Dear god, when will this nightmare of dangerous dogs out of control end? When will people realise that unless their dog could be a poster boy/girl for Crufts obedience that they should not be off a leash where they can cause damage.
We’ve personally encountered it so many times I’ve run out of fingers to count incidents on. Some berk’s dog running purposefully to attack ours, he takes an age to come over and grab it by the collar and then says the immortal line ‘No harm done’. Not a hint of an apology and off they trot. Kids and grown men and women are getting killed from bites. Still Mr Hard has to have his massive muscular dog trotting at his side because it makes him feel special. No, it’s not the dog’s fault, but they’re the ones who ultimately pay. Like the little dog run over on Broadway in the not too distant past because it bolted from a nearby field walk and ran after a cat. Wouldn’t have happened if it had been on a lead.
I’m glad there was a letter in the Chron last week that said Parky never belittled his roots because there is a common misconception that he did, that once he experienced the sparkly lights of London, he never looked back. If you think that, you’re wrong. He might have had the odd moan about his hometown because we all do and it doesn’t make it wrong for him if it made it right for others. But he came back often under the radar, without the need to publicise every time he set foot on Barnsley soil. He said a big fat no to the One Show following him around when he did a guest spot in the Chronicle office as an editor, just a few years ago. He didn’t seek fuss or special concessions. He didn’t want fanfares or publicity when he visited, and no he didn’t forget his roots and was fond enough of them to keep returning to them. Hope that clears that one up.
Barnsley council has, apparently, been nationally recognised for trying to improve its employees’ experience of menopause in the workplace. That’s great though I do hope that some women aren’t taking the mick and insisting on time off because they feel a bit sweaty.
I used to work with a woman who was off with period pains every two weeks (go figure) and when eyes rolled, it impacted on the rest of the women who genuinely did feel grotty occasionally and any sympathy for genuine cases dried up quick.
The menopause has become a ‘sexy’ subject over the past years. When I wanted to write a book about a group of menopausal women I was told to play it down, even though I knew it was going to be a hot topic (excuse the pun). What I resent is that some people on the TV want us to view it as a superpower.
It’s all very well when they can afford the gyms, the stylists, do six hours in the gym every day and splash three hundred quid creams on their faces. For the bulk of us, it’s trying to negotiate our ways through waters without a satnav and a load of conflicting advice. I struggled for years thinking it was just a natural phase of life with the most dreadful insomnia and brain fog and, as my doctor said, it is – but you don’t have to put up with it. Thanks to HRT, I can string sentences together and sleep. Young people, do your homework on ‘the change’ and be ready for it.
