PigBlog

I’ve bought a slide scanner, and I thought some readers might like to see this photo of Pelsall Common in the early 70s, taken by my late father. It’s me, my mom, and (I think) a next-door neighnour who was friends with my sister stood around my Dad’s Wolseley 16/60 on Pelsall Common- the railway bridge at Fordbrook Lane/Vicarage Road is in the background.

Me and family on Pelsall Common, circa 1973. Click to embiggen.

It makes an interesting contrast with this Google Streetview image form around the same place in 2012:

A similar view in 2012

I can’t work out if the fancy wall and gates are there, but obscured- will have to look.

Yesterday, I’d arranged to meet the Willenhall Lad for a beer, as the rather fine Pretty Bricks had a beer festival one. First, however, was the task of programming the fancy catflap. This should be a simple task. Remove catflap from door to prevent unwanted escapes, set into program mode, and wave near cat. The whole process took around a minute with Meowth. This was, of course, misleading. Meowth was famously laid back and compliant, not usually traits associated with cats.

Our new children were not feeling cooperative. Three quarters of an hour, two stressed parents, two very, very stressed cats, a severe loss of temper on my part, and some nasty injuries later:

A bruised and bitten arm: just a subset of injuries suffered in a man-vs-cat fight.

We manage it. The cats have now been hiding under the bed for 24 hours. They’re quite big.powerful cats, but nervy as hell, and have a strong fight-or-flight instinct.

Still, the beer and curry was nice . As well as the Bricks, we managed The Fountain, The Victoria, and The Bell, all of which were great.

Tripping running for a bus on the way home, and landing flat out in slush and grit was less so, then washing my wallet along with my coat and jeans irritated a little…

Given the poor weather, with heavy snow, recently, it’s not surprising that gritting has come to many people’s attention, and, as BrownhillsBob comments on his 365 tumblr, there’s some real nastiness and misinformation.

I’ve lost count of the number of people insisting every side road is gritted, and that Walsall MBC haven’t gritted main roads, and blaming the council for their own shortcomings as drivers.

Let’s get some things straight:

* Walsall MBC do many things badly. They also so some things well; bin collections and gritting are things they do well most of the time.

* Despite the bullshit perpetrated by some, Walsall MBC’s gritters were out and about on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (18-20 Jan). I saw them around Walsall Wood on several occasions, on one occasion coming by just in time to help free a truck stuck on Walsall Wood canal bridge.

* On Sunday morning, the A461 was slightly slippery, but perfectly passable for a clumsy twat like me to drive a car I drive rarely on summer tyres without hitting anything, or even coming close. I’m no driving god (by a long shot) but the usual technique of leaving a lot of room, maintaining momentum where possible, and using the controls gently seems to work.

* Generally, you have a choice to drive or not. If you’re unable to control a vehicle in slippery conditions, well… don’t. Your 4×4 won’t beat physics, either, as won’t those winter tyres I keep banging on about (but both will help, and having winter tyres on a 4×4 will shock most people). It’s your responsibility to drive safely, within reasonable margins- so if it’s snowy or icy, you should expect slippy roads, and drive to the conditions, expecting others to slide. Alternatively, you could just make up “facts”, accuse the council of “dereliction of duty”, and complain. If it’s life or death, then it’s pretty certain you’ll have had some driver training. If your usual route isn’t gritted, choose an alternative that is.

* Grit isn’t magic. It lowers the freezing point with salt, and aids grip and breaks up ice and snow with the actual gritty bits. To do this, it needs time, and crucially, some traffic to grind it in. Additionally, it can only cope with a certain amount of snow.

* Gritting resources are finite. There are only so many staff and trucks, and a lot of roads.

I’ll gladly lay into Walsall MBC online (and I’ve done so before), but this is just silly. The gritting teams are doing a good job.

I take a passing interest in politics, or at least in the results of politics. My own political leanings do, as anyone reading will probably eventually realise, lean leftwards, and in a mockery of the old cliche, as I get older, lean more so.

I’ve been criticised online when I’ve mentioned the shortcomings of local politicians, with the suggestion that I should get involved.

Here’s the rub: I don’t want to. I’m not interested enough. I’m not interested in a future in politics, and quite frankly, I have neither the time or energy to do so.

Most of all, I don’t want to be involved in the games and the bullshit.

Last night’s display (documented fully by BrownhillsBob, Aiden MacHaffie,and discussed beforehand by The Plastic Hippo in a far better way than you’d find here) by the local Tory bunch voting themselves a raise while employees and citizens suffer cuts, aided and abetted by the Labour group abstaining, allowing the motion through was stunning. Note: at this point I’d like to make it clear that at least 2 councillors have made it publicly known that they will not be accepting the increase. This is to be applauded, but the situation is either amazing incompetence (by neglecting to offer an alternative), or there’s something I’m missing, and it’s some grand scheme.

