Tactical voting Scotland
http://www.pro-eu-vote-scotland.info/
Monday, 9 December 2019
Friday, 1 February 2019
Achieving the Best Start in Life for Children !
We really must not push childcare for very early years so much.
Families need support to care as well !
Toddler groups and playgroups are an approach that is good.
Mothers (or fathers if they are doing the childcaring) staying with kids at these young ages means that parent child bonding occurs and good communication skills are developed and children have a stable secure start in life. From this they can thrive. If parents need extra help with this then adult helpers at e.g. toddler groups can lead sessions in how to play and have fun with your children.
Toddler Group Christmas party :
This side of the debate needs to be heard - and I am afraid to say they may not be heard from very high achieving career women in media, politics etc - so we need to see a balance where work hours are reduced and not just childcare hours increased. If necessary families can receive funding to help with the difference in wages or salary due to this. But as childcare is currently subsidised (at great expense to taxpayers including single earner families who are highly taxed...) then why not subside parents doing this childcare ! Especially if it means the children get a better start in life. And who knows everyone might even have some fun along the way ! Its what life is meant to be about after all !!!
Another toddler group party !
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
Parents Night - Parents Evening
Whatever your school calls it, Parent's Evening can be a tortuous experience for some and a fun experience for other parents !! Certainly I was down with a cold this evening but as I sat perusing the Dux board and the Captains board I can see names from when I was at school. My family have attended the same school I went to. Really in many cases they should just go the whole hog and put up a Dux list of successful parents ! Why not !!
eg The parents you see who sit down to meet the teachers to hear how wonderful their kids are !! or the parent tonight who was having a conversation about one of their daughters who just had to get all As to compete with her older sibling ! They should all be up there in gold letters ! Well done !!
Now... do these parents realise that some other pupils just really don't care what marks they get? How can we instil in our children that its good to get a good mark? At least to get the best mark you can get. Or do we really want to ? Is it a healthy situation to be stressing over whether you will get all As... ? I have to say no ...
as a reasonably conscientious pupil myself when I was at school, who would barely have said boo to a goose (as they say... and what is that all about anyway - who would say boo to a goose .... ), but who did have their occasional moment of silliness at school but generally tried to do well ... it is hard to sit through a parents' night to hear about your child who appears to be genetically of a completely different nature to yourself and actually who perhaps shall we say has a lot of character....
Ah well it is time to go out now and forget it all !! I am heading out for a once a year catch up meal with old school friends - one featured on the Dux board and one featured on the Captains board !! And the other is like me - we didn't get on any boards and didn't get to be Prefects either !! I'm not bitter !! honest !! I did get her a "Perfect" badge done in Prefect badge style recently as a pressie !! Because let's face it we are all perfect in our own ways !!Friday, 19 January 2018
History of EU Citizenship
EU Citizenship originates in the free movement of workers in the Common Market.
This evolved into the Single Market (1993) with its free movement of people.
European Economic Area
The area that provides the free movement of people, services and capital within the European single market.
Membership is open to member states of either the EU or the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
EFTA states which are party to the European Economic Area Agreement participate in the EU's internal market without being members of the EU.
However, they must adopt most EU legislation concerning the single market except on laws concerning agriculture and fisheries.
Article 20 of the Lisbon Treaty
1992
— to strengthen the protection of the rights and
interests of the nationals of its Member States
through the introduction of a citizenship of the
Union ;
CITIZENSHIP OF THE UNION
Article 8
1 . Citizenship of the Union is hereby established.
Every person holding the nationality of a Member
State shall be a citizen of the Union.
2. Citizens of the Union shall enjoy the rights
conferred by this Treaty and shall be subject to the
duties imposed thereby.
It seems to be worth fighting to keep our EU Citizenship !
Monday, 13 November 2017
The Timeless Agelessness of the Internet and Music Videos
In the past to play music we had records ... or we taped music from the radio ...
now .. at the touch of a button on a phone or iphone its possible to pull up the best music from any era instantly.
Music has become ageless and its a great thing.
Teenagers are listening to the best music from right back to the 70s, the 80s and these tracks compete with those that are being written in the 2010s !
now .. at the touch of a button on a phone or iphone its possible to pull up the best music from any era instantly.
Music has become ageless and its a great thing.
Teenagers are listening to the best music from right back to the 70s, the 80s and these tracks compete with those that are being written in the 2010s !
Sunday, 24 September 2017
The QE2 Story
A giant of the Clyde, the QE2 liner, turned 50 this week. There has been a fair amount of publicity on the radio and newspapers, and to commemorate the event, a faithful bunch of enthusiasts also gathered in Clydebank to commemorate the occasion !
I have family connections to the QE2 as my father worked as an engineer at John Brown Engineering, who famously constructed the QE2. Almost 10 years ago my brother Robert Lightbody started a website after a conversation with some other enthusiasts on board the QE2. He started a forum "The QE2 Story" - "Keeping the Legend Alive" and through this medium many have posted their memories, of the construction, of working on board and of sailing in this fantastic liner.
The main administrators of the QE2Story website decided to organise a 50th Anniversary celebration of her launch. We gathered on Friday at Clydebank Town Hall which is positioned right behind where John Browns Engineering used to be.
The event organisers had done a fabulous job and had organised the day down to the last detail.
We were piped into the hall and then received our welcome packs. And we began to swap stories of what had brought us from near and far to gather at this commemoration event.
We moved through to the main hall which had been laid out as though we were indeed on a cruise, with us all sitting at round tables. First speaker up was Ian Johnstone from Glasgow School of Art and he covered the finances of John Browns and how they came to be the shipyard which built what was originally known as Q4 ! But on launch day came to be known as QE2 !
She had been reluctant to leave and had had to have an extra push to launch her on her illustrious career. But what a career. It has not yet been bettered.
Our day was launched by a commemorative cake being cut by none other than the daughter of the famous John Rannie, the Managing Director of John Brown shipyard and a naval architect, who oversaw construction of QE2.
Next speaker up was also from Glasgow School of Art, Prof Bruce Peters, who set in context the design ideas behind the interiors of QE2. She was not going to emulate the Victorian designs of so many of her predecessors but would instead have her interiors designed to the last detail in a more modernist approach. She was the original 60s girl ! Many top London and UK interior designers were involved, with some with full responsibility for particular rooms.
And Bruce Peters pointed out how the room we were sitting in was very appropriate as it had been designed by the person who designed the interiors of the Lusitania.
Next up Ronnie Keir who spoke about the construction, having worked since the age of 15 at John Browns. He told how every aspect was done "on site", from a 15 ton steel block arriving, to the melting, casting into gears, blades, plates etc. So the turbines, gears etc were all built on site. Nowadays for such a construction, different parts would be purchased from specialists. He recalled a moment when arriving in the ship to see some of the platers dancing a tiller girl routine on the stage of the theatre. That would have been worth seeing. It was obviously very hard work - "character building" work as he described it but with lots of camaraderie too.
From then on we heard tales of her time on the high seas. She sailed once again in our memories. We heard of the time she sailed with brave soldiers and brave QE2 volunteer crew to the South Atlantic during the Falkland conflict. She set off with soldiers perched on every available point including sitting in the lifeboats. She was waved away and set sail, avoiding icebergs en route and stopping to offload the men in South Georgia.
One of her captains Captain Bates entertained us with his stories of his time on board. His teacher hadn't expected him to make much of himself, saying he "spent his time looking out of windows". But his eventual job required him to do exactly that ! He was a very entertaining speaker and now uses his skills to help others experience being on a canal boat with the Seagull Trust.
Other sessions were chaired by another QE2 Captain and by the designer of the QM2, Stephen Payne.
We heard from someone who had worked as a head of on-board entertainment. And we also heard about what the future might hold as she sits in Dubai awaiting development.
Here are the speakers and organisers from the day:
The next day there was a boat trip organised to go down the Clyde to see what was left of the John Browns yard and the place where QE2 had been launched and then sat while being fitted out. We also were to go up the Titan Crane.
But before all that we were to witness a re-union of two Clyde greats - the MV Balmoral (most widely travelled UK passenger ship) who was sailing a weekend of Clyde excursions and the newly rescued SS Queen Mary.
We witnessed the handing over of a painting between the captains. There is much work to be done but the plan is to get Queen Mary sailing again in two years time.
Meanwhile on the Clyde, a Clydebuilt rowing festival was taking place with over 100 rowing boats having rowed all the way from Dumbarton Rock right to the centre of Glasgow. Here are two of the teams:
It was then on board the Clyde Clipper for our trip down the Clyde ! Flying a QE2 flag !
