Orchids are easy - just add water

   

In Singapore many hotels and restaurants have orchid displays on the dining table. Now you can buy orchids cheaply at many supermarkets in the UK. Orchids in pots are really easy to keep. Just add water. Buy a big showy one for a corner of a room or a window with a view you'd rather hide. Or buy a tiny one so it doesn't block a lovely view of your garden. You can buy them from M and S and Homebase and IKEA, and cheaply in late July or early August from supermarkets on the motorway on your way out as gifts and on the way home for yourself. When you buy from stores they come with instructions.
   I used to be afraid of orchids. I thought they were difficult to keep. All they need is either a warm garden or to stay indoors on a warm windowsill.
   Other people may also feel it hard to start growing orchids or keep them alive. So here are a few tips for the beginner.
   My experience has been:
1 Like most plants you only need to add water.
2 How do you stop the water running out of the pot onto your windowsill or table? Check if the bottom of your pot has holes. If so, use a saucer. The deeper the better. You can even save and use a cracked or chipped saucer with the crack on the side you don't see.
3 If you want a pot with holes, you can save one from a cheap herb bought for a pound or less in the supermarket. Or buy one from a garden centre. Or on line eg Amazon or ebay. Or ask a neighbour if they have a spare pot. Or any friend or neighbour with a garden or windowsill or member of the local gardening club. Or make a hole in one of your other existing pots.
4 How much water? If you add too much water it leaks out of the bottom and rots the roots. Simply raise the pot on something smaller which allows the water to drain out of the holes at the bottom of the pot. You can water the plant in the sink, let the water flow away, then ten minutes later put the pot back on the saucer.
5 Look at your plant(s). Admire your plant at the weekend. If you can't concentrate, talk to it. Start with a compliment to the plant and yourself. (eg 'You are a lovely plants. Wasn't my friend kind to give you to me./ Wasn't I clever to buy you!) , as if it's a toddler or a hospital patient, and you are a doting mother in charge.  All you need to do is check whether the flowers and leaves are fading, dropping, wilted, dropping and dry, or colourful, bright and growing bigger.
'Hello, dear little plant - are you thirsty? My goodness, your leaves are wilting.
 Never mind, I'll give you glass of water. Just a moment, I'l fill this watering can/jug. Sip it slowly. Good. Is that enough? That's better. I'll come back tomorrow and see if you're all right. ... '
'My goodness, your leaves have perked up. You are growing well!'
6 If you are keen you can add a plant food - some plants come with plant food, or you can share plant food from another plant, checking whether it is suitable for your plant. Guides to everything are found on line. If you buy from a garden centre, they will give you free advice when you buy or if your plants wilts you can take it back for advice or even send or take in a photo.
7 I keep pot plants as near as possible to the water tap. On a kitchen or bathroom shelf. You might prefer to keep a plant in a conservatory. If you have several plants it's quicker to use a watering can.
Keep it near the kitchen tap under the sink. A really teeny one could even be kept on or beside the plant.
   If your orchid is thriving it will lean towards the sun. You can turn it. And/or attach it to a small cane (like a long thin pencil but without the lead).
8 If you find that watering from the tap over-fills the pot, or you don't want to carry the wet pot, use a watering can. The long spout is really handy. I've tried using a small jug or large waterjug. It's hard to get the water under the plant and into the pot without getting soil and germs on your drinking glass and waterjug. You can wash it out carefully afterwards but if you've space to keep a watering can that's better.
9 Your flowers are going to drop off at some point. Your plant is probably not dead. It has finished its season. To maintain your display, swap its position with another plant which has flowers. After you've given up on it and forgotten, you've watered for months and nothing has happened, suddenly you'll fidn it flowering again. Some plants flower every spring. Others flower twice a year.
10 If your plant is ailing and you are desperate, you can send me a picture, or give up and give it to me, or lend it to me in the hope that I can revive it for you.
11 A happy, strong plant starts growing bigger on top. The  roots will grow bigger, as would happen in the wild to give it support and find more water. If you have time, start reading up and finding out whether you want to re-pot your plant or should leave it as it is.
12 If you want to enter a gardening competition, you cannot use a plant you have recently bought from a shop. But you might divide an old, large orchid into two and keep one of your cuttings for new year's competition. Check your club's rules.
13 Take a photo of your plant when it is new and fresh. Then at very least you will have an everlasting photo you can store on your computer or frame.

