Reading, Berks & Our Entrepreneurs.

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The Area surrounding Reading, Berks, and encompassing
The Thames Valley as a whole. Has more than it’s fair
share of successful entrepreneurs. It also has a vast well
of talent that is imaginitive enough to WANT to be the
masters of their own destiny. By becoming ‘Self-Employed’.

Nothing wrong with that is there? Deciding when you work,
where you work, and for whom you work. UTOPIA!………….
No more clocking in and out of work. No more ‘obeying’
your bosses unimaginative rules and regulations. Having
to keep to specified break times. All of that is either ‘Out-
The-Window’, or shortly to be so. INDEPENDANCE beckons.

Ok, we need customers…. AHH! advertising, always works,
(so we’re told), but where? How much can we afford? What
do we say in the ad’? Who are we aiming the ad’ at? Will they
even bother to reply, or even ‘read’ our ad’?

Just the start of our ‘Self-employed’ status.
Decisions, decisions, decisions. But can we actually afford
to make WRONG decisions?  How much is in the budget to
cover  ‘Trial-and-error’ ? 

This is of course before we actually begin plying our trade
or service. Marketing can make or break ANY business, no
matter HOW enthusiastic we are, or knowledgeable about
the subject. Get marketing WRONG and our dreams of
independance are soon a long-distant-memory.

I’m not going to go into any more long, drawn out reasons
WHY our business can slide down ‘The Swanney’ without trace.
Marketing, is the first MAJOR hurdle any of us will ever cross.
We have to get THAT part right, or we sink without trace.

Luckily, help for all of us ‘Entrepreneurs’ is at hand. A lot of the
help is totally FREE, and some will cost a little out of our
‘Marketing Budget’. I’ve set up a website for ANY local business
or budding Entrepreneur to ‘promote’ their business, (Old or New)
absolutely FREE!…..Yep, no cost at all. Just submit your details,
describe your business, and you get as much advertising as you
want with no strings attatched….. Sound Good??….I thought so.

OK, to get yourself listed on my site please click the link at the
end of this posting. BUT, before you rush off, I’d like to take this
opportunity to ask you to check out ‘The Secret Classroom’. There
is a direct link at the very top of the homepage you will arrive at.
‘The Secret Classroom’ isn’t free, but it is probably THE NUMBER ONE
resource you will EVER find to help you launch and succeed in your
own business ‘Bar None’. I’ve written a short introduction to the
classroom in my FRED67 Blog.  Click that link and read it first if you
like. There is obviously a link to the main site from there anyway
where you can submit your business details for FREE ‘targetted’
advertising.

RIGHT!…..So you’ll want to check out all the ‘ins-and-outs’ of the
FRED67.com website now. So go ahead, click this link, and I’ll end
this post by wishing us all HUGE success in the future.

Catch you later,

Pete.

PS.
Be sure to also visit ‘The Library’ while you’re at the FRED67.com
website won’t you. There are some ‘classics’ there, totally FREE
to read or print off.

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When We Were Young.

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Congratulations to all of you friends born in the
1920’s, 30’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s !

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked
and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses
made of asbestos.
 
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products,
loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can,
and didn’t get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
 
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with
bright coloured lead-based paints.
 
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or
cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no
helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took
hitch-hiking!
 
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or
air bags.
Riding in the back of an estate or a pick up truck on a
warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from
a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza
shops, McDonalds, KFC, Steers, Nandos.

Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn’t
open on the weekends, somehow we didn’t starve to
death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one
bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at
the corner shop and buy Chappies, Wilson ’s Toffees,
Wicks Bubble Gum and some crackers to blow up frogs
with.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank
soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren’t overweight
because……
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as
long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day and we were O.K.  
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the
brakes.
We built tree houses and cubby houses and played in
river beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no
video games at all, no 99 channels on sky TV,  or cable
TV,  no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile
phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet
chat rooms……….
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and
there were no compensation claims or lawsuits from these
accidents.

Only girls had pierced ears!

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the
worms did not live in us forever.

We swallowed chewing gum & it didn’t wrap round our
hearts like we were told it would !

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at
Easter time…….no really!

We were given pellet guns and catapults for our
10th birthdays!!

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked
on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
 
Mum didn’t have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!

