Grumpy Old Man

My lovely wife, Carol, told me the other day that I was becoming a grumpy old man – just like Victor Meldrew and all those middle-aged misanthropes on that BBC show.

At first I was offended. Me, grumpy? Always moaning? Never. Then my two daughters backed her up. I was on a losing wicket so I thought: if you can’t beat them, join ‘em!

Moan 1 – the first in an occasional series:

I hate pop stars who think that because they can sing a few songs and fill out Wembley Stadium they have a sudden God-given right to tell the rest of the world what it is doing wrong, and how to put it right. You know who I’m talking about, don’t you? Yes, Bono.

As actor Nigel Havers said the other night: “That Bono, he is the bollocks of all bollocks, isn’t he … ?”

Couldn’t have put it better.

Now why wouldn't this surprise me?

And to make it worse, Paul McCartney then pops up on prime-time telly recently with his wife to tell us all not to buy or wear fur – and how terrible the fur trade is.

This is the man who inflicted the frog chorus on us! Sometimes I think Mark Chapman shot the wrong man.

Say it with Flowers Lord Philips

I cannot fully express how appalled I was to read that there are draft guidelines suggesting perpetrators of domestic violence be let off with a lighter sentence if they show remorse. This makes a mockery of all the resources that have gone into Domestic Violence Awareness over the last decade. Professionals that interact with this field should by now have received some form of awareness training and at its most basic level should be aware of the ‘Charm Syndrome’. It would be impossible to judge whether the remorse of a perpetrator were genuine as it is a fundamental and well-honed trait of an abuser. As they sense their control lessening, their remorse takes on a more convincing guise. I have personally known two perpetrators to engage in Baptism of the full immersion kind but never to enter a church or pick up a bible again once they have won the survivor back. The idea of reducing a sentence where there is remorse is an insult to all survivors who have been manipulated in this way and an insult to all those who contribute to the awareness campaign. I think it is Lord Philips himself who should be showing remorse for this betrayal and sending flowers to all those affected if indeed his remorse is genuine.

Here is Lord Philips address for anyone inspired to send him their comments

Rt Hon the Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers
Royal Courts of Justice,
Strand, London WC2A 2LL

Alternatively write to your local MP

South East Surrey
Peter Ainsworth MP
Address: 2 Hoskins Road, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 9HT.

Warlingham Artists Co-operative Society WACS

ONLINE MARKET

I had this crazy idea the other day about starting a local online market. This came from my belief that as the supermarket giants monopolise the consumer market, how precious local products are becoming. There is nothing quite like the personal touch. My prediction for the future is that high streets, which are now made up largely of various charity shops (nothing against charity shops by the way!) will be revived through a demand for specialised and personalised goods. In other words we are going to turn full circle which is so often the case. I think though, this time there will be a welcome twist in that the market will attract artistic talent. This will be an oasis in the soulless consumer drought where many will want to take refreshment; which brings me to my idea of an online market.

It’s a certainty that there is a wealth of skill and talent in our local area that goes untapped and a new breed of consumers that long for the original article. If there was a platform where locals could buy and sell, we could put the pleasure back into shopping.

Anyone out there interested in contributing to an artistic cooperative??

Leave your comments!!

Yours truly,

Carol

It’s snow joke .. !

... And a commuting moan ( second in an occasional series ).

Isn’t England a wonderful place to live? The middle of April, the daffodils are out, birds are singing in the trees and plants are in full bud - and what do we get this morning … ?

… between three and five inches of snow blanketing the whole area.

Spring, it seems, is the new winter!

And while it made for some lovely pictures,














... it obviously flummoxed our trusty railway companies.

Turning up on the platform at Upper Warlingham station on time to catch my train - without an overcoat, as I was foolishly persuaded by those other charlatans, the weather forecasters, that it would be 52 degrees farenheit ( yes, in about July ! ) - only to find out that the snow had seized up the whole system and all trains were running 30-45 minutes later.

I suppose I should be beyond surprise about how easy trains can grind to a standstill in our country – but I still hold out a forlorn hope for improvements in our fast-moving technological age!

What rubs salt into the wounds on days like these is that Southern Rail have just had the gall to stop the 5 per cent discount on annual season tickets you get because of their poor performance during the year.

They reckon they now have hit all their targets for trains arriving on time.

Can’t say I’ve noticed ….

The April Fool is on us ....

Last Saturday, the Daily Mail ran an April Fool story about Tony Blair changing the colour of the front door to Number 10 from black to red ( see link ).

The fact that I read this story at face value – and with weary resignation - is not a testament to my gullibility ( I used to be a journalist and always keep a weather eye out for spoofs on the 1 April ).

Rather, it is a sad indictment of this Government that I would not be surprised by anything that they do – and changing the colour of No 10’s door is one of the milder acts of madness they could perpetrate.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=381687&in_page_id=1770&ct=5