Mike 🇬🇧 🇪🇺

I live in Central England
I'm a retired NHS Scientist & Manager with a BA(hons) French & Art History

I cycle, sketch, try to grow stuff on our allotment & play petanque (badly)
I'm a perpetual beginner at TaiChi & Quigung
I twiddle with amateur radio as GE4SDZ

My disabled wife & I enjoy travel especially by public transport

Mental health is a personal & family challenge

NO DMs

#allotment #cycling #petanque #TaiChi #AmateurRadio #hamradio #Leicestershire #sketching #Oddfellows

Location: Leicestershire, England 🇬🇧
Occupation: Retired Healthcare Scientist & Health Service Manager 🔬
Politics: Leftie tree-hugging rejoiner 🇪🇺
Travel Blog #interrail: https://gaylers.me/travel

Public Key

npub16dqmnp8gffrzjk0mwlv76qg8xp66chdz0ga07dkwfnywvkre834qykz4a2

NIP-05 Address

mikefromlfe_at_cupoftea.social@momostr.pink

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Published at

2026-06-02T03:21:55Z

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Last Notes

2026-05-10 09:01:12 UTC

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As much as the NHS 'internal market' is an abomination the existing mechanism could be used for both transferred patients from private care and for medical tourism.
If the initial treatment wasn't provided for by the Trust giving the later care (and there was no agreement in place to provide that care) then the cost of the later - emergency - care falls onto the initial provider. If the first treatment was overseas it would end up being the patient, or travel insurer. Within the UK the private hospital or ultimately the private healthcare insurance company would have to pick up the bill.
This would increase the cost of private healthcare insurance (small violin) and travel insurance but it potentially puts a big chunk of money into the NHS.

2026-05-10 08:24:31 UTC

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When I first came to Leicester it was to work in the laboratory inthe Regional Cardiothoracic Unit back in the early 80s.
We did a lot of clever cardiac surgery including some 'breakthrough' research.
But I was shocked at how many patients were transferred to the NHS Intensive Care Unit from the local private hospital which did much more routine cardiac surgery - which of course was performed by exactly the same surgeons, usually on a Friday evening or Saturday. There was no overnight medical cover at the private hospital, so anyone with a hint of a problem was dumped on the NHS.
It still happens today.
Medical Tourism is another modern equivalent.

2026-05-09 07:36:58 UTC

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Ive seen an analysis (possibly in The Guardian) looking at votes rather than seats which suggests that the GPEW did much better than the results (by seat) would suggest at first sight.
Equally, there was a chart here earlier - which I didnt boost due to lack of AltText - pointing out that the nature of these staged local elections show that overall & nationally the number of Reform ltd seats on English councils isn't that much greater than Green seats, and in overall numbers both are well down the table.
It's not great, but it's not all gloom & doom

2026-04-25 10:13:55 UTC

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Very minor point: I'm not sure that it's "mostly" nurses who are Advanced Practitioners.
There's a awful lot of the so-called Allied Healthcare Professionals who are in these roles - Scientists, Therapists and Radiologists to name but three groups.
Your point applies to these professionals too.

2026-04-23 14:18:55 UTC

Back home after my 52km bike ride.
It's seriously breezy out there - more so than I expected.
Plus, I must have planned the route to include every hill in south Leicestershire!
Still, it's completed and it's within time, so I can submit it for validation as a #AudaxUK BP ride. My first in a couple of decades (I need to check that).
Now, I'm absolutely knackered.
#Cycling #BikeTooter #Audax #Leicestershire

2026-04-05 17:12:36 UTC

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I suppose that includes me.
I'm 71 and although I have worked extensively with computers during my career, IT was never part of my core job.
I do have a very early paper published where I'm a joint author on the development of an HTML 'database' which I'm proud to say has now morphed into a fully maintained international web resource.
Does that make me techie? 🤔😁

2026-03-27 19:48:35 UTC

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10 year old girls did in 1999
#TOTP

2026-03-15 11:56:05 UTC

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Keeping on keeping on is all we can do in the end!
Unfortunately the motorway near us is noisy all the time, days & times make very little difference.
The biggest factor is the wind direction - from the SW and it's almost as though all 8 lanes are in our back garden, with a rare NE or E wind it can get a lot quieter.
There's a controversial housing development near us which has the potential to shield us from some of the noise, but it'll be difficult to assess the change.

2026-03-13 11:26:26 UTC

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I've always tried to minimise soil disturbance where I can but large areas of my plot - despite having lots of compost over the years - still pans down to a hard clay surface.
I give these areas a half-spit dig some time over winter if I get the chance, although I'm increasingly unconvinced about how much good it does compared to hoeing the surface to get rid of weeds

2026-03-11 23:53:35 UTC

Another sketch for #MonochromeMarch - this was in Martigues, south of France in May 2025. A group having lunch around an outdoor restaurant table.
Maybe not one of my best - I don't 'do' people, but I like this one.
Zine permission granted
#sketching
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/116/190/048/424/880/817/original/55ee698e7d52ee72.jpg

2026-03-09 03:43:19 UTC

Ship's propeller and seascape in Menorca for #MonochromeMarch
Zine permission granted
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/116/165/470/800/753/667/original/56545e7360714351.jpg

2026-03-07 21:25:44 UTC

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I wouldn't completely write off Your Party although I feel they are destined forever to be minor players.
I predict that some of the left independents will align with Your Party and they, along with a small number of inner city constituency MPs will be YP members.
This could be facilitated by the Greens doing a deal with YP in areas where there are strong independent MPs +/- areas where there's a danger of the progressive vote being split.