RUGBY and CRICKET had trials and not everyone made it
into the team. Those who didn’t get in had to learn to deal
with disappointment…… Imagine that!
Getting into the team was based on MERIT and not due to
some phoney social fear of traumatising us through fear of
rejection !

Our teachers used to belt us with the back of their hand, big
sticks, rulers, canes or leather straps.
 
Bully’s always ruled the playground at school.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was
unheard of.
 
They actually sided with the law!

Our parents didn’t invent stupid names for their kids like
“Kiora” and “Blade” and “Ridge” and “Vanilla” .

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and
new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And if YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
  
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck
to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government
regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how ‘brave’ their parents were.

Keep it up,

Pete.

Readings’ Jack-Boot-Warriors.

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 Readings’ Jack-Boot-Warriors.

The ‘Lurking Menace’ That Stalks The Streets of Reading, Berks, UK.

The Demise Of Our Civil Liberties.

How many of you used to watch ‘The Two ronnies’ programme, (a lifetime
ago now it seems) where society was ruled by women in black PVC
outfits and black ‘Jack-Boots’?  Where all the men were made to dress in
‘womens’ clothes and do ‘womens’ chores?

If the chap’s wanted to be ‘masculine’ in any way, they had to do it very
secretly, where the ‘jack-Boot Enforcers’ couldn’t find them. They were
treated no better than little children, and in fact, they started to behave like
little children, with ‘The Enforcers’ acting like ‘Super-Nannies’ which is
WHAT made the sketches so funny and memorable. It was only on the
telly, it wasn’t REAL LIFE after all.

Fast-Forward 25 to 30 years and we’re in 2007. This is where we are all
TOLD how to behave. What we musn’t do. Even what we ‘musn’t think’.
We have CCTV on every corner just to keep check on us, and to make
absolutely SURE we’re all obeying the ‘rules’ set down by our ‘Super-
Nannies’. (AKA our local & national Government officers).

Reading, is a thriving town, and as with ANY thriving town, it’s ‘heart’ is
it’s community. The people who live ‘within’ the town are it’s lifeblood.

Now, to get to the point here. WHY do our ‘Super-Nannies’ in the local
council want to make life as difficult as possible for the ‘lifeblood’ to
survive? Why are they making it almost impossible for families who live
within the ‘town zone’ to have a normal family life? With the obvious
outcome that ‘families’ will move OUT of the town into communities where
they are not comfortable, and won’t feel welcome.

‘Outcast’ is the word that springs to mind. Why do our ‘SN’s’ want to make
us all feel like ‘outcasts’? Could it be anything to do with ‘control’?
You know the saying; “Divide and conquer”. Well our ‘SN’s’ are using this
tactic very well by utilising our very own ‘Jack-Boot-Warriors’.

Yes, you’ve guessed it; ‘Traffic Wardens’. Those guardians of our streets.
Making sure No-One gets to outstay their welcome in this ‘cold’ town of
ours. Making sure that if the ‘residents’ have visitors, that they must only
stay for a MAXIMUM of two hours, and by NO account be allowed to stay
later than 8pm, or arrive any earlier than 8am. If they DO it will cost them
£30-, or £60- if the ‘Jack-Boot-Warrior’ should inadvertantly ‘forget’ to
stick the ticket to the windscreen. (As if, EH?)

(And NOW Are They REALLY Going To Get Head-Cams??)

OH, silly me, I forgot. We’re ‘allowed’ to purchase a ‘finite’ number of
parking vouchers that will allow our guests or relatives to stay longer. The
finite number being just enough to allow us to have ONE visitor a WEEK!
What a deal? Why on earth aren’t I rolling over on my back with gratitude?
We’re actually ALLOWED to have ONE visitor a week, and we’re allowed
to PAY the council for that privelage……. GREAT!!

Don’t worry now, it’s OK, because we’re really kept on our guard at all
times. They have a ‘Crack Mobile Squad’. They have ‘Scooters’ in their
arsenal. They can appear as if by ‘magic’ at any time of the day or night.
If they catch you parked just  1  centimetre out of the designated lines of
demarcation you’ll get that ticket. Park up at TWO minutes to eight AM
or stay just TWO minutes later than eight PM and the camera will ‘trap’
you, a ticket will be issued, and you’ll get NO joy if you try to appeal.

