Wednesday 30 April 2008

Buying Your Railcard - Disabled Person's Railcard

Buying Your Railcard - Disabled Person's Railcard

If you have a disability that makes travelling by train difficult you may qualify for the Disabled Person's Railcard. The Railcard allows you - and an adult companion with you - to get a 1/3 off most Standard and First Class fares throughout Great Britain.

Bill Hicks was wrong?! Social marketing

I've always hoped so since hearing his views of marketers... I'm a marketeer hoping to specialise in online social...

Social marketing is the systematic application of marketing along with other concepts and techniques to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good.

Tuesday 29 April 2008

interesting calciyummynesque facts




Vitamin K To
Promote Bone Healing


Vitamin K, also called Menadione, is a very
important fat-soluble vitamin that plays a key role in the regulation of
normal blood clotting functions. We get vitamin K from several sources
in our diet including dark leafy vegetables

very groovy paper sculptures

 blog it

recently disabled - return to work

So now work say that my sick cert stating I can work from home is not accurate enough. I was seeing my GP anyway re possible post traumatic stress and smack (morphine) withdrawal.

He said that if they're going to get legal on my ass then I need to be signed off properly, even though I can work from home. So I'm signed OFF off for the next three months, seeing a councilor re: stress and on DHC Elixir, which sounds magic, for the smack. My GP says he'll be happy to tell anyone who needs telling that I CAN use the internet and a phone from home, I'm that hard.

Also hope to hear back re: some other advice soon, I'll keep you posted...

Monday 28 April 2008

Monkey Helpers for the Disabled

Wow! Awesome! I know a lot of able bodied people who might well want a pri-mate,
wbztv.com - Monkey Helpers For The Disabled

Sadie was trained by Helping Hands, Monkey Helpers for the Disabled, a national non-profit organization with its home in Allston.


Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 26 April 2008

3 mobile broadband bastards

It was inevitably too good to be true I guess. Mobile broadband for 5 gbp/month for up to 3meg, 1gig a month downloads. I knew I'd need to increase my allowance but they said they'd send a message when I was about to run out and I assumed I could instantly buy an add on, as I can for my mobile...

But no.

They did send messages, in they're wanky client program I never look at.

I ran out a while back. They charge extra use at 10p/meg and I'd used 270 meg. Oh yes.

You can increase your allowance. But it only takes place on the next monthly bill date. It's a different system you see?

For some reason the bill date is initially 7 days after you start using the service and monthly after that. I'm sure there's a very good reason for this but a downside for me was that I ran up a massive bill in the early days whilst trying to sus things out, lulled into a false sense of security by the first bill.

I know I'm an idiot, I should have guessed and not allowed myself to be confused. I shouldn't have missed the messages, I should have worked it all out.

BUT, it doesn't have to be complicated, confusing and opaque, so why is it? How much money to companies make from easily avoidable confusion and what can be done to stop it?

Who do I write to?

Bastards.

Wednesday 23 April 2008

surely this is a fake, that "pig" is bigger than a Volvo



Kid Shoots Huge Wild Boar « Kevin Burton’s NEW FeedBlog
Kid Shoots Huge Wild Boar

May 25, 2007 in Uncategorized

Check out this huge wild boar that this kid shot:


Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday 21 April 2008

Please help balance out the comments on this article!

smite the nimby accusers

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/search/display.var.2186021.0.0.php

Dorset Echo: Search
Posted by: Fishman68, Weymouth on 12:45pm Thu 10 Apr 08
What is the problem if the quarrying is done correctly? Do these people resent more jobs becoming available?. Since when has Portland been considered a beauty spot? don't make me laugh! Also highly unlikely that Tourist are ever going to travel to Portland it is a nighmare to travel to because of the traffic congestion besides tourists are more likely to be interested in seeing an active Quarry! considerably more interesting than checking out the local flora and fauna! Talk about a storm in a Tea cup haven't these people got anything better to do than waste MP's time and restrict further employment opportunities!
What is the problem if the quarrying is done correctly? Do these people resent more jobs becoming available?. Since when has Portland been considered a beauty spot? don't make me laugh! Also highly unlikley that Tourist are ever going to travel to Portland it is a nighmare to travel to because of the traffic congestion besides tourists are more likely to be interested in seeing an active Quarry! considerably more interesting than checking out the local flora and fauna! Talk about a storm in a Tea cup haven't these people got anything better to do than waste MP's time and restrict further employment opportunities!

