Camulod Chronicles

Having just thoroughly succeeded in making myself a bit miserable with the previous post I suddenly remembered something which happened at the weekend which was most enjoyable, so here goes.

Over the past few weeks I have been reading a series of books known as the Camulod Chronicles, by a Scottish writer called Jack Whyte who has lived in Canada for the past thirty two years. He has, over the past 12 years, written a series of brilliant books about the Arthurian legends in England, and the development of England as a country.

People more literary educated than myself have written more about his books than I am able to. All I can do is recommend that you get hold of them if you are at all bored with your current reading. They are riveting! Go ahead and buy them today.

As an aside from this - let me get back to the point of what I did at the weekend. I took myself off to the Lake District and sought out the old Roman Fort at Hardknott Pass. This is a stolen photograph of the pass on the right.

Just remember that this photograph (which I pinched off the interweb) was obviously taken during one of the few summers we have here in the UK. When I went up there it was minus 3 degrees celcius and freezing!

The road is very very steep in places and always very narrow. It made for very interesting driving.

I made my way to the pass though another pass called Wyrnose Pass. Below is a photo from the same site.

Not too much to choose between the two, except that it was impossible to drive up Hardknott as it was thick with ice in places, so I never did get to see the Roman Fort. Wyrnose itself had a fair amount of ice on it but at least it was possible to get through.

The point is that the views of the hills in the light during the late afternoon was the most fantastic I have ever seen. I have been to the Lakes many times but have never seen such colour as I saw on Sunday. The luminosity of the clear blues in the winter sun was simply stunning.

You really had to be there to appreciate it.

Needless to say, I went there without my camera! Ain't it always like that?

January 2009

It is - once again - a long long time since I have added anything to this blog. Amazing that I found it again I suppose. It's been a busy time this past few months.

No doubt in due course I will get around to explaining just why it has not been added to since the last entry.

But anyhow, here we are again. New year, same problems as last year, in fact if I keep on writing this I suppose I will get very morose and miserable, so perhaps I should not do anything.

One thing has happened recently which should be a cause of some cheerfulness in my life. My divorce has finally come through. It seems to have taken over my life for the past three years. Hell of a long time to finalise it, but now it seems to have finished. Thank goodness for that.

When I get to the point of thinking clearly about it I might put something down on this blog to try and explain to anyone who was in a similar position to the one I found myself in just what they are about to face in the future.

Or maybe not. Perhaps it is better to put it out of my mind and get on with the rest of my life.
Yes.

Show Us A Better Way

Thought that I would put this link on my blog as the web site is a cracker.

It does seem for once that the UK government has had an idea which does not involve taking large amounts of ill gotten gains from my pocket.

Essentially they are asking people for ideas which will use existing web based data collected from around the UK to create new and different uses of that data.

Well worth a look.

It's called Show Us A Better Way

States of Mind

What is it in our minds which makes us happy or sad?

Much research has been carried out over many years in mental institutions to determine the way in which the physical process of our state of mind operates. How much is down to chemical imbalance and how much is a reflection on the state of our lives at any given time?

It appears that we have progressed somewhat over the years and no longer appear to treat the mentally ill person with an automatic straight jacket and electric shock treatment, but are the drugs used to replace and re-balance the imbalances of the brain simply replacements for these old fashioned and barbaric treatments? I don't know enough to give an answer.

From my own limited experience it does appear that we are more knowledgeable now about the way in which the chemical and electrical way in which the brain operates, and one would therefore assume that the treatments offered to those suffering from mental illnesses are improving.

In the UK in recent years there has been a change in attitude towards the treatment of mental illness. Now there is a much more apparently 'patient centered' approach, but maybe this has gone too far towards caring for the person's rights instead giving them the proper levels of treatment.

A mental health practitioner, having diagnosed a patient with a problem can institute a regime of treatment which could include prescription of drugs to alleviate the symptoms of the problem - provided that the patient takes them. The patient is deemed to be capable of making a decision as to whether or not they take those drugs and so alleviate the problems associated with the illness. But how much of this is true?

If someone is suffering from a severe mental illness then one of the problems they might face is the inability to make what we would consider to be a rational judgment - on taking the drugs. The result could be that they do not take the drugs from time to time and that their condition worsens, yet the practitioner is not able to force them to take the medication. This decision is left entirely up to the patient.

