LenT

Fear not, Phil. He may be a pensioner, but as a State Employee I expect he qualifies as a “working man’ and will therefore still receive his WFA. Mind you, I understand that Buck House is a devil to heat at the best of times, so no doubt a few extra quid (as he might say) would not go amiss.

You raise an interesting point, Malcolm. If the new administration feels that the problem is that many of us are now living too long, then how does that equate with their claim that the previous lot has been responsible for degrading ‘Our NHS’? On the other hand, it may reveal the true thinking behind the reason for ending the WFP. Now, I don’t regard myself as a vindictive person, but I am now minded to do my best to out live this Labour Government - out of sheer spite! 😡

Well I heard Reeves refusing to define a ‘working person’ during this week’s PMQs, so she and Starmer appear to have painted themselves into a corner by relying on what they thought was probably a rather clever obfuscation! As I type this, the BBC News @ 6 is running an item on this very point. Another ‘foot in mouth moment’ that will come to haunt them both, I suspect.

It’s a bizarre criterion on which to base fundamental political decisions. But to put it in perspective, this was the man who had a problem defining a woman!

Oh, the irony! In opposition the clarion call was to rally against the evil Tory Plan to privatise OUR NHS! But then they also decried the Tory consideration to cease the WFA. Funny how attitudes change when you actually become responsible for getting things done.

Well, you can at least try, Stephen.

I too was asked this recently - albeit rather apologetically and as part of a box ticking exercise - by an NHS admin person. My reply was that the age of 80 I had almost certainly gone through the manopause! At least she laughed!

A very pertinent article, Kevin! The ratio of medical and non-medical staff in the NHS is what I have always considered to be the most disturbing factor. The NHS budget is - apparently - at its highest ever level, but given more money it appears that the management tend to prioritise spending it on….more managers! I believe that this in the main accounts for the statistic showing the decreased productivity of the medical staff.

Pretty much, thanks Phil. Having survived the NHS, a period in a Care Home got her back to eating again. One of the problems with the Hospital was that food would be placed in front of her by the catering staff - and then removed by the same person who hadn’t noticed that it hadn’t been touched! I changed my daily visits to coincide with meals so that I could ensure that she got some assistance. Nurses would say they were too busy, but it doesn’t take medical training to feed someone.

The irony of the NHS is that on the surgical and medical side, it can indeed be world leading and impressively innovative. But in contrast, many of the civil servant managers can display mind boggling levels of incompetence, to a degree that makes them unemployable in the real world. For example, I suggest that it was the various Unions resistance to updating working practices that meant the computer operating systems weren’t updated and as a result the NHS suffered a serious hacking. But sometimes it’s attitude, not technology, that can be life threatening. Not long ago MrsT was critically ill and a hospital consultant specified a specific piece of equipment for her. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one available on any of the wards of this major regional hospital. Even more unfortunately, it was the weekend and the keeper of the stores had gone home - taking what was apparently the only key to the stores with him! How can that be allowed to happen? Thus were the urgent medical instructions of a senior consultant thwarted by an unqualified civil servant. Would that occur in a well run Private Hospital? I think not!

I expect your wish will be granted, Malcolm. Unexplained death usually results in an autopsy and the results of hypothermia are distinctive.

Well I had mine ceramic coated with Modesta products which claim a similar potential lifespan. The topping up consists of simply spraying on either of two products after - ideally - a foam shampoo wash. Hardly too onerous a task I would suggest, and it’ll look even better value as the years go by.

Of course they did care for them when their own 2018 Survey predicted that up to 4000 deaths would result from ending the WFA. Mind you, that was when is was an action being considered by the then Tory government!

Well they can write, Kevin, but I can’t see Reeves changing the position on WFA. For one thing, there’s a catastrophic loss of face involved! After years in opposition and claiming to have a ‘fully costed’ Plan for the Nation, to have to admit that her very first action as a Minister was a wrong un, would be the end of what is promising to be a disastrous career. As I’ve noted before - and as most political parties discover - being the Opposition is in many ways so much easier!

