Been ages since I blogged…

… Actually, that’s a lie, as I have been updating both my work blog and that of Support PCs, despite the recession (actually, that’s probably the reason why there’s so much activity on Support PCs – suddenly I’m not running one from deadline to the next).

Quite a bit has happened since my last blog post: Harriet is very much taking more and more steps on her own now. Yesterday we visited mum at the Clare Priory Craft Fair, where I supped a delicious half of Nethergate-brewed Augustinian ale (the local ales are always the best!) and Harri went on a very long walk with mummy and daddy’s help. When she’s not worried about balance she can go at quite a lick! She seems to have recovered brilliantly from her operation, and we’d like to think that real nappies have played their part in helping her hips strengthen.

On that subject, a friend pointed me to an article on the BBC web site that suggests our experience is far from unique: click here to view it. It drums home how lucky we were that our health visitor Vera picked up on Harri’s condition at nine months, giving us enough time to get it corrected while the procedure was still relatively “simple”.

What else? The recession still drives my thoughts – there are enough savings to last us five months with no income, or longer if I can still pick up a fair bit of work. I’ve allowed myself to drift through the last few weeks instead of being proactive – not helped by chasing up one new lead only to discover their budgets and pagination have been cut and the regulars are – understandably – being put first.

Oh well, back to trying to scan in old articles using my new ScanSnap S300 document scanner – one last luxury (or not when I regain a load of shelf space). I’ve run into one problem with it: if the magazine paper quality is poor, then it has a nasty habit of chewing up pages…

Looking for new opportunities

The recession is starting to bite. Magazines are cutting back, some are possibly on life support and suddenly freelance writing doesn’t feel anywhere near as secure as it has done for the past six years (and it never felt that secure – after all, it is a job where your next commission might be your last).

I’ve put things off for a little while, but I’m going to have to start trying my luck with new titles and maybe even pitch outside of my comfort zone. The frustrating thing is that I know I’ve got good content that would benefit lots of people, but how do I get it to them at a price that’s fair for both parties? The problem with the internet is that it encourages everything to be free: the problem is, somebody somewhere still has to be paid for hosting it, or finding the time to write it, and so on and so forth.

I’ve got the content, I’ve even got the ability to turn it into a professionally looking printable PDF document that people could download and print out segments for themselves if they needed to (such as just prior to reinstalling Windows or recovering from a crashed PC), but would people pay me a small sum directly for that content? And how would I get it in front of enough people’s noses for them to at least take a second look?

There goes Footsteps

Just had an email informing us that BBC History Magazine is dropping its Footsteps section. There goes a short-lived association with the magazine – thankfully I managed to get two items published before that particular door closed.

All hail Roger Federer

At last people can stop debating about just how truly great Roger Federer is. With yesterday’s thoroughly deserved win at Roland Garros he now has all four Grand Slam titles under his belt. He may have benefited from Nadal having been knocked out in round four, but in beating Nadal’s conqueror, Robin Soderling, he did the next best thing.

Ominously for everyone else, Roger talks about being at peace without suggesting for a moment he’s ready to wind his remarkable career down: his failure to win the French Open because of Nadal’s seemingly invulnerability on the Paris clay must have surely started to eat away at him, particularly after Nadal took his Wimbledon crown and beat him in Australia. However, with Nadal’s knees now starting to cause concern (there are those who think Nadal’s career will be shortened considerably because of the way he plays), Roger may well find himself outlasting the Spaniard – and if they do come together in the final at Roland Garros next year, it’ll be interesting to see if we have a much closer contest.

Of course, there are those who claim that until Roger beats Rafa at Paris he can’t claim to be the greatest player of all time. Excuse me? While Rafa has an excellent head-to-head record in Grand Slam finals against Roger, he has still lost twice to him at Wimbledon, and I suspect that winning the French and equalling Pete Sampras’ Grand Slam record will give Roger the spur he needs to start redressing the balance, particularly if he’s in the position to deny Rafa his own Grand Slam in the US Open final. And for all Rafa’s brilliance, can he claim to have reached 20 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals as Roger has done? It’s easy to forget that since only making the semis in Melbourne in 2008, Roger has competed in the last five Grand Slam finals in a row.