Should health care be means tested? What about aftercare?

One could argue that if I pay into a private health care scheme, they should pay me out when I need help, regardless of my bank account. The NHS is an insurance scheme. It's not money waved goodbye given to a charity for only the those who can prove they can't pay.
It should not be like a charity for the homeless. If it is, the recipients get treated as second class citizens. Look what happened when the free meals for everybody in schools were withdrawn. Kids receiving free meals were only the poorest. They were afraid to claim because they were looked down on by other pupils and teachers. They were too embarrassed to claim.
The same happens in hospitals. Has happened and will happen. Hospital staff start getting hostile to patients when the patients contain a higher than average proportion of the underclass.
If the NHS takes money off everybody, it should give out to everybody. If I pay when I am healthy, I should be entitled to help if I'm unhealthy.
It was found out long ago when recruiting for the army in WWI that if you don't give free health care to everybody, only a small number of people look after their health. Large numbers (was it three out of four?) were not fit for the front line. They had foot problems and eye problems. And hearing problems. Plus chronic health problems, preventable diseases, injuries which had not healed properly, hearing problems. Recruits could not hear orders, read instructions or even stand, let alone run. They coughed and spit and spread illness.
People don't save for illness when they are fit, they won't visit doctors if you must pay. You then get nobody getting innoculated, childhood deaths and everything from lice to TB and VD spreading throughout the population, sick people spreading disease, and if you fall over and fall unconscious when alone because you don't have identity documents, the ability to sign forms and enough cash to pay thousands for medical care you just lie rotting on the street corner.
The other problem is that many rich self-made men won't pay for private health care for themselves nor for their employees until forced to join or create a medical scheme.
The reason is that they started poor and still think like a poor person who can't afford medical care and are parsimonious and won't spend. Hence the people dressed as paupers who die in rags and are found with millions under the pillow.
The whole point of the NHS is that it is not like the private medical schemes which take only the rich and healthy. Once you start means testing, you siphon off huge amounts of time and money and staff and managers have to be paid to decide who won't get treated, and those needing help with health care can't get help until they've filled in forms. The elderly and frail don't have the eyesight and energy to fill in forms or go to offices which won't answer the phone. They'd rather die at home in bed than start fighting for their right to claim money. So they die alone and they get discovered months or even years later as rotting skeletons in filthy flats, over run by rats which infect the neighbours and the rest of the neighbourhood, health conditions ignored by the health services and social services because if you can't or won't pay or are too dumb to claim no help for you or anybody else affected by your ill health.

Pronunciation Perfected A-Z Letter A

The pupil and teacher, or friend, can go through the alphabet pronouncing each letter. Then read aloud a newspaper or even an online article. Underline or highlight difficult words. Check pronunciation with online dictionaries which have a sound icon.  Repeat  each sound at least three times to practise. A few examples:

1) A
Right - Say: Bay, Day, Gay, Hey!, Jay, Kay, Lay, May, Neigh, Pay, Ray, Way.
Give way, today.
Practise: The boy sat on the bay. We saw the boy sit on the bay. We waved hello and goodbye.

Wrong: Don't say oi for ay.
Don't say the boy sat on the boy. The boy sat on the boy window.
It should be the boy sat in the bay.
Let's end with the correct version so that one stays in your memory. The boy sat on the bay window seat.

Phone home. Learn/teach English. The pain you save could be your mother's.

