany demonstrated perfectly later on with her heavy footsteps.

An enjoyably hectic day as it's Bethany's 1st birthday and after the initial excitement of tearing wrapping paper all over she seemed to enjoy herself playing with the new toys even if she was unaware or cared as to why she got them. As the well travelled cliche has it "children prefer playing with the box" and while there was a brief flirtation with the large glittery bag the presents came in she did actually play with the toys albeit more so with the simpler ones ie stacking cups occupied her more than say a musical pull along duck with flashing lights and various noises. With family coming round for a buffet tea at 4pm we actually found ourselves with time on our hands after a quick tidy so that we were able to catch up on watching some recorded programmes which included Bethany's favourite theme tune "New Tricks".
   The car / walker that we got Bethany a while back actually got some use anyway as after the first day she decided that she did not like being sat in it where she was confined but Nathan was not as particular and enjoyed playing with it even though it is pink. Typically the table is still full of food now covered in cling film, despite Alison's protestations that I should cook more. At least lunch tomorrow is taken care of as well as Alison's bait for work and the embargo on snacking on the crisps and nuts when settling down at night has now been lifted.

Bethany has been fussy with her food again and I tried another tactic which worked for a short while. This is not a method I would recommend but she started doing it herself so I carried it on. After a few mouthfuls of cauliflower and broccoli cheese (without the cheese! - none left so I made parsley sauce) she refused any more and so we gave her a chocolate dessert. Whilst feeding her this she started dropping bits of vegetable into the chocolate jar and fishing them back out. Inspired by this I started coating bits of cauliflower in the chocolate and she happily ate it although the choco-broccoli was not so successful. This was not necessary for her tea but I did have to prepare about three meals so that after she had picked at all the bits and pieces she had just about managed a meal. The tray from the high chair looked like an explosion in a restaurant with bits of stew, fishfinger, bread and apple strewn all over.

I've just created another blog as I try to restore some semblemce of order to this one. I will try to confine this to personal info and my various trains of thought on others. So for the time being Sports Thoughts shall house my sporting related rants and I intend to create one for currrent affairs called News Views. I was considering an entertainment based one as well but that may be for a later date.
   As Bethany's first birthday approaches she seems to really developing. Her first tottering steps have progressed to walking between rooms but she does look like a drunk zombie when she does so. She is also learning as she plays, reassembling three bathtime boats that interlock and used a spoon to feed herself with. Granted the latter saw as much yoghurt down her arm and smeared around her right eye but she did get some in her mouth as well.

Effectively we're having a weekend apart as Alison and myself won't see much of each other. At the moment she is round her mother's to share in the Children in Need experience, which is a little tradition they have and I may stop up long enough to see her before going to bed ready for my overtime tomorrow morning. When I return Alison is working tomorrow afternoon and for 12 hours on Sunday and she will get back in time then before I leave to start my night shift. So providing she doesn't get any more shifts I might see her when I get up on Monday afternoon. I suppose this will happen more and more as we organize shifts so that someone is always here to look after Bethany.
   To continue from last night, there may have been other points I wished to make but what I can recall is something I meant to mention a while back but had my memory jogged by my rant against Jane Moore. Referring to Mohammed as being the top name for boys (despite officially being Oliver) I remember checking the list when they were first published to see how our little contribution to the statistics had fared.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15282

Bethany is ranked at 53 with a total of 1135 babies named such in 2009 - a drop of 3 places from the previous year. Curiously it had dropped 42 places since 1999 - I say curiously as I was not aware that it had been so prevalent 11 years ago although I must confess not to have really examined these statistics in much detail before, only the most popular names from every so often kept popping up in the various baby name books that we looked through and it didn't seem familiar. Anyway I, in a strange way, was quite pleased with this position: not too popular to be commonplace and possibly confusing with the potential of a number of classmates having the same name and not too rare as to be deliberately obscurantist with a name that frankly could be just made up. Happily coasting along in mid-table, which, along with all the other reasons previously discussed was another consideration when deciding her name, or at least the short(ish)list.

I had the urge to set up a website for no particular reason than I had a couple of ideas and thought I would be interested in them so why not? My initial idea was one I had thought of for a while and was based on me occasionally wondering if a long unheard of celebrity was still alive or not. To be called Dead or Alive I felt it may be of passing interest to similarly forgetful people. Secondly I thought of writing a load of quiz questions, with answers, in varying categories that may be useful for compilers of pub quizzes called simply "Pub Quiz". Thinking it best to check the Internet first to see if nothing similar existed I was mildly disappointed to see that both were already fully fledged services with the same names - oh well always one step (at least) behind.
   A couple of quick lines to follow up previous posts: firstly with regards to the Royal Wedding it seems strange for the media to refer to Kate Middleton as a commoner. This is a word that just feels politically incorrect and applied by tabloid editors, many of whom had regular upbringings - comprehensive, redbrick universities, lorry driver fathers etc - to a public school educated daughter of a millionaire seems surreal and makes her sound like a chav. It doesn't say much for the rest of us.
   I did say a couple of lines but I can't be bothered now as it's getting late and now Ali is back from her first shift at the home I'll save it for another day (if I can remember or be bothered).

A dull, grey and foggy day that saw me dig my jumper out of my locker for the first time this season, although it only lasted half an hour as I soon worked up a sweat. I say that but working on the panel besides 300 odd barrels of beer on the boil helps raise the ambient temperature. The dullness of my workday was enlivened by Bethany starting to take a few more steps who was very pleased with herself.
   Returning home I was immediately bored when I heard the news of the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton knowing that this would dominate all programmes for the foreseeable future. Even the broadcaster seemed fed up with the regular interruptions to his show so that we could hear the thoughts of a friend of one of the couple's aunt's neighbour to the extent that he encouraged listeners to contact him with more tenuous links. It may be time to hibernate until Spring.

I feel dirty. Whilst having my bait at work last week there was a copy of the Sun lying around and I flicked through it. Knowing the editorial stance of the paper even the piece condoning waterboarding was hardly a surprise - although it does become quite comical when after picking sides they refuse to accept their man can ever do anything wrong and that those opposing his views are never right (a nice get out clause at the moment as negative news stories are Coalition policies not Conservative ones, hence the scrapping of the Child Trust Fund being accompanied by a photo of Nick Clegg. What bothered me was the accompanying article by Jane Moore where I detected some snide racism as she went off track to complain about chanting extremists outside a courtroom noting that two of the three men were called Mohammed and that this was now the most popular name in the UK for boys. I felt compelled to write a comment on their website concerning this and wondering as to the relevance of the name (the number of which had actually fallen) and pointing out that it smacked of incitement stirring up right wingers "Look at them coming over here, taking our names". Given that Phil Woolas has been suspended from Parliament and a by election called in his constituency for lying and using inciting language in his election literature I wondered what the difference between the rules for politicians and journalists was. Strangely enough they didn't post any of my comments and I'm left with the filthy stain of signing up to their website.
   On a positive note, yesterday Bethany took a couple of tentative steps causing much excitement after racing around with the walker she seems about ready for the next stage. However, the last few nights she hasn't been going to sleep, or dropping off only to wake a little later wanting to play. Teeth keep getting blamed and whilst they may well be a major cause she has also started putting her hand to her ear making us wonder if she has an infection - based solely on a doctor at Piper House asking if she had done that, indicating that it may be an ear infection. We had never noticed before but ever since when she does so we wonder if she may have an infection or is simply scratching.

