Showing support for others

There will be a concert on Sunday at 6:30pm in the Auditorium for the benefit of the charity project-  Malacatoya Mainel Foundation (Nicaragua).

The performance will be given by two of the Bigastro band’s soloists.

Charles is right

Charles Smythe made the following comment about my post regarding the devastation on the East coast of America.

Poor Americans? Reputedly the richest country on the planet.

Of course we are all saddened by the devastaion which has caused their 'poor' country... but what about the likes of Haiti for example, one of the many countries to have been affected severely by the same hurricane?

"On Monday, the scale of damage in Haiti from Hurricane Sandy became evident. Even though the storm’s center skirted the country, more than 20 inches of rain fell on Haiti’s south and southwest over four days last week, causing at least 52 deaths, tearing out crops and destroying houses.
“We are facing a major crisis,” Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said this weekend after he flew over the regions that had been hit by the storm.

"The (Haitian) government said that the homes of as many as 200,000 people had been damaged — on top of almost 400,000 people still homeless from the January 2010 earthquake. “We have a lot of work ahead of us in terms of the aid that we will need to deliver in the days, weeks and months to come,” Mr. Lamothe said. “It won’t be easy because there are many roads and bridges that have been cut off.”

He’s right, the publicity about the problems that Sandy caused in Haiti only warranted a minor story in the papers in spite of the fact that the damage, on top of that caused by the 2010 earthquake, were equally if not more devastating. Whist America has the capacity to pick itself up, Haiti will suffer for years if not decades. 

As bad as expected

There are times when the weather people get it wrong, they predict bad weather and then it doesn’t happen. This time though, they were spot on. Sandy has turned out to be as devastating as we were told it would be.

Pam and I watched the American news channels last night as Sandy made landfall on the Eastern seaboard of America. We saw the rising waters flood Atlantic City and later the water rise in Battery Park.

In numbers, so far there are at least 16 people who have died and there may be more to come, at least 6.2m people are without power and could remain without power for a week and the storm surge reached 13 feet made worse by a high tide.

In New York it all started to happen at about 8pm, earlier than expected because Sandy had picked up speed. The combination of a sea surge, a high tide, winds of up to 80mph and torrential rain have caused untold damage there and along the coast and will continue to do so for awhile yet.

Not good

Our thoughts go out to the people in America who face the effects of hurricane Sandy. In New York people have been evacuated form low lying areas, all transport has been cancelled. schools are closed as is the stock market as they prepare to face the worst. Wind is expected to reach 75mph, rainfall of 6 inches and a storm surge of up to 11 feet.

Normally a storm of this type last only a short time as it weakens when it hits land but this one is expected to last for days cutting off power supplies and bringing misery to millions. There is likely to be widespread damage but hopefully no loss of life – only time will tell.

Did you forget

We did! Having told the girls not to forget to put their clocks back, Pam and I went to bed leaving the clocks as they were.

I got up this morning when my watch said 8:15 not knowing that it was actually 7:15. No pasa nada, I have had an extra hour today as a bonus!

I may be speaking too soon

When we first moved in and were on builder’s electricity (supplied by a diesel generator via makeshift cables) the voltage used to fluctuate all the time and we had frequent power cuts.

Once we moved onto mains electricity supplied by underground cables things did improve for awhile. We still got random power cuts, sometimes just for a second or so and other times much longer and the voltage fluctuated at times causing the lights to dim. It was and still is frustrating but then some have dismissed this because it is Spain and the rapid increase in housing during the boom years apparently overloaded the supply.

However, I have noticed that since we have been back from the UK the lights have not been dimming as they did before we left. Checking on my UPS, the voltage has not fluctuated very much and is now staying high at near 250 volts. Before we left, the voltage would drop to 230 and less which is why the lights dimmed and the microwave slowed down.

Has Iberdrola done something to the supply whilst we were away, or is this just a fluke?

Unabated

The scandal surrounding Jimmy Saville goes on unabated. The BBC are in turmoil over their part in what happened and the family of the late DJ look on as more revelations appear each day. If they were not convinced at first of how big this was going to become, their eyes have been opened now by the scale of things.

It seems there were two sides to Jimmy Saville. He gave generously to charity and received a great deal of acclaim in his lifetime for that. He made friends with royalty and with the church who honoured him with a knighthood. On the other hand he brought misery to many young ladies who suffered from his abuse many of whom complained at the time only to have their complaints dismissed by people in authority. It seems that the stories were dismissed because of the power that Saville had as a result of his ‘good side’.

No doubt, given time, this story will blow over to be replaced by other sordid revelations of someone else but hopefully before that happens, the people responsible for covering up what went on will be called to account and lessons will be learnt.

However, there is still one aspect of this scandal which to me is disturbing. The NHS has apparently not seen fit to apologise to the victims who suffered at their hospitals where Saville was given free rein to come and go as he pleased. Further more, there has been no explanation of why he was provided with accommodation in two of the hospitals and keys to the wards in another. I would hope that the investigations taking place would look into these issues with the same vigour that they are applying to what went wrong at the BBC.