1 How Often Should Travellers Call Home
I just read a court case about an old lady who was left in pain when a doctor was not called for days. Her carer was a daughter-in-law with limited English. The husband was out of the country. Out of contact.
What amount of family contact is normal? Some people overseas would phone their wife or spouse every day. On business you might use the hotel phone. You might use a mobile phone. Others can keep in contact regularly for low or no cost through Skype or text. Some countries have difficult connections. You might have to allow an hour to make a simple three minute call. You might think it's worth it.
I would think a weekly call should be considered standard, to ensure everything and everyone is OK.
If you have a frail parent, I think that a phone call once a week should be the minimum.
Call the same time every week, so you know the other person is home waiting for the call and you don't forget.
Dear reader - what do you do? What would you do? What would you recommend?
2 Leave instructions for emergencies.
If you know it will be hard for somebody to contact you, leave them emergency contacts. At least three levels. No good telling a child to call mummy if mummy is at home and she's the one who has collapsed. You need to suggest quick nearby help, such as a neighbour. Also official help, such as the phone numbers and locations of doctors, hospitals, ambulance service, police, operator, Samaritans etc.
Why was the carer not left instructions as to what do to in an emergency?
You could take the emergency numbers of doctors and hospitals and neighbours under the phone - in English for callers such as relatives, friends, neighbours, and in the language of the carer if they don't speak English.
3 Carers must speak English or have translation available
Was the wife sent for English lessons? I think anybody with responsibility for other people, especially children or the elderly, should have instruction in English in order to be able to communicate in an emergency.
If the carer does not speak English, they should be supplied with help. For example, a dual language dictionary, the link to their embassy staffed by people who speak their language. Find a phrase book which includes a page on emergencies. Mark those pages and keep the book attached to the phone.
Or print out a list of emergency phrases.
Maybe somebody could produce a multi-language book of phrases to use and people to call.
Organisations such as the government, police, and Samaritans could sponsor it. It could be on sale commercially, sold in aid of charity, or distributed free.
When we had a small child, we left instructions for carers such as au pairs and babysitters. the same should apply to carers for the elderly, especially if the elderly person is not mobile or has dementia. The child or elderly person could fall ill and lose their ability to speak or reach help. So the carer must have a source of translation and way to contact a friendly person and an official outside the workplace.

Why Are People Happy in Hospital After An Accident?

I've been in hospital overseas with multiple injuries and you are happy because
a) Morphine. Or another pain reliever keeps you high or in high spirits.
b) Progress. You see progress and improvement daily with a physical injury which is mending. You start on your back being groggy, sit, stand, and you are constantly getting better. So the input and reaction is that you are achieving something every day.
c) Company. You are never alone in hospital because you are with other people or even if in a side room you are visited every fifteen minutes.
d) Cheerfulness. Happiness is catching and you are treated by a cheerful nurse and a doctor who has a bedside manner and visitors bringing flowers or gifts .
e) Attention. You are the centre of attention. Doctors, nurses and visitors - their only interest is listening to you, your news, news about your situation, and giving you attention.
f) Effortless. Your food comes to you. No need to do anything or go anywhere.

'To Die' Today - How you can correct common errors, pronunciation for public speaking by Angela Lansbury

How do you speak correct English when you are English? How do you speak correct English when you are not English? 

UK
When I was a child in the UK, many schools, especially private schools, offered extra paid for lessons in elocution. Schools and teachers wanted to earn extra money. Parents wanted their children to sound posh and get better jobs. Doting mothers, like mine, wanted their offspring to win certificates in poetry competitions run by Drama schools which awarded certificates at different levels. 
   In those days every child did a party piece when invited to a birthday party. I wanted to recite a poem without the embarrassment of stammering or stuttering over long, puzzling words.

   Recently I met Toastmaster William Brougham, who came to be General Evaluator at Harrovian Speakers' Club. He took a video of me for YouTube in which I explained grammar rules; a viewer suggested that we should produce another video on pronunciation. Before making that video, I thought I should jot down a few thoughts. Whenever I jot down a few thoughts, they expand until I have an article, sometimes a book. For those people who can't watch videos in silent situations, here are some handy notes on pronunciation.

   Start by noticing the silliest errors and most memorable misunderstandings. When you are asked when you are going to the hospital for a check-up, and you want to tell family, friends or colleagues, 'I'm going today', don't shock everybody by saying, 'I'm going to die!' 

Australian & Others
Improving Vowels
Problem with A and I
A and I need to be sounded differently. Lots of people make an A sound like an I. 
For example, here are pairs of words which have different meanings: 
Day. Die.
Way. Why.
Make sure you are not saying the second when you mean the first. 

If you are the Grammarian at a Toastmasters International speakers' club, note any pronunciation which could be improved.
   When you are asked to evaluate a speech, speak to the person you are evaluating, before the meeting starts and ask what they would like you to notice. If they don't ask about pronunciation, offer to make suggestions. So long as they agree, smile, nod, or even shrug, if you are asked to 'Read out the objectives', you can add, "'Susan/John' asked me to comment on the pronunciation of words and make helpful suggestions for improvement".  That way you appear not to be criticizing, but following their request for help. 