Of course, all this assumes the rest of the pack can’t chase them down – Murray seems best place to mount a challenge to both, but having willed Roger to win in France, I’m now fearful he won’t gracefully fade away to allow a few other players gain a shot at winning Grand Slam titles!

Star Trek - rebooted

You know that the new Star Trek film basically features the characters from the original series played by new actors, right? Well, it’s more than that. The entire franchise has been rebooted, wiping out 40 years of “history” by having Romulans (and Spock) come back in time to change things forever.

I don’t know what to think. I love this new film in so many ways, but part of me feels guilty towards the universe I know and love, the universe of The Wrath of Khan, Jean Luc Picard, the Borg and so on. This movie effectively wipes them all out – well, it doesn’t wipe out Khan (who’s out there somewhere) or the Borg, but you know what I mean.

Ah sod it, it’s only a sci-fi franchise. The “real” Star Trek is still out there somewhere – this is just another alternate reality that’s been created. And it’s a very entertaining one too.

a-ha are back

The Foot of the Mountain is the title of a-ha’s latest single (which is also the title of the forthcoming album). Since their comeback in 2000 I’ve always been a little disappointed with their choice of lead single, but I’ve no complaints about this one. It talks about the conflict between living in the city and yearning for the country, something I know too well.

It’s going to be a classic, but whether it charts in the UK remains to be seen. In the meantime, here’s them performing the catchy track on Germany’s Top Model:

Not far enough, Mr Cameron

So David Cameron and the Tories have embraced a small measure of political reform (see here). Like all things related to the Conservatives, when it comes to radical change it’s never enough.

Cameron rejects electoral reform with the ludicrous claim that “Proportional representation takes power away from the man and woman in the street and hands it to the political elites.” Excuse me? As I’ve laboured on this blog a number of times, the current system penalises people based on who they vote for. Each Liberal Democrat seat cost around five times the number of votes compared to Labour at the last election. In other words, by voting Liberal Democrat I’m reducing the value of my vote to 20% of that of a Labour voter. How is that fair?

Back in 1977, Hansard concluded that a suitable system would have been 75% FPTP and 25% PR – hardly representative, but a definite step in the right direction (Labour’s majority in 2005 would have been just five, which seems fair considering it enjoyed a massive 36% of the public vote). You keep your connection with your constituency MP, and the 25% of seats given out by PR could be allocated to those who came a close second in seats around the country, thereby taking the decision away from political elites and giving extra representatives to those areas where the results were incredibly close.

At least someone in Labour sees all of this: Alan Johnson, Health Secretary and one of the few ministers untainted by the expenses scandal, has long been a proponent of PR. I suppose it’s too much to hope he might end up in a position of power before Labour are banished to the wilderness for another generation…

A perfect (sporting) day

Yesterday was one of those rare days where a lot of sport was played, and every single result went as I’d wish it to. Highlight of the day was seeing the Deccan Chargers, my IPL cricket team, bounce back from last year’s last-place finish (two wins out of 14) to win the second IPL tournament with a thrilling six-run victory over the Bangalore Royal Challengers. After star captain and batsman Adam Gilchrist was bowled by his opposite number for a three-ball duck it looked ominous, but despite posting a below-par 143 in their 20 overs, the team were like tigers in the field and although the Royal Challengers batted themselves into a strong position, a flurry of late wickets turned the tide, and the game was effectively killed by the final ball. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this year’s tournament, and hope Setanta are around to screen subsequent years too. So this is what it’s like to follow champions…

Elsewhere, both Newcastle and Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League, which means weaker teams stayed up who Blues hopefully have a chance of competing with next season. England cruised to victory in the one-day international against the West Indies, and Andy Murray overcame a potentially tricky opponent with ease (6-2, 6-2, 6-1) in the French Open. Finally, Jenson Button won the Monaco Grand Prix, which I’d completely forgotten about!

Harriet stands up

It’s been about a week since Harriet could stand unaided – not for too long, as she likes to fall back and be caught, but clearly bearing her own weight. Last night she was able to pick herself up from a sitting position on the floor and stand without the need for a helping hand – in other words, she can push herself up directly from the floor to stand unaided. We were tickled pink, and so was she – she did it five times, the last time in her brace, which is a feat in itself (but not one we’re keen for her to repeat!). Her first unaided steps can’t be too far away – what a relief and a joy after her initial diagnosis back in August.

