The Thin Blue Line

The Thin Blue Line
Good to see another cynical honest copper on the blog. CPS solicitors are generally useless because they are hardly the cream of the legal crop, get and read the files the night before. The barristers are better because you get what they pay for, but remember the Fed always pays more for a barrister than the job. Plus it has to be said that an awfu lot of mid ranking detectives are utterly unsuited for the job.
The public get the Police they deserve, treat us like tradesmen and something the cat dragged in, then we will doff our cap and scuttle off avoiding litigation and complaints by doing as little as possible.
Never mind, beats being some saddo civvie stuck in a dead end tedious job till your 65. Or working down the pit.

Away

Haven't been here for a few weeks, been so busy with family, work, garden and life that only now as the light in the evening fades that I am drawn back to the web world. Strange to think that something so woven into our social fabric at all leveles regardless of who the human user is was only a decade ago the realm of so very few. Technology has become so cheap and reliable that it has shurnk great swathes of human life and compressed it into text size bytes that bounce all over the globe in an instant. Has so much ever changed so fast in such a short time ? Replies on apost card please..postcard. they seem to belong with my grandfather on the Western Front in 1914 - 1918. The modern equivalent would be a jpeg downloaded via mobile to my laptop. What's next I wonder?

Funeral

Drove 350 miles yesterday with some mates to bury our rwoing friend, John. The service was in a tiny tranquil English country chucrh perched on a hillside over looking a lovely valley. There must have been over 150 people of all ages at the service, many from the village, church, school, rugby clubs, university, rowing club. People had flown from the USA, Africa, Japan and NZ. His final resting place is between a great tree and the old wall facing east to west. His was placed in the earth in a wicker coffin, and dozens of people took the opportunity to sprinkle a few grains of English earth over him in a final goodbye. Then we all went back to his family farm home, and sat on hay bails in the barn having a drink and cake, and tea and burgers and mingled with all the others. Some camped in a field by a river between apple orchards and great banks of trees.

Very sad but soaked with fond smiles and memories for a big young man who had squeezed much into his years and certainly touched many a heart.

Rest well fella.

Dead mate

Below is a pic of eight men and one wee women in a rowing boat. That photo was taken in July when we won a competition and gained the rowing honour known as blades. The big man in the middle wearing the white hat, John, died last week very suddenly suffering from a brain tumour.

Big man, big smile, big heart. Big loss.

If you come this way and read my words, and it falls within your spiritual way, say a word for John please.

Thanks.

Another Vigeland piece

 

Circle of life by Norwegian sculpture Vigeland

 

Little nephew Ciaran aged one and a bit.

 

Family at Mum in laws funeral

 

Sadness

I was going to tell the world about our trip to the Norwegian capital, Oslo, but my wife's mum died very suddenly late last Friday. Even though her family were all their and the medical staff had been so kind and professional, and had gently told us their was little hope it still seems untrue. To lose a loved one is so final and absoulte.

English summer

Just came in out of the sun in our garden, Sun out, birds chirping, moths and butterflys flitting, bees buzzing, cats snoozing, flowers wafting, fruit trees bulging,veg popping.

Wonderful.