Of course, I’m forgetting again. This is all done for OUR benefit. To keep
the streets clear of all that inconvenient traffic that the ‘lifeblood’ of any
town centre needs to live and breath like a human community.

OH, sorry again. I used the H & C words there without thinking. I’d better
be careful because this Blog will be shut down, or made to sit on the
‘Naughty Step’.

Catch you later. Don’t forget to call back regularly, and forward the link
to your friends & relatives. 

Cheers, 

Pete.

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Childrens Rights In The UK.

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As usual, the do-gooders are getting it completely
wrong again. Children are being given ‘rights’ far
beyond reason by any stretch of the imagination.

It now appears that under 16’s,  ie; 13 year olds
can decide for themselves whether invasive
surgery is right for them or not, ‘without’ the
concent or even consultation with their parents.

It’s now a 13 year old’s right to participate in
under-age sex and ‘not’ have to suffer the cons-
equences because they can now go to a ‘licensed’
GP who can advise termination or not without
consulting the parents of said child.

This same GP can also prescribe ‘the pill’ for this
promiscuous child without consulting the parents.
All this is in the name of…..wait for it………………..

CHILDS RIGHTS!  Never mind the fact that as
parents WE are responsible for our children until
at the very least, 16 years old. Or the fact that a
13 year old child cannot marry until they’re 16 yrs,
or vote until they are 18 yrs old. They cannot now
smoke or drink under 18. If they do, they will be
breaking the law, and they, or more likely their
parents will face the full force of the law and fines
to match. If a 13 year old child does NOT attend
school the parent is also hit with the full force of
the law, again with fines or imprisonment as the
punishment.

At present in the UK it is ILLEGAL for a minor
under the age of 16yrs to have sex. FACT! There
are laws and punishments in place to deal with
the breaking of these laws. Agreed, we do know
that sexual activity is starting very much younger
in ’some’ underage children and by and large this
fact is tolerated to a certain degree, though NOT
condoned by responsible parents who would
strongly advise their children NOT to go down that
route.

It now appears that in the UK, we parents cannot
be trusted with the sexual well-being of our children
and ‘our rights’ as parents are being thoroughly
undermined by these rediculous new laws or guide-
lines which are pandering to ‘modern culture’ like
never before.

If a person shop-lifts at 13 yrs they are arrested
and pushed through the custody seargents system
at the local ‘nick’ with fingerprints and mug-shots
taken, and a criminal record in the ‘offing’. First
offence usually a caution though. Never-the-less,
still a traumatic experience for child and parent
alike.

BUT! If the same child breaks another law of the
land by having under-age sex, they are rewarded
with complete confidentiality. Parents are left none
the wiser, even IF the child goes on to have an
abortion at the discretion of the GP. Only if there
are complications AFTER the event will the parents
be made aware of any intervention by these Evil
servants of a morally bankrupt Government.

It’s almost the same as the leniency offered to the
scag-head Junkies that ‘Shop-Lift’ as a way of life.
Because it IS their way-of-life, and the courts are
so frustrated by the ‘guidelines’ from on high, these
blots on the landscapes of humanity walk out of
court EVERY time with just a gentle dressing down
and a rather meek request for them not to do it
again.

What do YOU think they do??

So we are now showing our young that it’s
perfectly OK to break the law, and that even if
they DO, they won’t be punished. But best of all,
their parents will never Know.

Talk about ‘Divide and Conquer’.
The British Government have ruled in this manner
since coming to office in 1997. They see it working
in all walks of life. We now have the most articulate
purveyor of the ‘Machiavellian Concept’ we’ve ever
encountered at the helm.

God forbid that he will be re-elected. But if he is, we
can certainly look forward to many more of these
socially devisive tactics.

What value ‘Honesty, trust and loyalty’ these days??

Pete.

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Verbal Abuse, Can It Benefit Me?

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Verbal Abuse. Can It Benefit Me??
You have to remember that when a person ‘abuses’ you verbally,
it gets your adrenalin racing. This is GOOD for you because it
‘motivates’ you to react or interact with the ‘abuser’. You are
being virtually ‘forced’ to take some sort of action.

Instead of just letting life pass you by without any interaction, you
suddenly have every reason to ‘react’ to something, albeit verbal
abuse or some other provocation. But nothing gets the mind up
into ‘alert mode’ quicker than a good old bit of ‘verbal abuse’.

