Protect Freedom Of Choice

 

Joseph Cornell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Cornell 

Thankfully our coalition government has gone and there will be new elections in September when once again the election charade will be played out.

At the moment they are still seemingly going through with some of the coalition's proposed new legislation, one of their brainwaves is to restrict people using coffee shops.

They are now proposing that people who use the coffee shops become registered members, with membership cards.

However the downside is that you can only become a member of one coffee shop and you can only become a member if you live and are registered in the Netherlands.

This means that tourists will no longer be able to go to them, which means that they will maybe choose to go somewhere else for their holidays than the Netherlands.

I wonder if they can really restrict people from being members in more than one shop, can you imagine the row there would be if people could only sign up to use one shop for their shopping.

Imagine if suddenly you were told that you could only use one baker, one butcher, one supermarket, where would your freedom of choice be to spend your hard earned money where you wanted to.

 
It is amazing that they can't see the consequences of their actions, these conservative reactionaries don't realise that the effects of making this law, will cost the economy lots of money.

And additionally they will lose all those tourists to other countries such as Portugal where they can use the coffee shops without a problem and enjoy wonderful weather and excellent food, neither of which they can enjoy here.

In my opinion they have really shot themselves in the foot by proposing this ridiculous knee-jerk legislation.

What I find very worrying is that nobody seems to be protesting about this, I hope I'm wrong about this.

I shall investigate this and see if coffee shops as well customers are demanding action be taken to prevent the freedom of choice being taken away.

Nothing Must Spoil The Fantasy.

Franklin Rosemont

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Rosemont 

Trying to keep calm and cope with hearing about the Olympics constantly interspersed with the Silver Jubilee.

We listen to BBC radio a lot and watch BBC TV but intend not to do so during the Silver Jubilee which is from 2^nd to 4^th June.

I find it amazing that they are celebrating that this head of state, has been there for 60 years just like any other dictator.

She has never done a days work in her life, although she is often referred to as hard-working, it must be exhausting having to endure living a life of such luxury as she does.

Neither have the rest of her family ever worked, last night there was a program about the corruption in Azerbaijan where the Eurovision Song contest is being held this year.

They talked about the fact that the president’s family had accumulated huge wealth, his two daughters own plenty of real estate as well as TV stations and other companies and even the teenage son, who is 13 owns an island in Dubai.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65357

http://www.ifex.org/azerbaijan/2012/03/08/ismayilova_threatened/

http://azerireport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2199

This doesn't sound too different to me, then the financial situation of the Royals, who by the way are not English but usurpers from Hanover.

I don't intend to watch the Olympics as far as I'm concerned it is nothing to do with the beauty of sport and just about the Olympic Committee and multinationals making more money.

Knowing that Dow Chemical is sponsoring the games is revolting, especially after what happened at Bhopal, India in 1984.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster

The torch relay is also pretty sick, seeing as it was Goebbels who introduced the torch relay at the 1936 games in Berlin, hosted by Adolf Hitler, no wonder they don't mention this important detail.

Nothing must spoil the fantasy of the Olympic Games, which is supposed to be a celebration of sport by amateurs and not professionals who are now the only competitors.

It was started against communalism, nationalism and to promote cooperation, far as I'm concerned it's become a big festival which is all about money and nationalism.

Winning My Appeal Should Set A Precedent.

Penelope Rosemont

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope_Rosemont 

This weekend has been enjoyable; receiving the letter from the Amsterdam Court and reading I had won my appeal case was quite incredible.

My decision had been to try to invest as little energy in it as possible, but nevertheless to persist in trying to get, what I perceived as a bad decision overturned.

It really is a shame that the Amsterdam Council department whose job, it is to provide the aids and facilities that disabled people need do not do this.

Instead of carrying out their brief they seem to spend their time and valuable public resources on seeing how and why they can refuse as many applications as possible.

Surely Amsterdam City Council wastes a lot of money doing this, when they would surely be operating in a more cost-effective manner by giving applicants what they need and when they need it.

I guess that has little to do with giving people what they need and more to do with exercising their control by applying bureaucratic nit picking.

Up to now nobody has contacted me about winning my case; I think that I shall send e-mails to everyone involved, that I have won my appeal.

This will go to my case manager Jacqueline and Annelies, the Amsterdam Council’s mobility advisor, as well as Maurits my occupational therapists and Janneke, one of the doctors at the Rehabilitation Clinic on the Overtoom, Amsterdam.

I'm quite curious as to when I will hear from the Amsterdam Council Department that deals with applications from the disabled.

Shame that I could not have been there, to see their reaction when they got their letter on Friday informing them they had lost the case.

