NHS Finance Boss on £130'000 claims £18'000 removals costs!

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What?

In a time when we are all being asked to tighten out belts and save the NHS money this fella who works in the finance department (you couldn't make it up could you?) has claimed £18 grand to pay for a move of 45 miles.

Now as you are probably aware, I work for the NHS and commute 42.5 miles per day to work and back (85 miles return) at my own expense and I have done so for the last 14 years.

All I can say on this matter (whilst still keeping it clean!) is that this guy is obviously a lightweight when it comes to making an effort. I enjoy my job and I find stories like this a bl**dy insult to all of the other people employed by the NHS, a vast majority of them earning a fraction of the wage this guy is on.

If the NHS wants to start getting the respect and trust of the general public it has to stop pandering to the "fat cats" in the top jobs who are on large salaries and start to put the money into looking after the front line workers who are the ones who will today be facing a barrage of questions and comments from patients and relatives about the atrocious waste of money in the NHS these days!

Enough said!

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Dear Jaguar. Do you have a spare C-X75 knocking around?

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...It's just that,after some consideration,I have decided to offer you my services as a road test driver for your new super dooper C-X75 Electric/Turbine vehicle.

Ok, so it's a bit of a comedown from my normal ride but hey, I can cope with that at a push.

As I do an 86 per day round trip to work and back I can promise to give the vehicle a good testing (thrashing!) during my commute.

Please respond to this offer ASAP as I am also offering my services to Volkswagen as a test driver for a Scirocco-R, and if they get back to me first I will have to withdraw my offer to your company......harsh, but thats life i'm afraid.

P.S Can I have one in Red as silver car's always look like they need a lick of paint to me!

To read more about this stunning vehicle (the Jaguar, not the Scirocco...although that is too!),click HERE.

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Geoff Thomas Football Tournement for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research..Teams Needed!

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Do you know of any 5 a side football teams who would like to take part in a national tournament with the possibility of winning a trip to Wembley ?

Footballer Geoff Thomas (QPR,Notts Forest,England) was diagnosed with Leukaemia in 2003.He was lucky and managed to have a bone marrow transplant which saved his life.Now Geoff is doing all he can to help others who are facing the same battle.

The Geoff Thomas Foundation is looking for 5 a side teams to take part in a national play off starting in October this year.

For more details about this event click HERE to visit the Geoff Thomas Foundation Homepage.

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What do you know about Childhood Leukaemia,the KiKK Study and Nuclear Power Stations?

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We may all have heard about possible causes of childhood Leukaemia, most of us are aware of the worries about nuclear power stations, but have you ever heard of the KiKK study that was carried out in Germany in 2008?

It's findings are rather disturbing to say the least. 160% increase in childhood cancers and 220% increase in Childhood Leukaemia's are found in children living within 5km of Nuclear Power Stations.......so how come that we,here in the UK have heard so little about this study, and more worryingly, should we be concerned about it's findings in relation to our own Nuclear Industry?

To read more follow these links.

Parliamentary memorandum by Ian McFarlie January 2010

The IET magazine article April 2010.

Remember,this is a study sanctioned and verified by the German Government, and recognised as being a very thorough in it's data collection.

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How to get people's attention on the road.

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This is brilliant....should I modify the Scirocco to do this?

Awesome :-)

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Alonso wins Singapore Grand Prix......But apart from advertising what is the point of it ?

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Sorry, but even though I love to watch F1 on the telly I still feel a huge sense of guilt that in a world blighted by starvation,draught and illness on a huge scale, F1 teams are still spending grotesque amounts of cash on what, after all,are really nothing more than high speed billboards!


Some may argue that the average motorist has benefited from the technology of the sport, devices such as ABS are highlighted as being only fitted onto "normal" cars due to the system being used in the sport (although aircraft used a type of ABS decades before F1!), but £2.9 Billion was reportedly spent by the 11 teams in 2009...............£2.9 Billion!....that's an awful lot of cash to spend on a full sized Scalextric set!


Of course the figures will be debated and denied, but lets just say that there are a lot of issues in our world that could be addressed with some of that money being spent on humanitarian work/investment by the companies involved.


I would give banks/drinks manufacturer or telecommunication company's more respect if they gave £150 million to help the starving in Africa instead of paying that horrific amount simply to get their name painted on the side of some over sized slot car.