Yesterday as I was walking back from town I saw some gig posters in a shop window and had a quick look to see what was on. A tribute act calling themselves "The Kinx" was unsurprising and may be fun and I could hardly believe that Sham 69 were still going, but the poster that really grabbed my attention was for "The Glitter Band" featuring Captain Sensible.

http://www.theglitterband.co.uk/

Now I may be mistaken but they might struggle to sell all the tickets for that one. By all means continue to play but you do realise the associations people make with that name so to still trade under that banner will be an issue as it is so strongly linked to Gary Glitter. I understand that if you used a new name people wouldn't know who you are but surely that's better than trading on the back of a convicted paedophile and advertising yourself to the pitchfork wielding members of the community.
   Opinion seems divided over Ian Holloway and his decision to make 10 changes to the Blackpool team who narrowly lost to Aston Villa last night. He has received support over his threat to quit should he be fined by the FA for not fielding a full strength team and others point out that as Mick McCarthy was fined last year for resting players ahead of a more winnable game with Wolves it would be unfair not to do likewise. The difference then was that McCarthy was upfront about his motives giving the FA no option but to follow there poor law. Every team indulges in this, although not necessarily to this extent and with the bigger clubs it is called squad rotation. The whole point of the 25 man squad was to bring more young British players through and last night Holloway fielded 8 Englishmen giving them a chance as he rested some of his more regular players. Sure he will have had one eye on the weekend but he still put out a team with the intention of winning and what was best for his team. As he said he does not want someone from the FA telling him what his best XI is and players will need rest at some stage. As it stands there is nothing from stopping a manager claiming a player has a knock or that there is a virus in the squad and the League Cup has been a regular arena for blooding younger players by the bigger teams for the last few seasons.

I'm sure it's not a new phenomenon for a delegation of business leaders to accompany politicians on state visits but Camerons's trip to China felt particularly like he was little more than a pimp. Given the multi million pound contract that Rolls Royce secured I wonder if these companies have to pay for the privilege of accompanying the Prime Minister given the potential rewards on offer and if not how do you get an invite as I fancy a holiday. Other than making a few introductions it is hard to see what Cameron himself achieved for the UK aside from some mumbling about human rights which he was obliged to do and which the Chinese authorities politely entertained before completely ignoring by sentencing Zhao Linhai to two and a half years  for inciting social disorder after complaining about the tainted milk that made many children, including his own, ill.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s3063001.htm

It's probably still too early to comment on the Zulqarnain Haider case as I feel there a few developments yet to be revealed, suffice to say whilst some commentators question his methods of fleeing Dubai and claim asylum in London rather than report any match fixing through the proper channels are understandable the extenuating circumstances may be genuine. If, as claimed, he and his family have received death threats then that may cause some panic as you put those you love first, although the asylum claims do seem strange as they tend to be in cases where the individual is running from the state. As far I know the threats were from illegal bookmakers not the Pakistan state.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/davidbond/2010/11/mystery_continues_in_haider_af.html

Domestically a few daytime sit com moments especially when Anna baby sat yesterday afternoon whilst Alison went for an interview. The door handle broke on the living room door trapping her and Bethany in the front room. A few phone calls for help resulted in Paul coming round who was luckily off work and who unscrewed the handle and freed the Darlo 2. Aside from that Bethany is gaining great amusement by helping with the laundry - by which I mean each time I hang an item on the clothes horse she takes it back off. As she can only reach the smaller items on the bottom we generally have a trail of socks and knickers around the dining room just after the washing machine has finished. This morning, however, Bethany tried wearing them and spent much of this morning with a pair of pink knickers over her head. She at least found this hilarious.

Saturday evening was the night of the firework display in South Park which we are lucky to see from the warmth of our bedroom and this occasion was the first for Bethany and quite possibly the last for a while. They started around 7:30pm by which time she was already tired and rather underwhelmed by the whole experience save for a few chuckles at the lights and one startled jump at a loud bang. Slightly curious as to the voices below, Alison was aware enough to realise that a family were shouting up to ask if it was alright to park across our drive for want of anywhere else and had consented before I realised they had been addressing us. I must confess to getting bored by the display as fireworks have never really impressed me and there are only so many times when you can say "Woo another bright flash" before it starts to annoy. This is exacerbated by being removed from the action and it was better last year when Joshua wanted to go into the park and I accompanied him with Paul and the atmosphere generated by the crowd made for a far more enjoyable experience as well as having enjoyment by proxy via Joshua osmosing itself upon me. That is why it would be such a wrong headed decision to cancel the display in future years because of "The Cuts". It may save a few thousand pounds but in the grand scheme of things this is nothing and the goodwill generated is priceless to say nothing of the lack of revenue stallholders will face if this and other festivals are axed. There are precious few other events that can bring the community together so it would be a shame if it were to go and the busybody charter that is "The Big Society" may as well have been on the bonfire. Nobody is going to work together with neighbours if they don't know them - besides I'm too busy so stop bothering me.

Cotton is great. Soft and comfortable and versatile enough to produce differing materials from denim, corduroy and moleskin as well as other industrial uses like nitrocellulose. That is why there is no better feeling than climbing into bed after a night shift after it has been freshly changed with newly laundered cotton sheets. Unfortunately Alison changed the sheets for the shiny polyester ones which have a habit of clicking on the rough skin on my hands and feet. As I toss and turn in bed I feel like a sticklebrick wrapped in Velcro - I suppose I should moisturise.
   A 1-0 win this afternoon when giving Bethany her tea. She's been getting antsy of late when feeding, taking only a few mouthfuls before getting upset, refusing any more other than dessert and biscuits. I made cauliflower cheese and she took a bit more than normal before she started crying. To calm her down I gave her a yoghurt then rinsing the empty pot put her dinner in the pot. She realized from the first mouthful that it was no longer raspberry yoghurt but with a spoon in one hand to play with she ate her dinner with me topping up the pot a couple of times.

Collecting a parcel from Royal Mail the other day I noticed a poster that was somewhat out of place. It was advertising the fact that they were open late on Wednesdays until 8pm and basically that was all it said on the poster. The trouble was the design in that the message was spelled out in neon sign letters on a brick wall backdrop. Nothing wrong with that you might think only rather than informing the public that you can send a recorded letter later on a Wednesday it looked more like a kebab shop letting us know we could still get our takeaway later during the week. Have we become desensitized to simple words on paper that we will not look unless they are accompanied by flashing lights and a few whistles. I was waiting in a queue with nothing else to do so would happily read any messages you displayed no matter how plainly presented they were.
   This week is dragging now, possibly knowing the extra shift on Friday night is going to make it longer is not helping as is the lack of sleep - one of those horrible moments at work the other night when I actually nodded off during a quiet spell for a minute before my head nodding forward woke myself up. That's one of the main reasons why I prefer to be busy all the time rather than this week where everything can happen at once then calm down for half an hour. Hopefully, as well, I might find room in bed in the morning as opposed to squeezing myself into the whatever space has been left. This morning for instance Alison had somehow propped herself up in one corner of the bed using every pillow and Bethany was laid across perpendicular to her allowing me a narrow strip at the edge up against the bedside table whilst getting kicked in the back each time Bethany moved her feet and making do with a cushion instead of a pillow. Just as I was managing to nod off I was brought round by Bethany, now fully awake, climbing over me to play with the toys she'd found on the bedside table. Opening my eyes I saw her waving my Nectar card and a ten pound note with everything else on the floor save my glasses which had disappeared. Thankfully Alison found them under the table just outside the radius of my blindly waving arm.

