Rabbit Thought of the Day

I am now ready now for what the world throws at me, well ready for what works throws at me. All my boxes have been unpacked and the contents put away. It taken me since 06:45 this morning and it now 09:00 so just a little over 2 hours to sort my life out. I can now sit back and watch the rest of the office unpack their boxes and sort their desks out, so it far it not been too bad, I haven’t heard any arguments are any complaints which is quite surprising.

Rabbit

I have been at work now for 15 minutes, The move over the weekend appeared to go ok. Well at least my boxes are at my new desk, its taken me from the time I arrived to now to set up my computer, well not quite, I have to intall new printers, but I'll do that later.

It time time to unload my stuff and set up my desk, I appear to have more storage space than I did upstairs, so that a good, oh well time to get. Will be on again later.

Rabbit

Now that I have my new ‘mobile external hard drive’, or whatever the proper term is. I am able to sort my photos. I have been meaning to do this for weeks, but I am having a quiet day, my daughter is out the weather is not looking too good.

Therefore I’m going to hog the computer all day, and sort my life out, am only coming off to eat.

Oh and maybe a few blogs along the way!

Rabbit

We went out yesterday a spent a little more than we intended too, I needed a new printer to we headed off to PC world. I’d already checked up on what printers to look at, I had two in mind, a Canon and an Epsom.

When we were looking around the Canon was out of stock and the Epsom was only available on the internet (I really should have looked better). Anyway we couldn’t really see one that we liked. Lucky for us Staples the office supply people are right next door. We were planning on going there anyway, because I needed to buy a few items any way.

Well we walked around and discovered that a few of the ‘All in One’ printers, scanners and photocopier were on special deals. We noticed a HP Photosmart for £99.99 reduced from £149.99. Being a Yorkshireman and rather tight with money, (the Scots are generous compared to Yorkshire folk) we decided that it would be ideal. I also bought a mobile external drive 160Gb, the one I use at present is full, paper and some share ink cartridges. So it was successful if want an expensive morning out.

To finish off a good day, we had an excellent Italian meal last night!

It the great annual event on the Thames today, ‘The University Boat Race’. Looking out of my window this early in the morning, it looks like they have picked a nice day for it. Considering the bad weather we have had in the last couple of weeks I bet the organisers are relieved.

They are due to start at 17:15 this evening, is seems quite late to me, I can’t remember them starting that late before. The weather forecast is good, but has said the wind may increase which will make for an interesting race if that’s the case.

We are going out for a meal tonight; hopefully it will be as good as the last one. Well we are going to the same place, for a nice Italian.

Don’t forget to change your clocks tonight; they go forward at 01:00.

Rabbit

I've packed all wordly goods and am ready to move, I managed to fit all my stuff in two small tea crates, ready for the move down stairs to my new desk, all I have left to go is my laptop which I take home with me anyway.

Hopefully when I get to work on Monday morning, my boxes will have been moved downstairs and all I have to do us unpack, I whic all moves were this easy.

I now have nothing to do for the rest of the day, must be time to go home!

Rabbit

My daughters friend is off to Thailand tomorrow for the next few weeks (lucky girl) and she has been struggling for the last few days to get her homework done before she goes, apparently its due in on the first day back to school.

Now my point is this, if a parent was to take their child out of school during term time for a holiday then under the Government policy she may be fined up to £50 a week because her child has been out of school illegally. Therefore in the same principle if the school gives your child home during the holiday then can’t we claim compensation from the school, which are making pupils work during their holiday?

After all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Just a thought!

Rabbit

I have been wondering over the last few days, when we bloggers get going we tend to criticise a person or an organisation. Do the people we have a go at, ever read our bloggs, and if they do, do they ever reply to them.

A lot have us tend to have a go, and rightly so at the Government and hell of a lot of us have been critical of the parasite and his crone, the Blair’s. Do these individuals, organisations employ people to search the net and find out about our views on them, if so what do they do about it?

I believe they are so thick skinned that they couldn’t give a damm, after all we are a bunch of nobodies aren’t we. It would be interesting sometimes for them to reply, to see what excuses they can come up with.

Rabbit

Barclays Investment Banking; have paid their CEO Bob Diamond, more than £21m last year. His basic salary was £250, 000, plus he received shares worth £14.4m and a cash bonus of £6.5m. Not a bad job, if you can get it. I am a little unsure about the tax he will pay, I know he would pay tax on his salary and on his cash bonus, but will pay tax on receipt of his shares. He will of course pay tax on any profit he makes on his shares; any tax experts out there throw any light on the subject.

He’s not doing too badly, last year he was paid £22m, Barclays made an overall profit of £7.08bn and it is said that Mr Diamond division contributed about 1/3 of that, hence such a large bonus.

