Monthly Archives: May 2007

Magistrate’s take on ID

I am tickled pink by the “Bystander”‘s take on today’s announcement of the increase in expected costs for Labour’s ID card scheme.

“It’s still cheaper than the Olympics.”

Bah, indeed.

Yesterday I was in a magistrates court before some of his colleagues, supporting residents of my ward as they went to watch the Council defend an appeal against a noise abatement order.  A bus company has started work in very close proximity to a housing estate, and the worst affected of the residents have had interrupted sleep for over a year, the loss of the gardens to diesel fumes, vastly increased traffic on nearby roads, and so on.  The noise abatement order is an attempt to force the company to abandon all night working, but whilst the appeal is in progress, the company can continue as before.

My first trip to the Magistrates’ Court in Nottingham was fascinating.  The building is enormous, and very well appointed.  A vast glass atrium gives views of an unusual line up of the Council House dome and St Peter’s church spire, with the canal in the foreground.  Apparently, the atrium is much more impressive now it no longer leaks.

Around the huge space 16 courts are laid out over three floors.  I imagine some are bigger than others.  We were in court 14 on the third floor, in front of well-spoken lay magistrates and a hassled-looking court clerk who appeared to do the bulk of the work.

Phone upgrades

I’m thinking about upgrading my phone.  I don’t think I’ll be getting this one.

I’ve always had Nokias.  Just recently, they’ve been able to do diary functions almost as well as the second hand Palm pilots I used to get off eBay, so now my phone does my diary and contacts as well.

My current one is a 6680, which has served me well, but has been cludged up with unneccessary bad Orange software which removes some really good keyboard shortcuts, as well as sending me to the awful Orange mobile internet portal at the click of its most prominent button.

I’m currently thinking about the N73.  But apparently that has bad Orange software on it too. Maybe I should leave Orange, but that would be a bit of a wrench after all this time, and are any of the others actually any better?

Election count – not good

Well, by now if you have seen the election results you will know that Labour bucked nation trends and gained seats in Nottingham, largely at our expense.

A good friend and colleague lost his seat in Aboretum by about 40 votes.  Recounts for that seat took up a lot of the night.  We failed to regain an independent seat in Bridge.  We didn’t win either of our target wards, although we just missed Berridge, the last ward to declare, by 20 votes.

Our total numbers have gone down from 8 to 6.  The Tories stayed the same on 7, although that figure hides one loss and one gain.  And just as our loss came at the expense of a hardworking colleague, the Tory gain also scalped a Labour councillor who did far more than her share of committees.  I was speaking to her at the count last night without realising she had lost.  She must have known at that point, but didn’t mention it.

And just to hammer home the fact that we weren’t having a good night, my glasses broke. There’s nothing to make you feel daft like having to sellotape them back together so that you can drive home.

Then a scant few hours’ sleep, then up to Chesterfield for another count, which went rather better.

We didn’t see the losses coming.  Not least because so many people we spoke to in many parts of the city told us they were not happy with Labour – an anger that had many reasons attached, many of them national.  And there were also a great deal of people angry about a recent redesign of the city’s main public square.

Questions for the non-politicos

Just a few questions for my non-political friends.  Elections are obviously all-consuming for those of us whose livelihoods depend on the whim of the voter.  But to most normal people, elections are a rare event.

So for the normal people out there – what has been your experience of these elections?  Had many leaflets?  Read anything that’s changed your mind? Will you even be voting?   (Anything to 80% of you won’t be, so don’t feel shy!)

Bumper stakeboard harvest this year

Stakeboards are grown in allotments, gardens and bits of scrubland. Here are some Chesterfield’s harvest growing in the garden behind the office.

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They’re not quite fully grown but will have to be harvested early and replanted into people’s gardens, where they will continue to grow.

Like all Lib Dem policies, the stakeboards are cut and dried.

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Here are some stakeboards from our previous record breaking year in 2005. These signs were fertilised with high-manure content Labour leaflets, and consequently grew to record sizes.

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Late nite printing to The Eagles

Late nite printing of “Good Morning” leaflets.  Oh, the irony.

The Eagles Greatest Hits Vol 1 playing on iTunes, when the computer isn’t overloaded with mailmerge and my ears not already deafened by two risos, a laser printer and the folding machine working at full tilt.

Lots of scary lines in the songs that mesh with what I’m doing right now

My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night

’this could be heaven or this could be hell’
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends

You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

What can you do when your dreams come true
And it’s not quite like you planned?

You’re afraid you might fall out of fashion
And you’re feeling cold and small

You don’t care about winning but you don’t want to lose

This night is gonna last forever.

Look at us baby, up all night