Coronary Heart Disease
This morning I had an appointment at the Cardiology Outpatients clinic at St. Thomas’ Hospital, in Southwark, London. The hospital, located across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament, is easily accessible from three nearby tube stations (subway), one major train station and numerous buses. As well as having an extensive A&E department, St. Thomas’ also provides a broad range of healthcare services such as maternal medicine, gastrointestinal surgery, ophthalmology, pain medicine and plastic surgery. The hospital specialises in cardiovascular care and was the first to perform a mitral valve replacement on a beating heart. It is also home to nursing and surgical colleges. The current site has served community needs since 1871. The hospital has existed in some shape or form since the 12th century. There is a pleasant ornamental garden outside the main entrance that overlooks the river and Lambeth bridge.
The Case for a Written UK Constitution
The United Kingdom is one of the few democratic countries in the world that does not have a single, written constitution. Others include Canada, New Zealand and Israel. To date, its constitution is a combination of written and unwritten sources, including statutes, common law, conventions and somewhat esoterically, royal prerogatives. The reason for this is predominantly historical. Since 1688, Britain has not experienced a revolution or regime change, which often leads to a constitutional initiative, such as the American or the French Revolution. Britain’s constitution has evolved slowly over time under relative stability and as such, it has never been deemed necessary to list the fundamental laws and principles of the country's political system.
Holidays
In 1939 legislation was passed in the UK so that all employees had one week’s annual paid holiday per year. By the 1950s this had become two weeks and by the 1980s most people had at least 4 weeks of annual holiday. On top of this paid leave allocation, the UK currently has 8 bank holidays which provides further time off for employees. This culture of increasing amounts of annual leave also broadly coincided with air travel becoming more accessible. The first UK passenger jet service began in 1952. However, its cost excluded most people. However, as larger airliners with increased range became available, cheaper foreign holidays became more and more economically viable. European holidays became a reality in the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1980s long-distance holidays to other continents became ubiquitous and the package holiday became king. It is also worth noting that the Channel Tunnel opened in 1994, making car travel from Britain to Europe easier and more popular.
Selling My Parents House: Part 3
Last month, my sister and I finally sold our parents house. Our late mother’s will has now been fully administered, all funds have been distributed and I finally signed off the “executor’s approval” document and returned it to the solicitors. A line has finally been drawn under a process that has taken about 15 months. Dealing with an estate (in the legal sense of the word) and selling a family home is not something that you do everyday. It’s usually something that comes up maybe once or twice in your life. Few people (myself included) are fully prepared for such an undertaking when it occurs. Hence I have some observations to share about my experience of dealing with the esoteric world of estate agents and solicitors.
Selling My Parents House: Part 2
I wasn’t planning on writing a second post about the sale of my late parents’ home but the entire process has been so different from what I expected, I thought there may be some interest in exploring some of the aspects that have come up. The last time I had any dealings in buying and selling property was back in 2003 when Mrs P and I moved from one home to another, to gain more space. It was at a time when the UK economy was booming, and the banks were taking a “relaxed attitude” (some would say cavalier) toward mortgages. The flat that we were selling found buyers very quickly, who offered the full price. Mrs P and I similarly found a bungalow that we liked, and it didn’t take long to secure its purchase. Due to the chain involved it took 8 months to move but the paperwork was handled efficiently, and I don’t recall the bureaucracy being excessively complex. Perhaps due to the busy nature of our lives, I didn’t notice. Plus, memory can be deceptive.
“Trial by Media” and the Court of Public Opinion
On Friday 15th September the former actor and comedian turned internet social commentator, Russell Brand, released a video on his YouTube channel addressing allegations about his personal life, ahead of a forthcoming UK current affairs documentary. Brand vehemently denied what he described as “very serious criminal allegations”. The following day Channel Four broadcast “Russell Brand: In Plain Sight”. During the course of the program Brand was accused by one woman of rape and by three others of sexual assaults, and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013. During the course of the week, further claims have been made against him and that his “predatory” behaviour was an open secret within the TV industry. Furthermore, women would warn each other in advance if they had any dealing with him. All of which has played out against a mixture of broadsheet analysis, tabloid hyperbole, performative politics and internet bluster.
Linus Tech Tips: What Did You Expect?
Another week, another internet “drama”. I don’t actively seek this shit out. It just bleeds through into my social media timeline with tedious regularity. This latest debacle is regarding the popular (by which I mean over 15 million subscribers) technology product review YouTube channel, Linus Tech Tips. There have been claims of factual inaccuracies in recent reviews and a focus in getting content produced quickly at the expense of quality. Then a former employee made allegations of a toxic work environment and sexual harassment. As a result there has been a great deal of “online outrage” from those who assumed up until now that Linus Tech Tips was a bastion of integrity. Then there was the formal reply video from Linus Tech Tips about the allegations, which made matters worse by joking about the situation and running ads. As a result the YouTube channel has suspended video production for a week. You can read more details on this situation on the Forbes website.