2026-03-07 08:35:29 UTC

it's morning again.
I've woken feeling rather flat and unenthusiastic.
I slept pretty well, and we had an excellent evening out.
I'm probably not looking forward to having a brace of grandchildren for this afternoon and most of tomorrow. I'm just not in the mood and I haven't got the headspace.
They've been told that we're taking them to a museum today (without consulting us) so rather than dissappointing them we'll take the Park & Ride bus and go to the Guildhall Museum in Leicester. To avoid Sacha having to cook I think I've found a cafe which has food they'll eat.
My tentative plans for Sunday are in disarray because Kasa has announced she'll come here to see them, so I can't take them to our allotment to get them covered in mud for the return trip to their parents.
it'll be absolutely fine once everything gets underway, it's just where my head is after a torrid week.
Enjoy your weekend.
#Today

2026-02-07 18:56:51 UTC

Spurred on by my recent success with the Amateur Radio Linux laptop, I installed QSSTV and now have Slow Scan TV working!
At least, I can reliably receive images and Hamlib sends the transceiver the right incantations.
By the time I'd figured out the image editor to make templates the 20 metre propagation had just about gone, so I'll try to respond to a CQ call tomorrow.
Always something new to try in this game.
I'm a touch nervous about the extended TX times of some modes - advice welcome!
#AmateurRadio #SSTV

2026-01-30 19:14:53 UTC

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I really can't get on with the Vivaldi mail client, but I can't put my finger on the issue.

2026-01-21 14:53:48 UTC

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My nap time soundscape is SF10-33 from @npub1x08…469m .
I've no idea what's going on, but maybe that's the point. Hypnotic and relaxing.
#sf1033

2026-01-21 14:42:44 UTC

I've just woken up from a nap.
Not really sure how long I've been out though.

2026-01-13 14:27:47 UTC

I'm not a great one for funny videos, which I rarely find funny, but this from my son who works in the railway industry tickled me.
#trains #railway #avanti
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/115/888/248/674/862/384/original/d968616245a21850.mp4

2026-01-04 19:54:24 UTC

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I'm surprised they don't include China & Taiwan and The South China Sea (as a festering cauldron)

2025-12-27 15:47:49 UTC

One of my usual jobs between Christmas and New year is ordering the allotment seeds for next year - usually from the DT Brown catalogue.
I've not had any seed catalogues yet - is it just me?
(England)
#allotment #gardening

2025-12-22 20:14:48 UTC

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I'd generally agree.
As far as I could see it looks as though this part of the canal is on an embankment.
•Major Edit to the below speculation •
The canal forum - link below - presents good, if not conclusive, evidence that a culvert running below the canal had collapsed causing the canal to collapse into the culvert
The culvert appears to have carried a stream below the canal.
https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/126111-major-breach-at-whitchurch-on-llangollen/
•Original Speculation •
Years of mechanical abrasion of the canal bottom (from boat movements) perhaps alongside a different approach to maintaining the canal - including dredging and towpath maintenance - as a minor factor, may well have a role to play
•Further Comment remains relevant •
Whatever the cause it's going to be a huge & costly job to reinstate the canal for a charity that does not have the funds for such disasters.
Let alone the loss of the boats, which may be homes as well as investments, and the disruption to multiple lives.

2025-12-19 20:06:41 UTC

Kit (far right) has dozed off to 1998 (far left)
#TOTP
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/115/748/029/357/733/160/original/d72f2c7625f17366.jpg

2025-12-15 09:36:16 UTC

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I have never, ever understood the pharmacy thing.
(When I was in an NHS management role, Pharmacists were very defensive of their 'special' position in the organisation and no one senior could break through it to improve things.)
Splitting emergency transport and routine patient movements should have improved matters but has failed miserably in many places - I suspect that contacts aren't rigourously written or enforced?
Resident doctors? There simply aren't enough to deal with the workload. Fund it!
Social care backlogs? So much has been written on this - and it generally comes down to lack of funding (again)

2025-12-15 08:33:09 UTC

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There was before ideology brought the so called Internal Market and competing Foundation Trusts
Regional Health Authorities weren't perfect by any means, but at least they communicated

2025-12-14 18:02:57 UTC

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Oh good, someone else is banging my drum for me!

2025-11-29 10:45:32 UTC

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We had that to some extent in the pandemic.
The rich and those who saw themselves as the elite opted out of that social experience. It was seen as a money making exercise.
Any future iteration of national service will be seen as something for 'them' not 'us' .
Mid 20th century National Service certainly taught a section of society how firearms and explosives could be used, and how to form & maintain gangs through hierarchy.
The formation of the NHS wasn't as egalitarian as we think, with opt-outs for private medical practice, the continuation of private hospitals & private wards, and the scandalous GP contract that we are still suffering with.
I agree with your premise that we are a divided society but I'm not sure I see your solution.

