Just a random thought no. 14.

I had an amusing few minutes this morning, having been to the doctors' to get my scrip. I noticed that one of the street name signs for Hagley Road was broken, but that it gave the postal district as "16". The adjacent signs for Meadow Road give "15", and the ones opposite across Hagley Road "17", with more Hagley Road 16 signs! As far as I know, all should be 17. I photographed an assortment of these.

Just a random thought no.13.

Seeing a sizeable chunk of the city centre of Birmingham still cordoned off because someone is threatening to commit suicide (apparently) by jumping off the Paradise Circus bridge prompts me to wonder how such a standoff would be managed in other places. I doubt that even in London the Met would allow the inconvenience to continue for what is now 23 hours, and I surmise that the CRS would have been called in twelve hours or more ago if it were Paris. I should have thought that a firehose directed at him would have sorted the matter out a while ago. Let's hope that he is (a) charged with wasting police time; (b) sent a bill for the costs involved in diverting traffic and closing the Central Library etc. A sensible estimate of the costs of disruption to everyone else's lives needs to be made and publicised, so that such people are shown the true costs to  their fellow-citizens of such selfish behaviour.

Just a random thought no.12.

I'm in the unfortunate position of being jobless and seeking employment: not good when you won't see fifty again. But it's made worse by the uselessness of those who are supposed to assist you.

(1) Jobsites: one in particular (Careerbuilder) is a waste of cyberspace, because it does not seem to take account of the contents of one's cv, and sends posts for which you are neither qualified nor suitable.Direct.gov.uk is not a great deal better, I've deleted several saved searches because they threw up places I could not work, or general retail posts when I specifically stated booksellers. Gumtree is not a lot of cop either, very few of the advertisers seem to be genuine, or at least look dodgy, or fail to respond.

(2) Is there any wonder that there is a shortage of skilled tradesmen, when it is so hard to get the necessary training? Train4trades is a total waste of time and space: I booked an appointment months ago which was not kept, and no substitute was offered, and there is no way on the website to make a complaint: I suspect they are only in it for the money. OLCI is a lot better, as I made an appointment for Wednesday for 3 pm, and had a phone message on Tuesday asking to change it from 1 pm to 11 am. I would never have made an appointment for 1 pm, because I sign on at 12.20pm, and could not get home in time. However, I made the 11 am appointment, and when he arrived, the representative suggested that I go to the training centre one day next week to have a look - a lot more positive!

(3) The Jobcentre - they are at least apparently trained in customer service now, unlike in 2005, but their information needs upgrading and updating: an example being that Selly Oak JCP did not know in June 2010 that the LearnDirect centre at Bournville college had closed in July 2009, another being the suggestion that one uses the Birmingham Mail as a resource. The jobs published there on a Thursday have been on jobs-midlands.com since at least Monday midday, so are well stale: if one can find anything worth doing on that site. I never can.

(4) One bonus has been stopdodo.com, which lists environmental jobs: I have found a surprising number there to apply to, including two in Brussels.

But the search goes on - and on - and on!

Just a random thought no.11.

I haven't broken my record! I had never voted for the successful candidate in a General Election, and that hasn't changed. But we are in for the worst of all possible worlds with a hung parliament and GB Ruin getting first crack at forming a new administration - aargh!

Just a random thought no 10.

Just voted in the general and local elections. As there still isn't a "none of the above" box to place one's cross in, I voted for a change of MP and no change of councillor, as Mike Whitby  is doing a good job for the City at large, even if he sometimes neglects Harborne in the process. I went to the hustings on Wednesday a week ago, and was very surprised that my question on penal policy was taken - I think I tripped up the sitting Member, because she just trotted out "build more prisons" - wrong answer, Gisela! Phil Stone for the Greens was quite impressive, but when I got to the polling station and found he was riding two horses - both Parliament and the Council, my pencil did not hover for long. As he won't get in for either, it doesn't really matter, but you cannot effectively serve as either if you are both, IMHO. A pity I'm not in Witney constituency, as an old pal of mine, Paul Wesson, is standing as an independent against David Cameron - that WOULD be interesting of one of the party leaders did not get elected. Sadly, it isn't about to happen, least of all in Kirkcaldy, where GB Ruin is a shoo-in, I guess.
I hope I have done the right thing in the locals, because hard decisions have to be made, since much head-burying went on over equal pay by both administrations in the nineties and noughties - and the chickens are now coming home to roost. I think the squawking will go on for a while to come.

Just a random thought no. 9.

Inspired by the present sermon series at church, and aware of the League Cup Final (or whatever it is called these days) and the Six Nations matches and the Winter Olympics all being on at the moment, I can't help feeling that the Vicar missed a subject by not including "Sport" among his "Counterfeit Gods". Sport is, as we are always being told, a GOOD THING, but for too many people in modern society, it has pushed out the things of the Spirit, so that it has become the be all and end all of so many lives. And we all see, too often, the results of the tribalism that supporting a sports team engenders.

Celebrity is also a counterfeit god - particularly when one considers the storm in a teacup engendered by the revelations about one John Terry. Leaving aside, for the moment, the sin alleged, it has brought out the worst in the supposedly wronged former team mate, the media and the public at large. If the media shut up about the subject, the public would soon lose interest, but the other player involved needs take a reality check. Not to shake hands at the beginning of the match shows him up as well. A handshake is a symbolic act to show that one is not carrying a weapon, so to decline to shake someone's hand in this situation shows continuing ill-will towards the other on the part of the refuser, or so it appears to me.

The other counterfeit god that is rampant at the moment, in my view, is party politics. The sooner a "none of the above" box is placed on the ballot paper, the better. I could support compulsory voting if that happened. The yah-boo-sucks behaviour, so prevalent in the House of Commons, and encouraged, in my view by television, as MPs queue up to grandstand for their constituents would disgrace a rowdy fourth-form in a sink comprehensive. It will only get worse in the next few weeks leading up to the General Election.

Just a random thought no.8

Yesterday saw the farewell to the MCW Metrobus, the Birmingham-built workhorse of the West Midlands Travel fleet and formerly of London Transport, also. Romeo Phillips drove the oldest remaining vehicle, 1983-built ROX654Y, known as Roxy, on two turns on the 7, Perry Common (Court Lane) - City, and then to the final stop of Love Lane in the Aston University Science Park. I saw it on the last 7 departure from the city centre, and then caught up with it on Summer Lane as it headed for Love Lane. Photos can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ken_bladon/sets/72157623308786669/.

Valentine's day is something I always find hard, particularly so this year, with it falling on a Sunday and being reminded of what I have never had. My jaundiced view of Valentine's Day is that it is a mere marketing ploy to enable greetings card companies, florists, chocolatiers and restaurateurs to rip off the gullible even more than they are wont to do, and if my experience is anything to go by, the number of under-insured vehicles always peaks on this and other such dates. How many people realise that most private car policies do not cover carrying goods and samples?

Even more than with Christmas, I say "Bah, humbug!"