Bouncing Hedgehog

Posts Tagged ‘UK’

Those of you that know me well know that I love auctions. And I have certainly had some good deals and yesterday was no exception. Being English and living in the US I can’t begin to even get across to my American friends just how much I miss the quality of British TV (one of the main reasons I joined Netflix who have a really good selection) and consequently I am always on the lookout for British TV dvds.

The complete set of Inspector Morse mysteries was up for grabs at my local auctioneers (www.mountaineerauctions.com) yesterday. Now this is a 35 disc boxed set issued in the US by PBS. It wasn’t individually listed on their web site so I hadn’t done any research beforehand but I reasoned a set with that many discs had to be at least $150 and so I was prepared to bid accordingly.

To cut a long story short I got the set (in perfect condition by the way) for a paltry $45! I took a quick look online today and it goes for $430.

60 hours of quality viewing and I don’t have to put up with a gung-ho swat team. Marvellous!

It takes quite a lot to actually piss me off but the current debate on universal health care and the large percentage of scaremongers claiming it doesn’t work in the UK (one of their “facts” for maintaining huge profits for the insurance companies and the health care system) has finally managed to get me there.

The number of so-called experts (almost everyone I meet apparently) who feel qualified to pass judgment is quite staggering. Which is really quite strange as not many Americans as a percentage of the population have ever actually been there and of those who have I wonder just how many of them had to use our medical services. Funnily enough 65% of Americans can’t even find the UK on world map. Actually if you think that’s bad 20% of Americans can’t even find America on a world map.

As I said the number of lies spouted as fact has finally pissed me off. American health care sucks in comparison. And yes I do have knowledge of the system here. And in the UK of course, and also Canada, Iceland and New Zealand. Read the rest of this entry »

I am sick to death of Americans bleating that their health system is the best in the world and that universal health care in general (and the UK system in particular) is the road to ruin. At least that’s the popular conservative right-wing bleat.

It is, is it? Right, first a short story.

My mother is 75 and her partner is in his nineties and they both live in the UK. Recently he fell and broke his arm. Because of his age and the fact that he’s on heart medication an operation to set the arm was rejected and so he had to spend time just letting it mend having had it set in plaster. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me about living in the US (I’m English) is the assumption that so many Americans make that:

1) The UK is tiny.

2) That I know everyone in it.

I have lost count of the number of times that the following (or very similar) has occurred once someone has realized that I’m English. Read the rest of this entry »

It doesn’t seem to be very often that I have anything really positive or uplifting to write about nowadays as regards society in this modern “I’m alright Jack” world in which we live. I currently live in the epitome of that attitude – the USA. The lack of compassion here is quite mind-boggling and doesn’t seem to be getting any better despite the growing number of the “I’m not alright Jack” newly unemployed. Anyway, I digress. Despite the fact that many of my posts revolve around the USA – such a wonderful source of material – this story is about one of my fellow countrymen – Brian Burnie.

Who the %^&* is Brian Burnie you may ask? Well read on and find out why this man is a shining example of what those with money could and should be doing. Read the rest of this entry »

I was talking with my wife the other day about successful authors and a vague memory surfaced. I remember many years ago (1980’s maybe) the Daily Mirror (pretty sure it was them – though I guess it might have been the Sunday Mirror) running an article on a very successful author (whose name completely escapes me) whose works of fiction worked out at about $100 per written word or some such figure like that. Read the rest of this entry »