Hopefully they will do something very soon as the weather is suddenly very warm, and I shall need the air conditioning as soon as possible.

In fact I could do with it now, as the temperature has suddenly shot up, this certainly seems to be the way it has gone these last few years, one day it is under 10° the following day it is over 20°.

No longer does it become gradually warmer, what tends to happen is that one day it is cold enough so that the heating is on, the next the windows has to be wide open as it has become hot.

Any changes in the temperature impacts heavily on me, and my body reacts immediately which causes me problems.

It would be nice if the council approached me this week to inform me when they will be installing the air conditioning.

The quicker that happens, the better for me and hopefully also for all the other people applying for air conditioning.

Winning my appeal against Amsterdam City Council will set a legal precedent that should be very useful to everyone else making an application for much needed air conditioning.

For me, as I'm sure it is for many others, air conditioning is not a luxury but a necessity as I need the temperature in the apartment to be constant.

Multiple sclerosis totally deregulates everything, the changes in temperature have an enormous effect on me, and I’m looking forward to keeping cool this summer.

Didier Drogba with the Champions League Trophy 2012

 Didier Drogba 

I had a really good day yesterday after I had read the whole of the registered letter I received from the Amsterdam Court.

Once I'd read the entire contents of the document, it took a bit of time seeing as it was legal language.

Then I rang my friend Anja who had represented me at the appeal hearing to tell her, in fact I read the conclusion of the letter to her.

She could immediately confirm that I had indeed won my appeal against the rejection of my application for air conditioning.

Once Anja gave me her confirmation that my case against Amsterdam Council had been successful I was really overjoyed.

I'm really so glad that I persisted with this and wouldn't give up, but that's me I don't give up, and was persistent just like our Jack Russell terriers are.

To celebrate I drank a tiny glass of Limoncella, that was left over from our friends Cecile’s lovely visit here on Thursday.

To make yesterday an even better day we watched the Champion’s League Final between Bayern Munchen and Chelsea.

Typically of course once it started I could barely watch it as I was so nervous, I really wanted Didier Drogba and Chelsea to win.

Not because I'm a Chelsea fan, I really am not, but because I do like Didier Drogba, I think he is a wonderful football player.

Every time I did manage to peak at the television screen it made me very nervous, and when Bayern scored first I couldn't cope any longer.

Then Didier scored which was a relief, but Chelsea needed to score again in order to win, Didier’s next attempt went over the goal which was an immense disappointment.

This meant they would now have to play extra time so another 15 minutes was played and then another 15 minutes after which it was penalties.

Bayern seemed to be winning but then one of their best players Sebastian Schweinsteiger stepped up to take his penalty shot and amazingly he missed.

He really never misses so it was quite something to see him miss, even Sebastian couldn't believe it, he was devastated, the poor fellow.

Then Didier Drogba stepped forward to take his turn and he buried it in the Bayern Munchen goal; Chelsea fans erupted with joy at winning this long coveted trophy.

The other side, Bayern Munchen were absolutely devastated they really thought that they would be the winners; in fact I think that they had never considered any other alternative.

Their supporters were absolutely in bits, a lot of them were leaving, the players were all crying on the field, quite a few of them collapsed on the ground weeping.

When they went to collect their losers medals they all took them off around their necks and carried them away in their hands, so disappointed were they at losing, what they consider their trophy.

Chelsea was overjoyed and their supporters delirious with happiness, Roman Abramowitz the owner grabbed his caretaker manager Roberto De Matteo and kissed him, he also kissed Didier Drogba and I think many others.

The Russian owner was so happy; he had spent over £1 billion trying to win the prestigious Champions League Trophy, hiring big-name managers from all over the world.

Yet it was his caretaker manager and ex-player Roberto De Matteo who finally won the trophy for Chelsea Football Club.     

How very typical and how true too, so often you can look all over for something and then find that it was right under your nose all the time.

Life is like that full of unexpected surprises; not all good but sometimes like yesterday they were brilliant; I am enjoying both.

Being in the here and now and enjoying every moment that I can, really is rewarding for me.

               

Winning My Appeal Is Sweet.

 

Guillaume Cornelis  van Beverloo 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_Cornelis_van_Beverloo

Yesterday evening a neighbour came to the door with a large envelope for me; it was registered post from the court.

It was the decision about my appeal against the council refusing me the air conditioning.

A combination of not being able to sit well in the shower chair as well as bad lighting  meant that I could not read the letter at all well.

I did scan it is much as I could and I thought it said I had won my appeal, this morning I finally read the whole document.

In which I understood that had I indeed won my court case, I telephoned my friend Anja who had represented me at the court; to read the conclusion of the letter to her.

