My latest Follow Friday suggestion

Photo: Following Mum by
Patrick Doheny

I think it's time for another Follow Friday post. I haven't done one for a while, and I do enjoy this format. Giving a reason always makes doing it feel more relevant.

So first, I'm going to plump for @westfieldwander. The reason for this isn't simply because he mentioned me as a follow friday today. There is a genuine reason. He lives locally to me, and is one of those people that I can't quite remember why I started following him. Maybe he came on my radar when he started commenting on Twitter about the tragic loss of the Tea and Trade cafe in Radstock? Maybe it was during the general election? Either way, it soon transpired that my wife actually knew him from her days of working at the cafe.

And as I sit here getting slowly... ahem... fatter.... and wondering what exercise I could do to that was relatively low cost, I could fit around Archie and most importantly I would enjoy, I noticed him constantly mentioning bicycles. A lot. And then something struck me. I live in Somerset once again. We have quiet lanes and cycle paths all over the place. When I lived in Swindon I used to love getting out of the house and cycling around. But when I moved to Basingstoke, one of the most bike unfriendly places around, I stopped.

And when I moved back here, the bike sat in the shed unused.

One day he posted something that led me to the Somer Valley Wheels website (which he helps out with) and noticed this news article and thought "why am I not doing that?"

Under a fortnight later, I've done over 60 miles in the saddle since jumping back on it, including lugging Archie around in his new trailer. Here's us last week after doing 15 miles...

I'm of course also boring the pants off anyone foolish enough to hang around long enough as I start wittering about how much I'm enjoying myself (especially big apologies to @jakepjohnson and @lgladdy, who can't escape by virtue of the fact that they sit next to me at work).

I'm hoping to do a 28 mile ride in September, watch this space. And if I hurt after it, I know exactly who I will be blaming....

My next recommendation will be @taniaglyde. I've heard her interview on Little Atoms, and I always greatly enjoy her pieces on my favourite podcast (the @poddelusion). In fact they're always better researched than mine..... (not difficult). She has a book out too you know... I haven't read it yet but from hearing her talk about it, it sounds like a thought provoking book on a subject that obviously wouldn't have been easy to write about (the book is called "Cleaning Up, How I Gave Up Drinking And Lived"), so it's only a matter of time until I get around to it.

By the way Tania, I think you should be honoured that someone asked you today if you'd had botox.

Finally, my last recommendation is @gsightseeing. I absolutely adore Google Streetview, and Google Sightseeing take it and tweet/blog interesting things that are found on there. Their tagline is "why bother seeing the world for real?", and while that's obviously said with humour, I find it amazing that with a click of the mouse I can go up and down streets I will probably never walk down. Or before I head to an area I'm about to visit, I can have a quick look around and see what's there (@jakepjohnson will attest to this, as I got ridiculously excited on a minibus during his stag do in Newquay that I knew where we were because I'd 'been' there on streetview).

So for me, someone pointing out some of the weird and wonderful things you can find makes me smile - and what goes around comes around, as I was recommended them a few months ago as part of a Follow Friday.

So give these three twitterers a go - I hope one day you'll be recommending them to your followers too.

A sweltering Sunday

Today was the hottest day of the year. We have a local weather enthusiast who publishes his own weather observations here, and that registered a high today of 28.9°C.

I know this will make me sound properly British, but if anything it was TOO hot. However, despite the heat today we managed to:

1) Clear out underneath our car port (a job we really should have done just after we'd moved in)

2) Clean out the bunnies

3) Woodstain a wooden unit that is outside to weather protect it

4) Plant some more carrots

5) Plant three sunflower seeds. A mummy one, a daddy one and an Archie one - so that we can have a race to see whose grows fastest

6) Trim back some plants and hedgerows that were beginning to get a bit out of control

7) Water the compost heap

8) Eat lunch outside whilst Archie was napping

9) Read a book underneath our gazebo in the sun, and have a power nap as it was so warm

10) Sow some flower seeds in the patch we deweeded two weeks ago

11) Walk to the corner shop to get an ice cream and cider

12) Eat a family dinner outside

13) Play "jump on dad" with Archie. There's only one loser in that game, and it's Archie's dad

Now it's time to watch Dr Who. Not a bad result for a sweltering Sunday.