Sunday 20 April 2008

Saturday 19 April 2008

Heritage Coastline Under Threat - Eco move the issue to their front page... Thanks Eco!

Ranting helps. Eco listed the site, then I asked them loads of questions and they moved the story to the front page to shut me up... Awesome!

eco - Caring for our World
Heritage Coastline Under Threat





Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday 18 April 2008

Cause now listed on Eco... Anywhere else?

I had hoped for an article... This is effectively a link exchange but they should have good visit rate and the right demographic for signatories...



eco - Caring for our World
Save the Portland Coastal Strip

18th April 2008

Read about a campaign to save a beautiful stretch of Dorset coastline from quarrying, and what you can do to help: Save the Portland Coastal Strip. Only UK residents can sign the petition but anyone can email the boss...neil.fuller@stone-firms.co.uk


Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Petition to save Portland, Dorsets World Heritage Jurassic coast hits the 1000 mark!

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/portland/
Signatures: 1,000


Good work! Surely it wouldn't be that hard to get to 10000?

Lets see if we can get these graphs any steeper...

Thursday 17 April 2008

Save Portland, Dorsets World Heritage Coast


sign it! please. they'll start next month...

Petition to: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the imminent quarrying of the Jurassic coast of Portland, from Southwell Village to Portland Bill.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the imminent quarrying of the Jurassic coast of Portland, from Southwell Village to Portland Bill. More details

Tuesday 15 April 2008

Save Portlands Heritage Coast

This is terrible, apparently it's about to happen, madness...

Petition to: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the imminent quarrying of the Jurassic coast of Portland, from Southwell Village to Portland Bill.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the imminent quarrying of the Jurassic coast of Portland, from Southwell Village to Portland Bill. More details

Submitted by Mich̬le Ireland of Southwell Action Team (SAT) РDeadline to sign up by: 25 March 2009 РSignatures: 918

Please sign up to stop this. The law needs changing ASAP. Please email/blog this link http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/portland/ to all your friends, get them to sign up too. Email and hassle neil fuller of Stone firms limited too. Lets give them some bad PR!

Otherwise it's going to go from this

http://www.saveportlandcoastalstrip.org.uk/


to this

http://www.saveportlandcoastalstrip.org.uk/


Starting mid May, which is a bit pants


Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pay Per Post Scam?

Was my immediate thought when I saw their Google adwords ad. Then I figured, you don’t know til you try, and as I had nothing to lose I thought I’d give it a go…

Sign up was straightforward; you don’t have to give out too much info, nothing financial. The website is a little amateurish and unintuitional but serves it’s purpose perfectly well and seems very informative. Once signed in it’s time to look for opportunities, it’s all color coded so it’s easy.

I hadn’t expected such high value bids for posts but there’s all sorts, from $5 to $100+, though I suspect you need to have the maximum tack rating of 5 and some to be eligible. Tack rating is how PPP score your blog based on traffic, popularity, page rank etc.

I didn’t expect my little blog, cripplerant.blogspot.com to get such a good score but I hit three tacks straight off. I was slightly concerned also that the un-politically correctness of my blog name might be an issue, but no, and rightly so.

So, I took my fists opportunity, which was easy, I was amazed how quickly I hit the minimum word limit, I guess it’s because I’m writing about something that interests me, I hope PPP agree!

So now I just need to wait and see if I have my post accepted, and get paid, if so, and from the buzz I think I will, then is fantastic and I would recommend anyone with a blog should sign up
PPP , through me, please.

Watch this space as things unwind.


word of mouth ethics



Monday 14 April 2008

SEO

SeoJeans - SEO news: YouTube now offers analytics | eydryan
SEO news: YouTube now offers analytics | eydryan
Posted by eydryan 14 days ago | Go to source: http://eydryan.com View profile
Category: Google
on the Google Blog, they have just added analytics to YouTube. How is that important to anything? Well, SEO is all about SEM really, meaning that marketing is a great part of SEO efforts, and knowing what your target audience is is very important. Also, monitoring SMO campaigns is made easier with this tool (and getting to know where your traffic comes from, maybe you made it too US-centered).