P.S Sorry Darren.....just my opinion mate...no disrespect intended cuz (He builds Renault F1 cars!....flash git) :-)

P.P.S. A quick word to potential F1 sponsors about AVE (Advertising Value Equivalency).

If you are all thinking that you will get fantastic results from possible advertising with the F1 show, perhaps you would like to take a read of THIS and then maybe reconsider your choice.....
By the way, you would get a lot more bang from your buck by investing a few quid with a bloke who drives a unique 1987 Scirocco dressed in LLR colours.Apparently he is always on the lookout for sponsors, and he is MUCH more cost effective :-)

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So what would happens if you crashed a 42'000 pound Phantom Jet into a 12ft thick concrete block at 500mph?

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Hang on...here is a video that just happens to cover this subject..... :-)

Wow...did it really evaporate ?

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How to scare your passenger to death in a light aircraft.....

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I laughed soooooo much when I watched this....what a classic ! :-)

MP claims 38 Fold Increase in cases of Leukaemia in Iraq due to UK/US munitions use.

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Bill Wilson MSP (SNP) has lodged a Parliamentary Motion highlighting the consequences of the US and UK’s use of Weapons of Mass Destruction during an attack on Fallujah in 2004.

Speaking after lodging his motion, Dr Wilson said, “The consequences are ongoing: a survey showed a four-fold increase in all cancers, a 12-fold increase in childhood cancer in under-14s and a 38-fold increase in leukaemia.

By contrast, Hiroshima survivors showed a 17-fold increase with regard to the latter. What’s more, because of this cancer crisis, local doctors are advising women not to have children.

“I have long been convinced that those responsible for the invasion of Iraq should be charged. It seems to me that any reasonable person looking at what happen in Fallujah would conclude that major war crimes have been committed. Tony Blair has to answer for his decisions.

“It is disappointing, to say the least, that our media have paid relatively little attention to this issue. Yet women are now being advised not to have children. To turn a blind eye now would surely make us all complicit.”

To Visit Bill's Website Click HERE.

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ASDA to sell Leukaemia treatment Glivec and other drugs at stores.

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Asda is to sell cancer drugs on a not-for-profit basis, helping patients to pay for treatment that is deemed too expensive for the NHS to provide free.

The announcement yesterday sparked a price war on cancer drugs, with Sainsbury's saying it would match Asda's prices. Asda called on the rest of the industry to follow its lead and end price mark-ups on all cancer drugs prescribed privately.

The decision could save thousands of pounds for patients paying privately for treatments which may extend their lives, and which are not available on the NHS. A similar scheme for IVF drugs saved consumers up to £800 per cycle.

The lung cancer drug Iressa will be sold by Asda for £2,167 for a pack of 30. This is markedly cheaper than the £2,601 charged at Lloyds Pharmacy, £3,251 at Boots and £3,253 at Superdrug.

Asda said it had checked the price of seven of the most commonly privately prescribed cancer drugs in UK pharmacies and had found mark-ups of up to 76 per cent.

It claimed Superdrug had the highest prices on four out of seven drugs, and marked up all seven of the drugs by 50 per cent over cost price. It said prices at Lloyds and Tesco were marked up by 20 per cent, while at Boots all seven drugs were marked up by either 50 per cent or 27 per cent.

Asda will also sell the leukaemia drug Glivec for £1,604. Nexavar for kidney and liver cancer will be sold for £2,980 while Sutent for kidney and stomach tumours will be sold for £3,138. Tarceva for pancreatic and lung cancer will be priced at £1,631.

Shopping List:

Beans

Eggs

Ham

Glivec Cancer drug

Loo Roll

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Apparently once you have the prescription from your GP, you simply pop into your local ASDA store,hand over the prescription (and the cash of course!) then wait for the drug to be delivered......."Simples"!

Well I guess that they sell almost everything else...so why not?

To visit the ASDA website click HERE

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Brutal assault and leukaemia may have led to Mark'ssuicide

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This is such a sad story that I found today about a guy who took his own life recently. Mark was obviously a very troubled man, and the news that he had Leukaemia must have been profoundly devastating news for him.

Having gone through a terrible time of anxiety, fear and worry myself when I was diagnosed 4 years ago I can say that I have perhaps a tiny insight into the world of Mark Price, and with that knowledge I feel very very sad that this poor chap resorted to suicide as his only option.