Musings on the election

Note for sanity - if this ridiculously long post scares you, simply skip to the end for my views on who you should vote for if you live in North East Somerset.

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I attended a local hustings for the general election. It was extremely popular, and the adage "standing room only" was extremely apt, as that is exactly what we got.

However, looking around there was a marked age disparity amongst the audience. I think you could have counted on two sets of fingers the number of people in the room who were under 30, and I was one of them.

We were lucky to have all candidates standing in our constituency in attendance, although one was admittedly only a representative for his party. They were:

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conservative

Eric Lucas, Green Party (Eric is standing in Bath, our local candidate Michael Jay was unfortunately ill. But it was good of Eric to stand in and provide the party perspective)

Gail Coleshill, Liberal Democrats

Dan Norris, Labour

Peter Sandell, UKIP

The debate kicked off with a question from the audience, and it just so happened to be the question that I had submitted by email in advance. To be honest I wasn't expecting for it even to be selected, least of all to be first, so when I stood up to ask it I think it's fair to say that it was a bit of a ramble.

The general jist of my question, as emailed, was this:

As someone that was born in Paulton Hospital, grew up in Westfield, went to university in Bristol, got married in Bath and had my son in the Royal United Hospital I am tied to this area, that I love dearly. However, despite supposedly doing the right thing and attending university and starting a career, my wife and I find ourselves unable to purchase a house in our home town because of ridiculously high house prices and deposits that are almost impossible to save for.

This is partly because of the current obsession of using the housing market to prop up the economy and our area now becoming a commuter town.

How would candidates help my family and countless others in the same situation?

Most of the candidates came out with the usual platitudes. We need to increase the provisioning of social housing. More houses need to be built (but not on the green belt). However, nothing really concrete came from it. I was amazed that none of the non-Labour candidates picked up on my mention of my £15,000 university debt. 

Although I tried to remain neutral as each candidate provided their answer, I couldn't help myself rolling my eyes when the UKIP's candidate's response started with "well, the biggest problem we have in this country is immigration".

After all the answers the chair asked if I had heard anything that I'd liked in the responses. I had to be honest and say not really - there's nothing concrete to help someone in my situation, and there is still a fixation in our country on high house prices to prop up the economy, and constant talk of "getting the housing market going again" with no regard for the fact that investments can go up or down... so why is the housing market any different?

As we moved on I realised that Dan Norris, the current Labour MP was definitely experienced in this sort of debate. He seemed to be the only person making a note of the questioner's name and then addressing them directly. 

Jacob Rees-Mogg seemed almost laid back that he was horizontal, although he did come across slightly better than I expected him too (but that doesn't mean he talked sense). I actually made him slightly annoyed at one point - during a question on whether it is fair that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved governments he was complaining that constituencies in Wales are smaller, so MPs in England have a harder time representing their constituents. I couldn't help it, my hand shot up. The chair asked for my point and I made it - "I'm slightly confused by Mr Rees-Mogg's point on constituency sizes. Is it not Conservative policy to reduce the number of MPs?"

"Yes it is, but I don't see why that matters" came the barbed reply.

"Because how will that make it easier for MPs to represent their constituents?"

"Of course you can represent lots of people, it's silly to say you can't".

It was a pretty stupid and silly reply, not to say contradictory. The only reason I didn't labour it was because this wasn't a personal debate and I didn't want to turn it into a ten minute argument at the expense of everyone else in the room. But the tone of his voice was definitely irked that someone had dared challenge him. It was the only time in the whole evening that he became animated.

He also cracked me up talking about Conservatives wanting to give you more liberties and the right to run your life, when he made his anti-abortion stance blindingly clear (basically that if you're a woman he doesn't think that you should have access to an abortion if you need one).

In terms of the other candidates, the Green Party came across more as a lobbying group than a viable political party. Peter Sandell of UKIP seemed to think he was down the pub, wittering on about how Europe was the cause of all ills.

I took a special interest in what Gail Coleshill had to say. In terms of my political leanings, I probably fall closest to Lib Dem policies in most cases. And out of all of the candidates that I have emailed to discover their stance on various issues, she is only one of two to have emailed me back. The other was Michael Jay of the Greens, although it's fair to say we... differ... in opinion on a lot of things.