PROVISION OF CHAIR EQUIPMENT

PROVISION OF CHAIR EQUIPMENT
Standard chairs and chair accessories are
generally regarded as daily living equipment.
If you need to change your chair because of a
disability your local authority may provide one
on loan after an assessment by an
occupational therapist (OT) or trained
assessor. However, budget constraints make
it impossible for many authorities to provide
this sort of equipment so it is important to ask
what you may be entitled to in your area.

Better, my first quote for an OT assessment of the work place was 400 quid...

Swindon EFD website - DDA compliance contacts list
Navigator Group info@navigatorgroup.co.uk

Call 01622 655260. Guide for SMEs to conduct an access audit costing £99+VAT
Disabled Living Foundation www.dlf.org.uk


Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday 12 April 2008

Tis all a bit strange

channel after channel existing purely as a vehicle for advertising, all media?

The Rich Jerk - The Official Website

the first result in answers, which I'm using cos of mysearchfunds... for sailing, 2012 is....

This is the first result!? These guys are either geniusei, or lucky as hell (which isn't very lucky? at a guess...)Or ask is skewed...

The Prophesied End-Time Revealed: 2008 - God's Final Witness


my search funds scam?

Is this a scam? The consensus seems to 50:50 at the mo.
I've joined up and will try it for a bit and let you know... Sound too
good to be true so probably is... If not, bargain, please sign up via
me : ) Or just take a look here



Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Friday 11 April 2008

mmm

Obile. Broadband. Mmm

Weymouth arts network on Flikr

Rambo

Zang. Cineworld let me in for the deal without the card. Great not to be thwarted by red tape, refreshing. Having said that looks like DLA's come through fine. Higher mobility component so spacehopper badge time...

Son of Rambow was pretty good. Like an 80's Brit version of Stand by me I guess... Went with my Mum. It was cool. Saw my mates bro who's worked in Compton(s) (street) for 11 years. Apparently it was open for 150years? They had to sell up, partly due to competition introduced by the interweb, mostly due to the 52 grand a year rent!

Plus whatever hideous council tax....

What is the future of shops anyway?

Apart from boutiques, jewelers, bookshops. And others. You know what I mean.

Skins is good?

Night

Thursday 10 April 2008

Free Cinema Tickets for the Disabled

bargain! hope uci participate... sure I've blogged this before...

The Cinema Exhibitors' Association Card
Welcome to the Cinema Exhibitors' Association Card Website. This is a national card that can be used to verify that the holder is entitled to one free ticket for a person accompanying them to the cinema.

Wednesday 9 April 2008

The chap

Super!

Society has become sick with some nameless malady of the soul. We have
become the playthings of corporations intent on converting our world
into a gargantuan shopping precinct. Pleasantness and civility are
being discarded as the worthless ephemera of a bygone age - an age when
men doffed their hats to the ladies, and small children could be
counted upon to mind one's Jack Russell while one took a mild and
bitter in the local hostelry.


The Chap - MAGAZINE

Yes?

Published on subbmitt the easiest social bookmarking so far?



Subbmitt - Spread The News
The rantings of a cripple

HEALTH


cripplerant.blogspot.com

Goodbye staples!

M god. They weren't wrong when they said the donor site would hurt... Who would have thought cutting through the muscle and shaving bone off the crest of my hip would hurt? Just in case it didn't they closed the wound with 7 staples, nice. Would silky soft stitches be better, I couldn't help but wonder...

Was a bit nervous it would hurt but the nurse has just removed those 7 and the 17 from my leg and it was fine. Gorgeous bliss to have them gone.

geotagging

We can embed photos/videos, add places and allsorts to these maps. This is the embed code


View Larger Map

it's ace, you can scroll around and zoom in and out all without leaving the original site. Can't work out how to save centred and zoomed at the moment, if you know how?

?Geotagging

About KML - Google Earth User Guide
About KML

KML, or Keyhole Markup Language, is an XML grammar and file format for modeling and storing geographic features such as points, lines, images, polygons, and models for display in Google Earth and Google Maps. You can use KML to share places and information with other users of Google Earth and Google Maps. You can find example KML files on the KML Gallery and Google Earth Community site that describe interesting features and places.

A KML file is processed by Google Earth

Tuesday 8 April 2008

Monday 7 April 2008

Interesting info on Triond

you don't want Triond to be your sole source of income? Or do you? Ultimately it's down to how good your work is and how well you and triond promote it. Page serves is where it's at.