2025-11-18 20:53:52 UTC

Hi Tooters - I'm looking for your experiences of different ways of spending during European travel.
I'm hoping to write a blog post on the advantages & disadvantages of - for example - cash, credit cards, currency cards, phone payments, travellers cheques, and anything else.
Is cash still king?
What do you take on your travels? Have you ever had a big problem with your choices? What would you recommend to others?
Post suggested through Debby@hear-me.social
Boosts welcome
#travel #interrail #travelling #journey #cash #cardPayments

2025-11-12 18:40:22 UTC

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I'm not signing up to read the article, and I'm not sure what 'authentic' means in this context.
I'd want politicians who have lived and worked in 'the real world' - not in a political bubble.
I'd love a commitment not to accept hospitality above (say) £2k per year and a promise not to take a job sponsored by a lobbying body after leaving Parliament.
And.....No lies

2025-10-23 09:12:38 UTC

I was thinking the other day about when life (for us) was last 'normal' - you know without drama, worries, illness and such forth.
The more I thought about it the more I realised that life is just a series of 'events' that mean that it is only normal - you know, just humming along - for very short intervals, sometimes minutes, occasionally days, and rarely, weeks at a time.
Soap operas are the epitome of this - just one dramatic event after another with no breathing space. Real life has those short episodes of normality which would be very boring on the TV.
Life seems to be like standing at the side of the road and seeing a yellow car pass by - a flash of normality receding into the distance.
So, maybe we ought to relish the normal episodes while they last, and accept the drama, the worries and the fear knowing that they will pass - sometimes slowly, sometimes quicker.
Blimey! I'm a bit philosophical this morning!
#mindfullness #life #philosophy

2025-10-08 13:20:56 UTC

My sister-in-law has phoned up in a bit of a flap (rightly)
The houses on her street - Essex /Herts borders - had a visit from a group of men 'suggesting' they put flags on their houses, which they'd supply flagpoles for at £150.
There were veiled threats to the neighbours who were reluctant ("nice car, shame if it got scratched" "nice dog, does he get ill?")
The street is pretty much all elderly people and they're frightened to report to the police in case of reprisals. Not the sort to have doorbell cameras.
I've suggested Crimestoppers as an anonymous route.
I wonder how common this is across the country?
#fascists #racists #flagShaggers

2025-10-05 08:58:37 UTC

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Upto a point.
Charitable bodies have been co-opted to do the work of government (local & national) - volunteers are often doing the same work as used to be done by paid workers including professionals.
This is seen in the charity I used to volunteer for - Canal & River Trust which manages the canals in England and Wales. There are now more volunteers than paid employees and much (?most) of the routine maintenance of the navigation is done by volunteers.
Another example that I'm much less familiar with is National Coastwatch which seems to have supplanted much of the work of the Coastguard professionals.
I'm uneasy about local litter picking 'wombles' who are covering the cracks in local authority spending shortfall by putting themselves at danger at the sides of fast main roads, and picking up needles and body waste from laybys.
Isn't this all what taxes should be paying for?

2025-09-30 20:51:30 UTC

Test image without alt text (bot search)
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/115/295/223/113/372/724/original/c1739384ba0a37ad.jpg

2025-09-29 08:55:50 UTC

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The NHS used to have a General Management Training Scheme (which rejected me twice!) that was ostensibly about training 'administrators' to become 'managers' but was in fact more about grooming the next generation of upper & senior NHS Leaders through training, education and mentoring.
Ant some point - possibly mid/late 90s this fizzled out with the notion that senior managers were best recruited from industry (and the armed forces in some cases).
Then as you say, management consultancy firms got the ear of the Trust Boards and that's where we are today - in a revolving door where all exits lead to a different sort of mess.

2025-09-26 13:59:24 UTC

Back from an exhausting allotment session.
Nice chat with our Romanian neighbour - she's given us some tomatoes, peppers and pickling cucumbers in exchange for some of our apples.
Apart from them we've come home with the last of the potatoes, apples, pears and a few raspberries and strawberries.
I've roughly dug the potato bed ready for some green manure sowing.
There's still a lot to do there.
#allotment #leicestershire

2025-09-19 09:44:06 UTC

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Posting about your day - either your plans for the day, or at the end of the day, using the #today hashtag is a good way of getting into a regular habit.
The bot will boost your post so it should get a bit more exposure than a simple toot.
Equally you could follow the hashtag and see what other people are doing.
Another regular one, although it's not for me, is the #threeGoodThings hashtag where you can report on three good things that have happened during your day - it's a great way of developing positive affirmations about daily life

2025-09-19 06:43:23 UTC

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I agree with you about the difficulties of finding language learning buddies, particularly online. My experience (of a few years ago) was the same as yours - we ended up communicating in English!
You may be similar to me - I have a wide range of interests and that makes it harder to find a community to settle down into.

2025-09-18 18:03:13 UTC

Today's hurriedly written #TatrasTrainTrip #blog post - where we move from Germany into the Netherlands and home is not too far away.
https://mikefromlfe.mataroa.blog/blog/across-the-border/
#interrail #blogging #CrossBorderRail

2025-09-16 19:35:18 UTC

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When I saw this in real life it made me feel both sad and furious.
A pastich without any recognition or understanding.

2025-07-29 08:20:10 UTC

Good morning pals!
Today the airship crew* will be heading to London.
It's a couple of buses to get to Yarmouth for the ferry to get a train, then we'll get another train so we can have a short train ride to get to our accommodation for the night.
I'm going to say it again because I love saying it : we're staying at our London club as usual.
It's a bit cool and misty at the moment but it was very bright earlier.
*No airships have been harmed, procured, or dismantled, but the crew are ever hopeful of gainful employment despite our total lack of experience.
#IsleofWight #holiday #today #GoodMorning

2025-07-28 08:51:52 UTC

I'm absolutely certain that an agreement of some sort will be essential for the new Corbyn / Sultana party with the Greens.
A formal pact might be a step too far, but on a constituency by constituency basis, given local knowledge and conditions might be a lot better.
(It may be necessary to include the LibDems in a few areas as well - shock! horror!)
Whatever happens any agreement will upset someone in either tent, but the progressive vote mustn't split.
#ukpolitics

