Update 28
No significant changes this week tho’ M thinks the steroids are causing my face, as well as my ankles, to look a bit swollen. I had trouble eating sausages last Friday night - absolutely no taste at all so I’m now fearful of dropping the steroid dose any lower than its current 3mg. I discussed this with Palliative Michelle and we’ll be staying on 3 for at least another week.
Last week I told you how our local Apple dealer wanted £868 (unbelievably that’s correct) to replace the charging port on my iPad Pro. Subsequent research revealed that other options are available including one called Gamer Tech that claims to be able to handle such a repair for £69.99 including return by DPD. M handed the suitably packaged device in at our nearest DPD pick up point and if all goes well I look forward to singing their praises to the heavens.
The latest stats from the nhs are as depressing as usual: the five year survival rate at 60% for colon Cancer is the worst out of 18 OECD countries - Australia for instance is rated at 76%. There is no doubt that the Labour Party’s priority must be to commit to remaking the nhs - nothing less than that will do, its current modus operandi is failing and throwing more money at its broken systems is a waste of energy and resource. To campaign on such a refreshing and exciting objective would guarantee a Labour success and would be backed by the Lib Dems, as well as the Welsh and Scottish governments who desperately need to do the same for their own health services.
If you think the stats are always getting worse, just take a look at how for instance, waiting lists were actually reduced under the last Labour government:
In the Times Matthew Parris highlights a distinction that could justify a different approach to the current strikes: he suggests that dealing with the rail problems is less important because there is no recruitment issue. As for the nhs where recruitment is at the heart of its difficulties, then a settlement is much more urgent and justifiable.
It was somewhat depressing to read in Wednesday’s papers that the cabinet is putting its faith in next year’s coronation to restore the world’s confidence in the UK. I’m not sure that a lot of red jackets marching up the Mall is sufficient to repair the massive harm done by our disastrous Prime Ministers Johnson and Truss. Was ever so much damage done to a country’s reputation by its own leaders over such a brief time span? To recover from the harms of Brexit, Covid and fuel inflation, we need to try and rediscover the optimism that has got us out of some of our previous holes. On Tuesday’s tv I thought I detected JRM reversing away from some of his dafter earlier statements, but perhaps it was just the mid morning sunshine luring me into cloud cuckoo land. The growing recognition that Brexit has been such a huge disaster may encourage more to think positive thoughts. Mr Farage (as in garage) has apparently promised to leave Britain if Brexit turns out to be a failure - in my book things don’t get much more positive than that.
I remain mystified as to why that awful Clarkson man is so full of obscene bile for the Duchess of Sussex, and why he is so keen to share it with the rest of us, or at least with those of us who’ve spare time enough to waste on reading the Sun.
Should we be encouraged by Sunak’s choice of Ethics adviser? I think not - Eton, Oxford, investment banking - the standard training grounds for all the corruption and cronyism that’s dominated the last few years of Conservative government. At least he’ll know what he’s looking out for.
For the first time in years I’ve failed to devise an original card for this Christmas. I know that some of you have made a point of collecting them so I apologise for letting you down. Here as a very poor consolation, is a photo from Christmas 2010 when our now grown up grandchildren were very much smaller.
Danny - now a TikTok influencer, George, a landscape gardener, JJ doing his Masters at Leeds
Harry, a video engineer, Jim an apprentice chef, Holly a News Editor
Here’s wishing you a very happy Christmas from all of us including Margaret, Jo & Steve, and Simon & Michele
