Rob Bell's Notes from a Yorkshire Internet Megalomaniac

Like most of you, no doubt, I used to take little or no real interest in Politics – even though, everyday, politicians make decisions that affect my life, that of my family and friends – and that of everyone else in our country. As I got into my 30s and experienced much greater adversity than at any point previously, I started to take an interest.

Historically, I had one major political event that’s stuck in my memory from childhood. My Dad was a coalman – he had the biggest round in Wakefield. I used to work with him when I was younger, during the holidays – especially the Winter.  During 1984, Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives took on Arthur Scargill and the National Union of Mineworkers – causing the Miner’s Strike , that ran from 1984-85, and had a pretty devastating affect on Wakefield, where I live still to this day, destroying all the mining communities around – in fact, a big chunk of the country, particularly in the North of England – many places have never fully recovered, I believe the Wakefield area to be one of them.

The miner’s strike was devastating to my father and our family, as it was to so many in the Coal Industry. It seemed like the supply of coal dried up overnight – rationing started, Dad couldn’t get hold of much coal – and any stock he got was as likely to be stolen from his yard as it was to get to the few remaining customers who were able to get a coal ration slip. Dad’s business collapsed, we lost our home, all our savings went into propping things up until they ran out… and Dad nearly died when his heart failed as a result.

Since then, I’ve never felt that politics really represents the real people of Britain. A lot of the politicians we see are career politicians, born into privilege, and somewhat removed from the realities of life in the UK. The corruption within is disgusting – wealthy donors control and shape policy with their wallets, and the recent expenses scandal proved a lot of politicians to be self-serving, prepared to take liberties with money that we, their employers, certainly never intended to be spent expensively renovating up their multiple homes.

For my entire life, either the Conservatives or Labour have been in power – making the same mistakes over and over. Most people I know don’t feel that the Goverments, past and present, really represent them, or look after their interests. They seem to encourage profit at any social cost and looking after the wealthy and influential, while ignoring the needs of the average man or woman on the street. They spend vast amounts of the money we provide them with, in the form of taxes, on propping up banks – who nearly brought our economy to ruin with their maverick attitudes, speculative risks and pursuit of profit at any cost. What have the Labour Government done about it? Well, the banks are still handing out massive bonuses to staff, sticking 2 fingers up at us after we so kindly bailed them out of trouble. The Conservatives wouldn’t be any better – they want to slash Public Spending, causing further unemployment, and potentially causing the end of businesses who provide services to the public sector in the midst of our worst recession in decades. They will make the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. You only have to look at the recent furor over the party funding (millions) contributed by Lord Ashcroft – himself a tax exile from the UK, so where do his loyalties lay? Not to the people of Britain, I’ll wager.

I, personally, have had enough – and I’m not on my own. Some people vote for extremist parties in protest, as they target the common man’s fears – the recent rise of the BNP shows this. I deplore such extremism – I just want to live in a country where people get along and have a Government that looks after their interests rather than the interests of the money men. I feel about it so strongly that I am even standing for council election next month. Who for? The only party I feel represents a real opportunity to make positive changes, and to take 21st Century Great Britain forward – the Liberal Democrats.

A lot of people I talk to say they won’t vote Lib Dem, because they’ll never get into power – so they’re going to vote Conservative or Labour – one in protest at the existing Government and hoping for change, or the other because “It’s better the Devil you know…”.  To you all – the Labservatives – I say “Balderdash! (Actually, my real choice of word was  ‘Bollocks’, but balderdash is so much politer!) You’re perpetuating an ongoing 2-party nightmare that’s held its’ suffocating grip over Britain for 65 years. I want off this sickening ride, I want positive change, and I hope you do to. Things won’t change unless you vote for change. When enough people want change, change happens.

With that in mind, I’m going to sign off this post with an email I got today from Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib Dems.

Stayed tuned – an all new RobBellBlog.com is imminent – with regular posts, news and tips for small business owners and freelancers, Better Living and Better Business Through the Internet, iPhone & iPad, Cloud Computing and Web Applications articles and discussion,  Tech & Gadget news and reviews, and guest bloggers. I’m currently developing the new format, and will keep you abreast of all the improvements.

Rob Bell
- not usually so political, but it’s important!

Here’s the email from Nick:

Dear friend,

Last week, we launched a spoof campaign for the ‘Labservative’ party. You can find the details at www.labservative.com. It’s a funny campaign, but it has a serious point, a point only Liberal Democrats are making in this election.

For 65 years the government of our country has been handed from Labour to the Conservatives and back again like a game of pass the parcel. Red-blue, blue-red politics – and look what it has got us: corrupt politics, recession, inequality, time and again. They just take turns at making the same mistakes. It has to end.

The old politics is not good enough any more. It is time for something different. Our strategy in this election is to make it clear that if you want real change, you have to vote for a party that is different. All you will get from the old parties is more of the same. Just think how much they agree on.
On the economy: the Labservatives have been in thrall to the City of London for decades, neglecting the rest of Britain and letting the banks get away with doing whatever they want. And now the Labservatives are both refusing to come clean about the tough decisions needed to sort out the public finances – it’s a conspiracy of silence.