A spare ten minutes before I go to work so a quick update. Bethany has had diarrhoea for a few days now although it does not seem to be troubling her too much despite ruining one sleep suit that went straight in the bin. It is hard to know whether she has an infection or it is one of the many side effects put down to teething. After a number of sniffles in the last few weeks since starting nursery it was easy to forget about her teeth, but the top two at the front breaking through directly above her other two has reminded us. Today she also showed signs of learning as she picked up a toy phone and held it to her ear, copying what she had seen us do.
   Alison had a pleasant surprise when Mencap phoned to offer her an interview for relief work, allowing her to have a few to pick and choose around my shifts. Anyway after arranging the date and time Alison recognized the woman on the other end of the phone as an old class friend. Slightly startled at this coincidence she called her mother to tell her and I was impressed that she never once mentioned "It's a small world."

Self awareness is a cruel being that can rob you of whatever confidence you have. Some may have a lack of confidence due to constantly being undermined, not getting that promotion to the extent that you doubt if you really are capable. I, however, suffer from low self esteem even though people have constantly tried to sing my praises. This is a natural thing for parents to do and when you do quite well at school it is tempting to believe the hype especially when you progress to University which, you are constantly reminded, is for a select few. However, once there you quickly realize that you are not quite so special, there are thousands of others like you and you have no God given right to whatever you think you deserve. Graduating with an average degree, which according to urban legend at the time was worse than I would have been awarded if the library had burned down, wakes you up to reality as does the hundreds of job rejection letters you collect. Generally I am aware that I have a certain level of intelligence but not enough whereby I could eg debate sensibly on certain topics without having to do a lot of research first and then disseminating it which I don't really have time for. I therefore rely on certain trusted sources to keep abreast of certain issues and would not be comfortable arguing with a zealot of the opposing point of view who has the courage of their convictions. My verbal communication skills are poor at the best of times and even this format feels more like talking and so something I still don't feel entirely comfortable with as opposed to taking more time to craft and edit a piece properly but as this is not meant to be that serious I'm sure I'll cope. Friends and family are kind enough to laugh at the silly limericks I compose for special occasions and whilst being fairly quick witted this is no indication of any actual ability. I know also that I will be guilty of knee jerk reactions but this is more of a cathartic exercise and I really need to try a bit of reflection. The trouble is that any number of people are doing the same and their are too many voices speaking at once. This is not a problem per se and is nicely democratic, but the knock on effect it has on news programmes and the amount of coverage that is given to ill informed people is frightening. The following link from a climate change denying MP post underlines how these people are in power but as Ben Goldacre pointed out when he posted this on Twitter is the 2nd comment.

http://www.hearfromyourmp.com/view/message/1084

That comment is what I can only aspire to: properly researched with references debunking the myths perpetuated by the self serving politician. Thankfully there are people like Alistair Jackson around prepared to dig around and stand up to these people, I just wonder how many are listening to him. Many folk may hear the accusation but few hear the rebuttal and if they do may not believe it.
   With the clocks going back Alison has to work an extra hour tonight, although it is her last shift and I'm wondering whether to have an extra hour in bed or not as I'll still be up early to pick Ali up but will have to go back to bed later as I start nights. Before taking her we called at the local store and I stocked up on sweets expecting a number of Trick or Treaters to call, not wanting to be caught out like last night when a group of girls came round and all I had access to as I was trying to get Bethany settled was 13p. Anyway, not one caller so I now feel a little nauseous from too many wine gums. Still no loud bangs tonight unlike last night when it sounded like something falling down. Looking out the back this morning I saw a 8ish foot length foot of fascia on the decking. Where from?: can't see anywhere obvious. How did it get there?: Don't know as our garden backs onto other gardens and we have houses either side with a locked gate down the drive. Upshot: Someone couldn't be arsed to take it to the tip so thought I could take it for them.

My God I can be self righteous at times as I complain about the lack of time and effort my MP puts into a reply when I only cut and pasted a stock form from Amnesty and from a group I'm not sure where they sprang from called 38 degrees. They have been contacting me regularly after I petitioned against the proposed axing of 6music which they were also campaigning against. They now appear to be a rent a petition protest group who I want to resent for assuming that since we both agreed on one issue I should support them on others if it wasn't for the fact that I have had similar sympathies with their other requests. Anyway my initial point about the quality of Ms Chapman's reply was based on the more thorough responses from her opposing candidates and just to undermine me further I received another reply from her today in which she was more thorough and included a copy of a letter she replied in response to the questions she raised on this issue. It may be as well to reflect for an extra day before writing and gain an extra degree of perspective as information is allowed to digest and filter out any knee jerk reactions that would justify Andrew Marr in believing all bloggers were bog eyed, frothing at the mouth loners.
   I'll see how things go although the personal details may be exempt in some circumstances. Today not much reflection is required to mention how I never heard the fire alarm at work as I was hosing out a vessel and the water splashing against the stainless steel drowned out the alarm while I leaned inside. Straightening up I heard the alarm and noticed the place deserted so made my way outside to be greeted by mocking cheers. One of my colleagues mentioned how our manager had told him to evacuate and I pulled him up for not telling me. He did say that he reported my absence from the roll call to security when questioned who casually replied "oh well nevermind" or words to that effect. It is reassuring to know that my invaluable work is so appreciated.

These early shifts make me more tired than I realize, particularly as the week progresses. I planned to make a few more comments last night but my mind went blank as I started to type, undermining the very nature of this blog as I hope to jot down a few notes on the days events if I can't remember what happened 4 hours later. Not that anything noted (or rather not) is that important only a little frustrating. I do recall that I was going to mention the little frisson of excitement and the Alison's slightly nervous anticipation to find a letter addressed to me from the House of Commons. True we don't lead very exciting lives so that anything above the mundane becomes a talking point. Opening it was an anti climax as I found a reply from my MP after petitioning her to support the Science is Vital campaign. In two lines she agreed that it was important and had signed the Early Day Motion to that effect. It was nice that she agreed and replied but I can't help feeling slightly short changed by the brevity of the reply - almost to the effect that it would have been better not to have bothered. This may also stem from the time during the election campaign when I forwarded a stock letter from Amnesty to the candidates from the three main parties asking them not to forget about human rights. The Conservative candidate gave a windy reply that talked the talk but did not convince especially as he did not make mention of their proposal to withdraw from the European Human Rights Act. The LibDem candidate did a pretty good job of addressing the individual points mentioned but our eventual MP, Jenny Chapman of Labour simply replied that yes she agreed it was important.
   As for today we took Bethany to a Halloween party at her nursery dressed as a pumpkin. Alison warned me that it would be mostly mums there but I thought it would be nice to go along and sure enough I was the only male over 3 years old present. By the time they gave them some tea another man in army fatigues turned up to pick up his child but at least Bethany enjoyed herself and got a goody bag as we left. Thinking that she was still too young for Maltesers which were in the bag we shared them ourselves on the way back home.

