Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

I can remember my mum leaving me alone when I was pre-school age - and then giving me a right telling off when she came home to find me scared and crying.

 

I really feel for those folks with no electricity. We don't have many power cuts here, usually a few per year, not usually for very long, and often at night which is annoying because it makes the alarm beep to tell us it's on battery so someone has to go downstairs and remember what sequence of buttons to press to shut it up but not a big problem. We can light the gas hob with a match, and in theory the oven too although I don't much fancy reaching in there to do it. Thebas fire has battery ignition so that would be OK too. I also keep candles in the house, but those bottle lights that are sold as christmas decs are surprisingly effective, safer than candles when you've long-haired cats wafting their tails around, and last a good while on their button batteries. I packed away the coloured ones but kept a few of the white ones out just in case.

 

Regarding leaving children under 5 alone. A friend of ours worked in a local bakers and started work at about 6am. Her husband didn't like her walking there alone on dark mornings so walked with her. He wasn't away from the house more than 10 minutes but when he turned the corner back to the house, he could see somebody squatting down at their front door. When he got closer he realised it was a policeman. Their daughter (5 year old) had woken up early and couldn't find Mummy or Daddy. Bright little thing called 999 :-) Police were really good about it and understood the husband's dilemma.
That was years ago when police had the numbers to respond quickly to that type of situation.

 

That’s true. I am willing to cut Thatcher a tiny bit of slack in that, as you say, the situation she took over was dire. Also, not being part of the old boys’ network and coming from a modest background, I think she was genuinely taken aback that trickle down did not work because of greed at the top. She was shocked at the Yuppie culture, especially in the City of London.

But, all this became clear early on and she could have adjusted course. Unfortunately money ran the country then just as it does now, regardless of who sat in No.10. The period of social mobility that began after the war was not to the liking of those at the top, so the egalitarian flames were extinguished as quickly as possible.

It all could have been so different. I believe the best opportunity there has ever been for loosening the iron grip of the class system in the UK was lost during Thatcher’s time. Another chance may never come along.

 

I always understood that you could be prosecuted for leaving children under 14 alone in a house but don't know if that is actually a legality.

 

I thought it was under 12, and with the proviso that you can’t leave a child under 14 alone in charge of a younger child. Though, strangely, parents have always been allowed to send young children off out into the world on their on, walking to school, playing in the park, etc.

 

Surely this can’t be true? I’ve just read Google maps is going to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. People in Mexico will still see “Mexico”, people in the US will see “America”, and the rest of us will see both.

A for-profit global corporation renaming places at whim? That is a truly slippery slope.

 

You will be prosecuted if the judge finds that leaving a child unattended put's them at risk or neglect, then it is an offence, regardless of age. There is actually no law that specifies an age of a child that can be left unattended.

 

We all know from previous experience (pre election) that Starmer and Rachel lie their heads off.

 

If you are going to Florida polish up on your Spanish. No one at the airport I met could speak English.

 

I've mentioned the shambles of our local GP surgery before but my latest experience takes it to a whole new level.
GP prescribes medication by brand name for a brand which is no longer available.
Pharmacy is not able to provide a substitute because a specific brand has been stated.
Pharmacy tries to contact surgery but is stuck in a very long queue. (Pharmacies aren't provided with a dedicated number but have to use the same number used for appointments etc.)
Pharmacy then uses the on-line service to request an alternative. Receive a reply saying the on-line service is not for that purpose and they must phone.
Pharmacy finally gets through the the GP in-house pharmacist who raises a new prescription request, but informs my pharmacist that the request will just join the normal queue for approval and that can take up to 5 working days. There is no system in place for the in-house pharmacist to 'queue jump'.
It will be nearly 3 weeks from the date I saw the GP before I potentially get the medication. Just grateful it's not very urgent!

 

They all need putting into a bag and shaking up @KT53

 

Don't they all.