Shiralee: Winter 2012/13 #1

Saturday 20th October


This will be our first full day back at Mercia Marina, and we’ve noticed a few changes already. For a start, a couple of new ‘Park Home’ style cabins have been erected. These are holiday homes which cost about £150k on a 100 year lease and, if the purchaser also owns a boat, the moorings come free – I think, but don’t quote me on it.

Also, probably due to the excessive amount of rain experienced during this summer, much of the foliage around the site has really spread out. This is good, because it breaks up the view of the marina sections and creates a rather wild look to the place.

We have also heard that plans are afoot to build a noise reduction fence along the side of the site that faces the confluence of the A50 and A38. This is a huge gyratory system, which can be really noisy during peak hours, so such a fence will be of great benefit to those closest to it.

Bonfire night will be held on the planned gastro pub site as usual, but, since the pub is to start taking shape fairly soon, it will be the last one on that site. With Rusty becoming deaf to all but the offer of food and walkies, she doesn’t hear the fireworks now, so we’ll probably attend the festivities this time.

Tuesday 23rd October

I mentioned in the last blog of 2012 cruise, the fact that I had caught a cold. Well, that has turned into the most horrendous cough and it’s been losing me precious beauty sleep over the past few nights. I’m spending almost as much time in the armchair as I am in bed, so I won’t be sorry when it goes.

The Savile Investigation…..

So, where is the Savile family whilst this furore is going on? Apart from tearing down his headstone very early on in the proceedings, we have not had a peep out of them. Could it be that they knew he was a pervert, or are they just so embarrassed by the whole thing that they are keeping a low profile? Whatever the case, all I’ve seen and heard is innuendo and claims by those who were, supposedly, molested by him. And you know what they say about rumour and innuendo, “Believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear”. It works for me!!

Wednesday 24th October

Oh boy! We drove into Burton yesterday, partly for shopping, but also to see if I could find something to rid me of this hacking cough. To this end we called in to Boots and checked out the selection at the Pharmacy counter. There, sitting on a shelf, was an item called ‘Pulmo Bailly Oral Solution’, which claims to be a ‘Cough Suppressant Expectorant’. That, I thought, has got to be the bees knees of cough mixtures. Along with it, since it was offered at a discount when bought with any medicine, I purchased ‘Covonia’ Double Impact Lozenges.

Upon arriving home, being eager to try the stuff out, I checked the directions and opened the bottle. Phew! That smell. It reminded me of visits to old folks homes. It’s something that always seems to be there. If you have ever come across that smell, you’ll know what I mean.

So, ‘mix with a little water and add fruit juice or sugar if required’, it said. Ye Gods, you really wouldn’t want to drink this stuff without the sugar or fruit juice, it really is foul. I have never tasted anything so awful. Ughhh!!

Did it work? Well, I can safely say that my cough reduced in severity but, whether this was due to the efficacy of the medicine, or my fear of having to drink any more of the stuff, I have no idea. Suffice it to say, my cough has all but gone. Thank goodness.

Sunday 28th October

Well, just for a change we tried The Red Lion in Repton for our Sunday drink today. We have discovered that Saturday night is live music night there. Now, we’re not lovers of pubs that run live music nights, they are usually far too noisy for our delicate ears now. However, The Red Lion has a Folk night next Saturday and, on the following Saturday, they have Jazz Guitar and Harmonica, so there’s a good chance we will pay them a visit on one of those nights. We gotta get out more!!

Education

When I was at school, way back when, I was left in no doubt that my teachers had been fully trained in the 3Rs. After all, if a teacher of one subject was away sick, another teacher, who would probably teach a different subject, was perfectly capable of standing in for the absent one. Now, guess what, all teachers will now be expected to be well versed in those three subjects before being allowed to teach.

Now there’s a novel idea!!

I would have thought, being the logical person that I am, that as with any college or university course, an applicant would need to show that they have some grounding, i.e. recognised qualification, before being accepted onto the course, especially so when entering the teaching profession.

It seems I was wrong!

Tuesday 30th October

We took the bus into Derby yesterday morning. This trip was mainly to purchase a selection of nuts, but also because I was in great need of some decent tracing paper. (Not all budding artists are capable of freehand drawing, sad to say). Unfortunately, with only one bus per hour, our time is limited, because we really do not want to spend two hours in town.

We also visited our favourite book stand and exchanged five books for another five, at a grand total of just £5.25p, a bargain in anybody’s reckoning.

While we were away our friend Chris; he’s the one who took care of the car while we were away; borrowed ours because his is away being repaired after some clot bashed into him. White van man was the culprit.

Savile

I saw a picture yesterday where Esther Rantzen was with Jimmy Savile. This lady, allegedly, knew he was molesting children, well, at least strongly suspected him of doing so and yet here she is, right alongside him at some event or other.

Many other celebrities have come forward now who also suspected him of these foul deeds. But, nobody ever came put their head above the parapet when it mattered, because they thought they wouldn’t have been believed, or that Savile was too big a celebrity.

Well, nobody told those two intrepid American reporters that Nixon was too big. They went ahead and shopped him anyway. It seems we Brits have been lacking in guts for a very long time.

However, the Savile family have now added their voices to the furore, with the plea that they ‘had no idea what was going on’. Oh, really! They are now probably trembling at the thought that they could be liable to million in damages. But Jimmy is dead so, how do you punish others for his, alleged, wrong doing? Is this right and proper? Did his family do anything wrong? Did they know, like so many others around the man, that he was a wrongun?

There is still much media interest and legal investigations but, I still say, show me proof! Put up or shut up!

Finally, for this and future blogs, you may not share my views regarding the subjects I have a say about, but I hope you will respect my right to say them. These subjects won’t always be in the top spot in the media, and they will be picked at random. You are free to comment, or email me if you know my address, but I reserve the right to respond or ignore you. This is, after all, just a blog, not a public forum.

All the best for now

Dave, Sheila and Rusty.