Monday 9 July 2012

Is it me, or do the people that we elect and trust to do what's best for us seem to be struggling? Whether it's the 'credit crunch', immigration controls, or law and order we can all, I'm sure, spot activities that just don't make sense. It seems to me that the people in power, upon accession to their office, throw away any modicum of common sense they ever possessed. And what a blessing the 'deficit' has been for them. They want to blame all our ills upon it when the solution to most of our 'ills' is staring them in the face.
Here, in Port Talbot, the local Health Trust is in the process of running down a £66million ten year old hospital and people are going to die as a result. The Trust was informed, some time ago by the powers that be, that if the drip drip drip removal of hospital services continued then doctors would no longer be sent their for training and development.
Well, doctors are now no longer sent to the hospital and the Trust is using this to justify wholesale removal of services. This will  force the 50,000 in the catchment area to travel up to 15 miles for A&E and other hospital services. The existing department within the hospital confirms that they have saved lives which would otherwise have been lost had the patient had to travel any further.
Surely, the solution was to re-instate the services that would have ensured that doctors were, once again, sent to the hospital to work. Why is that so difficult? Why is it better to endanger such a large number of people when the hospital could have thrived.
To add insult to injury, the hospital that most would have to travel to, Morriston Hospital in Swansea, are stretched almost to breaking point as it is. Regularly, ambulances can be seen queuing to unload their patients at their A&E with some remaining on board in excess of an hour.
When a similar decision was made about Worthing Hospital in Sussex, 1000's of people took to the streets and the decision was reversed. Do the good people of Port Talbot have to do the same? Can the right decisions only be made after disruption and riot?
Wake up people of Port Talbot! Once you've lost your hospital, you'll never get it back!

Tuesday 15 May 2012


Here we go again!

It’s reported that one in five children are to be categorised as having “special needs”. Codswallop. There were about four hundred and fifty children in my last school and about ten of them were regularly caned. Those who advocated the abolition of corporal punishment pointed to this fact as proof that it didn’t work. I say that it did work, because the mere threat of the cane kept the other four hundred and forty of us well behaved. There will always be some who are just ‘naughty’.

When the cane was abolished and children’s behaviour markedly worsened, the abolitionists were horrified and so invented things like ADHD and other excuses, lest they be blamed for the deterioration in behaviour. Misbehaving pupils, and some of the more irresponsible parents, then grabbed this as an excuse for bad behaviour. “It’s not that he(she)’s naughty, they have something wrong with them and they can’t help it.”

If discipline is applied at home from the time a child can recognise their parents voice and children are subjected to what they crave most, the security of a routine, there would be a lot less children being classified as ‘in need’. The only thing they’re really in need of is proper parenting.

I had cause to visit a cemetery recently and, as I always do, I paused by the section for children. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautifully laid out and attended to but at the same time it is a very sad place.

I was reminded of Barbara, an ancestor of mine who died in 1864 at the ripe old age of 98. We found an obituary for her in the local press. It stated...

“...her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren numbered 145, 89 of whom were still living...”


That meant that during her lifetime, Barbara attended, or was aware of, the deaths of 56 children. Imagine having to go through that. It’s not something, thankfully, that we have to bear these days. There is a beautiful children’s cemetery because we don’t have to.

That’s it for now, take care and I’ll be back soon.

Thursday 3 May 2012

What on earth has happened to the weather? Last month we invested in a jacuzzi for the garden. Nothing too fancy just a blow-up bath holding two hundred and ten gallons of hot, bubbling water. The day after we installed it the temperature (of the water) was a very pleasant 42 degrees and in we jumped. Marvelous! A very warming and pleasurable experience.
Then it rained, and it hasn't stopped raining long enough for us to use it again. Before you start, I'm sure it wasn't our fault that it did rain but it seems an awful waste of chemicals and water. Watch this space...if the sun comes out I'll probably be calling it the best thing we did.
Yippee! We've just booked a return to St Lucia in the Caribbean. Well, it's one of the stops on a cruise. I can't wait to get down to the land registry there and re-commence enquiries about great great great great great Grandads will. When he died in 1797 part of his estate was plot 29 in St Lucia comprising a plantation house and about 200 acres. No-one knows what happened to it. They weren't impressed when I tried to identify my birthright in January. Ah well, at least I know right is on my side. I hope they don't think all Britons are as eccentric as I appeared to be. Never mind, and as my old Gran used to say, musn't grumble.
Take care and come back soon.