Cheap Talk: Triond Payment
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Triond Payment

I was just paid $0.58 by Triond. This amount works out to less than the minimum wage in the jurisdiction where I worked on the articles. The Ontario Employment Standards Act states:

Sunday 6 April 2008

Revolution!



Wales promised NHS revolution - icWales
The new hospital, which will serve the mid-Valleys area of Glamorgan and Gwent, will have twice the outpatient facilities and half the inpatient beds of the traditional 20th century hospital, as the NHS moves away from institutionalised healthcare towards a community-based system.

Saturday 5 April 2008

published again! this is ace, I wonder how much I'll earn? check out triond

triond, very interesting...

Citizens' Advice

Citizens' Advice

by theonewhoistall, Apr 5, 2008
A true experience, amusingly contrasting the good and bad of the citizens' advice bureau.

Remember I said how helpful citizens advice had been? It's true, the representative who visited me really knew her stuff and was incredibly helpful, and efficient. Letters were sent out within a few days.

Gary Jones - Curriculum vitae

Looking for freelance online marketing, website design, management and implementation contracts/agreements.

Please see my CV and forward to anyone you think might have some work for me or need my help

return to work of newly disabled employee

I mentioned how Veloce are dealing with me to a friend and she emailed me this

"you say they haven't tried to call you to discuss with you how you are doing and when you think you will be able to return to work - which I am sure most companies do - usually via personnel department. Everywhere I have worked have been more finger on the pulse in regards these things and handled sickness and longterm sickness with a much more professional and caring approach.

They should have emailed you and arranged a time to ring you and talk through the options with you, and your current status."

at least, I'd have thought. I gather from colleagues that enquries after my health are few and far between. I never received a card, just a legal request to allow them to approach my consultant.

Friday 4 April 2008

Sounds like a plan?

who is this?
Business and Operations Strategy

The Business and Operations Strategy team thinks strategically and globally about entire industries and helps us define business and operational initiatives that contribute to the company's growth. Our team of highly creative visionaries thrives in deconstructing and re-creating businesses to meet changing strategic and operational needs, enable innovation, establish more efficient business practices and help the company continue to achieve its vast potential. Our work includes such projects as developing and implementing next-generation advertising products, defining strategies to optimize data centre technology and operations, and establishing business initiatives for emerging markets. We measure our effectiveness by monitoring the concrete impact we have on revenue, cost and operational efficiency.

Health 3.0

Join now and spread the word. We will revolutionise the health service

recycle phones

clipped from www.bbc.co.uk
Recycle your old mobile phone for Children in Need

Presenter Dominic Littlewood launched the campaign on The One Show on Monday 1 October, after a visit to one of Fonebak's recycling depots with Pudsey, and encouraged viewers to send their old mobile phones to FREEPOST Fonebak.

Children in Need
 blog it

Thursday 3 April 2008

C-Scape-Below

clipped from www.cscape.org.uk

Email Cscape

5th April
Martinstown Village Hall
(01305) 889059

8th April
Gillingham School
(01747) 853514 / 833844
Book online

 blog it

check this

awesome fractal madness!

punky on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


punky on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Weymouth Citizens Advice Bureau

Weymouth Citizens Advice Bureau

weymouthcab@fsmail.net
2 Mulberry Terrace,
Great George Street,
Weymouth,
Dorset,
DT4 8NQ
Telephone: 01305 782798

To help with their online presence...

No way!

Remember I said how helpful citizens advice had been? It's true, the representative who visited me really knew her stuff and was incredibly helpful, and efficient. Letters were sent out within a few days.

Unfortunately I lost the bit of paper with Weymouth citizens advice email address on it, and after about 10mins!, I gave up trying to find it on google.

I phoned and, when I finally got through and asked for their email the lady put me on hold for a minute whilst she found out what it was from the manager.

When she had told me the address I mentioned that I couldn't find it on google. A rough outline of the ensuing aside follows...

nice lady: this gentleman says he can't find our email anywhere online

manager: of course not we don't have a web site

nice lady: but isn't that pointless?

manager: he wanted the email address, that's it, it works, he can't find it because it isn't published anywhere.

Something along those lines and absolutely ridiculous. It's published online now.

It would appear quality of CAB advice/employees is very much a hit and miss affair.

classic


What does managing sickness and return to work mean?

HSE guidelines I've tried posting previously

Wednesday 2 April 2008

What the consulant says

MEDICAL REPORT

Quite scary reading...

