Announcement

Toni and I are pleased to announce that we’re expecting our second child. We had the 12-week scan last Monday and all seems well so far. Due date is 15th May, two years and six months to the day after Harriet Rose was born – I don’t like to brag (oh, alright, I do like to brag), but we couldn’t have timed it much better. No idea as to the sex, but we are relieved there’s only one in there!

This and that

First, good news re: Harri and her hernia. We went to Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge yesterday and got a proper diagnosis, plus she will definitely be operated on to fix the problem, hopefully in December. It was quick, efficient and reassuring, which was good after six weeks or so of uncertainty.

Second, stupid news. We never did get to see a-ha in concert in the end, on account of the fact that I’d somehow convinced myself that the gig was on Thursday 5th November. I was made aware of my cock-up when I dug out the tickets at 8pm on Wednesday 4th November, the actual date of the gig. I’m not that gutted – it would have been nice to have seen them perform songs from the new album live, but instead I’ll have to make an extra special effort to see them on their farewell tour next year. I think the fact I’ve seen them three times, including an absolutely brilliant set in Wembley in late 2002 (which thankfully made it onto their 2003 live album), helped soothe the grief. That, and the fact you can’t be that stupid without laughing at yourself.

Harri’s hernia, part 3254

We’ll be referring Harri to Addenbrookes in Cambridge after all for her hernia. Having foolishly decided to go with our local hospital, it now transpires the consultant has indicated that – despite knowing that the hernia has already strangulated twice – he will adopt a “wait and see” approach to operating. Well excuse me for being selfish and not wanting to spend the next 12 months on tenterhooks worrying about my daughter’s hernia, or for wanting to subject her to any more horrible pain than that she’s already encountered…

The irony is, the appointment we’ve hopefully just booked is eight days before the Colchester one…

Harri update

Harriet’s latest appointment at Stanmore revealed that her hips are continuing to develop normally. We’d rather foolishly thought that if she got the all-clear now she’d not need to return for a couple of years, but we also thought the worst would definitely be over. However, because her hip condition was bilateral, complications are more likely and she may still require another operation before the age of five if things stop developing properly.

Once we got over the initial shock of that – and Harri will continue to be checked up every six months so hopefully any problems will be spotted quickly – we realised that the news was still good. If nothing else it means we can concentrate on worrying about her hernia – the consultant was adamant that the surgery wasn’t responsible for it, so presumably a weakness was already there, but we first appeared while she was in plaster, which makes it quite a coincidence! Perhaps they were worried we might go looking for compensation or something like that – rest assured we would never do that! So far Stanmore have done an excellent job, and thankfully the hernia hasn’t caused any more major problems since our last aborted rush to A&E, although it has reappeared briefly over the past couple of days, just to keep us on our toes!

Not a good weekend for hernias

Harri’s hernia came up again on Saturday, and again it was hard and causing her increasing amounts of pain until she was crying her eyes out, poor mite. We were at friends in Hertfordshire at the time, so readied ourselves for a trip to A&E in Harlow. By the time we arrived the hernia had gone of its own accord and she was fast asleep, so we came straight home instead. Tomorrow we’ll go to the doctor to put on record the fact it has now happened twice.

What naturally worries us is that this is the second time in a month that the hernia has gone hard and caused Harri a great deal of pain – “tummy hurts” is what she has been saying on and off for a little while, but while we didn’t know whether she knew what she was saying beforehand, we damn well do now.

As befits an infant suffering from a hernia that is clearly capable of causing her great discomfort, we’re thankful that the NHS is treating it with the urgency it deserves. From the initial diagnosis with a promise of a referral to Addenbrooke’s within two weeks, our weekend began with a letter from the hospital telling us Harri’s scheduled pre-op appointment at Colchester for 23rd October (more like 4-5 weeks since the diagnosis) had been cancelled, no explanation. It turned out that she’d been referred to the wrong person by the “Choose and Book” system, and an alternative appointment was made there and then – for the 11th November. That’s a delay of 19 days on top of the original delay (and I wonder how long the delay would have been had we followed the advice in the letter and waited patiently for another appointment?), which means any operation – and we’re being optimistic here – is likely to take place two months after her first visit to A&E.

Of course, while a repeat attack – assuming it’s witnessed by staff at A&E – may see her finally get the emergency operation she so desperately needs, we’re left in limbo, worrying if (or rather when) she’s going to be struck down again – and where. We were in the RSPB reserve near Hoddesdon when she started complaining and the hernia reappeared – a 20 minute walk away from our friends’ house – which means can we risk going on long journeys or visiting people?

