Category: Comment

E-Scooters – Should be banned


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/28th-october-2024-page-7_4f8307e4/content.html

This is just one, recent, example of how dangerous these E-scooters are. Of course they in themselves are not dangerous. It is actually the misuse by individuals that is the danger.

Locally, the only E-Scooters that are legal for use on our roads are those from authorised hire companies. Privately owned E-scooters are illegal.

I don’t understand how the government allows the sale of these scooters in this country. Unlike cars and motorbikes owners are not required to have insurance, wear safety gear i.e. helmets and the vehicles are not even registered.

Frequently they are driven in an unsafe manner. Personally, I once saw one of these scooters veer off the pavement. It moved diagonally across the road directly in front of me. So suddenly that I had to perform an emergency stop. Clearly the rider did not look to see that his way was clear.

I have also seen one of these scooters, three up. i.e. three females hurtling up the centre of the road.

In this case the victim was Raquel Delgado-Calo. She is a veterinary surgeon. She suffered deep lacerations to her forehead which will leave permanent scarring. Raquel also received stitches to her nose and a fractured skull. She spent three days in hospital and three weeks off work followed by a three week phased return. In addition, she has suffered from eight weeks of concussion. She has experienced dizziness, which has caused the cancellation of surgeries at work. And then there is the ongoing anxiety when crossing roads.

In my view, the E-scooter rider, Joseph Pedalty has gotten off way too lightly.

He has been disqualified from roads for eighteen months. He also was handed an eighteen month community order. He was fined £120 plus costs taking his penalty to a total of £319. This includes charges for no insurance, failing to stop after an accident, and failing to stop at a red light.

The law is an ass.

Pedalty has 10 past convictions and had been disqualified from the roads for drink driving in 2021.

How do his fines and convictions possibly balance out the impact that he has had on this woman’s life.

I’ll say it again. The law is an ass.

Happy Returns


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/story/full_page_image/2nd-january-2025-page-17_4f1407dd/content.html

A warm tale for the new year.

Perhaps, only in England …

Appeal For Information


https://www.hampshire.police.uk/news/hampshire/news/appeals/2024/november/appeal-for-information-after-burglaries-in-waterlooville/?sfnsn=scwspmo

What Major Historical Events Do I Remember


What major historical events do you remember?

These are not in date order, just the order that I remembered them

  • The fall of the Berlin Wall 1989
  • Assassination of President J F Kennedy 1963
  • Aberfan 1966
  • Vietnam War, US withdrawal 1973
  • The fall of the Twin Towers 2011
  • The Iranian Embassy Siege, London 1980
  • First man on the moon 1969
  • The Falklands War 1982
  • Suppression of The Prague Spring / Russian Tanks 1968
  • Russo-Ukraine War – Annexation of Crimea 2014 & Invasion of Ukraine 2022

There are so many more events that have occurred during my brief time on Planet Earth.

Too many to list here.

Let Down Again


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/11th-october-2024-page-4_4f0207dc/content.html

A few years ago this site was the home of Marconi Underwater Systems. The site was closed, and the Marconi buildings and surrounds became derelict. The site has remained an eyesore for many years.

Around 2012 I, as a member of the Waterlooville Residents Forum, attended a presentation on behalf of a potential developer. At that time, per the presentation, the plans were to build a 60 bed hotel and restaurant. They also planned a car showroom and a drive thru restaurant. The developer went to great pains. He assured us that the drive thru was not going to be another McDonald’s.

Outline Application APP/12/00652 was submitted 4th October 2012. The recommendation was that permission be granted for this application. Since that time, the Marconi (BAE) buildings were demolished but the site remained undeveloped.

Until that is, along came Lidl and, yep, McDonald’s. But the remainder of the site remained untouched.

And now the council appear to have given the go ahead for a new KFC, Aldi, and Costa.

It’s not as if our little town doesn’t lack for coffee shops and cafe’s. As for fast food drive thru’s, we are surrounded. Nor are we short of Aldi stores, we actually have seven within a ten mile radius. Costa Coffee is even more pervasive with ten in a four mile radius.

There is a significant amount of residential construction in and around Waterlooville. With all the new residents I would agree that there is a need for eateries. But I would argue that there is a greater need for entertainment centres. Waterlooville residents frequently call for a cinema complex / bowling alley. Sadly nobody hears the call

And so, the construction of these three businesses leaves me disappointed. I feel that we, the residents of Waterlooville, have been let down again.

Mediterranean Chutney


Pretty much every year, Gerry and I make a couple of batches of Mediterranean Chutney.

Today, earlier than usual, I started our first batch of the year, which will make 6 to 8 Kilner jars of this delicious gloop.

Preparation Complete

This chutney goes down so well that I will have to do at least another batch to cope with the freebies that will be handed out to friends and family.

Cooking almost complete

This spicy chutney made with tomatoes, courgettes,  aubergines, onions, and peppers is good to eat with cheese, steak, chicken, well just about everything.

The Finished Product

And so we have eight and half jars of chutney. Unfortunately, there is a huge question mark over the quality of this batch.

Just after adding the sugar and vinegar for the final hour of cooking, we were subjected to a power outage. I had the jars in the electric oven to sterilise. The power was off for around 45 minutes, which meant that I had to restart the sterilising. During this time, the chutney caught on the bottom of the pan. I’m hoping that the flavour of the chutney has not been spoiled.

Time will tell. All being well, the chutney will be ready to eat in a couple of months.

View From The Conservatory


I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK
I sleep all night and I work all day

He’s a lumberjack and he’s OK
He sleeps all night and he works all day

Well, thank you Monty Python.

Today, we have the guys taking down a dead tree, which is threatening to fall in mine and my neighbours backyard.

The tree doesn’t belong to us but we couldn’t cope with the bureaucracy of dealing with the Highways Agency, who moved their boundaries, and the local council, who have not “adopted” the remaining, abandoned, strip of land.

So, we have taken matters into our own hands.

The tree is a goner.

View From The Conservatory


The slow worm (Anguis fragilis) is a reptile native to western Eurasia.

 These legless lizards are also sometimes called common slowworms.

I disturbed this one whilst mowing my lawn.