Yes, it is an old song. But it will renew itself. It will restore its position after sometime. It will revitalize. It will revivify. It is the song called "Words"
Yesterday, I put Boyzone's Album "Back Again...No matter what" into my trolley in ASDA. One of the songs is Words which I did enjoy in my teenage days. Now I enjoy again. Personally, I prefer Bee Gees's original version. I feel it was powerful and strong. But it is a different taste with Boyzone's . I would say it is sensational.
Bee Gees, first released in the beginning of 1968.
Boyzone version, released in 1996.
Lyrics.....
smile an ever lasting smile
a smile can bring you near to me
don't ever let me find you gone
'cause that would bring a tear to me
this world has lost its glory
let's start a brand new story
now my love
you think that I don't even mean
a single word I say
it's only words
and words are all I have
to take your heart away
talk in ever lasting words
and dedicate them all to me
and I will give you all my life
i'm here if you should call to me
you think that I don't even mean
a single word I say
it's only words
and words are all I have
to take your heart away
it's only words
and words are all I have
to take your heart away
da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da da
this world has lost its glory
let's start a brand new story
now my love
you think that I don't even mean
a single word I say
it's only words
and words are all I have
to take your heart away
it's only words
and words are all I have
to take your heart away
it's only words
and words are all I have
to take your heart away
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
I am a hobbyist
Having a dSLR won't stop investing in the hobby. That means that I have been collecting and reading photo magazines more or less on a regular basis, while thinking high to participate in local or on-line competition. Obviously, it is not ready yet. Apparently, there is an evening photography class in nearby college. It is a good idea to join it. I could gain new camera skill and new friends. Just thinking.
The gas station is at a convenient distance. Whenever I went down there to grab a bunch of lager, I checked the book shelves filled with a variety of usual stuffs , such as auto magazines, women and adult magazines. What I normally took was photo magazine. I read and tried to take the photos as advised. Unfortunately, weather was not favourable for a amateur photographer these days. Of course, I can get snow photos. But sub zero temperature stopped me going out. Again, my busy life style has a little chance to spend on photography. Hopefully, there will be more opportunity to enjoy out door photos in next a few months.
The gas station is at a convenient distance. Whenever I went down there to grab a bunch of lager, I checked the book shelves filled with a variety of usual stuffs , such as auto magazines, women and adult magazines. What I normally took was photo magazine. I read and tried to take the photos as advised. Unfortunately, weather was not favourable for a amateur photographer these days. Of course, I can get snow photos. But sub zero temperature stopped me going out. Again, my busy life style has a little chance to spend on photography. Hopefully, there will be more opportunity to enjoy out door photos in next a few months.
Monday, January 11, 2010
The natural history of the elderly in Britian
First of all, I would say this is not a research paper. Moreover, I won't guarantee it is 100% true facts covering all social classes in Britain. But I write this blog post based on my knowledge and work experience.
We do enjoy the life by studying and working , going holidays and being off sick, arguing and agreeing, marrying and divorcing, attending weddings and funerals, and so on. When we reach 65 and above, we will be in the group of old age in the countries like UK and USA. The alternative nomenclature of the elderly is senior or senior citizen. The definition of old age varies from society to society, from department to department.
At work, I mean, at hospital where I work , we consider those with 75 and above (some hospital 78, some 79) as the elderly people. They are put in the list of the elderly care consultant, who will lead the team for his patient's medical and social issues to be sorted out. Once patient is medically fit or nearly fit, we start the discharge plan. That means we decide to where patient is going. To his own home? to rehab hospital, to residential home or nursing home.
The majority of elderly people lives alone or with their spouse if they are still alive. It is common that their children live nearby, helping with shopping and cleaning. Some elderly people have no own children, but they have been looking after well by step-daughter or son as next of kin. I still remember one old man was admitted to hospital for some reason. His son had been in Australia for many years. Almost everyday, the anxious son rang us, asking about his father's updates, saying "thank you" during most of the calls. He also had threatened to make complaint against us for a couple of times. Yes, that is our life. Anyway, that old man got better and he went home after sometime.
Basically we cannot discharge our patients without making sure that they will be safe at home. During the discharge plan, the phyisotherapist does mobility assessment, providing walking assistance if required while the occupational therapist's function is to assess if patient can do his or her daily activities safely, such as kitchen, stairs and bathroom. Some needs stair lift to go to upstairs bathroom. Other need wheel chair for shopping.
Some people require rehabilitation before going home. So they go to a local community hospital to build up their mobility.
While they are in acute hospital or rehab hospital, we consider if patient will need care package at home. For example, some people needs once a day carer in the morning for cleaning, dressing and making breakfast, etc. Some need twice a day. At this point, social worker plays a role to organize carer package, including funding issue. Maximum home carer is 4 times a day in my area. Generally "more help" means "less independent and more frail".
What will happen if someone needs more than 4 times a day? Commonly, such people are with advancing dementia or with multiple health problems and no longer able to cope at home alone. Answer is residential home. Next question is who will pay. Patient himself or local authority?