I’ll be generous: I’ll ignore the possibility of incompetence, because I can’t quite believe it: the people involved know the process and how it works, so they would know what would happen. They’d previously stated they would oppose the raise.

So then, why does the world of politics have to be all about games, point-scoring, and petty battles? Why is the whole thing so detached from what it should be? One look at our politicians in the House of Commons should be enough to convince us that efficient, sensible public service is a long way from what goes on.

Am I being too simplistic? Is there something I just don’t get? I think I’m a fairly pragmatic person, but as such, I recognise there are things I don’t understand. Maybe this is one of them (and if it is, please comment), but I dearly wish we could cut the crap, and get councillors politicians at all levels that look after the people that they represent.

My ninth blogging anniversary….

I’m tempted to say you can stuff 2012 right up your arse, given my present frame of mind, but there have been positives- new people met, a few great experiences, and time with friends.

There’s been plenty to annoy a miserable bastard like me though. The endless Royal and Olympic bullshit annoys me every time I think about it, and don’t even get me started on the current government.

December has been a particularly poor month: we’ve both been ill (nothing serious, just enough to make us tired and miserable), and our sad loss really hit us. Enough moaning- I’ll stop now.

I hope 2013 brings all my friends (both online and off) and family a good year.

A sad start to Christmas day: Meowth has been unwell for a while, and extensive tests at the vet revealed cancer a few weeks back. We knew it was a matter of time, and this morning was that time: she was having trouble breathing and was unhappy. One trip to the emergency vet clinic, including having to pull over on the way home because I couldn’t see to drive, and we’re without our furry friend: we watched her drift away under anaesthetic peacefully, and she’s now at peace buried in the garden.

More than a furry friend- a member of the family, our child substitute, and a very special cat- not always the brightest, but good-natured, friendly and just lovely. She made firends with everyone, including the vets that treated her. Her ‘official name’ was Meowth, but she only ever answered to ‘Puss’, at which she’d come running.

One of my favourite photos: sadly, crappy phonecam in poor light. Meowth the music critic.

There’s a few more photos in the Gallery. I’ll try to find and add some more.

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas to old friends and new: I’ve put faces to a good few new @[usernames] this year (the latest being just today), which is always nice- but those of you I haven’t yet met, and those of you I have met but not seen enough of this year (or in some cases for several years), well, it’s good to talk online too.

Festivities are a bit subdued as my other half has one of the many Christmas illnesses circulating: I’m hoping to avoid it.

After a few months of continually feeling in chaos, I actually feel like I’m passably organised: the turkey is in the fridge (the cellar not being as cold as 2010), the veg is prepared, most presents are delivered, and as is traditional, Muppet Christmas Carol is ready.

No cheeses for us meeces

Now I just have to decide if tonight’s tea is my third curry in 4 days. Is that excessive?

As usual, I’d like to hat-tip to local bloggers: my contributions have been a bit slack this year, and as usual, Bob’s done a better job of the hat-tipping. Long may you all educate, entertain, and inform the rest of us.

It’s worth mentioning that a much loved Walsall pub, The Fountain has re-opened (yesterday), after being closed in August, and amazingly not catching fire.

Local brewery and nice chaps The Backyard Brewhouse have bought the pub. I’ve not visited yet, but when I do, it will get a PubBlog revisit entry. It’s nice to see another good local pub re-opened, since The Swan has done so well.

I’d like to think so, but as I’ve discussed on Twatter, I think not.

The proposals to filter Internet access at the ISP network level have failed, apparently because the public at large weren’t interested enough (PDF, 499kB).

Instead, they want ISPs to offer and encourage filtering software, like that offered by everyone’s favourite pikey ISP TalkTalk (whose filtering software was notoriously ineffective when PC Pro magazine tested it).

There’s something funny going on here. I’d love to think that someone has taken notice of the reasons why the idea was ill-conceived and just plain wouldn’t work, but I doubt that’s the case.

Maybe a few MPs have decided they’d rather not have to opt-in in order to find online filth? Dunno, but you can bet it’s not because of common sense, judging by previous performance.

When the hell did it become December?

I’ve not blogged for ages: things have been mad at work, we’ve been on holiday twice, one being such a distant memory that I won’t blog it. Now, it will soon be Christmas- where the hell has the year gone?

Mind, one great thing about being out of the country on the run-up to Christmas is that the continual assault of commercialism is greatly reduced: what is it about the UK?

We’ve been back and forth to the vets with Meowth, who now at 15 is showing her age too, and between work, that, and the usual general household errands, I don’t know where time has gone: there’s a Gertboard kit sat on the dining room table, exactly where it has been for nearly two months now, my bike remains unserviced (the Lupo got serviced by Midland VW as I couldn’t summon the time and enthusiasm), and the Raspberry Pi hasn’t even been powered on for ages…