Putting it about

As if to further tarnish the reputation of King Juan Carlos, two claimants have asked the courts to subject the king to paternity tests. The requests have been rejected by two courts on the grounds that the monarch cannot be held accountable.

The first, Alberto Sola Jimenez, was adopted as a young child but claims to have unearthed evidence that suggests his birth mother, a daughter of a well-known banking family, may have had an affair with the King.

The second, Ingrid Sartiau claims her mother first met King Juan Carlos in 1956 in Paris and then again in 1966 in Luxembourg where she was conceived.

In an interview earlier this year she said: "My mother told me who my father was while we were watching television. An image of King Juan Carlos flashed up and she said: 'That man's your father.'"

The pair have had DNA tests that show a 91% chance that they share one parent in common (clearly not the mother).

I should think so

Bankia has run up losses of 7bn euros in the first three quarters of this year. The bank had already applied for a bailout of 23bn euros, over half of the money requested from the eurozone.

In 2011, the bank claimed to have made profits of 300m euros but the auditors refused to sign the accounts and eventually they admitted to a loss of 3bn euros. However, they had already agreed to pay bonuses to the executives including the chairman, Rodrigo Rato.

Now, the executives of Bankia have been ordered to pay back those bonuses in response to a petition from the European commission. Some have already been paid, others are waiting, some of the executive still work for the bank.

Banks in Spain lent money to real estate developers and land speculators and it is the toxic debt from those loans that is crippling them. Seven savings banks merged to form Bankia. Of the 45 banks that existed 5 years ago, there are only 15 today and that number could reduce to just 10. 

As I have said before on this blog, the economic crisis was largely brought about by greed. Everyone wanted to get on the bandwagon of the get rich quick boom including the bankers. Now they must pay.

Give blood – save lives

Your chance to give blood at the Municipal Auditorium, Bigastro on Friday, November 2 from 17:00 to 20:30 in the Multipurpose Room.

Behind every donor there is a hero.

Dogs in the war against the weevil

We all know that the police use tracker dogs to search for drugs and explosives. Now a company has trained its dogs to detect the presence of the red palm weevil. What they have found is that the bug enters the palm at the base of the plant and there lays its eggs. The dogs are apparently able to sniff out the larvae of the weevil. At this stage the tree can be treated without having to destroy it.

The method has already been uses in other countries and other parts of Spain. Orihuela is now investigating further before dogs are put to work to save the historic palms of the city.

Now we have to pay

When money was plentiful in Bigastro, the council could afford to let people use facilities without cost. Now though, things are very different, the town is near bankrupt and so it needs to charge people to use what was once free.

The socialist councillor, Raúl Valerio Medina complains that footballers will be charged sixty euros to use the artificial turf pitch, fifty to use the normal pitch and it will cost 10 euros to play tennis.
He says that there will even be charges to use the Auditorium which range from 7 euros to 120 depending on the size of the room.

I take your point Raúl but I'm afraid it is a sign of the times. 

Ryanair – the friendly airline

Whilst we were in the queue to board our Jet2.com flight to Alicante there was a much larger queue next to us waiting to board a Ryanair flight to Rzeszow in Poland. In the queue was a young lady with a child, they had two large bags that they intended to carry on as cabin baggage. You could see that neither bag would fit into the ridiculously small cage no matter how hard the young lady tried.

They did offer to put the bags into the hold but the lady had neither enough cash nor a UK credit card to pay for this so she was left stranded at the airport as the plane took off without her.

If she had booked her baggage online the cost would have been £15 (or £20 depending on flight) for 15 kgs, at the airport though the charge goes up to £60 (or £80 depending on flight). With two bags that would have meant paying between £120 and £160 and presumably the same on return unless the lady managed to check her bags online during her stay.

Pamela was quite distressed for the lady and the child who was distraught but there was nothing we could do to help her. What made matters worse was that one of the attendants was sniggering, clearly he hadn’t an ounce of compassion for the lady and her plight.

OK, the lady should have been aware of the size limitations that Ryanair impose but to be fair she was Polish and probably had limited command of English.

The earthquake at Lorca could have been man-made

When the 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit Lorca, Pam and I were not far away having taken a three day break at a hotel a few kilometres from Cartagena. Although we felt nothing, those in Cartagena said they had felt the tremor. Friends, who had seen accounts of the quake on television,  phoned us urgently to check that we were OK.

The earthquake meant that 250 buildings had to be demolished and that 10,000 of the residents had to move away from the town. Nine people died as a result of falling buildings and 100 were injured.

Now a report in the journal, Nature Geoscience says that there is evidence the disaster was man-made and was a result of water being sucked out of the ground. Since the 1960s, the natural groundwater levels have dropped by 250 metres and that movement may well have caused a slip in the underlying fault.

Bigastro season tickets

Followers of Bigastro football club can now buy a season ticket for the home games. The cost of one of these is 15 euros which works out at 1 euro per home game. Compare this with the regular price which is 5 euros for men and 3 for women and you can see what a saving a season ticket makes especially for the men!