What would be the next step after Residential home (RH)? From RH, they might come back to hospital with water infection, chest infection or fall and collapse. Some died at hospital due to current illness or new problems. Other died of natural cause at RH.
A small percentage of people need 24 hours nursing care due to some conditions, such as dense stroke, advanced Parkinson's disease. They are transferred to nursing home as RH usually has no nursing support. (Apparently, 24 hour care at own home is around £2400 a month)
I am thinking myself what would be my final place before death if I have a chance to live long.
We do enjoy the life by studying and working , going holidays and being off sick, arguing and agreeing, marrying and divorcing, attending weddings and funerals, and so on. When we reach 65 and above, we will be in the group of old age in the countries like UK and USA. The alternative nomenclature of the elderly is senior or senior citizen. The definition of old age varies from society to society, from department to department.
At work, I mean, at hospital where I work , we consider those with 75 and above (some hospital 78, some 79) as the elderly people. They are put in the list of the elderly care consultant, who will lead the team for his patient's medical and social issues to be sorted out. Once patient is medically fit or nearly fit, we start the discharge plan. That means we decide to where patient is going. To his own home? to rehab hospital, to residential home or nursing home.
The majority of elderly people lives alone or with their spouse if they are still alive. It is common that their children live nearby, helping with shopping and cleaning. Some elderly people have no own children, but they have been looking after well by step-daughter or son as next of kin. I still remember one old man was admitted to hospital for some reason. His son had been in Australia for many years. Almost everyday, the anxious son rang us, asking about his father's updates, saying "thank you" during most of the calls. He also had threatened to make complaint against us for a couple of times. Yes, that is our life. Anyway, that old man got better and he went home after sometime.
Basically we cannot discharge our patients without making sure that they will be safe at home. During the discharge plan, the phyisotherapist does mobility assessment, providing walking assistance if required while the occupational therapist's function is to assess if patient can do his or her daily activities safely, such as kitchen, stairs and bathroom. Some needs stair lift to go to upstairs bathroom. Other need wheel chair for shopping.
Some people require rehabilitation before going home. So they go to a local community hospital to build up their mobility.
While they are in acute hospital or rehab hospital, we consider if patient will need care package at home. For example, some people needs once a day carer in the morning for cleaning, dressing and making breakfast, etc. Some need twice a day. At this point, social worker plays a role to organize carer package, including funding issue. Maximum home carer is 4 times a day in my area. Generally "more help" means "less independent and more frail".
What will happen if someone needs more than 4 times a day? Commonly, such people are with advancing dementia or with multiple health problems and no longer able to cope at home alone. Answer is residential home. Next question is who will pay. Patient himself or local authority?
What would be the next step after Residential home (RH)? From RH, they might come back to hospital with water infection, chest infection or fall and collapse. Some died at hospital due to current illness or new problems. Other died of natural cause at RH.
A small percentage of people need 24 hours nursing care due to some conditions, such as dense stroke, advanced Parkinson's disease. They are transferred to nursing home as RH usually has no nursing support. (Apparently, 24 hour care at own home is around £2400 a month)
I am thinking myself what would be my final place before death if I have a chance to live long.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
BMW to Mercedes
In December 2009, my old BMW was written off after an accident. That meant I needed to buy a car. A friend of mine told me why not try a brand new car, pointing out that it did not need MOT in first 3 years and the manufacturer's warranty would be a peace of mind. Of course, I want to. But i feel an extra bill for finance would be a great burden in next 3-4 yeas. Moreover, the market price of a new car will drop by £3000-4000 in the first year, according to the reports. So I decided to go for a used car.
I'm still missing this BMW 316. It was a good runner.
Buying a car is not an easy business if you have more and more knowledge about it. I meant when I bought my first car, I did not know anything behind the sale of a car and I did not check anything. I did a test drive and I purchased straight away. Fortunately, there was no problem.
This time, first of all, I did research on Autotraders and Gumtree. After sometime, I had got an idea about current price. Once I was interested in a car, I rang first. If still available, I made an appointment to view. At this point, in terms of documents, I needed to check if VIN (Vehicle Identification number ) on car body matched with the one on log book (Vehicle registration book). If not matched, it is likely a clone car. The owner should be the same address as shown on the log book of the car. A regular service history meant that this car was likely to be well maintained . I can also get a rough idea about mileage. Yes, mileage fraud is relatively common here. I also made sure any annoying things inside and outside of the car. MOT certificate is also an important document.
Next step was checking the car history on HPI or DVLA's Car data. This small investment is worth doing so. Yes, basically, I would avoid the car with bad history, such is outstanding finance, previous damage and stolen vehicles. I also do not the car with history of plate transfer for some reason.
After those were satisfactory, I made an offer to reduce the price by 100 or 200£.
Basically, private sellers want cash. I was told before someone was beaten and money was taken when he was buying car. So for a safety measure, I needed to get my friends when I went to purchase this Mercedes.