Problem with A and OI
Bay. Boy. (We drove around the boy. Should be 'we drove around the bay'.)
Ray. Roy. (I gave the book to Roy. Should be I gave the book to 'Roy'.) 
Say. Soy. Be careful what you soy. Should be 'Be careful what you say'.)
The listener who hears constant mispronunciations has listen hard to work out which word you mean. 

   Our upper class accents sound as if we are speaking copying courtiers from the time of the Vikings. 

Swedish

A Swedish speaker has perfect, clear upper class vowels like the Queen's Speech. 

French & the UK

A French au pair girl told me she could not understand the chatter on tube trains and in bars, but she could understand HM The Queen. 

Speed and Spaces
   When the queen delivers a speech, she also speaks very slowly. She leaves a gap between each word.
   Not like everyday gabble. (We're gonna 'ave an en' to innit!) 
   If you are a teacher, you often speak to children. If you are a pupil, you want the teacher and class to hear your question.
   If you are a public speaker, your audience includes one person in seven hard of hearing. (I found that statistic in a fundraising leaflet).  If you are retired and speak to local groups of retirees, many more will be hard of hearing and will be helped if you speak loudly, slowly, and clearly.
   If you make a living speaking to businesses, many of them have foreign staff or hold international conferences.

Yiddish - OY VEH!
   The Yiddish expression Oy veh hints that oy is a common sound in Europe, where the Yiddish language combines the local language such as German with Russian and Hebrew. I have also heard a speaker from central Europe, the Czeck Republic, using this intonation.

Australia
   Australians use an oy for an A. If you have trouble understanding Australians, it may help to note which words are likely to sound differently.

Some native English speakers also over-use oy. Here's another example, this time where the mispronounced word has no meaning. 
      What time of doy? (Should be 'What time of day'.)

Solution 1
Find out if you have a problem
   If you use English as a second language, and even if you don't, read aloud a few sentences of your speech. You can make a recording with your smart phone. If you don'g have one - ask somebody else at a big meeting. Ask a friend of acquaintances to tell you if you need to change any pronunciation.  (If you have a problem speaking another language, it's a great conversation opener to ask for help and make a friend.)

   Sometimes you don't know what you are doing wrong. Sometimes you're told but you can't hear the difference. Sometimes you keep trying but you don't know how to make the second sound.

   Can you hear the difference? Use the internet, your own computer, at a school or library, or airport lounge or other public place. Go to a dictionary which has the symbol you can click on to hear the word said aloud.  

Check the position of your lips. Look in the mirror.
Try saying 'boy', pursing your lips as if shouting angrily, or blowing up a balloon.
then say 'bay'. Open your mouth wide, as if the dentist has asked you to open your mouth, and smile.

PHONETIC SPELLINGS 
   Phone means sound, as in the word telephone (distant sound).
   Why is English not phonetic? (Meaning, why do the sounds not always match the spelling?) One reason is that the traditional spelling has been preserved in the dictionary, but speakers have changed the most popular pronunciation. 
   Watch out for words which are not pronounced the way they are written. Just as some people drop the s from yes and say yeah, many words have lost the last letter or an earlier letter because over the centuries the lazier or quicker or easier to say pronunciation has become standard.

Silent Letters
B in the word doubt is silent. The word is pronounced 'dowt'

PLACE NAMES 
   Edinburgh 'Edinbr'
   Leicester 'Lester'

CONSONANTS - WORD ENDING
G - pronounce G at the end of the word
Nothing (not 'nothin').
Sitting (no 'sit in')

How to improve:

Chinese
CONSONANT CONFUSION
Problem:
L and R
   Speakers from oriental countries such as Hong Kong and Thailand often have trouble hearing or saying both consonants. Sometimes they try too hard and over correct making more errors.
The old joke goes that the pilot of your plane wishes you 'a pleasant fright' instead of a pleasant flight. I thought this was a joke. Then I heard airline staff say it.