Becalmed

After an incredibly busy September – my best month for a long time – October has come along and suddenly everything is quiet again. In fact, as things stand, October is set to be my worst month for quite some time. Last month commissions kept flooding in through the month and I had to squeeze them in, so maybe I’ll pick up some work throughout this month, although our scheduled break in the middle of the month (a trip to see old friends and colleagues in the West Country, ending with a stop-off at Stanmore on the way home for Harri’s first checkup since May) will no doubt get in the way of any work I do get offered.

I’ve written for a wider variety of publications and web sites than ever over the past 12 months, but my regular work has dwindled to the point where it just about covers the mortgage payments after tax, but little else. Joe and I meet up in Ipswich on Wednesday for a conflab, but maybe I should just enjoy the time off and try not to worry too much about what might – or might not – be around the corner.

As always, it’s a good time to try and count your blessings. I’ve felt a bit down lately without really realising it. I don’t think my music choice has helped – too many sad songs and songs harking back to one’s youth. Perhaps I’m feeling my age in five-a-side football, even though I’m probably fitter than I’ve been for a long time. Maybe it’s a loss of identity as my daughter’s one develops so quickly – I wouldn’t change it for the world, but maybe I’ve too easily relegated myself to the role of “Harri’s dad”. Or perhaps, when all is said and done, I really do need to get out a bit more!

Nice money if you can get it

When I resigned from Future Publishing seven years ago, I left having helped the magazine I edited make hefty profits for two years running. Unsurprisingly, by opting to resign from my job and go freelance I wasn’t given any kind of severance package. I thought this was normal, but clearly I was wrong.

Karren Brady has decided to resign from her job as Managing Director of Birmingham City FC, despite being asked to stay on by the club’s new owners. She already appears to be bunking off during her notice period, taking on filming commitments for The Apprentice on BBC TV. Now The Mirror has highlighted something that has been in the public domain for weeks: that Brady will get a severance package worth up to £1m in money and perks.

Of course, no mention of this has been made in Brady’s column in rival paper The Sun. Instead she attacks the incoming owners for not keeping David Gold on as Chairman. In what other business would you sell your stake for a hefty profit and then expect to remain as Chairman?

Harri update

We’ve all recovered from the stomach bug earlier this week. Harri doesn’t have a date for her hernia consult (or op), but it looks like it’ll be 4-6 weeks from yesterday when our regular doctor finally did what the other doctor should have done on Monday and got a letter of referral sorted (as the doctor in A&E feared last weekend, his referral got logged, but never actually sent).

After our initial panic, compounded by last week’s stomach bug, and assuaged by our doctor yesterday, we’re in a more comfortable place with this hernia. It’s come up and down a few times since last week, but that’s apparently normal and there’s no risk to Harri (and she certainly doesn’t seem that bothered by it, last week’s A&E episode notwithstanding). Consequently, if everything’s under control and there’s nothing to worry about – although being a parent you’ve always got the worst-case scenario in the back of your mind – then 4-6 weeks isn’t such a problem.

The operation has now been referred back to Colchester, which makes me think it’ll conveniently take place after Harri’s second birthday on 15th November. That helps, obviously, although the only question is the date of the consult. In all likelihood it won’t affect our planned trip to the West Country in the middle of next month, but you can never say never, particularly when the Law of Sod has yet to be applied!

The week from hell

We’ve had better weeks. Having come to terms with Harri’s hernia, we’ve all since succumbed to a stomach bug, which affected poor Harriet worse of all. Incompetent parenting on my part hasn’t helped, but thankfully she’s not been sick since first thing this morning and has eaten a few scraps. She appears to have her appetite back and is doing well. Toni was bedridden for most of yesterday, and I’ve been bedridden until now.

In an ideal world I’d have not got up at all, but I’m remembering why I gave up gadget group tests for Focus all those years ago. I recently accepted an eReader roundup for MSN Tech & Gadgets UK – as it was my first piece for this web site I didn’t want to say no, but it’s like Groundhog Day. Three of the five eReaders have proved simple to source, but the last two were nigh on impossible. I’ve ended up buying one for the purposes of the group test which came to more than the fee, so the prospect of buying another doesn’t appeal for obvious reasons.

I did think I’d struck gold finally today, but the UK arm of this particular eReader forwarded my request to the States, which means I’ll have to spring for shipping, import duties and the cost of returning the device – easily £60-100. Plus it won’t arrive for another 7-10 business days, so will go beyond my original deadline (next Monday). I’m left praying that Sony may be able to dig me out of a hole by letting me borrow two models to complete the numbers. I’m not holding my breath.