Starting to live of scraps as I find a few moments to put down some thoughts and tonight I have a little more time as Bethany went to bed earlier being tired but unfortunately upset with a touch of nappy rash. Hopefully she sleeps through tonight unlike last night when she woke around 2am after working her way up the cot so that she was no longer on the pressure sensor, setting off the alarm and waking us all up. I then spent the next 2.5 hours with one shoulder jammed against the bedside table and Bethany tucked under my chin, laid vertically between Alison and myself, before I had to get up for work. While she was in her cot Alison started wrapping her birthday presents ready for next month in a bid to be organized and did intend to start on her Christmas presents tonight but that may have been put on the backburner. I uselessly listened to the football on the radio now that we've had the Sport channels taken out I'll skulk in the back convincing myself that radio commentary is far superior to television punditry. Actually I do usually find that to be true and used to often say listen to TMS whilst watching the cricket on the TV with the sound down - something I found you could not do with digital TV due o the delay. The delay did have its uses if I was for example listening to the cricket whilst cooking in the kitchen and I heard something of note I could walk to the front room and watch what I had just heard - sadly not now an option.

One of those frustrating days at work where teething trouble in "unmothballing" equipment not used for six months as we restart producing the beer that used them. A number of things were tested last week to see if they worked (they didn't) and repaired only to fail when in actual use. The day passed quickly anyhow.
   Bethany appears to be settling into nursery a bit better now as the assistant said she was far more cheery after settling down when Alison dropped her off. A pity that she started crying when she saw me but as usual calmed down when I picked her up. Heavy lidded now so it's probably time to go to bed, although it's full at the moment - ironically I'm the only one not in bed and will be first up for earlies. Best sharpen those elbows.

My doesn't this news business move fast. So the Rooney saga is temporarily over for the time being as he signs a 5 year contract to stay at Manchester United and the conspiracy theorists have a field day. Someone has definitely been bluffing but I'm not quite sure who. I initially suspected that threats to leave were a bargaining chip to improve the contract on offer but after the language being used on both sides it seemed like a fait accompli that he would leave. It's no longer even worth commenting on any longer as it only encourages them.
   I forgot to mention yesterday concerning the cuts that despite the rhetoric the economic situation is perfect for the Tories who like cutting the public sector back as much as they can. You can feel the warm glow still emanating from George Osborne right now (which will at least save the fuel bill for possibly another 24 hours).
   A bit of calm has now been restored after a power cut saw me rummaging under the stairs for candles. Luckily it was only for about 30 minutes but it was annoying as we were half way through watching "New Tricks" at the time (get us and our Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle) and the house alarm over the road was the only entertainment we had as we realised how much stuff needs electricity. Even the landline phone is plugged in and the small glimmer of hope when I saw that the battery was still powering the laptop was short lived when I realised that I still could not contact our energy supplier as the modem and router were down. Regular checks on Bethany ensued as the various monitors were down although she was oblivious to this. Ironically the breathing monitor has been more of a bane just as she has been sleeping better: at the start of the week we were finally getting her down just for her to wake herself up coughing 2 hours later but the last couple of nights she was sleeping fine but moving up the cot to such an extent that she was no longer on the breathing / movement sensor mat under her mattress. This obviously resulted in the alarm sounding and us running to her room just in time to see her wake up with the noise. I feared that when the electricity came back on some alarm would go off to rouse her but thankfully not.

My what a lot of news we've been having - or at least a lot of comment so I might as well add my two penn'orth. The CUTS: I'm in no way qualified to discuss macro economics but even a financial dunce like myself knows that if you make more people redundant they are not going to spend as much money to stimulate the economy. New governments like new owners of a business always make claims of improving efficiency by eliminating waste. This can only go so far as for the twenty odd years I've been voting all these efficiencies would surely make us some streamlined freak. What it always really means is job losses as it does at work where for example you have six people on a shift and the new owner reduces that down to five. A few years down the line and another takeover later and the new boss realises that you operate with four people when someone is on holiday so why not all the time. Now when someone is off somebody will have to work over from another shift. They will throw in some guff about switching lights off but the real saving is in the wages they no longer have to pay. If you're making more people redundant you seriously can't expect the private sector to pick these unemployed up and those they do will be on lower wages and rather than cutting the Welfare budget more claims will come in. Saying that you should earn more in work than on benefits is all very well but you can't do it by just stopping benefits and leaving the vulnerable in poverty. We've just started claiming the Working Tax credit, which was all rather vague to me and I realised that this is a complete nonsense and an admission that employers can't be paying high enough salaries that the government has to effectively top your earnings up. Surely raising the minimum wage so that people can earn more in work would be more sensible. Earn more, spend more, increase tax revenue and improve profits for the businesses that you are spending your extra cash on (the same ones that will probably complain that an increase in the minimum wage will ruin them).
   Wayne Rooney: A shift in the air may be in the offing. This is by no means the first or last case of mercenary footballers and for those who castigate his greed a number of people also say they too would follow the money or simply gloat at Manchester United being the victim and not the perpetrator. I think there is a slightly subtle change in the latter case where one example cited was Dimitar Berbatov who left Spurs for more money / medals. That subtlety is that Berbatov didn't publicly claim that he wanted to leave before any offers for him came in - whether he was tapped up or not is another matter but again that is usually par for the course. In this instance the major unsettling figure appears to be his agent whose sole purpose is to keep his clients moving from club to club so that he can get his cut of the fees. Claims that United haven't signed any big players is a little disingenuous as at first that is true but then not many other Premiership teams have signed big world class stars - most of them play in Spain or Italy still and for all Man City's spending they have spent a lot of money on decent or good players but no Messi or Kaka. The timing with the cuts in the background could have been better but it may help signal the end of the silly money flying around the top end of the game. This may be wishful thinking but not every club has a rich sugar daddy and they are not going to last for long if the money does dry up. With Alison set to leave work and concentrate on part time nearer home while spending more time with Bethany means we had to look at economising and the first thing to go was Sky Sports. In the current climate we won't be the only ones, as well as a number foregoing the season ticket or getting a cheap knock off version of the shirt as opposed to the official merchandise. When this happens more and more some clubs will struggle and be unable to sustain the current wage structure. Tax laws in Spain for example means that players can take home more pay on the same salary and there may be an initial outflow of talent, but this financial situation is global and will possibly have a knock on effect. Or it may just be wishful thinking only the impression seems to be that the fans are not happy and something's going to happen soon - perhaps FA intervention with wage caps of some sort to nip any dissension in the bud and prevent clubs going insolvent.
   Final point: Just read that Ari Up, front woman of the Slits has died aged 48 and it feels like another era of legends is about to start losing its battle with mortality. Scarily she was only 10 years older than me despite the Slits debuting when I was 5.