Anja was very pleased, I thanked her profusely, once she confirmed that I had indeed understood the letter correctly that I had overturned the two previous decisions, I was delighted.

I am so happy that I persevered and did not give up even when it seemed quite hopeless.

Now the council has been told by the courts to go away and reassess the situation in the light of this court case.

I'm so glad that the Council has not been able to get away with it again as they always do.

Whenever somebody applies for something the council always look at the reasons they don't have to give it to them, they never look at this situation in the light of the needs of the person making the application.

In my case they tried to get out of it twice by insisting that my problems with the heat would be solved by blinds in front of the Windows and sun awnings at the front of the house.

Neither of these two solutions are very helpful for me, we have windows which go from floor-to-ceiling, they open inwards so sunblind’s are not workable.

Our landlord does not permit us to place anything on the front of the building, additionally sun awnings and do nothing to lower the air temperature.

Seeing as our apartment faces to the east on one side and to the north on the other side, this means we do not get much sunshine apart from briefly in the early mornings.

 The council also tried to shuffle the responsibility on to my landlord; they were constantly asking whether other people also had the same problems.

I told them several times that my problems with the warm weather were due to my Multiple Sclerosis, as far as I know I am the only person in this building with this progressive disease.

I'm very happy that I've managed to overturn the Amsterdam Councils decision not to grant me the much needed air conditioning.

I did not hold out any hope of winning as I don't have any trust in the justice system, so winning is extra sweet for me.

                                                                         

Community Action is A Re-affirmation of Everything Good In People.

Maracas Bay, Trinidad.

 On Wednesday night we watched a programme on BBC TV called SOS the Big Build.

It is about a wonderful team of workmen and many volunteers who get together to rebuild people’s homes, when they can't do it for themselves.

This week the team plus a huge team of local volunteers were rebuilding a small terraced house in Enfield, North London.

This is the home of Eric, Davina and their three lovely daughters; Eric was diagnosed with Moto Neuron disease two years ago.

Shockingly his diagnosis was terminal with a prognosis of three years; I hope that Eric will have a bit more time than that with his darlings.

It was an extremely moving programme seeing so many people giving their time freely to help somebody in their own community.

It is beautiful to see people cooperating to work together, it is inspiring and it is something that happens a lot more than people think it does.

Really there's nothing better than everybody getting involved to help a neighbour.

It was really wonderful watching the rebuilding of Eric's house; they thought of everything, doors were made wider for Eric's wheelchair.

They laid wooden floors which are much better for somebody in a wheelchair; they put in a simple lift so Eric can get upstairs to the new wet room and his newly renovated bedroom.

The other bedroom was beautifully decorated and divided so that the two younger daughters each have their own space.

Upstairs the attic had been totally rebuilt to create a beautiful room for the eldest girl.

Downstairs was totally remodelled with an extension added to create a lovely roomy living room and kitchen plus decking outside so Eric can roll out and enjoy the garden with his family.

It was an incredibly moving programme which I did manage to see despite crying so much that my darling Richie had to keep cleaning my glasses.

I was in good company as everybody was crying in the programme especially at the end after the family had seen their rebuilt home.

The whole family came out to thank everybody for helping them to make the most of the time Eric has left, the rebuilt home will make that much easier for them all.

When Eric was thanking everybody he started to cry, this set everybody off including me.

What a wonderful family they are, I hope that making the house more accessible for Eric will give him the extra quality of life that he needs right now.

So that Eric and his family can enjoy everything they can while they can without all the problems that they had before the wonderful rebuild.

Wonderful to see such community spirit in action, a re-affirmation of everything that is so wonderful about people. 

Eric's  blog

http://learnlovelive.co.uk/ 

SOS The Big Build website

http://www.knightandknight.com/index.php/tv-room/bts/49-diysos 

A Pleasant Afternoon.

Dorothea Tanning 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Tanning

This afternoon was pleasantly derailed by a friend coming round, just as Richie had got me back into bed after a long shower the phone rang.

 It was Cecile asking whether it was okay for her to come around, she had mentioned that she might be able to come by today.

Very good to see her, she was here not too long ago and surprised me then with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers in my favourite colours, lots of vibrant pinks and reds.

When Cecile rang 14.30 she said she would only pop by briefly and ended up staying until 18.30 which was really nice.

She brought some delicious Italian Limóncella with her its a delicious lemon liqueur which is very nice, it was fun sitting here talking and sipping the citrus drink.

I'm glad she came to visit its nice to see somebody spontaneously like that which is something that doesn't happen often enough these days.

That is because of my routine which is of course so different to when I was mobile then it was never a problem for a friend to drop by unexpectedly.

Being so handicapped has really changed our lives so dramatically; I think it is a good idea to try and scheduling more of these unplanned visits.