Harri’s hernia

Our poor babby girl. This lunchtime a massive lump appeared in Harri’s groin area, and to cut a long story short we ended up in A&E where she was diagnosed with a hernia. It’s on the same side as the incision made during her hip surgery, so that may have been a contributing factor, but if you saw how mobile she is, how easily walking has come to her and how well her hips appear to be developing, you’d understand why I say that – assuming all goes well (and even allowing for a late-night trip to A&E if the problem recurs before the operation is scheduled, hopefully in the next two weeks) – it’s a small price to pay for how well she’s done since the operation last December.

The hernia was put back by the attending physician who has referred her to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge for the surgery, but it has reappeared since. Luckily it was “soft” rather than “hard”, but if it does reappear and go hard (it was the size of a golf ball at one point), we’re to rush back to A&E where she’s likely to be transferred for emergency surgery.

It did mean I didn’t get to see Colchester play this afternoon, but dad and my mate Steve did go and saw them win 2-0, while Blues turned in a surprisingly good performance to win 1-0 at Hull. None of this matters of course – Toni was dragged out of a craft fair at a local school, but enjoyed her best-ever takings (she’d sold two necklaces before mum deputised) as well – but it’s worth putting in the record. Fish and chips was lovely as well – here’s praying that Harri stops running around and putting pressure on it before we can get the operation done and dusted. I have to admit, I’m not too confident on that score…

Bravo, Mr Shatner

I stumbled on an interview between Glenn Beck (goodness knows who he is – possibly a radio talk show host, maybe even a right-wing radio talk show host) and William Shatner, the full transcript of which can be read here. However, it’s Mr Shatner’s views on population that had me applauding – if only the rest of us would come out and engage with those views instead of pretending we can go on multiplying like rabbits with no long-term consequences to worry about…

GLENN: You said almost every problem we have right now is due to overpopulation.

SHATNER: Yes.

GLENN: And I said there are just too many stupid people on Earth. You said there's too many smart and stupid people. So what is the solution to overpopulation?

SHATNER: Well, nature, nature eventually will take care of that problem like they did, like nature does with animals. We're overgrazing. So when deer multiply, when the natural order of things is disturbed and predators are taken away, for example, the deer, they overpopulate, they eat too much of the food and they starve. And we're going to -- if we don't curb -- how do we stop the overpopulation? I guess it's by education and saying you've got to have less children, you can't have all the children you want anymore. There's a difference in the world now. Or nature will take care of it.

GLENN: How many -- well, I just want -- I mean, in 1968 they said by 1980 the world would starve to death. Food production --

SHATNER: But there's no question that technology has increased the yield per acre. But in increasing the yield per acre, we have defiled the planet even more. By putting more fertilizer on the ground, we have the runoff and we have the seas dying as a result of all the fertilizer.

GLENN: Do you believe that the Earth takes care of -- and I mean this as a sincere question. Do you believe that the Earth takes care of problems in the way that this cyclone hit or this earthquake in China? Is that the Earth saying, enough?

SHATNER: Well, no. The cyclone itself is a natural order, but the number of people killed, which would have been three in another age, is now tens of thousands. And that's the result of overpopulation. The population of the world is taking over niches for living space and agriculture that they wouldn't have done before. So they are on low-lying islands that are inches above water level or cutting back mangroves like we did in Florida in order to get land and ultimate, whereas nature would have softened the blows of some of these disastrous storms, now that isn't taking place. Eventually and when that will happen, it's hard to predict. But we know it's not going to be that far away. Nature will be killing more and more people because there are more and more people to be killed. They're in the way of these natural forces.

408,000

That’s how much the UK population grew by in 2008. Just imagine: 408,000 new people. That’s basically adding a city the size of Liverpool to our already overcrowded country.

And it’s not immigration that’s the prime cause of this increase either. If you read the BBC report here you’ll find no mention of that most taboo of subjects: that this continued growth in the number of human beings is unsustainable over the medium term, never mind the long term.

The ridiculous speed at which humans have increased our numbers was driven home to me while watching various documentaries of the 1969 moon landings. The astronauts spoke of representing three billion people, the entire population of the planet Earth. Now, just 40 years later, we number 6.7 billion.

Everything that is happening with our climate and environment is down to one statistic: the rise in population. It’s time to stop brushing this under the carpet and start asking the awkward question: when will we wake up to the fact there are too many of us here? And what can we do about it?

New web host

After less than a year I’m waving bye bye to UK2.net and hello to 5quidhost. My domains will remain with UK2.net as 5quidhost doesn’t do domain hosting, but the actual web and email hosting will be done by this new company.

