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Showing posts from July 31, 2016

OUT AND ABOUT IN THE CITY OF SHEFFIELD, UNITED KINGDOM

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Part of the interior of Sheffield Cathedral Sheffield is an English city with an illustrious history which goes back for many centuries. Like many other English cities, Sheffield played its role in the English Civil War and the royal intrigues which  formed a large part of British history, including having played host to a reluctant Mary Queen of Scot, who was placed in the guardianship of probably the richest family then living in the still expanding Sheffield. Sheffield Cathedral We had gone to Sheffield to visit someone in one of the local hospitals, The Royal Hallamshire Hospital, which is a regional neurological hospital, and decided to take the opportunity to have a look around the City; having not done so before. The Royal Hallamshire Hospital, at first impression, seems to be a really good hospital. Its premises look good, orderly and clean, and its staff presented as being busy, professional and courteous. I found it impressive. The Royal H...

Birds Hitting It!

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This is a short video of some birds having fun in our garden, and, ipso facto, giving pleasure to those who care to take the time to watch them. Have you got the time and psychological inclination to indulge? If you, do watch and be entertained. Apologies if this video has previously been posted.

A THOUGHT FOR NOW - THE ELUSIVITY OR ELUSIVENESS OF ACHIEVING A 'WORLIBAL.' FINAL PART

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Think of it; do you desire happiness and/or satisfaction, and is your lifestyle giving you that? If not, are you 'happy' to forfeit your 'happiness/satisfaction' for your current lifestyle? If you are dissatisfied with your present 'worlibal', in the sense that it is 'unbalanced', then you should consider carrying out a major review of your whole style of living. This, of course, might be less challenging and onerous, if you are fortunate enough to be living on your own, compared to if you are living with a partner, and/or a family. This is because it would require you to examine all aspects of your living. Including the work you are doing; why you are doing that kind of work; your worldview or philosophy, and how you work fits into or compliments or contradicts your philosophy; where you are living; the cost of maintaining your home, and your car, if you have one; and the cost of your leisure pursuits.  If you are living with ...

A THOUGHT FOR NOW - ON BEING CRITICAL OF OTHERS' FAILINGS!

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So, there I was with my friend, just having a nice conversation, when my friend, upon seeing an obese person, whose attire did not in anyway deflected ones eyes from his figure, commented, 'look at that.' It was not said within the hearing of its subject, but that did not prevent me feeling embarrassed and surprised that my friend would make such a comment. Now, I am not so naive and lacking in basic appreciation of the psychological and sociological behaviours of the human specie, as to not be aware that we all sometimes think things of others that are nasty, insensitive, cruel and obnoxious, but we choke most of them to death before our mouths should give birth to them. At least, I believe that the great majority of us do so. There are times when our friends, colleagues and family members surprisingly embarrass us, by doing or saying things which we consider to be very insensitive, obnoxious, etc, such as making racist comments, and apparently being obliviou...

The Garden and the View From It, As The Sun Goes Down!

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This is a video of what our garden looks like on a given time and space as the Sun goes down  ever so late in the Summer months. Do take a look and allow yourself to flow with it, if you will.

The Squirrels' Feeding Tree

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This is a video of, among other scenes, two squirrels in the tree top, with one clearly munching away, while the other seems somewhat inactive.  Do take a look and see if it has anything of interest for you, in which case you could enjoy it.

THE SOCIAL WORKER. PART 4

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Social work; a challenging but potentially very rewarding profession Probably one of the most exciting thing about field social work, is that of being allocated your own cases, and being able to meet, engage with and begin the process of working with a service-user and their family and relevant others, to try to effect identified changes in their living. The process of planning this intervention and executing it, is something which requires a lot of though from the social worker. I have found that it can be very helpful for the new social worker to carry out a chronological appraisal of the relevant files. This date ordered summary of basic case details and significant events occurring on the case and in the service-user’s life can be very useful in helping a social worker to have a manageable mental image of the case, including the key issues involved in it, the key tasks which are to be carried out and the objectives being worked towards. These significant events wi...

A THOUGHT FOR NOW - THE NEED TO REMAIN RELEVANT!

