Blog 27th February

I’m off work today planning for a trip to the Lake District (in England in case you’re reading this overseas). We’re staying in the Lindeth fell Country House in Cumbria on Saturday, right by Lake Windermere.

We’re also planning to visit the Beatrix Potter House Hill Top Farm where she conceived Jemima Puddleduck and lots of the other characters in her wonderful books.

Yesterday work involved news planning for bulletins, fairly routine except that I met one of the country’s top personal injury lawyers, Adrian Budgen, from law firm Irwin Mitchell in Sheffield, whose representing hundreds of people who’ve suffered with the lung disease Mesothelioma.

They’re holding a day of action today to remember the many people who’ve died from this horrible and incurable, asbestos related illness. They’re also calling for a national research centre for asbestos related diseases.

The chilling thing is – he said it was still a ‘clear and present danger’ in schools, offices, hospitals and on construction sites today. Great guy. I did put it to him that it might be seen as another lawyer’s ‘gravy train’ like the miners compensation scheme, but he refuted this very quickly (as he would).

You have to learn to become cyncial very quickly as a journalist, but he struck me as someone who was committed to helping the cause in his own time as well.

Still suffering with this horrible cold and sore throat, but the good news is that I’ve finally talked the Doc into giving me some antibiotics over the phone.

This is something I mentioned to Jan Soberiaj the CEO of NHS Sheffield when I met him yesterday. I had to wait a week to see a GP to get some meds for a condition which I know can be sorted with a weeks worth of antibiotics.

Anyhow, a GP called me at work and did a telephone surgery with me and prescribed the meds over the phone -result!

Off to see Dave Spikey on tour at the Winding Wheel in Chesterfield tonight – could use a laugh or two…