Let us paint the scenario where someone suffering from a serious mental health problem decided not to take the medication they have been prescribed. Over a period of time their condition deteriorates to such an extent that they brought once again to the notice of the authorities, who place them once more into secure accommodation in a hospital ward from when they originally were released into the community.

On the face of it this system appears to place the welfare and rights of the patient uppermost. But does it?

Over a period of years, perhaps, this patient might be re-introduced to hospital several times without any real improvement in their overall condition. They are merely treated for a period of weeks in a hospital ward then released once more into the outside world, where they begin the cycle again.

A revolving door for the patient and indeed for the hospital.

So, why does this happen? Is it because in the UK we have a system of hospital funding for mentally ill people which gives the hospital a certain amount of funding each time a patient is admitted to a ward?

I suggest that this is exactly what is behind it.

To keep someone in a ward for a long period of time is expensive and each time a patient is admitted the hospital receives a large sum of money for their upkeep. This is whether they stay for weeks or a year. So it is in the financial interest of the hospital to keep someone coming back every few months or so for a period of stay lasting a few weeks. The money keeps coming in. Cynical? - Maybe.

In certain parts of the UK the waiting time to see a psychologist or psychiatrist is measured in months or years. Yet all this time mentally ill people are not being given the level of treatment they should be receiving. No diagnosis means no treatment, means vulnerable and fragile people are having to cope with a terrifying and debilitating illness alone.

If you wish to read more then go to this link.

How Long!!

It seems an awful long time since I wrote anything on this thing, so thought that as it was a fairly dull Saturday night and there being nothing much on the 900 + channels on Sky TV, I would get the laptop out and add something here.

Though in all honesty I cannot think of anything much to put on here, maybe it's time to have a rant at something or somebody. After all, having reached the grand old age of 60 and a bit, I think maybe I am entitled to sound off, having spent most of my life being ignored by everyone and his dog.

I was watching something a short time ago on BBC Four, The Book Quiz, and was quite startled to find that I was able to answer one of the questions put to the teams on the quiz. It was a quote by Ernest Hemingway about living in Paris. He said that once you had been there the memory of the place would always stay with you and that you were able to enjoy it even though you were somewhere else at the time. He called it a 'moveable feast' and I felt that it was an accurate and very apt description.

Paris is a wonderful place and somewhere I have been to on many occasions, mainly because in my 30's I worked for a couple of French companies and had to go to the country every six weeks or so. Hard work, but someone had to do it. I'm talking almost 30 years ago now and then the place used to annoy me intensely due to the Parisian habit of allowing their dogs to crap all over the pavements. It really was horrendous at the time. You were constantly skidding on little bits of French dog turds and having to scrape you shoes on the side of the gutter. Now though they have changed somewhat. Not sure where the dogs do it now, but they do have an army of little green people rushing around with green electric carts and brushes and shit scrapers to clean up the mess. Big improvement.

I think the reason I got onto the subject of France because one of the really nice things which came from the time I spent working for those companies in France was the fact that I met and became friends with two wonderful people. Jean-Michel and Anne are now married, but at the time I met them they were still to undergo the ceremony. I was invited to their wedding and the baptism of their first son, and have kept in touch over the years. They have stayed with me and the various wives I have managed to acquire and I have stayed with them in the various houses and apartments they have lived in.

It really is good to know that after all these years we still keep in touch.

The relationship Jean-Michel and I have is a bit strange. We can go two or three years and not see each other then when we do eventually get to meet up again we start to talk again in the usual mixture of French and English as though we have only just stepped out of the room for five minutes. A wonderful relationship, and one I hope will continue for always.

Sometimes the break of a long silence of not writing will be an e mail informing me that they have once again moved. which is always a good ice breaker!!

They are coming to the UK next month, and with a small amount of luck I will get to see them, though I think they are going to be a bit busy - heavily involved with their towns twinning arrangements.

So, after a break of several months, I am back. Hope to write more on here soon.

14 T F Cunningham

Sadly, I have to report, that Frank died during the last week. Death is a sad time, but in this instance I really do feel that despite the tremendous loss felt by his family, it eventually came as a blessing. No one should have to suffer the ways he and his family have done over the past months.

13 T F Cunningham

I thought by this day I would be writing to tell you that Frank has died. Unbelievably, seven days later, he is still hanging on. I find it hard to believe the spirit of a human being who can hold onto life when so much is wrong.

My latest information is that he is deteriorating, and that today could be his last.

I will update you from time to time.