Day two in Rhodes

Today has been a relaxing day. I had intended to go for a walk before breakfast but ended up having breakfast with the kids instead. I did go for a walk afterwards and we played in the pool.

At lunch, my son who has not liked cats before started to feed a kitten, something my daughter and I would not have believed if we had not seen this ourselves! 

I did go for a swim in the sea with my daughter, something we did not do here last year. Anyway, the kids are at the local disco with their mother. Me I am going to go to sleep.

Day one in Rhodes

It has been a long day. We woke up for our taxi trip to the hotel at 0400, well, most of us did. Despite being told to get to sleep, my son tried to stay up and fell asleep, but, when we got up at 0330, fell back to sleep again. This has meant that he had left a few things back at home. I slept on the drive to the airport and on the plane, my son managing to stay awake during a lot of the flight, but it was sweet when he fell asleep on me. 

In fact, the photo was taken by him on the flight. It is great to be back at the hotel, and while the kids had bickered before getting here about sharing a room, they appear to be fine about it now.

We have had dinner, which was our first proper meal of the day as we missed lunch when we came here, and the airport breakfast was not as good as I had wanted.

I did get to watch the highlights of the Arsenal game. I do have to agree with the pundits, no disrespect to Nottingham Forest, but we would have been punished if we had played a top six side. Saying that, we did score two amazing goals and I am hoping that we can match or beat our previous league standing. But it will be much harder to do that this season. And remember, we could be Spurs! 

Anyway, the bed is calling me…

How fires are attributed to climate change

Wild fires have devastated Maui in Hawaii, notably Lahaina. Some people have had issues with understanding how fires are attributed to climate change. 

The answer to this is quite simple. Wet forests do not burn very easily. If they are dry, they burn easier, and if there is less rainfall due to climate change, then the fires will be worse than otherwise and will be harder to combat.  The more rainfall, the less fires.  And, to look at two recent examples that have hit the headlines. Rhodes and Hawaii have had less rainfall than they had ten years ago.

Many continue to tell us Don't Look Up and some of them may not be paid by the companies that profit from ruining our planet, doing this work for free instead. 

Our planet use to be a lot hotter when there was more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.  Let us not return to that climate. 

NHS waiting lists

Today another strike is affecting the NHS.  The media have been interviewing people who have had operations cancelled due to the junior doctors strike. This same media have not paid as much attention to the way that NHS waiting lists have risen since the reforms which were made during the years of the coalition government.

NHS staff are leaving.  The can have a better work-life balance outside the NHS.  I know one person who left medicine and entered the restaurant trade because it was less stressful!  In the surgery I work in, many doctors have left the surgery to work for more money and better hours elsewhere.

Before 2010, I knew one GP who moved to Australia because it was hard to get a job, there were so many GP's then.  Now, the surgery I work in has had a vacancy for months for a GP. 

The government say that they are making things better for those working in the NHS, but the facts are that loads of NHS workers are voting with their feet and leaving the NHS, many to work abroad instead. 

And then there were two

My daughter has come down ill as well.  I do not know the symptoms, but things are not looking good for us going on holiday.

Ill before our holiday

I am a bit nervous.  My son was come down unwell, runny nose, feeling awful.  He had been out earlier today, but came back feeling awful.  We have our holiday next week and I am hoping that he has not come down with the plague.  So far, his COVID test is negative, but I am in favour of encouraging him to social distance in his bedroom...

The UK is not a soft touch for refugees

I am disgusted at the quality of reporting when it comes to how our nation is dealing, or failing to deal with refugees.  Listening to journalists who should know better, they do not mention several things. 

1- The European nation with the largest number of refugees is Germany.  When the migrant caravan happened, most refugees went to Germany, not to the UK.

2 - France (which has more refugees than the UK) has offered to stop the boats by allowing refugees to apply for refugee status in a legal manner.  In addition to this, action has taken place in France to stop them using ports and the Channel tunnel to get to the UK.

3 - The safe and legal routes that we do have for refugees from Afghanistan have left too many in danger.  

And now we want to house asylum seekers in a barge that is considered by many to be unsafe...