Past the Transport Museum and the Tall Ship then on past the various Clyde dock yards, with an accompanying commentary and then we arrived at the Titan Crane. The staff there are very enthusiastic and a font of information. We could see clearly why John Browns had moved downriver to Clydebank to take advantage of the fact they could launch large ships outwards, making use of the fact the River Cart joined the Clyde at that point to give a larger width for launching.
On the way back it was three cheers to the QE2 and then we disembarked. Some headed back for a relaxing drink at the Crown Plaza while others headed back across the world, back to the normal everyday lifes without the QE2 !
Will the days come back when we see such sights again as the QE2, Concorde and the Red Arrows flying in formation ? Who knows - but we certainly did a good job of remembering them this weekend !
Happy 50th QE2 !
Have a look at some memories - this month's photo competition on The QE2 Story Forum: https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,7439.0.html
I have family connections to the QE2 as my father worked as an engineer at John Brown Engineering, who famously constructed the QE2. Almost 10 years ago my brother Robert Lightbody started a website after a conversation with some other enthusiasts on board the QE2. He started a forum "The QE2 Story" - "Keeping the Legend Alive" and through this medium many have posted their memories, of the construction, of working on board and of sailing in this fantastic liner.
The main administrators of the QE2Story website decided to organise a 50th Anniversary celebration of her launch. We gathered on Friday at Clydebank Town Hall which is positioned right behind where John Browns Engineering used to be.
The event organisers had done a fabulous job and had organised the day down to the last detail.
We were piped into the hall and then received our welcome packs. And we began to swap stories of what had brought us from near and far to gather at this commemoration event.
We moved through to the main hall which had been laid out as though we were indeed on a cruise, with us all sitting at round tables. First speaker up was Ian Johnstone from Glasgow School of Art and he covered the finances of John Browns and how they came to be the shipyard which built what was originally known as Q4 ! But on launch day came to be known as QE2 !
She had been reluctant to leave and had had to have an extra push to launch her on her illustrious career. But what a career. It has not yet been bettered.
Our day was launched by a commemorative cake being cut by none other than the daughter of the famous John Rannie, the Managing Director of John Brown shipyard and a naval architect, who oversaw construction of QE2.
Next speaker up was also from Glasgow School of Art, Prof Bruce Peters, who set in context the design ideas behind the interiors of QE2. She was not going to emulate the Victorian designs of so many of her predecessors but would instead have her interiors designed to the last detail in a more modernist approach. She was the original 60s girl ! Many top London and UK interior designers were involved, with some with full responsibility for particular rooms.
And Bruce Peters pointed out how the room we were sitting in was very appropriate as it had been designed by the person who designed the interiors of the Lusitania.
Next up Ronnie Keir who spoke about the construction, having worked since the age of 15 at John Browns. He told how every aspect was done "on site", from a 15 ton steel block arriving, to the melting, casting into gears, blades, plates etc. So the turbines, gears etc were all built on site. Nowadays for such a construction, different parts would be purchased from specialists. He recalled a moment when arriving in the ship to see some of the platers dancing a tiller girl routine on the stage of the theatre. That would have been worth seeing. It was obviously very hard work - "character building" work as he described it but with lots of camaraderie too.
From then on we heard tales of her time on the high seas. She sailed once again in our memories. We heard of the time she sailed with brave soldiers and brave QE2 volunteer crew to the South Atlantic during the Falkland conflict. She set off with soldiers perched on every available point including sitting in the lifeboats. She was waved away and set sail, avoiding icebergs en route and stopping to offload the men in South Georgia.
One of her captains Captain Bates entertained us with his stories of his time on board. His teacher hadn't expected him to make much of himself, saying he "spent his time looking out of windows". But his eventual job required him to do exactly that ! He was a very entertaining speaker and now uses his skills to help others experience being on a canal boat with the Seagull Trust.
Other sessions were chaired by another QE2 Captain and by the designer of the QM2, Stephen Payne.
We heard from someone who had worked as a head of on-board entertainment. And we also heard about what the future might hold as she sits in Dubai awaiting development.
Here are the speakers and organisers from the day:
The next day there was a boat trip organised to go down the Clyde to see what was left of the John Browns yard and the place where QE2 had been launched and then sat while being fitted out. We also were to go up the Titan Crane.
But before all that we were to witness a re-union of two Clyde greats - the MV Balmoral (most widely travelled UK passenger ship) who was sailing a weekend of Clyde excursions and the newly rescued SS Queen Mary.
We witnessed the handing over of a painting between the captains. There is much work to be done but the plan is to get Queen Mary sailing again in two years time.
Meanwhile on the Clyde, a Clydebuilt rowing festival was taking place with over 100 rowing boats having rowed all the way from Dumbarton Rock right to the centre of Glasgow. Here are two of the teams:
It was then on board the Clyde Clipper for our trip down the Clyde ! Flying a QE2 flag !
Past the Transport Museum and the Tall Ship then on past the various Clyde dock yards, with an accompanying commentary and then we arrived at the Titan Crane. The staff there are very enthusiastic and a font of information. We could see clearly why John Browns had moved downriver to Clydebank to take advantage of the fact they could launch large ships outwards, making use of the fact the River Cart joined the Clyde at that point to give a larger width for launching.
Another classic shipbuilding name from the past - Barclay Curle - and another of four remaining Titan Cranes on the Clyde - this one built by the famous Sir William Arrol's company who are famous for building the Forth Railway Bridge.
The Titan Crane in Clydebank and the red QE2 flag flying again on the Clyde:
On the way back it was three cheers to the QE2 and then we disembarked. Some headed back for a relaxing drink at the Crown Plaza while others headed back across the world, back to the normal everyday lifes without the QE2 !
Will the days come back when we see such sights again as the QE2, Concorde and the Red Arrows flying in formation ? Who knows - but we certainly did a good job of remembering them this weekend !
Happy 50th QE2 !
Have a look at some memories - this month's photo competition on The QE2 Story Forum: https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,7439.0.html
Monday, 26 December 2016
You Look Good ! Thank You ... but ditch the Selfie Stick !
This is an excerpt of numerous exchanges I have seen in Facebook chats and the like from the under 20 age group.
The "selfie generation" ...
First step - pose, pout and take the photo !
Second step - post your favourite for everyone to see !
Third step - acclamation floods in ...
Step 4 ... the subject of the photo then "thanks" those flooding them with praise ...
Now maybe its just me ... but in my day, at the same age ... this just did not happen.
And I do think its not that healthy.
We are born with our looks. We need to live with them. And in fact there really is nothing so attractive as a happy, smiling face and someone who is full of energy and life.
We were really pretty much taught in my day I would say that we had to have a career. Women were not making a big thing about their looks. But even more than just a career, find hobbies etc that interest you. Educate yourself, have fun, take part in sport, help others, give your time to others, whatever takes your fancy. But get the focus away from yourself.
If its all about looks and you happen not to have great looks then where are we then ... And in fact sometimes its not all that great to have good looks either, as from my experience it can attract all the wrong types of attention. Yes sure you get asked out a whole lot more. But you are often being asked out by people purely attracted to your looks. Not to your actual character.
So come on folks, get a life. And ditch that Selfie Stick !
The "selfie generation" ...
First step - pose, pout and take the photo !
Second step - post your favourite for everyone to see !
Third step - acclamation floods in ...
Step 4 ... the subject of the photo then "thanks" those flooding them with praise ...
Now maybe its just me ... but in my day, at the same age ... this just did not happen.
And I do think its not that healthy.
We are born with our looks. We need to live with them. And in fact there really is nothing so attractive as a happy, smiling face and someone who is full of energy and life.
We were really pretty much taught in my day I would say that we had to have a career. Women were not making a big thing about their looks. But even more than just a career, find hobbies etc that interest you. Educate yourself, have fun, take part in sport, help others, give your time to others, whatever takes your fancy. But get the focus away from yourself.
If its all about looks and you happen not to have great looks then where are we then ... And in fact sometimes its not all that great to have good looks either, as from my experience it can attract all the wrong types of attention. Yes sure you get asked out a whole lot more. But you are often being asked out by people purely attracted to your looks. Not to your actual character.
So come on folks, get a life. And ditch that Selfie Stick !
Monday, 12 September 2016
Bearsway Design
Twitter does not provide enough space to explain why many residents, even those who are pro cycling, are annoyed about Bearsway.
I will outline the design flaws that have personally affected my travel on this route.
I have yet to cycle it, but I have a couple of good friends who commute on it.
I have walked it, driven on it and travelled by bus on it.
It could have been so much better !
It appeared to be driven through with little consultation of the public and from what I have heard any suggestions which were made were ignored.
