I still exist

I'm still here. Sorry for not posting much lately.

Quite a lot has been happening lately. Lots good, some not so good.

I will elaborate more in a couple of days. This is the true crunch time.

JR

Remembrance

This post is a few days late since Friday itself was a tad busy due to work.

That said, due to work, I was able to attend silence in the square. This is a two minute silence in Trafalgar Square to mark the two minute silence on the 11th November. It was done absolutely perfectly; sombre without being mawkish, respectful, dignified and avoiding cloying sentimentality. During the silence, all the traffic lights round the square were turned to red bringing traffic to a halt. We had volunteers with placards explaining why. I noticed many drivers getting out of their cars and observing the silence too. Even the busses turned off their engines. Being in Trafalgar Square when it was completely still was an odd feeling but there was a real sense of community too. It's one of the few times I have seen people in central London smile and greet complete strangers and I have to say I enjoyed it.

The silence itself was surrounded by musical acts and readings, most of which were excellent too. Included in their number were two orange people from Strictly Come Dancing, the young chap from Downtown Abbey (much to my mother and girlfriend's jealousy), a young soprano who was excellent given she was only 15 and the singing soldiers. Overall I think the whole event captured the British spirit by being dignified and respectful without being over the top and hand-wringing.

Sadly the whole event was marred slightly by me getting a little too close to the disturbances on Whitehall. I later found out this was caused by the EDL staging a counter protest to the planned Muslims Against Crusades protest which, eventually, didn't happen. Unfortunately this didn't stop the EDL spoiling for a fight. They were overwhelmingly outnumbered by police officers yet they still kicked off. To their credit, the police did an excellent job of containing them and not responding to the deliberate and determined attempts by the EDL to rile them. The saddest part of it all was that the protesters decided to invade and protest in a pub that the veterans go to for a pint after the silence. To me this was totally unnecessary. If they really felt the need to protest then why there? I have heard stories of old comrades seeing each other only once a year at the silence then having a drink and catching up. Why would anyone choose to disrupt that? Thuggery disguising itself as political protest is worrying. Not only does it devalue the political system but it means these morons are all the more pervasive. Let's return to the good old days where the thugs concentrated on football leaving the rest of us to it!

Something similarly distressing although not as dramatic happened on Saturday night. Was out with a drink with the girlfriend and some of her mates. Was talking about work a bit when the friends revealed they didn't have a clue what remembrance day was all about. I can understand not knowing the details but not having a rough idea is shocking not least because they were both British, educated in a good (and expensive) British school and now living here. Something has gone wrong somewhere.

On Sunday, my faith in people was restored. I was at the dog show in Earl's Court and at 11, we were discreetly and politely asked to observe the silence. Everybody did without hesitation or complaint. This went a long way to bolstering my faith not only in the decency of our population but also that we are not, individually and nationally, so self-involved that we forget those that have gone before us and their sacrifices to give us the country we have today.

JR

Student Protests

The City of London is snarled up more than usual. Two police helicopters are in the air. Newspapers are reporting people camped out on Trafalgar Square. What is the cause of all this? The protest by students about the proposed raise in fees.

This begs the question why? Basic education is a right. Tertiary education on the other hand, well that could be argued to be a privilege. It certainly isn't a right of passage as many think. Attempts by previous governments to shoehorn as many people through university (thus creating ghastly polyversities churning out people with meaningless degrees) serves only to decrease the value of a degree and shift the emphasis to post-graduate qualifications. Despite this, a good degree in a proper subject from a decent university is likely to give an individual a significant advantage in their careers.

Why, therefore should it not come at a premium? Why, when the main benefit is to an individual, should the individual not pay for it. Of course there will be those less able to afford the fees. For them, why not increase student loans commensurate to the fee increase? Or, even better, encourage companies to offer a degree of sponsorship to promising individuals for a period of service afterwards. Some already to this but why not make the practice more widespread. Either way, in these tough financial times, we cannot and should not expect the state to pick up the bill for anything other than the essentials.

As an aside, is it me or are most of the comments coming from people studying non-subjects and questionable institutions?

Before I sound too down on students I should point out that there are others out in force today. The students of Cambridge are on the streets of London selling poppies. Last weekend it was Oxford and the day before Newcastle. Others have been out too. Good for them. I applaud the public-spirited, socially responsible actions of these stuudents and hope they are not tarred with the same brush in the ensuing news coverage.

