Leading not leaving Europe. Why I think that we are Better In the EU

As mentioned before, with the argument about if we should stay or leave the European Union both sides are spreading half truths and at times, lies.  However, despite the smokescreen from both, I have figured out my view and I think we are #BetterIn.
I am not a huge fan of the EU.  I think that it needs less powers, not more, and when put to the vote, this is a view that has been present across Europe.  While not all agree with this, loads do and ideally, it would be great if all nations in the EU were offered more say in more or less EU integration.  It is not just that.  I do not like the way there still appears to be corruption within it (though that is much less than before as it is taking action on it).  Here are some of the reasons for my decision on this.

1; We will still have to pay into the EU or follow its laws - Of the nations of Western Europe, there are two who are out of the EU and do well.  Norway and Switzerland.  Norway has oil, and lots of it.  Switzerland has its financial sector.  Yes, they make chocolates, drugs and watches but it is a major banking sector.  But both pay into the EU, and neither have a say in how the money is spent.

2: Manufacturing - In the UK, we have falling supplies of oil and gas, our manufacturing sector is getting smaller and while Britain is great, our ability to export may not be enough to compete against China and other BRICS nations.  We are still making things, but we export a lot to Europe.  Cars for example are produced in the UK, but I can not see Honda, Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover and the many companies that make cars in the UK staying if we have to pay import duties into the EU.  And while Germany, with the interest they have in our car industry will want us in the EEC, I can not see France with Peugeot, Citroen and Renault, or Italy with Fiat and Alfa Romeo wanting us to export cars to compete with them. And for those who doubt this, remember the ban that France had against our beef even when the EU told them not to ban it.

3: Unelected bureaucrats - While there are many who complain that the European Commission is unelected, they forget that the commission only proposes laws, and the elected parliament votes to say if they feel they are to be followed or not.  However, in the UK, we have the house of Lords, who are unelected and they have the power to block the elected members in The House of Commons.

4: Benefits - There is a claim that immigrants from the EU are coming to steal our benefits (and at the same time steal our jobs).  But as far as I am concerned, most of the EU migrants I have seen are working.  I have come across a few that are not, but they are few and far between.  I am more concerned about the pensioners who live abroad in countries like Spain.  If we leave, there is a chance that they may have to come back here to get the treatment they are entitled to rather than stay in the nations that they have retired to and be treated there as is the choice they want.

5; Crime - Yes, there are criminals from the EU who live in the UK, but we export crime as well.  I am old enough to remember the term Costa Del Crime unlike many.  I want criminals brought to justice rather than being able to live abroad rather than be rehabilitated in jail.    

6; Turkey - The EU is probably to agree to visa-free travel for Turkish citizens inside Europe's passport-free Schengen area, but the UK is outside this so the swarms of Turks promised by the right are not going to come.  As for Turkey joining the EU, last year, there was a report damming the human rights record of Turkey last year, and things have got worse since.  Unless human rights improve there, I do not see Turkey becoming part of the EU.

7; Red Tape - Yes, red tape is hindering business.  Examples of red tape include the working time directive and other things that protects the rights of workers.  So yes, leaving the EU would allow red tape to be cut and allow workers rights to be removed.   

8; America - Not only did the US vote in Bush the second, they did it twice.  And at the time of making this post, Trump is ahead in the polls to be president.  I would rather be closer to Europe than the USA (though I would prefer to be close to both) because of this.

I might get time to add to this list, but for now, good night!

Fathers Day 2016

My kids have been awesome today.  And my wife has been amazing as well.

In the morning, they gave me some presents which were great.  I had asked for ties, and they gave me them, but they came in wearing two t-shirts meant to me as well as bringing gifts (in addition to ties and the t-shirts).  After breakfast, it was a bike ride with the two of them.  Recently, I have been riding with my son more, for one reason or another, which meant that he has improved loads.  His sister however, while better appeared to be surprised at his improvement.  Like all siblings, the two are competitive, but despite them being much better than I was with my brothers I did not take full account of this.  There is a slight hill which the kids have issues getting up.  Yesterday when out on our bikes with my son (while my daughter was at a party) he made it up it (with a push), something his sister has not been given the opportunity to practice.  So today when riding around Abbey Fields which is near to where we live, my son made it up the hill.  To be fair to my daughter I had made her stop and wait at the bottom which took her momentum away, but the morning went downhill from there.

