We live in interesting times, don't we?

Life has become interesting.

Life-an interesting point of view.

What with the world being in the grip of the " dreaded lurgy " that Corvid-19 is, it seems that the title assigned for this wibbling is apposite- or even appropriate.

It May be seen as ironic that most folk find themselves in a situation where they find that their ability to go about the " normal " everyday, humdrum routine of their lives circumscribed.

I have noticed, while out and about, just what a great effect that even the prospect of the arrival of this virus has had on people. 

Sometime back at the beginning of March, I had occasion to go to Worksop.
My life REALLY IS that unexciting and weird that a trip there merits being classed as " Special ", but enough of that.
It was about this time that when the infection was stil being called " Corona Virus ".
  People were either adopting an attitude of studied indifference or full-on valetudinarian.
There seems to be no place nowadays for anything that could be regarded as anything like average-run-of-the-mill, sort of ordinary, not unusual or exceptional.
I am fairly sure, sanguine even, that this deleterious state of affairs is mainly caused by the lack of peoples ability or desire to question and challenge the information promulgated by the main broadcast media organisations.

Another Day: Life goes on...another day.

Another Day: Life goes on...another day.: It  would seem that the U.K's present government is having some difficulty in convincing a growing number of their loyal subjects/citiz...

It's been a long time...

Christmas- PAH!!!

Christmas - PAH!!!

So, the annual consumer-fest of Christmas is upon us - and, as usual, I am making every effort to ignore the occasion.

But I couldn't let the occasion go by without my making some kind of comment.

Don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoy watching people at this time of year attempt to assume an air of easy bonhomie as they go about their business.

In a strange way it is kind of heart-warming to watch grown men's faces glow ever more rubicund as they choose a strategy that might help them cope with the seemingly unending tedium of 

the " Christmas Shopping Experience "

a) adopt the not-so-clever policy of 'insulating with alcohol' and get more and more pissed  in the process.
The more diplomatically inclined may concoct some ruse to avoid this onerous activity

Whoopy-do! It's nearly Christmas.

I thought that I might add to all the Festive Cheer by adding something to this oft-ignored blog.
There's only one small problem...I can't think of anything to write about.

Life goes on...another day.

It would seem that the U.K's present government is having some difficulty in convincing a growing number of their loyal subjects/citizens that the policies that they are trying to enact are actually in the interest of the greater good of the nation.

It seems, also, that the main aim of our glorious Chancellor of the Exchequer is to reduce and finally eliminate the National Debt.

It is a crying shame then, that according to reports, this National Debt is now standing at a level that most self-respecting persons would at least be raising an eyebrow and emitting a sigh as well...or maybe even a death-rattle.

When the Tories managed to get back into power, they stated that this reduction was their aim.
Citing that this debt was mainly because of those  "damned socialists " and their " profligate spending  ".
Monies spent on schemes that the Tories viewed as unnecessary such as the Surestart Scheme for pre-school education.
Somehow this had managed to cause the National Debt to reach a figure just shy of half a billion pounds.

Apparently, this was a good enough reason for the incoming Tories to attempt to implement further swingeing cuts to other schemes that benefitted the less able.
 They chose to continue the revision of the Social Security system that the previous, putatively socialist, government had introduced.
They not only continued implementing this plan, but also extended the definition of the term 'disabled' to include anyone not in gainful employment, a sort of " Tory++wiv extra bollocks " kind of plan, that seemed to be veering closer to some kind of pale imitation of an " AktionT4 " scheme.
The Tories also chose to ignore that the previous Labour administration had actually managed to REDUCE the National Debt and actually tried to make some political capital from a witty note that allegedly stated that the Treasury coffers were empty.

It would seem that existence of this note and the alleged mismanagement by the previous regime/administration could have provided them with some form of justification to both continue and intensify the reforms to the social security that had been initiated by the previous administration.

They certainly did intensify the task of recouping the monies that had, allegedly, been given out in such a profligate manner.

They even published 'statistics' that 'proved' that the monies paid out to service this function accounted for something like twenty-five percent of Government expenditure.

It was soon revealed that the figure was actually zero point seven (0.7 ) of one percent ( 1% ) of Government Expenditure.
OOPS! A bit of a bollock-drop there!