OK, starting at the Milngavie end ...
Cyclists are expected to take the following route around a roundabout to enter the Bearsway path. Now, this roundabout is usually very very busy, often with dumper trucks and it is hair raising enough in a car let along a bicycle. If you came from where I live in Milngavie, you would have to take the route I have marked in red to enter the bearsway,., across 3/4 lanes of waiting traffic.
The obvious solution for the cyclists would have been to have had a single track cycle way on both sides here, with the Glasgow bound one then joining up with the Kelvin Timber stretch.
Now the next bit is a more minor complaint but if you are driving from the Burnbrae Roundabout and driving towards Glasgow, as you come on to the road from the roundabout you are faced with three lanes - now it could confuse someone as how are you to know that its two lanes coming towards you and not two on your side of the road ?!? And you are so close to that oncoming and heavy traffic -often with lorries etc. Remember this is an A Road - its the main road from Glasgow to Stirlingshire - it has heavy traffic and no central gap or barrier. And possible confusion over lanes...
You may have noticed in some of the pictures that there is a large CALA development on the left. Another concern of people is that we are not sure where the exit road from this development is going to be. If they are going to join the people trying to get out of the Allander Sports Centre car park road then good luck to them ! Its bad enough doing this once a week for my exercise class ! But people have been held up here for up to 15 mins regularly. And the Bearsway appears to have made it worse. In my opinion, and maybe its also a good thing ... but because the traffic has been slowed slightly to deal with all the twists and turns, it is now more of a constant heavy stream rather than shorter bursts of traffic with gaps. But it does make it extra tricky to come out of the sports centre road. We will now examine that junction as there are other issues too ! The junction is just coming up on the left in the photo above or to look more closely have a look at the photo below :
So if you are coming from Milngavie (to the left of the pic) and turning left into the Allander, you may or may not have to sit behind a car who may be giving way to people on the cycle track. If you have waited a while then the people on the cycle track may be entirely different to what you viewed while driving along. However to now see who is on the track you would need to look over both your right and left shoulders as the track is behind you while you wait at that give way sign. Now its not impossible - but it not ideal and if you have cyclists who fully assume they have right of way and some of whom could be travelling at 30 mph then again it could be a little bit of a recipe for disaster. Also on a minor point the crossing here is marked as a give way for cyclists but not indicated for pedestrians ...
OK so that is me maybe 200 to 300 metres along the Bearsway - I will highlight the issue with the Reid Avenue turning later and also a particularly tricky bit to drive on where oncoming headlights are facing right into you. Also the fact the pavement is so high there is literally nowhere to go to get out of the way on oncoming lorries etc on your side of the road. Also the fact that if a bus stops everything has to stop. This did not used to happen as it was previously a nice wide road.
I will do all that later as I need to go out now !
And the Hillfoot end is still a mystery as it moves into Bearsway 2 in theory at that stage, even though £300,000 was recently spent upgrading the pavement at the shops there over a 3 month period with great disruption to shops businesses and traffic ! The current entrance to Bearsway at the Hillfoot end is highly dangerous and you do see some young teenage cyclists etc trying this - and I hate to say but they tend to wear black as do a number of commuters on this route - with inadequate lighting of their bikes ....
_________________________________________________
And further design problems exist in my opinion with the sequencing or lack of sequencing of the lights on the not-very staggered new pedestrian crossing at the bottom of Nethermains Road. This is not part of Bearsway 1 but part of the whole redevelopment of the Burnbrae / Waitrose roundabout at entrance to Bearsway 1.
Confusion could easily arise if people exit-ing Nethermains Road assume that if they see red lights on the far side and were to assume this meant the lights on their side of the road were also sitting at red when they can in fact be green, as the lights operate separately.
Now this crossing, although separate, is not obviously staggered, so its not obvious. And considering that one street along at the foot of Keystone Quadrant you have a complete pedestrian crossing then you can maybe see where the confusion could arise. Now even myself last night I noticed I had assumed the lights on one side would be the same as the other ... I then quickly realised it wouldn't be ... but it only would take one person in even 1000 or 10,000 to get this wrong with awful consequences. Confusion could also arise in the same way for people turning right into Nethermains Road.
Does anyone know more about how these should have been designed ? .gov.uk link ?
I will outline the design flaws that have personally affected my travel on this route.
I have yet to cycle it, but I have a couple of good friends who commute on it.
I have walked it, driven on it and travelled by bus on it.
It could have been so much better !
It appeared to be driven through with little consultation of the public and from what I have heard any suggestions which were made were ignored.
OK, starting at the Milngavie end ...
Cyclists are expected to take the following route around a roundabout to enter the Bearsway path. Now, this roundabout is usually very very busy, often with dumper trucks and it is hair raising enough in a car let along a bicycle. If you came from where I live in Milngavie, you would have to take the route I have marked in red to enter the bearsway,., across 3/4 lanes of waiting traffic.
The obvious solution for the cyclists would have been to have had a single track cycle way on both sides here, with the Glasgow bound one then joining up with the Kelvin Timber stretch.
Now the next bit is a more minor complaint but if you are driving from the Burnbrae Roundabout and driving towards Glasgow, as you come on to the road from the roundabout you are faced with three lanes - now it could confuse someone as how are you to know that its two lanes coming towards you and not two on your side of the road ?!? And you are so close to that oncoming and heavy traffic -often with lorries etc. Remember this is an A Road - its the main road from Glasgow to Stirlingshire - it has heavy traffic and no central gap or barrier. And possible confusion over lanes...
OK so a few metres further on and the lane coming towards you is now one lane and there is some parking for the houses which you see high on the right - this is their main parking - across a cycle lane - but its also possibly used by the leisure club who now cant park on the main road - however its not obvious in this photo but if people come out the drivers door of the parked car they are basically going to be standing in the course of the traffic - there is no leeway or extra space.
OK drive on about 40metres past Kelvin Timber entrance and you find the next design flaw. This is to do with the cycle path - I have photographed it looking back towards Milngavie to show you what the problem is. Now at the pedestrian/cycle crossing here, the path actually crosses across the main road. The following photograph shows what you will encounter if happily cycling out from Glasgow on the track :
If you are cycling to Milngavie the fact that you now need to cross at the pedestrian crossing is indicated by the tiny wee arrow pointing to the left - can you see it ?!? now imagine you assume you are on a nice cycle path ... or you are in a group eg with young kids cycling up front - do you think they will notice this ? ... because if they fail to notice it the next thing is you could be cycling right off the pavement and into the path of that oncoming traffic ... There is a bit of a bollard that has latterly been put in - but again a black bollard with a white circle - what does that mean to you ? Hopefully it makes you think STOP!!
The next issue is a few metres further on. Because of the cycle track and the extra pavement in the middle plus the chevrons protecting a right turn into some houses, the well used pavement on the right hand side now has heavy traffic right close next to it. This is a pavement that is well used between Bearsden and Milngavie and by people using the Sports Centre. There is also a bus stop there on the right that you cant see in this photo. But I find this is now quite a hair raising pavement to walk along. Yet the wide pavement all the way along Kilmardinny, that you can see on the left of the photograph, has not been incorporated in any way into the design. This pavement is rarely used and perhaps only by a few people coming from the Sports centre, the bulk of whom are eventually going to cross the road anyway, so it could easily have been halfed in size. I presume it was a matter of budgeting that it would have added to the cost to do this ! But surely the best and safest design should have been used ?
You may have noticed in some of the pictures that there is a large CALA development on the left. Another concern of people is that we are not sure where the exit road from this development is going to be. If they are going to join the people trying to get out of the Allander Sports Centre car park road then good luck to them ! Its bad enough doing this once a week for my exercise class ! But people have been held up here for up to 15 mins regularly. And the Bearsway appears to have made it worse. In my opinion, and maybe its also a good thing ... but because the traffic has been slowed slightly to deal with all the twists and turns, it is now more of a constant heavy stream rather than shorter bursts of traffic with gaps. But it does make it extra tricky to come out of the sports centre road. We will now examine that junction as there are other issues too ! The junction is just coming up on the left in the photo above or to look more closely have a look at the photo below :
OK so that is me maybe 200 to 300 metres along the Bearsway - I will highlight the issue with the Reid Avenue turning later and also a particularly tricky bit to drive on where oncoming headlights are facing right into you. Also the fact the pavement is so high there is literally nowhere to go to get out of the way on oncoming lorries etc on your side of the road. Also the fact that if a bus stops everything has to stop. This did not used to happen as it was previously a nice wide road.
I will do all that later as I need to go out now !