Jacob Rees-Mogg's office have sent me two auto-replies (one for the original email and one for the reminder that he hasn't replied) to say that he's busy campaigning, and Dan Norris' office has only replied with silence, although he has appeared to show a talent at making celebrities turn randomly up in our area (who have no local ties) to say just what a jolly nice bloke he is. Peter Sandell amazingly doesn't have any contact details on his leaflets.

I picked apart many of the things Gail said on one of her campaign letters - on top of the 14 questions I've asked every candidate - and she took the time to each point in turn, alongside answering all the questions fully.

In the debate, a question was raised about disfranchisement of youth in politics. And whilst the others talked about just how terrible it was, Gail was the only person to point out that the youth are talking politics, they're just doing it in a different way - via social media like twitter, and maybe that's just not being picked up on. Anyone that followed the leaders debate or the story of the digital economy bill on twitter would see that many young people are putting out opinions on politics, and in cases where their political representatives are also using that medium I've seen them take them to task.

Gail was also the only candidate to point out that there was a huge, and apparently, successful drive to get young people to register to vote before the 20th April deadline.

It's up to the candidates to move with the times and engage in new ways. The hustings was interesting and I'm very glad I went, but debates can also be held online. Slightly off topic, but I think that this is especially true of local council meetings, where mysterious things seem to happen between generally (and I know I'm stereotyping here) old councillors debate things in town halls whilst no-one is looking (and in the case of our local area, seem to spend more time writing letters to the local papers to slag off other councillors).

Anyway, enough of that rant.

The other thing that has annoyed me in this election so far is negative campaigning. Our Labour candidate seems to be spending more time attacking the background of the Tory candidate and proclaiming that the Lib Dems cannot win in the area (despite it being a completely new constituency, and therefore previous voting trends aren't entirely accurate). Of course any candidate can win in the area. Even UKIP could. They simply need to get the most votes. But the message from him is that a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote for the Conservatives. To me this is insulting my intelligence.

I hope that the youth of North East Somerset vote for the candidate they feel will represent them best in the years to come, one that realises that there are new ways of talking to their constituents. I also hope they realise not to be scared by negative politics. If enough people vote for the right candidate, that candidate will win. I think most youth hate negative politics, and being young they are like most people over the generations when they're our age - pretty ideological and wanting a more positive future. Maybe social media is our method of coming together in this generation.

It's through social media that the papers' obvious bias and political vendettas are being ripped apart by those taking part (perfectly demonstrated by the #nickcleggsfault hashtag on twitter). I only hope that this can be communicated to people who don't take an active role on mediums such as twitter.

I'm definitely rambling now, but I hope people see through the constant barrage of "the Lib Dems can't win" and "only we represent change".

If we want a party to win, we can make it happen. We have had many years of Labour and Conservatives now, so talk of change there borders on laughable. I hope that on polling day, we all help the Lib Dems gain a political foothold (and then maybe proportional representation can follow).

Oh, and if you're in my area, I know my opinion doesn't really hold any sway. But only candidate has really actively engaged with me. And only one party's policies routinely make sense to me.

So if you want my opinion, vote for Gail Coleshill and vote for Lib Dems.

Don't listen to negative politics. If enough people vote the right way, the right person will win. The formula is that simple.

Election update

My last blog post was an open letter to the liberal democrat candidate for our area. And, to be fair to her, she responded even though she admitted that it had taken a lot of her time. Since then we've traded a couple of emails on the Digital Economy bill, and whilst we disagree on a few things (such as the funding of alternative therapies on the NHS) I'm very glad that she took the time.

I have emailed every other candidate in our area, with the exception of the UKIP candidate, because bizarrely I can't find any email contact details for him. I know that not everyone has email, but surely it's a cheap way to connect to the electorate. OK, I admit that I'm extremely unlikely to ever vote for UKIP, however it seems only fair to ask them all the same questions.

The Green Party candidate also kindly took the time to reply to me, although I disagree with many of his convictions.  He did take the time to reply to my follow up email, which again I appreciated, even if the reply wasn't to my liking.

From the Labour and Conservative candidates? Nothing. Supposedly they are the most likely to win in my area. So why no reply? Were my questions too difficult? Too many? (If so, I think tough. They should just be happy that someone my age cares enough to ask in the first place). Are they just assuming they'll win so don't actually have to engage with me?

