Day three in Sri Lanka

We were woken early today after our late night last night.  My wife had to go with her mother to collect somethings, but ended up waiting around for an hour and a half before she left.  She was of the accurate impression that she could have waited in bed!  But when she got back, we got to meet more of her family, many who have only seen our children in photo's and some who I have never met before.  All were welcoming and friendly and loved our two children.

Later, we had to help her parents again, not a major issue, but we went to have lunch first at The Lagoon restaurant at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel.  I was a bit nervous at first as they had very fresh fish on display, and I tend not to like fish.  But, I do love fish when it is fresh, and this was very fresh.  I have to say that this might be the best fish meal I have had, and considering the quality of the fish we ate at one restaurant in Devon, this is of a very high standard.  We had tea afterwards in the lobby of the restaurant, my wife and children having macaroons which they loved.

After helping her parents out (a minor detour for us), we returned to the hotel for a trip to a temple for a blessing.  This is one of the reasons why we came here and the journey there was a long one where it started to rain a lot.  The downpour when we arrived continued only abating once we left.

Anyway, the children are in bed now having eaten at the hotel.  Good night all!

Day two in Sri Lanka

Today has been interesting.  After breakfast with the favourite cousin of my wife, while my wife, her mother and my daughter went to get things to look even more amazing, my son and I were dropped off at a shopping Mall.  It was suggested to us as it is indoor, and there was the chance of catching more Pokémon.  In the UK, when we are at large shopping Malls, there is the option to walk from one Pokéstop, or Pokégym to another and catch Pokémon.  The was not the case at Liberty Plaza, and my son did not appreciate it when his iPhone started to glitch when there was an awesome Pokémon to catch.  Needless to say, this did not put him in that good a mood, but we continued to walk around the Mall.  The escalators are intended to draw you in, and finding a way out was possible, but was not easy, which should be the design of any good mall.  I ended up trying to convince him that the place was a trap that lured people in and turned them into mannequins, but he did not believe me.

My friend, and cousin of my wife picked us up later, after he had completed what he was up to, and had kindly agreed to drive us about when my wife, daughter and mother-in-law arrived.  They had got things ready to journey to the temple, the trip planned for tomorrow and did not know that we had just been picked up when they pulled in behind us in a taxi.  We ended up squeezing into the car, and after a trip to the Galle Face Hotel, we returned to Hotel Janaki.

We picked up my father-in-law and then journeyed to the golf club in Colombo where they treated us to an amazing lunch there.  My son made a friend there who taught him the basics of golf before we journeyed back.  I accompanied my father-in-law to a few places in Colombo before returning back to the hotel where the kids had stayed.  I was knackered, I think because, I have come down with sinusitis (possibly).  But after some rest, the kids and I played a game before having dinner with my wife's cousin.

It was great seeing him, his wife and two children.  We are very lucky to know him.

All in all, today was another good day.  The only downside was that I did not get to take my son swimming in the Hotel Janaki pool like I had promised.

Day one in Sri Lanka

Our trip to Sri Lanka has been an interesting one.  My wife and I both were at work in the morning.  While we were happy to see our friend David on the weekend, it did mean that we did not get time to pack as we might otherwise. Saying that, it was a sacrifice that was worth it as it has been too long since we last saw David (and he fed us and looked after our son).  And I am not sure how much we would have been able to do as we were meant to have travelled to London on Sunday, and having time at home meant we able to do more.  

Basically, this meant that we had not had the time to pack as we would prefer. So we packed after I had collected the children from school.  I went to collect my daughter first who took ages to be collected and then we went to get my son. In hindsight, I should have done it the other way round.  So after packing, we went by taxi to the airport. I have to admit to feeling nervous when we hit traffic but our journey was in essence, uneventful other than a game of I spy where my daughter was, as usual, a very good player.