Early signs are impressive: the final straw with UK2.net (my package runs out early next month) was another email failure, at least the fourth of this year. This time, a whole day’s email will be lost, bounced back to the sender. I only knew of this because a friend emailed me on another domain that was working, and because I then checked the UK2.net service status page.

The new host has everything UK2.net offered – particularly unlimited MySQL databases, which are the backbone of the Support PCs site – plus a far better handling of email accounts. Now every domain has unlimited POP3 accounts instead of my having to set up a complicated forwarding system.

After reading a large number of good reviews about 5quidhosting, the final swaying factor was price: £5/month. I’ve only signed up for a single month so far too, so I’ve been able to test it without committing to a year’s hosting. Unless things dramatically get worse in the next few weeks I’ll be signing up for a year, which will cost me less than half the price I would have paid had I renewed with UK2.net.

The price is cheaper because of the limits on storage (2GB) and bandwidth (20GB/month). If I end up needing more, it’ll be because the web sites I run are generating more traffic, which in turn will hopefully bring in more revenue to help pay for the ongoing costs!

Riding the crest…

One week on and I’m still playing a-ha’s album almost non-stop. After a lukewarm first listen it’s grown into this unstoppable force – I’m practically addicted to it, particularly the second track, “Riding the Crest”. After the comparative disappointment of Analogue this a band right back on the form displayed with Lifelines and Minor Earth, Major Sky.

There are duff tracks, of course there are, but the hits outweigh the misses, and in the desperate attempt to find out how they’re doing in this week’s chart (can they cling on to a top 10 spot for a second week running? They’re sliding according to Amazon, but still inside the top 10) I’ve discovered they had to sell just 18,000 copies to get their top 5 spot. Analogue got to #24 with half of that in 2006, which shows how few copies are legitimately sold these days…

Oh my…

This is surreal: according to The Times (click here) and various other web sites, a-ha’s new album is “guaranteed” a top 5 spot in Sunday’s album chart. It’ll be their first top 10 album since 1988’s Stay on these Roads, and their first since I publicly and privately acknowledged I was a big fan. And to think I thought they’d had their moment in the sun when the single Analogue briefly charted at #10 in 2006…

It’s an interesting article – apparently it’s now okay for dads and boyfriends to admit a “guilty” pleasure to liking a-ha. Does that mean I’ve not been alone in my love of this band’s music and lyrics for the past 20 years? That’s not fair – I know plenty of friends who to varying degrees admit liking their music (Dave and Cav in particular spring to mind).

Be interesting to see the dynamic of the fanbase at the concerts this autumn compared to the last three times we’ve seen them, although I suspect if a load more people are discovering their music for the first time they’ll be touring again in 2010…

Rest in peace, Sir Bobby

The passing of Sir Bobby Robson has seen a large outpouring of feeling towards this most decent and gentle of human beings, who thankfully was recognised for his sterling job as England manager before he left us.

Robson performed miracles as a manager at Ipswich and Newcastle – how the Geordies must have rued dispensing of his services in the way they did, but he proved himself on the European domestic stage too. As England manager he endured a lot of abuse and criticism, but there is no doubt in my mind that he was our second best manager ever, as evidenced by how close we came to winning the World Cup in 1990 (and maybe we’d have come closer in 86 too if it hadn’t been for a certain Argentine’s hand).

People are queuing up to remember him with fondness, and I’m glad, because it was blatantly obvious even from a distance that he was intelligent, a gentleman and extremely talented to boot. His last appearance at the weekend shocked me, but he clearly appreciated the gesture at his beloved St James Park and it was hopefully a fitting send off for this great man.

Pre-order Windows 7 for as little as £44.97

Microsoft has opened up pre-orders for retail copies of Windows 7. From today(15th July) until 9th August you’ll be able to pre-order a copy of Windows 7 E for significantly less than it will go on sale in October – under £45 if you order through Amazon.

It’s worth noting that the European release of Windows 7 (Windows 7 E) won’t come with Internet Explorer installed. As a result you’ll need to make sure you have an installation copy of your favourite browser stored somewhere safe – on CD or flash drive for example – so you can browse the web after installing Windows 7. The lack of Internet Explorer in Windows 7 also means you won’t be able to upgrade to Windows 7 over the top of your existing Windows XP or Vista installation – you’ll need to perform a fresh install.

A number of PC retailers are offering this deal on behalf of Microsoft, including Amazon. Click here to pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium E for £44.97, or click here to pre-order Windows 7 Professional E for £89.97.

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…