Mr Jones sustained multiple injuries when as a pedestrian 2 cars struck him on the 18th December 2007. His injuries comprised:

1 . An open fracture of his Ieft zygoma/cheek bone with skin and soit tissue Ioss.

2. A displaced fracture of his Ieft clavicle.

3. A displaced fracture of his Ieft scapula

4. Fractured left 1st 4th-8th ribs

5. Fractured spinous processes of T7-T9 vertebrae.

6. Left acetabulum fracture (pelvis).

7. Compression fracture T12 vertebral body.

8. Displaced fracture left ulna bone in forearm.

9. Grade 3b open fracture left tibia with marked comminution and bone Ioss.

10. Severe abrasions both ankles with skin and soft tissue Ioss down to bone.

Mr Jones underwent surgery to stabilise his left tibia, clavicle and ulna bone. In addition he underwent a free tissue transfer performed by the Plastic Surgeons at Odstock Hospital to cover the Iarge soft tissue defect on his left Iower left leg.

Mr Jones is now currently convalescing at home. He is taking analgesics as required. He is still not able to use crutches and is mobile in a wheelchair. Mr Jones is going to have further surgery at Southampton General Hospital on the 27th of March under the care of Mr Gavin Bowyer, who has a special interest in lower Iimb reconstruction.

(ii)

Mr Jones received his diagnosis on the night of the accident when he was transported to the accident and emergency department at Dorset County

Hospital (18th December 2007).

(iii)

Mr Jones is currently not able to put any weight through his Ieft Ieg and Ieft arm. He is using a wheelchair to mobilise. Therefore he is unable to walk. He is at present unable to negotiate any stairs. He is able to use his right arm and Ieg normally. He is able to use his left arm for personal care and Iight activities only.

Mr Jones was discharged from hospital on 14/02/2008. He was at that stage requiring morphine for pain. This can have an effect on cognitive function.

It is apparent from the above that Mr Jones is at present significantly disabled in terms of his abllity to perform basic daily activities.

(iv)

Mr Jones will make a good recovery from the majority of his injuries. The injury that will require the most time to heal in his severe Ieft Iower Ieg injury. The injury was such that the Ieg was nearly amputated just below the knee Ievel. The leg being held on by the posterior soft tissues. There was a Iarge amount of skin and soft tissue Ioss on the front of Mr Jones Ieg together with a Iarge amount of bone Ioss. It will be a significant challenge to get Mr Jones's leg bones to heal. He is likely to require multiple further operations to his Ieft Iower leg. The next operation is planned for the 27th of March 2007 at Southampton General University Hospital.

In my personal experience the type of tibia fracture that Mr Jones has often takes in excess of 1 year to fully join. It is also important to note that the chances of Mr Jones's leg joining/healing are between 60 and 80%. If the tibia were not to join or there were significant infective complications it is possible that Mr Jones could require an amputation. If this were required I would anticipate that Mr Jones would very quickly be fully mobile and independent with the aid of a prosthetic lower limb. This is however only theoretical as there is every chance that Mr Jones tibia will go on to join over the next 12 months.

If Mr Jones's upper limb fractures heal without further intervention, as l anticipate he should be mobile with crutches over the next 4-6 weeks. Mr Jones will require crutches until his left lower leg heals/joins i.e. about 1 year if all progresses well.

It is therefore possible that once Mr Jones recovers from his next surgery he could return to work in a limited capacity. He is likely to require 3-4 weeks after his next surgery for postoperative wounds and postoperative pain to settle to an acceptable level. At that stage would anticipate Mr Jones to be able to perform a substantial proportion of his work. He would require some form of transport to work, as he would be unable to drive himself at that stage. If the stairs are of dimensions suitable to accept a person using crutches he should be able to negotiate the stairs.

The principle difficulty I can see is the ''standing for long periods'' aspect of Mr Jones's job. This would be difficult with Mr Jones only being mobile with crutches. It should however be possible for Mr Jones to stand for short-intermediate periods of time. Ideally with the ability to elevate his leg to reduce swelling periodically.

Once Mr Jones leg has healed he should be able to perform all aspects of his job.

(vi)

It is the severe left lower leg injury that is going to determine when Mr Jones is able to return to work an at what time he is able to resume normal duties. The other injuries should not have a significant impact on Mr Jones's working capacity. They are therefore unlikely to directly cause him to have further episodes of related illness in the future.

