View From The WIndow

It is early and it is dark, it is also very cold but it is dry as far as I can see, and of course no one stirs apart from the odd car going by. The repair men have arrived at last to work on the chimney at Washington House, having said that they look a right bunch of pirates, I still can't see the place selling unless the price is dropped substantially. Only one hiccup at Casa Anderson, we needed a couple of our new kitchen appliances sorted, small details but we are insured and phoned up, no one turned up, we checked and found out making the appointment was up to us, not them. I duly phoned up only to be told the job number was now redundant(?) and I had to go back to the insurance for a new one, I was told this by an extremely rude and curt woman whose neck I would gladly have strangled had the technology to allow my hand down the phone existed. Everything is now almost fine, the cooker hood guy turned up without the part we had said was defective, and yes, it has to be ordered up, so we will see him again.

I have had a little fun at the expense of the call centres this week, I told one looking for the business owner that I had just killed them and buried them in the back garden and was just about to make my getaway, unphased he continued to ask to speak to the corpses. The second, from Scottish Power, I informed that I did not like Scotland and was happy with my English electricity, it amused me and I had time to kill obviously.

Well Mr. Trump is now president of the most powerful country in the world and the very dodgy woman isn't. He is going to make America 'great' again which usually means powerful and it is already powerful how he will tackle poverty, loss of jobs, bad education, crime, drugs and a hundred other things which actually mean something to real people more than aircraft carriers and missiles, I don't know but I suspect that things won't really change much for them in that department over the next four years. I have however taken immense pleasure in watching those who are against Trump and their tantrums over the past few days, "he is not my president" yes he is love. And how will breaking windows, overturning rubbish bins and lighting cars up cause Trump to take pause. Once again we have a huge number of people who now do not like their voting system because it turned up the 'wrong' result, I as an outsider find the whole American system unfathomable, I have read it was fine when the country was expanding and finding its feet but for a modern state it may not be the best way to elect your leader, but I really don't know.

Were you in Edinburgh on New Years Eve, did the 'quietists' get their way? A bunch of fun killers, well one or two, maybe a couple more, complained that the noise of the fireworks was too much. The council immediately told them to clear off, no, they didn't, they seriously debated having non-noise making fireworks, completely taking away one of the two reasons why fireworks are fun, take the noise away and the pretty explosions are pretty much naff. I didn't even know you could get non- noise fireworks, as I said what would be the point, its one night a year for heavens sake.

Here's a new one for the crime statute books, a 'non-crime hate incident', yes I know it doesn't make sense but PC Plod will investigate you for it. Amber Rudd Secretary of State for the Home Department said in a speech to keep the unwashed happy that it would be made harder for British firms to employ migrants, typical political rhetoric, but an Oxford professor decided to take umbrage on behalf of all those migrants who might find it harder to get a job and reported her to the police.


I see Boris has been upsetting the apple cart again, his off the cuff remarks about Francois Hollande and his 'punishment beatings' on the UK for having the temerity to leave the EU has caused a storm in a teacup. No one reported what Hollande had said to make Johnson take umbrage however, but a few days later we have the pipsqueak Prime Minister of Malta, that great European powerhouse, saying that the EU 'needs' yes 'needs' to ensure the UK does not get a decent leaving deal. He and others should at least have the decency after all we have contributed to instead give us a fair deal and wish us well.

And as for us helping those more unfortunate than ourselves, we continue to give Pakistan, a country with nuclear submarines and missiles (but no decent toilets) our hard earned cash. Not only that, we have modernised our largesse by giving out cash cards with which the poor of Pakistan can now withdraw British money from ATM's, you don't see Malta doing that now do you.

I always thought that one big mistake the NHS made was to ensure that nurses had a degree, out went the old style nurse who, if you are a certain age, you will remember was always smart, clean, crisp, professional and there when you needed her. Having a degree changed all that so no more dirty work, that was for the plebs, shove on the old overalls and lets hang about the consoles. Now I hear that to join the Police Force, oh dear, Police Service, force won't do any more of course, you also will need a degree. Mind you if you think about it the old Bobby disappeared a long time ago as did fighting real crime so this measure will simply squeeze out the very last vestiges of the idea of having to serve the public to policing them.


The loons are still out there, what do you make of this "It's about respecting people's right to define themselves as neither male nor female" so if you are not one or the other what exactly are you, we don't have a 'right' to be whatever we want or don't want and we certainly don't have a right to have others believe the same way we do and act accordingly and it certainly doesn't get you respect. This week Jeremy I am a tree.