2025-07-25 07:30:50 UTC

I spent a long time thinking about the Corby / Sultana party last night.
I think the test of its aims will come when we see how Entryism is managed.
If a local group is 'hijacked' by (say) Flat Earthers* - how will the national party respond?
They promise not to be centrally led, but if the membership approves unpalatable (to the founders) policies, maybe on Europe - or Flat Earthism* - what then?
*Choose your favourite boogeyman from Capital Punishment, LGBT rights, Immigration, and so on.
#yourParty #Corbyn #ukPolitics

2025-07-03 13:59:55 UTC

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It's been a wonderful year for all sorts of berries.
We've picked about 9kg of Redcurrants and possibly half that of blackcurrants.
It's difficult to know what to do with so much! (which is a great problem to have)

2025-06-08 16:17:26 UTC

Bumper session at our allotment today.
I've planted the remaining celery, sweetcorn, courgette, melon and leek plants.
We've done no where near enough weeding - it's amazing how the rain has encouraged the weeds.
We came home with <drum roll please >
Strawberries, gooseberries, a few blackcurrants, a small handful of Charlotte potatoes, and rhubarb.
To our astonishment the peach tree, that is looking very sick, has three or more peaches maturing on it.
The cherry tree is doing well - but that'll be a race with the birds to get them.
And I came home with very bad backache.
#allotment #fruit
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/114/648/628/659/561/291/original/cb2cc1c36d98506e.jpg
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/114/648/628/671/013/277/original/0fa9e6f6bacd7eaa.jpg

2025-06-02 09:26:48 UTC

There's so much going on in this picture I don't know where to start.
But why is a gorilla giving out a trophy, and why is the gorilla wearing red crocs?
(Stolen from the Petanque365 feed on Facebook - The gorilla is handing over a £1000 competition prize)
#CaptionThis #Petanque #WierdPhotos
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/114/613/053/531/498/249/original/90bc334000fb8c2f.jpg

2025-05-29 11:26:00 UTC

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I believe it is available for model railways.
[@Erased_Citizen](https://cupoftea.social/@Erased_Citizen ) will know

2025-05-26 07:50:32 UTC

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While I'd love cheaper fares, more services and better infrastructure - I'm not convinced - as an occasional user of European trains - that British railways are as bad or as expensive as we make out.
Certainly if you rock up to the station today and expect to go to the seaside NOW you will be paying a LOT of money, but plan ahead (& buy a railcard) and there are a lot of affordable tickets to choose from.
We don't suffer from Germany's creaking infrastructure leading to huge delays and cancellations, or French mad timetables, bonkers luggage rules or surly staff.
Ticketing in Britain is over-complicated and desperately needs reform, but headline prices are misleading.

2025-05-15 09:20:14 UTC

Even moderate hearing loss is very odd.
It's not until I stick my hearing aids in that I realise how much I'm missing out on - mostly birdsong, but also little household noises.
My hearing aids sometimes feel like a lot of bother, almost a cruel imposition, but the benefits are immense.
Get your hearing checked - you may not know what you are missing.
The RNID has a very good online screening tool https://rnid.org.uk/information-and-support/take-online-hearing-check/
#hearingLoss #hearing #hearingAids

2025-05-09 09:19:16 UTC

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Removing a non-means tested benefit (PIP) that allows disabled people to live life how they choose and forcing disabled people onto the means tested Universal Credit where they will hover on the borderline of poverty.
Dreadful.

2025-05-06 17:16:03 UTC

A Tuesday lunchtime trip to get a few allotment jobs done.
Flower, pea, bean & beetroot sheets sown. More weeding, and a bit of path repaired.
The ground is very dry, and turning into concrete like slabs.
It wasn't very warm out there.
I've got the car numberplates - need to drill & fit them now.
#Today #allotment

2025-05-02 17:13:32 UTC

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The Greens don't seem to 'get' communication, media, and publicity.
They are almost scared of their own shadows when it comes to putting themselves in the spotlight.
This needs to change and change quickly.
Unfortunately there is no Green politician - that I'm aware of - that has the presence / charisma to attract media types in the way that has been successful on the right in both English and American politics.
I rather despair of progressive politics in England today.

2025-05-01 07:07:13 UTC

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Point of Order!
Radiographers are not doctors.
Radiologists are doctors.
There used to be a national NHS workforce plan for all the Allied Healthcare Proffessions - including Radiographers, Scientists, Therapists etc etc - goodness knows what happened to that plan!

2025-04-20 07:15:25 UTC

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It's a good question, and one I have no answers to.
Starmer - and his inner circle - seems particularly intransigent on certain policies.
Europe is one, and benefits is another.
If the benefits policy is stopped, as seems possible ( I said possible, not likely) it will have happened through massive public pressure on MPs who see the policy as indefensible.
Could that be translated to the policy on Europe? I'm doubtful. Unless the public becomes convinced that being outside the EU is bad for their pockets there will be no pressure on MPs, and MPs aren't going to stand up to the whips unless they see their seats in jepourdy.
The only hope of Britain getting back to a sensible, serious relationship with the EU is either a Green / Lib Dem coalition government, or Trump doing something really, really stupid that forces Starmer's hand (and I fear that option in many ways).

2025-04-07 10:10:35 UTC

I don't recall mentioning yesterday's very successful #allotment trip.
I've put our first early potatoes in - Charlotte again, they're reliable and have a good taste.
The first peas & carrots are in the ground.
I've sown more broad beans and parsnips.
The last of the onion sets are in at long last.
A couple of dahlia bulbs have gone in - I'm not hopeful as they were very cheap.
Sacha has finished weeding the new strawberries,and is now looking at one of her flower beds.
The committee have turned the water on to the water troughs, so I can now water the seeds that have been in for a while (my water butt is very empty).
It was a glorious day to be outside here in the English East Midlands - and lots of other plot holders seemed to agree - I don't think I've seen so many people on the site in a very long time.

