On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:36:05 GMT, T i m wrote:

On Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:24:58 +0100, Steve Walker
wrote:


Then there is the question of 'would you want to convalesce in a bed
next to someone running their business on the phone all day ...' (mind
you, they would probably do that anyway no mater what the charges
were).

All the best ..

T i m

On the other hand, would you want to be a completely bedridden, dying
woman, with all your brothers and sisters living in Ireland and therefore
able to only really make the one visit before you die and you be unable to
take their calls in the meantime.

[1]

She was in for 8 weeks before being
diagnosed as terminal - throughout this time she could not receive any of
the calls that her family wanted to make to her.

Well, no of course not, but that seems to be when reason, good manners
and good common sense seem to have left us.

Like, being able to take calls from your family V running a company
all day long.

But it's always been the minority that spoil it for the minority. The
number of times I've see people using mobile phones whist sitting
beside the 'Do not use mobile phones' sign in hospital, parking in the
disabled / parent/child bays when clearly not eligible or parking
diagonally across two (or more) bays just because they can't be arsed
or are too stupid / inconsiderate to do any better.

Dare remind them of the rules and you suffer a torrent of abuse (well
I generally don't being a big 6'2"g) but I gave up politely pointing
out the 6' long 'No Smoking' signs to those who thought the rules
didn't apply to them because it just wasn't worth it so it will be
interesting to see what happens on July 1st.

Similarly I watched some lads in a car jump the red's on a roundabout
last night, their mates who were following stopped (at least) as I was
crossing their path on the green and I watched in my mirror as they
drove though the now very red red to catch their mates up. I could
have been on my motorbike or bicycle ... rant off ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[1] Not directly related to the point but as an aside who moved away
from who (assuming it wasn't a hypothetical situation Steve)? We are
very aware of the fact that her Mum and my Mum and Dad are now quite
old and probably not long for this world. We have chosen for that (and
other reasons, like daughters school etc) not to 'move away' to our
place in the country so we can be available quickly and easily should
the need arise.

A few mates have started new lives abroad and I know how difficult it
is to get back when something happens within the family.

You can't have it all I suppose .. ;-(

Not sure we ever will now ....

My mother-in-law and father-in-law both moved over here over fifty-years
ago - for most of her working life she actually worked in the hospital that
treated her so badly in the end!

The problem wasn't so much the logistics of visiting, it was that her
family are all in their seventies and eighties, so multiple trips were too
hard on them.

SteveW