It’s been a long time – tiring at times, but if I’m honest it hasn’t been as draining as I thought it would be. Only once have I truly felt sorry for myself, shortly after we returned from the initial operation with a bout of flu. Obviously we’ve felt sorry for Harri throughout (but that has always been tempered with the knowledge that there are children out there with far worse things to deal with), but she’s dealt with her lot admirably, and it seems that people “in the know” have been right in saying you’ll never know she went through it all.

Of course, she’s not out of the woods completely – she’ll need to have annual or bi-annual checkups until she’s 14 – but it’s hard not to think that the worst – touch wood and all that – is over.

Harriet’s hips

Fantastic news. Have just got back from Harri’s three-month follow-up consultation after progressing from the plaster to a harness. When her hips were measured three months ago they were at 38 degrees and 35 degrees respectively (the lower the better, with 30 degrees considered good progress at that stage). We were hoping that they would be around 31-32 degrees this time round, but after a long, laborious wait in the x-ray room the consultant was astounded to discover that her hips are now 24.5 degrees and 27.5 degrees respectively, with a “normal” hips being 25 degrees. No one expected this level of development – certainly not us – so we’re chuffed to bits. The only thing I can think of having helped her hips develop so fast must be the fact we use real nappies, which help shape the hips in such a way as to aid development and promote growth.

She needs to keep the harness on at night for another six weeks purely for “paranoia’s” sake, but they’re chuffed to bits, and our next consult at the hospital won’t now be until October.

The major downer on the day was that the little boy who had a pelvis operation the same time as Harri (and we’ve kept in touch with his family) will have to have another operation, which was completely out of the blue and a real blow. While I can’t help but be overjoyed for Harri and us, my thoughts go to Lewis and his family. Hopefully all will be well and that we can be a source of help and comfort – however slight – over the coming months.

While the papers still go on about MPs’ expenses…

It’s worth examining what New Labour really thinks about the people who fund it, the British taxpayer.

George Monbiot has once again highlighted how lax this government is in regulating business with an expose of its Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform department, which appears to exist solely to undermine what few rights we do have in favour of ignoring all conventional wisdom and removing even more planks of protection between unscrupulous business practices and the public. It’s great to see such an important department is run entirely by unelected officials (nice to see New Labour delivering on its promise on constitutional reform; now it appears to stuff the Lords with people it wants to give power to without having to go through the inconvenience of waiting for them to be elected). Click here for the full story.

No doubt those in favour of laissez faire to an extreme level applaud its existence and decry it doesn’t go far enough. But when a government department can provide “exemptions” to allow a previously banned company director from launching a sub-prime loan company which has been operating without a licence for 11 months (see here), or builders can get away with building sub-standard housing (see here), it’s clear we’ve gone too far.

Regulations exist because time and again companies and businesses have shown they are incapable of acting with a moral conscience. If people cannot voluntarily adopt a set standard, it should be imposed on them. As someone who pays a fair whack of his earnings into government coffers I would expect said government to be a little more representative of my interests in being able to purchase goods and services that are fit for purpose. Stupid, I know, but perhaps the real stupidity lies with everyone else for thinking we should simply put up with it…

MPs’ expenses

I’m almost at the point of laughing aloud at all the hoo-hah surrounding the publication of MPs’ expenses and the revelation that the vast majority of them have been abusing the system for years.

What is the point of the public getting in an outrage about it? This expenses system is part of a political and electoral system that has become increasingly rotten over the years, but instead of voting for a party that might actually do something about it we lazily tar all parties with the same brush (“They’re all as bad as each other”) and continue to vote red or blue if we bother to vote at all.

If you really feel strongly about the latest abuse, it’s time to take off your blinkers and vote for a political party who – even if they botch everything else (and really, can you say Labour or the Tories have done any better over the past 20 years?) – will at least ensure genuine political change comes to this country by reforming an outdated, corrupt and unfair system.