   Sometimes people misunderstand and ask you to repeat a sentence. Other times, they listen but misunderstand.
   At a Toastmasters meeting I sat through a speech in which the speaker said he worked for the Loyal bank of Scotland. I assumed that, because of the banking crisis, they had wanted to change their name to reassure customers. Or maybe they had split into two branches, one called the Royal Bank, another called the loyal bank. While I was musing on the merits of changing a company name, I missed two or three sentences of the five minute speech. Then I started listening again and heard the speaker make another change to a word in the same sentence. I realised I had been slow to guess it should have been 'Royal' Bank. 

   Some workers are told by colleagues and bosses or customers that they need to improve their pronunciation. They are not upset if you tell them the correct pronunciation. On the contrary, they are very keen to get help. Especially if it's free! 
   A course on pronunciation is sometimes given at centre such as London's City Lit. The courses are often good value given the hours of lessons, but learning one sound each week takes a lot of time. If you need to give a speech at a wedding, you may have a year to prepare. But when giving a funeral speech, doing a job interview, or a presentation in a new job, or answering the phone, you don't have a year to prepare. So, everybody, please take time, when asked, or offer to help, if you are one step ahead of your friend in pronunciation. Watch out for these:

Chinese
T and TH and S and SH
Problem saying 'th'
TH is hard to pronounce for people who speak Mandarin or Cantonese, such as Singaporeans.
I often sit through speeches and am puzzled. I remember the first time a woman said, 'I have tree children.' I assumed 'tree children' was a popular Chinese translation of a word such as tomboy, kids who climb and are sporty. Then she said, 'Two of them are at secondary school, the tird is ...' The turd is!

Ah - she means three and third!

Solution to th
   You can practise a sentence with alternating t and th. Make up your own. For example: The three children climb threes. 
   T - tongue tapping behind top teeth.
   Th - think about poking out your tongue and pulling it back through your teeth stroking under your top teeth. Say teeth, teeth, teeth, moving your tongue from tapping behind to almost gently biting your tongue while breathing out.

S and Sh
   She sells sea shells on the sea shore

   Do email me and tell me your problems or solutions. I and everybody else would be most grateful. And send me or tell me funny mispronunciations and misunderstandings. I would love to hear them.

SUMMARY OF TIPS
Problems to notice: 

• Ay and oi. 
• Missing G or T. 
• L and R
• S and SH.
• T and TH.

Solutions

• Read a newspaper aloud to identify problems. Underline difficult words.
• Check how words sound using online dictionaries.
• Practise tongue twisters.
• Look in the mirror at how you are placing your tongue and opening your mouth.
• Join a Toastmasters Club and ask your evaluator for help with your pronunciation.
• Read a speech aloud. Underline words or highlight letters. Ask a friend to listen and advise.
• Come to my UK club harrovians.org.uk . (I am president until June 31 2013. Then 'Past P'.)
• Go as a guest to any great club such as HOD (Thursdays, 2nd and 4th most months).  I am a member and committee member. Check google Toastmasters International/ Find a club.
• If short of time, go to toastmasters clubs when overseas on business or holiday. I visit several clubs in Singapore.  It has many clubs so you are near one most evenings and weekends.
• Harrovians meets Mondays, usually first third and fifth Mondays (except months with bank holidays), door open at 7 pm. Speeches start at 7.30 prompt. Meeting ends 9.30 prompt. 
• Members receive a magazine and a mentor helps you write and rehearse speeches. Membership is about £79 a year plus £20 for two manuals on speeches and leadership.
• harrovians.org.uk toastmasters.org 
• More about toastmasters
• Go to a pronunciation class or private English tutor.           For grammar rules see YouTube Angela Lansbury author speech grammar / Kensington 25
• For a friendly chat, or one hour lesson in person or skype, my email is on my websites featuring the names: anna london 8 (gmail). No spaces. 

Angela Lansbury is the author of fifteen books including: Quick Quotations For Successful Speeches; Wedding Speeches And Toasts; Poetry Workshop Workbook; Angela's Animals (A-Z of comic poetry plus facts); How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In. See Lulu.com
-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury April 24 2013

Toastmasters Tips - Smoothing over errors

Georgia at Harrow Writers' Circle  taught me a useful technique in positive thinking and PR. When you make an error, Instead of blaming yourself, you praise the other person for spotting it. That makes them feel good and look good.