The Unite Union have said that Barclay’s staff would be astonished by the size of his payment and added that “The millions of pounds awarded to directors was only possible because of the hard work put in by staff”

I was watching with interest a report last on the local London news, the article was set in Convent Garden related to buskers who operate in the area. The Landlords want a reduction in street performers in that area. The spokeswoman for the Landlords was saying that they want a reduction of 30% in performances. However, s as representative from the performers was saying that they actually want a reduction of 50%, but will eventually try and drive them out of Convent Garden altogether.

Needless to say the performers are not very happy, saying that not only will it affect their livelihood but it will also reduce the number of tourists who visit the area. I have to agree with them and with Lesley Garrett who is also in favour of keeping the same level of performances. I used to work in an office a stone throw from Convent Garden and I used to go to Convent Garden during my lunch hour just to watch the performers. On the whole they were very good and I sent many a happy hour listening to singers and musicians.

Rabbit

Terminal 5 is still having ‘Teething Problems’. A few months ago on the London news there was a report on T5 on how it would cope with the baggage, they had thousands of bags and people to test out all the systems, which according to the report worked perfectly and would be a great asset when the terminal opened.

Well now it’s now open and what do we see, total chaos, apparently I in 5 flights will be cancelled today, so much for our efficiency!

Rabbit

Terminal 5 and BAA is already losing bags, the flight this morning took to off Paris without any baggage on board, and passengers have to wait up to two hours to retrieve their baggage when arriving. BAA senior management have but it down to teething problems. Considering they have had 5 months of testing I don’t think it can be put down to teething problems. It just the same incompetence that’s always been there.

BAA motto ‘Why change a habit of a life time, we have built our reputation on losing your bags’

The girls in the office are in panic mode at the moment and running around like headless chickens. We are currently in the process of moving offices, from the third floor down to the first floor. The move will be finalised this weekend and to achieve this we are to pack all our worldly goods in crates kindly provided by the company. These will be moved to our new desk over the weekend.

Now I don’t have a lot to pack away and it will only take me about 10 -15 minutes to pack away my stuff. We have to be ready to move by the close of play tomorrow. The girls, bless their cotton socks keep coming across to ask us when we are going to pack, they obviously don’t realise that we are engineers and the only ones who do any work, while the admin staff gossip about Eastenders and Coronation Street while polishing their nails.

If we pack all our computers and paperwork today we won’t be able to do any work into Monday morning, we are planning to start packing at 13:00 tomorrow we should be finished by 13:15.

Rabbit

T5 has finally opened to the public, the first flight left for Paris at 06:37 this morning, while the first arrival was a BA flight from Hong Kong.

The anti-airport expansion group have planned a ‘Flash Mob’ protest at 11:00 this morning. The organisers are expecting 500 to turn up to carry out a protest against BAA plans for a third runway and 6th terminal.

I have decided that recycling can be dangerous to your health. No really it can be and I am living proof. Last night having arrived home late, it was too late to cook a proper meal so I decided to have a bowl of soup. The can, was the type with a ring pull, I opened the can cooked the soup and had a nice bowl of Scots broth soup.

Now comes the dangerous bit, when I had finished I washed the bowl and pan and started to wash the empty can ready for the recycling sack, this is when I cut my finger, blood was very where, I had cut my finger across the joint of my ring finger on my right hand.

The cut about an inch long was bleeding quite badly, I did contemplate on going to casualty as it didn’t appear to be stopping, but I thought its only a little cut I don’t want to sit in casualty for about fours only for them to put a plaster on it and send me home.

So using my first aid training I put some gauze and tape on it and went to bed. This morning I changed the dressing and when I bent my finger it started to bleed again but only a little.

See recycling can be dangerous I could have bled to death……….lol.

Now please answer the following two questions.

1 Should I go to casualty, I think it may need a stitch, but because it’s across the joint I doubt that they would be able to do it?

2. Can I sue Heinz?

Rabbit

Teachers have voted to oppose the MOD from recruiting in schools. The MoD has said that while it does visit schools to raise awareness of the Armed Forces it does not actively recruit in schools. After reading the report on the BBC website, I feel somewhat angry at some of the comments reported to have been made by a number of teachers.

One in particular, a Mr Paul McGarr from East London, has virtually accused our serving soldiers of murder and torture, while carrying out imperialist occupation of foreign countries. While I was and still am against the wars both in Iraq and Afghanistan, I find his remarks both offensive and sickening; it reminds me of the 60’s when teachers practiced socialist and communist ideology brainwashing our children with their outdated ideas. Some similarity can also be drawn to the end of the Vietnam War when American forces returned home to hostility, hatred and ridicule. It appears that Mr McGarr has something against our Armed Forces I wonder if his hatred also date backs to members of the Armed Forces who took part in the first and second world wars. Mr McGarr should support our troops more. He however did make one valid point in his statement, he did indicate that our troops are poorly equipped and some come home both mentally and physically injured and the help they receive is less than adequate.

Mr McGarr if you read this Blog then take heed of the poem below.