(vii)

In my opinion Mr Jones will be able to render regular valuable service in the near future. Mr Jones is likely to need further surgery to enable his left lower leg to heal. The first of these 27th March 2007. The exact number of further surgeries is not possible to predict. There is a chance that following the next planned surgery the leg

joins and no further surgery is required. If further surgeries are required they are likely to require Mr Jones to be in hospital for a few days with a short period of convalescence at home before returning to work.

(viii)

l am not an expert on the Disability Discrimination act of 1995 l have however studied the act and in my opinion Mr Jones would be classed as disabled for 'the purposes of the aforementioned act. Mr Jones's injuries will have a ''substantial adverse effect on normal day to day activities'' for example mobility. The effects of this are likely to last in excess of 1 year from the date of injury.

(ix)

Once Mr Jones has recovered from his next operation and provided that his 2 upper limb /arm fractures have joined, Mr Jones should be able to return to work in a reduced capacity.

Specific areas/recommendations that would assist Mr Jones are:

1 . A staged return to work.

2. Working from home where possible.

3. Assistance with transportation.

l hope this report is to your satisfaction and adequately answers you questions.

I believe the above to factually true and any opinions expressed are correct

Musicovery : interactive webRadio

Musicovery : interactive webRadio

very groovy froods

Tuesday 1 April 2008

NHS Blog Doctor

NHS Blog Doctor: "DR CRIPPEN'S DIARY

Dr John Crippen's weekly diary. The trials and tribulations, the pleasures and pitfalls of family medicine in the modern British National Health Service."

All the Care you need

All the Care you need: "Whether it’s a tickly cough or a muscular strain, Care will have an answer. No other branded range of medicines offers such a wide range of tried and trusted remedies to help you care for your family’s everyday ailments."

myhealth

myhealth

Apart from the pain relief problem and traditional wait my experience of Southampton was very good. I went down to surgery at 11am Friday and came round in recovery at 1500ish. The op had gone very well apparently. My leg and particularly my hip were very sore... amazing to have a leg though.

:: Spirigel - alcohol hand gel ::

:: Spirigel - alcohol hand gel ::

ScienceDirect - Journal of Hospital Infection : Marketing hand hygiene in hospitals— a case study

ScienceDirect - Journal of Hospital Infection : Marketing hand hygiene in hospitals— a case study

societal marketing, very interesting...

Rant

I can't believe it. Them. First thing is that my time in Southampton hospital went as well and quickly as possible. Second, the massive rant I wrote about my time and thoughts there yesterday avo and evening on my phone got deleted, by me. Easily done with a text but cocking annoying.

If you think you've been spared though, I'm afraid not. I'm going to rant again.

Apart from the pain relief problem and traditional wait my experience of Southampton was very good. I went down to surgery at 11am Friday and came round in recovery at 1500ish. The op had gone very well apparently. My leg and particularly my hip were very sore... amazing to have a leg though.

Was taken from recovery to a different ward to the one I'd spent the night in, where I spent a couple of hours. Due to bed shortages it was currently a mixed ward, which they shouldn't really have. Everyone was sound, met Deborah who was in for suspected appendicitis and had had it out. Unfortunatley it was fine and they're still investigating, fingers crossed they can sort her soon... (Deb sorted the charger for me, borrowing it from another inmate, as mine seems to not work in hospitals)

After a few hours I was moved up the corridor a couple of bays to my third and final bed location. My fellow inmates included a young guy who had broken his leg in Novemeber but kept getting infection complications. The guy with the burst disks who'd been waiting nearly two weeks for a scan and/or to loose the use of his legs, he looked like he was a sergeant major but was very kind and helpful to his ward mates. And a couple of older chaps, one of whom didn't seem to eat or sleep, was in very good spirits and didn't seem to need crutches.

It seems most of them were waiting for secondary infections to clear but, astonishingly, I wasn't really there long enough to find out any more. After the op and no extra pain relief the first night I didn't really wake or move the first day. Manged to get to the bathroom the second morning. then rested. Steve and Lib visited Sunday. Had my wounds checked, mobilised and had brace fitted Monday am and then was back at Greenhill by three!

The driver was fast and good and Dave the tech was good company. We drove down the esplanade, which is always nice. I guess you could possibly get away with just driving on down to the road in an ambliance..?