Leukaemia is not just an illness of the body, it can have a devastating impact upon the individuals mental well-being too. Sadly, in my experience, help in dealing with that part of the jigsaw is not always easy to find.

To read the Story about Mark's tragic death click HERE.

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Should the BBC Sack Chris Moyles ? Why Not ?

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*Rant Alert*

I mean come on, if anyone I know had gone onto a national radio show and slagged off their employers in the way that this gobshite did they would be looking for a new job!.

Add this to the fact that Mr Moyles is hardly hard up with a claimed wage of over £500'000 a year and any sympathy that his listeners may have had for him, even the ones over the age of 10, is going to dry up pretty quick.

Get a life Chris, stop moaning and gobbing off you ungrateful little guttersnipe and remember that there are plenty of people who would dearly love to be on a fraction of what you are earning!.

By the way.As a BBC licence payer I expect that this clown will be given the boot (as he would in any other job!), but being the Beeb I guess they will will do the standard thing in this situation and bottle out about letting this overpaid oink go. Stop being suck cowards and put your bl**dy foot down you bunch of soft tw@ !.....and Moyles...put the fag out you ignorant git!...the sign says "No smoking"..........you plank!

Aherm....ok, rant over :-).

Bridge Collapse at Delhi Commonwealth games stadium. But it could have been much worse!

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Reading the report today about the chaos surrounding this years Commonwealth games in Delhi it struck me that the bridge collapse that occured quite recently,injuring 32 workers, could have been much,much worse had it been full of people heading towards the games. The argument about the cleanliness of the athletes village should also be viewed with a lot less worry as I am sure that the organisers are pulling out all of the stops to get their accommodation "up to scratch" for the prima donna athletes who seem to have all gone a little "soft" recently !. Perhaps the athletes should stop winging about the accommodation and just get on with the job just like our troops that are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan do!.

Anyway,hopefully none of the 32 people injured in the bridge incident were seriously hurt.

Belchford DownHill Challenge 19th September 2010

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Halo Reach Completed by 7 year old in less than 8 hours!

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How do I know? Well perhaps it's because it was my son Andy jr who did it!.

We only bought the game in Sleaford on Friday afternoon after he finished school and he didn't start playing it until almost 5pm. He finished playing his first instalment before 8pm and didn't start again until 9am on Saturday morning. He had a few breaks watching TV,riding his bike and helping me do some washing (even top class cyber warriors have to do their chores!) and he eventually completed the game and got to see the end credits by 2:55pm!.

Don't get the wrong idea. Mini me doesn't spend this much time on his XBox 360 normally, but as he absolutely loves everything involving Halo, and as he had been waiting for quite some time for the game to be available, I decided to let him have a little more time on his console.To be honest though even I was surprised when he finished it in such a prompt manner!.

I have a suspicion that my son may one day end up testing games for a living, so if you are reading this post and could be on the look out for a new video game tester for your company in the next..oh....ten years or so, drop me a line and I will give him your details for future reference.

And Bungie (the game developers),hurry up with the next one will you :-)

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When is "Unlimited" NOT unlimited? When companies want to con you of course!

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Having just seen the BBC Watchdog program tonight I was amused to see a report about how Mobile phone and Broadband companies are conning their customers by advertising offers which include "Unlimited" Texts,downloads and web access.

Why was I amused by this report. Well I guess it was summed up when the reporter,on the phone to a mobile phone provider rep was told that the unlimited package was subject to a fair use policy of 3000 texts......"But then it's not really unlimited is it?" she asked. "No,not really" said the telesales rep!.

Question is, how dare these advertising tossers treat us, the Great British Buyer, with such total and utter disrespect ? They seem to think that they can get away with telling us lie upon lie about services and rely then on pointing out that "it is in the small print".

Here is an idea for the advertising Muppets. Why don't you say what you mean, mean what you say and include all of the the important "Small print" in the large advertising blurb to prevent any sort of confusion later.Oh, but then again why should you? After all you make a bloody good living out of fudging the facts don't you.

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Open invitation to all the journalists who covered the Antonio Valencia's broken ankle story...

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It was not oxygen that was administered to him on the pitch the other day as he writhed in agony with a suspected broken ankle,.It was actually an anaesthetic gas called ENTONOX (or O2N2O to give it it's proper title!).Giving him Oxygen would have been as much use as feeding him gummy bears for treating the pain that the poor fella was obviously in.

