RIP Keith Harris. KFC Orville.

The Daily Malicious has been telling half truths again.

It seems to have been offended about a drive to ask patients about what preferences they have for care.  Under guidance from the Department of Health, through NHS England, GP's in England have been encouraged to arrange care plans for people who are more likely to have to go to hospital than others.  These care plans document issues like next of kin, medications, allergies, the place where a person would like to be looked after when unwell, and to the apparent horror of the Daily Malicious asking people what views they have on resuscitation.

It appears that there are those who consider this to be encouraging euthanasia which is sad.  It is a view shared by many in healthcare that attitudes against discussing things like this are bad for patients.  It is bad enough that the Liverpool Care Pathway was abandoned.  I am not going to say that there were no issues involving it, but this was with people who were not following it properly, forgetting that the aim of it was to allow people to die with dignity.  The solution then was not to get rid of it, but rather to train healthcare professionals to use it properly.

And now it appears that there may be a campaign against helping people be involved in healthcare decisions.  Dying Matters, it happens to us all, and working in healthcare, I have seen many horrible deaths.  It is my aim that no one else should have to see those deaths, that the families do not have to live with the guilt that a loved one was not allowed to pass away in peace and most importantly, that someone who is to die, has a say in passing away peacefully, if that is what they want.  Discussing matters like this takes time, if a GP surgery is to do this and still provide the care to patients they are meant to do, then they will need funding to hire the extra staff needed to meet this extra work.

And just in case anyone forgets, euthanasia is illegal in the UK.

I gave my phone number to some girl the other night and she said that she'd call me just as soon as she gets home. I'm guessing that she's homeless.

We are the house of ill this weekend.  All four of us have the plague, or if you want to be literal, a flu like illness.  My daughter, who is never tired, has on several occasions taken herself to bed.  My son, who like my daughter, should be on the St Georges Parade in Colchester today thanks to rest, has more energy, but I am just waiting for the coughing and sneezing snot monster that he is, to crash.

Right now he is working how to use his Nerf Retaliator without it jamming.  Once this is done he is going to want a Nerf War, but at the moment, this looks like it might not be for a while.  Right now, my daughter is in bed reading Harry Potter again.  I suspect that this might have something to do with me proving that Harry Potter dies in the last book and it has rekindled the love that she has for the books.  A love to be fair that I have but one that we have yet to get my son into.  He loves the films, those that he can watch that is.  We have watched Indiana Jones recently, the kids have loved the first two films.  Admittedly, we stopped my son from watching what happened after the Arc of the Covenant was opened.  It has not been that good for my daughter this month, a sprained foot, then on Wednesday, when using the scooter on the way home from school (I forgot not to take it) she fell over and injured her hip, and now she is not able to do that much without running out of batteries.

This week in school, my son has had two reading assessments, but on asking him what the fun thing he did at school, he told me that he can not remember and said that everything was boring.  My daughter was able to take part in a quiz where she realised that not everything I say needs to be ignored as some of the stuff that I rant about came up!  My son has started to take an interest in football, and may watch the Arsenal-Chelski match with me later today, though I am not sure if that is safe as I have a tendency to swear lot when watching Arsenal.  I am hoping for a win, fearing that yet another defeat is on the cards, but would accept a draw. 

The Deplorable Word

Trident, should we renew it?  I was certain that we should up until today but then I had a chat with my daughter about the election next month and now I am not too sure.

While some would say that we would save money by scrapping Trident, we would not.  Instead the money would be spent elsewhere on the armed forces as most parties have made commitments to spend 2% of GDP on the military.  However, it would mean that the other services would not face the cuts that the armed forces have faced since the election in 2010.

Also, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in return for promises to respect its territorial integrity, promises broken by Russia who had made such promises.  I doubt that things would be as bad as they are now there if they had kept the nuclear weapons that they destroyed.

In addition to this, Russia has been resurgent in projecting its military power.  While some argue that this is only a recent issue and is a reaction to the west doing the same near Russian airspace, Russia has been doing this for a while.