Don’t go with T-Mobile

At the end of last year I spent £50 on a PAYG USB mobile broadband stick with T-Mobile. It’s bad enough these sticks now cost under £30, but it appears T-Mobile has cut back on its tariffs. When I signed up you could surf for £2/day, £10 for a whole week, or £30 for a whole month without committing to anything longer. Now T-Mobile has quietly dropped the weekly and monthly tariffs, so if I want to use the internet during our week in Kent I’ll have to pay £14 for the week instead of £10.

At no point has this change been advertised or reported – it’s the fact I feel I purchased this stick under false pretences that winds me up.

Labour exposed

A superb leading article on this government’s authoritarian tendencies in today’s Independent – click here. After 17 years of consecutive Tory rule, it took Labour just 12 to get to this state of affairs. What it tells me is that our electoral system does not provide sufficient safeguard for democratic freedoms in this country – instead, an ever-decreasing minority of people (just 35% of those who bothered to vote in 2005) deliver an ever-increasing amount of power to a single political party. How can this current government enjoy an unassailable majority in the Commons on such a small percentage of the popular vote? For me, it’s just further proof of how little people in the UK care about the stuff that really matters.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that this ex-Labour MP has resigned from the party – see here. If her colleagues weren’t so out of touch and too taxed running up ridiculous expenses claims, perhaps we wouldn’t be in this mess.

This made me laugh

In the previous issue of The Week, they published two letters from The Times offering for and against arguments over the recent protests during the G20 summit. Now naturally I’m going to come down in favour of the right to peaceful protest, and one thing these protests should have done is highlight how our civil liberties have been eroded by this Labour government, but the gentleman writing in to oppose the idea of peaceful protest must surely have seen the irony of his words? To quote:

Sir, While my sympathies go to your correspondent (April 3) for the discomfort she had to suffer, surely people should know by now that protests achieve nothing other than allegation and counter-allegation. It is not the democratic right of people to assemble in large numbers in an attempt, however peaceful, to bring a city to a halt to get across their point of view. The democratic right is to protest via the ballot box, and if that does not achieve the desired effect for you then what you want is not what the majority want.

Walter Houser, London SW14

Link to letter here

I think Mr Houser has forgotten that our electoral system does not reflect the will of the majority, unless he considers a paltry 35% of the popular vote a majority one. And since when did our constitution – unwritten or otherwise – expressly forbid the right to peaceful protest by means other than voting in elections that are effectively rigged from the start? Oh yes, since the laughably titled Human Rights Act of 2000…

Tech Radar

My “10 brilliant free back-up tools” piece is now online at Tech Radar – click here to read it (and download some of those tools if you’re running without a backup!).

Bits and pieces

Harriet is now out of her harness during the day. Since gaining her freedom she has discovered how to stand up using only one hand for support and is spending half her time clinging on to one thing or other while testing her legs! This is obviously big news for us after the long weeks and months since her initial diagnosis, and hopefully suggests she’s on the mend. She’s also capable of climbing the stairs – obviously under supervision!

Saw Waiting for Godot at the theatre in Norwich last night. It’s a hard play to follow, particularly after a long, gruelling drive up the A140, but was worth it for the acting talent on show: Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup. All produced excellent performances (Mr Pickup stole the show as Lucky with his single speech), and it’s nice to finally see Patrick Stewart at last after missing him back in 2003 when he toured the UK with The Master Builder. But if we do Norwich again for the theatre, we’d have to stay overnight so we could catch the train there and back.

(As an aside I’m just finishing off the pick and mix we purchased as I type.)

And Blues beat Wolves 2-0 with ten men to raise hopes of promotion and possibly even the title. Remind me that I typed that when we no doubt finish in the playoffs…

Something’s going to give

For the past six years I’ve operated a limited free support service for the various magazines who I’ve written Q&A columns for. On the whole this has worked well, but now I’m beginning to see that a line will have to be drawn.

The best in this regard is PC Answers – I’m paid a premium for writing Helpdesk to reflect the extra work I put in, but it’s not the same with Windows Vista Magazine, and it’s starting to make silly demands. It refuses to make it clear that I can only answer those questions I choose for the magazine, and I find myself being expected to pick up the pieces from readers demanding answers through inappropriate channels. Worse still, an increasing number of people who do get replies seem to think this makes me somebody they can email as and when they please – not a few months between questions, which is one thing, but within days of having one question answered.

