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!

I'm watching the "El Classico" tonight and the commentator says it's a very clean, equal game, but I think it's looking a little bit Messi

Evening all.  It has been a while since my last post about the family.

Mothers day was great.  The kids had made cards, both at home, and also at school which was appreciated by their loving and amazing Mum.  Unfortunately, I was not able to see my Mother myself but later in the day the kids and I spoke to her on the internet, the wonders of which allow her to see us and vice versa.  For lunch, we went back to the Bildeston Crown which was a great experience for us all again.  My son had forgotten that we had booked it the last time that we were there and did the best they could to distract my wife so that she did not know where she was going.  It was a lovely drive there, and once there it was, as before, an amazing meal.  We ate in the fine dining part and the kids loved it that the staff remembered us from before.  The service was great, even when one issue arose, the staff rectified it instantly.  It is a bit of a drive for us to get there, an hour in fact, but the food is certainly worth it.  Though I have to admit, we well not be able to go there anywhere near as often as we would like.  

As for this weekend, the kids helped me put some drawers together, my daughter helping the most as it was for her room.  They had been to a science fair as well, and both love science.  And of course, there was The Voice.  Unfortunately my son fell asleep when watching it, but one joy of that is that later I might get to watch it again.  The downside of that though is that the person I think was the best singer has now left.

Later, I hope to watch the Arsenal match.  It is a shame that ManUre won today, but our destiny to finish third is in our own hands.  And of course, we beat ManUre in the cup.  While loads of fans think that we are certs for the final, they seem to have forgotten that the last time we played Reading in a cup competition, we were lucky to have won.     

MH17 and why I think that Russia was responsible for it being shot down

On July the 17th, I posted an entry on my blog about MH17 and the aim of the post was to show that the rebels in Ukraine were responsible for shooting it down using a Russian surface to air missile.  I knew that any smoking guns on the internet at the time would be hard to find later.

Basically, after MH17 was blown out of the sky, posts were made that the rebels had shot it down.  Once it became apparent, that the plane that was destroyed was a commercial airliner, those posts vanished as they were deleted.  However, ITAR-TASS reported the destruction on the day of a plane and stated that the rebels in Ukraine shot it down and that this occurred on the outskirts of the town of Torez.

I have posted this on Twitter and it has led to confusion as the article also refers to a plane shot down on another day.

So I have decided to include links about the ITAR-TASS article with this post.


DONETSK, July 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Militiamen of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) brought down a military transport Antonov-26 (An-26) plane of the Ukrainian Air Force on the outskirts of the town of Torez, eyewitnesses said. A missile hit the An-26, it fell on the ground and caught blaze, they said. On July 14, militiamen of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic downed another An-26 of the Ukrainian Air Force.


As you can see from the links the Ukrainian air force has had planes shot down (and it has accused Russia of some of these incidents directly) but only one plane was shot down on July the 17th (this being MH17), and only one plane has been shot down near Torez (this being MH17).

So, the article which I linked to, where ITAR-TASS reports on Ukrainian rebels shooting down a plane on the 17th can only refer to MH17.  Which means that Russian news states that the Ukrainian rebels shot down MH17.

Please tell me if I am wrong about this claim or if there are flaws in my argument.  And thank you for reading this.

We found our son's hamster dead today. "I don't want him to get upset," said my wife, "Why don't we just replace it with a puppy?" "Because he'll notice the difference." I replied.

Quite a bit has happened since I last made a post about the family.  We have had a birthday, a birthday party, and a few meals out.

First of all, the birthday was one that was enjoyed by both the children,  They enjoyed it and now have more weapons with which to fight me.  As for the birthday party, it was held at Pizza Express and they managed it well, the kids enjoying the interactive party.  My view is that if you love pizza, you will have to love Pizza Express, and today, they did not disappoint.

And on the topic of Italian food, another great place to eat in Colchester is Granata which serves authentic fresh cooked Italian food.  Considering the competition that it faces with some very good Italian style chains, it holds its own and is certainly worth visiting, for we loved the service as well as the food.  Why it was not more busy when we went there is beyond me.

I would love to post more, but I am knackered today.  Goodnight...

You are much more likely to be treated by an immigrant than be in the queue behind one

Today I have been listening to Any Questions on Radio Four using the Radioplayer function and have heard an interesting error by the UKIP MEP David Coburn where he said that for years that neither the Conservative nor Labour governments have trained enough doctors or nurses in the health service citing that we are stealing those from abroad.

He is wrong, training numbers have been cut, against the advice of the BMA, but that is not the reason that the numbers of healthcare professionals in the health service have fallen.  It is because, doctors and nurses have left the NHS.  Doctors, once trained have become disillusioned with the NHS and political interference and leave.  The UK trains enough doctors, but once these doctors have qualified, after they become consultants or GP's (i.e. after the five year post graduation stay in most cases) many leave to work in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Middle East.  As for nurses, even when we import them, many do not stay in the NHS.

The bottom line is while there are some ideas to improve the NHS, unless staff are looked after properly, there will be few people to work in it.