Taxis and Minicabs
In case you don’t know already, I don’t drive. Haven’t got a licence or taken a test. Never have and never will. The post I’ve linked to explains why, so we won’t be discussing that any further here. Mrs P is our household’s designated driver. Not that she minds as she has always enjoyed driving. However, she is currently immobile due to a fracture in her right leg. Hence we aren’t using the car at present which causes a few problems. Firstly, as Mrs P’s leg injury is still being treated, there is the travel to the various outpatients clinics at the hospital. Then there are our grocery shopping requirements. The latter is easily addressed by home deliveries. The former is more of a problem. Although London has good public transport, travelling while in a wheelchair is far from ideal. Hence we won’t use buses to get to hospital. Which means using taxis or minicabs, which presents its own unique challenges.
Accidents
Accidents will happen, as Elvis Costello astutely pointed out. Furthermore they often occur in the most innocuous of fashions, as I shall now tell. Myself and Mrs P were over our local park today with our two and a half year old grandson Oscar. It is located directly behind our home and has a small children’s play area as well as various adult exercise equipment. One of these items is a low, wooden ramp whose highest end is no more than eighteen inches off the ground. Oscar likes to climb on this, run to the end and jump. Naturally, he did this today when we visited. Mrs P then followed suit (at his request) and stepped off onto the soft, child safe surface. Her right knee gave way and she fell over. Despite the short distance and the soft surface, the fall was sufficient to injure her knee, as there was an audible crack. She subsequently could not get up on her own and I had to assist her so she could sit on the aforementioned ramp.
London
You would think that writing about London would be easy. It’s the capital of the United Kingdom after all. However, like so many things in life the devil is in the detail. London is a more complex beast. For example you have the City of London that is the ceremonial county and local government district. Nowadays the City of London is mainly used in reference to the central business district that resides there, similar to Wall Street in the US. Then you have London as it exists within the tourist industry, which encompasses the Borough of Westminster and such iconic attractions as Buckingham Palace, The UK Parliament and Tower Bridge. However, for the benefit of this post, I shall be using the term Greater London. It contains thirty two London Boroughs and is governed by The Greater London Authority. If this is still confusing, then this area is surrounded by the M25 London orbital Motorway. Anywhere inside that area is considered Greater London.
Going to the Supermarket
When I was a child growing up in the seventies, my parents used local shops such as the grocers, butchers and bakers for their regular shopping needs. All were small, independent, family run businesses. Sadly, those days are long gone. Nowadays, most of us go to a supermarket or local store of some kind, for our respective shopping requirements. The frequency of such visits may depend on your pay cycle and whether you prefer to shop daily, weekly or monthly. In the UK, store loyalty has been an important factor for many years. More recently, because of the cost of living crisis, many shoppers are now going to stores where it is more economical. Store and brand loyalty are being tested and not necessarily winning. The march of online shopping has also stalled, as convenience is no longer trumping cost. Things are changing and changing fast. Who said retail was dull?
The Full English Breakfast
One of the pleasures I enjoy in life, especially when I’m dining out or staying in a hotel, is having a Full English Breakfast. I like the fact that each one is unique, with potential additional ingredients and regional variations. But then there is the comfort of the familiar and knowing that key aspects of the dish will be present. It is also nice when elements are locally sourced which often means that they stand out. In Norfolk recently, the sausages included in my Full English Breakfast were exceptional. When in Hampshire, I find that the bacon is thicker cut and cured in a manner unique to the county. It is these aspects that make the Full English Breakfast such a pleasant and interesting dish. I also find that having such a robust and substantive breakfast is a great way to start the day and keeps me energised until mid-afternoon.
British Slang Words and Phrases
After receiving critical acclaim in the UK, the 1980 gangster film The Long Good Friday was revised to make the dialogue more accessible to American audiences. A few lines of dialogue were re-recorded to tone down the East End slang. A glossary of terms was also added at the start of the film, including such phrases as “manor” (precinct, area, patch, turf) and “ponce” (pimp or fool). Conversely, this has seldom happened with regard to American TV shows and films exported around the world, due to the ubiquitous nature of US pop culture. Nowadays, you would think the internet would have bridged this linguistic divide but it would appear not. I still see a lot of YouTube videos explaining British slang and traditional phrases. Never being one to pass up the opportunity to jump on a passing bandwagon, I thought I’d tackle 15 British slang words and phrases for your edification and the sake of an easy blog post.