I can’t rely on the magazines to tell their readers about the limitations of the service, so I’m going to have to find ways of making it clear from the outset about the limitations of my free service. I wonder how quickly many of them would disappear if they were expected to pay for the hours I end up putting in on their behalf?

Endless possibilities

The long, drawn-out redesign of the Support PCs web site is finally getting somewhere (see here). I’ve basically created a customised Content Management System that enables Joe Cassels and I to upload our old tutorials, tips, features and so on to the web via a series of databases. This content is then magically laid out on the page, enabling us to perform future redesigns of the site without having to upload all the content again.

One thing vexes us: how we’re going to make money from the site. There will be ads on there, and we hope visitors will find the content rewarding enough to consider clicking on some of them or purchasing some of the products advertised to provide some on-going revenue to make it worth our time fleshing out the content (I’d say at present that only one-third of my total output for the past 4-5 years is online).

One other way I plan to make money is to offer people downloadable PDFs of the content in a format they can print out or read offline. Now, laying out each page on its own would be prohibitive in the extreme, but it appears that various DTP packages (specifically Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher) will work in conjunction with mail merge to allow me to pull in content from the databases and magically produce pages we can then simply tweak prior to making available.

I think for this to work we’ll need to keep the costs we charge down – maybe 50p or one credit per tutorial (I’m musing about selling credits in packs – 10 for a fiver, with discounts for bulk purchases), and more for longer features. We could even periodically combine PDFs in one-off special publications, which would save people a lot of money (say £5 for 100 pages).

Whether any of this comes to fruition is of course highly debatable, but it’s going to be interesting to see how far we can push this. Just imagine being in a position whereby we were earning enough revenue to devote most of our energies to developing exclusive content for the site.

Quote of the month

Prince Charles nearly got my vote for his brilliant analogy, comparing our unsustainable lifestyles with drawing on the planet’s capital instead of its income. But dad gave me his latest copy of The Week, which featured this gem of a quote from the late, great Peter Ustinov, quoted from The Independent:

"If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.”

Natasha Richardson

I can’t say why, but the death of Natasha Richardson has affected me peculiarly. I feel a sense of devastation and loss for the family she leaves behind, and yet I barely knew about her. I’ve never followed her career, noted only in passing her marriage to Liam Neeson (although it was always pleasing to see how happy they most obviously were).

Perhaps it’s the sheer bad luck in the accident that ultimately took her life, or the fact she leaves behind a devoted husband and two young boys. Or maybe it came so quickly after Harri bumped her head (no long-lasting effects for our sweetheart thankfully – the bump came up quickly and was gone just as quickly) – a reminder of how fragile our own lives are. Whatever the reasons, I can only record my condolences, even though they are utterly insufficient and cannot even begin to provide comfort for a family that is thrust into mourning. There but for the grace of [insert your own deity here] go all of us…

Bloody bonfires

Over the past few days a number of neighbours have decided the good weather is the perfect time for a bonfire. I don’t mind when they’re obviously burning wood or other natural substances, but two of those three bonfires have smelled incredibly acrid and nasty, and I don’t exactly find it considerate to have polluting and harmful fumes seeping through my house, with a 16-month baby girl asleep upstairs breathing in God knows what despite the fact all the windows and doors are shut.

To cap it all off, I looked out of the window this morning to find a not very subtle covering of white ash covering the car – a car parked on the opposite side of the house and in a sheltered spot. Christ knows what damage that will do – I’ve swept most of it off, but honestly, what kind of fricking world are we living in?

It probably doesn’t help to see that the climate change denial industry is still going strong among my fellow Birmingham City supporters. I can’t frame a coherent reply, my anger is so great right now (although there’s a growing part of me that can’t be arsed – I mean, if you can’t see what’s going on in front of your own eyes, how will I persuade you otherwise?).

If only the prevailing attitude was that personal freedom ends the moment you start infringing on other people’s rights, the world we live in would be a much better place.

Other than this, life is good. And I’m not being sarcastic, either.

New blog

I’m slowly thinking about how to redesign my web site to make things easier to post and update. When it does happen, I’ll be using my new blog to record details of work that’s been commissioned or submitted, plus work that has been published (both offline and online). If any of this remotely interests you, click here to read it.