This is good for us, it will mean we won't be so isolated and it would be good for our friends to be able to come and see us more often.                                                            

Cooperate To create a better world for everyone.

Clarence John Laughlin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_John_Laughlin

I can't stop thinking about why it is that so many people believe that they're not intelligent enough to change the world.

This must be because we are all brainwashed from an early age to follow orders regardless, thinking for ourselves is not encouraged, nor is working together.

They don't want people to be free thinkers; they want everybody to conform and to follow the herd not to be individuals who make decisions for themselves.

This is one of the functions of school; it gets us ready to be wage slaves and to be passive recipients of authority.

We are told over and over again that we need political leaders, that without them we would be in a mess.

It seems to me that we are in more of a mess with these glorious leaders, who we are told are the only ones that are capable of being politicians.

The rest of us are just not clever enough to get involved in politics, we should all just be happy that we have all these wonderful self-sacrificing people who will put themselves on the line for their countries.

Amazingly it seems that a lot of people accept this as the truth, when the real truth is that these figureheads are just in it to enrich themselves.

The rich are getting richer and the rest of us have to work even harder right now to keep them in the manner they are accustomed to .

Surely it is time for everyone to consider different ways of organising our affairs, this current crisis is an indication that things need to change.

The way the affairs of the world is organised right now, does not work for the majority of people on the planet.

Nor do they work for the planet which is so slowly being destroyed by the greedy rich who don't care if they are doing this, all that matters to them is their own needs.

They don't give a damn about what their destructive activities are doing to this beautiful world we all live in as long as they can keep accumulating wealth.

This is a world of plenty for all of us if only we were allowed to freely share the bounty of this wonderful planet we inhabit.

People need to start cooperating with each other, this is not encouraged, and in fact we are conditioned to distrust each other.

Not to work together which we must do in order to create a better world for ourselves; this is something only we can and should do now.                         

  

A Positive Appointment.

Zdzislaw Beksiski

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zdzis%C5%82aw_Beksi%C5%84ski 

This afternoon has gone quickly after the long appointment with Maurits, my occupational therapist and Werner, an advisor from RTD Het Dorp was over.

It started late because Werner could not find a parking space, however once he got here it was well worth waiting.

We discussed with him my problems with using the gadget that allowed me a small modicum of freedom to control some of my environment.

The iPAQ let me operate the bed, turn on the light, switch on the TV as well as open the front door and our apartment door, once I have checked with the intercom who is at the door.

I explained that I could no longer use the gadget as well as I could before my hand function got worse.

Richie backed me up totally saying that he was the one to operate the bed, turn the light on now that my hands were too weak.

 Also nine times out of 10 he also turns on the television and brings me the telephone on which he activates the loudspeaker so I don't have to hold the phone which I can't do anymore. 

Werner listened carefully to everything we said, he asked questions and made suggestions.

After a short time it was clear to him that I needed to have the functionality of the iPAQ on the computer that Icould operate operate by using the Seetech software.

Before the end of the appointment Maurits and Werner started getting the application organised.

When I asked, they both said that they would complete the application and would get it sent next week.

It was a very good appointment, Werner was a nice person, and most importantly he was a good listener and communicated very well with us.

I think that this application for the long awaited Seetech will be successful; hopefully it won't take too long, although there always is a wait of up to 2 months.

Hopefully this time it will be quicker, as the application is from the same company just updated to include the iPAQ functions.

Today's appointment has left me feeling optimistic, it was good to be listened to and feel that finally I would be getting what I need which is very important for me now, so that I can carry on doing the things I enjoy.

Manchester City's Epic Victory.

Well yesterday really was so exciting, at times it was too nerve wracking and there were even moments when I could not watch any longer.

That was when Manchester City could not seem to get their winning goal, which would have been wonderful for the red half of Manchester.

Today I almost feel sorry for Manchester United that they did not win; they fully expected the trophy to go to them.

in fact when Wayne Rooney scored against Sunderland, they thought that was the winning goal, then just as the Manchester United fans and their manager Alex Ferguson were about to celebrate, their joy was short lived.

Sadly for the Reds, the result of Manchester City’s game was visible on the scoreboard much to everybody's shock and stunned disappointment

That was the very moment when the Manchester City supporters realised that finally after a long wait of 44 years they had won the Premier League trophy once again, the last time they won was in 1968.

The explosion of joy was wonderful to see, especially as minutes before they thought that they lost at the last moment.

Seeing Noel Gallagher from the well-known Manchester band Oasis having his photo taken was a lovely sight.

This morning we heard him talking on the radio about how wonderful it was that his club had at long last won the coveted Premier League trophy.