Maybe our " Glorious Leaders " were actually doing nothing more than " playing to form " because, after all, the Tories gained this sobriquet of " Tory " after performing a " Land Grab " in the island of Ireland sometime in the eighteenth century.
The word is taken from the  Irish ( or maybe Gaelic ) used to describe a particular kind of robber who was merciless in the execution of their acts of thievery.

This became especially noticeable with the publication of the statistics published by Department for Work and Pensions after numerous Freedom of Information requests, most noticeably by Mike Sivier ( who administers the " Vox Political " blog/Facebook site )on the statistics regarding the number of people who had died after claiming Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance.
The information that was released was, as was to be expected, almost opaque, being full of so many caveats and other obfuscations.
Perhaps our " Lords and masters " were of the opinion that, by using such opaque information that 'bullshit would baffle the brains of us lowly types. Because, as is often stated, that statistics should really be read by people who have the ability to understand them.
It was unfortunate then, for the Government at least, that some very learned person cast their eyes over the information
and soon separated the wheat from the chaff and were only too glad to make the relevant information available to the rest of us.

Did the presentation of this evidence to the contrary to HMG's statement cause it to rush out anything like an explanation?

It did not.

The ship of state sails blithely on, oblivious to the possibility of any course other than the one that it seems to be set up on.

I wish...

I wish I could keep track of all my wibblings err, 'blog entries that I have placed upon the various 'blogs that I have started and never continued. I suppose that my half-hearted efforts at this activity is a modern equivalent of Onanism. ( look it up )

Potty times

Well here's a go, out here, in the wilds of the Derbyshire/ Nottinghamshire border/Markland/ the nexus of three ancient British Kingdoms ( Mercia, Anglia and Northumbria ) things are usually very quiet.

 Some persons of an especially excitable nature might be wont to state that it is mind-numbingly boring-and also quite quiet.

 Some of us actually like life like that.

 I suppose that it's a case of " horses for courses ".

Anyway, just add a bit a variety to life the local police have been busy earning their keep.

How they achieved this was by raiding two premises that were involved in cannabis production.
The two places were done over the period of three weeks. The first " joint " got turned over about three weeks ago.

( see what I did there? Puns are fun! )

 The owner of this establishment set himself up as a barber.

Actually he is quite a good one-if  somewhat over-priced.

The second " joint " was located in a shop that has been, at various times, a butchers, a laundrette and a pet shop.

 This latest jaunt by the police caused some unhappiness with certain folks hereabouts, mainly because of the sight of forty or so large evidence bags crammed with cannabis leaves were left on display for all to see as the cops waited for the transport to take it away.

I kid you not, there were a couple of the local shitheads visibly shaken at the sight of it being loaded into the police van!
                           
                           Job jobbed, it seems!

Has it really been THAT LONG!!!!

Has it really been THAT LONG!!!!

Having nothing better to do ( having taken all the naps I could for one day ) my thoughts drifted to towards having a look at all my blogger entries.

I was shocked to find that I had been ignoring this activity for so long a time.
Hopefully I will be able to put things right and write something that will remain beyond the ken of the vast majority of all the people who use the internet...( too be continued... )

Do you know what?

My eyes.

Oh well, here we all are on Boxing Day...well here I am at least. 

I'm not awfully sure about the level of readership of the deathless prose contained herein but it beats talking to yourself.

 After the Festive surfeit of yesterday( food consumed by way of Xmas feast comprised of a whole can of baked beans with copious amounts of olive oil along with added vegetable bouillon, two fried eggs,three rounds of toast with two cups of muesli before all that...and almost enough tea to overload the local sewerage system.

Thus Christmas day was spent peacefully-the only crisis that occurred was that my trusty kettle managed to stop working. 

But this was but a minor problem-I used the reserve kettle.

Apart from spending some time on the internet winding-up some right-wing bigot there wasn't all that much activity and before long it was time for bed so bed-wards I headed.

Boxing Day dawned to the screeching of tyres- I awoke with a bit of a start thinking that it was a little odd that I should be hearing such a noise, so I got out of bed to go and investigate. 

After checking outside and failing to see any motor vehicles at all and no skid marks on the road I decided that I must have been dreaming.

So I fed and watered myself before setting back to bed.

( footnote: this is exciting as it gets )

 With not a lot to do in the way of keeping myself amused...so write a 'blog entry. Now, what can I write about?