JR

Another Dose of Outrage

I was in the van yesterday when an item on employment law came on the radio (as a dedicated radio 4 listener, these things happen more often than you might think). The gist was explaining the rights of employees that are being asked to leave their jobs. Various scenarios were discussed by the pannell. The rant that follows is based purely on what I heard on the programme; although I covered employment law a bit on my course, it wasn't in any detail.

The part of the programme that incensed me was when it was revealed that women on maternity leave could not be made redundant; instead they must be offered an equivalent post in the company. I am in favour of equality but this is in no way equal. How on earth does a woman's reproductive ability have any bearing on her ability to do her job? Does the same apply to men on paternity leave? What of the women in the work place who have chosen not to (or are unable to) have children. Why should they be penalised for that choice. And what of the men of the work force? Why is it fair to allow them to have their futures cast into doubt while others around them are safeguarded. The whole system is ludicrous.

On the business side of things; what about the businesses affected? Especially small ones. They could be placed in great risk of their solvency by being forced to lose a good employee as a result of having to retain someone on maternity leave and provide maternity cover. What if it mutually convenient for new mother and employer for her to leave? As I understand it, the law would prevent a good package being offered it there was a sniff of redundancy. A realistic upshot is they could be forced by the excessively stringent laws to avoid employing women of child bearing age and find ways to cover it either by employing much older or much younger women. The whole policy therefore backfires and discrimination is rife through necessity rather than choice.

Yet again it seems common sense has slipped far too far down the list of priorities and it has done so without good reason. Certain newspapers would roll out the phrase, "political correctness gone mad" at this stage however this is not politically correct no matter how it is spun. This is a group of nasty, small people who seem to be professionally outraged on a mission to make life as difficult as possible for everyone around them. They simply use the banner of political correctness to justify their actions.

The time has come to realise that we are not all homogenised clones, we are (shock horror) different. This difference is not something to be covered up and legislated against, it is something to be embraced and celebrated. It has allowed the human race to survive and flourish this long, it allows us to change, adapt and develop with our circumstances. Most importantly of all, it adds depth and richness to all of our lives. Therefore let's stop being embarrassed about it.

JR

The past wee while

Haven't posted anything up for a while. Sorry about that. One of the main reasons is that I have been insanely busy at work. Last Thursday was London Poppy Day where members of the armed forces descend on London to collect. Naturally this meant a lot of stuff to be taken to various places round the city in preparation.

A couple of fairly late nights and some overtime later and everything was in place... Just about. The day itself was hectic. I worked pretty solidly from 07.30 to just after midnight and it was a fairly good day traffic-wise so most of it was spent actually working rather than staring at the brake lights of the person in front and getting bored.

Fortunately, for most of that time I had someone in the van with me. Didn't know her from eve when we started and ended the day having a great laugh. It's not overstating the case to say she kept me sane! Even better, we were quite a team when getting the van into and out of extremely tight areas that at the start of my contract I wouldn't have thought possible (they can actually spin round quite well apparently).

What impressed me was that my crew mate was a volunteer. She put in the same hours and the same heavy lifting as I did but didn't have thoughts of the overtime to fall back on when things got tedious.

Overall it was a fun day and the general buzz created by everything happening meant that the tiredness of the physical work and the long hours didn't really kick in until I got home. We both agreed some things could (and should) be improved for future years but, as far as I'm aware, there were no major crises. I have suggested she put our concerns in writing to the powers that be... Hopefully they will react better to it coming from one of their volunteer workforce.

One thing I have realised while doing this job is the satisfaction of completing a manual task. It is hard (at times almost backbreaking) work loading and unloading the van all the while keeping an eye on local traffic and dodging parking wardens (although the ones I have encountered so far have all been very reasonable when I explain what we are doing. Some have even insisted on buying poppies on the spot rather than doling out a ticket) however it is tremendously satisfying seeing it go from full to empty or vice versa. Not to mention the fact that muscles that I haven't used since my rowing days are returning with interest. Long may this continue.

Away from the work front, my girlfriend's mother has been staying prompting near-constant (whispered), "your mum" jokes to my great amusement at least. Fortunately we get on well so it's quite good fun.

The only down side is the dog was brought up when her mother came up leading to me being forced to pose with it (something about a phone background). As a doggy sort of chap, normally this wouldn't bother me however this "dog" is small, white, fluffy and very, very gay (cockerspaniel and poodle cross if you're interested). He is the only dog I know that sashays instead of walks. To give him his due, he's not yappy as some small dogs tend to be and he is a lovely dog... Doesn't make having to pose with him any less embarrassing.

More to follow soon; promise!

JR