Russian premier Vladimir Putin has stated that gay people will be 'welcome' at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. 'The archers will need targets,' he added.

Well, as everyone who follows my posts know, I think Putin is a great guy. (And just in case anyone thinks that I would like Polonium in my tea, the answer is no.)  It will be interesting to see how Russia deals with the protests considering the way that those who have acted against Putin have been jailed for one reason or another.  And considering this, it is surprising that Russia was awarded the Winter Olympics.  Mind you, Beijing was given the Olympics in 2008 and the world cup in 2022 is to be held in Qatar the original bid for it to be in the summer. I do not think that any nation that has hosted the Olympics has a perfect human rights record, but some are more honest about things than others.

And on the topic of sport, Arsenal won on the weekend.  We were slaughtered on the weekend before against Liverpool, our players appearing mostly not to be trying after an onslaught in the first twenty minutes.  A draw against ManUre followed, but revenge against Liverpool was sweet, even if we had to thank the ref for it!

But I did not get to watch the match as yesterday we were out in Southwold.  On Saturday, my wife pointed out that the next day was going to be sunny and so a trip out was planned.  This meant that my son missed yet another rubgy practice session, but it was a great day.  We got to spend time on the pier there, a place that I have not been to before despite many trips to the town.  The kids loved it, they bought some rock and also some things which I am sure that they will not lose for a few days...

Anyway, it is getting late.  Have to go now.

It's no wonder David Cameron doesn't want Scotland to leave the United Kingdom. At this rate Scotland will be the only place above the flood line.

Tonight, I am waiting to see the result from the game, listening to updates on Radio Five Live as well as keeping up to date on the Guardian website.  The kids are asleep and my wife is not listening to the football with me!

So, since the last post, not too much has happened at home.  I have been spending a lot more time with the family the time with the kids being amazing, though last weekend I was back working on the weekend, and it looks that I will be working on weekends again, though this weekend work appears to be a lot better for me and my normal job compared to before.

The weather has stopped my son from playing rugby as he has been unwell most weekends.  Anyway, have to go, a free kick is about to be taken...

I've just posted a video of last night's penalties to Manchester United's Facebook page. In case they missed it.

But rather than talk about football, let us have a look at the picture which of course refers to a claim by a UKIP politician that the recent floods are due to the anger of God and recent legislation which was brought about to make life more fair for those who love other adults of the same sex.  I have to thank one of my friends who directed me to this a few months ago.  As you may be able to gather, I have nothing against people who are homosexual, or those who think that homosexuality is wrong.  I just think that those who come up with insane comments to justify homophobia are bonkers.

Anyway, I had a great weekend with the kids.  My son was too unwell to play rugby on Sunday, but was well enough to visit London beforehand were they got to watch Wind in the Willows, visit the South Bank and also have a quick trip to the British Museum.  I have had the week off and have managed to get a few things that needed to be done finished but I do have a few more things to sort out.  It has been great taking the kids to school and picking them up as well as being able to spend more time with them once they are home.  As I have stated many a time, they do grown up so quickly and any time spent with them has to be treasured.

Of course, not all has gone as well as I would like.  My son was unwell today, and on Monday, I woke to find that the heating was not working.  To be accurate, it appeared to be the fuse box at first, but working through the circuits showed that it was our heating.  On the coldest two days of the week.  Luckily, my wife was able to get a telephone number of a good electrician from one of the other mothers in the playground who was able to discuss with the plumber what the problem probably was who was able to order the necessary part and we had our heating back on Tuesday.  But we were very lucky in that we did not have the cold weather that had been present in the USA recently as well as being fortunate that people were willing to lend us some electric radiators.  Anyway, the house is warm, I am tired and I am now to go to sleep.  Night all!

The Swiss must've been pretty confident in their chances of victory if they included a corkscrew in their army knife.

What a great day.  I got to spend it with the kids.  My wife had to go to London.  When I say that, she went to London with friends and I got to spend time with the kids.

My son went to play rugby, did not do as well as he had in the past, my daughter came along as well to watch.  And then home where we watched Enchanted on LoveFilm.  I fed them, food, which my wife had left for me, food that I would love to say thatI prepared, but I did not.  And then, after reading, they kids got to paint.  These are two of the pictures that they painted, the top one being one from my daughter (I forgot to remove a sheet of paper from the scanner when I put this in) and the second one being from my son.  And for dinner we then went to a local Chinese.  While on the way there and back, the kids tortured me by making me listen to a song which they love.  They got to see my wife who got back in time to see them go to bed.

Next time, I will have to remember to feed them sooner as it was a long day for them and that showed before they went to bed.  Good night all!

I hear George Michael is feeling annoyed. WHAM just got knocked out of the FA Cup.

Afternoon all.

So, News Years Eve went well.  Had some friends round, my wife had made a great meal and alcohol was used for the celebration of the end of one year and the begining of another.  In fact, last night we were invited to a meal elsewhere as well, again, good food and for me, beer.  And unlike New Years Day, I am in a fitter state having only drunk a little bit.  It has been good to have time with the kids as well, a shame that I have had to leave them to go to work, but at times, with the way they drive me mad, a good thing as well.  My Mum has been up this weekend and got to spend time with the kids as well, she has left now and is recovering from being with them for so long!

Today, my son went back to play rugby.  Me, I prefer football and I am in a good mood over the result yesterday against the Scum.  My daughter did watch bits with me, my son was not interested at all.  I was worried before the game, form favouring the opposition, but in the end, I did not need to be too concerned.  The attacking threat that was posed was, for most of the time cut out.  There was an interesting battle in midfield with quite a few niggling fouls being committed against Jack Wilshere, and while this did seem to keep him quiet and reduce his influence on the game, the rest of the team were able to make up for this.  Two great goals were scored and other than yet another injury, a good day.  When when I get back to work, I will have a big smile on my face!