We have progress! Well I found the video remote at least giving us a full compliment. Embarassingly it was sitting on the bedside cabinet upstairs brazenly in full view while we assumed it was for the video in the bedroom. We don't use either machine that often any more and less so the one upstairs so the actual remote for that was tucked away in a drawer batteryless like its oppo. It seems there main function is now to provide batteries for something we use more often, so no doubt the two new Energizers I put in the newly found remote will bide their time for a few weeks until we need to operate a new toy for Bethany.
   My voice is getting rougher so that Helen did not recognize me when I just phoned her. She had texted this morning asking after Bethany but my phone wouldn't let me text - not just not sending them but not even writing or drafting them (I managed to put my message as a template but it wasn't fooled) - so I rang her when I got back from work. Momentarily forgetting I was landline to landline not mobile to mobile so that she would not know who was calling I was taken aback when she asked who I was. I like to think that I now sound deep and sexy like Barry White or Mariella Frostrup and went around work singing the opening line to "Wanderin' Star" last night. This one line served it's purpose for the, admittedly, not very funny joke and also proved convenient not being able to recall any more of the song.
   Bethany is still not herself although her temperature seemed more stable today as we have her pumped full of drugs. She is refusing to go to sleep and is getting to be a bit of a bugger to get down - those first six months or so when she slept like a dream were too good to be true afterall and I suppose this is when you start earning your parent proficiency badges.

A long weekend and not just because of my shift pattern as Bethany continues to ensure we survive on only basic sleep rations with a bit of worry thrown in for good luck. Unfortunate timing as Margaret and Del were down this weekend with Diane and Tim, the former hoping for a first look at Bethany whereas Diane and Tim were the only members of our southern family members who could make it down for her Christening. They spent yesterday in the Lakes and the hope was that I would take Bethany round to my parent's where they intended to have a little buffet. Bethany, however was not aware of these plans and despite continually doping her up as instructed on Friday (I paraphrase) Alison called in work to let them know she could not go in over the weekend. After a little sleep her temperature rocketed so we took her back to the walk in centre where this time they confirmed an ear and throat infection and gave us some antibiotics. When we got back Alison and Bethany had a lie down and went to sleep and my dad brought, who we collectively call the "London Lot" (despite Margaret and Del living in Reading and Diane and Tim in Somerset) round after taking them up to the place Margaret had lived as a child, not far from our house, as they had a present for Bethany. Disappointingly they still did not get to see her this time but hopefully another occasion will present itself soon - it may have already passed but I was fairly sure that Margaret and Del's 60th Wedding Anniversary was on the horizon. More importantly, at the moment Bethany is settled and asleep and I just hope she manages a good night and doesn't need comforting in our bed - I don't want to get all self pitying again but my head feels a little frazzled with running around, lack of sleep and flu which is not helping aches and pains either so I'd rather not have another night squashed up in bed to be woken by a snotty kiss 4 hours after going to sleep and then having the mattress used as a trampoline. I mean I love you to bits Bethany but...
   Inbetween Bethany's fitful sleeps yesterday I managed to get down town and pick up the photographs we had taken of her using a voucher Helen had given us for Christmas. We were both a little taken by surprise by the photo shoot and had not really expected anything as professional. I assumed it would be similar to when she was born and someone came round the ward with a camera. That time it cost about £30 and you got various sized photos you could share out like you did with your school photo in the cardboard sleeve plus a couple of bookmarks with the same image. It was just over a month ago when we went and I thought 9 months was a good time for the next "proper" photograph of her to go into the album so I was a little taken aback when we spent an hour in the studio with different outfits and WE had to pose in them as well. That is the part that I was least expecting and had I known I might have at least had a shave or changed. The session would have gone on longer but Bethany was getting bored and letting us all know so we left with reassurances that if there were no decent shots we could come back. That should have started the alarm bells as the major part of the price will be for the studio time, however when we went to view them there were a number of good photographs, mainly any that did not have me or Alison in them (there was one good one with Ali in but any with me were horrible). It was during this viewing that we realized that what we had been expecting was rather different from what we were going to get. In the end we picked 5 photos and had them framed as a diptych one on top of the other and a triptych in a horizontal row, which cost just over £500. Anyway I picked them up yesterday and they are very nice.
   One definite positive today was when I found the remote control for the DVD player. For a couple of weeks this, along with it's close friend the video remote, have been missing either because Bethany likes playing with remotes and had buried them somewhere or because we had hid them away from her and could not remember where. Drawers and cupboards have not been tidier and I found 43p under the settee. I would not have bothered so much if the DVD player had more than a few basic buttons on the front of it meaning that while I could press play to watch a film box sets were a problem as on the TV series that we were working our way through we could only watch the first episode of each disc. Now we might finally get to work our way through that box set of "Bones" after I found first the back of the battery cover on the floor to the side of the TV stand before closer inspection revealed a number of video cassettes (you may need to ask about them) that had been pushed between the gap formed by the underside of the stand shelf and the digibox. Pulling them out I saw the remote balanced on the Scart cable and retrieved it sans batteries, although still no sign of the video remote - luckily that is a lazy remote and not essential to the operation of the machine.

Another trip to the drop in surgery as Bethany's temperature fluctuated throughout the day just for them to tell us to continue pumping her full of paracetamol and ibuprofen as we had been doing. The nurse suspected that she may have a slight ear infection as well as a sore throat which wasn't a great surprise as I believe that she has passed that on to me. She woke up not long ago and wouldn't stop crying until I carried her downstairs where she was happy to fall back asleep in Alison's arms. It feels like that she has constantly had some sniffles since starting nursery but I suppose it's all part of the process of building up resistance. It is probably no surprise that she has been kind enough to pass any flu symptoms on as we have been in the habit of giving her dummy a quick suck when she drops it before popping it back in her mouth and doing so without thinking when covered in snot may well account for myself feeling feverish at work last night. The feeling was not unlike the end of a long haul flight as I was stiff as if not moving for a while, popped ears, tiredness and even the low hum of the vessels was not unlike the drone of the engines. The difference kicked in with a headache for the last couple of hours of my shift which lasted until I got home. The extent of it was such that I was tempted to put on my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the glare of the traffic lights despite it being pitch black just after 6am, but resisted for fear of looking a dick in front of the bloke I was giving a lift too. Christ I'm a moaning git: Bethany is curled up in Alison's arms in the next room after being unwell all day and I've got a bit of a stiff neck and a sore throat and I'm still playing the self pity card. A shot of my "cure" should do the trick anyway: whiskey and Covonia although the latter may have to be substituted for Sainsbury's own brand cough mixture.