                                  Here Goes Nothing

It must be something to do with the weather...but I am definitely feeling grumpier than I usually do-and that is worrying... .

 

 ...or maybe it has something to do with the time of year... .

So, here we are in the third week in November and already the decoration heralding the consumer orgy of Christmas are being hoiked up with an alacrity that is alarming. 

I mean-for chrissake, some folk haven't yet removed their Halloween decorations. 

I don't know what to make of it

Oh well, I've just spent an hour or so refining a draft of my latest ramblings only to delete the damned thing!
Actually, I was quite pleased with the way that it was going and so decided to save it as a draft.
I really must be more careful choosing the button to click!
In the meantime I'm off for a sulk!

I think that it must be something to do with the time of year/ change in the weather/the fact that I'm bored that I feel the urge to write something on this here blog.
This is where I come up against a bit of problem...I haven't got anything to write about!
This hasn't stopped me in the past.
 I suppose that all this really means is, that as time passes and I get a little older, I must be acquiring a more refined sense of what I really want to hold forth on... or something like that, it is entirely up to you to determine, dear reader.

It's been a long time since I wrote anything.

Rowan Atkinson's speech at Reform Section 5 Parliamentary reception

AAV: 12 things you should know about "Help to Work"

AAV: 12 things you should know about "Help to Work": In April 2014 the Tory led government introduced a new punishment regime for the unemployed called "Help to Work".  The scheme ...

It must be that time of year again... .

It must be that time of year again, the weather is dreich - much like the political situation in the U.K. .

Our wonderful, caring Conservative Party led Government ( with the Lib-dems trailing along in coalition, just like a demented puppy-dog ) have seen fit to implement " measures "
that will , supposedly, help to reduce the mind-bogglingly large nation debt of the U.K. .

How are they going to do this I hear you ask-the way that they are going to do this is by stopping the benefit payments of everyone who " fails " the Medical they are made to undertake.
Until quite recently the " Medicals "were carried out by a Firm called  'ATOS'.
The medicals consisted of answering a series of questions, the answers being fed into a computer via some " Qualified Medical Personnel " or other usually a nurse, physiotherapist or some other low grade numpty.

Now, some of you might be a tad shocked at the last word that I used in the previous sentence, the reason for my using it is well founded.

These people performing these tests lack the necessary skill to perform this function adequately.

There have been occasions when they have passed a " Fit for Work " a man who suffered a heart attack whilst being examined. In another case the DWP actually STOPPED the payment of benefit to a woman because failed to turn up for a medical examination.
 The reason for her non-compliance was that she was in a coma!
It gets better!
When they ( the DWP ) were informed of this poor Woman's predicament what did they do?

They sent her a letter informing her of date of the commencement of her " Training Programme "!

You couldn't make such nonsense up!
It reads like some plot-line that Franz Kafka thought up and rejected for its lack of credibility! 

Another Traipse around Nottingham

For the want of something to do, other than housework, I decided to take a trip out somewhere.

The sun was shining-which made a pleasant change from all the rain that had fallen over the previous few days and I just felt like a trip out somewhere.

I decided that looking around Nottingham would be a pleasant way to waste a few hours-so that was it.

Ho for Nottingham!

The journey, by train, to Nottingham  was uneventful, other than it was just a bit faster than what I remember of previous excursions. 

The power-that-be had finally got around to implementing some of the much-needed improvements to the railway infrastructure in the Nottingham area.

All of these " improvements " are being made in connection with the implementation of a " Grand Plan " to enhance the area's Public Transport system.

In " Marketing-Speak ", the whole shooting-match has been given the title of " The Nottingham Hub Project "-which is nice-I suppose.

The consequence of all the time spent on these upgrades has, so far, resulted in the creation of an extra platform at Nottingham railway station.
This was achieved, not by expanding the area of the rail infrastructure but by " dead-ending " on of the through platforms.
 This effectively resulted in turning one of the " through lines " that are used mainly by freight trains and also for " light engine/empty stock " movements into an extra platform road.

All very ingenious.

Also noticeable is the presence of a metal viaduct that spans the whole station area. 
This viaduct will carry the trams from Nottingham City centre out towards the area of Trent Bridge...and beyond, over the river.

