Grannymar

Alistair Darling The Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK has been barred from every pub in Kendal, Cumbria since he increased the cost of a pint by 4 pence in his latest budget.

According to a BBC report:

Last month an Edinburgh bar was credited with inspiring an internet campaign aimed at barring the chancellor from every pub in Britain.

Drinkers at the Utopia bar in Easter Road were angered when the MP for Edinburgh South West increased duty on a pint of beer by 4p and raised spirits duty by 55p a bottle.

They spread their message via blogs and a Facebook group.

It set me thinking…. Would these tactics work on certain Ministers in Ireland…. The Blogging world is a Powerful place. A new National Anthem is needed. How about basing it on

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING from Les Miserables.

BBC Radio 4 is devoting the month of January to Care in the community. Discussions this week dealt with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. ‘Women’s Hour’ and ‘You and Yours’ approach the problems from different angles. Each day a Podcast of the programme is available, and if you have an aging parent, or are at the butt end of the nursing home jokes, they are worth a listen. There is something to learn for everybody.

One horrendous fact I learned on Wednesday was that for 2008-09 if someone foster’s a young child the allowances are about £121.68 per week. Yet if you are a full time carer for the elderly the allowances are £48.00 per week and that is means tested! If the carer earns over £100 per week the allowance is reduced. If the same patient is admitted to a Nursing Home or Home for the Elderly, the fees range from £500-£600 per week. Very often when someone ill remains within their home it falls to one person to provide the care 24/7 (£48.00), while in a Nursing home the staff change at least every eight hours providing fresh energy to look after the patient.

There is a lot to be said for a fatal heart attack!

My mind was turning to lunch on Wednesday as I checked the last of the news items on my Google reader. I was mentally scanning my fridge and thinking a toasted bacon sandwich with a pot of Green tea was just the ticket for another dull day.

Then this BBC item caught my eye.

Be thin to cut cancer

Professor Martin Wiseman report author is quoted as saying

“Cancer is not a fate, it is a matter of risk, and you can adjust those risks by how you behave. It is very important that people feel that they are in control of what they do.”

Everyone must also aim to be as thin as possible without becoming underweight. People with a Body Mass Index (BMI), a calculation which takes into account height and weight, of between 18.5 and 25, are deemed to be within a “healthy” weight range. But the study says their risk increases as they head towards the 25 mark, and that everyone should try to be as close to the lower end as possible.

Recommendations from the report include:

Limit red meat
Limit alcohol
Avoid bacon, ham, and other processed meats
No sugary drinks
No weight gain after 21
Exercise every day
Breastfeed children
Do not take dietary supplements to cut cancer

So where do I stand?

I enjoy a good mixed diet and a glass of Wine or a G&T. I am more inclined to have a drink in company than on my own. Dairy products don’t like me and I never enjoyed sugary drinks, and do not take dietary supplements.

So what have I left out?

I exercise as much as possible and although at sixty I now weigh as much as I did the day before Elly was born 29 years ago, my BMI is 19.5. I come from a family of Whippets and do not possess weighing scales.

If I were to lose any more weight I would have to walk around gratings and not over them!

As for Breastfeeding; I didn’t, I couldn’t and I have no intention of starting now!!!!

Last evening I heard something scary. I was listening to the radio. BBC Radio 4, the Money Box programme. It is now back for a new season. I often find it informative. I have yet to discover how to get those old pennies out of my Money Box; they never seem to cover that topic! I might have to resort to a tin opener!

One of the topics last night told how some Credit Card customers are running into problems at hotels. They explained how one “standard practice” in the way card payments are reserved can sometimes affect your ability to spend. Perhaps you International Travellers out there are well aware of the practice. If not you can listen to the piece on the above link.

When a person checks into a hotel they are asked how they will be paying. Most of us now for simplicity and ease proffer our Credit Card. At that point the hotel *Earmarks* a sum of money to include the daily rate for the number of days we hope to stay, plus the cost of our anticipated spending e.g. breakfast, dinner and use of the Mini bar plus an extra to cover accident.

One caller told of his checking into a hotel, but later changing his mind for some reason and booking into another one. When He handed over his card at the second hotel he was told there was a problem. His limit was not sufficient to cover the bill.

He contacted his Credit card company and was told the first hotel had *Earmarked* £1500 to cover his stay and when he booked into the second hotel they wanted to *Earmark* a similar amount.

Another person checked into an Hotel as per normal and then went out for the remainder of the evening to shop and have a meal. The next time he tried to use his card it was rejected.

We learned that it is a common practice for hotels to do this, yet nowhere is it advertised or are we advised.

Now you are warned! Take note.

I wonder does my Elly know.

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