Off Topic The Goodhand Arms

Good for you, Mr and Mrs Badger. Really great news.

Vin

 

Great news....respect for you and Mrs Badger and NHS

 

No tips but I live on the footpath (further north) I'd say it's a great time of year to do it, not cold yet and not too many other walkers....OK here's a tip, take enough money as a contingency to hole up a BB in case of really bad weather....good luck with it.

 

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/britains-...nazi-war-messages-dies-aged-97-134125010.html

A woman has died at 97 who was the last remaining Nazi war messenger....she taught herself German and Morse Code so she could take a more active part in the war effort. It made me think how few people are alive now who were involved in WWII. When I grew up all adults had been involved in the war in one way or another....most men on active service, women in the forces or factories, children who had been evacuated. It had affected all their lives. Children were all proud of what had been achieved by such a small country (with help from the allies of course) and we all respected those actively involved. I find it so sad that now all old people are lumped together...annoyingly not able to leap out of the way of the fit young, not able to grasp things the first time, or deliberately being deaf or hard of hearing....when each one is different and has a different story.

I know my father didn't talk about the war, though he still had nightmares about it....but I wish I had asked later in life about it. I know he served on the Victory and Nelson and was involved in the relief of Malta. There have been stories recently of relatives only discovering after death of a grandparent that they were spies or members of the British Secret Resistance (thankfully never needed). Always makes me smile in this time of 'spill your guts at every opportunity' that relatives never knew because they had signed the official secrets act.

 

Yeah. Go through an agency. I used to be a landlord. Never been a tenant, but I know what I'd want from a landlord and I certainly know what I want from my tenant. A good agency vets the landlord just as much as it vets the prospective tenant.
If you are determined that you don't want to use an agency then you'll have to vet the landlord yourself. This means taking no ****; that the property is in excellent condition; that there are no jobs or defects outstanding when anyone intends to move in; that the landlord is not at the end of a very convoluted and long rope, when it comes to service or repairs; and that there are zero issues regarding rent and length of tenancy. Also, from the landlord's side of things, the tenant has to be responsible, informative, clean, tidy and prompt with monthly payments. In this way, if a tenant can show that they kept up their side of the bargain completely, then the landlord has nowhere to go but provide a proper service. But all this is common sense. You can google as much.

 

Brilliant news Badger

 

Very good news St.B. I have to say that when you mentioned this before I was fairly confident that you'd be getting good news. There have been massive strides on eliminating cancer completely, or at least knocking it back to the point where a life can resume normally for several more years.

 

Great news, Badger. Keep fighting. My sister is still undergoing chemo for secondary breast cancer and (fingers crossed) it seems to be holding it at bay. All you can do is fight - the science world is making great strides against this awful disease and getting better at treating it all the time. A million best wishes to you and your wife - all the best!

 

Read "500 mile walkies". Very funny and probably informative as well if you're actually going to do it.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/500-mile-walkies/author/mark-wallington/

Vin

 

Not experienced Southampton but at Uni I made sure I took pictures of everything that would likely be brought up at end of tenancy to try and steal my deposit off me, e.g bed, any stains anywhere. And when it was all through private landlords, they were pretty good. For one year I went through a big agency and they were horrendous so that may bias me. When I move to London I'm sticking with private landlords, but there are pros and cons to both. All depends on whether you get a **** agency or **** landlord.

And don't take any **** from whoever if something was really not your fault or they try and squeeze something extra out of you.

 

Thank you for all the kind messages and support.

Just got back from the General, following my wife’s blood transfusion. Seven hours after we arrived there!
Very tiring but beneficial and the boost given to the blood should allow yesterday’s cancelled chemotherapy to go ahead next Monday.

We march on. Well, I march, my wife wheels.

 

Best wishes to you and your sister, as well.
You are right about the advances being made, and long may it continue.

 

The advances are incredible . My Dad is 92 had a tumour for 4 years , he was not expected to,last this long .

My Niece has leukaemia , 10 - 15 years ago it would be very bad indeed , these days for her age group the survival rate is 97%.

All the best to Mrs Badger and yourself

I know I am not actually replying to Mr b . But ...

 

Has anyone been watching Ken Burns’ Documentary on The Vietnam War on BBC4? I’ve just watched the last 2 episodes which I’d recorded and “wow”! What a monumental ****-up from day 1 and a complete waste of lives. Over 3 million Vietnamese died in the war and no one knows how many during the US withdrawal and after the N Vietnamese took control. I’ve learned a huge amount and I think it should be compulsory viewing for any politician considering waging war ......

 

Poor old Clarke Carlisle. Every once in a while he goes awol and he can't help it. You listen to him and you think, here's an intelligent, logical and caring person, but he's ****ed by mental illness which catches him out. Have a listen to this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41736200

 

I leave early Friday but I'll give it a read when I get back! Someone else on here mentioned that book too

 

Listened to it earlier. As you say it's such a shame that he's destroyed by his mental illness.
The one positive to his story is that he's very vocal about his issues and that hopefully it's helped others in similar positions get the help they need.

 

I’m just binge-watching it on the iPlayer, currently on Episode 7. A truly astonishing documentary which has thrown up some terrible statistics and some shocking revelations. For example, I never knew that Richard Nixon, just before the 1968 Presidential Election which saw him defeat Hubert Humphrey, secretly contacted the South Vietnamese President to persuade him not to attend the Paris peace talks. The outgoing President Johnson had just brought the North Vietnamese to the table by stopping all bombing of North Vietnam, and Nixon was afraid this would give the Democrat Humphrey an advantage. So Nixon sabotaged the peace talks, leading to countless extra deaths on both sides, in order to get himself elected. I absolutely agree with your point, but I’d say it should be mandatory viewing for all students of history and politics.

As an aside, the music soundtrack is brilliant!

 

Yes, that revelation about Nixon and the 68 election was incredible. How many more lives were lost due to that?
And, as you say, the soundtrack is truly brilliant. Best era for music by miles

 

Good luck to you and your sis!