williamonthehill

Thought for Today

"The idols of today are unmistakable - self-esteem without effort, fame without achievement, sex without consequences, wealth without responsibility, pleasure without struggle and experience without commitment."

 

Chief Rabbi, Dr. Jonathan Sacks January 2004

Where was I when...

Today is the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. It is one of those events which will be forever defined in terms of "Where were you when the first plane flew into the tower..."

I remember the day well. In fact I was probably in a most appropriate place to witness such a heinious crime although I did not witness the actual incident "in real time". On that day I was working in Cane Hill Medium Secure Psychiatric unit. For those who don't know what one of those is, it is a secure hospital for (usually) the most dangerous of mentally disordered offenders and "one step down" (so to speak) from the secure hospitals system of which Broadmoor is probably the best known. Cane Hill no longer exists and was closed earlier this year.

I remember going onto the patients area about 10.30 am  and walking into the common room to see every single patient totally absorbed by something on the telly. The patients were totally absorbed, totally silent and absolutely concentrated on what was on the screen. I had never seen these men in this mood before. When I also saw what was being broadcast I was stunned and, frankly incredulous. The TV Channel seemed to be repeating over and over again those dreadful scenes of people falling through the air to their deaths, having jumped out of top floor offices. But almost immediately I began to question myself: should men like this be watching scenes like that? Here was material enough to generate delusions for a lifetime. I remember saying this to the Consultant in charge who merely shrugged his shoulders as if to say "what can I do".

The entire day felt, somehow 'hushed' and very sombre. The patients stayed 'glued' to the TV the whole day; nothing got done by the staff except injections and feeding tasks. We were in a cocoon. Of course, because of the nature of the unit we were never innundated with members of the public or even many other visitors.We were behind a bloody great brick wall, half a mile up a wooded and steep road on a site which was anyway a good walk away from the nearest town (Coulsdon). But on this particular day we really felt isolated and totally alone in an emotional sense.

This sense of unreality continued on my way home. Changing trains at East Croydon the notices said that all trains were delayed "owing to the security measures implemented as a result of this morning's incident in New York". I never have understood why this should have been. How does a terror incident in New York effect the trains of the south London suburbs? One of those things still to be explained, connected, understood clearly. Eventually I got home and I was so relieved that I did not   have a TV that night because I knew the only images being broadcast that evening would be those terrible images taken on the streets of New York; those bodies falling through the sky, the great orange-black fireball as the first plane struck...

V/. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R/. And let perpetual light shine upon them.

V/. May they rest in peace.

R/. Amen.

V/. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

R/. Amen.

Update

The carefully planted "bomb" exploded and has had the desired effect...

At 7 PM my agency (REED) phoned me. It was the branch manager actually. He proceeded to give me a lecture on loyalty but I cut him off very short and told him, I was loyal to whoever gets me a job first so he better start working with some energy.  Funny, after a minutes silence he told me that I would have an interview for me by Friday morning. That's what I want to hear.

Job Search

Today has been a very busy one. I have spent the day looking at job adverts and filling in online application forms. Now I have a headache from staring at the screen all day so I am going to make this short.

I hate being in this position. Looking for work is never easy and when I get turned down or not short-listed I tend to get depressed and paranoid and think I am just not good enough.As I am not on benefits I get very anxious/desperate. I don't have any large savings in the bank. My rent is £500 a month (went out last Friday) and I have to cover that. My money will last me three weeks if I live very (very) frugally.

A lot of vacancies in today's Guardian so it did keep me busy. I don't tend to like online application forms. My experience of them is usually spending hours filling them in, only to 'lose them' in the cyber world somewhere never seen again. I also had three calls from one of my employment agencies. And one from my current agency. I threw a little bomb in there ("Oh yes, that must be the same post as so and so have just offered me as well...") so maybe they will stop treating me with familiarity and actually get up off their arses and find me a job now they know that they have competition. They (Reed) haven't done so well so far. Not one call to me. I had to phone them yesterday just to remind them I was still here and still looking...

In contrast I only signed on with this other agency last Friday and they have already put me up for 7 jobs (and... no empty promises either). We will see.

I decided today that I would broaden out and start emphasising my training/mentoring/coaching skills. I don't want to only be up for social work jobs. I have a struggle with the agencies who, somehow refuse to acknowledge those parts of my CV and only put me up for bog standard "foot soldier" social worker case managment jobs. I am really ticked off with that stuff. Seen it. Done it. Got the scars on my back. What do I have to prove? So I put my CV up on someone's website selling my other skills and I already got a telephone call. I haven't clinched the job yet; we are going to have another "conversation" next Monday.

So far, a profitable day and one full of hope.

God is Tested

From BBC News Website. About a certain very hyped "event"

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Education Science/Nature Technology Entertainment Also in the news ----------------- Video and Audio ----------------- Have Your Say Magazine In Pictures Country Profiles

Hunt for 'God particle' to begin By Pallab Ghosh BBC News science correspondent A 27km chain of magnets is part of the experiment Nestling in the foothills of the Alps is Europe's largest laboratory, the European Centre for Nuclear Research or Cern. With its vast labyrinth of tunnels and equipment stretching for miles, the complex has the feel of a cathedral to science. And now the scientists here have embarked on their biggest experiment ever, the hunt for a particle which gave the universe its form. Its scientific name is the Higgs Boson, but because it is so fundamental in shaping the universe, others have called it the God particle. It is a particle that is supposed to endow other fundamental particles with mass. Without it there would be no gravity, no universe as we know it - no "let there be light" moment. No-one has seen it, but physicists have invoked it because it is the simplest explanation for how the universe evolved. ________________________________________________________________________ "Cathedral", "God Particle", "Invoked", "The simplest explanation for how the Universe evolved..." Interesting use of words and metaphors here. There was more of this sort of thing on BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme with Andrew Marr talking in hushed and reverential tones about "Cathedrals of Science" . The way that the BBC News service has handled this particular news item (and I think that it is newsworthy) demonstrates how in our modern society science is now worshipped as the new religion.Science is the new faith and scientists are the new arch priests before whom we are all meant to bow down and become reverential. If you deconstruct this news story with those ideas in mind then what you have here is a concerted attempt to finally "prove" that God does not exist. The Large Hadron Particle Collider  is the ultimate scientific "test" that will prove this hypothesis. It is where material science has been going since The Enlightenment and now, today in Cern, it has arrived. "Oh, foolish man"  Who created the "God Particle"?

Courgette Frittata

Here, as promised, another recipe which is simple and quick to make... A Frittata is a spanish style omelette

Courgette & Pecorino Romano Frittata

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 small courgette, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into thick slices

Salt and black pepper

1 spring onion, sliced thin

3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Method

1: Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the courgettes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 4 minutes.

2: Whisk spring onion and the cheese into the eggs. Pour over the cooked courgettes in the pan and stir gently to combine.

3: Cook over medium to low heat until the eggs are almost set.

4: Place pan under a preheated grill and grill until top is golden, about 1 or 2 minutes.

Two Servings