Is Celia Watching?

 

On Friday, I went racing at Newmarket. I have a members badge so I ought to use it. But also the racing wasn't too bad for a Friday night and Jools Holland with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra was the entertainment after racing.

As Celia and I, always used to do, I did the Tote PlacePot. I missed by one race, where I had the third and fourth in a seven-horse race. If there had been the eight runners when I placed my bets, I'd have had a nice return.

Celia was an ace for the PlacePots and got them up more often than she didn't.

One thing that annoyed me was that two people I know well, seemed to avoid me. Perhaps they never saw me, but it is no excuse, when others do their best to make my life a bit happier. Not that I'm that depressed or unhappy at the moment, but I'm still rather lonely.

Still Jools cheered me up and I went home a lot happier than I went.

On Saturday, I had an article about bereavement published in the East Anglian Daily Times. I had already had a positive report from Helen about what I had written and an old friend, Tanji, said the same. At least I'm doing something right!

I also got the PlacePot right too. Did Celia help? She would have approved of my methods though.

But too many others got it right and I made a profit of four pounds.

Still as they say in many sports, a win is a win

Discrimination in Employment

 

I’ve employed people for years.

In all that time, I’ve actually never had two candidates who were equally good. Usually you get one candidate who stands out from the others. Sometimes, you don’t actually get anybody at all.

But if I did have two exceptional candidates, then I’d probably bend over backwards to try to employ both. That actually happened to my son and he was the second candidate, who his prospective employer took on because they felt he would benefit the firm. He’s still there after six years. I believe that most good employers would attempt to do that.

If you had two poor and equally unsuitable candidates, you’d probably readvertise. Could that be a problem, as say you’d turned down two black women and then employed an exceptional white male six months later? I would hope not.

New iPhone

 

I’m still using a Nokia 6310i. I also have a spare for when it dies, but you can get them rebuilt in London.

I was purchasing a new radio for my nineteen year old Lotus Elan and were testing the Bluetooth link in Halfords and the twenty-year-old or so, thought my battered phone was really cool. Perhaps times are changing.

As to cameras for YouTube, I use a Fuji S5700, which cost £125 or so. Put everything on a 16GB SD-HC card which gives four hours of video and then modify the .avi files with Windows Movie Maker. Very simple and ideal for small videos for a web site, where you just link to YouTube.

Intelligence?

 

If the guy worked for Intelligence how come he left the papers on the train?

As he wasn’t intelligent, he should be fired. But he’ll probably been promoted.

Leaving the Car at Home

 

I can’t really leave the car at home as I live in the country and am 15 miles or so from the main station in Cambridge.

However, there is a little local station at Dullingham, five miles away, and as the local service to Cambridge is very reliable if a bit cramped, when I go to London, I now park there. I buy a ticket on the train and get paper and coffee in Cambridge when I change trains. All very civilised.

What really persuaded me to change my behaviour was not the Congestion Charge in London, but the fact that I turned sixty and now get a discount on all rail fares and the parking is free at Dullingham.

So perhaps what we need to do, is reduce train fares and provide free parking! It would also need more and longer trains and trams and they should be paid for by increased fuel and congestion charges.

One point to note is that the increase in VAT take, because of the fuel price rises has been upwards of two to three billion pounds. So perhaps we should spend that on public transport for a start? But what is the government doing? It is reducing the money it is giving Network Rail.

Sounds typical mixed-up thinking from a bankrupt government.

Portmeirion Potteries Ltd.

 

Celia and I used Portmeirion Pottery for years.

Some were in a bad state probably due to misuse in an AGA. So I pointed this out to the company and they asked me to return one.

I was most surprised to get two new ones.

But it does show that treating customers well, can only have positive effects. I shall be buying more in the future.

Most Useful Things I've Learned

 

Several things really.

My wife of nearly forty years died in December and it’s been tough. What has brought me through it has been all of my widowed friends. Bereavement is ignored by the media, but the compassion of widows and widowers has been superb. Sometimes, you are at a low ebb, but there will be one on-line, who will cheer you up, with a dose of dark and black humour.

And should I say downright and very overt flirting.

I’ve also learned that you don’t do all those things that make your life easier in case one of you dies. Take photos, plan your partner’s future, tell friends of that, teach them to cook, make sure you keep your finances documented. Etc. etc.

42 Days

 

I am not in favour of detention of suspects for 42 days, as it is only one step before Detention Without Trial and we all know that methods like that when used in Ulster, were the best Recruiting Sergeant the IRA ever had.

It is often said by those in favour, that cases are getting more complex and this time limit is needed to break computer codes and unscramble networks. As someone, who has been involved in computing for well over forty years, this is a fallacious argument as computer methods and power have improved many times in recent years. Perhaps, they really aren’t using the best people, hardware and software methods.

Has anybody from an external agency ever audited the computing of the Security Services and the Police?

42 days is just pandering to those who feel that any method is justified when fighting terrorism and that includes torture, unlimited detention and expulsion back to where suspects have never lived.

We must if anything reduce the 30 days back to the average of the civilised world and try to understand what creates terrorists, rather than aid their recruitment.