Why must we assert our “data rights”?

The ICO has said it’s up to the public to protect its data rights (see here). Surely it would be better if this government changed the habit of a lifetime and started protecting taxpayers against businesses instead of giving business free rein to do what the hell it likes and damn the consequences. I thought companies had to automatically opt people out of storing their details unless we specifically told them otherwise, so why should we have to write to anyone to find out what information they hold about us? Perhaps the government seems to think it’ll give us something to do to wile away the hours when we’re all unemployed as a result of its disastrous laissez-faire approach to regulation. No wonder Thatcher said her greatest legacy was New Labour…

BBC History

I had a shock this morning – after a productive few hours catching up with Q&A correspondence and writing 10 tips for Tech Radar and my BBC Countryfile piece for tomorrow, I decided to write up my second piece in good time for next Tuesday’s deadline. I trotted off to the Easton Lodge web site only to discover it’s been closed to the public for the foreseeable future!

I quickly emailed the magazine explaining what had happened and offering Colchester’s clock museum as an alternative (see here) – it’s an interesting building that dates back to the 15th century and was once inhabited by William Gilberd, scientist and physician to Elizabeth I, but as this was only my second piece I wasn’t confident it would be accepted. Luckily, it has been, so part of tomorrow will be spent on a quick visit (thankfully it’s free) to get some photos and tour the place.

Interest rates

I can’t believe they’ve been cut again. From a selfish point of view it’s fantastic news. Egg belatedly opened an offset savings account for me as part of my tracker mortgage deal, so I’ve transferred the vast bulk of my savings into that. I also cut my monthly repayment by £200 – by transferring that £200 into the savings account I’m able to keep reducing the interest payments while hanging on to the money as an additional buffer. I only wish I’d done this earlier, but will have to hope I can stave off the recession long enough to build up an additional three or four monthly repayments in case money worries start to bite.

Despite cutting my monthly payment by a quarter, I’ve just paid off another £500 of capital on the mortgage, which will no doubt increase next month with this latest interest rate cut. So yes, it’s great news for me from a selfish point of view.

But it’s a stupid move, nonetheless. It will do practically nothing to get the economy moving again, and hits savers firmly in the pockets. This group is the one group that can save us – give them an attractive interest rate and money will start to pour back into the economy. There will be no quick fix to this recession, however hard Brown et al try to boosting lending, and if it teaches us all to be more careful with debt in the future then it will be a good thing. Any quick fix now would surely only store up more trouble for later on.

Now that’s courtesy

Just had an email from BBC History Magazine informing me that my first footsteps piece for the mag is being reprinted in a special edition coming out in April. I won’t be paid anything extra for this – few magazine writers get paid for reprints – but they will be sending me a complementary copy.

This attitude is in stark contrast to other magazine publishers I work for. As an example, one magazine recently reprinted a large number of questions from one of my Q&A columns in a free covermounted book. Again, it’s perfectly entitled to do this, but I was not informed and my name appears nowhere in the book. If it wasn’t for the screenshots you’d have no idea who wrote the piece, but it does irk me that not only does this publisher reuse work without having the courtesy of informing the original writer, but more often than not the original writer’s name is removed from the credits.

I can’t afford to be too high-handed about it – another magazine recently dropped my Q&A column in favour of repurposing the entire section from earlier issues to save money. That’s blown a big hole in my monthly earnings, and I’m beginning to feel the pinch. It’s given me an extra edge in trying to get the Support PCs web site redesigned, and my web-coding skills have developed massively in the past week or so. I have this foolish notion that if Joe and I can get the redesign sorted, we’ll be able to attract more visitors to the site and drive up ad revenue from their current pitiful levels. It might also help me in the redesign of my own site, which I plan to strip down and simplify to enable content to be easily added without having to play about with page design at the same time.

Harri out of plaster

Good news: Harriet’s now out of plaster and the first step in the procedure has worked. The hip sockets have begun to form, but there’s some way to go yet, and she may still require further surgery down the line – possibly as late as age five.

