Tag: Portsmouth

I Don’t Get It


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/2024/02/28/747-new-houses-purchased-by-portsmouth-city-council-in-largest-acquisition-of-its-kind-to-boost-social-homes/content.html

I don’t understand how this works !

Portsmouth City Council purchases houses that are already occupied. In so doing, they become responsible for the management and maintenance of 747 properties.

The homes were sold to the council by Clarion Housing Group, who were trying to shed the properties from their portfolio. 

Has anyone asked why Clarion was getting rid of these properties?

Equally puzzling, to me, is why Portsmouth City Council wants to responsible for housing and tenants spread throughout Hampshire.

The majority of the new buildings are in Portsmouth, with others situated in Gosport, Havant, Fareham and Winchester.

How does this help with the existing shortfall of available properties to house those who are already on the local waiting list for social housing ?

Wouldn’t the money have been better spent on new build properties, which would be empty and could, therefore, have a direct impact on the waiting lists.

White Elephants ?


I don’t know about anyone else, but I am embarrassed for our Royal Navy. Especially for those currently deployed aboard the aircraft carriers  HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales .

HMS Queen Elizabeth

My perception may be wrong, but it seems to me that these carriers have spent more time in port than they have at sea since their initial launch in 2014 and 2017 respectively.

Just 18 months ago, HMS Prince of Wales broke down off the Isle of Wight. A fault with a propeller shaft coupling took nine months to resolve.

HMS Prince of Wales

HMS Queen Elizabeth was due to participate in a major naval exercise, but the February 4th sailing, from Portsmouth,was cancelled due to a mechanical fault discovered during pre-sailing checks. This new fault is said to be propeller shaft based but not related to HMS Prince of Wales’ earlier problem.

So HMS Prince of Wales was scheduled to replace her sister ship and set sail on February 11th. At the last minute, this sailing was cancelled. The MOD has not divulged the reason for the delay, but HMS Prince of Wales did, in fact, set sail yesterday, 12th February.

There must be many red faces in both the Admiralty and the MOD.

HMS Prince of Wales cost around £3.2bn and does not appear to be good value for money. The Admiralty, MOD, British Government should be pursuing Babcocks, the ship builders, for a refund or some form of compensation.

It is not acceptable that the British taxpayer should fund these repairs. If Babcock have supplied substandard quality product then they should be held liable.

The government needs to get a grip before the RN and the UK become a total laughing stock.

https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/2024/02/12/royal-navy-hms-prince-of-wales-and-hms-queen-elizabeth-branded-unreliable-as-ex-chief-calls-for-refund/content.html

Right Now ..


What am I listening to ….

Assassing by Marillion from their 1984 album, Fugazi.

I saw this band live, back in the 80’s, at Portsmouth Guildhall. If my memory serves, they were supported by a local band, Rufus Stone.

More Stupid Than An Amoeba


https://www.facebook.com/share/nvjUaCf4k7bjj24J/?mibextid=xfxF2i

In what universe do you have to live for this kind of behaviour to be acceptable ?

ARREST MADE AFTER LASER DEVICE TARGETED AT POLICE HELICOPTER

Hampshire and IoW News

A suspect has this afternoon been arrested from an address in Portswood after the Police helicopter was targeted by a green laser device.

Police were alerted by Air Support who had been assisting in the city following a vehicle failing to stop.

Police attended the address where the laser had been targeted from and a suspect was arrested under the Laser Misuse Act 2018.

A laser device was also seized.

This carries a 12 month prison sentence if found guilty of the offence. 44240053135

I would hazard a guess that the perpetrator has one less brain cell that an amoeba.

Unforseen


None of us can see into our futures. It wouldn’t be much fun if we could.

However, Jon, my son in law probably wishes he had been touched with a small spoonful of prescience.

Yesterday, he was swapping out the battery in his car. It is a task that he has carried out many times over the years. What made this time a little different was his treading on uneven ground.

Before he knew it, his left foot tucked under as he put his weight on it. He heard a sharp crack, followed by his eyesight being impaired by blue spots and, as he parked his bum on the kerbside, an overwhelming feeling of nausea.

The net result was a trip down to the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) at St Mary’s hospital in Portsmouth, with yours truly acting as a taxi driver.

Generally speaking, nobody wants to go to the UTC. Primarily because the wait times can be horrendous and the waiting room would not be high on anyone’s list of must see places. At the time of writing the current wait time is indicated to be 3 hours.