Gossip and Schadenfreude: A National Pastime
If you are in a British pub and someone drops a pint or better still an entire tray of drinks, then most people within the immediate vicinity will cheer. A few years ago I was in a pub near London ComicCon and some wag shouted “Fus Ro Dah”. But I digress. The thing is, in these situations no one will go to help. Nope, we’re too busy laughing. Laughing at someone else's misery, embarrassment and inconvenience. Does this say something about British culture and our national psychology? We seem to like other people’s failures. There has always been a fascination with celebrity culture, especially with the rise and fall of such individuals but it seems to have become more unpleasant of late. Do we revel too much in other people’s misery due to some major shift in our national psyche? Is the combative and aggressive nature of contemporary political discourse to blame?
Selling My Parents House
Last August my mother died at the age of 91. Since last September, her will has slowly been processed by our family solicitors. To cut a long story short we received the Grant of Probate in March this year. Three months on and my sister and I have finally put the family home up for sale. My sister still resides at the property and has done so all her life. Hence not only are we looking to sell our parents house but also find my sister a flat or maisonette. Both of us agreed when we embarked upon this process not to rush and to let things run at their own pace. The last few years of caring for our parents was a very difficult and exhausting experience. Hence, both of us have taken some time out to rest, recuperate and take stock of our lives. My sister has recently retired and it was important to get that matter resolved first, before addressing the sale of the family home.
Housework and Chores
I was going to start this blog post by saying that, just like death and taxes, housework and chores are something we all have in common. But I have decided to withdraw that statement having been reminded of some houses I’ve visited during the course of my career. Also Twitch can sometimes reveal all and frequently provides a fascinating, if unknowing window into other people’s homes. Hence it is patently obvious that some folk are indifferent to the concept of housekeeping, basic hygiene and human decency. So instead I shall say that for many of us, housework and chores are yet another set of obstacles that stand between us and our leisure time. Something that has to be addressed, more often than not, out of necessity rather than a willing desire.
Loneliness
I was consulting my list of blog topics, when I spotted the subject of loneliness among the various talking points I’ve collated. “Hah”, I thought. “That will do”, hoping to quickly write four or more paragraphs off the top of my head. However, during the course of some lightning research I discovered the following website, Campaign to End Loneliness and realised that this may not be a subject one can easily extemporise about without being too general or indeed, insensitive. Loneliness exists on a spectrum and is highly subjective. Some of the examples cited by Campaign to End Loneliness, may well sound quite trivial while others are truly heart breaking. All of which highlights, like so many things in life, that the subject is nuanced, subjective and one needs to avoid generalisation. Which raises the point, what can I contribute to such a discussion? My own experiences.
Falling Out Over Politics
For those who live outside of the UK, let me categorically state that Brexit has broken British politics. Prior to 2016, national politics still broadly functioned along traditional party political lines, with income and class substantially determining voter allegiance. The big three cities (London, Birmingham and Liverpool) maintained their liberal dispositions and Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were dominated by their regional politics. Brexit changed all this creating fault lines that fell outside of the existing political status quo. Opinions differed based upon where you lived, how politically literate you were and even education. Your party political allegiance no longer indicated what stance you took on this matter. Furthermore, the discourse around this complex subject was quickly debased into a bipartisan culture war that was toxic and dangerous.
The Problem With Ever Changing Band Lineups
I was reminiscing about the music of my youth the other day which led me to listen to a track by Pro-Pain. The band formed in NYC in 1991 and their debut album Foul Taste of Freedom got some traction in the UK. I lost track of them after the next album and moved on musically. However, because of my recent fit of nostalgia, I looked the band up on Wikipedia and discovered that they were still going. Now thirty years is quite a long period of time and nothing stays the same forever but even I was surprised to see that the lineup of Pro-Pain had changed over a dozen times. The only original artist in the band today is bass player, lead vocalists and founder member, Gary Meskil. As ever this started a train of thought about the subject. How so many bands have made substantial changes in their lineup over the course of their careers and the respective pros and cons of such decisions.
Adulthood
When I was a child I often dreamt about the “wonders” of the “grown up” world. I would muse upon this while in bed, peeved by the fact that the adults were now indulging in some magnificent activity that was beyond my comprehension and that I was excluded from. What exactly did adults do during the time I was at school or asleep? It was obvious there were gaps in my knowledge and in my naivety, I had the most fanciful speculations. Life for a child in the UK during the seventies was a very regimented process. School dominated the day. This was followed by a short period of “freedom” upon returning home, a meal, homework, some TV and then bed. Furthermore you were constantly reminded by adults to be content being a child. “You don’t want to grow up too quickly” I was told on many occasions. Apparently this part of my life was the best bit. So I rolled with the situation and got on with my childhood. Yet the adult world was still there, like something on the horizon that was always out of reach. Hence my nocturnal flights of fancy.