Enough with the patronisng, ageist, books…

Yes, I know there’s a typo in the title, but to change it once the post is published will cause problems with Google. … Aaaaargh! I’ve just stumbled across a book which seems designed just to piss me off – “Teach Yourself Digital Photography for the Over 50s”. It also boasts that it’s “Written in [...]

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A new camera – addendum…

As I mentioned, my Bronica ETRS is heavy, and today I noticed Ffordes had a couple of Speed Grips in stock. One was pretty clapped out, but the other was in good condition, so for £25 I ordered it. Or, at least, I might have. Ffordes have a weird system that allows multiple people to [...]

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A new camera…

I have always, until relatively recently, been a keen photographer. I have a small collection of digital cameras – Canon and Fuji compacts, a Fuji bridge, and a pair of Olympus DSLRs – and in my 35mm days I even took a small SLR outfit on backpacking trips. I still have an extensive 35mm SLR [...]

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Why is the hospital system biased against seriously ill patients?

By which I mean what steps are taken to prevent a seriously ill outpatient who is too sick to attend an appointment, falling through the holes in the system? Today, I have a cardiology appointment, one I have been waiting 8 months for – but there’s a problem – I’m too ill to go. I [...]

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The campaign of hatred and lies about the sick and disabled started here…

If you wonder who originated the current campaign of lies, disinformation and hatred aimed at the chronically sick and disabled community, look no further than David Freud** (aka Lord Freud now he’s a defected from Labour and become a Tory), an extremely wealthy former City banker (banker – well, that’s almost right…), who claimed in [...]

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Annual flu vaccine information…

Interesting to see that the NHS is still circulating the same lies about the annual flu vaccines that it did last year, to whit, that the H1N1 virus caused the swine flu outbreak – no, it bloody didn’t. The swine flu virus was a composite, and novel, virus, hence the need to develop a vaccine [...]

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Chronicles of the Heart, Part 23 – Candesartan is dangerous…

Now discontinued for the second and last time – goddamned Candesartan is doing a hell of a lot of damage, even though, for my heart problems, it’s very effective. If you take it, the full horror-show of serious/dangerous side-effects is here. And here are the worst:- Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness [...]

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Photography – going back to basics…

I’ve been, until recently, a very keen – and damn good – photographer, though it’s some time since I actually took a photograph. I learned during the late 50s early 60s, a time when any photographer worthy of the name could assess exposure, estimate distance, and calculate flash exposures, too, without any hardware at all [...]

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Liberal Democrats, the Welfare bill, and Reality…

Everybody was hopping up and down with glee last night over the Lib Dem conference resolution that Lib Dems in government should oppose the 12-month time limit on ESA. This is being hailed as a success for the disabled community. They also voted in favour of people appealing against Work Capability Assessments being be eligible [...]

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Full Dark, No Sleep…

(With apologies to Stephen King) ….. Pray – pray very hard – to whatever gods there might be that you never lose the ability to sleep. It’s a horrendous experience and can undermine your emotional and mental stability, and after the better part of 2 months with no useful sleep (2-3 hours, if I’m lucky), [...]

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