My biggest worry is that technology is moving on. When I travel, I don’t carry a laptop as I don’t normally have a need. In future I might well copy a my complete PC on to a thumbnail-sized 16Gb SD-HC card and all I would need to do to run it, is just pop it into any suitable PC. No trace of my Internet access or my work would be left on the machine. This technology means that examining hard discs becomes irrelevant and if you want to erase the SD-HC card, you just put it in a microwave.

What measures do the Security Services have to combat this and other methods that could on the one hand be used for convenience by any traveller and on the other for nefarious purposes by criminals and terrorists?

Choosing an Airline Seat

 

Why does anybody pay the extra for speeding boarding?

On Ryanair or easyJet I always board a few from the end. That way as I travel light and now alone, as my wife died in December, it means I’m away quickly at the other end. I also get the luxury of choosing who I sit next to, so would generally ignore a fat, smelly, tattooed bloke in favour of a beautiful slim young lady.

Rules, Rules and More Rules

 

One problem with the Police is all the petty rules. Remove a lot and we’d get a much more efficient and visible service.

Take yesterday. I have been plagued for the last few days, by nuisance calls on my mobile phone. Nothing serious, but a lot of noise, like a party, from a hidden number lasting for six or so seconds. I suspected it could be a boiler room trying to sell me dodgy shares.

So I phoned my mobile phone company and asked them to act. They said they needed a complaint number from the Police, which I got quickly from Suffolk Constabulary with no problem. The mobile phone company, then said they couldn’t find out who was sending the calls and it was up to the Police. Privacy laws? Data Protection Act?

I didn’t bother to waste the Police’s time on this rather trivial matter. But surely we need simple procedures for everything, so that one call sorts it. Not endless toing and froing from one agency to another.

Internet based methods for the reporting of many matters would make things a lot easy for most people and the Police, but they’d probably ruin the crime statistics.

Fuel Taxes

 

What are people going to do when the fuel supply gets even shorter in the next few years and prices rise even more?

The writing has been on the wall for years and people should have taken action years ago. I still drive a lot, but my car does twice as many miles per gallon as the one I drove five years ago.

I’ve worked mainly from home since 1972 and in that time I’ve created two world class companies. Many companies can be organised so that employees work flexibly which saves fuel, but they still cling to old methods.

We must all change how we live our lives and I’m afraid it’s going to get worse before it gets a lot better. Those that change will have a much better life and those companies that don’t will fail and their employees will suffer greatly.

We can’t afford to ignore it and bleat on about high fuel prices.

Vehicle Excise Duty

 

This should be scrapped and replaced with a one-off ownership charge every time the vehicle is registered or changes hands.

Fuel duty however should be increased, so that we are encouraged to drive more fuel efficient cars. It would also mean that some of us would have decide to two vehicles; a small fuel-efficient car for everyday use and something perhaps larger or more special for occasional use.

I should declare an interest in that I own a fuel-efficient estate car and an immaculate eighteen year old Lotus Elan for sunny weather and special trips. It would be ridiculous if I had to pay a heavy road tax on a car like the Lotus which probably does about five hundred miles a year. Incidentally the Lotus is quite fuel efficient retuning nearly forty to the gallon, as the car is very light in weight, but it doesn’t have a catalytic convertor, so would probably be hammered by this so-called government.

Rescued by the Indians

 

Breakfast was good in the hotel. I had a lot of fruit followed by scrambled eggs and some bacon. Nothing to upset me there at all. Incidentally, I've never eaten bread in the US after the first few times as it's crap. Well not crap! Very crap!

So I didn't spend too much time wondering about supper, as if breakfast was this good, then supper might be fine.

I had time to kill, so I walked down to the railway that links Pointe Claire into the city. Did I see any restaurants? Two! One called Le Manoir looked smart and promising and there was an Indian Takeaway called Sahib. So in an hour or so, I just saw two.

Coming back I checked a supermarket for gluten-free food. Here in Canada, it appears that you have to list every ingredient and give nutrional values, but you don't have to list the allergens. Pointless!

So I checked Le Manoir just in case. I didn't like it, so I knew it would have to be the hotel restaurant.

I asked the barman for the menu and he knew all about being a coeliac. Unfortunately, everything except a plain steak or a salad was out. I just didn't fancy either, so I went and saw if I could brave Le Manior. I couldn't.

So as a last resort I gave Sahib a chance.

I was rescued as the waiter assured me that everything was cooked properly with chickpea flour and I was treated to an excellent Chicken Jalfrezi. With a glass of wine the whole thing was twenty-one Canadian Dollars or just over ten pounds.

Not bad and they even had a replay of the Indian Premier League on the television. Great fun!

Here in the 51st State

 

I know Canadians get very angry when I say things like that, but here in the outskirts of Montreal, is there any difference to those of Houston, Detroit or Denver, except that the signage is in French.

I woke early to the noise of traffic on the Freeway and as there was thirty minutes or so before breakfast, I decided that a walk to stretch legs and blow away the dust of the flight would be a good idea. But of course no-one walks in the US, so it wasn't easy to find anywhere suitable. But at least I'll only be here for a few days.