Western Europe has been sheltered under the nuclear umbrella of the USA, but this might not be always the case, and all it takes is a politician to be elected in the USA who wants to take a more isolationist role and then we in the west are left high and dry.  And we have seen how threats and promises by the USA have not been kept in the recent and less recent past.

Iran is both a reason to disarm and retain weapons.  It is argued by many that Iran is seeking the ability to use nuclear weapons, while North Korea and other nations such as Pakistan have them.  We in the UK will find it hard to argue that other nations should not gain nuclear weapons when we are keeping them.  But while I doubt Iran and North Korea are going to be a threat to the UK, it is possible that they can be one.

A big issue is where such weapons would be stored.  At the moment, this is in Scotland, but in the event that Scotland decides to become independent, then the weapons would have to be moved.  And this would involve additional costs.

And of course, there is the destruction that nuclear weapons cause.

So if we keep weapons, we are offered protection from nations with nuclear weapons, and if we get rid of them, we will have a stronger conventional military force and can state that we are leading by example to other nations.

Tough choice.

Ever since I've downloaded Adblock, all the single girls in my area seem to have lost interest...

A late post, but it has been a busy day. As posted before, my daughter has sprained her foot. It is getting better, but it causing issues. So we were left with a dilemma for today.  How to keep her from doing too much with her foot and yet stopping her from being bored.  So we went to the zoo, well a Safari Park.  Woburn to be accurate.  We have been there in the past, but we felt that by going, both kids would have a great day and yet would have enough rest.  It seemed to do the trick.  We have been there in the past, but both the kids loved it.  And now are resting after a great family day out.  I would love to post more, but as before, I am tired.  Good night all!

It's six months ago today that my pet snail walked out on me. I was gutted. I'd go after him but it's too late. He'll be at the bus stop by now.

Well, this week was a landmark in that I squashed my first snail of the year.  Our front garden attracts them and normally, later in the year, I find loads on the path.  As I walk to the door at night, there is the sound and feel of dead snails as I unintentionally crush their shells.  I do my best when I know that they are lining up to die to avoid them, but sometimes I forget.  And this week, I was not expecting one to be out.  Mind you, I am sure one of the local birds appreciated it come the morning!

On the weekend we travelled to Southwold, one of our favourite destinations and we all loved it.  My daughter and I took a longer walk as my son does not walk as fast as she does.  The top photo is of a sandcastle that we found my daughter taking that as well as the picture of the cannons.  My son took the picture of the pier and I promised to post them on the blog.  As they have in the past

But, since then, my daughter has had a painful foot.  Wednesday involved a trip to the doctors as my daughter who had been to school the previous day was finding it too hard to walk.  After that, a trip to the hospital for her first ever x-ray but after that, while there was no fracture, she had to rest.  Hopefully she will be able to walk more tomorrow, but I suspect that if she feels she can, she will be running.  While she has had to stay at home, my son has been going into school and I have been told that he does not like it as much if she is not there.  We are lucky to have such wonderful kids.  Anyway, good night again and I hope you like the two songs.

Speaking outside the court after her divorce from Prince Charming, Cinderella was asked what was the biggest lesson she learned from the marriage, "Never marry a man who's really into shoes", she replied.

I was hoping to watch Cinderella in the cinema.  Unfortunately, neither of the kids wants to watch it.  I am not sure, but I suspect my son does not want to watch it as it is a 'girls' film and my daughter when asked stated that she did not want to watch it as she hated the idea of someone waiting around for Prince Charming to arrive.  I am certain that her views on boys were coloured when my son was able to walk and talk.  Now she has a disdain for boys that I hope lasts a long long time.  I know that it will not, but as a father, I can hope...

The NHS is great, but it can and should be so much better. If politicians allow it to be.

A quick post before I get to bed.  The NHS has been in the news as parties have been saying that they are going to fund it and increase the number of people working in it.  The most interesting promise has been the unfunded one from the Conservatives.  But funded or unfunded all the parties have not seemed to mention the lack of nurses needed in the NHS or paramedics and doctors.  And the reason that the numbers of workers in the health service has fallen compared to demand is a combination of workload, pay (or the lack of pay rises), media portrayal and the fact that people can earn more money not working in the NHS, either working abroad, or working as agency/locum staff.