The Soldier

It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier not the poet who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier not the objector who has given us freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier not the lawyer who has given us the right to fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag, who gives freedom to the protestor who burns the flag.

This is a soldier, lest we forget

Father Dennis Edward O’Brien USMC

Visitors to the London Eye yesterday were stranded when one of the tyres that support the pods and help it run suffered a puncture. Management decided that the only option was to shut the eye down and repair the tyre. It took an hour to undertake repairs meanwhile passengers were ordered to open the safety pack located in each pod for blankets and water.

Once repaired the eye was restarted and passengers were offered a hot drink and a full refund.

Judges are being criticised by Merseyside Chief Constable, Bernard Hogan-Howe for being too lenient when sentencing criminals involved in gun crime. At present if you are caught carrying a gun it carries a mandatory five year sentence. He said that some judges in line with Government policy are using mitigating factors when sentencing criminals convicted of carrying firearms.

If this is the case then it is not really a mandatory sentence, if you carry a gun and you get caught they can be no mitigating factors, you should get a minimum five years. The Chief Constable is asking fire a change in the law, he wants to see a minimum of a 10 year sentence for anyone who dischargers a firearm.

The shadow home secretary said Labour has passed tougher laws but fails to enforce them he went on to say “As well as failing to enforce the law, our porous borders allow weapons to simply flow into the country while the government's failure to combat the scourge of drugs also fuels so much violent crime."

This is not just a Labour problem, this started many years ago when the Conservatives were in power, and no Government has dealt with the problem adequately. If we jail more criminals then we get people stating that the prisons are full and we shouldn’t jail as many. It seems what ever is done, it is ridiculed by the opposition, perhaps we should change our approach on crime, a joint venture by all the parties to formulate a policy into law and order and whatever they come up with it should be strictly enforced with no interference from Europe or organisations such as Amnesty International, these are criminals and as such should have no rights!

The day has started a little better than yesterday, although we have had a hard frost. I may have a walk down the sea front later.

We have more bikers today, so I may get a few pictures for my collection. Apart from that I will be relaxing once again in front of the TV, it been a good break in that sense, I feel totally relaxed and ready for work again tomorrow. Actually I done a lot of reading, which I enjoy and it totally relaxes me.

Am looking out of the my living room window, and can see an artic blizzard, well maybe not quite that bad, but it snowing and we have a reasonably strong wind. I have just fed the cats and let them out; I don’t think they will be out for very long, even though they have fur coats, they like the warm sofa too much. I think, the only saving grace is that it’s not really settling. I can remember last Easter it was hot and sunny and this is the coldest Easter since 1964.

Every Easter in Southend on Sea, we have a motor bike event, thousands of bikers set off from a Café on the North Circular and head down here collecting money for charity. Once here we have the usual events, Easter egg hunt, and things like that. I don’t think many will attend if the weather stays like this.

I don’t think I will be going very far today, I settle down on the sofa with the cats and watch a DVD, I don’t think there is anything decent on TV. Talking about TV yesterday afternoon while channel hopping I happened to notice that the ‘Grinch’ with Jim Carrey was showing, isn’t this a Christmas programme, whatever were the schedulers thinking of.

I have always wanted to a TV scheduler, we wouldn’t have any soaps, Eastenders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street and the rest all would go. To be replaced by more comedy and nature programs, even watching the test card would be better than watching the trash they call soap operas. Still it keeps the narrow minded simpletons with no imaginations happy, most think that it real life.

Rabbit

Well after a reasonably good day yesterday the bad weather has finally arrived, although it's not snowing yet, we have heavy rain and cold wind. Am praying to a non existing god that it will improve, or if it does snow I hope we have a significant fall so I can get out with my camera, a lot a snow can make for great pictures!

Doesn't seem a lot in the news today, but then again I have just glanced at the headlines I haven't really gone into great depth at the moment, time for later.

Must go, we are off out to vist my mother in law and father in law, on the orders of Caz my stepdaugther, she wears the trousers in this house ....lol. I think she wants to out early and get back in time for the final of the world figure skating. I don't know why she has suddenly become interested in that but she seems to know who all the best ones are.

After watching the depressing weather forecast last night, we decided to postpone our weekend plans. It forecast a cold day with strong winds from the artic along with snow. What do I see when looking out of window at the moment? Blue sky and sunshine, it might be cold though, I haven’t been out yet?

If they gave a weather forecast of hot and sunny for the Sahara Desert it would rain and if they gave one of snow and very cold for the South Pole it would probably be hot and sunny. Can’t these people ever get it right?

We should have carried on and gone out, it turned that snow did fall we could have turned round and come home. Oh I long for the days when I lived in Cyprus, the beach every day, hot and sunny god it was heaven.

Rabbit

Well it seems he has got away with it. Who you may say, MP Derek Conway, will not be investigated by the police because they is a lack of systems in place to account for MP’s expenses. He paid his son £40,000 to research for him, and they were no proof that he actually did any work.