And the Hillfoot end is still a mystery as it moves into Bearsway 2 in theory at that stage, even though £300,000 was recently spent upgrading the pavement at the shops there over a 3 month period with great disruption to shops businesses and traffic ! The current entrance to Bearsway at the Hillfoot end is highly dangerous and you do see some young teenage cyclists etc trying this - and I hate to say but they tend to wear black as do a number of commuters on this route - with inadequate lighting of their bikes ....
_________________________________________________
And further design problems exist in my opinion with the sequencing or lack of sequencing of the lights on the not-very staggered new pedestrian crossing at the bottom of Nethermains Road. This is not part of Bearsway 1 but part of the whole redevelopment of the Burnbrae / Waitrose roundabout at entrance to Bearsway 1.
Now this crossing, although separate, is not obviously staggered, so its not obvious. And considering that one street along at the foot of Keystone Quadrant you have a complete pedestrian crossing then you can maybe see where the confusion could arise. Now even myself last night I noticed I had assumed the lights on one side would be the same as the other ... I then quickly realised it wouldn't be ... but it only would take one person in even 1000 or 10,000 to get this wrong with awful consequences. Confusion could also arise in the same way for people turning right into Nethermains Road.
Does anyone know more about how these should have been designed ? .gov.uk link ?
Sunday, 14 August 2016
Today I was reading (actually skimming as it was not all that interesting !) through an article about the guy who created Tinder. In fact he may be part of a team of four as there was also a team photo. Apparently he invented the App as he had gone into a pub or somewhere, and seen a table of girls but when the guys went up to them to ask them out, the girls were not interested. So he invented this App so that it was possible to find out who was interested in you in advance of meeting them. Therefore more success in the dating game - apparently ! And less rejection ! Now the problem with this is that often the most successful relationships previously were when people met through others. There was a chance to vaguely know some background about the person, but also there was a little more hope that the relationship would be successful as both people already had the same friends and maybe liked the same things or had the same sense of humour or attitudes. Now what I wonder is, is this as likely at all now to happen. Previously, it was also fairly common as a young person, to have groups of male and female friends. But maybe nowadays that is less likely and people are meeting up online.
My next thought though was that what is this haste for having a relationship ? I personally can't think of anything worse thanbeing in a relationship for the whole of your twenties with no times as a singleton!
But on a plus side. Now Tinder does sound to me like a pretty shallow App. I don't see how you can possibly choose someone based just on looks. Apparently it shows you images of people and you swipe Yes or No as to whether they interest you. No way of knowing if the person is compatible, or is a laugh or a considerate lovely person. However maybe I under-estimate Tinder. I have no intention of finding out if it is more cerebral than I have heard. My mobile phone is already full up before I even got a chance to upload Apps ... !! (Thanks Motorola E !)
However, back to the plus side of new technology ... I have met someone who did in fact meet their partner through online dating. Now this was through the type of site where you can match up based on your opinions and interests etc. And apparently it has worked really well. So maybe that will be the future after all. And who knows, maybe its been sussed for romantic encounters, it could maybe then be extended to help all the rest of us get along too ! As the world sure needs more love at the moment. Now how do I do one of those little heart icons in my text .... ♥♥ !
My next thought though was that what is this haste for having a relationship ? I personally can't think of anything worse thanbeing in a relationship for the whole of your twenties with no times as a singleton!
But on a plus side. Now Tinder does sound to me like a pretty shallow App. I don't see how you can possibly choose someone based just on looks. Apparently it shows you images of people and you swipe Yes or No as to whether they interest you. No way of knowing if the person is compatible, or is a laugh or a considerate lovely person. However maybe I under-estimate Tinder. I have no intention of finding out if it is more cerebral than I have heard. My mobile phone is already full up before I even got a chance to upload Apps ... !! (Thanks Motorola E !)
However, back to the plus side of new technology ... I have met someone who did in fact meet their partner through online dating. Now this was through the type of site where you can match up based on your opinions and interests etc. And apparently it has worked really well. So maybe that will be the future after all. And who knows, maybe its been sussed for romantic encounters, it could maybe then be extended to help all the rest of us get along too ! As the world sure needs more love at the moment. Now how do I do one of those little heart icons in my text .... ♥♥ !
Thursday, 4 August 2016
Driving - Mobile Phones etc - It feels more Dangerous out there
I write after completing another journey across Glasgow and back where I again had to put up with crazy driving incidents from other drivers who are either too impatient or just plain unsafe in their driving or dont know the highway code.
Let me tell you of the incidents just in one journey of a total of around an hour and a half today.
OK so I set off and driving out of my town of Milngavie into the country on a road called Auchenhowie Road. I was following three cars ahead of me. In fact I had noticed someone was driving too close behind me two traffic lights back - you end up having to check this driver is not going to slam into the back of you instead of paying full attention to the road. Anyway we leave the 30mph zone and are travelling at the prevailing traffic speed which was roughly 40 to 50 mph and perfectly typical speed for that road when suddenly the driver from behind in his souped up car overtakes at a ridiculous speed and making a ridiculous noise. I put my radio off and lost track of what I had been listening to on what had up til then been quite a relaxed journey. He then overtakes the next person and then overtakes two cars in a row and this is on a bend. No way was he able to see if there definitely wasnt someone coming his way especially on the last of the two cars when he was very close to the bend. This is also past the exit to Rangers football training ground Murray Park and there were people gathered there at the exit. There is also at least one or two side roads to consider that come out onto that road. He appeared not to need to consider these things. I have his number and I will possibly contact the police tomorrow to report it and see if anyone else has reported the driver on this occasion.
Anyway onwards ... the number of people who appear to be driving without paying full attention has in the last two weeks become frighteningly high. I hate to say so as a woman but it does appear that almost every woman who stops behind my car appears to be on a mobile phone texting .... please its so dangerous. This included on my return journey a silver VW Beetle driver who was paying little attention ... Now if you have ever given yourself a huge fright when you have maybe just had a fleeting moment of inattention then think again - why on earth would you do anything that is going to distract you ?
Now the next things I had to encounter were aggressive and fast driving that was quite pointless as there were just lanes and lanes of queued traffic on the M8 or M77 ... what is the point ? In fact yesterday I felt a guy in a large Volvo seriously nearly crashed his car into the one in front just due to aggressive driving.
Now my final driving fault I see all the time is that of people who signal AS they are doing the thing- and not BEFORE ! I got an awful fright when someone changed lanes right in front of me and only signalled really after the maneouvre had been made - that is not the point of a signal - its a signal of intention ! Mind you some people dont signal at all - but really the only useful one is a signal before the maneouvre.
Now then I encountered a Glasgow Taxi - a Skoda I think - he was driving a bit crazy through the Clyde Tunnel - he came out of the give way in front of me into the traffic through the tunnel - then moved into outside lane, then half way through the tunnel he crossed back over the double white lines (Highway Code = do not cross !!) and ended up in front of me again ! He then veered left up the exit road to Clydebank/Victoria Park South as he came out of the Tunnel - again no signal !! Now this is someone who is driving around with their taxi license plate number fully on display - he is a "professional driver" ! yet doesnt think rules apply to him. I dont take taxis any more since I felt we had an extremely unsafe journey locally from a taxi driver who had never even driven the car he was in before - is that even legal ? I suspect not !! That wasnt a Glasgow Taxi though but an East Dunbartonshire one I think !
OK so that's my main quibbles - please folk - relax and stay safe when driving - no distractions - use your signals - and think of other road users.
Let me tell you of the incidents just in one journey of a total of around an hour and a half today.
OK so I set off and driving out of my town of Milngavie into the country on a road called Auchenhowie Road. I was following three cars ahead of me. In fact I had noticed someone was driving too close behind me two traffic lights back - you end up having to check this driver is not going to slam into the back of you instead of paying full attention to the road. Anyway we leave the 30mph zone and are travelling at the prevailing traffic speed which was roughly 40 to 50 mph and perfectly typical speed for that road when suddenly the driver from behind in his souped up car overtakes at a ridiculous speed and making a ridiculous noise. I put my radio off and lost track of what I had been listening to on what had up til then been quite a relaxed journey. He then overtakes the next person and then overtakes two cars in a row and this is on a bend. No way was he able to see if there definitely wasnt someone coming his way especially on the last of the two cars when he was very close to the bend. This is also past the exit to Rangers football training ground Murray Park and there were people gathered there at the exit. There is also at least one or two side roads to consider that come out onto that road. He appeared not to need to consider these things. I have his number and I will possibly contact the police tomorrow to report it and see if anyone else has reported the driver on this occasion.