In the meantime however, her plaster has been replaced with a harness which does the same job of keeping her hips in a specific position to help facilitate the development of the hip sockets. Apparently the risk of dislocation is virtually eliminated now, but in a slight change to what we thought, she’ll have to stay in the harness for a full 22 hours a day for six weeks; originally we thought she’d be spending progressively less time in the harness over the coming weeks, but from a practical perspective it’ll be simpler. By the beginning of April she will only need the harness at night and for any naps she takes during the day.

Practically speaking the pros of a harness over plaster very much outweigh the cons. She’s a little bit lighter, and easier to lift and carry. She easily fits in her car seat now, and can go back into the high chair, which makes feeding easier for everyone! On the downside nappy changes are more involved as the harness needs to be removed each time, but she’s back in real nappies which is a relief, plus we no longer have to perform a nappy change at night.

She’s already had her first bath – she hasn’t gone off those at least as the squeals of delight last night will testify! And in the next week or two she’ll be able to resume her swimming lessons again.

She won’t be able to stand up in the harness or take her first steps, so that will have to wait until the harness comes off during the day and her muscles get used to their new position. We go back to the hospital on 18th May to see how the hips are doing via an x-ray, at which point she may or may not be relieved of the harness for good (my guess from the consultant’s comments yesterday is that he expects her to still require it after this date for a while longer, so we’re prepared for that).

D-Day

In just over an hour we’ll be setting off for Stanmore – today is the day Harri’s frog plaster comes off. She’ll have an X-ray and we should know in the following consultation whether the procedure has worked or not. Whatever happens she’ll go into a harness for up to 22 hours a day (this will quickly lessen over the next few weeks – by six weeks in she’ll only be wearing it at night).

She’s ready for this, as she’s starting putting weight on both legs – hopefully that’s a good sign, although she does tend to favour her right leg, which was the less afflicted of the two. With a bit of luck I’m reading too much into that, but it’s almost a pre-requisite with my character to take nothing for granted, so I’m trying to remain carefully neutral. I’ll obviously update the blog later – hopefully late this afternoon.

Monbiot puts Hazel Blears in her place

Hazel Blears had the nerve to come out and slam those of us who believe that Labour (and the Tories before them) have successfully managed to destroy people’s faith in politics to the point where governments are now able to pretty much do as they please without rousing any kind of concerted opposition.

Obviously Blears loves this state of affairs. She also loves saying “yes” to her party as it systematically erodes civil liberties and personal freedoms while pursuing an aggressive (and illegal) foreign policy on the one hand while kow-towing to special interests and big businesses (particularly those who go to great lengths to paying tax) on the other.

I can feel my anger building just typing this – and as I’m even less coherent than normal when typing from a position of barely suppressed rage, I shall point you towards Monbiot’s excellent riposte here. One point that does wind me up is Blears’ unsubstantiated claim that Monbiot makes claims without providing supporting evidence (just look at the careful bibliography that accompanies every Monbiot post on his web site). This in stark contrast to this government’s pronouncements on the third runway at Heathrow having only bothered to consult BAA on the matter. Oh the hypocrisy, Ms Blears. As it’s blatantly obvious you can’t see this, I would move that you are no longer fit to play any role in governing this country.

Bloody banks

I see Britain’s toothless government is powerless to prevent banks spending millions of our hard-earned taxes on paying their staff bonuses, despite the fact we’re in a recession (see here). If even Barack Obama has managed to put a cap on bonuses, why the hell can’t Gordon Brown?

For those who say the snow proves there is no climate change…

… spare a thought for the 14 Australians killed in the state of Victoria due to bush fires. A state where the temperature is about to hit 47 degrees - “It's just going to be, probably by a long way, the worst day ever in the history of the state in terms of temperatures and winds”, according to the Victorian state premier (see here).

Climate change deniers, like that twit in the Sunday Telegraph, will no doubt bleat that it’s an isolated case, one that can’t on its own be used to prove the existence of climate change. That’s very true, in which case why are you all clamouring to claim that the current wintry conditions affecting Britain are proof incontrovertible that climate change is a fallacy?

I wouldn’t mind so much, if the levels of hypocrisy emanating from these people weren’t so high and so brazen.

In other news, any political goodwill I’ve felt towards David Cameron has evaporated with his claim that he’s happy for new state schools to be set up outside of local authority control (see here). If we thought the government’s hare-brained academy scheme was ridiculous, then this has to be lunacy of the highest order.