In the aftermath of this publicity, he was ordered to pay back £13, 000, suspended from the commons and also lost the whip. Considering he paid his son £40k of our money he has made a tidy profit of £27,000, for defrauding us the tax paying public.

He has stated that he will stand down at the next election that is not soon enough he should resign now.

It just goes to prove that MP’s are a law unto themselves. There must be some way the police can investigate and prosecute this thief, or have they been told not to investigate by the powers that be. Protecting they own!

Rabbit

Am very pleased with my results yesterday, the only things that they brought up, was my anti-oxidants levels were low, and therefore should eat my fruit and vegetables. I love apples and bananas and eat loads of them but apparently there don't contain high level of anti-oxidants. Only bright coloured ones contain high levels. Am overweight and I don't drink enough water.

But my liver, kidneys, heart and prostrate are all fine. The check took about 2 hours but as well worth it. Am grateful to my company, who paid for it. The company I work gives all its employees the opportunity when they reach 50 to have this check done for free, then every two years after that.

Am showered, shaved and dressed, have taken my samples.....yuk and once again am ready for my trip into London. I am attending a Nuffield hospital close to St Barts for my health check. Just a few hours in town then hpme again for Easter on the other hand I might do a little shopping.

Am not taking my camera, the weather forecast is for heavy rain and its going to be cold. I hope the waether improves we had plans for this weekend, 4 days of taking pictures, that looks in doubt now. But if it snows like forecast than I might even get some better shots, one never knows.

Have just returned from my day out in London, the meeting went very well and we just about covered all that we needed. I have to the same tomorrow, but it not a meeting I will be attending but a health check.

I am sure the doctor will not be very complimentary, words like diet and exercise will no doubt cross his lips. But am I worried, damm right I am……lol (not really)

I see the papers have gone to town on Heather Mills today, I am sure she will headlining for a while, still it will keep the reporters happy and it will sell. I have no sympathy for her she has brought it on herself.

Just a quick blog this morning, am on my to London for a meeting. So i won't be able to get online much today. The meeting is expected to last about 3 hours so I doubt that by the time I have finished I will have to get to the office.

Tomorrow I have a health check, again in central London, and I definatley not planning on going back to the office tommorw. So it appears that I won't be in the office until after Easter.....yippee.

Hope you all have a good day.

Rabbit

The judge in the divorce case has now given his ruling. Despite Ms Mills attempt to prevent disclosure on the grounds that it would endanger her daughter, Mr Justice Bennett revealed the ruling and told her could not appeal against it publication.

The judge described Ms Mills as having a strong willed and determined personality with a kind disposition and devoted to her charities.

Sir Paul’s evidence was balanced, consistent, accurate and honest. He expressed himself moderately although at times with justifiable irritation.

The judge indicated that he gave Ms Mills every allowance but much of her evidence both written and oral was not just inconsistent but inaccurate and les than candid. He added that overall she was a less than impressive witness.

So there we have it, we can understand now why she did not want the judgement published. It wasn’t to protect her daughter. It because the world will officially know the truth, she is a liar and a schemer, and of course £24.3m better off.

The conservative party as once again called for an investigation into the Iraq war. I can’t understand what this will achieve, apart from wasting millions of pounds of tax payers money that is.

Everyone knows that the war was illegal. Blair lied to the public and to Westminster that is without doubt. The report on weapons of mass destruction was ‘Sexed Up’ and there has been a report over the intelligence failings and a report into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

We do need to know what went wrong after the war, but does this need a full blown public enquiry, I doubt it.

What we do need however, is for the people who are responsible for getting us involved in the illegal war to be brought to account, Blair, Brown and other members of the cabinet at the time should be charged with mass murder!

Once again Mohamed Fayed is making a mockery of our legal system, in the first instance he insisted that the inquest into the deaths of Princess Dianna and Dodi Al Fayed be held in front of jury, which is not the usual case.

His lawyers are now going to the high court in bid to overturn a decision not to call Prince Philip to give evidence at the inquest. He his still trying the blame the Prince for the death of his son and Princess Dianna, it about time he was stopped, he his not British so lets deport him, confiscate his assets to pay for this inquest and send him back to Egypt!

Rabbit

I suppose one of the main stories that will be headlining today, will be the divorce settlement between Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. No matter what people’s opinions are of the judgement and it appears that Ms Mills will going back to court to stop us ever hearing the judgement. The only person who comes out of these proceedings with any resemblance of honour will be Sir Paul. Heather Mills has manipulated the media at every chance, and when it has not gone her way she has used crocodile tears to win public opinion.

