My So-Called Life
the random and not-so-random musings of a twenty-something history geek
My So-Called Lifethe random and not-so-random musings of a twenty-something history geek |
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| About Lizzie: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lizzie is a fully qualified history teacher having finished her course at Canterbury Christ Church University. She's also a geek who was secretary of the University of Kent Computing Society during her three year BA at the University of Kent. She is very much in love with her shiny Husband, though she is sad that he doesn't glow bloo :( More about her on her website: http://carina.org.uk |
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| Apr. 19th, 2009 @ 02:22 pm Exciting post and geeky bear | |||
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On Friday there was some interesting post and for a change it was all for me! Usually all the postie brings me is bills and bank statements, but today I got a much better haul, which inserted some excitement my usually predictable days.  First up was the TV Licence (excellent value for money IMO). Ok, so it's not very exciting, but it was part of my haul, so I included it for completeness' sake. What that TV Licence does mean is that it is coming up for four years since we moved in to our flat and had a "putting Ikea furniture together and watching Eurovision" party (pics of that here, here and here). It really doesn't seem like that long. It's also worth saying that there is nowhere near that much space in our flat any more!  Next up was my Graze Box, which was supposed to arrive on Thursday, but got stuck in the post somewhere and actually turned up on Friday instead. It was yummy - especially the fresh apple, which appeared not to have suffered from being in the post an extra day :) If you want a free first box and half price second box (you can easily cancel after the free one has turned up), then go to graze.com and enter the following code: QV67PBDC.  Last in the stack of post, a set of 15 War films given away in editions of the Daily Mail a month or so ago. Huge thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} no1typo, who sullied her bank account and house by buying the paper and sending off for the films. They arrived on Friday, with the rest of my exciting post and I don't own most of them. I'm looking forward to settling down and watching them over the next few weeks :) Finally for this post, I took the above today of my favourite bear Max posing with benc's eee 900A. I've made an icon out of it :) All of the pictures are here. Sometimes I think I have too much time on my hands ;)EDIT: On the theme of geekiness, my new laptop should hopefully be showing up on Tuesday. If you've not voted in my name poll, I'd appreciate it if you would :) |
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| Jan. 27th, 2009 @ 05:40 am Yorkshire | |||
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I'm heading to Goole (not to be confused with Google which is what I nearly always type by accident >.<) in Yorkshire very shortly with no1typo for a few days to visit relatives. I probably shan't be online, but I'll be contactable on my mobile (see the contact details post for my number [friendslocked]). I shall also probably be tweeting. This is me on Twitter. Have a lovely few days people :) Write lots of interesting things for me to read when I get back! |
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| Aug. 29th, 2008 @ 08:16 am The death of a pet | |||
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For those of you who didn't read this entry of no1typo's, Tiptoes (and here) died last night. He had been taken to the vet because he was terribly thin and wheezing a lot of the time, and he was kept over night so they could give him some thyroid and asthma medicine and be checked over properly (though the vet said he thought Tiptoes still had some life left in him), and he died during the night. He was 17 or 18 years old by my reckoning, and had had a good life, but I'm still rather sad. He came in to our lives on a wet April night making a dreadful racket, moving in from next door and causing no end of hassle by refusing to go back to our neighbours using any number of hiding places when they came to get him. Eventually he got his own way and he stayed, and was by far the most vocal of the cats with a purr that sounded like a pneumatic drill and a cry you could hear all over the house. He will be greatly missed. Entry from when Kitty died. |
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| Aug. 2nd, 2008 @ 05:30 pm A trip to Greenwich Market | |||
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I went with no1typo today to Greenwich to have a wander around the market and we had a lovely time. We both arrived early because we did not want to be late, and had a starbucks with a pastry which was excellent (in my rush to be not late, I skipped breakfast), after which we went for a wander through the market. We saw many excellent and lovely things and I wish I could afford or have space for half of them. In the end I came home with a pair of earrings and two pairs of socks, which are just awesome:/dsc00071.jpg.html) /dsc00072.jpg.html) The giraffe ones are my absolute favourites. In the course of our wanderings we saw this shop with its retro 80s sign, had a peek at how the Cutty Sark was doing, saw low flying RAF rescue helicopter which landed near the Dome (I hope noone was hurt) and had a ride on the amusingly named "Wheel of Excellence" (here). The view was spectacular. It's there till some time in September, so if you're in the area I can recommend a trip on it. It's only £7 for an adult and I think good value for what you get :) It's no London Eye, but it doesn't really pretend to be in size, legnth of ride or price :) All pictures here. Sorry for the quality - I didn't take my lovely Panasonic to Greenwich with me, so took them with my phone's camera. |
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| Jul. 5th, 2008 @ 01:42 pm Happy Birthday NHS | |||
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Today the NHS turns 60, and I want to wish it a very happy birthday and wish it well for the next 60. I know there are plenty of problems with it, I am not blinkered enough to say that there could not be improvements, but I believe that it is one of the greatest achievements of this country, especially in the post-World War II period. Here's why. In 1900 (that's only 108 years ago) in this country: * Life expectancy was below 50 years * 163 out of every 1000 babies born died before they reached the age of 1 (that's 16.3%) * The majority of families could not afford to see a doctor The government refused to interfere as the emphasis at this point in time was on a "laissez-faire" country, meaning that things should be left to take their own course. It was believed that interference by the Government would strangle the economy, so generally people were left to sink or swim as they could. During the latter years of the 19th Century, and the early years of the 20th Century many reports began to come out which drew attention to the plight of the poor, which was reinforced by something of a recruitment crisis for the army during the Boer War. Of those who