Shopping on the internet

NIGHT CLOTHES
I shop a lot on the Internet. Amazing to buy from China or Thailand when I'm in the UK. I love ebay.
I just filled in a feedback form for BHS.  Everything on one page is good.
I like to see cheapest first.
Would like to ask for long sleeve night dress. (I have theirs in navy in short sleeve, stretchy jersey.)
Would like a pack of two.
 Would like to choose colour such as navy blue, red, wine/garnet/burgundy.
Maybe even picture matching - I could take a picture of my B & S navy nightie and load it up and see if you can find me something similar.
Or load up the label and see if you can find same fabric.
I want stretchy jersey/thermal  long nightie or caftan to answer door to postman, not flowered obviously night and old fashioned, plain colour, can look ok if I get up late and doorbell rings, must be long sleeve because if I go to the Far East it's really hot but I'm sleeping in air conditioning at hotel or friends' or own home and could get chilled.
FURNITURE COVERS
What else am I looking for on the internet? Furniture covers. From IKEA you can buy a second set when you buy a sofa or armchair or three piece suite of furniture. Other companies may sell cheaper, but if ordered with furniture you know they should fit.
DIARY
I also went hunting for a five year diary. You can buy them customised. At the moment ring bound. I could get that from a supermarket like Tesco and label it. Not the same.
I could print my own label. Ring binding is no good. You need a proper binding so you can label the spine.

Conspiracy theories and reaction to myths and lies, from childhood to old age

Conspiracy theories are ingrained in a culture in which children are brought up with stories about fairies at the bottom of the garden and tooth fairies and Father Christmas. When you find out your own parents told you lies, and the whole world colluded, you suspect everybody, for the rest of your life.
What puzzles me is not why people are conspiracy theorists - why they consider outsiders are less deceitful than those who are close. If so, why not stay outside.
I suppose people go through levels of rebellion, either limited to thoughts or carried into action:
1 My parents and culture are good and all they say is true.
2 My side are good although they have told some untruths - the end justifies the means.
3 They lied to me and I am angry.
4 I want to know what other outside groups say. I want to read books and travel and read newspapers from neighbouring countries to find out the uncensored truth. The exciting other culture knows the truth and I shall go there and live there. ((The challenge can be alternative views of science or religion or both.)
5 I'll go home. a) Home's best.
b) Now I'll get my revenge and cheat them like they cheated me.  a) I'm suspicious. b) I'm angry. c) I"ll attack the establishment with words. d) I'll attack targets at the top - those responsible because the lower orders are simply deceived as I was. e) I'll attack targets at the bottom because they are easy to deceive and it will annoy those at the top.
6) So what - I'm busy finding food and looking after those I love.
7) One never knows, but don't rock the boat we're all in.
8) Now I'm retired I'll check out the truth for myself. Both sides are wrong but two wrongs don't make a right.
9) I'll tell my grandchildren fairy stories and father Christmas - let them enjoy it, they'll learn about truth and bad things soon enough.
10) I'll try to hint - but not destroy their faith in their family - that wouldn't make them happy.
11) Let the nutters believe what they like, each to his own.

Housing We Should Build For The Homeless

I read a news report about a mother with two children in the USA living in a storage unit.
In India whole families live in garages and open the door during the day and sit on the pavement in front. it seems to me that in addition to building three bedroom family homes with gardens, Uk councils and the equivalents worldwide should build cheap bedsit dwellings with a bed, a windows, a washbasin and a microwave for the homeless or temporarily homeless who need and address to get a job and claim benefits. A larger unit with a bunkbed and cot or two bunkbeds could temporarily house families. It could be built on cheap land out of town on a bus route or with a shuttle bus into town driven by volunteers or by the residents on a rota.