She will receive £24.3m which is double what Sir Paul wanted to pay but only a fifth of what she was claiming. Sir Paul is estimated to be worth between £400m and £800m depending on which story you read. An incredible amount of money, they will be people who say he could have afforded the £100m plus that Heather Mills was demanding. But it appears that the judge in this case has some common sense. Normally when making a judgement in a divorce settlement, the judge will take into account what contribution the wife has made in helping the career of the husband; well in this case we all know that she has made no contribution whatsoever to his career.

Her outburst yesterday on the steps of the high court was nothing but scandalous, so her daughter has to travel ‘B’ class while Sir Paul can travel ‘A’ class. What a load of twaddle, her daughter will receive £35,000 and Sir Paul will pay for a Nanny and her school fees. She needs a reality check there are a large amount of families in this country who don’t even have an income of that a year. Yesterday she destroyed any sympathy that the public had for her.

I have spent quiet a few hours on the phone this morning chasing up are sub-contractors to ensure that they return their tender documentation on time, to enable us to complete our bid price for a project in central London. I have been amazed at the number of companies who are using Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' as music while waiting in the queue on the phone. I used to enjoy listening to it, now it just annoys me, am seriously thinking of disqualifying any company who uses it.

Perhaps if they lose a few contracts because of the music they play, they will change it to something more pleasing to the ear!

Rabbit

Tony Blair has begun a tour of 3 Asian capitals in a bid to persuade the leaders of Japan, India and China to take steps to reduce their carbon emissions and help in the battle on climate change. He his supposed to be bringing peace to the Middle East, stability to Rwanda and harmony between Islam and Christianity. But these are only his secondary goals his main mission in life his to make millions in consultancies and after dinner speeches.

His mission the BBC reports, will not do any damage and Adam Matthews, secretary-general of the world parliamentarians environment organisation said one thing Blair does have is fantastic contacts.

One can’t help to be cynical though, he gets a free trip around Asia, staying in the best hotels and he’s not picking up the bill, neither may I add is he charging a fee for this work. I bet his accountant his choking on that one.

His environmental work in my mind as always seemed to a minor policy, he never really appeared to take it very seriously, on that account I may be wrong.

However, his appointment as peace envoy is nothing more than shameful, he his a man who along with the evil Mr Bush has brought misery to millions, he has been responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people throughout the world, and he has been appointed a peace envoy. Perhaps now that he has become a Catholic, he his trying to make some form of atonement and seeking forgiveness, but I doubt it. He and his crone (the self glorifying Mrs Blair) are only interested in lining their pockets as they did while in office.

They have brought nothing but shame to Britain and now they are milking it for all its worth!!

I only managed a short blog yesterday, mainly because I was out for most of the day, and when I got back in at around 4, Caz, my stepdaughter was on the computer, so am afraid that was it for the rest of the day.

It looks like it going to be a wet and miserable day, so I don’t think I will be going far. So we have a short week, this week only four days at work and then a nice long weekend to look forward. Am already making plans for where we want to visit. I am planning on taking a lot of pictures. That is assuming we get some good weather.

Right I have a few jobs to do, will back later!

Rabbit

I don't think I have a made a good start to the day. Last night before going to bed, Rosemary asked me to get her up at 08:15, becuase she is going to the hairdressers. Being a thoughtfull man (I know not many of us are) I work her up a little earlier, only to be greeted by the statement its only 10 past eight, I don't have to be there until 09:00.

Gentlemen just one question on this Saturday morning can we ever win?

Rabbit

I have just received some new computer equipment for work, and to say I am impressed would be an understatement. I have a Dell Latitude Laptop, the specification is good and it’s a reasonably good machine. But today I managed to acquire a docking station, new 19” flat screen monitor and a key board.

Now after I have put them all together I can now use two screens and can type at moderately good rate. But the two screen facility is the one I like most; I can have a document open on one screen and watch a TV program, a Video or surf the net on the other screen while still maintaining the resemblance of working. It’s great, I have always been a bit of a techno junkie and this is taking it to new heights, it’s great.

Well they have always said simple things assume simple minds!

Rabbit

I watched with interest a report on the BBC’s the ‘One Show’ about an organisation called the ‘Green Gym’. This is a scheme set up by Dr William Bird, a GP, and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers in March 1997, aims to inspire people to improve their health and the environment at the same time.

Volunteers, who range from seven to seventy, take part in a group session which last for up to three hours, with a tea or coffee break in the middle. As well as exercising, participants carry out conservation work, such as clearing overgrown paths or planting hedges.

The idea is sound getting regular exercise while helping the environment, well that was what the report was portraying.

However, I found it a bit hypercritical that this group of people was helping the environment while, having a large bonfire, polluting the air with the smoke and putting large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Have they never heard of wood chips, which can be used in many ways from children’s playgrounds, bio-mass boilers and compost?

On another point, they appeared to be destroying the undergrowth, this is valuable area for small mammals, reptiles and birds, do these people not realise that. We are trying to converse the country and protect the animals in it, the group portrayed seemed intent on destroying it.

