YesWheely

One of the things I hate about the internet is advertising. I use Adblock plus and what it does is save my sub-concious from a constant bombardment of adverts. Everyone should get an ad blocker.
Get Chrome, Get the extension ABP.

That is a bit of a tangential rant but it's kind of all about this. Advertising is part of so much in society. Music, Drama (TV and Movies) anyway I just don't like it. I don't have an alternative or anything.
I also dislike anything to do with investment.

I think the "success" of bitcoin will eventually bring the down fall of capitalism and end all the inequalities. No more buying low and selling high. That's not even a job. It is a game. I think games and distractions (arts, celebrities, etc) should exist definitely but they shouldn't separate haves and have nots. It's a house of cards!

Anyway. Malicious users, no doubt attempting to assimilate more hardware to serve their botnet to spam millions of email addresses with adverts for penis enlarging pills, decided to target the server that I control.
The problem is still not completely resolved.

Happy Birthday (last 5 mins) +Daniel Mills

Maybe next year I'll try writing blog entries that are more entertaining (read: sarcastic, sharp tongued)
but maybe I won't. I don't actually care about it.

It's all backwards.
Happy New Year.

Our tree that my wife decorated!



A snowball!
This is our second Christmas together and we had these cocktails last year too.
Totally unrelated to Nigella's trend setting declaration that snowballs are THE drink of the season.
They totally are though.
(Advocaat, Lemonade[Soda], Lime Cordial, Squirty Cream, and Shortcake crumbs)

The plan was to leave in the morning and catch a train at midday. The problem which is something the rail assistance can't fathom is that without a crystal ball predicted journey start times are a best guess. Especially for my wife who has CRPS which may cause delays of up to 12 hours. Before we met I would always be over an hour early so I was never on the train the assistance expected me to be on.

People who need assistance are supposed to call 24 hours in advance and give them specific times. I understand why and all that but it's simply not possible.

What needs to happen is the platforms need to all be a specific height and all the trains need to have a wheelchair carriage also at a specific height and with access similar to how the buses in London have automatic ramps come out when you press the blue button. So then independent wheelchair users can remain dependent on technology rather than having to depend on other humans.

And the staff should not have such attitudes because you are late/early/unexpected. They are getting paid all the same. Sometimes I want to get involved in Politics to change things but that's not actually what politicians do. It's why they start for sure, apparently. As it happened on this trip the assistance was all good...

So we arrived to the first train station just after 6pm. The train we wanted was delayed so we had to wait a bit longer than we did anyway because we were 8 hours late and our tickets were only valid on off-peak trains. We waited then took a train to Southampton. We had to collapse my wife's chair because there was only space for one chair.

We arrived and had to get onto a train to Birmingham. My wife's chair was reconstituted and the assistance helped us off. Unfortunately we had missed the last train to Birmingham from this station. The rail assistant guys were super helpful though and found a way we could get there by 3am! We took a train to London Waterloo. Then a taxi to London Euston. Then we caught the last train to Birmingham with 2 minutes to spare.

The assistance guy was also helpful at Birmingham and helped us get a taxi. We got to the Premier Inn and the guys at reception where both really helpful. One of them took my wife to the 24 hour McDonalds because we hadn't eaten all day.

A couple hours of sleep later it was time to get ready to go for the early dinner at Bodega my wife had booked. We were running a little late so my wife had to call and let them know we wouldn't make our reservation. They were okay about it and we propelled ourselves there. It was close and all down hill so it didn't take us long. Unfortunately it is not a wheelchair accessible place but the staff were accommodating and carried me up the stairs. It's pretty unfortunate that all the interesting places are not wheelchair accessible. Only the same old chains, that are the same wherever you are, are.

bodega
This was a really great restaurant the South American food was amazing. If the previous few days had been less hectic my appetite would have allowed me to eat more. The pulled beef was delicious. We shared Beef Nachos for a starter and shared Tacos and a Burrito for the main.

After we ate we took a taxi to the O2 to see Placebo. The restaurant staff helped the taxi driver fit the wheelchairs in. The driver was a bit poor for a job where customer interaction matters. He said: "I hope you have someone who is going to help at the when we arrive." So is he just going to dump us out and leave our disassembled wheelchairs in a pile. We arrived when there was still a huge queue. Luckily there was a policeman right there to help the taxi driver and we went in.

