Winter came early to Nottingham this year, with 3-4 inches of snow falling in mid November, and staying around for 3 days until rain washed it away. The gritter-lorries were out in force on our roads but there were still a few accidents. Not the best of starts for our cash-strapped local councils.
Observant regular readers of my blog might have noticed something unusual about October’s blog. There was absolutely no mention of sport. Our daughter, Fiona, has no interest in sport whatsoever. I was challenged to write a whole blog without mentioning sport, so I did! It wasn’t easy. I had to ignore England men’s cricketers scoring a mammoth 823-7 dec. in their first test v Pakistan, and winning by an innings, but losing the 2nd and 3rd tests after Pakistan prepared pitches very much favouring their array of spin bowlers. This month’s highlight was the Autumn Nations rugby series, with the top southern hemisphere teams taking on their European counterparts. Scotland’s comprehensive defeat of Australia was especially pleasing. Even more exciting, though, -was Nottingham Forest’s brief ascent to 3rd place in football’s Premier League. They are still in 6th place!
Despite predictions of a close contest, the US Presidential Election was won comfortably by Donald Trump, with 75 million Americans voting for him (unbelievable!!) If Trump’s VP, J D Vance was controversial, his post-election appointments to his team have raised more than a few eyebrows. His choice of Defence Secretary, for example, was a Fox News TV host before appointment with no previous political experience. Trump seems to have chosen on the basis of personal loyalty to him rather than the experience and competence to fulfil the role; but you can be sure they will do whatever he says, without question. A recipe for disaster?
We have, this month, seen a welcome cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Some would say it was inevitable under pressure from the USA. Right-wing Israelis have labelled it a surrender, but Netanyahu argues that it enables him to focus his resources on Gaza and Iran. Meanwhile, further escalation in Ukraine has seen the USA, followed by the UK and France, give permission for their long-range missiles to be used against targets inside Russia. Putin has responded by lowering Russia’s threshold for retaliation using nuclear weapons. Hopefully just sabre rattling
I started the month not feeling particularly well. Perhaps it was a hangover from the chest infection at the end of October. I seriously considered postponing my appointment for a home flu jab on the 8th, but decided I was well enough, so I went ahead anyway. I have never previously had a reaction to a flu vaccination but I began to feel unwell again for another 4 or 5 days. On the positive side, the overnight CO2 monitor showed no problems to explain the recent deterioration in my breathing.
The month ended with the successful passage through the Commons of The Assisted Dying Bill, by 330 votes to 275. Many people are concerned by this, but clearance requires the individual to have less than 6 months to live, to have capacity, and to be approved by two doctors and a high court judge. With all that safeguarding process, I suspect most applicants will be dead before their case is approved!! I do have a vested interest in this bill. It is nearing 7 years since my diagnosis so some of you might be wondering why MND is classified as a life-limiting condition, and thus a terminal illness. You might, alternatively, be thinking it’s high time I got on with it!! Well, the average life expectancy after diagnosis really is just two years. I’m not ready to ‘pop my clogs’ just yet but there might come a time when I have really just had enough, so it would be comforting to know there is a way out other than to endure, however long it takes. That’s why, for me, the bill is so important.