Antony - Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.

The Next General Election – Why I’ll Be Voting For Labour

By AntonyPoliticalNo Comments

So the next General Election has been announced and will take place on Thursday 8th June 2017. Neither of the two main political parties have released their manifestos yet. But Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of The Labour Party has released his 10 Pledges To Transform Britain.

The Labour Party are doing a few interesting things at the moment. Firstly they’re reaching out to people through the use of social media. Social media’s influence on politics was recently shown in the USA election and if the results are anything to go by (Donald Trump used social media and got elected to The White House) it’s a good move.

The mainstream media has been at best barely mentioning The Labour Party and worst highly critical of them. The mainstream media has become like reading a Conservative party pamphlet. The same lies and bogus phrases repeated again and again.

Secondly The Labour Party is reaching out to people and encouraging them to register to vote. In particular young people. This is clever as it recognises that Labour must reach out to disenfranchised young people who wouldn’t normally vote at all. This isn’t a new Labour idea, it was tried before the last General Election, it just wasn’t done very well then. Hopefully it will be done better this time. But it is also part of a larger vision for Labour to broaden its appeal to all.

Thirdly The Labour Party is doing something unique (at least to UK politics), fascinating and potentially election winning. The Labour Party is running an online National Policy Forum Consultation 2017, where everybody – both members of the public and Labour party members are invited to give their thoughts, opinions, ideas and views in 8 policy areas covering every part of Government.

The Labour Party are already doing things differently than the political norm. They’re running an online National Policy Forum Consultation, where everybody – both members of the public and Labour party members are invited to give their thoughts, opinions, ideas and views in 8 policy areas covering every part of Government.

The 8 policy areas are: Economy, Business and Trade; International; Health and Social Care; Early Years, Education and Skills; Justice and Home Affairs; Housing, Local Government and Transport; Work, Pensions and Equality; and Environment, Energy and Culture.

For each area you read a short policy document (around 7-8 pages with plenty of spacing) and then can submit your thoughts, opinions, ideas and views. You can also read what others have wrote and comment on their input.

National Policy Forum Consultation 2017 comments are then fed in Policy Commission meetings. These meetings will likely decide what Labour policy is and form The Labour Party’s manifesto. This is a way to involve and empower people who usually don’t feel listened to by Politicians. A genius idea.

I’m voting for Jeremy Corbyn and The Labour Party in this upcoming election. Why? Because I think and feel that Labour Government will:

Tackle the growing inequality in our society. At the moment the rich are getting much more richer than ever before, while the poor are becoming destitute.
Properly fund and resource our National Health Service (NHS), Social Care and Public Services – all of which feel like they are so close to shattering right now.
Deal with decreasing opportunities for young people.
Build more affordable homes and address homelessness which is now visually evident in every town and city in the UK.
Get control of the rapidly rising cost of living (including fair energy prices and reduced public transport costs).
Increase worker’s rights and protections.
Keep The Human Rights Act (1998).

Some people say that they aren’t keen on Jeremy Corbyn. Sometimes with poor or no reasons for their dislike. I can only put that down to the power of the mainstream media.

My impression of Jeremy Corbyn is that he’s honest (refreshing for a politician), he’s passionate, he genuinely cares about people, he’s got a lot of experience (both as a politician and working within Trade Unions), he’s been on the right side of history (check out his voting history here), he listens and he wants to empower people. He wants a country that works for the many and not the few. All good qualities for the next Prime Minister.

Still unsure about Jeremy Corbyn? Read this article: Here are 16 reasons to vote for Jeremy Corbyn by The Independent.

Write soon,

Antony

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Monday 1 May 2017

Health Tech Review: TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare

By AntonyHealth, Reviews2 Comments

I’ve been a Type 1 diabetic for a decade. You can read my story of how I was diagnosed with diabetes here.