I think now, that at nearly sixty-one I understand why I hated all those trips to the US with Metier in the 1970s and 80s. American Hotels, and this Holiday Inn, I'm staying in is the same, are generally soulless and you have to rely heavily on the car. You're trapped and I don't like that. I was of a generation brought up when kids could be truly free and do what they want.

America may claim it is the land of the free and it once was. But now it is trapped in its car society, that stiffles the life out of everybody and everything. Even here in this Business Centre in the hotel, I can still hear the traffic on the Freeway.

We must regain our freedom and soul.

Moscow

 

It appears that fans were ripped off.

When we went to see Ipswich in 2000, the day trip cost just over £300. This would be about £450 in today’s money.

Save the Post Office

 

Not likely! They are a waste of space. The large ones have queues to match and the small ones are a complete drain on precious resources.

I print all my postage from the excellent Royal Mail site and then hand the parcel to the postman. I get my vehicle excise duty on line and my pensions are paid directly into my bank. I’ve only gone into my local Post Office in the last couple of years, when I’ve an urgent parcel to post and it won’t fit into the letter box. They must love me as it’s already stamped.

What we must do is provide alternative services that work for those who can’t use other services. In rural areas, that probably means closing the offices and providing a mobile one on one or two days a week instead.

We have to get real about loss making services.

Travels With My Celia(c)

 

I'm writing a book called Travels with My Celia(c), which described some of the travelling that I did with Celia, both before and after my diagnosis with coeliac disease and her death.

This is an extract.

The Second Best Car in the World
May 12th, 2008

I say second best, as I’ll let you choose the best and you can argue amongst yourselves interminably.

In August 1990, Celia bought one of the last of the first series of the second Elan to be made by Lotus.

Celia already had a red one and as she liked that so much, she felt that as production was ending, to get a last one would see her in a nice car for a few years.

She loved that car and when she replaced it for daily use with an Audi A4 Avant, it found further use as the spare when our normal transport was being serviced or had broken down. Not that the latter happened often, but dear little K9WFF or Yellow Dog as she called it, just kept running.

She did about 70,000 miles driving between Chambers and Courts all over East Anglia and the only trouble she had was when a kid, cut the hood and stole the radio. But the new hood fitting superbly and it can still be raised and lowered quicker than any of those fancy ones you see nowadays.

For the last few days, I have had it back on the road and you realise what an amazing vehicle it is.

It still has the grunt and coupled with a light weight and superb handling, it can leave anything for dead. There’s the story of the nicked Sierra Cosworth that once had a go at me on the A66 in about 1992. And lost! And the driver got arrested! But...

It has an almost perfect use of space and coupled with wide doors, a lady can get in and out in a short skirt and maintain her decency. Drivers may rate an Elise better, but that car doesn’t have the everyday usability.

Lotus was always slated for the build quality of their cars. Drive it now and there is no rattle or shake and everything still fits as the day it was made.

And then to park it in the street with the top down is not to invite the theft of everything inside, but to receive admiring glances from everyone that passes.

One day, I’ll find a better car, but I’ve waited eighteen years so far!

Book Publishers are Bonkers

 

I have many friends who have real tales to tell, as they have risen to the top of their worthy professions and have received the acclaim of their peers, knighthoods, OBEs and awards that are a lot higher.

But can they get their memoirs published. No!

On the other hand any third rate politician with a knife to wield can not only get it published, but a lot of air time on the BBC.

No wonder when I go on holiday I read Nelkon and Parker. The plot’s better!

Letter to The Times

 

This appeared today.

Severn barrage needs bolder plans
Why not build an airport and industry while harnessing the power of the tide?

Sir, The proposal shown in your paper today is timid. We have an energy crisis, an energy storage crisis, a landfill crisis and an airport crisis in this country and I believe that if we use the resource of the River Severn properly, we can help to solve all of them. A proper solution would also mitigate the problems of flooding in the Severn Valley.

I have knowledge of the proposals put forward by Frederick Snow in the 1960s. He felt that a central spine with a high and a low lake would be the best solution. Turbines would run between the lakes and could provide power when required, but they would also be capable of pumping water back to store energy. In these days of wind turbines relying on winds that don’t always blow, this would be a sensible way of storing the energy from wind power and releasing it as required.

Snow proposed putting energy-based industries such as chlorine and hydrogen production on the spine — but his major proposal was to site a very large airport on it. Could it with proper engineering be built on landfill? After all, it does face in the direction of the prevailing winds and it would be several kilometres from any centre of population, so noise pollution would be reduced to a minimum. As Brunel designed the Great Western to be virtually straight for high-speed running, trains à la TGV could do the journey to London in well under an hour. We either dither or we formulate a bold vision of which Brunel would have been proud.

James Miller
Newmarket, Suffolk

Mortgage Arrears

 

My late wife was a family barrister and was always dealing with families, who through divorce or separation, had severe mortgage arrears and other debts, such as car loans.

She always advised clients to be honest, robust and early with banks and not ignore things until the last minute, when the lender had no choice but to take serious legal action. In many cases her methods resulted in a solution that was acceptable to both parties, because there was time to find that solution.

So whatever you do, if you have debt problems, act early.