Scientists have estimated the brain has the capacity to store 4.7 billion books. Just not the one about my missing keys.

Today we went to see my mother who has had her knee operated on.  However, after a late breakfast, I went with my daughter for another ride on our bikes, and considering that I was wearing my Arsenal backpack, it turned out to be a possible nightmare.  The reason for this was the football team that was coming to town for the FA cup match.  Cycling towards the station, there was a huge line of traffic, but when we got near the station, the reason for this was made clear.  I remembered that Colchester were hosting the scum (or Spurs, or Tottenham for those who are not aware of my bias) when I saw loads of fans leaving the station in football tops and scarves.  And remembering that my backpack has the (old) Arsenal crest, I realised what a huge mistake I had made.  Most fans would have been fine, but with my daughter, I did not feel that it would be a good idea to risk it.  Which considering it was raining and was windy at the time was probably a very good idea.

Once warm at home and fed by my amazing wife, we went to London, first a trip to her parents house, and then to see my mother for the kids to see how she has been and more importantly, for her to see them.  One of my brothers has been amazing and has taken time off work to help look after her, and my other brother has taken his turn starting today.  It was good to see him as well, but I do feel guilty that I have not been able to help in the way that they have.  

The trip back was uneventful, though I did not get the chance to spend with a cousin who had come to visit my mother as we were leaving.  The kids were tired though and had relaxed by the time we had got home to watch the voice.  We all still think it is amazing, and it is great to hear the judges offer constructive comments to those that they do not pick, a big difference compared to the X-Factor.  Another good thing was that Arsenal won, though the errors that Laurent Koscielny made concerned me especially with the way he almost gave a penalty away in our defeat against Chelski as well as leaving Per Mertesacker exposed that resulted in an early red card.  A shame that Colchester lost, but few expected otherwise.  But we could only hope for the magic of the cup to strike around lunchtime...

The iPhone 5c Named after the hourly pay rate of its assemblers.

While the title of the post is a very old joke it was sitting in my draft section of posts to make for some time.

Since my last post, my mother has had an operation, a knee operation.  I was worried that the operation would not go ahead due to the issues that hospitals have had with discharging patients.  One of my brothers has kindly taken time off work to spend with my mother and if the operation was cancelled, that would have caused him and her issues.  So just for the record, I am very grateful to the NHS for operating on my mother as well as my brother for taking the time to look after her.  She has a bit of a time there, as she was anaemic after her operation, like what happened the last time she was operated on, but they have fixed that and she is now better.  I am hoping to see her today, something that has not been possible so far as I have been too busy working to see her.  The kids are looking forwards to seeing her, my son may be wearing his Arsenal top (we are playing Chelski later today) which my brothers bought him and my daughter will probably be wearing the heelies my mother bought her.

Before I was working yesterday, I got to take the children out for another bike ride.  My daughter has a mountain bike with gears that she is starting to learn how to use.  My son has a BMX bike though and while he is yet to get good enough to learn how to do various tricks and the like, I am sure he will want to.  Needless to say, while both love the bikes they have, both are envious of the abilities that their siblings bike has.  It is great for me as I have needed to exercise more for years and finally, I am getting to do this, and also I am getting to spend time with the kids.  However, this week I did not split up the kids, party due to the time that I had before I had to work, but also because they both wanted to ride together.  And they both did really well.  My daughter used her gears when the two of them were riding on grass (they wanted to ride down a hill as fast as they could) when she was going up a hill.  And the stamina of my son impressed me, he being able to ride up some hills that he was not able to do so before.  I can not help by glow with pride when I see how amazing that they are.  

So this morning, I have found out that my mother may be coming out of the hospital today.  Which means that I will miss out on watching the Arsenal match, but some things are more important than that!

Last of all, the song is from The Northernettes who were singers on the voice who did not make it.  Like so many on The Voice, they are great.  We all love The Voice and prefer it to the X Factor as it is so positive even to those who are not picked.  The entire family love this song and all we can do is wish these three girls the best, like so many others on The Voice who have entertained us and have such talent.  

According to the most current magazine in my doctor's waiting room, every home will have a television by 1962.

This will have to be a quick post as I need to get to bed.

My drive to get some degree of fitness was better today.  I went cycling with my son which meant that I was able to just pay him attention and spend some time together that he seemed to appreciate.   Being Beaver of the Week, he has a beaver he has to take out and about so we took it for a morning trip out and about. His bike is not as good as his sisters and in addition to that, being younger than her, is not as good with his bike as she is.  Which is why I decided to take them out at different times.  His route was more sedate while when I took his sister out, she pushed me more.  She has a mountain bike that is capable of more off road riding than my bike probably should do.  So today, she took me to Hilly Fields and had fun going down hills, but the problem with going down, is that there is an up to follow!  By the time I got back, I was knackered.