When at the airport, after a bit of shopping, we had food and drink. We let the children have what they wanted, and although my daughter wanted to have a coke, after I explained that it would ruin her food, she opted for juice, trying tomato juice (she did not like this) while my son was glad that Pikachu got to have a drink.

When on the plane, the kids have loved it. My son has enjoyed playing the games available and has been watching Captain Underpants.  I have taken the opportunity to watch Alien Covenant, Dunkirk and The 300.  

Alien Covenant was a disappointment. Not the worst of the Alien films, but no match for the first two.  For those who love the Alien films no matter what, this has all the core essentials, a strong female role model, lots of death and also an android.  The Red Shirt's though were not as memorable as in the first two films where most deaths were important.  With this being a prequel, the issue of the face huggers and the implanted embryo needing less time to gestate than in the original film bugs me.

Dunkirk was brilliant.  It conveyed the despair of leaving and sacrifice well.  I only watched parts of the BBC series and I am not sure that it compares well to my memories of that, but it was the best of the three films that I watched on the flight.  I loved how it explained the main problems and challenges being faced in that evacuation in a way that most can understand. And of course, it was a war film, so that sold me as well.

The 300 was a film I have wanted to watch for a long time. Like many who have heard about it, it fascinated me I have mixed feelings about it.  As a film about war in the times of ancient Greece, it does not match up to Troy (even with the many flaws it had at the end of the film).  I guess, I would have enjoyed it more when I was a teenager, but I do not appreciate the analogy of war being beautiful now I am older.  Probably more because almost everything else was ugly.

Anyway we have now arrived at Hotel Janaki where we are staying for about a week.  And we have had a great lunch and are to rest and recuperate. 

Mewtwo

While I am annoyed at how Arsenal defended against Southampton, my son is ecstatic, though not due to the Arsenal result. A few days ago, he got a raid pass for Pokémon Go. A special one that is only issued to a few people. There have been a few of these passes issued in Colchester and he has been hoping that he would get one.  And when he did, he was over the moon.  Until I pointed out that the raid was on a school day, during the time he was meant to be at school.  He was heartbroken but we were lucky. There is a lovely community of Pokémon Go players in Colchester and one kindly helped out and offered to attend the raid for him.

So last night he went to bed, hoping but not daring to hope too much.  And this morning he went to school with the same thoughts.  As soon as he got home, he checked up on his account and he has been in a good mood since.

In summary, Pokémon Go involves finding Pokémon, some are rarer than others.  Not only has he found one that is very rare, but this is a powerful one as well.  And one that neither his sister or I (I play it most days, she only plays it occasionally) have.

Snow!

The kids loved the snow today.  As you can see, from the picture that my daughter took when it started, it did not appear to be too bad, but it quickly got worse.

We were to travel to London to see my mother, but the roads quickly became treacherous and after explaining the risks of travelling so far to my mother, we went to the shops.  The journey was 'interesting' and one of our neighbours who went out soon after us had to leave their car and walk home.  We were lucky and on the way back, with the traffic and more snow, I took a route back that was as flat as I could find.  One of our friends, David was here and looked after my son when this went on.

Once at home, my daughter and I had a snowball fight before I took the shopping in, something both her and my son did after our late breakfast as cooked by David.  He was glad to get help from others to take her on, her being the tallest in the snowball fight, and despite not being the oldest, this meant that she was the main target!  I am not sure if she was a bit annoyed that the older girl in the street was not the target of this.  I presume that the other girl joined in with the concentrated snowball assault on my daughter.

Anyway, they are asleep, and David has left, reaching his destination safe and sound. Driving tomorrow morning will be fun!

Dear Jeremy Hunt, these are the facts about your interview on The Andrew Marr Show

Dear Jeremy Hunt, I see that you have managed to find an excuse not to talk to Ralf Little because you feel that he has not proven that you misled the public in your interview on The Andrew Marr show on the 29th of October 2017.  For the record, you did mislead the public.  But as you want proof, let us go through your statements in that interview.