Anyway onwards ... the number of people who appear to be driving without paying full attention has in the last two weeks become frighteningly high. I hate to say so as a woman but it does appear that almost every woman who stops behind my car appears to be on a mobile phone texting .... please its so dangerous. This included on my return journey a silver VW Beetle driver who was paying little attention ... Now if you have ever given yourself a huge fright when you have maybe just had a fleeting moment of inattention then think again - why on earth would you do anything that is going to distract you ?
Now the next things I had to encounter were aggressive and fast driving that was quite pointless as there were just lanes and lanes of queued traffic on the M8 or M77 ... what is the point ? In fact yesterday I felt a guy in a large Volvo seriously nearly crashed his car into the one in front just due to aggressive driving.
Now my final driving fault I see all the time is that of people who signal AS they are doing the thing- and not BEFORE ! I got an awful fright when someone changed lanes right in front of me and only signalled really after the maneouvre had been made - that is not the point of a signal - its a signal of intention ! Mind you some people dont signal at all - but really the only useful one is a signal before the maneouvre.
Now then I encountered a Glasgow Taxi - a Skoda I think - he was driving a bit crazy through the Clyde Tunnel - he came out of the give way in front of me into the traffic through the tunnel - then moved into outside lane, then half way through the tunnel he crossed back over the double white lines (Highway Code = do not cross !!) and ended up in front of me again ! He then veered left up the exit road to Clydebank/Victoria Park South as he came out of the Tunnel - again no signal !! Now this is someone who is driving around with their taxi license plate number fully on display - he is a "professional driver" ! yet doesnt think rules apply to him. I dont take taxis any more since I felt we had an extremely unsafe journey locally from a taxi driver who had never even driven the car he was in before - is that even legal ? I suspect not !! That wasnt a Glasgow Taxi though but an East Dunbartonshire one I think !
OK so that's my main quibbles - please folk - relax and stay safe when driving - no distractions - use your signals - and think of other road users.
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
3G pitches - summarising safety worries
3G Pitches - Are they Safe ?
I suppose we assume extensive health & safety testing is done prior to a product/material entering the open market...
but - these research articles indicate to me that there are serious questions :
https://www.pitchcare.com/magazine/is-artificial-turf-hiding-an-800-pound-gorilla.html
the following site http://www.technicalsurfaces.co.uk/3G_pitch_safety_in_the_UK lists the following research which would take an age to go through - although I see the first article is about groundwater runoff so nothing about human health
http://www.technicalsurfaces.co.uk/sites/default/files/agp_-_listing_of_independent_research_and_reports_1998-2014_-_artificial_grass.pdf
I suppose we assume extensive health & safety testing is done prior to a product/material entering the open market...
but - these research articles indicate to me that there are serious questions :
https://www.pitchcare.com/magazine/is-artificial-turf-hiding-an-800-pound-gorilla.html
the following site http://www.technicalsurfaces.co.uk/3G_pitch_safety_in_the_UK lists the following research which would take an age to go through - although I see the first article is about groundwater runoff so nothing about human health
http://www.technicalsurfaces.co.uk/sites/default/files/agp_-_listing_of_independent_research_and_reports_1998-2014_-_artificial_grass.pdf
Pregnant with Twins ? Put your Feet up !
If you are pregnant with twins - or more ! then I say stop try and stop working as early as possible - I think 29 weeks is when you can start maternity leave, and take lots of rest. Or if you are still feeling physically comfortable at work and are not being overworked then maybe you will be OK. But please read on and consider what happened to me.
I had twins quite a number of years ago now. (I finally have time to take a rest and write a blog post !!) I stopped at 29 weeks, for a number of reasons. Firstly, I was working on a temporary project so I didn't really have a job to go back to, so there was not much point in working right up to the date I was due etc. It was also becoming increasingly uncomfortable to do the 30 mile car journey every day. And it was high summer so the heat was also getting hard to take.
So I stopped work. And another thing that happened towards the end of my pregnancy was that I got a very painful trapped nerve or sciatica type thing in my leg. And the only way to relieve it was to rest or lie on the couch for a large part of the day. I could usually manage to stand up for an hour or so to go out for lunch or shopping or whatever but I had to rest for the bulk of the day.
The other thing was that I worked in a hospital and had ready access to books about "having twins" from the medical library. I discovered that in America, the mums were very much recommended to take a lot of rest. But I didn't hear this at all from the doctors I saw here in the UK.
And I don't know if the extra rest helped, but of the six mums in my town who were all (by sheer chance) expecting twins in the same week, I was the only one who made it to "term", which for twins is 38 weeks. I had to be induced at that point as the babies were no longer growing etc and the placenta was no longer helping them.
Some of the other families ended up in hospital for a month etc in the special care baby unit. I ended up there for a week, but really we were very lucky that they weren't early, with all the health problems etc that that can involve. I did find out that as I had one who was lying breach, the new recommendations are that I should have had a caesarian and I sort of think that might have been good as you always wonder if the second twin out maybe loses out on oxygen etc...
However I am being sidetracked !
I had twins quite a number of years ago now. (I finally have time to take a rest and write a blog post !!) I stopped at 29 weeks, for a number of reasons. Firstly, I was working on a temporary project so I didn't really have a job to go back to, so there was not much point in working right up to the date I was due etc. It was also becoming increasingly uncomfortable to do the 30 mile car journey every day. And it was high summer so the heat was also getting hard to take.
So I stopped work. And another thing that happened towards the end of my pregnancy was that I got a very painful trapped nerve or sciatica type thing in my leg. And the only way to relieve it was to rest or lie on the couch for a large part of the day. I could usually manage to stand up for an hour or so to go out for lunch or shopping or whatever but I had to rest for the bulk of the day.
The other thing was that I worked in a hospital and had ready access to books about "having twins" from the medical library. I discovered that in America, the mums were very much recommended to take a lot of rest. But I didn't hear this at all from the doctors I saw here in the UK.
And I don't know if the extra rest helped, but of the six mums in my town who were all (by sheer chance) expecting twins in the same week, I was the only one who made it to "term", which for twins is 38 weeks. I had to be induced at that point as the babies were no longer growing etc and the placenta was no longer helping them.
Some of the other families ended up in hospital for a month etc in the special care baby unit. I ended up there for a week, but really we were very lucky that they weren't early, with all the health problems etc that that can involve. I did find out that as I had one who was lying breach, the new recommendations are that I should have had a caesarian and I sort of think that might have been good as you always wonder if the second twin out maybe loses out on oxygen etc...
However I am being sidetracked !
- This blog post is firstly a plea to mums and dads and everyone connected with pregnant mums to make sure the pregnant mum takes it easy and can get some rest. Especially if expecting twins or more.
- And secondly, we really do need to have longer maternity leave and pay for twin/triplet mums as its harder work beforehand when you are pregnant and then it gets even harder as you have to care for two tiny tots and make sure they are fed etc.
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Halloween !! Its Scottish and Irish ! Celtic !
English Heritage today are the latest body to quote again the incorrect fact that Halloween has come from America.
NO NO NO !!! Every year we email and tweet and try to correct this !!!
Now in Glasgow we celebrated Halloween when I was young ! I am 50 ! But reports from my family record halloween happening 80 and 100 years ago.
My uncle remembers blackening their faces and tying the opposite doors on a tenement close together and running away !
This would have been around World War 2 time.
We always carved turnips - so at least English Heritage are mentioning that - now turnips make a great smell when carved and with a candle in them - but boy are they hard to carve ! So pumpkins are perhaps a welcome import there !!
We did not do "Trick or Treating" - we went "Guising" - we were in Disguise - and we had to have a joke or a poem memorised as we went round the houses, before we would get any sweets or money etc.
And the main enjoyment about getting dressed up was the month beforehand when you thought up and created your costume ! I once went as a pantomime horse with my best friend Jane, who is now a respectable doctor !! We did a pantomime horse dance as our entertainment - the old ladies we visited were scared as their china was dancing in their cabinet so they quickly gave us our sweets !! Another year I went as a witch (apparently made my brother be the cat !) and my friend was the Alien from the Smash potato advert ! Other great costumes in my family included a dalek, a washing machine and an uncivil servant !!
We would do "dooking for apples" - dooking as a word comes from across the north sea I believe, and there would be treacle scones hanging from the pulley and toffee apples !
Now the tradition in Scotland has never stopped - its a spooky night and we did have the idea there were spirits out there so maybe best to stay near a light ! Ireland had the same tradition and it wouldnt surprise me if Cornwall, Wales and Brittany had the tradition too.
Now, please in England if you only discovered Halloween recently, yes you personally may have heard of it from America - but the rest of us have always had it, and it only got to America because of Irish emigrants !!