I intended to buy a Mercedes C class 3 doors coupe' (C200 or C180) previously because it is affordable with a nice looking to me. But once I tried to buy, those cars had been sold quickly while I was working week days and some weekends. As a result, I did not have a car in last 3 weeks. Fortunately, after the new year night, I found out new advert about this car while I was in London for the New year celebration at riverside and we reached a deal quickly. But it is a family car.
I bought this yesterday
Update (03/01/2010 23:00hr)
Some experience and knowledge obtained while trying to buy a car.
1. The registration number of a car advertised by a small trade was not found in the HPI. When I rang about that, they gave me another number which was also not found in the database system. I have not idea what they were trying to do.
2 A couple of sellers advertised the mileage much less than actual one.
3. One Mercedes with cheap price was written off in the record. That means ?a major accident in the past.
4. If the number plate was transferred, it is said that the full history of car is unable to be traced.
5. Mileage history is important. we can check it on old MOT certificates and service history.
6. 3 door coupé cars are on demand.
7. One dealer advertised a car, saying owner was a doctor. Weird!
8. VIN (Vehicle Identification number/ chassis number ) has 17 digits. There are no alphabet O and I. but O is Zero and I is one.
9. If the MOT certificate is lost, you can get a duplicate copy, costing you £10.
I'm still missing this BMW 316. It was a good runner.
Buying a car is not an easy business if you have more and more knowledge about it. I meant when I bought my first car, I did not know anything behind the sale of a car and I did not check anything. I did a test drive and I purchased straight away. Fortunately, there was no problem.
This time, first of all, I did research on Autotraders and Gumtree. After sometime, I had got an idea about current price. Once I was interested in a car, I rang first. If still available, I made an appointment to view. At this point, in terms of documents, I needed to check if VIN (Vehicle Identification number ) on car body matched with the one on log book (Vehicle registration book). If not matched, it is likely a clone car. The owner should be the same address as shown on the log book of the car. A regular service history meant that this car was likely to be well maintained . I can also get a rough idea about mileage. Yes, mileage fraud is relatively common here. I also made sure any annoying things inside and outside of the car. MOT certificate is also an important document.
Next step was checking the car history on HPI or DVLA's Car data. This small investment is worth doing so. Yes, basically, I would avoid the car with bad history, such is outstanding finance, previous damage and stolen vehicles. I also do not the car with history of plate transfer for some reason.
After those were satisfactory, I made an offer to reduce the price by 100 or 200£.
Basically, private sellers want cash. I was told before someone was beaten and money was taken when he was buying car. So for a safety measure, I needed to get my friends when I went to purchase this Mercedes.
I intended to buy a Mercedes C class 3 doors coupe' (C200 or C180) previously because it is affordable with a nice looking to me. But once I tried to buy, those cars had been sold quickly while I was working week days and some weekends. As a result, I did not have a car in last 3 weeks. Fortunately, after the new year night, I found out new advert about this car while I was in London for the New year celebration at riverside and we reached a deal quickly. But it is a family car.
I bought this yesterday
Update (03/01/2010 23:00hr)
Some experience and knowledge obtained while trying to buy a car.
1. The registration number of a car advertised by a small trade was not found in the HPI. When I rang about that, they gave me another number which was also not found in the database system. I have not idea what they were trying to do.
2 A couple of sellers advertised the mileage much less than actual one.
3. One Mercedes with cheap price was written off in the record. That means ?a major accident in the past.
4. If the number plate was transferred, it is said that the full history of car is unable to be traced.
5. Mileage history is important. we can check it on old MOT certificates and service history.
6. 3 door coupé cars are on demand.
7. One dealer advertised a car, saying owner was a doctor. Weird!
8. VIN (Vehicle Identification number/ chassis number ) has 17 digits. There are no alphabet O and I. but O is Zero and I is one.
9. If the MOT certificate is lost, you can get a duplicate copy, costing you £10.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Lonely New Year Night
This is the third time I have been in river side firework of New Year celebration in London. The first time was in 2005 with my parents. I left my car near the Lambert Bridge, one of the several bridges crossing River Thames. We did a long walk to reach Westminster and London Eyes where firework took place. And the year 2007 saw an amazing celebration when I was with a friend from Japan and a bottle of champagne on Westminster Bridge.
This time, I was on my own. Most of my friends celebrated at home. Despite getting on train once I finished work in the evening, it was 10:30 PM when I reached the river side where hundreds of thousands of people had already occupied the good view points. BBC later reported that there were a quarter million people participated in the New Year party. When I got back to my London place, it was 3AM. I will stay here over the weekend and I will go back to my work place on Sunday.
Here are some photos I took as much as I had a chance.
Before mid night
Just after mid night
This time, I was on my own. Most of my friends celebrated at home. Despite getting on train once I finished work in the evening, it was 10:30 PM when I reached the river side where hundreds of thousands of people had already occupied the good view points. BBC later reported that there were a quarter million people participated in the New Year party. When I got back to my London place, it was 3AM. I will stay here over the weekend and I will go back to my work place on Sunday.
Here are some photos I took as much as I had a chance.
Before mid night
Just after mid night
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