You start by answering the question posed about if mental health provision has got better or worse by saying it has got better.  You discuss the number of contacts where patients have had contact with the mental health services using that to claim that the services have improved.  But you ignore how the police are having to deal mental health issues in increasing numbers.  Officers point to an increase of more than 50% in a decade in the use of powers to detain people under section 136 of the Mental Health Act.

1:00 - When asked about how long a child with a mental health issue should wait for treatment, you cite targets which have been put in place for eating disorders.  However, the Children's Commissioner has raised many concerns about child mental health which proves that your aspirations, while admirable, are not helping children as much as needed at the moment.

1:40 - you mention child psychiatrist numbers, but you forget to mention that numbers have fallen.  An article last year stated that numbers are the lowest in seven years.

3:00 - You claim that the numbers of nurses in mental health have not met what the nation needs, as effort has been put into place to increase nursing numbers after Mid Staffs.  But you ignore the huge issues with the nursing shortage that have existed under your watch, and as this graph shows, how this has got worse during your watch.

3:35 - You state that hospitals were unsafe in the past.  But you forget those patients who died in hospital corridors during the last winter bed crisis!  Of course, your view was crisis, what crisis which is a view not shared by those who worked through it to help those patients treated by the NHS during this time.

3:55 - You rightly cited that the number of training places for nurses have increased, but official figures actually show that there are less student nurses compared to before now.

4:25 - You state that the numbers of those working in mental health have increased, but by saying so, you ignore how the number of unfilled consultant psychiatric posts have doubled in the last four years.

5:25 - You state that the number of mental health beds have been increased during the last year.  In September, a judge described the lack of secure mental health beds as scandalous.  If you have sorted this issue out, why did the judge say this?

6:25 - You refer to increasing the numbers of those being trained to treat mental health.  This graph shows that there are large numbers of posts to train psychiatrists that are unfilled.

11:55 - When you comment on the nurse in A&E seeing patients, you forget to mention those who attend Accident and Emergency inappropriately, instead blaming the ageing population.  Probably because you refused to use the NHS properly when it came to seeking medical advice out of hours.

15:05 - You state that harm in the NHS is nothing (or not principally) to do with resources.  However, your own comments on the 1st of December about how outcomes and finances are linked appears to say otherwise.

15:39 - You cite the Commonwealth fund report which rated the NHS as number one, but you ignore that it came second worst with health outcomes.

In summary, what you said was factually correct, but as shown in this blog post, you have misled the public as you have only told part of the truth on these matters.  Your refusal to discuss the matters that you glossed over either indicates intent or incompetence.  And while many who work in the NHS think that you are incompetent, I feel that your statements on the NHS to Andrew Marr were deliberate.

 Last of all, there are a few more graphs showing how the NHS has fared under your care.  But again, despite allegations that you are incompetent, you know about these figures already.

Pokémon Go and my son

One week ago, my son was heartbroken.  After collecting him from Cubs, I took him to a Pokégym not realising that there was a raid occurring there.  For those with a life, who do not know about this, Pokémon Go is a game where you encounter Pokémon which are virtual creatures which can be caught using an app.  My son got into it when his friends at school had taken up the craze.  Most have given this up, but he is going strong.

My daughter took this up later, but her enthusiasm died after attending a raid where she saw some of those who play Pokémon and decided to stop playing it as much.  Well, we have only been able to go to a few raids and have never caught one of the Legendary Pokémon.  So last week, we got there to find lots of people about to take part in one. We joined up and the 'Raid Boss' was defeated. But then it came to capturing it.  The sad thing is that I got it and he did not. Understandably he was distraught and when the same happened on the weekend with another one, where I caught one and he did not, he took it better.

So on Monday, I had the chance to get one for him.  And this time I got it for him.  The screams when he realised brought a big smile to my face.  Sadly I was not able to do the same for my daughter, but maybe next time...