So I publicly named my local Lib Dem candidate on this blog, and whilst no more than about three people probably read this I feel it's only right to now publicly say - Dan Norris of Labour and Jacob Rees-Mogg of the Conservative Party: why no reply yet?

Here are the questions, you have my email, feel free to reply at any time before the election:

1) Do you feel that the current paternity leave entitlement is fair?
2) Do you feel that a woman should be allowed to return to work and her partner take over her remaining maternity leave so that she can resume her career if that suits their circumstances?
3) Do you support the reform of libel laws in England and Wales, and if so what will you do to further the cause?
4) Do you believe that schools should be allowed to determine admission based on religious belief?
5) Do you agree with faith schools, and that children should be encouraged to take part in morning assembly with a religious slant?
6) Are you in favour of the current academy system introduced by New Labour, and do you believe that academies should be allowed to set their own curriculum?
7) Should schools be allowed to teach creationism as an equivalent theory to evolution?
8) Do you believe that religious belief should be legally protected from ridicule?
9) Should Sharia law be allowed as an alternative system within UK law?
10) Should an independent government adviser whose views in their area of expertise conflict with government policy be able to express those views publicly without fear of being sacked? (I am of course referring to the case of Professor David Nutt)
11) Furthermore, should policy-makers trust scientific evidence even when it appears counter-intuitive?
12) Should religious leaders be entitled to vote in the House of Lords?
13) Do you support the use of public funds to provide unproven alternative “treatments” such as homeopathy?
14) Do you agree with the Digital Economy Bill in its current format?

An open letter to the Liberal Democrat candidate for North East Somerset

Gail,

Thank you for your recent letter addressed to my wife and delivered to our house. I can confirm that your open letter also reached my mother and grandmother. The title "open letter to women" was most definitely eye catching.

I have to admit that, despite being a man, I have read the letter. Twice. Both when my mother forced it into my hand when I visited her one day (as she couldn't believe some of the things implied in the letter, whether intended or not) and after it was delivered to my wife.

As it was an open letter, I hope you don't mind me replying in kind.

I admire your stance that there should be more women within Parliament, however, I am uncomfortable with this being turned into an election issue by stating "please note that I am the only woman standing for one of the main parties in the North East Somerset constituency in the forthcoming General Election". I sincerely hope that people will vote for the best candidate for the role, not merely because of their gender.

Personally, I don't want to vote for someone within the next few months and then only hear from them again when they need my vote in four or five years time.

I now must jump back up the letter slightly. You opened it with "as a woman who has brought up a family, had a career and supported elderly parents, I want to tell you about my concerns, achievement and priorities for the women of North East Somerset".

Fair enough. But as a man who is bringing up a family and managing a career in the area, I would love to hear your priorities for me. Are they different to your priorities for the women of North East Somerset?

I've got to be honest Gail, I think the open letter you sent could be portrayed as an own goal. It is our first contact before the forthcoming election, and I fear a more general letter would have served your purposes better, with a more gender specific one later in the campaign. My mother was left with the distinct impression that you were implying "I'm a woman, you're a woman, I think that there should be more women within Parliament, therefore you should vote for me".

Whether you intended this or not, I'm sure you'll agree that unless your speaking in person, the meaning of your words (whether via email or letter) can be misunderstood and the message lost.

Now that I've had that rant, I want to cover some of the priorities you listed within your letter, as I will presume that it's safe to assume that they will be the same for men.

It is Liberal Democrat policy to scrap tuition fees for all students on degree courses

I currently have over £15,000 of student loan debt, so I am well aware of the current issues of student debt, which is of course even worse for some due to the introduction of top up fees. However, I am unsure how this will be funded, and furthermore whether it is fair that all university education is funded by the taxpayer. Is there case for a middle ground where some of the cost is met, particularly by wealthier families, with more support targeted at those from poorer backgrounds?

Secondly, do you subscribe to the view that 50% of young people should attend university?

I was proud of Nick Clegg in his support of Joanna Lumley's campaign on behalf of the Ghurkas


I feel that a battle has been won but not the war, so to speak. I am not an expert on the subject but have read reports that Gurkhas have great difficulty coming to this country and receiving support once here. Is there more to be done?

