[JasonB]

QUOTE (teddyt @ 27 Sep 2016, 22:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The damn stupid "Euthanasia" laws in this country. I have spent the last 5 days watching my father-in-law sucome the the evil that is caner!! at present , he is no more than a breathing corpse!!!!
Doctors say he may live till friday but they are not sure

How much longer do we have to watch loved ones suffer , when there is nothing but pain for them!1

I would have stopped my dog from having to suffer this yet, a human has to linger on with no choice

sorry guys just so p***ed off right now

Our sympathies are with you Teddy.

 

[JasonB]

and another thing....wet , limp , clammy handshakes. whats that all about? I don't need every bone in my hand breaking but if you offer it at least have the decency to grasp my hand like a man , not like a bowl of cold custard!!!

It seems the norm out here, we prefer a quick peck on the cheek!

The handshake after all is just a quick way of testing the other guy's sword hand to see if you can beat him. I have an English friend here who considers it a competition. He is one of those men who considers himself to be a little bit larger than normal. I would agree if a little bit larger than normal didn't mean 6'5", 25 stone with a stomach that means he hasn't seen his feet for a very long time. Probably nothing lower than five feet above the ground. He does have muscle though and tries to prove it every time we shake hands.

I'm a stick insect. 6'3" and around 11 stone. But I do have strong hands so I delight in denying him the pleasure of crushing all the bones in my hand into one amorphous lump!

Kids!

Both annoy me. Limp handshakes are not worth bothering with, and bone crushers are just pathetic macho crap.

 

[JasonB]

I wonder who is the chief grump on this thread? The grumpiest of the the grumpy old gits? Top of the grumps?

Grumpy McGrumpface.

grumpy

ˈɡrʌmpi/

adjective

1. 
   
   bad-tempered and sulky.
   
   synonyms:
   
   bad-tempered, ill-tempered, short-tempered, crotchety, crabby, crabbed, tetchy, testy,waspish, prickly, peppery, touchy, irritable, irascible, crusty, cantankerous,curmudgeonly, bearish, surly, churlish, ill-natured, ill-humoured, peevish, cross, as cross as two sticks, fractious, disagreeable, pettish; More
   

Who is the most crabby, tetchy, prickly, touchy, irritable, crusty, surly, churlish, peevish, and disagreeable?

It's going to be a fiercely fought after title, and whoever wins the exalted accolade of King Grump, there will be lots of grumpiness from the losers, but even more from the winner.

 

[JasonB]

I reckon the winner should have to be addressed as "Your most miserable Majesty, Sergeant Surly, Corporal Crusty, and grandest Guardsman of all things Grumpy."

I'm confidently expecting an influx of manifestos to be published for what will no doubt be a much sought after title.

I'm off to write my own pitch right now, which will include getting annoyed at leaves on the ground which aren't crunchy enough, and have gone all soggy, my own dog, who is lovely, but also really annoying, and of course those bits of gravel that get stuck in the treads of your boot, and then scratch your tiled floor.

I'll also include my wife's use of the word "Aaaayy?" when she means "I beg your pardon?", and "Mind!!" when she means "would you please move out of my way".

Most importantly I'll include Classic FM. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH. The more times they tell me how relaxing it is, the more I get wound up.

Oh, and then there's politics, maybe best not to go there.

Taps that drip, and the fact that you can't repair them anymore, you just have to replace them.

Old silicon sealant, it's a nightmare to remove.

My dog. Did I mention my dog? I think I did. I love him to bits, but he's a rescue dog and has quite a few problems.

Drizzle. That's quite annoying.

Tea pots. When you turn them upside down to try to get the tea bags out, but they stay stuck on the rim.

Tea bags. When your wife manages to get the old tea bags out of the tea pot, but just leaves them in the sink.

Well that's a decent start to my manifesto. Vote JB

 

[JasonB]

I'd like to have a Grump.

