hose-pipe bans, no sprinklers allowed etc etc etc....

....and then we get a downpour which lasts for half an hour.
 
It may surprise you when you see hoteliers bailing out water shortly afterwards.

The trouble is to do with our still in use Victorian sewerage and drainage system. The water simply cannot cope with all the excess water but then again - if half the population of the town had water butts and many other DIY water saving devices, all this water will be saved and not end up flooding the seafront basement areas.

So, I am looking for someone to blame, something to attack. I think I will go for 'privatisation'

Did we all seriously think that we would all benefit from this when it happened. What motivated the idea and galvanised it into action. I seriously do not think there are enough greedy people out there rubbing their hands together at the thought of earning a few shares.

I'll tell you what I am thinking - its a pyramid.

At the top you have the politician. Now it has to be a Tory politician as this is when it all took place - under the tories. "Lets privatise the water" they'd say. Then a high up MP would get the top job on the board of directors. Cushty!

Then come the fat cats - probably close friends to the politicians paid huge amounts of money to sit alongside our right honorable MPs and do nothing. Cushty!

Next in line are the wealthy tory voters who would buy up shares.

Lastly you get the majority - the average voter who would get involved at some stage. The problem was once they had all these shares the tories had them as voters hook line and sinker. Vote Conservative because if you don't you let the opposition in and they could Nationalise everything back again.

So - back to the drainage problem - being a tory town, how does it feel to be bought by the tories. Do you live in an area that floods - just about every road floods in Eastbourne and nearly every supermarket car park.

I think, deep down inside we all know the only way things will get better is if we re-nationalise everything. Then there will be no need to keep on subsidising these private firms using tax payers money in one hand and taking the money back in fines for breaching rules with the other...........

......hang on - isn't everything just ending up in Mr Brown's wallet anyway. Mr Brown, you're next.

There is a new endangered species we should all be aware of. Its called the "Zebra Crossing" Slowly but surely these are disappearing in the town to be replaced by light controlled crossings.

 

There isn't much of a difference between the types of crossing and I am not too bothered about it to be honest. I don't think people are at risk using the zebras because we don't drive like most europeans. ( if you have been to France and Italy you will know what I mean )

The main concern for me is to do with blind spots on the smaller roads. A perfect example would be Northbourne Road which is continuously used by lorries and speeding motorists. There has been several near misses involving other motorists and pedestrians - this year. At least with Seaside there are constant traffic queues which keep the speed down.

Perhaps more focus should be directed towards slowing traffice down on these roads or making blind spots more visible ( before someone dies ).

Just passing the time while the lady in my life clings on to another episode of Lost.

Not allowed to speak, move or breathe. Every 20 minutes I am allowed to walk out of the room, pass wind or type noisely but I only get two minute blocks of this luxury.

I've not had much time to delve into my family tree but I was rather interested to realise I had an ancestor under my nose all along.

Well, not under my nose but in my wallet.

Catherine Gurney was part of the Barclays banking family, she was born in 1780.

One of 12 children of Catherine Gurney, Elizabeth Gurney ( on my Mothers side ) was a devouted quaker inspired by an American quaker William Savery who married into a quaker family and became Elizabeth Fry.

She set up a Sunday School at her home to teach children how to read and write.

It wasn't until visiting Newgate prison and witnessed the horrific conditions women and children lived in, that she realised something had to be done. It was what she achieved that made her infamous in the 19th century. Elizabeth bought clothing into the prison and eventually set up a School and a Chapel within the prison vastly improving the quality of life for those inside.

 

It was nice to realise that one of my ancestors was featured on the back of a five pound note with a picture of the prisons along side her portrait.

 

It really is worth while drilling into family history after all.

 

If you search for elizabeth fry under google you can find a more in depth account of elizabeth's life - I found the site very informative.

Has anyone got an interesting discovery to share?

Oh yes,

There does seem to be a load of hoo haa about with recent speculation and happenings in the town....

First up - huge upset over bandstand anti riot fencing. My first comment will be that I love the elderly people of this town. They have lived through decades ( something I hope to do ) of wars, economic hard times etc etc etc. I think its extremely mean to deprive them of something that has been theirs all this time. Is the council scared of gatecrashing grannies hurling rockets into the orchestra. Come on, seriously - these guys deserve the very best of retirement we can give them. Lets not forget that there was a cost involved to obtain and erect these barriers so it wasn't a scheme to take money away from anyone. What is the real reason why they are here - complaints from us thirty somethings or better still, the hoodies have got a little upset over all that din!! I really can't see any of our fabulous elder generation hurdling over these barriers so come on now TAKE THEM DOWN..............moving on...

We were talking about councils wasting money so I decided to challenge myself to find as many examples as possible.

Unnecessary roundabout implementation.
Unnecessary traffic lights at roundabout implementation.
The Bandstand thingy.
Payoffs for exiting directors at the DGH
Over clipping of town's grassy areas. ( destroying valuable breeding grounds for habitat )
MP's salaries.
Borough councils expences tab.

I want to move on, all this money wasting is getting me down. 

Is there anyone, anywhere who is amazed at how big the sovereign harbour has become. Whilst I am impressed and slightly proud to be a nearby resident, I can't help wondering how some of the harbour's residents are getting on.

It looks as though one minute you are enjoying the sea views from your appartment and with a blink of an eye, you are staring at an appartment similar to yours. I am definately on the side of the "No More Flats" campaigners just for fear of the harbour becoming hugely over-populated. These campaigners are all too aware of the lack of infrastructure supporting this kind of growth. Which brings me to my next thought..................

....well, are we or aren't we losing our A&E/Maternity sections of the DGH. Seriously come on - has anyone driven to Hastings before now...I can just see those poor overworked ambulance drivers saying "oh no, guess what, we've got to drive to Hastings again." There are no dual carriageways that link the towns, just one long dragging and very dangerous stretch of road. If my partner were in labour, the kid will be taking his 11+ by the time he arrived to be delivered. It is soooo essential that our DGH remains as it is ( or even expands ) - as well as serving the whole town, it also serves nearby areas and of course the new imposing harbour. Thousands more people are depending on what the DGH has to offer and that is - without doubt, the very best nurses and doctors around. I think we can all agree that a huge debt of gratitude is owed to everyone involved in the front line. Bring back matron, she'll sort it out.......Of course...

...I don't think we'll ever need A&E anyway. That is, because our new tory leader Mr David Cameron dropped into the town to tell us just how safe walking the streets are. Now before I begin, I am not having a jibe at anyone involved with community projects - I have spent a lot of my time working voluntarily with such schemes myself. I simply want to be cynical...just the once.

So......Rt Hon David Cameron swoops into the estate in broad daylight, surrounded by his body guards, camera crews and the police. But would he like to come back on his own at 11.30pm for a casual stroll, you know take in some air!! As I walked by at this time one evening I was heckled by one gang and nearly run over twice by joy riders doing the ASDA to TESCO circuit. He should have nothing to fear, after all he made it clear that he supports hoodies and blames the parents for not spreading enough love. Why should the parents who do give their children consistent love for all those years become the victims when their well behaved children suffer at the hand of these yobs.

Lastly, I will admit to cheering Andy Murray on this week HOWEVER I did have a thought ticking around in my head...

I was supporting a loud mouth arrogant scotsman who was no different to the type that refused to support England in the World Cup and went round beating up any eight year olds they could find wearing a England shirt.

I hope I raised a point of interest in my first blog and look forward to relieving my mind, freeing up forever needed memory space.