2025-04-04 11:46:14 UTC

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There is (or used to be) a corrugated iron appreciation society on Facebook - no idea if they're still around

2025-03-25 07:41:40 UTC

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Mis-use of a Motability vehicle does not equal benefit fraud.
A claimant can rightfully get #PIP and apply for a Motability car but abuse occurs if the carer or family member does not use the car for the benefit of the claimant. For example, a family member is using the Motability car for commuting every day leaving the claimant without transport.

2025-03-18 18:23:44 UTC

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I had given up giving them the benefit of the doubt - this has nailed that door shut.
It looks like the Greens for me.

2025-03-17 11:04:15 UTC

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The problem with selling produce is more than society rules - it's the Allotments Act 1922 which prohibits commenrcial use of allotments. There are some grey areas which are covered in this excellent summary https://www.organiclea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/sellingallotmentproduce.pdf

2025-03-15 07:36:54 UTC

Good morning.
I've woken up far too early.
Today looks like it'll be dry and cool here in the English East Midlands, so I'm intending to go to the Petanque club in Leicester's Western Park - it seems ages since I've thrown my balls around!
Sacha has been making greetings cards with her pressed flowers - and I expect that's going to occupy her some more.
Tomorrow will be a bit odd because although we are going to make an allotment trip, Kasa is coming to visit and has promised to cook our Sunday meal. The allotment trip needs to be coordinated with her arrival.
In other news, I've got a really irritating skin tag developing on my neck. One of the joys of ageing!
Well, have a wonderful weekend wherever you are.
#allotment #petanque #crafting #Today #leicester #weekend

2025-02-27 16:18:48 UTC

I've just noticed my next door neighbour has a huge pile of old storage heater bricks in her front garden from the builders who were in last week.
I'm collecting as many as I can to go to the #allotment to use as paths or bed edging. But , goodness me, those things are heavy!
And I'm still coughing from this retched virus we've both had - I hope the waste man doesn't come too soon because it's going to take a couple more days to shift them.
Then they've got to be moved at the allotment end as well!

2025-02-19 20:59:26 UTC

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I don't consider him dense - but he's finding himself completely out of his political depth. He's clearly very intelligent, but only in a very narrow field of legal expertise.
Evil? It's a strong word, and no, I don't consider him evil. There are evil politicians strutting around the world stage, but, no, Starmer isn't one of them.
He is - as someone else has said - deluded about the nature of British influence and the nature of how Britain is viewed post-Brexit across Europe (they consider us irrelevant). Equally, he's trying to play up to the section of the British public who still believe we have a military force to be reckoned with.
This will play out very, very badly for everyone.

2025-02-16 12:18:58 UTC

Allotment visit done.
Brought home the last leeks & beetroot. There's nothing in the ground now apart from the fruit.
I managed to move one gooseberry bush which has been a job that I've been putting off.
The plot next to mine is coming vacant shortly as my neighbour has got a job in the North-East (partly due to the cost of housing). He's offered me anything I want off his plot - he's got some splendid strawberry plants but not much else apart from a few bricks.
#allotment

2025-02-12 14:38:45 UTC

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It sounds very similar to Leicester.
Many streets that were student housing (victorian terraces in poor repair) are now becoming HMOs and 'care homes' as huge commercial student blocks are opened - some of which seem to be targeted at wealthy overseas students.
I had hoped that the victorian terraces might revert to family homes - fat chance!!

2025-02-06 09:33:04 UTC

I think this week - with the bathroom fitters having the outside doors open a lot - has been a financial experiment in having the central heating on as usual against trying to keepour living room warmish with the fan heater in the fireplace and the central heating off most of the day.
If I'd been prepared I'd have been a bit more scientific about it.
Based on the three full days of this week our gas usage has barely changed, but we are using about £1 a day more in electricity - which is surprising to me (gas in particular).

2025-02-05 08:37:37 UTC

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While Labour continue to vascilate the Reform Company are laughing and picking up voters.
Even if you hate the British far right you can agree that their leaders are charismatic and speak the language of the people in the streets. The politicians of the traditional parties are dull and suck the life out of the electorate, they talk the only language that they know - the language of politics. It's no wonder they are losing ground, and no wonder that they can;t see themselves in the mirror.
The alternatives are there for the taking - and, yes, it does involve growth. But growth that ordinary people can see - make jobs for people not for the billionairres. Every extra postman, street cleaner, nursing assistant, or bus driver is paying taxes and buying stuff - and they can be paying tax and spending next week, not in a decade. Every person off benefits will feel the weight of oppression lifted from them.
Make it our growth, not "theirs"!

2025-01-31 10:14:10 UTC

For no good reason I was thinking about our daughter's long stay in the psychiatric hospital.
There were a lot of patients on the ward (possibly about 2/3) who never got any visitors.
Where were their families, spouses, parents, children? Not to mention freinds?
The ward staff were delighted that our daughter had visits and support from her parents, brother, neices and work-collegues - she was certainly the exception among the patients.
I like to think that our support helped in her recovery, I definitely think it made her stay there more bearable.
If you know of someone receiving long term hospital care - psychiatric or otherwise - please don't abandon them. Make an effort. It won't always be easy, but doing good isn't always the easy road.
#MentalHealth #hospitals #Carers

2025-01-25 17:55:36 UTC

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My feeling is - don't forget I'm 15 years retired - is that the removal of nursing bursaries and some of the changes in medical schools may have had serious knock-on effects on the numbers & calibre of entrants to health staffing.
Retention of staff appears to be a huge problem - this is related to, yes, management style, but if the 'system' (education, research, buildings, IT, social care & other support services) is not supporting the clinical staff (at the 'sharp end') then who can blame them for wanting to get out.
A lot of the systematic issues are finance related, but I question whether political interference is helping those with a grasp on the situation deal with those problems.
The NHS is a hugely complex organism - tinker with one bit and you'll never know what the effects will be!