Noel then told a very funny story that he heard, that a Manchester United fan had printed up 100 0’s of red T-shirts, with the slogan on them saying:

Why Is It Always Us!

I almost feel sorry for Alex Ferguson, the manager and for the Manchester United team as well as fans.

It must have been very sad for them to cancel their red bus decorated with red ribbons for their victory tour of Manchester.

Instead everything was cancelled including all their parties and now they have had to watch the blue side of Manchester celebrating since Sunday.

This has me wishing that this will happen many times for Manchester City, there really is nothing better then the old order getting overturned.

Surely that is what life is all about, progress and not stagnation; it is really brilliant that finally Manchester United do not have it all their own way.

The football season 2011 to 2012 has really being full of unexpected twists and turns, it’s been a truly brilliant season, I hope to be able to enjoy the next season starting in August.

It seems that they are still plenty of good things for me to look forward to, even though I am now a tetraplegic, I am glad to be alive in the here and now

    

             

The Exciting End Of The Football Season.

Alexander Canedo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Ca%C3%B1edo 

What an exciting afternoon it has been, today are the very last football games of the season.

It has been nerve wracking especially watching the game between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers.

What was supposed to be an easy win for Manchester City became quite a battle, during which Queens Park Rangers scored two goals.

Then the Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton really lost the place and got a red card for violent behaviour, when Barton was going off he went back to have a go at another Manchester City player.

I suppose all the tension of the last crucial game was really getting to Joey Barton, a real shame as he was doing so well keeping his temper under control.

At the time of the sending off it looked as if Queens Park Rangers might go down and Bolton would stay up, after scoring two goals against Stoke City.

Then it seems that Stoke City got a penalty, Owen Coyle, the Bolton manager disputes that it was a genuine penalty saying that Peter Crouch dived.

That meant Bolton would be going down the Championships for the first time in 11 years and Queens Park Rangers will be staying up in the Premier League.

It was good to hear that Arsenal got the goal that they needed to stay in third place in the Premier league and now they will qualify for Champions League football again next season.

Some of the other results, were that Tottenham got two goals against Fulham, because Arsenal retained the third-place; Tottenham will have to hope that Chelsea do not win against Bayern Munchen so that Tottenham will qualify for champions league next season.

Everton beat Newcastle united by 3-1 yet another good result for David Moyes, who is a good manager, who does very well on a very tight budget.

At the end of the game between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City had still not managed to score the winning goal.

The Manchester City fans were looking extremely upset and distraught at the thought that winning the League was going to be snatched out of their hands in this game.

That would have been very hard for the team and for their Manchester City fans that have been waiting for 44 years to win the League Cup again.

In the 5 minutes extra time they got their winning goals, the Manchester City football stadium erupted with jubilation that they finally won the big prize once again.

I'm very pleased that Roberto Mancini’s club Manchester City have won it this season, I am also very glad that Manchester United did not win this time.

It was really lovely to see the city fans going mad joy and it is especially nice to see Noel Gallagher celebrating this wonderful victory.

                                                 

A Harmonious Neighbourhood

Thomas Bak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bak

Today is another pleasant day, the weather is very changeable one minute the sky is blue and the next it is full of clouds.

Then a few more moments go by and the clouds are gone only to come back again.

It's been nice seeing sunshine and once again hearing happy sounds of children playing outside.

What is also good is that Mentrum; the people across the road seem to have decided that it would be better to have a friendly relationship with the children on the playground.

This is much better then a few weeks ago when Richie and I witnessed one of the workers literally screaming at the kids because a football bounced against the door.

It was not nice to see, she actually told the kids that they should play somewhere else, which they did.

The place they found to play was the road, not a safe place for children to play, which is why there is the playing area, is there specifically to keep the children from harm.

I'm glad that a friendlier attitude is now being shown to the children; I was planning to get in touch this week, to let them know what I thought of the children being chased off their playground on to the streets.

The other thing I was going to mention is that all day long there is a group of people hanging around on the children's playground smoking.

Not a very good example for the kids, this is something I may very well still ring up and speak to them about this, I'm sure that there must be somewhere else for the smokers to congregate.

It must be possible for everything to be organised so that all the people are happy, much nicer for people to cooperate to achieve a harmonious neighbourhood, it is better for everybody.

A Better Perspective.

Thomas Bak 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bak

Today the sun is shining which is lovely, nice to glance out of the window and see the sunshine and occasional blue sky with fluffy white clouds drifting by.

I'm feeling better today it's amazing what a good nights sleep will do, it certainly has made a lot of difference to how I am feeling.

Yesterday I was made extremely aware of the steady progression of my progressive Multiple Sclerosis, it felt like it was being rubbed under my nose.