Lunch was late as we had a trip to friends who had been away for Christmas and celebrated it this weekend, and then we watched Arsenal draw at Stoke.  My son who is very proud of his Arsenal kit did not watch the match, while my daughter (who as noted does not have a kit) did.  It was great to meet up with our friends and their kids who get on well with ours as well as a relative that they have staying over for a few weeks.  Hopefully she was not too disturbed by watching us watch football! We were very greatful for the invitation, the company and the food (as well as the Arsenal match) in addition to the party games afterwards.  

Just a quick post

It was an interesting bike ride today.  The kids wanted to ride along the route that we have cycled on before, but I got them to try out a new route.  The only downside was that they got to cycle a bit too fast on some of the downhill bits.  And as noted on a trip to Porto in a time before children, after down must come up.  That bit was interesting.  While I would be able to cycle up the parts the kids could not, it would be unfair to do so.  And after one fall too many, we walked up a few slopes.  The downside was when my son almost cycled into a main road.  

Maybe I will listen to my wife next time and take them on the route that they usually go on.

Anyway, time for some music again as it is time for The Voice.  One singer, Femi Santiago was another of those who I rated but sadly, like so many, did not get to go as far as they could.

The first day of the Junior Doctors strike over a junior contract that is not safe for patients and not fair for doctors.

Sadly, I am in favour of the #NHS #JuniorDoctors #NotSafeNotFair #JuniorContract strike. I have worked under a system where the safeguards to protect working hours that Jeremy Hunt wants to remove didn't exist. Back then, that meant that the hospitals I worked in then ignored the advice on safe hours. I wouldn't want my loved ones to be treated by me during the times that I was so tired I fell asleep taking to a patient or couldn't remember how or why I had treated a patient a certain way come the consultant ward round in the morning.

The thing is that loads of doctors, this being GP's, consultants and junior doctors have already left the UK for more money for less work abroad. Two of my social media friends are there, along with the daughter of Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, doing just that. The junior doctors do not want to strike, but like nurses and others in the NHS, market forces will drive many away if we do not value them. Being a doctor means not seeing your family as much as others and being in a profession with high rates of divorce, alcoholism and suicide.

These changes, like with the proposed changes to the #StudentNurses #NHSbursary will harm safe staffing in YOUR NHS. Personally if the NHS goes tits up, I will be better off. I have a job and GP's like me are increasingly harder to recruit which means I can always give up my job and work as a locum for less work, less stress and more money. But the changes that are proposed will harm most of you as you have no choice.

So remember today that these Junior Doctors are not striking for more pay, or even less hours but to stop hours being increased and pay being cut for those working the most antisocial hours. And they would rather have been working today to help people instead of being on strike.

Beaver of the week

Just a few things to note.  My son is beaver of the week, and is very proud of being so.

The message is one my son wrote last year when I made him write some lines for being naughty.  He did not, but the content of what he did write made me laugh.  One of the many ways in which he, like his sister, makes me so proud.

Anyway, I made a post on the Voice yesterday, but I forgot to include some other singers who I thought were great and capable of winning.  I am sure I have missed a few so I will have to try to keep more up to date with this series!

And last of all, an update on chess, and the tournaments that I did not win.

29th Chess.com Quick Knockouts (1201-1400)

Speed King #105 - Very fast players 3(2)->1 U1500

The Speed King tournaments are fun in that the top three places normally are filled by at least one player of the rating that the tournament intended to play.  Unfortunately this is not the case with the Chess.com tournaments which are often won by players who tend to lose a few games for their rating to fall, and therefore enter a competition meant for players of a certain rating, who they then slaughter!  But when I play those games, my intention is to see if I can get out of the first round.

My wife wants us to go to Morecambe for our holidays next year, but I'm not so sure that is wise

We have been down to London to see my mother (who is now living alone) yesterday.  We took her out for a meal at a Sri Lankan restaurant that had been recommended to us by a colleague of my wife.  When we arrived in Soho, my daughter sniggering as we passed one or two places, we were amazed to find a long queue outside the restaurant we wanted to visit.  Booking is not an option, so waiting is what you have to do if you do not arrive in good time.  It was strange waiting in a queue for one restaurant that passed one next to it which had empty tables in it!  But food wise, it was worth the wait.  You can find similar food in East London, but the standard will not be as what we had here.  Some places come close with some of the dishes that they serve, but overall, for this type of food, this is the best we have eaten at, in the UK that is. 