Bill's restaurant review

It has been a good weekend.  Arsenal won and are top of the league.  And I have spent a great weekend with the family.  Today we went into town to watch Frozen.  Made the kids cry, loads, but they both loved it.  They are asleep now and I hope that they will sleep through the night.  My daughter has had a stomach bug which has caused her pain, my son has had man-flu which has meant that they have been in our room most of the last few nights.  And yesterday it was a trip to London.  We were able to spend time in Borough market and also got to eat in a place called Bill's. 

So, yesterday, as noted, a drive down to London.  We spent time together eating a good meal in a restaurant with good food and great service.  They were great with the kids, and when an understandable mistake had been made, it was corrected quickly.  This is a place my wife had been interested in going to in the past and I think that this is certainly a place that we would go to again.  While my son was not 100%, he enjoyed a walk along the southbank of the Thames, my daughter loving it as well.  They love the market especially when they get to try different things that are on offer, and the people in the market are friendly.  At the end of the meal and the trip, we popped into the Globe Theatre which the children have learned about thanks to Horrible Histories.  While there we got the kids a children book on Shakespeare, which I have to find again as I put it somewhere for safekeeping!  And we got to see my mother quickly.  We did not get to spend much time there as we needed to get back home and my wife is allergic to the cat which my mother has, starts wheezing and the like when in the presence of an otherwise gorgeous cat.

This morning, as noted, we watched Frozen.  I have to say it was a very good film.  I had not had seen any trailers that might have spoiled the film which helped.  I am a bit of a ranter about trailers as I am of the view that they spoil most films.  While parts of it were typical for Disney, not everything was.  I loved the comedy and the characters were memorable. I did not expect that I was going to like it as much as I did.  Later we popped into see some friends and spent a bit more time there than we expected, played a few games of table football and then came back home.  My son has been asking about doing things with me, one being taking an interest in Chess which I am starting to take an interest in again.  So before the kids went to bed, they played a game using my laptop, this making it easy when it comes to acceptable moves and the like.  It was surprisingly painless at times.  While they are making very basic mistakes which is understandable considering that they only have recently learned some of the rules, I was impressed at how quick they have picked up somethings.  But with the lack of knowledge each has, the game ended in a draw, which is a good thing as neither likes to lose.

And of course, speaking of games, I did get to watch parts of the Arsenal game.  Not as much as I would have liked, but it was better than nothing.  I will be looking forwards to watching the highlights during the week which I am recording.  I did expect a draw at best, but coming away from Newcastle with three points was a bonus I was not expecting, and one which puts us top of the table, for now.

I had some tests done at the hospital recently and the doctor phoned today with the results. I said to him, "So, is it good news or bad?" He replied, "Well put it this way, have you ever considered visiting Disneyland?"

This post is on the NHS, put simply, it needs more money.  The Conservatives promised not to cut funding to the NHS.  They seem to have lied about this, in real terms

At present, waits in Accident and Emergency are increasing, and the Government has placed the blame for this at the contract with general practitioners that was introduced by Labour in April 2004.  The argument of Jeremy Hunt is that since GP’s opted out of providing out of hours services, the numbers of patients attending A&E has increased and that the contract is responsible.  I doubt that is true that the contract is the reason for this. 

Lots of people in A&E have pointed out that large numbers of people who attend A&E state that they have not been able to see their GP which is why they present there, despite having a condition that is neither an Accident or an Emergency.  There are a few issues with this being blamed on GP’s.  One is that people attended Accident and Emergency before April 2004 stating that they could not get an appointment to see a GP at their surgery.  I know this is not accurate for a fact as I have worked in A&E and once, when there, a patient who was registered at a surgery with open access in the morning stated that they were not able to get an appointment.  In simple English, open access is where people attend their GP surgery in the morning and are seen, i.e. there are no issues about having to wait to see a GP in that if you need to see one, you take time off in the morning, wait and you will see one, i.e. the patient lied.  The other issue is that since 2004, out of hours care has changed.  Now if someone calls with chest pain, they are now, in many cases, sent an ambulance.  More recently this has also applied to strokes where time is now even more important considering the treatments that are available to reduce the disability caused by them.  These changes, which are medically indicated considering changes in technology and also in the understanding in the way that many medical conditions are now handled are reason that patients who in thepast would not be sent to A&E without an assessment by a doctor are nowbeing sent to the Emergency Department.

I am not saying that there are no patients who have problems making appointments to see a GP but this is not the only reason that there is an issue.

It has been argued that GP's need an increase in funding to help patients, and this is true as funding to general practice has been cut in real terms since 2010.  You can not expect GP surgeries to increase access without increasing funding to provide this.  It would be insane to go back to the 'old system' as thanks to the Quality Outcomes Framework that was put into place in 2004, patients have better care, and the government also has more information on the numbers of people with various conditions, which allows for better planning of the health of the nation.  Obtaining this information costs the NHS money to obtain, but getting this information and treating patients to the targets set saves lives.

What is important to note as well, is that there is an exodus of doctors from the country.  Those who work in A&E are leaving and the same is seen with GP's.  Unless things are made better with the work life balance of doctors, more doctors will leave the NHS which will mean that the NHS will be worse off.  That is not counting the increasing costs of advances in medical technology which in general are over and above the general inflation rate.

As I said, the NHS needs more money.  That is if we really want it to work.