Climate change affects us all


Yes, according to scientific consensus it does, and I'm willing to do my part. However, I can't help but feel that a lot of the focus is on the household and not companies, who must by far contribute to much more damage that households. Time after time I walk or drive past offices at night with every single light in the building left on, but no one working. Is there a case to target businesses more, including in the reduction of packaging? (which I don't think can merely be consumer led)

Within households, what is your position on charging based on the amount of waste they send to landfill, and do you support the use of chipping bins to monitor waste levels?

Liberal Democrats wants affordable bus and train fares


Public transport has long been a bugbear of mine, it is always mentioned by any candidate for any democratic role, but little ever seems to happen. Therefore I would love to hear your proposals in more depth as I'm afraid without this I find this just a hollow election pledge.

Your views matter to me


You also indicated that you wanted to hear our views, and I'm more than happy to oblige. I have several concerns moving into the next election that I am interested in, and as I have no affiliation to any political party will be asking this to all local candidates with the aim of voting for the person that best suits mine and my family's needs.

1) Do you feel that the current paternity leave entitlement is fair?
2) Do you feel that a woman should be allowed to return to work and her partner take over her remaining maternity leave so that she can resume her career if that suits their circumstances?
3) Do you support the reform of libel laws in England and Wales, and if so what will you do to further the cause?
4) Do you believe that schools should be allowed to determine admission based on religious belief?
5) Do you agree with faith schools, and that children should be encouraged to take part in morning assembly with a religious slant?
6) Are you in favour of the current academy system introduced by New Labour, and do you believe that academies should be allowed to set their own curriculum?
7) Should schools be allowed to teach creationism as an equivalent theory to evolution?
8) Do you believe that religious belief should be legally protected from ridicule?
9) Should Sharia law be allowed as an alternative system within UK law?
10) Should an independent government adviser whose views in their area of expertise conflict with government policy be able to express those views publicly without fear of being sacked? (I am of course referring to the case of Professor David Nutt)
11) Furthermore, should policy-makers trust scientific evidence even when it appears counter-intuitive?
12) Should religious leaders be entitled to vote in the House of Lords?
13) Do you support the use of public funds to provide unproven alternative “treatments” such as homeopathy?
14) Do you agree with the Digital Economy Bill in its current format?

I appreciate that there are a lot of questions, however as I have intimated I will ask all candidates these, as they are important to me personally. Therefore I look forward to your response.

Kind regards,

Robert Weeks

Happy Darwin Day

I hope that you've all had a great Darwin Day today. Today I couldn't get this quote out of my head:

"The ash of stellar alchemy was now emerging into consciousness. At an ever-accelerating pace, it invented writing, cities, art and science, and sent spaceships to the planets and the stars. These are some of the things that hydrogen atoms do, given fifteen billion years of cosmic evolution."

That was said by the great Carl Sagan, a man who seemed to be able to verbalise a meaning to things in a way that I can only ever dream of.

If you were to take the whole of cosmic time and compress it down to a year, the history of our solar system doesn't really begin until September, and humans don't register until New Years Eve.

In another example, if you were to take the history of our little planet and condense it down to 24 hours, humans arrive on the scene literally just before midnight (we're talking in the last twenty to thirty seconds here).

So I don't think evolution has done too bad to get us where we are. That's the wonder of life and that's the awesomeness of our universe, and it is definitely something worth celebrating.

Happy Darwin Day all!

Picture courtesy of Colin Purrington.

Which exit? Help settle a dispute

UPDATE: It might be fairer to see the roundabout in context. So here it is. We were approaching from Rush Hill (top left in this picture)


Mappy goodness

Frome Road is A, Old Fosse Road B, Clarks Way C


OK everyone, I need you to picture a scene for me. I will attempt to use as neutral language as possible so that I don't influence your decision.

As you may know, Lucie is learning to drive at the moment, and I'm nice enough to sit alongside her and let her get some extra practice in my car.

Yesterday, we had what can only be described as an 'incident' where we had a disagreement after taking a roundabout exit. Here's how the conversation pretty much went:

Lucie: "Which way do you want me to go?"

Me: "Straight on"

You are Lucie, approaching this roundabout from the direction of the arrow at the bottom. Based on this, which exit would you take? A, B or C?

(Picture courtesy of google maps)

Please leave your decision below with your reason too.

p.s. if you're worried that the 'incident' is that we ended up divorcing no. We just both disagreed which route should have been taken