So lets take back our own tradition !! Also traditionally we did not go in for the majorly scary costumes and props etc you see in the Supermarkets - so lets get rid of those.
It is of course the eve of All Saints Day - or All Hallows - hence Halloween. Many of us also visit church for All Saints Day and All Souls Day the next day. And November is a month of Remembrance and on the 11th Nov we have Remembrance Sunday. Personally it also seems to me to be a good idea if the shops did not bring out their Christmas goods until after that. Certainly I have refused to look at them so far.
So there you go - LETS RECLAIM OUR OWN TRADITIONS !!!
Ref : http://www.scotland.org/features/halloween-traditions/
and more (including the blacking faces tradition of guising -- http://www.milngavieherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/ways-to-celebrate-hallowe-en-in-true-scottish-style-1-3929175)
NO NO NO !!! Every year we email and tweet and try to correct this !!!
Now in Glasgow we celebrated Halloween when I was young ! I am 50 ! But reports from my family record halloween happening 80 and 100 years ago.
My uncle remembers blackening their faces and tying the opposite doors on a tenement close together and running away !
This would have been around World War 2 time.
We always carved turnips - so at least English Heritage are mentioning that - now turnips make a great smell when carved and with a candle in them - but boy are they hard to carve ! So pumpkins are perhaps a welcome import there !!
We did not do "Trick or Treating" - we went "Guising" - we were in Disguise - and we had to have a joke or a poem memorised as we went round the houses, before we would get any sweets or money etc.
And the main enjoyment about getting dressed up was the month beforehand when you thought up and created your costume ! I once went as a pantomime horse with my best friend Jane, who is now a respectable doctor !! We did a pantomime horse dance as our entertainment - the old ladies we visited were scared as their china was dancing in their cabinet so they quickly gave us our sweets !! Another year I went as a witch (apparently made my brother be the cat !) and my friend was the Alien from the Smash potato advert ! Other great costumes in my family included a dalek, a washing machine and an uncivil servant !!
We would do "dooking for apples" - dooking as a word comes from across the north sea I believe, and there would be treacle scones hanging from the pulley and toffee apples !
Now the tradition in Scotland has never stopped - its a spooky night and we did have the idea there were spirits out there so maybe best to stay near a light ! Ireland had the same tradition and it wouldnt surprise me if Cornwall, Wales and Brittany had the tradition too.
Now, please in England if you only discovered Halloween recently, yes you personally may have heard of it from America - but the rest of us have always had it, and it only got to America because of Irish emigrants !!
So lets take back our own tradition !! Also traditionally we did not go in for the majorly scary costumes and props etc you see in the Supermarkets - so lets get rid of those.
It is of course the eve of All Saints Day - or All Hallows - hence Halloween. Many of us also visit church for All Saints Day and All Souls Day the next day. And November is a month of Remembrance and on the 11th Nov we have Remembrance Sunday. Personally it also seems to me to be a good idea if the shops did not bring out their Christmas goods until after that. Certainly I have refused to look at them so far.
So there you go - LETS RECLAIM OUR OWN TRADITIONS !!!
Ref : http://www.scotland.org/features/halloween-traditions/
and more (including the blacking faces tradition of guising -- http://www.milngavieherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/ways-to-celebrate-hallowe-en-in-true-scottish-style-1-3929175)
Tuesday, 13 October 2015
Computer Games Design - Suggestions to Reduce Disruption to Family Life
Suggestion 1 - MUST BE ABLE TO EXIT AT ANY POINT
Need each game to be possible to leave at any point - especially those that are not online.
As how often do you hear "But I'll lose all my progress ! I've been on this mission for an hour" ... well you are not always feeling a heartless enough parent to pull the plug at that point ...but you can see the kids point ...but also the dinner is ready or you need them to set the table ... so WHY cant the programme just save their progress ? I mean at any one point the game is just a variety of variables which presumably have numbers attached - all those could be saved - EASY !
the question is - why hasnt this been integrated into games ? Are they trying to fuel realism (and Addiction) by creating hour long or longer scenarios/missions in games ?
Suggestion 2 - Clear Age Rating Display
An age rating could be displayed in a small box at top of screen at all times.
You could have a 18+ logo or under 18 content in eg GTA.
Could be clearly displayed the logo at all times.
Again - Simple
For example in GTA if there are areas of the programme you dont want under 18s to visit then why not just close those off for the under 18 game. Simple. Again each section is just a load of variables and functions. It does mean that age ratings have to be integral to the programming, but I suggest they should be. And then if scenarios or missions are displayed the programme just has to check what the age rating is set to.
So I hope Computer Game Developers are listening - as well as government etc who could insist the developers do these things - although better still, the industry could take a responsible adult approach to this ! Before family life is ruined ! And really overall it would be better for the gaming industry overall too as they might even generate more sales if they got the adults on board !
Need each game to be possible to leave at any point - especially those that are not online.
As how often do you hear "But I'll lose all my progress ! I've been on this mission for an hour" ... well you are not always feeling a heartless enough parent to pull the plug at that point ...but you can see the kids point ...but also the dinner is ready or you need them to set the table ... so WHY cant the programme just save their progress ? I mean at any one point the game is just a variety of variables which presumably have numbers attached - all those could be saved - EASY !
the question is - why hasnt this been integrated into games ? Are they trying to fuel realism (and Addiction) by creating hour long or longer scenarios/missions in games ?
Suggestion 2 - Clear Age Rating Display
An age rating could be displayed in a small box at top of screen at all times.
You could have a 18+ logo or under 18 content in eg GTA.
Could be clearly displayed the logo at all times.
Again - Simple
For example in GTA if there are areas of the programme you dont want under 18s to visit then why not just close those off for the under 18 game. Simple. Again each section is just a load of variables and functions. It does mean that age ratings have to be integral to the programming, but I suggest they should be. And then if scenarios or missions are displayed the programme just has to check what the age rating is set to.
So I hope Computer Game Developers are listening - as well as government etc who could insist the developers do these things - although better still, the industry could take a responsible adult approach to this ! Before family life is ruined ! And really overall it would be better for the gaming industry overall too as they might even generate more sales if they got the adults on board !
Friday, 4 September 2015
The Great Gatsby
We lived and breathed Gatsby ... for a while we felt like we were in 20s New York, driving over the bridge in an open top car...chiffon scarves floating and excitement in our veins .... looking to the future.
We savoured the quotes like an exquisite sweet ...tasting the very essence of that summer ...
we debated the characters and how they felt... why had Gatsby done this ... and had the films portrayed it well.
A friend introduced me to the world of the film producer Baz Luhrmann.
But in the end, just as Jay Gatsby had reached out for what was unattainable, it turned out that passing the English exam was also unattainable.... but do you know ... I think we still love that book .... it has quietly sat back and closed its covers and is waiting ... for perhaps some future moment when hopefully it will be opened again .. the dust blown off and perhaps it will again spring to life and the sun will rise above the waters of East Egg and West Egg and sparkle on the waters as we again witness a summer with Jay Gatsby and his neighbour ... and exams will seem a long way in the past !
Keywords : Higher English, Curriculum for Excellence, CfE
We savoured the quotes like an exquisite sweet ...tasting the very essence of that summer ...
we debated the characters and how they felt... why had Gatsby done this ... and had the films portrayed it well.
A friend introduced me to the world of the film producer Baz Luhrmann.
But in the end, just as Jay Gatsby had reached out for what was unattainable, it turned out that passing the English exam was also unattainable.... but do you know ... I think we still love that book .... it has quietly sat back and closed its covers and is waiting ... for perhaps some future moment when hopefully it will be opened again .. the dust blown off and perhaps it will again spring to life and the sun will rise above the waters of East Egg and West Egg and sparkle on the waters as we again witness a summer with Jay Gatsby and his neighbour ... and exams will seem a long way in the past !
Keywords : Higher English, Curriculum for Excellence, CfE
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Mums can be all in a lifetime - SAHM, Part Time, unemployed, Full Time Working
Mums can be all in a lifetime - SAHM, Part Time, unemployed, Full Time Working
How many surveys do you hear which tell Mums what they should be. I say bin them all ! Listen to your instinct and if you want to stay home with your kids because you just know that is best, then do it ! And lets hope that finances and government subsidies are such that you are able to do this for a few years until your little people are heading for school.
But even then it can be tricky to find work or to manage all the pressing demands in family life. Work does not always fit in with age-ing parents, kids who need to be in three places at once etc. And the weather is not always on their side either. If they have over a mile to walk to school and nowadays the rain is invariably falling then it can be great to take them to school occasionally.