Rabbit

A man who slipped on a grape outside Marks an Spence store has failed in his attempt to sue for damages. Mr Alexander Mark-Sklan was suing Marks and Spencer for £300,000 in damages after the incident which occurred in 2004.

He stated after the fall which resulted in ligament damage to his knee, he had found a grape on the underside of his shoe. He indicated that he had also suffered ‘adverse psychological effects and depression’ arising from the injury.

Whilst expressing sympathy for the claimant Deputy Judge John Leighton Williams QC said: "I am afraid I am unable to find for him on the evidence." He said: "In my judgment it is one of those accidents that could happen to any one of us."

Mr Martin-Sklan was representing himself has to pay around £15,000 towards Marks and Spencer's costs and given 28 days to pay an interim sum of £7,500.
Surely this is a victory for common sense.

Mean while: An elderly couple say they are distressed as an ambulance worker wants to sue them after falling during a call to their Lincolnshire home. The technician fell over on 82-year-old Joan Boardman's driveway in Louth as he went to fetch a stretcher.

The Boardmans have now received a letter from his solicitors saying he is seeking damages for personal injury. East Midlands Ambulance Service said the employee is pursuing the matter in his own right.

Let’s hope the Judge in this case, also has common sense, while I can understand the distress any injury can cause, I think in this case it is morally wrong to sue, accidents do happen, the injured paramedic should be able to recover costs from his employers insurance.

Rabbit

Terry Pratchett has announced that he is donate around half a million pounds for research into Alzheimer’s. He himself was diagnosed with a rare form of the disease in December of last year.

My mother suffered from the disease and because my father was unable to cope she stayed in a care home until her death in 2002. It was devastating watching her deteriorate. Eventually I doubt she knew who I was. I have donated myself and hopefully with this amount being donated it will help the research and eventually find a cure.

Terry Pratchett is probably one of my favourite authors; I think I have most of his books in my collection. I hope he continues to write and I wish him well.

Rabbit

The budget has done nobody ant favours, I don’t smoke, and neither do I drink to excess therefore that part of the budget will not affect me. My stepdaughter will have left school for university before the increase in family allowance takes effect so that will not affect me either.

That only leaves car tax, really. I drive a nice family car, Ford Focus. He is going to increase the car tax on that from £135 (I think I paid last year) to £425 per year. The large 4 x 4 and sports cars will have to pay £950, this I think will cause some problems, farmers and a small number of people who live in areas where access is difficult require 4 x 4 vehicles this tax is unfair to them. However, the idiots who live in inner cities and own these large and unnecessary vehicles deserve to pay far more. These are the ones who pollute who cities.

The increase on duty on alcohol will not deter binge drinking; 4p on a pint is nothing. Consider this a lot of binge drinker’s move around from pub to pub. However, the cost difference between pubs for a drink maybe 10p or even 20p per pint. So the increase of a pint by 4p will not make any difference whatever. The Chancellor is paying lip service to the problem of binge drinking while collecting revenue. If he was serious about binge drinking then the price of a drink would have been increased dramatically. Wine increasing by 14p and spirits rising by a meagre 55p is nothing and will not have any effect on the problem of binge drinking.

Mr Darling our intrepid Chancellor today gives his first budget; I wonder what new ways they have thought in the Treasury so rob of us of our money. It is rumoured that he will increase tax on alcohol and cigarettes, that I don’t mind. I don’t smoke and while I like a glass of wine or larger now and again, I don’t overindulge.

But I am sure he will find some underhand to separate us from our money! It won’t be long before we are all worse off!

Rabbit

I have never been a church goer and I don’t believe in God. However, I have just read that the Pope as updated the traditional sins by adding seven new ones:

• Environmental pollution

• Genetic manipulation

• Accumulating excessive wealth

• Inflicting poverty

• Drug trafficking and consumption

• Morally debatable experiments

• Violation of fundamental rights of human nature

If the Catholic's adhere to this list then the British Government is going to be in for hard time in the future, and our last Prime Minister, the evil Mr Blair is in for a shock. Perhaps when he changed religion and became a Catholic he was hoping the Pope would give a free ticket to heaven. But am afraid he’s definitely heading down stairs he has broken every one of these mortal sins.

Am back in office today after the storms of yesterday, however the weather forecasters are predicting more storms on the way. Maybe, I could have more days working from home. It’s a bit of a novelty really although I do get some work done; I am not as productive as being in the office. Someone said last week that it takes a special person to work from home. I don’t think I have the mind set to do it.

I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning, one of the news articles was reporting on the storms yesterday, it was saying that a number of parents in Essex have been complaining that because of the storms, schools should have been closed as they are when heavy snows have take place. This provided the DJ with ammunition to ridicule the parents of Essex children, saying that they were too soft. He had a valid point, just because we had a bit of a storm the country should not come to a standstill, ok, I couldn’t get to work because my route had been closed, I could have actually driven completely around the M25 (117 miles) and made to it work. I didn’t so you can label me the same, lazy and good for nothing.