You feel a compelling need to reply with your own position made
very clear. You usually need to stand your ground and come up
with all sorts of reasons WHY THEY are wrong to name-call you,
or whatever.

So, what do you do?

You re-check what’s being said in the first place.
Is the remark justified?
If not, why not?
If it is, how can you make sure no-one can ever level the same
abuse at you again without good reason?

All these factors come into play to make YOU a BETTER person.

In a nutshell, ‘Verbal Abuse’ CAN benefit you as the receiver, so
the question now must be; “How can I ‘attract’ the right kind of
verbal abuse that can deliver personal ’success’ to me in spite of it”?

There are people who use the ‘awesome power’ of verbal
abuse to market products/services etc, and are HUGELY successful
because of it.

Would YOU feel comfortable using the very same concept, knowing
that the ‘abusees’ would later thank you for it?

Could you stand being told that;  “you’re a lazy-good-for-nothing-time-
waster”?
Or that;  “your life ’sucks’, and it’s going nowhere faster than the
speed of light”?

Would statements like that get you ‘fired up’ to prove that person
wrong?

I’m betting that they would, and the reason that YOU would benefit,
is because you’re also being ‘forced’ to check yourself out.
To re-evaluate your ‘direction’ and ‘achievements’ in life.

Could those abusive remarks actually have some seeds of truth in
them?

You will benefit yourself greatly by simply ‘looking in the mirror’, and
seeing who ‘really is’ looking back at you. We all need to do a ‘reality
check’ now and again, but most of us never do. We go on through life
assuming we’re on the right path. When in fact, we might have taken
a wrong turn some time ago and wondered off on a tangent that’s
moving us further and further away from our ‘desired’ ambition, or
life-path.

So when you next ask if ‘Verbal Abuse’ can benefit YOU.
The answer must be a resounding YES!

Catch you later,

Pete.

‘Street-Bandits’ Attack Wrong Target.

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‘Street-Bandits’ Attack Wrong Target.
It’s now become apparent that our ‘Street-Bandit’
councillors still haven’t shaken off their Bully-Boy
image, despite being taught a lesson in the recent
local elections.

We’re back talking about ’squatters’ here again,
sorry. But we’ve had squatters living next-door for
several years now, causing mayhem and putting
our lives in mortal danger. (See previous entries).
The council do diddley-squat about it. They’re
given ’squatters rights’ and left alone to almost
totally destroy another persons property while
putting we neighbours on both sides at very real
risk due to the nature of their antics.

The other side of town we also have ’squatters’.
As mentioned in the last entry, they’ve gone right
out of their way to bring a destitute, run-down and
unwanted property back to life. Actions to be
applauded I would have thought. But our ‘Street-
Bandits’ have seen it as the perfect time to now
EVICT these squatters who are doing nobody
any harm. (infact quite the opposite).

So what’s going on here now then? Have our
‘Street-Bandits’ finally made their ‘transparency’
very ‘real’? Like the invisible man; Now you see
him, now you don’t.

The Council may have got off with just a damn
good hiding in the recent local elections
because they remained ‘transparent’ to a lot of
voters. (Not me I might add). But now they’ve
‘materialised’ in all their ‘true colours’ I hope the
electorate are taking note.

(Though somehow I doubt it)
This ‘Epic Quest’ will just have to soldier on.

Cheers,

Pete.

08/06/07

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Squatters That Get It RIGHT!

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Squatters That Get It RIGHT.

Previously in this blog I’ve ‘Dissed’ squatters and
their ‘rights’.
This last couple of weeks we’ve all heard about a
‘different’ breed of Squatters. One’s who take over
a derelict property, then through their sheer hard
work and focus, turn the property (and it’s garden)
into a little haven.

Now considering that our town’s squatters are
usually representative of the ‘destructive’ breed,
you’d think our council (You know, those Street-
Bandits that control our lives) would be over the
moon. Congratulating the squatters for ’saving’
them the trouble of bringing the property back
into serviceable use wouldn’t you?

No such luck there I’m afraid. What they ‘actually’
did, was find a ‘purpose and reason’ to not only
crack! their power-whip accross the squatters pride,
but also use up some more of our council tax by
bringing an order onto the heads of these people
who had dared to ‘open’ their garden to the public,
and ’show’ what could be achieved no matter how
bad a property gets.