2025-01-25 16:56:08 UTC

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I would dispute that there are staffing issues in the NHS as a result of poor management (I would say that as a retired NHS manager!).
I feel that there are fundamental issues with the NHS that can't be solved *purely* by throwing money at it.
I support the long term view that prevention of ill health and having a healthy population is uppermost - but that has to be a 20 year plan.
But today - the NHS has become all things to all people with little focus on doing anything excellently. Mental health care, emergency services, and primary care are all beyond creaking at the seams.
I think in the short term the use of the private sector can't be avoided. The financial rules around procurement & disposal of capital equipment are looser in the private sector but the sector is parasitical on NHS training & expertise.
If parts of the NHS were ultimately given more financial freedo, reliance on private providers could be reduced.

2025-01-19 14:44:25 UTC

There seems to be a lot of posts today with images that have no alt text associated.
Alt Text is captioning images to make them inclusive for people with visual disabilities or those on very restricted bandwidth.
There's a number of guides how to alt text your images (& memes) but you don't need to overthink it - just a few words to describe what the image is.
There are a few bots that can help you with this.
Someone will hopefully reply to this grumpy toot with links to guides and the alt text bot addresses.
There are a number of mastadonians - and I'm one - who won't routinely boost image posts without alt text.
#alttext #images #alttextbot

2024-12-30 11:33:36 UTC

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I was heavily into Risk in various forms in the final part of my NHS career - I was responsible for writing many risk assessments and investigation of incidents where 'bad things' happened.
I worked closely with a respected colleague who was H&S trained.
It was our considered opinion that kneejerk reactions (often in the name of "Health & Safety") often had the opposite of the desired effect and only by slow, careful consideration of the real facts could mitigation be put in place.
This mitigation was often - in my world - a review of training needs, or making sure people had the training that was already supposed to be in place.
It's a crying shame that "Health and Safely" is still used as an excuse to not do something rather than to find out how to do something safely.

2024-12-27 20:33:41 UTC

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I've not seen such posts, but some vegetables are easy to grow.
It's easy to overcomplicate this, and it's easy to get over ambitious.
With modest ambition, a couple of grow-bags, a couple of packets of seeds you can be delighted by your own produce for a few meals.
Some herbs are also easy and useful.
The hashtag #allotment will lead you to the more ambitious among us!

2024-12-23 10:54:17 UTC

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Here's the Leicestershire scheme for free trees and hedges
https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/news/apply-now-for-free-tree-and-hedge-packs

2024-12-16 16:22:13 UTC

Disabled assistance cards provided by East Midlands Railway.
Arrived in the post today.
Free at https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/form/talk-passenger-assistance-cards
Edit: it seems they now also offer wristbands including an #autistic awareness one
How much use they'll be remains to be seen!
#disabled #disability #railway #TrainTravel #railways
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/113/663/402/311/567/947/original/37ba2f59ca265225.jpg

2024-12-16 12:37:42 UTC

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Thanks.
The consensus of the nearby plotholders is that this is about 60 years old.
It's an odd construction (to me) being made of those laths nailed to uprights.
The floor is rotten underneath those patio decking planks, but the storage crates will be standing on an old door(!) which is in good condition.
I'm supporting the crates by screwing them to sturdy but cheap wood stakes formed into a rough frame.
I'm trying to work out if I can molish a door of sorts for the shelter (which would make it a shed again). I'm considering a 5ft X 6ft sheet that would lift on hinges to make a shelter when open. How to do the hinges is defeating me at the moment.
All good fun (& not expensive fun at that)

2024-12-15 14:29:27 UTC

I've been attacking the allotment shed.
Ive removed the door and one wall so I've now got a shelter rather than a secure shed.
I will be using storage crates to keep essentials in eventually.
In the meantime here's a few photos of my progress. (The alt text is minimal because I find it hard to describe these, and I'm exhausted!)
#allotment
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/113/657/298/857/980/262/original/e1e061f403601aa3.jpg
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/113/657/299/139/372/553/original/1093c091b712bf42.jpg
https://cdn.cupoftea.social/media_attachments/files/113/657/299/141/183/079/original/c0a120dbb9e13d5f.jpg

2024-12-05 15:07:55 UTC

If I wake in the night and can't get back to sleep I'll sometimes put a boring podcast on.
It's often a #philosophy podcast as they're generally too deep for my tiny brane and make me fall into dreamland, but last night one grabbed my attention and I didn't get back to sleep until after it had finished.
It was an explanation of #existentialism on the 'Philosophize This' podcast. The presenter (Stephen West)has an irritatingly engaging way of simply explaining complex ideas - and I *think* I might understand the basics of this subject now.
The 'Philosophy Bites' & 'Philosophy 247' podcasts are very good toe-in-the-water listening which do usually work for me. Unfortunately 'Overthink' goes down the usual podcast route of sounding like a toddler's party in a zoo.
#sleep #podcast #podcasts

2024-11-28 08:20:20 UTC

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Point of order!
It's the passenger railway services that will be returned to government control - as I understand it freight remains in private hands.
This shouldn't be an issue for the electorate directly, but it's an important point and shouldn't be overlooked.