Unless politicians face up to the facts on the workforce in the NHS, things are not going to get better with a service that is struggling to meet the current demands, let alone promises of seven day access, appointments within 48 hours, or 24 hours, or other pie in the sky ideals.

I couldn't afford to take my kids to Sea World. So I took them to Billingsgate Fish Market, saying, "Shhh ... they're all asleep."

First of all, Arsenal have won again.  I watched the highlights on Match of the Day and am glad that we came through another game with a win.  While some have talked about Arsenal winning the title, that would require Chelski to lose four games, while Arsenal win every game they play.  And I do not see that happening.

I got back from work today to find the kids at home.  I had to stay later than I expected, but it was great to see them after they had been away for so long.  Unfortunately, I did not get to spend the time with them that I was hoping I could, this being as I got home so late, but reading them a story at night is an experience that I hope they remember, one that they seem to like and one that I am sure I will treasure forever.

But now to the NHS.  Coming up to an election, all the parties are making promises that I do not think can be kept.  Mainly because of the issues with staff leaving the NHS.  With GP's it is not just leaving the NHS, but also leaving the UK, which makes it harder for them to come back, not without taking a pay cut to do so that is.  I would love to just state that one party is wrong about the promises that they are making, but I do not see any understanding the issues facing the NHS.  It will be easier to tempt nurses and midwives back to the NHS as many will still be in the country, but that will require pay rises and a change in working conditions.  And the same applies to doctors, not just GP's but also hospital doctors.  Promises can be made, but there has to be the staff available to allow the health service to deliver them.  We can learn a lot from other nations, one of them being that while the NHS can and should get better, it can be a lot worse.

I see that Paul Lambert's been talking about his sacking by Aston Villa. He says that, given the opportunity, most of his players would have shot him in the back. On the plus side, Paul, they'd have probably missed.

I am not used to Arsenal being so high in the table at this stage of the season!  However, it means focusing on all games and remembering that there are no easy games in this league.  Over this holiday, I have tried to get the kids into football.  It has yet to work, though they did like watching the end of Fever Pitch and I think that there is a chance that I can 'convert' them.

At present, they are away with my parents-in-law having spent a few days there while my wife and I work.  While I miss them, it has been enjoyable having sometime with just my wife and me.  They have been to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and they are going to come back home today.  Though, this will be the first Saturday that they will have without TheVoiceUK and my wife has been wondering how they will cope!

"It's important we remember the true meaning of Easter" says The Archbishop of Cadbury.

Weekends with the family are great and it has been great these last few days over the long weekend.

Most of the time, I feel that I do not get to spend enough time with the kids when I have enough energy to appreciate the joy that they have to offer.  When I get back from work, I am tired, and so are they.  I do the best I can when I get back, but the combination of tired knackered kids and adults is normally not too good.

But this weekend, I have had the chance to spend more time with them and more importantly, quality time.  It has been a great weekend spent with them.  We have been to Orford, Snape and have been out and about in Colchester.  And of course, there has been chocolate.  The long weekend is not yet over, but I am so grateful for the time that we have had as a family, my wife making sure that it has been enjoyable for all.

Unfortunately, the Voice UK has ended, but all good things come to an end, and the kids are already looking forward to the series next year.  We all have had our favourites, and while I am sure we all wish Stevie McCrorie the best, he was not our favourite.  Come the final, the house was united behind Lucy and we wish her well for the future.

Orford Castle was a great place to visit.  It is somewhere that I have wanted to visit for ages and thanks to the kids, I know more about how to use the toilet in a castle.  My wife and I have been to Orford before and even stayed at the Crown and Castle in the life that we had before children.  The meal there was as good as we remembered.

But in between the castle and lunch was a trip to Snape Maltings.  While my son stayed in the warm with my wife and shopped, my daughter and I went for a walk, hence the photographs below.  Yesterday was a trip to the Waiting Room, one which I hope to return to as the kids loved eating there and next time, I hope to not be full from breakfast so that I can join them.

I would love to post more, but I am knackered.  Good night!