As if I could possibly even for one moment forget about having this horrible disease, it never lets me forget.

When my friend Anja was here last Thursday in order to get the paperwork ready for the court hearing this Wednesday, I was rather shocked when I saw the letter from Dr. Stolwijk, from the rehabilitation clinic.

It really hit me quite hard when I read that I was described as a tetraplegic, it was seeing the word that brought it home to me.

If only my MS would not progress any further, because I want to make the most of everythingj, I could manage reasonably well staying as I am now.

Of course what I most want and I guess everyone in a similar position would also want the same and that is a cure for this disease.

Being realistic I know this is not going to happen in my lifetime; however I really hope that it will happen very soon to give others a perspective of a better future.

Concentrate On The Things That Matter.

Lars Bo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Bo

Today has been a quiet day, with only my physiotherapy appointment with my lovely physiotherapist Matilda.

Afterwards I was extremely tired as I usually am these days, I find that doing the arm exercises is exhausting.

Nevertheless I think it's vital that I keep doing them for as long as I can do them.

Recently I have realised that it won't be long before my arms stop functioning altogether and then eventually I stop functioning too.

I've been trying to come to terms with this happening, but it really isn't easy, being in this situation.

However there is absolutely nothing I can do about it but just try to make the best of everything that I can.

This is something that I decided I had to do when I had to stay in bed from August 2008 until August 2010.

It was the only way that I could survive, without getting very depressed, now I can see that it's still the best strategy.

Sadly I can also see that my MS is steadily progressing which means that I have to remember that despite this I am going to keep enjoying life while I can.

 I try to put thoughts about my steady decline out of my mind and concentrate on the things that matter to me now.

           

I Won't Hold My Breath.

Thomas Bak

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bak 

This afternoon was my long-awaited appeal against the decision of the Amsterdam City Council to refuse my application for air conditioning.

When my friend Anja, phoned the court last week Thursday they told her that  I could not be present via Skype or video because they were inadmissible in the Amsterdam court.

I was told that they would however phone me during the hearing and ask me questions.

When Anja was here last Thursday, I gave her letters from Janneke Stolwijk, the Rehabilitation Clinic doctor and from Milou Sloof, the nurse, who is looking after my open pressure sore scar.

As well as a statement from me listing all of my many problems with temperatures above 22°.

In my statement I explain that as our windows are from floor to ceiling and open inwards this means we cannot use sun blinds.

It also means we can't buy a separate air conditioning unit because we can't place it under the window and let the tube hang out of the window as you need to do.

I also explained that my problem is the air temperature and not sunshine, seeing as our apartment faces to the east and to the north it means that we only get sunshine up to 09.00 in the morning making sun awning redundant.

From lunchtime I was waiting quite apprehensively for the court to phone me, sadly they couldn't be bothered to keep their promise to phone and ask me any questions or hear my side of the story.

The hearing was at 14.40 this afternoon no one phoned me, until 15.20 when the phone rang and it was Anja to tell me it was all over and I would receive the court’s decision around 22nd of June.

While I have never had much chance of success, it was slightly disillusioning to hear my friend tell me that they only allowed her to read a tiny section of my statement, and they were still harping on that my problem would be solved with the use of sun awnings.

As if they would stop the heat of the air temperature which causes me all the problems in the summer.

Well who knows maybe the court officials will actually go away and read the documentation I provided and with an open mind make their judgement.

I won't hold my breath.

A Quiet And Relaxed Tuesday

Mimi Parent 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimi_Parent

Today has been a very relaxed and quiet day with not too much happening, apart from my laptop not starting up right away.

This always causes me a bit of tension that somehow I didn't get tense today, I think that is all down to the good feelings that Jaya’s visit generated.

We spoke on the phone last night it was really lovely to hear her voice, Jaya is off to spend three days in Dublin with two dear friends of hers, Nancy and Eddie.

I hope she has a brilliant time over there, another mutual friend of ours Nur left me a message on Face Book saying that he would phone Jaya while she was in Dublin, I hope he does as she really wants to meet with him again.

I do hope it works out as it is so rewarding to meet up with friends, I know I was worried before Jaya arrived and so was she.

So glad we both had the courage to shrug aside our anxieties and worries and see each other, so happy we did.

Seeing Jaya again as being exceptionally good, not just for me but also for Richie and I guess also far our friends here who I am sure are happy for us.

It was just so nice to have somebody else here for us both, Richie and I to relate to, it did us such a lot of good and it also has given Jaya a huge boost too.

Nothing better really then to see good friends and spend time with them, Jaya's visit has opened up the prospect of more visits, which I will now look forward to wholeheartedly and without any worries.