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Times have changed and politicians and their supporters have to appreciate and reflect those changes and embrace the future. With the apparently fratricidal conflict within the British Labour Party now moving to a new and critical stage, which could see the Party either resolutely draw back from the beckoning abyss, or lemmingesquely catapult itself into it, now might be a good time to consider a few of the now rather meaningless phrases politicians continue to use. Let us consider, for example, the two contenders for the leadership of the British Labour Party; the doyenesque Jeremy Corbyn, and the newcomer, Owen Smith.  Mr Smith, in challenging Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership, is packaging himself in garments of  'I can be as 'radical' as Jeremy Corbyn', which he believes should make his leadership appeal attractive to the Corbynites.  Who are sold on Corbyn's largely undiluted 'traditional Labour Party values and philosophical approaches...

THE EXPECTATIONS WE HAVE OF OTHERS. PART 2

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So, I began by having probably no more that a cursory look at how easily people can come to see something or a role that you tend to carry out, or perform, as 'your role', and then get into the patter of taking you for granted, as far as you performing that role is concerned. At least, until you suddenly stop performing it, permanently or temporarily, and it makes, say, members of your family stop and think. Probably thinking your are on strike or ill. You will probably recall that I did explain that these kinds of roles are those for which you are not paid, and are generally what we might call 'familial roles', such as mum doing the cooking, the washing, the ironing and keeping the home in good order.  While dad might cook or microwave the dinner once or twice a week, and the children's role is primarily that of keeping their bedrooms clean and tidy, but which they never or rarely do; probably until mum threatens not to cook them any dinner or dad said he wo...

IN THE HANDS OF BRITAIN'S NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE. PART 2

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The overall experience of us accessing medical intervention, under the National Health Service, was one of reassurance that it was there to be accessed as we needed it. Having called the ambulance, the paramedics responded promptly and provided an efficient initial response. Having gotten our relative to the Emergency and Accident Department of the local hospital, again, the initial response was timely, in terms of her being booked in, allocated a cubicle and being hooked up to the relevant vital signs monitor. The blood sampling for tests was carried out, but could, if more staffing had been available, have been carried out much sooner than it was. Similarly, the CT Scan and X-Ray could have been carried out much sooner than they were, had it not been for staffing shortage problems and the number of patients and complexity of their condition.  Although the staff were busily and courteously doing their job and trying to be as helpful as they could, under the circumsta...

BRAZIL, WHOI, WHOI!

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Two gears are better than one; it makes sense for more than one country to host the Olympic Games in partnership. A great deal of water has gone under the bridge since Brazil successfully bid for the Olympic Games. One might even say an ocean has traversed the bridge, so much so that what might have once seemed like a blessing for Brazil appears to be taking on the shape of a curse. Since the bid Brazil has had a de facto coup, with the criminal elite ousting Dilma Rousseff's government and secreting themselves into power, which they are now working on consolidating. Brazil's economy is also struggling, whereas it was on the rise in the past, though still threatened by the continuing world economic slow down. The Olympic Games, if the truth is to be told, has probably become a curse for many or most of the countries which have successfully bid to hold it.  Why, you might ask, does a prestigious event such as hosting scores of nations coming to your country to com...

The Assertive Young Pigeon!

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This is a video of a young pigeon being assertive, when challenged by some Starlings. It also include other bird life doing their own things, and is complemented with some pacy music. Do take a look and see what you make of it.

A THOUGHT FOR NOW - THE ELUSIVITY OR ELUSIVENESS OF 'WORK-LIFE BALANCE. PART 3

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Making more room for the 'things that really matters in our living.' Quite simply, for humans to endeavour to achieve a reasonable ‘work life balance’ or, if I were to be a bit creative, a ‘good worlibal’, it would require us not to become slaves to material things, and thereby having to commit or allocate a too burdensome proportion of our limited amount of time upon the earth to work to pay the monetary cost of our possessions.  When we decide to buy the biggest and most expensive house we think we can fund out of our wages or salaries, we are literally committing years of our time upon the earth to working to pay the mortgage and the cost of up-keeping that elegantly arranged pile of concrete, water, sand, stone, glass. Yes, that house has placed a large claim on our time on earth, and it is time and labour we cannot allocate to enjoying living, outside of what enjoyment we accrue from having this ‘ our pride and joy, or castle.’ It is the same whe...