Jason B. Why does everything have to be a competition with a winner. Why does a thread have to become a populist media circus? The whole point of being a Grump is that we don't belive in and indulge in such populist nonsense.

We were all quite happy Grumping away but now new grumps have to feel there input is being vetted for quality. This will turn a quite nice and amusing thread into one filled with ******** as wannabe Grumps fabricate elaborate stories to impress.

Rather than being a contest why not simply leave it as is and remove your post.

I note Jason B that you post on here suggesting some kind of points system or the like but yet you do not self-identify as a being a Grump. I also notice that the Grump icon has gone missing from us self confessed Grumps ID. panels. Perhaps you could use your influence and get that re-instated. What is the point being a Grump if we can't be identified as one.

Whooooosh!

 

[JasonB]

We have a winner!

I don't think anyone could surpass Abarth Mike's level of grumpiness!

I'm not sure grumpiness would accurately describe a post with such obvious anger, and vindictiveness.

Embarrassing meltdown might come closer.

 

[JasonB]

Lack of self awareness is a common trait amongst keyboard warriors.

 

[JasonB]

There were certainly some inadequacies on display earlier.

I have a problem with people who are deliberately rude and use bad language on the forum. Those things are against the rules.

Anyway, I think enough has been said. If Abarth Mike wants to continue, I'd strongly suggest taking it to PMs, so that this thread can get back on track.

 

[JasonB]

But we have 4 acres

Half of which is to grass and the rest feeds us.

Blimey, you've got a 2 acre veg plot, or should we call it a small farm? Impressive.

Have you considered a wild flower meadow for some of your grass land? They only need mowing once a year, and can be gorgeous. We've got a similar size plot, but have turned much of it over to meadow. It looks lovely, and it's great for wildlife.

 

[JasonB]

Ah but..... wild flowers are jolly nice but they have seeds and the wind tends to be from the north here and the fruit and veg plot is to the south and if they seed on that, Ronnie gets a bit eggy! Ronnie eggy, you do not wish to see.

Yes, we get the same thing, but find that the time spent weeding is offset by the time saved not mowing. Plus a field full of meadow buttercups is a lovely thing.

Each to their own though.

 

[JasonB]

Jason. You need a sheep? Or borrow a couple?

No, actually we like having a meadow. It's lovely, it's great for wildlife, and it's quite rare these days, with 97% of the UK's meadow land having been lost.

 

[JasonB]

My brother has 2.5 acres on one side of his garden, one side of which he has a Ha-Ha. Not a meadow though as it is used as a general field. Grazing and hay production. He is always talking about a sheep for his lawn.

Yes, we're considering a goat or a sheep for our lawns. Like Gordon, I hate mowing grass.

 

[JasonB]

And this is one of the systems that is routinely held up as a model that we (USA) should emulate. FWIW, I grew up in a physician's family, spent my entire career in health care (teaching in med school, anti-viral research, diagnostics R&D and, in my last role before retirement, assessing opportunities in health care world-wide). Standards and practices vary widely - and I am speaking only of the "developed" world. Looking at the science and availability, if I were destined to be ill and could choose where, my first choice would be the USA - my second? - Australia

EM

It's a fundamentally flawed comparison. The USA spends more than double what the UK spends on healthcare per capita, but still manages to fail a large part of the population, particularly the poor.

The UK is 17th on the list of healthcare spending, and the National Health Service is being starved of funding. For the 6th wealthiest country in the world, it's a disgrace.

But it's not the system which is at fault in the UK, it's the lack of money, and that's a political choice.

Running one of our national assets into the ground is definitely enough to make me very, very grumpy indeed.

 

[JasonB]

As someone who has spent a combined total of almost 3 years out of the last 16 as an inpatient in hospital, with little to do but observe and experience the system, and many, many more days as an outpatient, I can tell you that money, or the lack of it, is not the primary problem for the NHS. Bureaucracy and part-time workers are a greater problem.