Jaya's visit has confirmed for me that despite what this horrible illness, Multiple Sclerosis has done to me, and my body it hasn't changed one iota of who I am; I am still very much me.

A Strange Day.

Mimi Parent 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimi_Parent

Monday was so strange not having our lovely friend Jaya here with us; it is always so very lovely and easy to have her around.

Then when she goes, it is so quiet here, without the company of such a good friend like Jaya.

We're so glad she spent time with us last week, we, all three of us did so need to spend that time together.

The upside of a good visit is that it fills you with energy and allows you to view life in a more positive manner.

The downside is that once our visitor had gone, the apartment became quite quiet again without the sound of Jaya's lovely voice.

But despite feeling sad that she is no longer here, I feel a lot of joy for the fact that she has been here and we've had three days of a lot of talking, laughing and crying and generally enjoying each other's company.

Brilliant to have had this wonderful opportunity to spend valuable time with such a brilliant woman and good friend like Jaya is.

I was telling Mathilda my physiotherapist about the lovely visit near the end of our physiotherapy session when the phone rang and Eva another friend of ours announced she was coming round.

What a splendid surprise, the other one had been the arrival of a parcel from  Arden, a friend from Florida, full of goodies such as huge tamarind sweets from Trinidad, sadly with no pepper but nice, as well as two pairs of gorgeous earrings and a box of coconuts patties and some pretty postcards.

Then Eva arrived full of stories of her long holiday in Nepal, it sounded like she had a wonderful time and best of all she met a lovely man who makes her laugh.

She told me that she finally found her very own Richie, sounds good; he is not only from Scotland but also an excellent cook which is brilliant.

Very nice to find out that the day after Jaya left turned out to be quite a pleasant day after all, now I am looking forward to plenty more good days.

Sunshine In Our Hearts

 

Jaya and Herrad, Amsterdam.

After three days of having our lovely friend Jaya here visiting us, we realised it was nearly time for her to go, we had one hour left then she sadly had to leave.

We all cried buckets of tears, then dried our eyes and enjoyed our last hour together, which typically went much too fast and before we knew it was nearly 15.00 and Jaya had to go.

I cried, Richie did too, then we reminded ourselves what a beautiful few days it had been, seeing our good friend Jaya again, has been good for the three of us.

Last night Richie remarked that Jaya's visit has given us a lot of positivity which we were lacking, it is good her visit has given us such a boost.

By four o'clock I finally managed to stop crying and concentrate on remembering all the lovely moments of the visit.

Considering that Jaya did not arrive until 20.00 on Thursday and had to leave at 15.00 today, Sunday.

 We really did manage to get a lot of talking, laughing and reminiscing done, of course sometimes we cried when remembering sad events in our pasts.

I'm so glad I did not let my nerves stop me seeing such a dear, good friend like Jaya.

We've known each other 33 years now, I think that we have a very special friendship, I'm so glad that Richie and Jaya really hit it off when they met.

We really are so fortunate, the three of us, Richie Jaya and me for being such close friends, a very special friendship indeed one that I treasure always.

These three days have been wonderful, and they will give us alot of strength and positivity to carry on making the best of everything that we can, it will also be difficult but I'm sure we will be all right, Jaya left sunshine in our hearts.

Good Friends Are A Life Enriching Experience

Julian Trevelyan 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Trevelyan

Seeing Jaya again has been marvellous, correction it is marvellous as she is here with us until tomorrow lunchtime.

Then sadly this wonderful visit will be over, leaving the three of us with beautiful memories of re-bonding with our dearest friend Jaya.

To think that I nearly panicked and sent an e-mail to say please don't come, I don't think that I will be able to cope.

So glad now that I discussed it with Richie and took his advice, that everything will be all right especially once Jaya was here.

Richie was right of course, we just clicked once more and seamlessly picked up where we left off in 2006.

It really is great to have such a good friend like Jaya, I remember instantly liking her when we met in Reading, England in 1979.

We both came to England at the same age, Jaya from Kenya, and I from Trinidad, both having to adjust to an often unfriendly and racist new country.

Which was difficult for both of us, I'm so glad that our mutual friend Jeanette introduced us, knowing Jaya has been such a life enriching experience.

I'm so glad I didn't say don't come, so very happy to see her, and be able to talk to her again.

This visit was just what we both needed, and the best thing is its not over yet we still have hours left to enjoy each other's company.

TheYears Rolled Away.

Keith Haring

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Haring 

It was wonderful to see Jaya again, the last time we saw her was 2006 in our old apartment, when I was waiting to hear the result of my MRI.

No wonder that during her visit then, we could not do any of the things we used to enjoy doing, like stroll around town, looking at shops going to the markets and visiting our favourite coffee shop the Basjoe to see James and Leo.

