Tag Archives: swindon

by | April 8, 2011 · 8:30 am

more on why I’m voting No2AV on 5th May

Deciding who will represent you in parliament and, ultimately, who will run the country is not a marketing survey.

If someone asks you to rate your top 5 or 10 hotel chains, supermarkets, airlines, fashion outlets or whatever then ranking them in order makes sense. It gives a feel for how people see the market and who they rate as number one. You could do the same with one of those, for me puerile, talent and reality shows to decide who to vote off.

But deciding the outcome of an election this way is, to me, completely bonkers.

Yes, I want to see electoral reform and a better way of representing the people, but I do not believe that AV has any place in such reform, so I’m voting No.

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by | March 22, 2011 · 2:31 pm

letters to the editor – disposing of unpopular leaders

Sir

So our Prime Minister and his government believe that it is acceptable to have an unpopular leader assassinated. Perhaps they should be carefull of what they wish for….

I think that we should be told.

Yours faithfully

Surprised of Swindon

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by | March 20, 2011 · 8:37 pm

somtimes I forget that I’m not eighteen any more

Another weekend of decorating done, and just a couple of final touches to do before we have a rare house guest at the end of the week. I’ve never enjoyed wallpapering, and this job has meant a lot of fiddly work in confined spaces. The days when I could do all that physically with ease are long past, and I’m sat here writing this feeling the effects of two days of strange contortions.

Age may be taking its toll, but, as those who follow my Monday Musings will see tomorrow, I’ve always advocated pushing the boundaries. Never, never, never give up.

 

 

 

 

 

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by | March 18, 2011 · 7:25 am

thank you Wootton Bassett, and thank you Your Majesty

The folks down the road at Wootton Bassett have been doing something that has seemed sadly lacking in recent years, other than by minorities, in paying their respects. To have been acknowledged in this way is not something that they sought, but that makes it all the more of an honour.

And well done to our Queen as well for bestowing the honour. Royal support has also declined in recent years along with the standards of decency, and it is acts like those  that the people of Wootton Bassett have shown that demonstrate just how far standards have slipped in this country.

So thank you to both town and Queen for standing up for something good and right. As a son of the Royal County I salute you both.

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by | March 9, 2011 · 7:40 pm

No more RingGo at Swindon! FGW you are wrong

I hear that First Great Western and APCOA are ceasing the RingGo service at Swindon (and other) station car parks any day now.

This is a stupid move and I am supporting the campaign to have the decision reversed. If you are with me click on this link to make your protest heard.

Car park machines are a nightmare at somewhere like a railway station. You either need a mountain of change or, if they have a credit card operated one, the patience of a saint as they rarely work. RingGo makes life easy with a simple phone call and, when its a business trip, I can log on later and get a VAT receipt.

All stress free and one of the main reasons why I have started to use the train much more over the last year or so. I want my RingGo back!

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by | February 26, 2011 · 12:54 pm

wiltshire wildlife encounters – a death in the forenoon

Our flock of starlings is starting to recover. 18 months ago one of our neighbours grubbed up the patch of shrubs and brambles where several hundred would roost at night. Presumably they found somewhere else to rest and we saw very little of their spectacular pre-bedtime aerobatics, and things were quieter, last year.

This year they have been more prevalent again, but yesterday morning one fell victim to a sparrowhawk who, having stunned its prey, managed to catch it almost outside the bedroom office window, almost colliding with the house and having to land and re-group. Its mate arrived seconds later and looked on before they both went off the devour their catch.

With the prevalence of kites and common buzzards along the highways we frequent, having now had a peregrine and an pair of sparrow hawks in our urban garden it is almost like my childhood days in the country for birds of prey.

I like all sorts of the wildlife that surrounds us, but starlings are one of my favourite birds with their irridescent colours, even if their behaviour is somewhat scandalous with all that noise and bickering. Sad to see what die so brutally in some ways, but it is a fact of life that there is a food chain in nature and that survival is all about competition.