It always makes me grin when newspaper journalists can't be arsed to check up on the finer details when rushing to get a "Hot" story to press.

So fella's, just to clarify (again!) for your information it was NOT Oxygen, it was ENTONOX and the model shown in the photograph is made by a company called Oxylitre......maybe that's why you got a little confused eh?

Anyway,If you ever need a medical device specialist to ensure your reporting details are up to scratch.........give me a call :-)

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*Note: Laughing gas,as it is also widely known as, is not always going to make you laugh, as this rather stupid 21 year old has recently found out!

"A woman who stole a canister of laughing gas from an ambulance has been jailed for 8 months.

Gemma Bruton went to Stirling Royal Infirmary after being assaulted on August 17th and was being treated for her injuries in an ambulance outside the hospital when she stole and ran off with a cylinder of gas.
Bruton, of Sinclair Drive, Fallin, Stirlingshire, admitted stealing the laughing gas, or Entonox, and its attachments when ambulance staff turned their backs and running off with it."

To read the full (hilarious?) story,click HERE. lol :-)

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And you still want to go on that Dream Cruise ?

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Experian 30th Robin Hood Marathon 2010 Nottingham

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Yet again it was an early start for myself and "mini me" as we set off towards Nottingham's 30th Robin Hood Marathon.

According to Yoda (The satnav!) having set off at 06:54, we would be at the venue by 08:03 or thereabouts at a leisurely 45-50 mph.

We arrived at the Victoria Embankment at about 07:45 ( :-) ) and after figuring out A) how to get into the Marathon Village and B) once in, how to find the small yellow tent of the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Banana Army, we parked up alongside it and then decided to go for a stroll around the site to do a little exploring :-)

After we had taken a look at the bandstand, the water fountains and the very grand gateway to the park (read note below) Mini me had I decided it was time for a little breakfast so we had a look around and found a stall selling "Foot Long Lincolnshire Hotdogs".

Even though the hotdog was almost as long as Mini me was tall he gave it a whirl and managed almost half before dejectedly passing in it on to me to finish, and very nice it was too!.

Anyway, enough blabbing, instead here are a few pictures that we took of our day.See if you can spot any well know faces amongst them :-)

* Note :

Strangely, as I looked at the inscription above the gates to the Park which read" Vivit Post Funera Virtus" I realised that I had seen these words before...but couldn't quite work out where!.....Then I remembered.

It is the inscription that is carved into my RAF mate Rick's headstone. Apparently the translation is " Virtue Survives Death".

I like that motto :-)

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Sleaford Petrol Prices in Question again!

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There has been an ongoing debate in the local press for many years now about the fuel prices that are charged to people living in Sleaford and how these prices appear to be a lot higher than those that can be found in villages less than 4 miles from the town.

This week there was a letter in the Target newspaper calling for a boycott of the petrol stations within Sleaford which (it was hoped!) would force the local stations to lower their prices.

In an effort to get to the bottom of the claims that fuel prices are indeed higher in Sleaford than in the surrounding villages/towns, I have decided to incorporate a fuel station price finder map into the sidebar of my blog.

All I need now then is for you (my readers!) to use the map,locate your local area (just type your postcode in the top lefthand box) and ensure that the prices quoted are correct. If the prices are wrong or have not been updated recently you can edit these yourself very easily.

As a commuter myself who drives almost 90 miles per day between Sleaford and Mansfield I can indeed confirm that the price differential at Tesco's stations is 5 pence per litre....that,as they say, is a FACT!

Anyone who would like to leave a comment about this story please feel free to do so by clicking "comments" at the bottom of this story!...Ta :-)

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Alternative Hair & Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research trip to Euro Disney 2010 (Part 2)

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Enough of me blabbing about this fantastic trip. They say a picture speaks a thousand words......so here are some pictures which will save me any more typing :-)

To see more brilliant pictures click HERE to visit the Face Book Disney Alumni Group :-)

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Student owns 30 supercars at age 21....so what's so wrong with that?

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Well, contrary to what the bum licking BBC Top Gear Magazine would have you believe,quite a lot really :-)

(Top Gear Article can be read HERE)

Why?

Well, isn't it a real shame when some young lad who has more money than he knows what to do with (except spoil himself!) decides to then brag about this situation in the public domain.