   I was cut off a little bit last night as I had to leave for work so if it seemed rushed at the end...Saying that there was always that faint danger that while not all the Chilean miners had been rescued something terrible may occur but now it is safe to comment knowing that all are safe including the Uncle Albert amongst them: Omar Reygadas. One comment I heard during the operation that I enjoyed was the rejoinder to God being constantly thanked - although it is understandable for people to find religion in such circumstances if they were not already inclined to such beliefs. However, those who search the skies for a celestial higher power now know where to look after many found him underground ling believed to be hiding Satan. Anyway the point was how a priest was walking past a house with a beautifully tended garden when he turned to the man pruning away and commented "Isn't it amazing what we can achieve with a little help from God", to which the gardener / owner (I was only half listening at the time but got the gist) replied "You should have seen the state of this place when He had this on his own."
   Before signing off just to report on a short pang of guilt when rifling through the fridge and could only find some jellies of Bethany's for a quick snack. Justifying my actions with the knowledge that she wasn't to keen on them, karma came back to bite me on the arse when I noticed that it was eight days past the Best Before Date. Thinking that it didn't seem so bad and what's the worst that jelly can do I ate another - I'm already feeling a bit fluey so I probably wouldn't even notice any effects.

It's about time I started writing on here as I intended as a diary as well as a repository of random thoughts and rants and post for myself and not some imaginary audience. Far too much exposition is unnecessary relating who's who - even if thousands of people were reading this how many would actually care about the minuteae of my life or even my radio phone in style rants. This is supposed to be something for me to look back on and remember and if anybody else happens to be bored enough to find it a distraction then so be it.
    Quick change of pace with an oddly moving day watching the Chilean miners being evacuated - as of this moment just over half of the 33 have safely been brought to the surface to be greeted by a beaming President Sebastien Pinera. While it is undoubtedly good PR for him and he has seen his approval rating improve, though not as much as that of his Mining Minister, I find it rather uncomfortable. It is right for him to be there and he know doubt is genuinely pleased to see each man safely rescued only he is far too prominent hugging each man on his appearance when the human drama of each man is far more important. The images that have impressed me so far are Mario Sepulveda, the second to be rescued, who broght a bag of rocks with him as souvenirs then proceeded to hand them to the rescue workers and the president before running around high fiving his rescuers. Other stories such as how Victor Zamora was unlucky to be involved as he was a mechanic repairing a vehicle and not a miner and Omar Reygadas who had been trapped underground a couple of times before highlighting that such events are actually above politics.

Yet again another weekend draws to a close and I feel like nothing has happened but I don't seem to have stopped running around and so I quickly thought I'd post as I've not been on for a while despite having to leave for work in quarter of an hour. Sundays when I'm on nights always feel like a race against the clock at the best of times despite the rest of the week when I get up later running somewhat smoother. This resulted in a laugh or cry moment when I spent two hours preparing meals for Bethany. The chicken was poached, vegetables finely chopped (which always takes me the longest amount of time) and cheese sauce made all whilst stopping to drag Bethany away from the stereo or printer. I made enough for her tea and some extra to freeze for future meals and as her meal was cooling Bethany fell asleep in her high chair. When she awoke some three quarters of an hour later we attempted to feed her but still being tired she wasn't in the mood and after a couple of spoonfuls started crying. Alison tried her on her dessert and she managed half a pot of rice pudding before crying again. Giving up we gave her some bread and butter with a banana which she happily ate before getting upset again. Luckily I suppose I saw the funny side of preparing her food when she was happier with bread and a banana and hopefully she wasn't commenting on my culinary skills. Also she thankfully perked up when Alison took her in the bath which always seems to make her happy.

Well managing to get an extra hour of sleep the other night did me the power of good to such an extent that I had a relative spring in my step as I got into work just after 5:30. This was certainly a refreshing change for a Monday morning that turned into a pretty good day when I returned home to find that the wife had bought Halloween outfits ready for Bethany and she was grinning from ear to ear whilst dressed as a pumpkin. Add to that Europe's narrow win in the Ryder Cup (is it just me or does it always seem to fall to an Irishman to gain the winning point) and it looked like a faultless day until of course Alison dragged me round town looking at shoes and coats. Still more plusses than minuses and another one came later when someone slightly famous of that there telly replied to a tweet I'd posted. Granted it was in response to a thread he started and it was slightly critical but hey a response and I do exist! He may be more confused as I couldn't let it lie there and responded but as is my wont on twitter in haiku form. This seemed like a good idea at the time and may have had some comic merit for my own amusement, but is probably quite tedious although thankfully I have no followers and I have not quite tired of this gimmick yet and so will probably persist for a little while longer.

A rather tiring weekend for all as Bethany has not been in a good humour so before I finally go to bed a quick account. I returned from work Friday evening  where Alison said that she had been upset and took a long time to go to sleep, possibly as a consequence of being to nursery and then picked up by my parents before Alison returned from work so breaking her usual routine. I wasn't feeling particularly well with an upset stomach and could not drop off to sleep myself. Finally managing a couple of hours we were rushed out of bed by oversleeping and ran around to get ready before taking Alison to work luckily only a few minutes late. As Bethany was tired herself she was becoming increasingly grouchy after her tea and so I decided to set off a bit earlier to pick Ali up as she would not settle unless she was held up, not even allowing you to cuddle her whilst sat. My thinking had a two fold plan in that I know she is prone to fall asleep in the car seat, especially if she is already tired, and she was fighting sleep in my arms and also if I got there early enough I might catch forty winks myself depending on how quickly Ali's handover lasted. Thankfully we both had a nap - Bethany from just after I left the Darlington bypass and myself half an hour outside James Cook waiting. Unfortunately Bethany wasn't as sleepy when we returned home and we were up until 3:30 in the morning before she went down. So now it's time for bed just in time to get up at 4:40 for earlies.

Well now that Tony Curtis has passed away there are very few actors from the so called "Golden Age" of Hollywood left alive save Kirk Douglas and Eli Wallach. Certainly I can't recall any of the stellar names who were active pre war except the child actors such as Liz Taylor and Mickey Rooney and it certainly does feel like the passing of an era with few links back to that time in film making. Curtis himself helped forge a link to the previous generation with his Cary Grant impersonation in "Some Like It Hot" and I would like to think that there are enough people who still enjoy watching the older films and film makers still indebted to their predecessors. Silent comedy had a recent upsurge thanks to Steve McQueen's art instillation and Paul Merton's TV series but as mentioned previously I miss being able to see such movies on TV during the daytime instead of the endless uninspiring chat shows, makeover shows and cut price quiz programmes.
   Anyway just to annoy my daughter at some undetermined date in the future I remembered the various people (sort of) that she reminded me of when first born.



Bethany




Ken Stott




Wallace




Slitheen

Granted I'm not claiming some sort of spitting image and tiredness may have played a part but at a certain angle and light there was an occasional passing resemblance.