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by | February 18, 2011 · 7:58 pm

end of another week

Where does the time go? I’m so busy at the moment that the weeks are just flying by. Life seems like an hour glass; as you get into the second half the sands seem to run through more quickly maybe?

Years of learning, often the hard way, to manage my time well pays off in trying to make my days effective and I do try to make time for quality things, whether that is people time or me time. These are the things that make it all work out and help me through the things that I’d rather not have to do.

Making each day a mixture means that I can always finish off with the thoughts that I’ve had some fun and learned something along the way.

They may be quick days but, in general, they’re happy ones.

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by | January 23, 2011 · 2:10 pm

more joys of shopping + London2012

Reading of the desecration of some of my old haunts that is going on in order for the 2012 Olympics to take place (I sold commercial vehicles spares and other things all around that patch back in the 1970s) I was prompted to thoughts of how we could scoop some extra medals from the home event.

Competitive shopping! Once again this weekend the Berkshire Belle and I have been out there scrounging for some nosh in both Cheltenham and Swindon and, as ever, we have had to pick our way through the ranks of those who see the weekly shop as some sort of assault course.

This is not a phenomenon we come across in other countries, so Team GB could be in for some world domination here; we could have different classes for different age groups perhaps. The OAPs hunt in packs, younger folks that can’t shop without the mobile phone clamped to the ear whilst savaging the opposition with their trolleys and so on. And then the men’s class would be for the “I’ll show the other half how it’s done” dash round in record time with points scored for casualties on the way, whilst the lady’s class would be more along the lines of ” can I take so long getting my purse out to pay that everything the next person in line has bought goes past its sell by date”. And there could be a family class for the greatest number of aisles blocked  to other shoppers while we all stand and debate.

If nothing else we should be able to win on sheer naked aggression. Every weekend I go into therapy for ankles clipped by countless shopping carts and friction burns from arms that have been shoved across my face to grab something.

And we certainly play it as a body contact sport. The Berkshire Belle and I  have mutual grounds for divorce after every trip to the shops on the basis that we’ve had far more physical contact with total strangers that we’ve managed with each other.

If Team GB want a good medal haul at London2012 next year then Competitive Shopping is clearly the way to go.

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by | December 31, 2010 · 7:00 pm

My most viewed post of 2010 on John’s Jottings?

As 2010 draws to a close I have been looking back at my Jottings over the last 12 months to see what was popular and what wasn’t so much.

The two clear winners for John’s Jottings are the one on Natural Disasters (Acts of God) and Am I a LibDem, both of which have also had a bit of a resurgence in interest lately, albeit that they were both a bit more topical with regard to the general election. If you missed them first time round please click on the links to have a look.

Anyway, thanks for reading these, and other posts around my blogs. I hope that you all have a peaceful and prosperous 2011.

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by | December 18, 2010 · 12:00 pm

Unleashing the inner poet

The Berkshire Belle and I have been together for many years now. Twenty one in fact, if my maths are right, and this for what some who knew us said would be a six week wonder.

Maybe you do try harder the second time around, as it is for us two, but somewhere early on in our time together I decided I would do the twelve days of Christmas backwards. Starting on the 13th December I would produce a card and/or a gift on each day as we ran up the the 25th.

That evolved into a card with a short rhyme (I hesitate to call them poetry) and, apart from one year when things at work were really grim, I was working away and I forgot the 13th (you only have to miss one to screw things up) I’ve done it every year since.

Unless I am going to be away I don’t write them in advance. I’ve tried and it doesn’t work for me. Normally I write them in the half hour before I go to bed and, somehow, something will flow from my heart to my hand, through my pen and onto the card.

Some are nonsense, some are topical (I was always inspired by the calypso), some try to copy the style of something well known and now and again I come up with an epic.

The common thread is that they are written with love. Some come on guys, you don’t have to copy my idea of the 12 days, but why not buy your lady a card that’s blank inside and just write her something to say how much she means to you?

 

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