Later on they took me away for lunch to a place that we had not been before.  And we all liked it.  While I had wanted to sit next to the bouncy castle that the kids loved playing on, in the end we sat outside the front in the sun.  The food was good and the kids were entertained by a magician who came over to them.

Once home it was time to rest and watch Modern Family all together.

My son is awesome but will it be enough?

I have been out for a ride on our bikes with my son.  He was amazing.  He has pushed himself and now is able to ride further and faster than before.

Yesterday while I was at work my son and daughter went out with my wife.  We got to see the RAF fly past but from different location which my kids thought was awesome. 

However on getting home, things were different.  My daughter had gone to a party and my son was in the bad books of my wife.  The kids had been told to prepare a speech for school. My daughter did hers last week, and ever since she did well a few years ago, and learned that put her through to the next round, she appears to have done her best not to win.  My son on the other hand has never shown his abilities in this field.  He is amazing but seems to have an aversion to letting his teacher (and those in the past) know how great he is.

Anyway on getting home after my wife growled at me muttering that he had annoyed her I thought I would see how he was and help him.  Unfortunately for him, he decided to take out the anger and frustration he had towards his mother out on me.  So from having one parent on his side he went to two being annoyed with him.  After later finding out that he had been hiding things from us, he was in our bad books as we went to a friends to watch the football.

On that note a great game where England showed lots of promise and potential soured by the result but made much worse by the violence shown to our fans at the end of the game.

Anyway he has completed it today, just.  I am not sure if my telling him I was to post on this changed his view on completing it or not.  And he has been awesome on his bike, improving and becoming stronger than ever.  Like his sister does, he makes me proud and it is an honour to be his father.

I missed half term

Last week was one which, considering it was a holiday for the kids, that they enjoyed.  They had friends over, and we also had the street party.  We were aided by the arrival of my mother in law who helped look after the children.  She had been hoping to take them out and about town, but rain stopped that, but fortunately the weather improved.

While my drive to exercise has improved, I was not able to take the children out as much as I wanted.  On the weekend I was at work for a lot of the day, then in the evening we entertained, my wife preparing, once again, an amazing meal.  It was a late night, and while I had wanted to be able to be able to take the children out on their bikes in the morning, a combination of alcohol, fatigue and the need to mow the lawn meant that I was not able to do so.  Saying that, as you can see from the picture, the garden needs a lot of work.  And I actually feel that I am more able to do it compared to how I was before the kids and I started to exercise more.  We did attend the street party, I think that the kids had a great time.  And for the first time in seven years, when it came to rounders, I managed to hit the ball!

I however have been able to ride my bike more.  My Wednesday job has moved locations, and this means that I have limited parking there, which now means that I am going to have to cycle to work.  Being further away, I was not sure that I would be able to do this, but a practice run on Saturday showed that I could do it, and I did so today.  Last week I rode my bike for the first and last time into what is now the old site where I used to work on a Wednesday, today, I managed to get to the new place, sweaty, out of breath, but there.  The kids though were very annoyed with me.  I had intended to get them to ride their bikes to school (and therefore back again) but I had not realised that their backpacks which are quite slack would be suitable for this.  Well I did, but only a few minutes before we were meant to leave, which meant that there was no time to fix things.  I have to get this sorted out for next week though, or they will never let this go!

Staying in the EU, the least worst option

The argument about if we should stay or leave the European Union is to be settled this month and both sides are talking crap.  However I have figured out my view and I think we are #BetterIn.