Mind you, it is really just a case of " history repeating itself ".

So perhaps some background information may be useful.

This came about because, in the wild and heady days of the Nineteenth Century a group of businessmen from the Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield areas devised a scheme to build a railway line to London and beyond.

With the building of this line, it was believed, that they would be able to break the stranglehold imposed on their businesses by the railways that were already operating.

And so the line was built.

Also, the businessmen involved also changed the name of their own railway company from the parochial-sounding " Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway " to the much grander
 " Great Central Railway ".

When the line got as far south as Nottingham; which was just a County town at the time, they had to build a tunnel under the hill that most of Nottingham sits upon. 

It was here that they planned and built a large station that comprised of some 14 platforms

 It was originally to be called Nottingham Central, but in deference to the fact that Her Majesty Queen Victoria, was celebrating some sort of Jubilee at the time ( Diamond, I think ), they gave the station the much grander title of Nottingham Victoria.

I think that the reason they initially chose the title of " Central " had little to do with the planned name of the nascent company but rather that the station was located in the centre of the town.

They built it in conjunction with another railway company, the Great Northern Railway. 
 This company, like the businessmen concerned with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway sought to break the virtual monopoly that the other bigger companies had on the business of transport goods and passengers. 

The other railway station that served the town was located in the area just outside of the settlement, in an area to the south called Broadmarsh.

This station was, at the time of the building of Victoria, operated by the Midland Railway and was located;  unsurprisingly, on Station Road.  

Now, the route south from the site of Victoria station entailed the building of another tunnel. 

This came out on the escarpment on which Nottingham had been built at a place called Weekday Cross.

From here it continued, on a viaduct, across the area known as Broadmarsh and on across the whole floodplain of the River Trent.

As it journeyed south it passed close by the Western end of the Midland Railway station.
 ( about one hundred yards  in distance )

For some reason The Midland Railway reacted to the arrival of a competitor's line by relocating the buildings of THEIR station from off of Station Street to a position just west of the new viaduct on Carrington Street. 

This involved them building a bridge OVER their own track on which they had built for them,  a grandiose portico that was designed by the same architect that had designed the station buildings of Nottingham Victoria.

Such seemingly petty-minded posturing that the Midland Railway performed didn't really concern the owners of the new railway.

This was because their plans involved not just getting to London-but going on to build a tunnel under the English Channel and from there to Paris and the Continent of Europe!

Back to my wandering around Nottingham.

After looking around-and purchasing some CD's and a DVD, I headed back to the railway station and got on the train to come home. 
It was about half-full and this made for a pleasant journey home-even after it picked up a fair few passengers at Mansfield and Shirebrook.

Getting off of the train at Creswell I noticed a commotion by the platform exit. 

What was happening was that some painfully thin lad of about fifteen years of age who was stood by the P.I.S. monitor stand was taking down the numbers of the individual units that made up the train.
He was train-spotting...a harmless exercise that harms no-one and passes the time in a more-or-less constructive way.
I used to do it when I was just entering my teen years.

Anyway, back to this lad on the platform.
 One of the gaggle of women who had just got off the train stopped, looked at the lad and announced to the world at large that she had seen a train-spotter.
It was not just a run-of-the-mill type of train-spotter that she had seen but this one was special-this was a special one, " a fuckin' twat- a fucking geek wot ort to get a fuckin' life-or else go kill themselves for being a waste of space and a benefit scrounger!"

This woman was fat, had a face that had so much make-up on it that looked as though it had been applied with a brickie's  trowel. And she was dressed in Primark's finest. 

She was a gobby slut.

You may well imagine as to how this must have left the poor lad feeling.

I didn't approach him, choosing rather to watch him from a distance just to make sure that he didn't do anything rash. 
I watched him pack his bag and with great dignity and a quivering lower lip he made his stately progress down Gypsy Lane and onto Elmton Road.
I lost sight of him as he passed under the railway bridge.
This incident, which is a sad indictment of how we all live our lives has affected me in a manner that I find disturbing

Walking the LD&ECR: 21/11/11 Killamarsh to Clowne Part 1

Walking the LD&ECR: 21/11/11 Killamarsh to Clowne Part 1: I started the next part of my walk in Killamarsh.   My aim was to walk from around Killamarsh Station, back towards Clowne and finish at Clo...