I've ranted solidly for a range of reasons since getting back I'm afraid. I think Swa's glad to get to prison.

But yeah, all in all a brilliantly short stint in hospital and I've got some good new ideas. I told everyone involved about the blog and the fact I was blogging my experiences live from my mobile, which may have altered things a bit and, thinking back I guess I was often probing, interviewing and absorbing, though a lot more can be done. Oooer.

The nhs is amazing and has a lot of amazing staff. My recent opportunity, since the Adjustment, to live with the nhs for 2 months, after being amazingly well put back together and looked after by them, and then have regular contact with the nhs, it's users and affilliates, has opened my eyes a lot. I've spoken to lots of different people on both sides of the thin red line and what patients and front line staff alike feel is impatience, anger, frustration and despair. All because of the massive system all the good people are plugged into and ground down by. Why?

The staff I meet and deal with are generally really sound, caring and effective people. It's the system, budgets, regianisation, league tables, no/bad PR and the rest that bring out the bad bits of the nhs. I'm sure if all the people involved made an effort to honsestly and frankly disuss it all it could be sorted into something truly amazing and can't believe this isn't happening yet.

Just talked to the marketing PA at spirigel, who have the national contract for hand sterilisation. Very helpful if slightly bewildered by me and a dodgy line(phone) but got a contact for the people who market them. (or built website?) I really want a web address on their bottles... Not this one, at a guess

Spoke to someone at network design and marketing who was very helpful and gave me a lot of his time. He has a story about an experience with the nhs I hope he's going to share and is going to put me in touch of someone in PR, hopefully...

In the very best case scenario I thought I could be home (Greenhill, for now) by Monday lunch time but I was expecting to be there possibly to the end of the week, despite their desparation for beds...

The nurses were very overworked but all were fine, I didn't experience any snappiness, though other patients said there were good and bad eggs, just like anywhere I guess. One day was awful, the day I asked to see a doctor about pain relief, a nurse asked repeatedly on my behalf over 7 hours for the doctor to see me. They never came. Apparently this same doctor spent the whole of the day shift making excuses and not turning up where they were needed. There are many tasks nurse are not allowed to do, if the doctor won't come and do them it's the nurses who get the blame and patients who suffer and/or can't be discharged.

I don't know why this doctor allegedly did this, or how they get away with it but it resulted in a lot of angry patients and frustrated nurses. Patients obviously don't understand the intricate, arcane workings of the nhs, and are often not at their sharpest and do tend to blame the nurses. The nurses patiently explain but it's a nightmare for all concerned, no wonder tempers get frayed... In this case the night shift doctor had to spend all night catching up with what hadn't been done in the day, plus what needed doing that night. A lot of the time it's things like this that delay people going home, pissing them off and wasting precious beds.

They could help their PR a bit though... Unless you've been in hospital as lot or work or know someone who works for the NHS, you're not going to know, believe, or want to believe how things work.

A classic example. My final resting place bed wise was a bay from which I could see and hear all went on at the nursing station. I often overheard converations, sometimes about me, this is what helped get me home so quick in the end.

Anyway, at the moment I don't sleep brilliantly due to the pain and don't sleep well in hospital anyway. I woke up yesterday morning in pain and asked for oromorph. I was told there was only three of them on and the nurse qualified to dish out medicine wouldn't have time. Sorry but no, I could try again later. I could see four nurses due to start the next shift joking and laughing at the nurses station. They weren't on yet and couldn't do anything until things had been formally handed over, apparently.

Whatever,

I'm in pain and have just been told there is no one available to help, of course it's going to look bad. That's bad PR.

So I'm ranting about it. And I'm often talking to patients, nurses, ambulance drivers, doctors etc and they all have something to say and often agree. I think as many people as possible should all blog their experiences, views and ideas in one place myhealth-sw which is agressivley marketed and always in the media, so views really make a difference.

If you can't or don't want to start your own blog please ad your news and views as comments to the relevent blogs post, or email it to me to post, or visit us on facebook or whatever. Please always try and get the myhealth+region.blogspot.url and link to and from www.blogverse.com.

That's surely enough for now. There's more to say but my brains melting.

'They're here': The mechanism of poltergeist activity - fundamentals - 01 April 2008 - New Scientist

'They're here': The mechanism of poltergeist activity - fundamentals - 01 April 2008 - New Scientist

where's my tin foil hat?