Yes, they’ve now got an ‘official order’ not to let anyone
from the public sector actually SEE the garden they’ve
taken so much trouble over.
(All this in the same week as the Chelsea Flower
Show by the way). Rather ironic I’d say.

So to all of you who think the council don’t have a
‘control freak’ agenda going on here, I’d like to know
the reasoning behind this latest action, and WHY they
can’t lift a solitary finger when the ‘Other’ breed of
squatters are seriously putting lives in mortal danger all
over our town and surrounding areas?

Sensible replies only please, in the comments section.

Catch you later,

Pete………..FRED67.com

29/05/07

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Reading Buses Acquire ‘Super-Nanny’ Status.

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Reading Buses Acquire ‘Super-Nanny’ Status.
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We all know that the public bus services over the whole
country has gone to ‘Pot’ since de-regularisation a few
years ago now. It’s no longer simple for us mere mortals
to walk to a bus stop and expect to be able to identify
with ease, the bus that will take you exactly where you
want to go.

It has to be said. That if I were to have to take a bus ride
‘anywhere’ today, I wouldn’t have a clue what to do. I’d
have to ask one of my kids to work out a ‘plan-of-action
flow chart’ for me. (Providing even THEY could work one
out).

Bus travel, like train travel, has become an ‘accomplished
art’. It’s no longer the simple turn up, wait, and a bus or
train will come along soon. We now have to have a part
degree in ‘research’ so that we can actually ‘work out’ the
hidden meanings of bus & train timetables. Often,
booking your journey in advance is the preferred option.
Making you feel that you simply won’t get to where you’re
going if you don’t. (With trains you often DON’T).

But wait for it.
Here in the ‘clued-up’ advanced ‘wannabe-a-city’ town of
Reading Berkshire. We have what has to be said in all
fairness, a pretty damn good bus service. It’s a shame
that the council can’t just leave it at that, and allow us to
use it when and how we’d LIKE to use it though. They
persistently try to FORCE us onto the buses by const-
ructing road blocks that only let buses through, thinking
that these tactics will make ‘Reading Buses’ a more
attractive option.

Sadly, and to most, quite obviously. This has just turned
the motorists of our town into a ‘fighting machine’. Even
MORE determined not to use the buses as a point of
‘principle’. ie; Why should we be TOLD to use the buses.
We’re intelligent enough to make an educated choice
surely?

Now here’s the comical bit;……..
Apparently we’re NOT intelligent enough to make that
choice. We’re also not intelligent enough to be able to
‘use’ our local bus service either. Because our buses
have gone all ‘Super-Nanny’ on us. The ‘Twerps’ who
run the service have deemed it necessary to publish
an ‘instruction’ brochure that tells us not only how to ‘use’
a bus. It tells us how to ‘catch’ one, and even what you
should and can do once you’re ON the bus.

How brilliant a concept is that one then?
Did you know that to catch the bus, you first have to walk
to a bus stop. Not any old bus stop though. The ‘right’
bus stop.
When you get on the bus, you have to pay for the journey.
While ON the bus, you can read a paper or look at the
views of our fair ‘City?’ Views you apparently can’t see
from any other mode of transport.
Then to finish your journey. When you get to where you
want to go. ‘You get OFF’.

Amazing isn’t it?
Do YOU live in the Reading area?
If not, don’t you now wish you DID?

We’re allowed to ‘breathe’ here still though, so don’t
worry too much on our behalf. Though it might pay you
to call back to this ‘blog’ regularly, just to check and
make sure that it IS still the case.

Catch you later,

Pete.

14/05/07

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‘The Reading Berkshire Whiff’.

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‘The Reading, Berkshire Whiff’.

Everyone who’s ever lived in or around Reading Berkshire,
can remember the now famous ‘Whitley-Whiff’. A phrase that’s
found it’s place in local ‘folklore’. Caused by the good old
sewage plant that Whitley was built around, and didn’t it ‘pong’
in the summer months?

Recently a brand new, state-of-the-art facility has all but made
the ‘Whitley-Whiff’ a thing of the past. BUT! Hold your horses
there. Our council (among many others nationally) have deemed
that we should all experience this wonderful ‘Whiff’ phenomenon
still.

It’s obviously good for us, and old ‘Super-Nanny’ in the council
offices has insisted we MUST not only keep the ‘Whiff’, but
extend it to all areas within our borough.

