Thursday 27th December 2018

[refitman]

Morning all.

[Willow904]

Morning.

[AnatolyKasparov]

You normally have more to say than that

[citizenJA]

Good-morning, everyone

[Willow904]

You normally have more to say than that

[RogerOThornhill]

Morning all.

So son goes off this morning, daughter on Saturday. Nice to have 'er indoors around for both days - almost certainly won't be the case next year.

I remember one year when she was doing nights so we cooked Christmas dinner so that we could eat at 5pm. Having lined the baking tray ready for the turkey to go in it, I returned to the kitchen to find the cat sitting in it...

[Willow904]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ng-charges" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hospitals making hundreds of millions from parking charges

There's some discussion about this on Twitter this morning. It's a difficult one. Labour's pledge to scrap parking fees sounds great in theory but gets difficult in practice. To stop people who aren't using the hospital from blocking spaces, as will happen in some locations, you would need to operate some pretty complicated processes to police this which will be expensive and will need ring-fenced funding. Also, to be really fair, you'd also need to find a way to help people reliant on buses and taxis, who can also face high costs to access hospitals but won't benefit from free parking. Personally I agree with this comment:

Dr Hilary PhD 48% #FBPE
@regordane
·
1h
Replying to
@visitcamberwell @JolyonMaugham and @theolester42
It depends on local circumstance, so policy should vary accordingly. In much of London, with good public transport, hospital parking charges are progressive. And necessary - otherwise "visitors" block spaces needed by patients/staff.

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I think the principle of ensuring parking charges are universally fair and that schemes for discounts and exemptions for long term patients and their families are consistent nationally across all hospitals would be a less catchy but slightly more pragmatic policy, imo.

[Willow904]

Labour also have policies around bus transport, of course, which could help more people afford public transport to hospitals if successful, but public transport isn't suitable for many patients so ensuring parking is available is part of why car parking charging takes place in the first place. People are unbelievably selfish. When I was at college, students often parked in the neighbouring hospital which had free parking because they weren't allowed to take their cars onto campus. Parking charges would have persuaded them to walk, however. Meanwhile the BRI in Bristol is located a short walk from the main bus station making public transport preferable for many, even if they can afford high parking charges, so better public transport links are important too and something I'm sure Labour would be more enthusiastic about investing in than the Tories, who seem keen to kill bus services off completely.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

@Willow

Agree. Public transport should be good enough that it's a highly plausible option for most people heading to destinations such as hospitals.

[RogerOThornhill]

And you might find that if parking charges were scrapped altogether, hospitals might actually look at the land and decide that a more economic benefit would be to sell it off - car parks take up a lot of valuable space.

When I was going to see 'er indoors at the Royal London I went by tube - for a start it's a nightmare journey and no parking space anyway. Making sure alternative transport options are available would be far better.

[RogerOThornhill]

Well, turkey curry went well...after I managed to burn the spices by having the oil too hot first time round.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Still, having Richard Angell repeatedly squawking "CARE NOT CAR PARKS!!" was one of the funniest moments of 2017.

[tinyclanger2]

Perhaps parking could be free, or public transport could be better, if taxes were higher.

[tinyclanger2]

Have had my third christmas lunch (nut roast, roast potatoes, home-made stuffing) in a run.
Still enjoying it.

Especially that exceptional nut roast.
And the potatoes.

[tinyclanger2]

CURRY NOT CARPARKS in RoT's case.

[tinyclanger2]

Am in a strange twilight mood. Too early for a drink. (About 3 days too early). Too knackered to do much else.
Am oscillating between reading Ian Rankin (not his best), websudoku and thinking.

[tinyclanger2]

If you can oscillate between three things.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Have had my third christmas lunch (nut roast, roast potatoes, home-made stuffing) in a run.
Still enjoying it.

Especially that exceptional nut roast.
And the potatoes.

Well I'm not a veggie, but a highlight for me of the Xmas period when my parents do lunch (it was at my sister's this year) is the remains of the turkey making a stew.

(with dumplings, of course)

[PorFavor]

Have had my third christmas lunch (nut roast, roast potatoes, home-made stuffing) in a run.
Still enjoying it.

Especially that exceptional nut roast.
And the potatoes.

Well I'm not a veggie, but a highlight for me of the Xmas period when my parents do lunch (it was at my sister's this year) is the remains of the turkey making a stew.

(with dumplings, of course)

Ooh - I do like stew and dumplings!

[PorFavor]

Good morfternoon.

[citizenJA]

Good morfternoon.

I'll make you an excellent chicken and dumpling soup.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Turkey curry chez fromYorkshire this evening

[AnatolyKasparov]

Off to the local Christmas quiz soon - which is partly in memory of my dad, so I have done some of the questions.

[RogerOThornhill]

Home Office cutting corners by using stock photos in a pretty disgraceful policy.

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[RogerOThornhill]

Jane Merrick
‏
Verified account

@janemerrick23
7m7 minutes ago
More
It’s very odd watching Michael Howard answering Jeremy Paxman’s questions at first time of asking #universitychallenge

[adam]

I work right next door to a big hospital, and in a strange about-face we have people trying to use our car park to go there.

Two food leftovers highlights so far have, of course, been the greatest thing ever that is the christmas leftovers sandwich (key factor - multiple condiments - I always think the mark of a truly great sandwich is that you should have to at least consider eating it with a spoon) and christmas pudding fried in butter with too much brandy butter on top as it just has to be used up. And some cream.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Excellent thread from the Irish Border

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[HindleA]

https://inews.co.uk/news/hull-homeless- ... otel-stay/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PaulfromYorkshire]

@adam

fried christmas pudding - yum!

shame I have none left