Her name was Mary,
In truth she was quite scary,
I’d just arrived in my new role,
I found out she had real soul,
I was used to working with bespoke systems,
I hadn’t really learned microsoftisms,
The apps , the logos, even how to start,
The crash course she gave me proved she had real heart.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to Matthew Lockwood and BBC Online for the Headline
You see it everywhere, lots of piles of rubbish which should be disposed of in a sensible fashion. Just dumped in lay-bys , behind residential areas, entrances to farmers fields, farmers land itself. The disruption and unpleasantness it causes , and in this particular instance the harm to health is significant.
When these people are caught on CCTV, they really don’t look like the brightest tool in the box, is this really what the problem is? Are these people the school children who thought it was OK to throw all their waste packaging on to the ground despite there being bins available , Do they grow up to be fly tippers?
The 200 tonnes of asbestos that was left by the roadside in four trailers cost the Council £200,000 to clear up and make safe.
I’ve no doubt that the people who dumped it feel they are somehow working outside the box, they weren’t going to pay anyone for “processing” the waste. Why should they? They’d done the job of removing it from wherever it was and now someone has a nice shiny new building. They rebelled against a system and sneakily dumped it where the Council will have to foot the bill.
Perhaps , we need to look at this a different way. Perhaps Councils’ and Governments should advertise that rather than fly-tip, if the expense of “processing” is for whatever reason felt to be too high, contact them and see what can be done.
I’m sure in the long run that would be cheaper than having to clear up the mess randomly , investigate criminality and also encourage people to look after there environment. Prevention is better than cure. I think this would be a lot less expensive than having to clear up rubbish after it has been dumped and also the significant cost of prosecuting a case even if it can be proven. Not to mention the damage to the environment and wildlife.
As I say fly-tippers don’t look the brightest tools in the box , perhaps they need help. It might save money in the long run.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
I can’t imagine doing anything else now,
You see I have no one to tell me how,
I’m like a free bird following my reason,
There is no one for whom I’ll bow,
That time is over and I never will return,
A salary now is just money to burn,
Now it’s a case of do I buy a fancy urn,
Not that I’m about to die,
But I have no need for that extra slice of pie,
The taxman doesn’t bother me,
I’ll pay as it’s a kind of necessity,
I don’t need to live in the Isle of Man,
Or travel like a Nomad in a Camper Van,
There’s no need for me to hide or run,
Yes, many thanks to Royal London,
They have my back and that’s about it,
They saved me from the work slave pit.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to Alison Campsie and The Scotsman for the Headline
I have a real fondness for the Caledonian MacBrayne Ferry Company, ( known as Calmac). Long may it continue as a form of transportation around a very rugged and beautiful part of Scotland it can never be matched.
So this Headline really made me realise what a wonderful Company it is. On the run from Brodick to Adrossan on a warm August day, a passenger jumped in the water and had to be rescued by the crew. The ferry had to do a very quick manoeuvre starboard and launch it’s fast rescue craft to successfully rescue the man. Fortunately the man was recovered alive, but there was more to come.
The man told the crew there was a bomb on the boat, as a result, the ferry which had 300 passengers on it had to dock in Adrossan. The passengers were disembarked speedily via the gangway and taken to safety. Police also cleared the port area.
Police searched the ferry for more than two hours before declaring that the situation had been resolved and that passengers could collect their vehicles. A 23 year old man was later arrested.
It may not be the most glamorous maritime job in the World , but really Calmac really is second to none when it comes to ferry companies. Well done Calmac!
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to Katie French and the Reading Chronicle for the Headline.
Perhaps this Headline says a lot about how home care is monitored or indeed not monitored.
Fortunately the 94 year old lady in question had two children who wanted to ensure that she was getting the care that they expected. Unfortunately in the sons words they found that there was no system in place to check that the two 45 minute visits were being done each day and that the tasks that were required were being completed.