I am not a huge fan of the EU.  I think that it needs less powers, not more, and when put to the vote, this is a view that has been present across Europe.  While not all agree with this, loads do and ideally, it would be great if all nations in the EU were offered more say in more or less EU integration.  It is not just that.  I do not like the way there still appears to be corruption within it (though that is much less than before as it is taking action on it).  Here are some of the reasons for my decision on this.

1; We will still have to pay into the EU or follow its laws - Of the nations of Western Europe, there are two who are out of the EU and do well.  Norway and Switzerland.  Norway has oil, and lots of it.  Switzerland has its financial sector.  Yes, they make chocolates, drugs and watches but it is a major banking sector.  But both pay into the EU, and neither have a say in how the money is spent.

2: Manufacturing - In the UK, we have falling supplies of oil and gas, our manufacturing sector is getting smaller and while Britain is great, our ability to export may not be enough to compete against China and other BRICS nations.  We are still making things, but we export a lot to Europe.  Cars for example are produced in the UK, but I can not see Honda, Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover and the many companies that make cars in the UK staying if we have to pay import duties into the EU.  And while Germany, with the interest they have in our car industry will want us in the EEC, I can not see France with Peugeot, Citroen and Renault, or Italy with Fiat and Alfa Romeo wanting us to export cars to compete with them. And for those who doubt this, remember the ban that France had against our beef even when the EU told them not to ban it.

3: America - Not only did the US vote in Bush the second, they did it twice.  And at the time of making this post, Trump is ahead in the polls to be president.  I would rather be closer to Europe than the USA (though I would prefer to be close to both) because of this.

When I get other ideas, I will post again.  Good night!

Our Bank Holiday Weekend so far

It has been a great weekend so far.

Yesterday we went to Mersea.  I was hoping to go to work and then have the weekend free, but after getting the worst haircut in the world and then having breakfast in The Bungalow Diner, we went out to travel to the seaside.  I had thought that as it looked cold, that it would be better to travel further away so that if it was cold, that we could do other things than freeze on the beach.  My wife however, like on many occasions, was right, and I was wrong.  It was great to go there.  Despite it being a bank holiday weekend the sun came out and it was a great day.  Watching the waves come in was relaxing and we spent time wondering on the beach and also going to get ice cream and playing in the park.  And as you can see from the picture, one of them (my daughter) found a remnants of a dead crab.  The interesting thing was that my wife pointed out that the children have practically grown up there, and it is true.  My old blog has at least one post on this, and like the post featured there, we went to see if we could eat at the West Mersea Oyster Bar.  As usual, parking there was an issue, but there is a new car park down the road where we parked (my daughter had to guard the car for a few minutes), and we had a great meal.

Today though we went to a different beach.  Our friends Isobel and Tony let us come over to Walton-on-the-Naze and visit them in the beach hut that they use with their kids.  We have been there in the past and it was just as great to be there again.  My son loved the pier and when he did finally come back with the two teenagers who were brilliant in looking after him, he brought some of the items that he said he had won.  In the meantime, my daughter and I went for a walk allowing my wife to rest her knee, which while better is not back to full fitness.

The next thing to post is how I have been doing in chess.  My record of some of the tournaments I have lost includes
Premium Member Open #3
ruy lopez tournament
Top of the Pops 17
Space 8
Speed King #132 - Very fast players 3(2)->1 U1500

Now I have to get some rest as I do intend to wake up early tomorrow morning and cycle to work.  Good night!

PUPIL – “Would you punish me for something I didn’t do?”
TEACHER – “Of course not.”
PUPIL – “Good, because I haven`t done my homework.”

IKEA and how it was not the trip to hell

A quick post as I am knackered and need to go to bed.  Last night I was up late as I prepared my appraisal for the coming week.  In addition to this, I attended a course which was very useful.

Once at home, it was lunch and then a trip to see my mother.  I did not get to see one of my brothers as he had taken his partner out for her birthday.  Instead, after a visit to my mother and meeting her lodger, it was to IKEA.  And then buying stuff for my son.

And for the record, I was wrong and my wife was right.  We were able to get everything in the car!