Once we got home, through a terrible downpour, we got to watch The Voice, the last series on the BBC.  Both kids love it and this year, both were able to use the App that is available for it.  My son 'turned' for loads.  I probably did the same for more than I should, but one stood out.  I think that they have the chance of wining, but I have been wrong with those who I have loved in the past before.  

I did not get a chance to watch the football last night, we were too tired after the drive home.  But I did watch the win this morning after we had all been out on our bikes.  I am determined to become fitter as I have not really exercised properly in years.  I would never say I did exercise as well as aim to do today, but something is better than nothing.  And in my job, I do see how exercise helps keep people fitter and improves the chances of living longer.  After my wife was dropped at home, the kids and I continued onwards.  The highlights of the journey included by son falling into mud and getting it all over his trousers, but for the kids themselves, cycling down a hill at speed.  Of course, when back, by daughter who had a mild spat with me, decided to ask my wife if she had seen the trousers of my son, this being after I had earlier in the day told them that I would be dead if she found out how dirty they were.  The look of innocence on her face when she asked this would have fooled many, but not me!  My son, despite being in ecstasy since my brothers bought him an Arsenal kit, did not want to watch the highlights of the Arsenal match.  My daughter and wife watched Arsenal beat Sunderland though, a great game, but one where our defensive weaknesses were on show again and with Liverpool to play soon, we will probably not be as lucky in our next game if we give away goals the way we did.

Why Katie Hopkins is wrong about the sugar tax and why Jamie Oliver is right

It is the time for people to set goals for the New Year.  Mine is that I intend to lose weight, something I decided before I realised that my belt this morning was tighter than normal.  Many people across the country, like me, need to get fitter.  Diet is a big part to play with this, this being changing eating habits to healthy eating habits that are sustainable.  There are loads of fad diets out there to help with weight loss, but they tend not to look at the unhealthy eating that made weight increase in the first place.

Katie Hopkins recently has said in an article, that the Sugar Tax as recommended by so many, including Jamie Oliver is not the way forwards.  I disagree with those who are against taxation on unhealthy eating.  There are arguments that such a tax would hit the poorest the most, but life expectancy amongst them is lower than with those better off.  I am sure that David Cameron would not have allowed the food lobby to sway the decision on not bringing in a sugar tax, but since that decision was made, it has been shown that the bag tax in England has resulted in less bags being used.  And guess what, the poor are hit by that tax the most.

If a bag tax results in less plastic bags being used, it stands to reason that a sugar tax and even a fat tax can bring about changes in eating habits.

My New Year's resolution is to stop procrastinating - in 2011, that is.

Actually my resolution is to get my weight below 90 kilos. My mother wants me to get my cholesterol checked which is important but what is more important for my health is exercise, which is hopefully going to happen this year, and weight loss.

My voice is better today and I can actually talk, which means that my voice should be acceptable for work tomorrow. We spent today taking the Christmas decorations down, the tree that we have on loan from my wife's parents going back into it's box in the garage.  

And just before bed, I have finally got to watching the Arsenal match from yesterday. We were lucky to win our goal coming out of nothing. Ramsey is almost back to form, the same being with The Ox, and it was good to have some players back from injury. But the players returning applies to other teams and the Manchester team that rhymes with City now have the cyborg Aguero back. I say cyborg as I am convinced that he must be part machine. 

Silence is golden unless it is when I can not speak!

Interesting is how I would describe today. ManFlu yesterday and today I have no voice. I was hoping to bike with the kids, but that involves being able to shout warnings when on the road, or in the park, and whispers are hard enough for me! I feel better than before, but am still unwell. My wife has been great, but she has now fallen ill with my plague myself, though at the moment, not as bad as I have been affected.  Anyway, back to watch Game of Thrones, a shame that the last book will not be released soon.

My resolution for 2016 is to launch a brand of ice cream called Revenge. It will be both sweet and a dish best served cold.

Well, today I have Man Flu, which started yesterday.  Despite this, I was still able to work today, and yesterday, though today I am feeling more unwell compared to yesterday.  Which is just as well considering that we had guests around last night.  I had to go to sleep early but the party continued.  Which makes me glad as otherwise I would have felt very guilty.  The children, who had been allowed to stay up till midnight were very glad that not only they got to stay up late at night, but also that I went to sleep before them!  I am looking forwards to spending time with them tomorrow, though I am hoping that they will be able to spend time with a father who is in better health.  On Wednesday, when I was looking after the children, we went for a bike ride and they loved it, as did I.  The only issue with it was that they are of different levels when it comes to the ability to ride a bike, and one bike makes it easier to travel much faster than the other.  I need to get fitter, and they may be able to help me in this ambition.  Anyway, it is time for bed once more.