I’ve used various glucose meters, but they’ve all essentially done the same job. Around 6 months ago I was switched TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare by my GP. Here are the Pros and Cons of the TEE2 Glucose Meter:

Pros

It’s easy to use.
It meets the latest coding standards.
No coding is required.
The customer support is brilliant and really responsive. You can telephone a freephone number: 0800 881 5423 or email info@spirit-healthcare.co.uk
The meter shows trends data.
Apparently the testing strips are cheaper for the NHS to buy.

Cons

The meter and its accessories look and feel cheap. For example the zip off the pouch came off in my hand during my first week of use.
It’s around the average size of other meters on the market. But my previous meter was much smaller, making it feel big to me.
The screen isn’t colour like my previous meter.
The date is set in the American-style format: Month-Date, with no option to switch to UK formatting.
No automatic changing of time. You have to manually change time on the meter when clocks go forwards and backwards.
The meter has no connectivity to smartphones. It would have been great to have Bluetooth connectivity that put meter readings into a smartphone App.
The desktop software just wouldn’t work on my iMac. This meant that I would have to go back to recording results using pen and paper in a logbook. No logbook was provided. This again felt like going backwards, as my previous meter did connect to my computer and download test results and trends data to my iMac.

Although the pros and cons for this meter are equal in number, overall this meter has felt like going backwards for me. The TEE2 Glucose Meter feels really limited when compared to my previous meter and other meters on the market right now.

I really wanted to like the TEE2 Glucose Meter and for it to improve my diabetic self-care. But it hasn’t done this. Instead it’s given me more to remember to do (writing results in logbook).

If you have a choice on which Glucose Meter you use, my advice would be to do your research and choose one that is more sophisticated than the TEE2 Glucose Meter. If you don’t have a choice and have been put on the TEE2 Glucose Meter by your GP or Diabetic Specialist Consultant/Nurse my advice would be not to have too high hopes or expectations for it.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Monday 1 May 2017

The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure (Part 3) – Haydon Bridge, Chesters Fort & Museum, Brunton Turret and Corbridge Roman Town

By AntonyAdventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, NatureNo Comments

My friend Simon and I went back up to Hadrian’s Wall to continue our adventure following the Wall from one side of the country to the other, stopping at various sites of interest along the way.

We started this adventure last year in Cumbria. You can read about and see photos from last year in the The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure Part 1 and Part 2.

The day was dry and sunny, but it did get colder in the late afternoon. So here’s where we went, along with photos:

Haydon Bridge.

Haydon Bridge
Haydon Bridge is a village with an old bridge (photoed left) across River South Tyne. The village is very quaint and worth a short visit. Haydon Bridge is now a walk way, but would have been used as a crossing for people, horsemen and carts. Essential Info:

Free parking is available on roads in the village.
Public Toilets are free to use and on both sides of the bridge.
The village has several pubs, a chemist, a chippy, a Tandoori restaurant and some guest houses.
Recommended for a short visit. The bridge is the only thing of note that we saw.

We decided to stop at Hexham next. Hexham is a bigger village than Haydon Bridge, with an Abbey. However as we drove around the town centre looking for parking, all signage said Parking Disc Required, but no signage gave instructions or directions on how to get a parking disc. It was a busy Saturday afternoon, with some event on at the Abbey, so we decided to give Hexham a miss.

Chesters Fort & Museum
Chesters Fort & Museum is magnificent and is a site maintained by English Heritage. It has loads to see and do including: the remains of a Fort and Bath House, a picnic area, spy holes that show where Hadrian’s Wall would have been (including across the North Tyne river), a brilliant museum full of stone works (statues, altars, depiction of Gods & Goddesses) and tools, weapons and jewellery, a gift shop, a tea room and toilets. The only downside to this fantastic attraction is that the cost of parking along with its reasonable admission price makes it an overall an expensive experience.

The signs dotted throughout the attraction are really informative and is probably the best example of signage throughout my entire Hadrian’s Wall Adventure adventure. For example, one sign read that about 500 horses and men would have been stationed at this Fort. The next sign read that a horse urinates and defecates 12KGS of waste a day. This was my Fact of the Day. Just think of all that waste, along with that of the humans.