2024-11-27 10:42:04 UTC

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All good stuff - some of which would be dealt with by reintroducing a fully funded, full time School Nursing service in all schools.

2024-11-17 17:42:11 UTC

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I've said for a long time that care staff should be on the equivalent of NHS pay, terms and conditions.
This would be a huge undertaking - but no more so than the NHS 'Agenda for Change' regrading process many years ago.
There would be cost implications - and the care companies would fight it tooth & nail as it'd eat into their profits.

2024-11-16 20:34:01 UTC

While I was in #wellingborough this afternoon I happened across a pro-Palestinian protest meeting in the town square.
For such a small town there were a surprising number of people there.
I wonder if this is somehow a marker of how the government (etc) really aren't reading public opinion correctly.
#Northamptonshire #ukpolitics

2024-11-13 11:00:08 UTC

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League tables in the NHS will be gamed in the same way as CQC inspections were.
A vast amount of middle management time will be spent in massaging the figures and scoring imaginary points.
The time and energy that senior managers will spend coercing those further down the heap will be wasted when all of them want to get on with enabling the clinical staff to provide better healthcare.
I cannot see how areas of health deprivation can be compared with areas of health excellence; how to compare areas where staffing costs & supply are challenging; or how to compare units in 'state of the art' facilities with those struggling in Victorian buildings (or worse - 1980s schemes!).
No fiddling with algorithms will compare them.
It's a bonkers idea that (I hope) will be quietly dropped afte a few years.

2024-10-30 18:53:13 UTC

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Is this (only having limited power) a common thing in America?
As a UK person born & bred it seems really strange!

2024-10-27 15:51:53 UTC

We're just back from an allotment session.
Sacha has planted all her flower bulbs in the newly repurposed bed. I've taken a chance with some garlic cloves.
The plot next to mine has had some of the mass of brambles cut back (which is a bit odd because I think the plot holder might be in prison). This tidying up inspired me to deal with my apple tree that had been growing into that mat and onto my shed roof. I cut off some huge unruly branches which are now going to be a challenge to dispose of.
We came back with some sprouting broccoli and some Brussel sprouts.
Good bonfire.
#allotment

2024-10-26 18:04:54 UTC

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Badly.
Healthcare was not as complex as it has become. New, better treatments have come along which are more expensive (mostly) requiring a different skill mix.
There are greater expectations on health care, and none of the 'doctor knows best' nonsense.
The paper trails even in the late 70s showed disconnected care are multiple points of failure and error.
The NHS estate - particularly in mental health services - was largely victorian and ill suited to modern nursing apart from being expensive to heat & maintain.
The elderly, the mentally ill and those with learning difficulties were left to rot in appalling conditions.
GP services were arguably more accessible, and District Nursing more comprehensive but there was no concept of preventative Healthcare, and isolated clinicians were answerable only to themselves.
Ambulances were 'scoop & run' leading to many preventable deaths & injuries.
We've come a long way since I joined the NHS in 1972.

2024-10-26 10:51:47 UTC

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2/2
I'll also repeat my mantra that if you don't have managers* in the NHS then you get clinical staff managing car parks, ordering desks, procuring IT systems, and organising building repairs.
Would the Mail rather have clinicians do clinical work, or clerical work?
*It was recently pointed out to me - quite correctly - that much of NHS management is truly administration. It's become unfashionable to be an administrator, everyone must be a manager!
2/2

2024-10-26 10:47:58 UTC

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1/2
Up until some point in time the NHS had a General Management Training Scheme which selected and trained promising senior managers from across all disciplines. (I attended two selection weeks and was rejected both times!)
This ensured that senior managers understood the complexities of the NHS in its entirety not just the silo they were managing at the time, and promoted within.
This scheme moved good people beyond bein Administrators into being Managers.
What we have now seems to be are silo administrators who are fire fighters (due to lack of resources) rather than people who can see and manage the big picture.
The NHS is stuffed full of excellent individuals who aren't able to fulfil any sort of promise. They need to have the head space to go above & beyond the day job.
Instead expensive managers (& management consultants) are parachuted in from outside to do yet more firefighting without the inside knowledge.
1/2

2024-10-23 21:25:36 UTC

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I agree that road pricing is inevitable but
There's a danger to vulnerable road users (cyclists and horse riders in particular) from motorists who feel they are paying to use the roads and will bully to get non-paying users off 'their' roads.
With this proposal - how would the charges work until the first MOT at year 3?

2024-10-22 12:01:08 UTC

On the way back from Tai Chi this lunchtime I called into the allotment to pick up two plastic chairs that were being held together, just, with cable ties and replace them with the new ones I've had sitting in the garden few weeks.
The old chairs have had their arms & backs sawn off and they are now destined to become allotment stools and / or occasional tables for our allotment plot picnic area.
I also eat a few of the small, ripe raspberries that were shouting "eat me!"
#allotment #ReuseRecycle

2024-10-21 12:43:37 UTC

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Are you implying we are infected with a national disease of Short-Term-Thinking Virus?
Shocked. I am shocked!
(It's not just government - it's business and investors too)

2024-10-21 11:56:37 UTC

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More GPs is a great ambition, but how long does it take to recruit & train a GP? (Rhetorical - I don't know but I'd guess at least 6 years).
More specialist nurses in GP practices? Certainly, but again nurse training is slow and recruitment isn't easy - retention is worse.
Other professions (therapists, scientists, pharmacists etc) have similar career & training constraints as the nursing profession.
Putting more doctors, nurses & other professionals in primary care is essential but how much pilfering of staff from other (acute) services can be safely managed before those services start failing.
It /can/ be done, you are right, but it won't be quick, easy or cheap - it's a case of rebuilding the staff base, having a robust decades long plan, and channelling billions of ££ carefully into the right corners.

