Just received a leaflet through the post advertising residential care at a new facility not a million miles away from Chesterfield.

I looked up their "prices" to become a resident and eye watering doesn't even begin to cover it.
I often visit a friend, and his wife, who are residents in another care home and, not surprisingly, it's not cheap, but it's chicken feed compared to what the new facility is asking.

I'm not going to mention the place or the prices, just to say you WOULD need a lottery win to even consider living there.   

Having been to a funeral today, the service ended with the usual donations box put near the exit this one in aid of Ashgate Hospice.

Prior to going I had perused this week's D.T. In it was the ongoing saga of the state of Ashgate hospice's finances and the fact good staff are being laid off whilst board members collect in excess of £60 + grand a year {with one on over £100 grand} and I had initially made up my mind not to donate.
Unfortunately this put me in a bit of a quandary, do I walk past the box like a tight ar*e or do I donate not knowing if it will get where it's going, needless to say I donated but it was through clenched teeth.

Just makes you wonder if any of the other donations over the years helped or just lined pockets, I give to charities via their boxes but I'm afraid Ashgate Hospice is now well down the pecking order... which is a shame.

Well I think there's only me and the missus not on it.

Once again they struggle to find enough "worthy candidates" to be given a gong.

O.B.E's...C.B.E's... B&Q's....D.F.S's the list goes on, of course there's a tiny minority that truly deserve a gong but the rest are just also ran's that get a reward for kicking a football. carrying a rugby ball, walking a lot and those that generally do their jobs {usually well paid one's}.

I worked my butt off for 50 years and what have I to show, on the day I retired not so much as a well done or even thank you. Yes I get a pension but that is now being taxed at 20% so thanks for that!!

If ever I was offered a N/Y honour I would say " Stuff your gong just give me a million quid" and be on the first plane out of here.

Saw on the news this morning "Woman fined for pouring coffee down a street drain"

If you didn't see it, she had a cup of coffee in her hand and as her bus approached she poured what little coffee she had heft in the cup down a gully drain and started to run for the bus and was stopped by 3 enforcement officers and they fined her saying what she did was an offence under section 33 of the environment protection act.

Now I could understand their reasoning if she was emptying say an oil drum full of the stuff but it was less than half a cup full, which would have instantly disappeared when it hit the gallons of water in the drain. Of course there's the old argument "Yes but what if everyone did it"?

I defy anyone to tell me coffee would seriously damage or pollute our waterways when water companies are dumping heaven knows what into our rivers and streams.

I have been worried about the state of the nations decline in manufacturing.

The loss of the coal industry the decimation of the steel industry and the rapid decline in our car industry, but fear not help is at hand.

Galloping over the hill to save the day are Content creators....Influencers...Podcasters....Reality t.v. stars, there's nothing these people won't do {for money}.

With those people guiding us we have nothing to fear!!

By the end of the Parliament everyone will have a valid I.D. card proving they are entitled to be here and work.

This will work perfectly..........if you live in Narnia!

It's not  the workers that are at fault, it's the unscrupulous bosses. If you're a good boss and has a factory employing say 100 staff and they are registered employees all on the minimum wage of £10 p/h after an eight hour shift your wage bill will be £1,000.
If on the other hand your an unscrupulous boss who sets on cheap labour who will literally live at work and be paid about £4 p/h you can already see the problems.

So she's gone then.....and NO ONE is surprised.

She resigned because Starmer was too weak to sack her
That's the trouble with politics, everyone has "got something" on someone so it makes running a government, and showing your authority, difficult. Everybody knows where each others bodies are buried and to risk even chastising someone can rebound on you, this is the main reason cr*p politicians get to stay in office and that to me is a bl**dy lot.

Anyway the deputy P.M. resigned so why is there a need to completely change round the front bench, luckily this will have come as a huge relief to Ed Ball's missus Yvette Cooper, she had the poison chalice of foreign secretary overseeing the migrant situation but she managed to wriggle out of that hole so some other poor smuck now has the task.

They interviewed Farage the other day and basically asked him if his party is ready to run the country and he said no as his team thus far hadn't enough experience, but when your setting on, among other people, Tory rejects it will just end up being a mish mash of the old guard, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that some of these "defectors" turn out to be stalking horses sent to infiltrate his party.

As for Angela Rayner's future.....Firstly she won't starve to death on the streets, a few H.I.G.N.F.Y. episodes, I'm a celeb at Christmas, guest appearances here and there, a book {don't forget the book}
My only hope is as time rolls on she'll get herself some dress sense....... I mean who dresses her Stevie Wonder!!!