Thursday, August 13, 2009

Fighting Entropy

I seem to spend an awful lot of time holding back entropy, far more than I ever did in the UK.

For example, we have recently had the following electrical goods, all from the UK, fail on us:- toaster, microwave, DVD player, Hard Disk recorder.

The toaster fell foul of a cockroach. It took up residence inside the machine and wouldn't come out, despite shaking turning it this way and that and finally poking it with a stick. Partial disassembly followed and finally it made a bid for freedom, only to meet the business end of a shoe! However afterwards the toaster would only toast on one side. No I haven't actually put any bread in it, just tried it to see!

The microwave, who knows, it just gave up the ghost but has been repaired now.

The DVD player exhibited fascinating behaviour, it suddenly wouldn't switch from standby to on. Jiggling a few buttons got it to turn on, then it was fine. But eventually button jiggling just didn't cut it any more. So it went off to a repair shop who got it going again within 24 hours. Good going I think.

The hard disk recorder made clickking noises then showed an error code of 7061 and won't load its software. Extensive reseach on the web reveals that no-one knows what a 7061 error actually is, thouigh many have had it. Maybe a new disk will cure it, but maybe not. I have to get a new disk, IDE, so not so easy these days and try it. I'll keep you informed!!!

The NHS - not so bad!

Those of you living in the UK will sometimes take part in the age old pastime of NHS bashing, I am sure!

However, two weeks ago, the wife of one of our workers was having difficulties breathing, he took her to hospital, where they put her on Oxygen, kept her in for 2 nights, diagnosed a highly irregular heartbeat, told her she couldn't do any strenuous work (including washing clothes) and let her go.

The bill for all this was came to more than 4 months wages for the guy.

How can people here afford health care?

The answer is they can't. They often wait and hope and get worse.

So be grateful for Nye Bevin and the NHS!!