2024-10-21 11:24:54 UTC

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2/2
There will be too much emphasis on GP services, IT services & Acute Hospitals, and too little interest in Mental Health services, rehabilitation services, scientific services, back-office functions and the NHS estate.
All of these are essential for the state of the public health and / or running an efficient & effective health system.
Every government wrings its hands over mental health provision, but when do we ever see any change, let alone investment?
Rehabilitation services is something the NHS used to do extremely well, but now it's an afterthought, or farmed out to private contractors who have little interest in preventing readmission or relapse.
The NHS at one time had world beating scientific services that drove innovation and improved outcomes - now? They're a nuisance and far too readily privatised where the emphasis is in meeting the contract, not innovation.
and so on, and so on
2/2

2024-10-21 11:17:13 UTC

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1/2
I fear cherry-picking, but hope for transparency. I will be dissapointed.
Having seen 40 years of change in the NHS before I retired about 12 years ago I can guarantee that any changes on the basis of consultation will be resisted, and will take a long time to implement.
I don't sense that there is the goodwill among staff today that previous wholesale changes had. Staff today don't feel - to me as an outsider now - empowered in the way I did many years ago. They are trudging along to the next pay day.
That's not to say there aren't good, committed people doing a great job - most are, in all fields, but they are ground down by over work, and under-investment.
Over the decades the NHS has become increasingly centralised - despite the move to PCTs and then ICTs - the direction of travel comes from Whitehall. While I wouldn't suggest a full blown return to the pre-1974 model, there was a lot to commend it.
1/2

2024-10-21 11:09:58 UTC

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Ditching NICE would be completely the wrong approach.
NICE is advised by 'principled professionals' at every stage of every consultation, it's not a sealed box full of accountants.
NICE tries to ensure a consistent approach across the whole of the NHS and avoids the previous regime of professionals in certain areas (notably teaching hospitals) having their own pet treatments, or worse, being nobbled by pharmaceutical companies. NICE avoids the worst of the postcode lottery.
NICE is the best we've got to ensure that there is fair and equitable treatment across the board. It's not perfect but something on that scale rarely is.
It might be better to enquire about how big pharmaceutical & equipment companies charge the NHS, and what their prices are based on.

2024-10-20 18:27:56 UTC

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The article doesn't touch on empty property held as investment or AirBnB type property - mainly because Rushcliffe isn't the sort of place you'd find either of those!
It's a crying shame that the government refuse to treat this all as it deserves - instead they want to send money towards housebuilders.
Reform of Council Tax?

2024-10-19 10:55:09 UTC

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I don't mourn the passing of the high street. The concept of having to go into 'town' once a week to try to find that particular thing you were looking for in a limited number of gloomy shops with surly staff - trying to find parking or suffering a miserable bus journey. No thanks.
Why shouldn't I sit at my laptop and choose from a variety of retailers all offering decent prices and delivery to my door?
OK it's not perfect - I'd rather see aggregated deliveries so there aren't multiple couriers along the same road every day, and rarely do I need next-day (or even this week) delivery.
Sure, town centres can survive as vastly scaled back destinations for specialist shopping, entertainment and 'experience' areas, but the town & city centres of previous decades are gone. Get over it!

2024-10-16 15:20:42 UTC

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My TheArchers post had 'footba** ground' in the alt text - that's how it came to light - my sports filter too.
It's a cricke* ground and I've now deliberately misspelled it in the alttext.

2024-10-16 13:53:53 UTC

I've just discovered that my filters also filter posts based on the text in the alttext of images as well as the text in the actual toot itself.
Sorry if you knew this - I didn't!
I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not..

2024-10-14 15:15:29 UTC

There's a subset of Mastodon users who aren't quite understanding the point of #alttext
What I'm seeing increasingly is that the alt text is just a copy & paste of the words in the toot.
Alt text should be a description of the image so that those who can't see the image (for whatever reason) know what the image is.
I'm assuming this is carelessness, not malevolent.

2024-10-07 10:50:54 UTC

That's three big buckets of apples processed this morning.
Some have been stacked for storing in our cool front room (not been very successful doing this in past years - possibly not cool enough).
The rest have been peeled, cored, and chopped roughly and are in bags in the freezer for cooking or juicing later.
After praising Red Fallstaff apples last week, the ones that I picked yesterday were smaller and had grey spots on the skin - a search seems to indicate may be something called 'Sooty Blotch' - once peeled they were absolutely fine as it's a skin mould.
I think that's the last of the apples for this year.
#allotment #apples #autumn

2024-10-01 12:25:07 UTC

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I'm certainly not going to argue with that impressive calculation, but I would point out that not everything dug out of the ground was - or could be - burnt, hence slag heaps, and there was the ash & clinker from burning coal, coke & coal derivatives - so *maybe* 2.95 inches is closer!
Good riddance to #coal .

2024-09-30 13:31:24 UTC

That's 2 litres of apple juice made from the Red Fallstaff apples.
There might have been more but I was munching on them while doing the preparation.
It's in the freezer in 500ml bottles.
There's half a bucket of windfalls still awaiting their destiny - probably being given away to Sacha's pals at the gym.
There's more on the tree.
Red Fallstaff is a great variety - juicy, tasty and good looking. This year it's been very productive - as have most of our apple trees.
I've also got 500ml of mixed apple & raspberry juice - the raspberries we picked were accidentally left in the rain last night and went mushy. It's actually quite pleasant.
#allotment #fruit