Last night our cat Domino died. Up until around 5 weeks ago I was of the mindset which says 'it's only a cat, get over it and go buy a new one'. I'm 55, a professional photographer and just didn't realise that when Trixie, Domino's mum died last month that you can actually grieve for a pet.
Then yesterday Domino, who seemed healthy enough, died. A mixture of age and the heat of 35C. She died being stroked by me as I always used to (more for my own comfort than her I suspect) and hearing my voice. I don't know if this made things better for her but it did for me.
I shall miss Domino. Suddenly finding her under my feet or jumping onto my desk wiping out hours of Photoshop work and then looking at me.
Ah well .............
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
I'm pretty average I guess in terms of a typical Englishman, I queue when expected, I pay taxes, I don't moan and generally put up with everything. At least that's what I thought until recently. Things are changing, some quickly others slowly and I want to explore (as well as moan about) these changes.
What am I talking about?
Speed cameras, bank charges, 0800 numbers, mobile phones, personalised number plates,litter wardens, on the spot fines, government interference both local and otherwise is a reasonable start.
Take on the spot fines. Pay now or we'll take you to court and make you pay more. That isn't justice of any sort. You are effectively not being given a choice, it's a threat. Guilty as charged.
And it's not just Police, who we can assume are trained and fair in the their distribution of summary justice, but even a park warden has these powers! They are our servants, we pay their wages they should do what they used to do -'go around with a pointed stick and pick up our rubbish'! Instead they are ellivated to the position of 'policing, judging and sentencing'!
I'll finish now on speed cameras. The average speed camera costs £25,000 and lasts an average of 8 years with maintenance costs of £18,000 per year. It MUST therefore catch enough motorists to support itself. Any camera which actually stops ANY speeding would therefore be a net cost to these so called police/council partnerships so the absolute intention is to reduce 'average' speeds but be effective enough to cover it's costs although clearly there is a profit motive here with many cameras now hitting the millions in recorded fines.
If you kill the fines and have a 9 point penalty (or even a 3 month ban) you would stop speeding overnight, BUT there would be no profit in that. So you are told you were speeding, fined and then penalised again by points. It's one of the only offences where you can be penalised twice!
It's a bit like your council tax which must be paid even if they do not deliver the goods or it's prison. You can be sent to prison for not paying for services your provider is actually contracted to provide. Most councils outsource their services to private companies (did you know this?). So they contract a refuse collection company to service your road and (I used to negotiate these contracts) they ensure that there are severe penalty costs should they fail. So next time they don't clean up your road or fail to collect your rubbish remember your council will have received a nice cheque from them under their contract for failing to deliver.
If you try that then it's off to prison!
What am I talking about?
Speed cameras, bank charges, 0800 numbers, mobile phones, personalised number plates,litter wardens, on the spot fines, government interference both local and otherwise is a reasonable start.
Take on the spot fines. Pay now or we'll take you to court and make you pay more. That isn't justice of any sort. You are effectively not being given a choice, it's a threat. Guilty as charged.
And it's not just Police, who we can assume are trained and fair in the their distribution of summary justice, but even a park warden has these powers! They are our servants, we pay their wages they should do what they used to do -'go around with a pointed stick and pick up our rubbish'! Instead they are ellivated to the position of 'policing, judging and sentencing'!
I'll finish now on speed cameras. The average speed camera costs £25,000 and lasts an average of 8 years with maintenance costs of £18,000 per year. It MUST therefore catch enough motorists to support itself. Any camera which actually stops ANY speeding would therefore be a net cost to these so called police/council partnerships so the absolute intention is to reduce 'average' speeds but be effective enough to cover it's costs although clearly there is a profit motive here with many cameras now hitting the millions in recorded fines.
If you kill the fines and have a 9 point penalty (or even a 3 month ban) you would stop speeding overnight, BUT there would be no profit in that. So you are told you were speeding, fined and then penalised again by points. It's one of the only offences where you can be penalised twice!
It's a bit like your council tax which must be paid even if they do not deliver the goods or it's prison. You can be sent to prison for not paying for services your provider is actually contracted to provide. Most councils outsource their services to private companies (did you know this?). So they contract a refuse collection company to service your road and (I used to negotiate these contracts) they ensure that there are severe penalty costs should they fail. So next time they don't clean up your road or fail to collect your rubbish remember your council will have received a nice cheque from them under their contract for failing to deliver.
If you try that then it's off to prison!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)