volunteered 35% (over a third) were rejected as medically unfit, generally because of problems related to poverty. This changed in 1906 when the Liberal Party was elected, with David Lloyd George as their Chancellor of the Exchequor, and what followed was a package of reforms that ultimately led to a constitutional crisis. The reforms included the setting up of Old Age Pensions, free school meals (which went quite some way to tackling malnutrition among the poor), slum clearance programmes and Labour Exchanges (see here for more information). The most pertinent reform to what I'm discussing today was the 1911 National Health Insurance act, which brought in various safeguards for those in employment who could afford to contribute to a scheme, which would then pay for them to go see a doctor if ill, and pay a small sum every week if the contributor were unemployed or unable to work. The government paid a sum to the scheme, as did the employer. The limitations of this scheme were numerous. It only covered those able to work, which at this period were mostly men, and even then the only hospitalisation it payed for was sanitorium treatment for TB. It did not cover those earning too little to be able to afford to contribute, children, the elderly, women, and those who were chronically and mentally ill. As a result, many still relied on the quack remedies that they had done before the scheme came in to force. The sad truth was that despite the advances in Medicine that had taken place, most people could not access it. The major problems with NHI showed themselves in the 1930s during the Great Depression when so many were out of work, and so many accounts in arrears (upwards of 4 million) that the companies running the schemes made no profit, which was compounded when the government reduced its contribution. The turning point came with the Second World War. The Government were in possession of some rather terrifying figures about expected casualty rates as a result of any enemy bombing action, which thankfully never came to pass, though the Government did not know this at the start of the war. ( Expected Casualties (because I found this during my dissertation research and I think it's really interesting) ) As a result the Government planned various strategies to deal with the expected casualties (including a stockpile of cardboard coffins). The one relevant to this "History of the NHS", is the Emergency Hospital Scheme, which was funded and run by the Government and was "designed to serve the purpose of a moment" - to look after those injured in the war, especially bombing victims. Under this scheme any treatment needed, including hospitalisation, was free. It was during this period, in 1942, the the Beveridge Report was published which proposed a "free national health service" as a way of combating the five 'Giant Evils' of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. The Conservatives, who nominally had the majority in the Commons at this time (though there was actually a "Government of National Unity" in power) refused to commit to putting in place the reforms, which was one of the reasons why they were beaten so comprehensively by the Labour party in the 1945 General Election. One of their first acts when they got in to power was the 1946 National Health Service Act, which provided in law for a free and comprehensive health care system. The first day of this National Health Service was to be 5th July 1948 but there was an enormous amount of work that had to take place before it could start, including the nationalisation of Hospitals, the creation of health centres, the better/fairer distribution of doctors around the country and the creation of a new salary structure. On top of all this work, there was a huge amount of opposition (as with any large and sudden change). Most Local Authorities and Charitable Organisations who had previously run hospitals were opposed, as were doctors, who did not want to be employed by the government, or told where to work. In fact, at the beginning of 1948 90% of doctors said that they would not co-operate with the NHS. There was also opposition from many who were scared by the huge costs involved, but Aneurin Bevan who was Minister for Health at this time argued that Britain could afford it, and had to afford it. Bevan worked extremely hard to ensure the creation of the NHS, and by hook or by crook (he allowed doctors to work for the NHS and keep private patients while getting the public to sign up with doctors for the NHS - if a doctor didn't sign the form, he risked losing the patient [and the funding that came with them] to a doctor who would), made sure that over 90% of doctors had signed up by the opening day. The benefits of the NHS were visible very quickly, especially in those groups which had not been covered until its creation. Maternal and infant mortality levels fell very quickly and life expectancy rose, especially as the new techniques and drugs (such as Penicillin) became available at no cost to people who would have died for want of them. In 2008 we're looking at: * An average life expectancy of 77 years, with more and more living until 100. * An average of 5.2 out of every 1000 babies dying before the age of 1 (0.52%) [figures from 2006] * Everyone can see a doctor, irrespective of whether they can pay What I'm trying to say in an incredibly long winded way is that the NHS may not be perfect, but in comparison to what we have had before it is amazing, and I sometimes think we lose sight of just how brilliant it is amongst all the complaining about the things that are wrong and the compromises that sometimes have to be made. My dad was chronically ill with Type 1 Diabetes most of his life, and we did not have to pay towards his care. His final illness and the two weeks spent in intensive care did not bankrupt us. When my mum hurt her back and she was in bed for 6 weeks her care (a physio, home help twice a day, doctors visits, nurse visits) did not cost us. When my mum was pregnant with me and was kept in hospital for most of those 9 months my parents did not have to check her out because they were worried about the cost, nor did they have to worry about the bill they were getting at the end. When I was ill with depression I did not have to worry about the cost of my prescriptions or my counselling. The times Phil has injured himself we have not had to worry about the bill from the Hospital for getting him checked out. Ben and I have not had to worry that while I've been off work I've been without coverage for my health (or traded electricity/food/rent for insurance coverage). I think there's a lot to be said for that. So Happy Birthday NHS, here's to many many more. ETA: Pretty much 1500 words. I wrote as much as that in some of my degree essays. Sorry guys! |
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| Jun. 4th, 2006 @ 10:14 am Typo is off to Yorkshire | |||
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For those concerned citizens who may want to know: 08:00am: Left Coulsdon 10:00am: Stopped at Toddington Services (junction 11/12 M1) for a short break Will update more as more info comes in :) |
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cheerful
feeling the early
sad
satisfied
grateful
contemplative
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