Ok, i know that there will always be rich and poor people in this world, but I can't for the life of me (probably because I am always skint!) understand how the feeling of driving a fast car..well...fast, is somehow a better feeling that seeing the beaming face of someone who's life you have just changed forever due to a donation of some sort to make their lot easier to bear.

Of course, Top Gear have warned people to not be nasty to Mr moneybags, but hey, perhaps if a few more people stopped sucking up to individuals like this just because they are very,very lucky and rich, and started to ask the question " Alright, so you have cash...what else do you intend to do during your short stay on this planet that is truly WORTHY of adoration and my respect?", then just maybe the super rich would become superstars by doing the right thing for all of the poor and needy of this world who die because they have no water to drink or,as is the case in Pakistan, too much water due to the awful floods and the ever growing threat of death through disease and malnutrition.

And BBC.Please stop trying to label all those who don't feel the urge to grovel to these people as Jealous or soulless........perhaps its just that that have more moral fibre than money...and i know which of those I respect :-)

Oh yeah, just one more quick question. How come when the rich and famous blow huge wads of cash on frivolous things such as diamond encrusted mobile phones, huge yachts, extravagant parties and the likes they don't mind telling the world about it via the international media, however when you dare to ask the question "So what do they do in the way of charity?" they almost always give the same stock answer, "Mr/Mrs X don't like to discuss publicly the charities that they are involved with"..................erm, why ?

Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research & Alternative Hair Trip to Disneyland Paris 2010

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Well, what can I say? What an amazing and wonderful trip this was and to be honest I don't quite know at what point to begin my report!.So perhaps it would be a good idea to do as Maria says in the sound of music and " Let's start at the very beginning.A very good place to start"!.

The Journey Down to London.

"I've never seen a clock at 5am dad" my daughter told me as we all emerged from our respective beds and converged on the landing. "Well" I told her, "by the time that clock reaches 6:30 we had better be getting on a train to London..or else we are going to miss the trip of a lifetime!"

To cut a long story short we made it to the Railway station in Sleaford with a good quarter of an hour to spare, mostly thanks to my mate John and his wife taking both of their cars down to drop us off at 6:15, plenty early for our first pick up point.

After boarding the train and then changing at Grantham (we just managed to grab a quick coffee and bacon buttie each!) we set off again for our next destination, London Kings Cross.

The trip down was quite uneventful, mostly due I should imagine to the fact that we,by this point, we had used up the rush of adrenalin which had now been replaced by a trickle of tiredness and a longing to sleep!.

At approx 8:33 we arrived at London King's Cross station and,after ensuring we had our luggage, made our way along the signposted route to St Pancras International Rail Terminal at which place we were to join the rest of the gang who had travelled from several points of the UK to share in this adventure.

Customs and exercise!

To be continued...... :-)

Off to Euro Disney tomorrow.....just the mad packing frenzy to do!

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Well here we are, off to Euro Disney in the morning and just the small matter of the last minute frenzy called "packing" to get through.

Don't get me wrong, we have been packing for several weeks so far, but it seems that no matter how early you start getting things sorted, there are always those "last minute" things that always get left until..well...the last minute :)

I will report back next week as to how things went after we get back early next week.....right!, better get out my "to do" list and see what else needs sorting!

Have a nice day :)

New Stethescope Application for iPhone....Would you want your GP using it on you?

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I had to laugh the other day when I read that some guy has developed an application to turn your iPhone into a high tech stethoscope !

According to report the app has so far been downloaded by over 3 million users, and claims that a lot of these are Physicians.It uses the iPhone's mouthpiece,placed against the patients (drinking buddie's!) chest and then analyses the sound of the heartbeat to produce a trace and a display of the BPM.

So why did I laugh at this story? Well think about, if your doctor approached you with his arm extended waving an iphone at you instead of a "proper" stethoscope you may be slightly startled to say the least. Then consider the serious side of using your personal communications device as a piece of medical kit. For a start it cannot be checked for it's accuracy, and more importantly how do you go about sterilizing it between patients after use? It won't do much to promote the control of infection within a hospital environment will it?

Aside from these points of course there is also one other MAJOR drawback. How the hell are those egotistical doctors going to tell the world that they are the best thing since sliced bread if they don't swan around the hospitals with a Stethoscope strung around their necks?A set of headphones just doesn't seem so impressive............does it?

lol :-)

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