The support act. TOY

As you can see the view from the "disabled" section wasn't that great. The show was good though.

The restaurant at the hotel was closed when we got back which was a shame because they had a picture of a burger on the sign that looked amazing.

The next day we came back. We got home 7 hours after we left the hotel. A fun little break.

A bit of a forward
My wife is a really good cook (and baker). However, she has CRPS so to cook everyday is too much for her. Takeaway is not healthy to have 3 times a week, and getting restaurant food couriered is not affordable for us. Unfortunately I can't cook at all. I used to be able to. It's just not safe. So to make it easier for us we decided to try meals-on-wheels. What follows is a partial review...

Delivery
There was a knock on the door at midday. My wife let the guy in. He brought us a hot meal, a hot desert, a sandwich (of sorts) and a slice of cake(pre packed).

What shocked me was the fact this stuff was not produced in the local area. It was not fresh food. I'm not a qualified dietician or scientist. I'm not just taking issue with this for the nutritious value though. The cost.

It makes no sense to manufacture something 200 miles away in a different country (of sorts) and to then transport it and store it until it is heated and delivered.

There is little evidence to suggest mass produced frozen food to be nutritionally poor. There are too many businesses making money (producing, transporting, making freezers and cookers) for that sort of data to be freely available.

The hot meal
The idea is that you eat the 327 kcal meal and desert when it arrives and have the 311kcal sandwich and cake for your evening meal.

Actual food too depressing to show

Calorie (kcal) average for a day should be 2000 for women and 2500 for men. Yeah I haven't got the wrapper for the cake bar or the details of the desert because I didn't eat it. It was apricot cake in industrial custard. So it may well have met the kcal for the day assuming a 1000 kcal breakfast materialised before me when I woke up. This is pretty funny though: The 'meal' is  manufactured by http://www.tilleryvalley.com/ (in Wales) on their site they say "Our in house dietitians ensure our varied menus deliver on nutrition, as well as taste."

Industrial is a good word to describe the meal. It tasted industrial. I admit after the Hairy Bikers Meals On Wheels four part series on BBC2 in 2011 I had too high of an expectation. I wrongly thought people who ran these things would all realise how backwards the processes they are using are. Maybe they didn't see it.
Processed food isn't saving any money.
I'll get to the financial aspect after the.

Cheese and butter sandwich
This tasted al-right it was just insubstantial. Genuine cheddar cheese and genuine butter. The roll wasn't fresh and may have been full of junk but it tasted fine. One assumes the bread and/or butter was made as far away as Australia since the cheese is specifically advertised as British.

The thing about this is the ridiculousness. The Ginsters brand is established. A mass produced product 'of Cornwall'. Or so it seemed. On the back it says "Produced in Leicestershire". That's weird, I thought.

Logical

The Cost
Portsmouth City Council are withdrawing their subsidisation of £2 something leaving service users to pay £6.50 a day. £2.50 for the sandwich and cake and £4.00 for the hot meal and desert. The meals are delivered by volunteers so no complaints there. The front line workers are, unsurprisingly, the only positive thing. The meal and desert is probably under £1 worth of junk and there are much better and more substantial lunch time offers on the high street in a profitable market. Obviously trucking shit all over the country is driving the price up.

Meals On Wheels should not operate as a profitable organisation. I have no evidence on the contrary. However, the processed food suppliers and the suppliers of logistics like transport and storage are businesses all about profit. Privatisation is the problem. Capitalism is the problem. Stupidity is the problem.

Let's avoid the politics. Privatisation vs Nationalisation. Meals on wheels is supposed to help the vulnerable and those unable. Maybe if the quality was improved they could operate a two tier pricing structure. So if social services refers you it's just above cost and otherwise to subscribe it'll cost a little more. Make it a good enough quality product so that people can choose it.

Vulnerable people shouldn't have to endure it.

It's basic business stuff. The product is terrible, therefore customers should leave. We will be buying more ready meals from the store which is the same shit it just costs less. What about the people who can't do that and are stuck with the meals-on-wheels?

Even if a less ambitious model is used. The quality could easily rise with virtually no increase in cost surely. Portion sizes could even increase!

Healthy takeout? Why hasn't that market been tapped?
Humus and Baked Potatoes and Soups and... All freshly made. All delivered. I'll write a business plan. After I've got my cloning machine built.