Mice and Men and Women and Councils, Landlords, Agents, Tenants

The call is for legislation to regulate agents. Yes, an agent can go bust and disappear with the tenants money which never reaches the landlord.
One story used to illustrate the problem is a tenant who moved, in and finds mice, so moves out and demands deposit back from agent, apparently without success.
In the old days in London most people rented, even the landlord of your house rented a bigger house in another area near his work. (The same happens in Singapore today both locals and expats. I've been a tenant. Friends have been tenants and landlords.)
In the old days in London, England,, if there were rats you called the council and if there were mice you got a 'working' cat.
In a recently reported case a tenant moves in, finds the flat has mice and wants to move out. The agent  has lost his income and the whole system crashes down like a house of cards.
Of course as a landlord I would call in the council or an extermination company and pay for it. While having to pay the council council tax on my empty property.
But tenants (students, busy mums, elderly) who don't sweep the floors, attract mice.
Absent elderly landlord, to old and tired to work, probably using savings for income when in hospital or overseas, has an agent. Agents can cheat both tenant and landlord.
But in this story, go back to the trigger problem. No mice, no problem.
But if the council won't come unless paid, it costs people money so they delay, mice breed and spread from one flat or house to another.

To readers in England, as opposed to London, Canada *, we discovered there was a London in Canada when we left the USA. We were renting, returned to our home in the UK, which had been rented, and half our mail forwarded from the USA to to us was addressed to London. Because some letters did not specifiy London, England. they went first to nearby Canada, then got forwarded to the UK.

BBC Thatcher obituary and dignity

I have not watched the TV programmes on Margaret Thatcher. I stopped watching TV when it started broadcasting four letter words.
What does BBC stand for? Being British? Or being biased?
Being British, (BB-C!) is about stiff upper lip, dignity in a crisis.
The death of a leader who was has been out of office for years and was already suffering from dementia is hardly an event to celebrate.
Above all, be reliable and impartial. That means hearing both sides like a court of law.
Both sides should have their say, but in such a way that the dead are respected. So a thirty minute segment on the death of a leader voted in by the British public should have a minimum of ten minutes opening praising her and ten minutes ending praising her.

Some would go further and say that the main programme should have the majority of the programme praising the departed, with just an odd line here and there in text with a photo of the opposition she faced and how she dealt with it. Ending: 'This Lady's Not For Turning'.
What does one expect in an obituary or funeral speech?

What gives a good impression of Britain?
Dancing in the streets at a death is not a democracy.
If we want to command respect we must show respect for our own leaders, admitting they made mistakes.
It's not as if anything is to be gained by being rude or angry. 

Her rule ended long ago. If you feel, as I do, that it was a mistake to withdraw milk from schoolchildren, who now drink sugary drinks instead, then reverse her policies.
Don't dance around in the streets. This is a democracy. She was voted in and voted out.

 Learn lessons. Debate and decide on making changes. Benefit everybody. Respect everybody. Be British.

Useful Websites

About the Author

Safety worldwide

This is my personal view:

1 After four children all benefits should be stopped unless you have been sterilised. Any other children are not accidents but your choice. China's one child policy applies in big cities.

2 It's time people of low intelligence and low morals were taught about life saving in school. Every child should know that  a blow to the head, a knife in the body or a fire in the house or pressure on the neck can kill somebody in less than five minutes and that no court will accept the excuse that you 'only meant to frighten somebody' or 'didn't mean to kill them'. This should be backed up with statistics.
3 Followed by some heart-warming stories of the few who survived. First aid instruction. Rescuers' course so people concentrate on life saving.
4 Add a survivors and self-preservation course. Everything from clothing and food when camping and climbing to what to take in cars on a snowy day, what to do in an earthquake, fire, flood or tsunami.
5 While we're educating, add the ten commandments of everyday life. 1 Sleep in the dark and rise at dawn. 6 Work in daylight.
7 Get 8 hrs sleep.
9 Clean your teeth and wash daily. Wear fresh clothes daily.
10 Cooking is heating. Heat meat to make it safe.

What else? What do you suggest?

Over the years we have added fire escapes, lifeboats, helmets for motocyclist, cyclists, and skiers, seatbelts, zebra crossings, traffic lights, fireproof clothing,  pickpocketproof pockets, fireproof safes, fire exits, no smoking areas.

Update About the Author

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time on bha.learncool.sg  

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

Removing Rings From Relatives In Hospital

A newspaper report details the problem of a family who complain their father's ring was removed from his dead body in a Bristol hospital. The family could not remove the ring when he was alive because his finger was swollen. I removed my late mother's ring when she was in Watford hospital. Her finger seemed swollen. But the nurse used soap as a lubricant to remove the ring.