Of course, I’m referring to the ‘GREEN’ benefits of fortnightly bin
collections. ‘Super-Nanny’ has told us it’s good for our planet, and
good for our health. Like our green’s at dinner time. We might not
like them, but we HAVE to have them. If we don’t accept them,
we must expect to be punished.

Well, ‘S-N’ might not like the truth, but infact the truth is, fortnightly
bin collections are NOT good for our health. Especially within the
town centre streets where the houses are virtually ALL multi-
occupancy dwellings. With usually far more ‘paying guests’ than
is legally or morally allowed. Thus making the bins full to over-
flowing even with the ‘weekly’ collections.

No offence intended to the massive influx of ‘Poles’ into the town,
but they do tend to ’shack-up’ in very cramped conditions. They
also have to shop to eat and drink. With that comes extra pack-
aging. That packaging HAS to go somewhere. Which is why, if
ever you walk around ANY street in and around the town centre,
you’ll see both ‘red’ and ‘black’ bins filled to overflowing. With
black plastic bags piled high on the tops or by the sides. Often
split open because mum’s can’t get by with their push-chairs,
and the disabled certainly can’t negotiate the paths with their
wheelchairs and have to risk their lives on the road.
(I wonder what our ‘Grand-Masters’ of Europe would have to say
about that?).

‘Super-Nanny’ says that since fortnightly collections have been
introduced, re-cycling has improved dramatically. She’s right.
But what she doesn’t realise, is that the reason recycling has
increased since the fortnightly collections have been introduced
is because SO MANY people have written about their ’shame’
and ‘disgust’ with the situation to ‘The Evening Post’, and the EP
‘to their credit’ have published those letters.
(Any publicity is good publicity).

Plus the fact that at the same time the ‘Grand-Super-Nanny’
(Our Esteemed Government),
launched a very costly advertising campaign to ‘high-light’ the
need for re-cycling. Thus ‘proving’ that fortnightly collections are
obviously the way forward. This ‘Machiavellian tactic’ is used
every day by local council’s and national government when they
need to ‘prove’ a point that’s NOT provable by normal ethical,
moral means.

Recycling would have increased MORE with weekly collections,
because NOW! we have to put recyclable waste into our ‘black’
bins, as there’s no room in the ‘red’ ones. I’d say that was
definitely counter-productive. Add to that ‘The Reading Town
centre WHIFF’ caused by all the rotting food, (especially fish),
and we have the proverbial ‘recipe for disaster’ bringing
diseases back into our society that we thought were banished
for good.

Perhaps this point was overlooked when the REAL ‘Reading
Berkshire Loonies’ went to the polls a few days ago?

Catch you later, and don’t forget to pass this blog on to your
friends and relatives who are also on the ‘net.

Cheers,

Pete.

07/05/07

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The Reading Royal Berks Hospital.

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The Reading Royal Berks Hospital. 

Today I read a great little story in our local paper,
‘The Reading Evening Post’, submitted by a Mr Brian Lewendon.

He’s the press officer for the Tilehurst branch of the ‘Royal British
Legion’.  He was there sussing out the lay of the land, as the
hospital has given them permission to place their display stand
in the courtyard adjacent to South Block on Veterans Day,
June 24th.

While there he snapped a photo that would cheer most patients
heart and make them smile. A mother duck called Daisy is
apparently resident in the pond within the courtyard, and yes, she’s
got 12 baby ducklings following her every move.

Apparently her husband buggered off, leaving Daisy as a ’single
mum’, bringing up her brood on her own. Little did he realise
that Daisy is living in ‘Duck Nirvana’ with her littl’uns as visitors and
patients alike all use this area extensively to snack and smoke.
So Daisy and her new brood are never going to go short of a meal,
and WHAT a meal? What variety?

Over the next couple of weeks, children getting bored during
visiting times will be well entertained by this little family, and
patients will at least have something to smile about if they’re
residing in any of the wards overlooking the courtyard.

I have to say, it makes a change to be able to write ‘positively’
about the ‘Royal Berks Hospital’. Thumbs up to the ducks, as well
as to the management that are allowing the ‘Royal British Legion’
space within this lovely little ‘oasis’.

Catch you later, and please pass this ‘blospot’ on to friends and
family.

Cheers,

 Pete. 

05/05/07

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