Delivering Liberal Democrat Focus Leaflets

I thought today I'd make a start on my batch of Focus leaflets with a spare couple of hours.

Oh my word it was cold. The car temparature monitor said 0 degrees. Mmm chilly.

The batch I did was part of the Sherwood Rise area of Nottingham which I've not really been to in detail before. Having travelled around a few new areas I have noticed how fantastic and interesting some of the old houses in Nottingham are. And how big some of them are when they were probably in there original format of only one house instead of flats.

It would be nice to have seen some of these areas in their original spendour but unfortunately time takes its toll and some of these properties must require significant cash to maintain.


There were even more substantial properties on another cul de sac that don't appear on Google street view which could look wonderful again but needed significant investment to bring them back to their former glory.

Hopefully I'll carry on seeing these marvels around a few of the other areas I'm due to travel.

Christmas Lunch with Work.

Today we went to Zizzi's on King Street in Nottingham at 12 midday. Possible an unusual time for a Christmas Dinner but definitely worth thinking about.

The menu on offer was the restaurant's usual menu instead of, what I feel, is the standard conveyor belt Xmas dinner that places seem to offer. I haven't found one of these in previous years to my satisfaction. A little bit rushed and generally sub-standard considering the cost.

The meal was very nice without a hint of the rush to get you out for the next sitting I think you would probably find at an evening shindig.

I hoping that next year we may consider this time again.

Bit of community work.

I noticed that the bushes from the local school were getting out of hand at a certain section and growing to block the pavement. So I grabbed how of my mum's clippers, pulled her garden waste recycling bin and got to work. Fifteen minutes later the bin was full, the path was clear and I was chuffed.

Having been told by the Head Teacher how much this sort of work costs them to have done it does give me a little bit of self satisfaction to know that I have saved her this amount of money to be spent of something a little more worthwhile.

Goose Fair 2009

Me and the children had annual trip to Goose Fair yesterday. We managed to park about 1/2 mile away which is always a good thing as the area does tend to get snarled up with traffic.

A pleasant walk there and a good walk around with the boys going on a couple of rides later. The dark arrived about an hour after arrival. This is the best time to see Goose Fair lights in all their glory and the masses of people out enjoying themselves.

Lib Dems Public Sector Pay Freeze and £1 million Home Tax

A Personal View

As a Public Sector worker I listened with interest at the suggestion of a pay freeze as part of the whole package to enable to the countries finances to be brought back under control.

I have always worked in the Health Service and have never had a year when I didn't receive a cost of living increase. Given the state of the finances of Britain and what non-public sector workers are having to sacrifice to maintain their jobs and keep their companies going I don't think some sacrifice on the part of the public sector would go a miss.

There are also people losing their employment left, right and centre and during this recession I have never felt at risk, although I know this doesn't apply to all PS workers. Hopefully a freeze would secure the employment of more of these workers without the need for further job cuts.

Having said this, if there could be a re-balance between the tax the rich pay and the poor and the minimum tax threshold could be lifted to £10000 this would benefit all workers and would give a large section of society that needs it a significant boost in income.

I am more for hitting the exclusively rich that put significant effort in to avoiding paying their liabilities by exploiting loopholes in tax law that their highly paid Accountants find for them.

How the £1 million home tax rule would be administered eludes me but given that people living in areas of the south have not put themselves in this situation but have been put here by the ridiculous property market we would have to be careful not to penalise the wrong sections of our community. I'm sure the detailed explanation will clarify this system.

I don't think the Unions really ought to go overboard regarding a freeze if the Liberal Democrats can deliver on the threshold increase the amount of the members that would benefit I'm sure would be substantial.

Liberal Democrats Conference September 2009

Really enjoying the twitter feeds and upto date news stories being sent from the Liberal Democrats conference this year.

Trend on Twitter : #LDConf

Lib Dems Leader : @Nick_Clegg

Nottingham Lib Dem Councillor : @alexfoster

Conference Twitter Feed : @LibDemConf

Lib Dem Voice : @libdemvoice

Conference Facebook Page : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136318551516


The above references are always good for information.

Chores

Why is life full of these irritating little things. At least I can say
that done of them are off my list for a while. At least of them when
done can give you a sense of accomplishment.

It also meant that I could read an interesting Lib Dem paper in peace
and to the end. Ready for the next one. At least I'm a little more
educated now.

Long weekend at least. Wondering what to check off tomorrow. I think I
might at least have lay in.