Well that's another day negotiated of avoiding the auditors at work who seemingly do there checking on the morning. Now I appreciate why the company are going after accreditation to attract more customers and as the ultimate customer may be a large supermarket we need to conform to their standards. However, these are several pages of what basically amounts to keep your record in order and the factory clean and take little account of the various businesses it may cover. So as we are technically a food factory we need to adhere to certain stringent rules which are conveniently ignored when they contravene structural factors around the fact that we are an almost 150 year old brewery. So while we must regularly clean floors and pipework and tick the box to say that it was done along with another signature from a supervisor who has inspected it this does not stop the roof leaking and making a mess of the nice clean floor. This is apparently not a serious issue as the product is held within stainless steel vessels and not in contact with the newly dirty areas so begging the question why we wasted the time to clean the floor in the first place. Somebody on the radio the other day was complaining along similar lines and highlighted the point of check boxes: they might indicate that someone has said they have cleaned something but it does not mean that it was cleaned.
   I don't mind cleaning but this routine becomes self fulfilling as the customer demands standards so someone then needs to organise and inspect these standards and the small businesses fall over themselves to maintain them believing it provides them with an edge. This comes hot on the heels of the previous initiative whereby all the workforce had to do an NVQ in Lean Manufacturing which did have some good general points to make but again was not tailor made to any particular business. The constant comparisons with Nissan and how lean and efficient they were obviously is of no consequence to a brewery and did them no favours when they reduced hours at their plant. Aside from the horrific profit based business model looking to shave pennies at every available opportunity the idea that if you operate the manufacturing process exactly the same you get the same product out and thus consistency may work in a car plant but not when you are dealing with variable ingredients such as malt and hops as well as a living organism in yeast that does not always behave the same. The lack of craft to this vision of the process depressed me and may be fine for the generic lagers we produce but I like to think if you create a beer good enough people will drink it as opposed trying to make it as cheap as you can as this leaves you open to someone coming along and undercutting you.
   Efficiency measures were always trying to save a minute here or there which is fine if you run a 24 hour operation but means nothing if you save say 5 minutes on the keg plant as they would not start on a new tank and the lads would go home 5 minutes early or spend it in the canteen. Again the principles are fine and I personally always try to be as efficient and hygienic as I can but that is down to my own self worth at doing a good job but in the end it became a cleaning exercise where we were put into groups and charged with sorting an area out. Some flannel would be used to say how the newly cleaned area was no longer a hazard with all the rubbish cleared away thereby improving the overall site safety after all that had been done was to chuck some unused equipment away and stick some signs up.
   Two points that emerged from this was that it was more efficient to keep equipment you used regularly at hand and that whilst visual management (signs) was important, not to get carried away as too much information with notices everywhere tends to get ignored as nobody is going to stop and read them all. From that, as you may already have guessed, everything has been cleared away to keep areas looking clean and there are notices all over the place. Now I know that they have to cater for the lowest common denominator but some of the signs really are quite patronising.

Really a 6 step guide to washing your hands. We may be a food factory but I've not seen these sort of precautions in a hospital trying to prevent MRSA. My favourite part of this notice though is underneath the 6 step guide it actually states "For further information please call..." in case you were wondering if there were a few missing steps they could advise you about to ensure your hands were really extra clean. No doubt such cleaning stations are situated in areas where your hands are likely to get particularly dirty but in reality they are in the toilets.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/26/ed-miliband-leader-unions


Ah the unions. That favourite bete noir of journalists and Conservative politicians who need a scapegoat to blame for all the country's ills. I would have thought that after Thatcher effectively had them neutered nobody would get so hot under the collar about them but now it seems they have managed to rig the labour leadership election as opposed to, say, recommend to their members the one candidate out of the five who stood who they believed best represented their interests. This is certainly not creating a stooge as in any election you can only deliver on promises you actually make and people vote accordingly on such promises. Few people will ever totally agree with any one politician or party on all matters and often you may vote against the person you disagree with most but either way compromise is necessary. As for complaints that the Unions are too influential in the leadership election denies from where the labour movement was born and even in today's society the ordinary men and women who are union members better represent society than the professional politicians who make up the constituency members or the MPs themselves. These are the people who will vote in a General Election who work alongside people with similar concerns but without any affiliation. They are therefore not constantly surrounded by Labour people even if they themselves are but share many of the same troubles and have a fresh take on what is needed. Many obviously think Ed Miliband offers that alternative and to cry foul over the numbers is unfair when the method of counting them did not result in your favourite being elected. Statistics can always be manipulated to come to a different conclusion and there is never a perfect system (just look at our general election results) so you have to work with what you've got. That system may need improving or not but you can't use it to challenge the validity of the winner after the event. A lot smacks of general Tory sniping as they are slightly unsure what they are going to be up against so hope the cheap shots now may distract him. In the long run he may prove more effective having only had a relatively minor role in the last administration as opposed to his brother who might have been put on the back foot defending his record whenever he tried to criticise the Coalition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11412031


I suppose I'm rather pleased Ed Miliband was elected Labour leader seeing that, Dianne Abbott aside, he was probably the most left wing candidate available. I'm sure his brother will feel hard done by but he was basically a Blair clone and his Nu New labour spiel won't attract anyone not won over in the first place and when you have one (at least) slick bastard in No 10 then the last thing you need is another polished professional politician (ooh very alliterative). We honestly don't like smooth MPs no matter how much media training Cameron and Clegg have ordinary people will not trust them. Vince Cable on the other hand appears to be a dying breed and so people warm to him despite any message he carries as he obviously eschews many PR tricks and comes across as genuine. This may be some elaborate double bluff, but generally the public are sceptical of image conscious politicians and would rather their MP seem like a human. That may be a stretch too far for Ed Miliband and no doubt the image consultants and stylists are already knocking at his door but he should rebuff them. If people think he is a geek so what! No makeover will change peoples perceptions now and any attempt will look false like Gordon Brown trying to smile. We really do believe policy is more important than personality so lets see you deliver on the rhetoric of the last few months. Good luck.
    Totally unrelated but I've noticed that occasionally when stood upright I've started to sway. This I put down to gently swaying my hips from side to side whilst cradling Bethany when attempting to get her to sleep. I have now been doing it for a while that the other day I noticed that I was doing it when stood up at work, but obviously without the baby in my arms. Luckily I noticed what I was doing before anyone else and anchored myself to a table for stability but it is surely only a matter of time before the funny looks start. Hopefully the persistent aroma of baby vomit that seems to follow me offers up a clue as to my behaviour.

I've realized one of the reasons I take too long to do the weekly shop is that I am sad enough to perform maths equations in my head at every aisle as I calculate the various merits of the numerous offers and their actual worth. Example: Today in Sainsbury's I was looking at the baby wipes with the knowledge that the pound shop sell the same item for a pound (funnily enough) yet the Supermarkets charge either £2 or £2.30 depending on their mood. As I (middle aged grump that I am becoming) begrudge paying more than twice what they retail for elsewhere I often wait until they are on offer which to be fair is quite often in a buy one get one free capacity, putting them back in the same bracket. This further knowledge compounds the fact that the RRP is a marketing tool to attract people to the apparent bargain that it actually is not and increases my resentment, but today the offer was a third off all baby products making a pack about £1.35 which as I needed a couple still had me thinking of them as too dear until I saw a 4 pack for £3. I know this is incredibly tedious but this is what I suffer in every aisle and why I take over an hour to throw an increasing number of groceries into my trolley. As frustrating as this is I know it is still quicker and more convenient than going to a number of different stores that I know to have a more honest and competitive pricing system. It may not be the most important issue but the pricing cartel is particularly depressing when the supermarkets play off each other in their advertising to appear the most competitive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11388764


Vince Cable appears to be getting a fair amount of flak for daring to criticize the banks and their rampant overzealous capitalism which exacerbated the economic crisis. One point that this is fine when opposition but not the sort of rhetoric expected of the Business Secretary whose role is not to criticize business. This is clearly nonsense as he is it least being consistent whether you agree with him or not and since when could a government minister not air grievances about matters that he oversees. The Education Secretary can complain about poor exam results or failing schools, the Health secretary about underperforming hospitals so why not the Business Secretary raise an issue he believes needs addressing concerning the department he oversees. Much is often made of not upsetting the markets as they are very nervous which implies that a radical overhaul is required to introduce a less unsettled system that does not result in economic meltdown everytime somebody hurts their feelings. We know of course that this will never happen as in reality big business are nothing more than bullies who blackmail all that if they don't get their own way and the tax breaks they want they will take the ball and the jobs they provide and go and play with another country who'll let them do what they want.
   What is even more disappointing is that this report comes from the impartial BBC and not an expected right wing media outlet confirming the fear that this is now the consensus view and be ready for the backlash should you stray from the status quo. From an organization that likes to present the other side,however marginal e.g. climate change deniers, this is simply depressing.