Neighbours, who obviously cared for the old lady noticed that the carers car parked on the drive for a long time and that only 7 minutes was spent in the house caring for the lady. The care Company said that time on the drive counted as part of the visit. ( I’m sure this is not what anyone meant when the contract was set up).
Fortunately the lady’s children were able to support her in getting the proper care, however , as her children say a lot of people don’t have that support and is their care being neglected? I think it’s a worry that when you think a 45 minute is being made , that sitting outside in a car on someone’s driveway counts toward that time.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to John Ryall and ITVX for the Headline
The picture of the car park , which was on a Business Park near Crawley , with a 140 burnt out cars is awful. Some cars from nearby business were untouched , largely because the wind didn’t change direction, which could have caused more damage. Two men have been arrested and released on bail.
The car par owners are struggling to deal with the enquiries and customers returning from their holidays and business flights at Gatwick Airport have been left relying on a What’s App Group to help locate their cars. One woman was fortunate enough to find her car covered in ash but otherwise intact and undamaged.
Some people are now saying that perhaps it is best to leave your car at home and get a taxi or train to the airport and that if you are going to use one of the airport carparks then make sure the Company you are dealing with is a member of the British Car Parking Association. Good advice, but unfortunately frustrating when you are unsure where your car is and how to get home and no one seems able to give you any answers which you need to have to claim on insurance.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
I haven’t picked up a hobby recently as I have two or three already
,
I do them all now and then half-heartedly,
My crocheted shawl says it all,
I’ll take that up again in the fall,
My set of watercolour paints lies upstairs along with my easel I fear,
They haven’t been touched for over a year,
Yes, to start something and never to finish is my life,
To pick something else up would just cause me strife,
My time , it must have more focus,
I’m cursed with distraction and a lot of hocus pocus.
Namaste and Thank you for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to Isaac Ashe and BBC Online News for the Headline.
Apparently the International subsidiaries that make Denby Pottery Korea, US and China are not in administration and will continue to operate as normal.
The Pottery village in Derby in the UK will close along with ten Denby stores.The brand name has been bought by an as yet unknown buyer.
This is sad for all the people who worked for Denby in the UK , the firm having been started in 1809.The reason for the administrators being appointed was rising energy and labour costs.
Are we fighting an inevitable tide here, that no one wants to make anything anymore in the UK, are the costs that different in the US for energy and labour?
Also the administrators have been accused of not telling the existing workers about the process of closing the business, and in truth there is little comfort in having a “nice send off”
No one yet knows who has bought Denby the “brand”.
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
My weirdest coincidences all happen around geography,
Travelling many miles and not agreeing any meeting up policy,
We head off in the same direction my sister and me,
A favourite place to stop on the road
Seems we both like this busy crossroad,
With busses and trucks and loads of campers,
And an ice cream shop that’s as good as
champers,
We both left at different times and from different countries,
With no thoughts or plans to realise,
Nevertheless there we were two,
“Fancy, what a coincidence, meeting you!
Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏
Filed under Short Stories
Thanks to Luis Reyes at AutoNotion (sorry the Headline is too long)
So to process all this data generated by us we need servers. Servers need electricity and water( to cool them down). Microsoft trialed having a server in the coastal waters off Scotland which worked well for them, using the surrounding sea water to cool the servers and an efficient wind powered electricity supply. The underwater tube was hermetically sealed and pumped full of nitrogen to prevent any oxidisation.
The trial was a success , but the project was scrapped as the concern was how do they access the tube when things go wrong and possibly the practicalities of having an underwater server in a busy New York waterway with all the associated paperwork in getting access. The environmentalists were concerned by “heating up the sea water”.
Enter the Chinese who have built a full scale version of an underwater Server closely based on the Microsoft Pilot and seem to be having some success with it.
The problem remains that Servers on land require, a massive water supply ( for cooling all our hot ideas!) and a small power station requirement for electricity. Not to mention all the concrete used to house the server.
I thank Autonotion for explaining the situation so well,it seems sad that the Servers use so much energy and perhaps we need to understand better what use they are being put to and is it worth destroying the planet?
Filed under Short Stories