Anyway back to my original point. These surveys seem to assume that in a Woman's working life of 50 years they can be a stay at home mother for fifty years .... I doubt many people do that !!
Here is what the people I know have done :
10 years working...10 years SAHM...10 years self employed ...aiming to work for 15+ more years
Others work part time when babies are small.
There are all sorts of options.
Many have returned to their original careers, others have taken the chance for a change of career.
Still more have retrained.
Some regret not taking more time off.
But for the sake of equality - listen to your instinct and insist on staying off with your kids at whatever time in their lifes you feel they need you. They are your number 1 priority ....
And government should do more to find part time jobs for women who want to return to the workplace, instead of this constant push to force women with very young babies to go back to work.
How many surveys do you hear which tell Mums what they should be. I say bin them all ! Listen to your instinct and if you want to stay home with your kids because you just know that is best, then do it ! And lets hope that finances and government subsidies are such that you are able to do this for a few years until your little people are heading for school.
But even then it can be tricky to find work or to manage all the pressing demands in family life. Work does not always fit in with age-ing parents, kids who need to be in three places at once etc. And the weather is not always on their side either. If they have over a mile to walk to school and nowadays the rain is invariably falling then it can be great to take them to school occasionally.
Anyway back to my original point. These surveys seem to assume that in a Woman's working life of 50 years they can be a stay at home mother for fifty years .... I doubt many people do that !!
Here is what the people I know have done :
10 years working...10 years SAHM...10 years self employed ...aiming to work for 15+ more years
Others work part time when babies are small.
There are all sorts of options.
Many have returned to their original careers, others have taken the chance for a change of career.
Still more have retrained.
Some regret not taking more time off.
But for the sake of equality - listen to your instinct and insist on staying off with your kids at whatever time in their lifes you feel they need you. They are your number 1 priority ....
And government should do more to find part time jobs for women who want to return to the workplace, instead of this constant push to force women with very young babies to go back to work.
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Higher Maths
There has been controversy this year over the SQA Higher Maths exam in Scotland.
However .... many people I have spoken to, including some in my family, did not have a particular problem with the exam. Although others were reporting some pupils to be quite distressed by the exam.
Some of the questions were designed in a way that had been experienced by those doing the new Higher. So that would have been a disadvantage to those sitting the old Higher.
There has also been some discussion over the wording of questions, where the question was not entirely clear.
Now the problem is that if they were to remove these questions and base the exam results on the other questions then this could actually disadvantage someone who had originally done better in the exam and could lead to people who originally had a lower mark coming out on top ...
Some pupils just did not even attempt certain questions...and it is possible that these pupils therefore had more time to check their other questions ... whereas those who struggled with the difficult questions may have had no time to go back and check their answers.
On a simple level lets take an example of a eight question exam for a total of 20 marks, with questions increasing in difficulty as the paper progresses.
If achieving full marks, the marks per question would be ... 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4
Now lets assume Pupil 1 finds maths quite hard so they achieve the following marks :
1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 0, 0 (total = 10 / 20)
Pupil 2 is better at maths and achieves :
1, 0, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2 (they have attempted the last few questions but had no time to go back and check the earlier questions)
(total = 16 / 20)
Now, if the last two questions were removed as deemed too difficult, the marks for both pupils would then be Pupil 1 = 10/12 and Pupil 2 = 11 / 12
Now,... these pupils now appear to be much closer in results than the actual marks illustrate.
So ... how can these pupils be differentiated ? Should they both now get an A ?
Well perhaps that would be OK .... BUT there must never be a case where a pupil ends up with a lesser mark having originally had more marks.
For example lets say there was a Pupil 3 who achieved 1, 1, 0, 1, 3, 3, 4, 3
This pupil originally achieved 16 / 20 (equal to pupil 2 and much more than Pupil 1)
but if the last two questions are removed Pupil 3 would only score 9 / 12 and may well be allocated a B .... which is LESS !! than Pupil 1. This is patently unfair ...
No pupil should ever achieve a mark less than they originally achieved. So if they were heading for an A or a B on their original score then that should not be reduced.
Fine, there may need to be some adjustment for pupils who have taken the wrong meaning from a question if there is agreement that the question was badly worded.
But these decisions must not be taken lightly as people's futures depend on these results.
This is unfair to that pupil but also negative to society in general if we don't get those who are best at maths into for example engineering etc.
However .... many people I have spoken to, including some in my family, did not have a particular problem with the exam. Although others were reporting some pupils to be quite distressed by the exam.
Some of the questions were designed in a way that had been experienced by those doing the new Higher. So that would have been a disadvantage to those sitting the old Higher.
There has also been some discussion over the wording of questions, where the question was not entirely clear.
Now the problem is that if they were to remove these questions and base the exam results on the other questions then this could actually disadvantage someone who had originally done better in the exam and could lead to people who originally had a lower mark coming out on top ...
Some pupils just did not even attempt certain questions...and it is possible that these pupils therefore had more time to check their other questions ... whereas those who struggled with the difficult questions may have had no time to go back and check their answers.
On a simple level lets take an example of a eight question exam for a total of 20 marks, with questions increasing in difficulty as the paper progresses.
If achieving full marks, the marks per question would be ... 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4
Now lets assume Pupil 1 finds maths quite hard so they achieve the following marks :
1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 0, 0 (total = 10 / 20)
Pupil 2 is better at maths and achieves :
1, 0, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2 (they have attempted the last few questions but had no time to go back and check the earlier questions)
(total = 16 / 20)
Now, if the last two questions were removed as deemed too difficult, the marks for both pupils would then be Pupil 1 = 10/12 and Pupil 2 = 11 / 12
Now,... these pupils now appear to be much closer in results than the actual marks illustrate.
So ... how can these pupils be differentiated ? Should they both now get an A ?
Well perhaps that would be OK .... BUT there must never be a case where a pupil ends up with a lesser mark having originally had more marks.
For example lets say there was a Pupil 3 who achieved 1, 1, 0, 1, 3, 3, 4, 3
This pupil originally achieved 16 / 20 (equal to pupil 2 and much more than Pupil 1)
but if the last two questions are removed Pupil 3 would only score 9 / 12 and may well be allocated a B .... which is LESS !! than Pupil 1. This is patently unfair ...
No pupil should ever achieve a mark less than they originally achieved. So if they were heading for an A or a B on their original score then that should not be reduced.
Fine, there may need to be some adjustment for pupils who have taken the wrong meaning from a question if there is agreement that the question was badly worded.
But these decisions must not be taken lightly as people's futures depend on these results.
This is unfair to that pupil but also negative to society in general if we don't get those who are best at maths into for example engineering etc.
Saturday, 16 May 2015
Time Out !
Take Time Out for Kids !
Children are the most important thing. They are our futures.
And every family should be able to take Time Out to enjoy bringing up their kids.
They should be supported if they want to take some time out from work for a few years to rear their young age 0 - 3. And once the kids are at school, right up to the teenage years, there should be the possibility to work part time for at least one parent.
The current push to make the school day longer will not suit many kids. The school day is long enough and many kids just need to get home to relax after school.
We need to stop thinking that people who "stay at home" with kids (a misnomer if ever there was one !) are somehow a different species !
Many mothers, and a few fathers, take a few years out when their children are babies and toddlers. This is what many want to do and its great for the kids. Relaxing in the playpark while playing with friends, running across the grass after toddler group, visiting friends, going shopping, going swimming, picking strawberries at a fruit farm, playing football, going to playgroup. Now most of these things I have listed are free things to do, or at least very inexpensive, as parents work together to run toddler groups and playgroups. Its a community effort ! Now surely that is worth valuing.
So lets all realise that Time Out With Kids can be a good thing. It has been shown to be good for the children's mental health with respect to bonding with their parents, attachment theory etc. and apart from anything else it is good fun. It is what life is about.
I like this piece which was a reading at a funeral I was at recently, of a friend's father who was very much a "family man", it makes me think of how there is a "time to work, a time to spend with your young children, a time to support your older children, a time for your parents, etc." :
Children are the most important thing. They are our futures.
And every family should be able to take Time Out to enjoy bringing up their kids.
The current push to make the school day longer will not suit many kids. The school day is long enough and many kids just need to get home to relax after school.
We need to stop thinking that people who "stay at home" with kids (a misnomer if ever there was one !) are somehow a different species !
Many mothers, and a few fathers, take a few years out when their children are babies and toddlers. This is what many want to do and its great for the kids. Relaxing in the playpark while playing with friends, running across the grass after toddler group, visiting friends, going shopping, going swimming, picking strawberries at a fruit farm, playing football, going to playgroup. Now most of these things I have listed are free things to do, or at least very inexpensive, as parents work together to run toddler groups and playgroups. Its a community effort ! Now surely that is worth valuing.