Bureaucracy as a problem is self-explanatory. Part-time working to a significant degree suits the individual who's working part-time, but rarely suits the patients, wards or services that require continuity of care and expertise.

Claiming that money will solve the problem is foolish. Money might help a little, but most of it will simply fund the inefficiencies in a more lavish style.

I didn't claim that money would solve all the problems.

But it's daft to compare a system that is being seriously undermined, and underfunded, with a system that costs twice as much. Especially when the American system seems to exclude 24 million people.

Bureaucracy is obviously a massive problem, I think we can all accept that.

 

[JasonB]

Raw numbers can be misleading. There may be 24 mm without health insurance but this does not mean they are without health care. A very large number use the hospital emergency room as a primary health care provider - inefficient, absurdly expensive but they are looked after, in many cases, in some of the best facilities in the world. We also have demographic and cultural issues - seeing to a bullet riddled drug gang member in intensive care is very expensive! Add to that a layer of PC driven foolishness (sex change surgery for prison inmates) and an out-of-control legal system that fills late night television ads for ambulance chasing lawyers. We have a very large population of illegal aliens. What is my responsibility to them?

EM

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on the American healthcare system, nor your political problems, though I would say some of them sound quite familiar.

I'm also not going to claim that the UK's National Health Service is perfect, because it obviously isn't.

But the NHS is clearly being starved of funds, and that obviously has consequences.

The USA spends twice as much per capita on healthcare as the UK. That's got to have an effect on the services that can be provided.

Money isn't everything, but it makes a hell of a difference.

I like our system of having a national health service, paid for by general taxation, and free at the point of delivery. I don't like the increasing bureaucracy, and I don't like it being starved of funds.

I guess a lot depends on whether you want to see your country as one nation, pulling together for the common good, or whether you just prefer to do good for yourself and your family. There is surely a balance to be found between the two.

Apologies if I'm straying into political territory here, but the wicked witch, and even more so the eton mess before her make me very grumpy.

Give the NHS a bit more money, cut down on the bureaucracy and paperwork, that's all.

 

[JasonB]

I feel a great respect and sympathy for anybody serving in the armed forces, especially in areas of conflict.

But the bottom line is that we've signed up to the Geneva Convention, so of course we should stick to it. What the Taliban do is up to them, but the British Army should not be sinking to their level, it should be better than that. Actually, it is better that that. The British Army has a decent reputation, and that should be valued and upheld.

I'm happy for Mr Blackman and his family, but it's a very complex issue, especially when our army is in someone else's country, and when a soldier has a mental health problem.

 

[JasonB]

Annoying in the extreme....

Im on a proper grump roll tonight..! I cant believe the bbc and their clearly hand picked socialist audiences at all the pre election shows. As a licence payer I am getting pretty p'eed off with it now.

Zoinks, Klaxon alert. BBC audiences are very carefully screened to be representative of the broad range of opinions of the UK population.

Also, although I would be quite happy to yap on endlessly about the need for a fairer society, the lack of funding for the NHS, the need for a truly democratic system, and many other issues, do we really want politics on SlotForum?

 

[JasonB]

I was actually only moaning about the bbc....but I'm up for it if you want light the blue touch paper!!

Yes I know, and you were wrong. The BBC have clearly defined rules and are certainly not allowed to have "hand picked socialist audiences".

There are lots of forums where you can have political discussions, but we're a small enough community already, please let's not split ourselves even further by bringing politics into it.

 

[JasonB]

The NHS is a great system but it is being severely underfunded.

France spends 10% more on health care per capita, and the USA spends over twice as much. In fact the UK spends less on health care than the United States, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands' Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, and Iceland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita

In spite of the lack of funding the NHS provides universal healthcare, unlike the American system which leaves millions unprotected. Obviously nobody would claim the NHS is perfect, but it provides a fair system, great value for money, and of course it doesn't preclude taking out private healthcare insurance for private treatment.

 

[JasonB]

Just park across two spaces. Sorted.