The Government has today announced costs of its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are set to rise this year to £3.3bn. This is rise of 94% on costs incurred last year. The cost of the war in Iraq has risen by 72% despite a reduction in troop numbers. In a statement the chairman of Defence Committee James Arbuthnot said: "Few people will object to the investment being made in better facilities and equipment for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.”However, this estimate represents a lot of public money. The MoD needs to provide better information about what it is all being spent on."

This is an unbelievable amount of money spent on an illegal war. When will the Government realise that we are in a un-winnable situation. Despite our armed forces doing a tremendous job, in extremely difficult and arduous conditions we are unlikely to achieve our goals. This statement is taken from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office webpage.

The United Kingdom, alongside 38 other nations, is in Afghanistan at the invitation of the democratically elected Afghan Government to help rebuild and develop a country emerging from a quarter century of conflict. We are there to support Afghanistan's security, reconstruction, good governance and counter-narcotics work. The UK's efforts are co-ordinated by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence.

However, the Taliban are a well organised organisation, who has been fighting for many years, under the guise of the Mujahideen they gave the Russian army a hard time before the Soviets realised that they could never win. When the Soviet Union pulled out the Mujahideen fought amongst themselves. When the allied forces moved into country the Taliban (Mujahideen) had once again a common enemy. The American Government through the CIA provided weapons and funds for the Mujahideen, no doubt these same weapons are being on our troops. Where have we heard a similar story, of course in Iraq? Didn’t the British and American Governments once finance Saddam Hussein? Will we ever learn?

I am still investigating this and I can promise lots more to come!

Rabbit

Well, I think the Dartford Bridge is now open again, but there are still delays of over and 1 ½ between me and there, plus it takes me about that anyway to get to work, so I am still looking at 3 hours to get to work. No I think I will continue working at home.

In a way I’m glad that it happened, because I just received my monitor back from the repairers and I’m just trying it out. It’s far better than the old CRT monitors it only been away a week, didn’t realise how much I have missed it!

Have a good day will be back later!

Rabbit

I have just arrived home after an interesting drive, I managed to get about 7 miles down the road, before I hit the back of the queue for the Dartford Bridge it was closed. Fortunately I was only about ½ mile from the next junction, so when arrived at junction, which did took me about twenty minutes, I did a quick about turn and came home.

I still had about twenty miles to go to reach the bridge; I instantly made a decision to work from home. It would probably have taken me another 2 – 3 hours to get to work. Of course the traffic would not get better for the rest of the day and would have taken for ever to get home!

Rabbit

The terrible accident on Friday evening in which 7 people is now know to have was caused by a convicted drink driver. Apparently he was convicted of the offence after a causing a similar accident on the same road. In this case he crashed head into an oncoming vehicle while trying to overtake. There is no evidence at the moment, to say he was under the influence of alcohol, however, people like Jason Brian who habitually drink and drive should be banned for life.

However, we can’t do this because we would infringe his human rights and because of his human right 7 people are dead. The only saving grace his that he we never do this again because he was on the dead.

I am not really a believer in heaven and hell, but I really hope there is, so scum of the earth like this guy burn in hell for ever and a day. He deserves no sympathy he got what he deserved, just a pity that he took innocent people with him.

Rabbit

The Soldier

It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier not the poet who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier not the objector who has given us freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier not the lawyer who has given us the right to fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag, who gives freedom to the protestor who burns the flag.

This is a soldier, lest we forget.

Have always been an early riser, but its Saturday surely I should still be in bed. Maybe I'll back there and get up a little later.

Catch you all later

Rabbit

One of the stories in the news today makes me sad to be British. Airman based at RAF Wittering have been told not to wear uniform in public, after a number of them have received verbal abuse, while out on the street dressed in their uniform. The police have not received any complaints however; staff at the base have reported a number of incidents.

When I was serving we weren’t allowed to wear uniform in public, because of the security risk involved, at that time the wearing of uniform made you a target for Irish extremists. But the regulations have now been relaxed. I doubt that the abuse comes from the older generation as they tend to have great respect for our armed forces. No I would say this probably comes from gangs of youths who have little respect for anything and would do it because they would think it was funny. Or it would come from peace activists normally in their twenties or early thirties who would see the airmen as easy targets to vent they anger.

It does not matter who carries out the abuse, it must stop. It is like many things in this country today, totally unacceptable. While I think the wars we have been dragged into are wrong we must back our troops while they are out on operations. If they feel they are undervalued then they will rightly feel aggrieved. Let them get on with job they been ordered to do, give them the respect they deserve. If anybody deserves abuse and ridicule it’s the morons who have sent them out there.

I have the greatest respect for what our troops are doing I was one of them once.

Rabbit

Identity cards seem to be back on the agenda, the home secretary will today outline the next stage. It is expected that migrant workers from non-EU countries will be the first to be issued with these cards.