It’s the same story wherever you look: together David Cameron and Gordon Brown have blocked political reform, including our plan to allow people to sack corrupt MPs. The Labservatives compete to sound tough on crime instead of doing what works to actually catch criminals and stop them committing more crimes. And the Labservatives have made UK foreign policy subservient to the interests of the United States, from the illegal invasion of Iraq to the decision to waste £100bn on replacing, like for like, the Cold War era Trident nuclear submarines.

Labservatism is alive and well in Britain today, and only the Liberal Democrats can change that. A vote for Cameron or Brown is a vote for the corrupt, failed status quo. Only Liberal Democrats offer real change.
So wherever you are out campaigning, from Scotland to Cornwall, from Ceredigion to Norfolk, from inner London to rural Cumbria, remember this:

We are not campaigning against two parties: we are campaigning against one. We are campaigning against the old, failed way of doing things. We are campaigning for real, permanent change to build a fairer Britain. It’s a simple choice between old and new.

So get out campaigning, and take on Labservatism in your area. Say No to more of the same and Yes to real change.

Thank you for all of your hard work,

Nick Clegg

Now you may know already about my sleep problems. If not, you are about to!

Rob Can't Sleep

Since I’ve been very young I’ve always found it difficult to sleep on a night, but as I’ve got older it’s got worse – especially since I had 3 big extreme sport accidents that mean I get a lot of pain through the night (and the day!)
I have painkillers, relaxants and even sleeping tablets to help me get a decent night’s kip, but they don’t always work.

It’s nothing for me to stay up all night working on the PC, going to bed at 8am if I bother going at all. My record for not sleeping is 106 hours – that was a long week!

When I am asleep, I’m impossible to wake up – for instance, I have 6 powerful plug-in alarms (battery alarms have NO chance) which require me to get out of bed to reach each in a different location in the room. I often end up sleeping until 2 or 3 in the afternoon – if I’ve taken a sleeping tablet I end up sleeping in all day – heck I woke up at 8pm this evening, missing a lovely Sunday Roast at my Mum’s house.

Telephones have no chance of waking me from my slumber, so reminders that I’m meant to be doing something when I’m asleep just go to voice mail.

The trouble with such a lifestyle is that you miss the daytime an awful lot – and it’s difficult to make appointments, difficult to work during the day, you don’t get much sunlight – heck I feel like a non-blood-drinking vampire!

I do, however, most of my best work through the night, finding the peace and quiet a pleasure that helps me to concentrate, focus and write/design documents so much better than I do in the day with all the distractions (on the days I do rise before night-time!)

It’s not unusual for me to work a couple of days without sleep, seated at the PC the whole time except for breaks, trips to the shops, etc….

Now I have a problem! Starting the week after next I have lots of courses I’m attending towards progressing my business development. Many of them take place at 9.30am – a time I’ve only seen when it’s been as I’m going to bed. I haven’t got up at 8.30 for months – it’s going to be a challenge, but I’m at the stage where I’m ready to do this – if I have to train after no sleep so be it. I’m also trying to return my sleeping pattern to what most people consider ‘normal’, sleeping from 12 til 8am. I have to admit I’m finding it so hard – my pain does not like to be told when it has to leave me alone so I can sleep!

The fact that I’m writing this gives away that I am still up after 2am (although I had a sleeping tablet about 2 hours ago). I’m not even slightly tired, and I have a horrendous ache all down the right side of my back.

I’ve tried every cure I can find for the lack of sleeping, but it’s been a lifelong partner of mine. Lately I’ve started to wonder if I don’t have an extended body clock – heck I could be evolving like that because it’s got easier, not harder, to do 35-40 hour sessions at the PC. I read something once that you should only go to bed when you’re tired enough… I don’t think I’d ever sleep again if that’s the only time you should sleep!
I’ve used lavender essential oils and candles, I don’t watch TV in bed on a night unless it’s a special occasion, I have a mug of hot chocolate made with warmed milk – although not tonight as I ran out of hot chocolate!

Anyone else share my sleep problems, and suspect they might have ‘evolved’ to a new sleeping pattern?!?!

Got any tips? I’d love to hear from you,

Rob

It’s taken Five Cold Weeks, Four Engineers, three French Hens, two Totalled Hubs and a Partridge in a Pear Tree but I finally have a stable Internet connection once again – although it’s not quite 8Mb anymore which is strange considering I live less than half a mile from the nearest exchange. Still, considering it got as bad as 8Kb while I’ve been having trouble I’m not going to complain too loudly about having 7.9Mb! Turned out to be a problem with my phone line rather than just the Internet, but how it came about is still a mystery!

One of my hard drives decided to corrupt the day I got my connection back ironically, so that’s taken 3 days to recover all the data on and will take several more to get everything back into the right directories. No indication what caused that, so that’s another mystery.

So I’m now in the World of catch-up, working feverishly to get back up-to-date with projects. A few good solid days at the keyboard have helped, although it was difficult to get back into the swing after a few weeks of very little work or effort. I fell back into my historical role as a PC gamer and part-time couch potato rather too easily. For some reason it’s not as easy to fall back out of that state!

Unfortunately the lack of Internet put my book plans on the backburner until after Christmas when it will once again become my main project. It also wrecked my participation in the £100m Challenge, although I’m still intent on watching all the training once I’m caught up.

Anyway, back to work now – normal service will be resumed shortly!

Rob