A day of celebration as we celebrate our 3rd Wedding Anniversary and Ali's mam Anna is 66 today. Apparently a 3rd wedding is represented by leather so I suggested we get leathered at the weekend (unfortunately as I finish my night shift, Ali will be in at the weekend). The 3rd anniversary flower is a fuchsia and I could not find any at short notice, ironic as I cut down a fuchsia bush from our front the other week.

The furore over Ronnie O'Sullivan needing to be persuaded to pot the final black to complete a 147 seems to miss the point.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/sep/20/ronnie-osullivan-147

Whilst the mercenary reasons given leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth I can't help but admire the chutzpah of someone seemingly not bothered about completing a maximum break as if it were an ordinary occurrence. Comments that he was letting down fans who wanted to see him finish of the break ignore the fact that people watch him play precisely because of his maverick nature and this incident is more likely to be remembered in ten years time than if he had finished the break routinely (if a 147 can be described as routine), which would have barely been reported in the first place. These talented individuals are important in all sports and people come to watch them as they fire the imagination, unsure quite what they are going to do, be it a moment of sporting excellence or something stupid or arrogant. While I equally admire players in all sports who work hard to make the most of their abilities or the plucky underdog up against the odds these do not draw the crowds in as the mavericks do and it would be a boring world if everyone was to become an automaton with any individuality stifled. An increase in professionalism with the larger rewards on offer is already driving many of them from various disciplines especially in team sports so those that are left should be cherished. We still talk of the exploits of George Best or Ian Botham and while Bobby Charlton and Graham Gooch were equally important to the teams they played in the crowds are still excited by the former.

If an indicator of age is the number of cards one accrues then I have definitely reached middle age in a flash and have to give serious thought about having a wallet. I don't think I have had more than two cards on me at any one time until a few years ago when we opened a joint account so I had 2 debit cards as well as my swipe card to get into work. I have had other cards such as University Library card and a store card that I only took out to take advantage of the discount it offered on a purchase and immediately threw it in a drawer somewhere. Recently others have started appearing like the petrol point card, but I keep that in the car so it doesn't trouble my pockets and in the last few weeks I have taken out my first credit card and also now have a Nectar card. I never bothered with such things before and the idea of the latter was anathema to me as I did not like to feel beholden to one store but my new middle age thinking dictates that as I generally use Sainsburys with it being closest it seems silly not to collect any accrued points. This means that I now have five cards in my pocket and my other pet hate of a wallet still needs resisting, although my fear that I could easily lose a wallet and everything in it outweighs any practicalities it may offer. God I'm really starting to hate myself.

Another of those strange days where I don't seem to have done anything yet only now at 8:30 in the evening do I feel that I can relax (primarily because the baby is now asleep). The laundry does not seem to have gone down much, forms remain incomplete and the cases are still to go back in the attic but for now I will settle for a few beers and getting a late night in preparation for night shift tomorrow.
   A quick disclaimer as I heard on the radio the other day Fiona Phillips describing her autobiography called "Before I Forget". I would like to state that I was certainly unaware of her book (and would not particularly wish to be associated with her) but did pick the title as a nod to another autobiography: that of James Mason. I'm not a great fan of autobiographies in general but did buy this as he was my favourite screen actor for many years to the effect that I recorded any of his films when they appeared on television during my teens as well as many other "classics" that filled the schedules during the eighties before the endless inane chat shows and countless quiz programmes replaced them. This no doubt helped inculcate my love of film and also why I'm not really interested in public conflict. I could be quite anal about it though, using Halliwell's Film Guide to more or less tick of the films that I should see and had seen.

A whole new world has appeared to me this last week that I was unaware of; I mean I did know that people owned caravans but the extent that they treated them like second homes had eluded me. The constant advertising of caravans for sale at the park where we were staying is understandable but it is probably the scruffy bloke in me that assumes caravans are rather basically equipped boxes stuck on the back of a car and that static versions provide a solid base with a bed and a telly when you want a weekend away. The latter point was quickly dispelled on entering the one we had rented for the week: very spacious (as it should being designed to sleep twice as many) and better equipped than the chalet we had in Ilfracombe the previous month. Then we made the mistake of buying wine with a cork from the on site store before realizing there was no corkscrew (a quick trip to Tesco's required); this time not only did we have a corkscrew (ironically redundant due to screw caps) but measuring jugs, scissors and other utensils we had forgot. The TV even came with an inbuilt DVD player that still had a copy of "The Tooth Fairy" in it (unsurprisingly average with a life lesson learned moral).
   The real eye opener came when walking past the bought caravans and the extent to which the owners had gone to make them more like their own homes. many had verandas, complete with barbecue, as well as benches and pot plants. Without being nosey you couldn't help but see the large flat screen TVs and in one case the full gas fire complete with surround. It does seem typically English that we don't trust the weather enough that we have to invest in better heating for our summer abodes. Saying that a few nights this past week were quite cold to the point that I could see my breath this morning all helping that end of season feeling to the whole experience. Beautiful beaches all along that stretch of coast but a bit too windy, especially for Bethany, to fully enjoy.

   I started this hours ago and as often happens I got distracted by a number of things of varying importance (chiefly baby, food and cricket) and just remembered that I had left this open after the 3rd ODI between England and Pakistan had ended. Now that it is over a quick comment on both teams strips: Why do both have a coloured circle under the armpit. Are strip manufacturers really running out of ideas as the outfits change so regularly that any flashes here or there will do and if so who thought having a dark green patch under the arm of a light green shirt for Pakistan was a good idea and did not remotely look like they were sweating too much. England's however is just curious: bright green on dark blue makes the players look a little diseased. Much like those T-shirts that changed colour when you sweated these designs don't seem to have been fully thought through. For all that well bowled Umar Gul, leaving the fear that England are not as good as they think they are and have not really been tested this summer. The worry is that we do not build on success well and can rest on our laurels in a warm glow of smug satisfaction. This is not restricted to cricket as the Rugby team went backwards after winning the World Cup in 2003 like the Ashes winning side of 2005 did. I hope that after winning the 20/20 or (T20 or whatever) World Cup this team does not do likewise.