While I’m not against ID cards in principle, indeed I carried an ID card for 24 years while in the army, and still do. I have a driving licence with my photo on it, I have a credit and debit card. I also have a ID card that I have to carry around while at work, otherwise I am unable to access certain areas.

The concern I share with many others is the information that will be contained on the card, fingerprints, DNA, social security number, and probably thousands of other bits of information, some no doubt that I’m not aware of myself.

The Government has shown in the last few months it is not capable of preventing this information from falling into the wrong hands. It keeps losing, sorry, the term the Government use is misplace the information. Until the Government provides adequate measures to safe guard our personal details and prevent wholesale fraud then I for one will be getting this type of ID card.

The principle behind it is good, one card to enable us to do everything, but in this day and age it is still not viable. Of course they won’t listen to us, because we the general public are stupid and don’t know what is good for us.

This situation reminds me of Zeitgeist – The Movie, in which it is states that in the future we will have computer chips embedded in our bodies with all our personal information encoded on it, it sounds like science fiction but how long before it becomes science fact!

Well its back to normality today, as I have returned to the office. Unfortunately I have whole load of work extra work to complete before the end of week. I have had to readjust my schedule to enable me to get the work complete. It’s a good job I was on top of first job otherwise this extra work would have meant that I would have to work late. The good news is I still have time to produce a blog.

Working from home was quite good, but I did find that I was easily distracted, If I did very day I would probably only get half my normal work done. I don’t know how company’s police working from home it can’t be very cost effective.

It a beautiful day once again, the sun is out even though it is a little chilly. I wonder if I can get with my camera later, I still have the photography group weekly theme to complete, to be honest I haven’t given it much thought. I suppose I really should.

Rabbit

I am half way my day, working from home and everything seems to be progressing well. The tech guys have been round and fixed my computer, and my monitor has been taken away to be repaired. So while I can use my computer I have to use my old CRT monitor, still better than nothing.

I have been quite busy really, considering I am at home. I have checked and replied to all my emails. Now I putting together a price for a project we will be undertaking in Cambridgeshire. I won’t complete the work today, in reality I doubt that I will have finished before the end of the week, but its not due until the 14-Mar so I have a little time yet.

I have finally got round to looking at one of prydwen posts called ‘If you have 2 hours to for the rest of your life’ It staggering and frightening, I recommend that you view this video. How much truth is contained within this video remains to be seen, it can be downloaded at the following site, www.zeitgeistmovie.com please like prydwen says this is a must watch video.

Rabbit

Well the weekend is over and the hard slog begins for the next five days, trapped at our desk trying to earn a living to keep up on the mortgage payments! Am looking out of the window and it is a beautiful morning, the sun is out and it looks like its going to be a great day. I am sure I could find something far better to do, like strolling through the wood with my camera hung round my neck, looking for things of interest to photograph. Oh well that life!

I will be working from home tomorrow, I have managed to arrange for the computer engineer to visit and repair my computer and also for the gas board to come and change my gas meter which from the look of it was installed in the 1800’s. So I have a result there, the only unfortunate thing is that they are unable to give me time when they will arrive. Therefore, I have to work from home.

I wish I could work from home more, but its not really practical full time but now again it not too bad, at least I get to have a lay in.

I was a more than a little disappointed over the weekend, I didn’t get the chance to blog properly due to the problems with my computer and it just seemed to go so quickly, I planned to get with my camera but I didn’t get the time. You how it is sometimes things never go the way you want them too.

Oh well I better crack on with my work, catch you all later!

Rabbit

Happy mother day, to all the mother out there.Hope you all have a day!

Rabbit

I was a little disappointed with myself yesterday, I failed to post anything or even get on this site. It all started on Thursday evening, Caz, was on the computer when the monitor started flickering then suddenly it just went black. The computer was still running but nothing on the screen. Now being an electrical engineer, I carried out the checks and to my disgust discovered that the screen was totally and utterly buggered, and its less than a year old.

But no problem for the time being I will change the screen and replace it with the one from the old computer, this I did and everything was going well for about another 30 minutes when the same symptoms were apparent. Caz by this time was having one of her teenage tantrums; you know the ones the Kevin and Perry moments. But there was nothing I could do about it.

Yesterday, the internet connection at work was done, we could use the interanet but we couldn’t access anything outside the company. I finished early yesterday and returned home to sort our PC.I phoned the tech guys as they like to be called and for the next fifty five minutes with my ear to the phone I diligently followed the instructions given to me done the phone. In the end the diagnosis sorry your computer is buggered I will arrange for engineer to visit. Apparently the mother needs to be replaced and that caused the flat screen to fail. But the engineer is coming out on Tuesday.

We are now using my laptop on which I had to load a new version of anti virus software and all the printer software, then I had to renew the internet connection, by that time I was fed up with computers and had a drink instead.

Rabbit