So lets all realise that Time Out With Kids can be a good thing. It has been shown to be good for the children's mental health with respect to bonding with their parents, attachment theory etc. and apart from anything else it is good fun. It is what life is about.
I like this piece which was a reading at a funeral I was at recently, of a friend's father who was very much a "family man", it makes me think of how there is a "time to work, a time to spend with your young children, a time to support your older children, a time for your parents, etc." :
There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven:
A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting what has been planted.
A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building.
A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing.
A time for throwing stones away, a time for gathering them; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing.
A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for discarding.
A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking.
A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peaceWhat do people gain from the efforts they make?
I contemplate the task that God gives humanity to labour at.
All that he does is apt for its time; but although he has given us an awareness of the passage of time, we can grasp neither the beginning nor the end of what God does.
I know there is no happiness for a human being except in pleasure and enjoyment through life.
And when we eat and drink and find happiness in all our achievements, this is a gift from God
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Plastic Packaging
It is my belief that we could easily have a law which required that companies had to use recycled or re-usable packaging or biodegradable packaging wherever that is possible as an alternative to using plastic which comes from a finite resource on our planet of oil.
Currently I have collected 8 Persil tubs (photo to follow !!) and am about to send them back to Unilever via their FREEPOST address with the suggestion that they could require us to re-fill our (very substantial well made) plastic tubs at the supermarket. There could easily be a large skip at the supermarket with the liquitabs in it and a dispensing drawer at the bottom which allowed 20 capsules out at a time. This type of machine is available at driving ranges to dispense golf balls, and I am pretty sure it could be designed fairly quickly. If they want to contact me, even as a non engineer, I am pretty sure I could design it in a day. It would need to be only for adults to use though as these liquitabs have been mistaken by children for sweets on occasion.
Another area which I allude to in another post, is the current use of plastic packaging for feminine hygiene products, where there is a perfectly good cardboard alternative which will biodegrade and not end up washing up on the beaches half way across the planet. This is Proctor & Gamble who are currently guilty of promoting this.
Currently I have collected 8 Persil tubs (photo to follow !!) and am about to send them back to Unilever via their FREEPOST address with the suggestion that they could require us to re-fill our (very substantial well made) plastic tubs at the supermarket. There could easily be a large skip at the supermarket with the liquitabs in it and a dispensing drawer at the bottom which allowed 20 capsules out at a time. This type of machine is available at driving ranges to dispense golf balls, and I am pretty sure it could be designed fairly quickly. If they want to contact me, even as a non engineer, I am pretty sure I could design it in a day. It would need to be only for adults to use though as these liquitabs have been mistaken by children for sweets on occasion.
Another area which I allude to in another post, is the current use of plastic packaging for feminine hygiene products, where there is a perfectly good cardboard alternative which will biodegrade and not end up washing up on the beaches half way across the planet. This is Proctor & Gamble who are currently guilty of promoting this.
Why Every Political Party Should Support "Stay at Home Working" Mothers or Fathers as well as "Working" Mothers and Fathers
If you think a about it, Stay At Home Mothers (or Fathers), certainly of small children aged 0-3, should fit in to each Political Party's idealism, along with Working Mothers, who currently fit into the supposed "economic model family" currently being pushed in society.
Here we go :
Green Party
A Stay at Home Mother (or Father) is a Green alternative. Not adding to the materialistic push to own belongings (usually made of the earth's valuable resources). And taking time to appreciate such things as the local park and to get out and about to appreciate the environment. Not adding to the carbon footprint by driving to a nursery etc.
Conservatives
A Stay at Home Mother (or Father) is taking responsiblity for their own children and their upbringing. Standing on their own two feet. Taking time to educate children about society and values. Mums or Dads often volunteer as part of the "Big Society" taking part running playgroups and toddler groups etc. And if parents do their own childcare then those young workers who are employed on low wages in childcare could get out and train for a better paid job which would bring in more tax return. The mums or dads can then return to the workforce rejuvenated once their children are a little older.
Labour
Labour had the Sure Start centres which seemed like a good idea. A place where mothers and fathers could go to find out more about parenting. By looking after your own children, this is often the first real responsibility many people have had to care for another human being. But we need to care for families and those who have family responsibility so that they are supported in this vital role for society. Being a parent of a young child gives you a chance to get out and meet people and mix with others. You can learn new skills and take this chance to learn about parenting etc. Labour should be ensuring that every mother has the option to take a few years out with their children and not just those who have saved beforehand or who have a partner working. And Labour should prioritise a review of family budgeting and finance to find out why so many families are currently visiting Food Banks.
LibDems
The Liberal Democrats are famous for being "Liberal" - what does that mean exactly ? Well the definition in the Oxford dictionary should mean that Stay at Home Mothers are definitely on the agenda !
1 Willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own, open to new ideas
2 (of education) concerned with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience, rather than with technical or professional training.
SNP and UKIP
See above - or are you just here to add some colour to the political party spectrum !!
So overall I would suggest we need a major review of Family Policy as this new Parliament of 2015 starts out. We need to review taxation and benefits. Obviously benefits must have limits, there is not enough money to go round to support everything, but we need to think what is it we want from and for families if our society is to improve. We also need to look at the school years and work out how to improve our education system and set higher standards for our teenagers. And we need to review such things as internet access, pornography etc. and how this is affecting all of our children, whether they are directly viewing these things or being affected indirectly. And.... as well as young children, we should look at how society is treating our older family members and also how this impacts on wider families as well. There is a big difference between having a grandparent who needs help, whether a small amount or large amount to having either no grandparent around or having a very active and involved grandparent who is lucky enough to have retained all physical abillity. And in fact the age range of grandparents that I know varies from 40 right up to about 80 - now that is going to make a lot of difference in a family.
So let us all call on our Political Representatives to make the case for ALL WOMEN, MEN and FAMILIES !!
Here we go :
Green Party
A Stay at Home Mother (or Father) is a Green alternative. Not adding to the materialistic push to own belongings (usually made of the earth's valuable resources). And taking time to appreciate such things as the local park and to get out and about to appreciate the environment. Not adding to the carbon footprint by driving to a nursery etc.
Conservatives
A Stay at Home Mother (or Father) is taking responsiblity for their own children and their upbringing. Standing on their own two feet. Taking time to educate children about society and values. Mums or Dads often volunteer as part of the "Big Society" taking part running playgroups and toddler groups etc. And if parents do their own childcare then those young workers who are employed on low wages in childcare could get out and train for a better paid job which would bring in more tax return. The mums or dads can then return to the workforce rejuvenated once their children are a little older.
Labour
Labour had the Sure Start centres which seemed like a good idea. A place where mothers and fathers could go to find out more about parenting. By looking after your own children, this is often the first real responsibility many people have had to care for another human being. But we need to care for families and those who have family responsibility so that they are supported in this vital role for society. Being a parent of a young child gives you a chance to get out and meet people and mix with others. You can learn new skills and take this chance to learn about parenting etc. Labour should be ensuring that every mother has the option to take a few years out with their children and not just those who have saved beforehand or who have a partner working. And Labour should prioritise a review of family budgeting and finance to find out why so many families are currently visiting Food Banks.
LibDems
The Liberal Democrats are famous for being "Liberal" - what does that mean exactly ? Well the definition in the Oxford dictionary should mean that Stay at Home Mothers are definitely on the agenda !
1 Willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own, open to new ideas
2 (of education) concerned with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience, rather than with technical or professional training.
SNP and UKIP
See above - or are you just here to add some colour to the political party spectrum !!
So overall I would suggest we need a major review of Family Policy as this new Parliament of 2015 starts out. We need to review taxation and benefits. Obviously benefits must have limits, there is not enough money to go round to support everything, but we need to think what is it we want from and for families if our society is to improve. We also need to look at the school years and work out how to improve our education system and set higher standards for our teenagers. And we need to review such things as internet access, pornography etc. and how this is affecting all of our children, whether they are directly viewing these things or being affected indirectly. And.... as well as young children, we should look at how society is treating our older family members and also how this impacts on wider families as well. There is a big difference between having a grandparent who needs help, whether a small amount or large amount to having either no grandparent around or having a very active and involved grandparent who is lucky enough to have retained all physical abillity. And in fact the age range of grandparents that I know varies from 40 right up to about 80 - now that is going to make a lot of difference in a family.
So let us all call on our Political Representatives to make the case for ALL WOMEN, MEN and FAMILIES !!
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