Friday 16 March 2012

Hi, it's been a while because I've been particularly busy, what with trying to advertise to increase sales and finish the sequel. Still, I'm writing and that, for me, is the main thing.
I was talking, the other day, to someone convinced that science, and indeed scientists, were the key to the future. He said he liked talking to me because it gave him the opportunity to try and teach me something. Especially, he said, after the way I seemed to promote the geocentric universe as opposed to the heliocentric one that all right minded people believed in.
I just went 'Hrrmmph'.
I said, "if the earth is spinning, as you say, can it spin at two different speeds at the same time?"
"What are you talking about," he replied, "of course it can't."
"Can you tell me, then," I asked, "why is it that the sun takes 24hrs to return to its original position on the earths surface, yet, the fixed stars further away than the sun, take only 23 hours and 56 minutes, give or take a second or two."
He stared at me for some time before saying, "you just don't understand."
Now, this is what I mean. When scientists come out with statements that are so easily shot down how can we have any faith in them? Oh well...
I was looking at my family tree again the other day. I'd been asked how we got back so far, all the way to 498. The reason is simple. My great grandad, with fourteen greats, was King James II of Scotland. Once a royal connection is made then all the preceeding records are in place. We were able to go through Scottish, Pictish and Viking royalty back to Eric who died in 498.
It was sad about King James. He was one of the first kings to really champion the use of a canon as a weapon of war. And, he was right. A body of men marching aggresively towards your position would have their minds concentrated when a gunstone landed amongst them when they were still a mile and a half from their objective. No doubt they would suddenly realise how much they were missing their kith and kin.
We don't know whether there was a problem with the casting of the weapon or whether the Master at Arms was over enthusiastic but, one day, when the powder was lit an almighty explosion split the gun into many pieces and the King into two pieces and the poor chap was only 30.
Do have a look at the website. That reminds me I must put a link to this blog on it. Anyway, take care and thanks for dropping in.
www.theoverseer.co.uk

Thursday 8 March 2012

Hi everyone and welcome to "just me talking". That title came from an old mentor of mine who would say "it's just me talking" when he was offering advice that I would be stupid to ignore. I'm not suggesting you take any advice I offer here, but, it is, just me talking.
My name is Richard Cudlow and, for my sins, I am an author. No, you probably haven't read anything I've written yet but I hope we can change all that.
I have published my first e-book and at the end of this blog I'll put a link to it should you be interested in finding out more.
I have also created a website that you may find of interest. I was able to do this after many late night sessions trying to master html. I still haven't mastered it but I am able to create a page or two that link together.
www.theoverseer.co.uk
I have a lifelong interest in history and any science that flies in the face of traditional scientific thinking and, boy, is there a lot of that. I've discovered things about Einstein, NASA and many others that really surprised me and I will be sharing them with you in future blogs.
I also had a shock when a chance encounter on the Genes Reunited website enabled us to trace our family history. I'll explain later (again in future blogs how we managed it) but we were able to go back to 498. Almost in living memory of Roman Britain. As you can imagine, I have a plethora of stories about ancestors that brought me surprise, wonderment and a healthy dose of embarrassment. Again, I will go into more details as the blog progresses. Suffice it to say, you need to be able to forgive your ancestors anything. You may, then, hope your descendants will do the same. I wonder if there's material for a series of novels, each one featuring an ancestor who is able to pass on the genes all the way down to me?
After my wife, my three great loves in life are writing, computers and DIY and if I'm not doing one, I'm usually doing the other. My biggest project at the moment is the sequel to my novel which I'm hoping to publish this year. I'd like to keep you posted on progress from time to time and, who knows, you may just help me to achieve my dreams.
Thanks for dropping by, I've enjoyed our little chat and look forward to many more of them. Don't hesitate to let me have any comments you think relevant and I'll do my best to respond. It just leaves me to say cheerio but, before I do, here's that link I told you about. The novel is available on Amazon for the Kindle and Smashwords.com for all other formats.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004VNSATU
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35737

Thanks again and I hope to see you next time
Cheers
Richard