So, at around 11:45 I dropped Jon at the UTC and went to find a parking space.

At 11:50 Jon was booked in and awaiting triage. By 12:15 he had been seen and was waiting for an x-ray having been told there was, potentially, a two hour wait.

At just after 13:00 immersed in Swedish detective thriller I was startled back to reality by my phone ringing.

Jon had been dealt with and was ready to head home.

The diagnosis, he had broken the very end of his fibula.

So no cast, no boot just a pair of crutches to help him keep the weight off and advised to take paracetamol to deal with any pain.

We obviously caught the UTC just at the right time. Jon had been dealt with in around 75 minutes.

So thank you and well done the NHS.

“Little scroats” should be “willing to take a beating”


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/2024/01/14/portsmouth-councillor-little-scroats-who-brazenly-stole-500-worth-of-vapes-should-be-willing-to-take-a-beating/content.html

I totally agree with this sentiment.

Increasingly, over the years, my view has become that anyone who breaks the law automatically relinquishes their rights to protection under the law.

I also believe that these “scroats” should be prepared for some public humiliation. Bring back the birch, stocks, and pillory.

I would fully support the introduction of US style chain gangs, wearing bright jackets with the crime emblazoned across the back.

Prison For Paedophile / Rapist


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/page-3-1975/content.html

Getting no less than he deserves, I don’t believe the sentence is harsh enough.

The damage people such as Kopcil cause will stay with their victims for life.

Huge purchase of 800 new council houses by Portsmouth City Council takes step closer to reality


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/2023/12/14/huge-purchase-of-800-new-council-houses-by-portsmouth-city-council-takes-step-closer-to-reality/content.html

How many of these properties are vacant ?

Certainly, the council is increasing their housing stock, but I wonder what the true impact will be to the council housing waiting lists.

Very little, I suspect.

Seems to me what the council is actually doing is purchasing the increased responsibility for housing maintenance.

It’s Obvious Really


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/page-8-1958/content.html

Read this article yesterday. I am always amazed that, so often, it requires a study to discover the obvious.

Only a few days ago, I posted that I felt my wife’s stenosis diagnosis was delayed by up to twelve months due to the lack of face to face time with a doctor.

Much of a doctors diagnosis has to do with “observation.”

You can not “observe” via a telephone consult.

We have been forced into using e-consultation tools. My experience is that they do not allow sufficient space to describe symptoms fully. On several occasions, when I have used the e-consult tool, I have found the questions leading you down a path to either diagnosis of a brain tumour or diabetes when you are suffering from a broken toe. Invariably, the tool tries to abort, telling you that you need to see a doctor, which is where we came in.

You can not “observe” via an e-consult.

Last year, we were told by a nurse practitioner that nothing had changed, that we were getting the same level of service from our GPs as we always had.

What total and utter nonsense.

Another issue with the current level of service is that there is no continuity. In the “good old days,” not only could you get a face to face appointment with a doctor, but it was the same doctor each and every time.

Continuity would allow the doctor to “observe” physical changes in the patient between appointments.

So, back to the article, anyone with more than a single brain cell could have seen that patients are not getting safe and accurate diagnosis under the current level of NHS care.

What Is My All-Time Favourite Album ?


What’s your all-time favorite album?

Such a hard question to answer.

My first response is “On The Threshold Of A Dream” by The Moody Blues first released in 1969. I certainly play this a lot so much so that I am on my 2nd vinyl copy, the first having worn out. I still listen to the album, but these days, I stream, using Tidal or Spotify.

A more considered response leads me to offer up “Foxtrot” by Genesis first released in 1972. I still have my original vinyl version but also have it on CD. Genesis are a band that I used to see live every time they visited Portsmouth. Pretty much an annual event, either at Portsmouth Guildhall or South Parade Pier.

Many other albums are jostling for that favourite spot. Amongst them, some of the great classics. “Dark Side Of The Moon” and “Echoes” by Pink Floyd, “Led Zeppelin II” and “IV”, “Aqualung” by Jethro Tull, “Tapestry” by Carole King, and the list goes on and on.

So to truly answer the question, I think “Foxtrot” by Genesis take the honour, but only just.

Music is such an emotive subject, and to nominate a favourite will always be coloured by how one is feeling, ones mood at any given time.

Ask me again tomorrow.