That was because I couldn't walk very far, at the time we did not know why, I did my best to hobble using my Nordic sticks and we did manage three little trips.

I'm so glad that Jaya is here now; I've got so worried when she sent me a mail saying that she was coming to see us at the beginning of May.

I really panicked wondering what it would be like for her to see me as I am now; she reassured me that everything would be all right.

She wrote so much has changed for both of us, especially for you, but despite that we are still ourselves, our essence is unchanged.

And she was right, I had a moment of panic when Jaya first walked in, but that vanished immediately.

The years just seemed to roll away, it did not matter how long ago it was 

since we last saw each other.

None of that mattered, what did was that we are very good friends, and have been for a long time now, I think we first met in 1979, that is 33 years ago.

It really is wonderful to have Jaya here again; we've been talking and talking which is wonderful.

I shall stop now, do a spell check and then read the piece thoroughly, because using speech recognition means that sometimes you swallow words, so it's a good idea to read it out loud several times.

As soon as I've done that I will be ready to carry on talking with my dearest friend Jaya, who I love very much.

It is so good that she is here, to spend time with my Darling Richie and myself; we are so lucky to have such a good friend like Jaya.

A Good Day

Julian Trevelyan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Trevelyan

A good day, today our friend Anja came to help me with some administration.

First of all she phoned the court about my hearing next Wednesday, appealing the council’s decision to refuse me air conditioning.

Recently Anja, who is a social worker, had a client who also had a court appearance, but could not attend; she was allowed to communicate with the court during the hearing via Skype.

Anja therefore thought that it would be no problem for this to happen next Wednesday for my hearing.

However when she phoned the Amsterdam court, they told her, that they did not use Skype, nor could I be videoed so that I could be seen and heard during the hearing.

We amazed at this, how strange that another town and another court would allow Skype, but not the court in Amsterdam.

How very typical, what they were prepared to do would be to phone me during the hearing and ask me questions, this is second-best to the court seeing and hearing me.

There was nothing to do but accept the phone option, as the only way I could have any presence on Wednesday, I am quite disgusted by this infringement of my legal right to be present.

Anja and I went over all the arguments again, all the reasons why I need the air conditioning and why not having it is making my life very miserable.

I don't hold out much hope of the council’s decision being overturned especially in the current economic situation.

Sadly the council seem to have seen my application as something quite frivolous, which isn't; it is a vital necessity for me during the summer.

Once Anja had gone home I carried on writing my statement for the court hearing.

Richie got me out of bed and sitting briefly in my wheelchair to use the Motomed.

Near the end the door bell rang, it was our wonderful friend Jaya, who had come to visit us for three wonderful days.

More Football Fun.

Julian Trevelyan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Trevelyan 

Last night my football fun carried on, when we watched Liverpool play against Fulham.

The game started well, and again I thought I could see that the Liverpool supporters thought that their team would automatically win.

Much to the shock of Liverpool, and I think to the delight of the Fulham fans, Fulham scored just before half time.

Liverpool did everything they could when they came back for the second half of the game.

But they did not manage, no matter what they did, to score a goal, at this point, I started to feel really hopeful that the match would end without Liverpool managing a goal.

It reminded me of the old chant, when I used go to see Arsenal games, and the chant was often 1 nil to the Arsenal.

Amazingly Fulham managed to stop Liverpool scoring a goal, for the first time ever in their existence they managed to win against Liverpool at Anfield; which was a huge victory for them.

I thought it was brilliant, I really enjoy those moments in football, when the unexpected happens.

The end of this football season 2011 to 2012 is really ending in an extremely tense, nerve wracking and thoroughly enjoyable time.

Happy Indoctrination.

Julian Trevelyan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Trevelyan 

In the Netherlands, the 30th April, is the Queen's official birthday, I woke up amazingly to a rather beautiful day it seemed that the storm from the night before, had blown away.

After awhile when I was a bit more awake, I turned the television on and was treated to the charming sight of a bustling town centre full of happy people.

Then I realised that everybody was waving little Dutch flags and singing the national anthem, they also had a large children's choir.

Once again I remembered why I am not keen on Queens Day, the Queen's official birthday here in the Netherlands used to be in September.

This was moved to 30 April, so that they could take the focus away from 1 May, which is May Day, the workers holiday.

So in order to weaken the concept of workers solidarity, they changed the dates which seems to have worked very well for the Dutch state.

I have no objections to having a holiday, but I really do not like the way the day is used to indoctrinate people with nationalism.

As it was beautiful weather for the first time since 2009, there are lots of people out on the streets enjoying themselves.

It is lovely to see people having a good time, what makes me sad is to see how they are all being manipulated without realising it.