Essential Info:

Remains of a Fort and Bath House.
Also includes a Museum, Picnic Area, Tea Room and Gift Shop.
Toilets available.
Highly Recommended.
Admission Price: £7.30 for an adult with gift aid (£6.60 without).
Opening Times: Vary throughout the year. View here.
Parking: Pay and Display at £3.00.

Here are photos from Chesters Fort & Museum:

Chesters Fort (1) – 500 Horsemen would have lived in this Fort.	Chesters Fort (2) – Remains of Stables.
Chesters Fort (3) – Entrance Gatehouse.	Chesters Fort (4) – Hadrian’s Wall will have run across the North Tyne river at this point. You can see the continuation of the Wall on the other side of the bank.
Chesters Fort (5) – The Roman Baths.	Chesters Fort (6) – The Roman Baths Porch.
Chesters Fort (7) – The Roman Baths.	Chesters Fort (8) – Presumably a trough for the horses to eat/drink from.
Chesters Fort (8) – The Roman Baths, a cold bath.	Chesters Fort (9) – The Roman Baths.
Chesters Fort (10) – The Roman Baths Steam Room.	Chesters Fort (11) – South East Angle Tower.
Chesters Fort (12) – Possibly a storage room or stronghold.	Chesters Fort (13) – A well in the main villa, which still had water in,
Chesters Fort (14) – Flooring.	Chesters Fort (15) – More flooring.
Chesters Museum (1) – The Clayton Museum was a brilliant museum full of stone works (statues, altars, depiction of Gods & Goddesses), as well as tools, weapons and jewellery.	Chesters Museum (2) – Entrance. Inside stone works lined each of the walls.
Chesters Museum (3) – A headless statue of Juno Regina (Queen Juno). Apparently Queen Juno was one of the most important deities in Roman Religion, known as the protector and special counsellor of the state.	Chesters Museum (4) – Various altars.

Then we drove through a village called Wall. After passing through Wall we saw signs for Brunton Turret.

Brunton Turret
Brunton Turret is remains of a Turret that would have been one of many along Hadrian’s Wall. It’s in a famers field and there is a designated Parking place at the side of the road. It is a quick site to visit that will take you all of 5 minutes to walk to and see. Photos are below.

Essential Info:

Remains of a Turret and some of Hadrian’s Wall, in a farmers field.
Free parking is in designated space at the side of the road.
Well signposted.

Brunton Turret (1) – Hadrian’s Wall.

Brunton Turret (2) – Where the soldiers would have been stationed.

Corbridge Roman Town – We chose not to go in, as it looked very similar to Chesters Fort & Museum which we had visited earlier in the day.

Corbridge Roman Town
Corbridge Roman Town is another Roman Town, maintained by English Heritage. We opted not to visit this site, as it looked very similar to Chesters Fort & Museum. Essential Info:

Remains of a Roman Town.
Also includes a Museum, Picnic Area and Gift Shop.
Toilets available.
Admission Price: £7.20 for an adult with gift aid (£6.50 without).
Opening Times: Vary throughout the year. View here.
Free Parking on site.

Next year Simon and I plan to visit Newcastle to complete our tour across Hadrian’s Wall from one side of the country to the other.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Sunday 23 April 2017

Photos From My Local Park Today

By AntonyHappiness & Joy, NatureNo Comments

This week I’m off from work on annual leave. It has been a beautiful day – sunshiny with clouds. So I took the opportunity to visit my local park. It was great to feel the heat and light of the sun on my skin.

Here are some photos from my local park today:

Photos from my local park today (1) – Duck Pond.	Photos from my local park today (2) – Overview.
Photos from my local park today (3) – War Memorial.	Photos from my local park today (4) – Monument.
Photos from my local park today (5) – Fountain.	Photos from my local park today (6) – A Garden.
Photos from my local park today (7) – How times have changed. My local park now has CCTV. They might be painted green, but they’re still CCTV.