Well that was interesting! Had a call from the body shop - and they matched the ChipsAway price! However I had to point out that they’d originally said they couldn’t even look at it for almost a month. They claimed that CA didn’t have access to the official paints in the same way they did - and would be working outside, albeit undercover. However, that wasn’t the killer argument he thought it was. CA had thanked me for supplying the paint code, but pointed out that on a nine year-old car the paint would have changed. They used a spectrophotometer to match the actual colour - not the original colour.

A very sound choice, Phil. I’ve always liked that tread pattern. I don’t know if I’ll ever have to replace my Goodyear Eagles, but these would be a serious contender. So I’ll be interested to’ know how you get on with them.

So there I was yesterday, driving down one of our country lanes, with a truck coming towards me. As it passed, there was a bang on the driver’s door - and a stone projected by a tyre had left its mark! Well, I detoured to a local body shop I’ve used before and await their estimate. But they can’t even think about taking it on for at least a month. So I contacted ChipsAway, supplied car details and photos - got a call today. Their franchisee can turn up in about ten days and their estimate is £432 inc VAT which covers pulling out the dent and repairing the damage. So not only quicker but considerably less than the body shop will be. They also guarantee the quality and matching of the repair for as long as I own the car. One thing they did appreciate was that I told them that it has a ceramic coating, which requires slightly different treatment. Apparently, sometimes they don’t discover this until they turn up! I’ve used ChipsAway before for rectifying kerbing damage in the alloys - with excellent results. So I’m reasonably confident that I’ll get a good result. But we’ll see how it turns out. Meanwhile if anyone hears a truck driver mention a loud bang while passing a white Lexus heading into Buckingham….

But is that degree of grovelling servility really sufficient to attract your vote Stephen?

Well, you’ve bought a trickle charger and you’ve connected it to a battery that you say you flattened. The charger will have circuits to control the charge rate as overcharging can potentially damage the plates. So minor fluctuations may well occur - and different chargers may respond in different ways and have different systems for indicating charge rate and battery voltage. However, I would not say that five hours from dead flat is usually sufficient for a trickle charger to fully charge a dead flat battery. I use my trickle charger over night and that’s simply to maintain the battery condition - not to restore from dead flat! I would certainly expect the charge rate to stabilise at a low rate after an overnight charge, so I would be inclined to give it a few more hours - which you probably have already done! If you’ve left it connected, it’s probably fine by now! 😊

I couldn’t have put it better, Phil.👍 In fact, I obviously didn’t! 😊

Apologies Stephen, I missed your initial reference to Sue Gray and picked up on Malcolm’s. However, I would question your premise that ‘she appears to hold no party persuasion in particular’ as it rather contrasts with the alacrity with which she accepted Starmer’s offer of his Chief of Staff. Maybe it’s just me, but I fail to see how you could accept such a pivotal Party Political position without being sympathetic to its views. Mind you, I do admit to a certain antipathy towards career Civil Servants of her ilk. I understand that she joined the Civil Service straight from school and - apart from a very short period running a pub - this has constituted her Life experience. I encountered many similar individuals in the past and was always struck by their often unshakable belief that some how this endowed them with the expertise to run a business, make a profit, feed the nation, supervise its heath, manage its scientific projects, develop power supplies and so on. In short, to control every aspect of the lives of its Citizens. For example, I don’t know what her view on the WFP farrago was, but I doubt that Starmer or Reeves would have proceeded if Gray had voiced serious objections. So it maybe that her position on this has contributed to Starmer’s disenchantment!

With respect Malcolm, I’m not sure that even Sue Gray would describe herself as ‘apolitical’.

Well it’s not without some form of precedent. Allegedly, Caligula liked to keep the Senate on its toes by threatening to appoint his favourite horse, Incitatus, as a Consul! Mind you, Caligula only had the top job for four years before he was assassinated. Probably best not to read too much into that!

You’re right to be cautious, Amit. I’ve only had auto electricians install my systems, but as I say there are YT videos showing how it’s done. It may well be that you can get away with simply pushing the cable under the edge of the lining, without having to ease out the fixings. Hopefully, someone who’s actually done it might advise!

A more cynical person might regard this as a classic example of a boondoggle! Namely , the creation of a sinecure that eases a person who has become an embarrassment into a new non-job from which - in due course - they can gracefully exit. It’s what Civil Service managers often do - when in doubt, create another level of Civil Service management!