In these days of sexual equality, you could ask why men have to pay more to go to football games than women.

Such a delight

Having arrived at Wolves on Friday, what should we do yesterday but drive up to Sale to meet up with Laura, Dave and Molly.

The original plan was for them to drive down to the Midlands to go to Monkey World. However, you could not have guaranteed the weather and a rainy day outside could have been a disaster. Plan B was for Jemma, Pamela and I to travel up to Manchester by train but the fares were ridiculous so Jemma volunteered to drive.

It so happened that Disney on Ice was taking place at the MEN so the girls got to see that with Molly whilst Dave and I spent some time with our cameras.

After the show, we all met up and went for a meal. Then it was the tram back to Sale followed by the drive back to Wolves.

It was a long day for Jemma who was shattered by the time we got back to her house. It was a long day for Molly who apparently sat through most of the one and a half hour show without moving. By the time we got to the restaurant for the meal she was tired but soon perked up when the food arrived.

I might be biased here but I reckon I have the most wonderful family a man could wish for. Two delightful daughters, the perfect son in law and words fail me to tell you how good my granddaughter is turning out to be. She is such a little treasure.

Dave told me that the first thing she asked yesterday morning was, "Is Papa coming today?" How could you not love someone who says that. 

Many thanks

After a fabulous time in Norfolk with our friends Glenys and Peter, Pam and I have driven over to Wolverhampton to stay a few days with our oldest daughter, Jemma.

We had previously spent a long weekend with Glenys and Peter when they first moved into their house in North Walsham but that was 11 years ago. They have done a lot to improve their house and of course the garden. They have also spent a lot of time researching the area of North Norfolk and so were able to take us to some of the local beauty spots. 

For me, the highlights of our stay were the superb Sunday lunch we enjoyed at Blakeney, our visit to the Queen's beautiful home at Sandringham and the two days we spent in Norwich. Best of all was though was the time we spent in the company of two very special people.

Now though, we can spend some quality time with Jemma. Since the birth of our granddaughter, we have spent most of our time during visits to the UK in Sale. On each occasion Jemma has made the effort to travel up to see us but it is not the same when you are competing for attention with a Molly.

Saturday could be wet

The forecast for Bigastro shows a high possibility of heavy rain on Saturday and there is the difference.

Here in Britain the forecast has shown rain for most of our stay with days of sunshine in between. In Bigastro, there will be one day (possibly only half a day) or heavy rain which will dry up by the following day. It might not be pleasant at the time but at least you know that it won't last and better weather will return and stay for at least a week or so.

The other big difference is the temperature. In Bigastro it is cold when the daytime temperature drops to 20. Here in Norfolk it hasn't even risen to 20. It is amazing how Pam and I have adapted to Spanish weather since living there - we now feel the cold here like we never did before.

Damn, we'll miss this

This Sunday, at 6:30pm, you will have the opportunity to see a flamenco dance company formed by the teachers and graduate students from the Conservatory of Murcia under the direction of Toni Alcolea and the musical direction of the guitarist, Pepe Piñana.

Ticked off

Yesterday we visited the Queen's house at Sandringham; it is where the family camp out for Christmas. It is one of those places that has been on our list of places to go to for awhile.

The weather was kind and stayed dry, we even got some sunshine.

The forecast for today is not good. It seems that in Britain you have to pay for one pleasant day with some nasty rain and strong winds. Then just as you think the foul weather is set in, the sun comes back out just to fool you.

Weather forecasts

We had hoped for at least some good weather for our visit to Norfolk. What we are getting are days when it rains and days when it might start out clear but rapidly becomes overcast. The forecast is for something better.

Yesterday was like that. FIrst thing there were blue skies, then it clouded over but fortunately stayed dry. For a brief period in the afternoon the sky cleared and the sun came out.

Today we was going to Sandringham and so are hoping that it will at least stay dry. Actually, I am hoping we get some sunshine so I can take some decent photos but this is England in October so anything could happen.  

Out of town

As some of you may know, Pam and I are in England at the moment. This time we are visiting Glenys and Peter in Norfolk. We last visited their house when they first moved to a new home 11 years ago so a second visit was well overdue.

Of course this meant a change of airports. Since we will be moving on to Jemma's house in Wolverhampton on Friday, we chose to fly to East Midlands and hire a car to cross the country. The crazy thing is that the best route from East Midlands to North Walsham takes you south first before you move east.

The day we travelled, the weather was good. In fact we drove across in beautiful sunshine. That was not going to last though and so last night the rain came down in bucket fulls and continued on and off all day today.

However, when you are in good company, bad weather doesn't really spoil your day. 

Reputations in tatters

The flood of allegations made against Jimmy Saville is staggering. We are now told that he was given carte blanche access to young girls in several hospitals, children’s homes, even at the BBC and nobody in authority thought anything of it. The enormous amounts of money he raised for charity for these institutions seems to have blinded their eyes to what may have been going on. They gave him freedom of access, office space, bedrooms and even keys to the wards.

Even still, it is hard to imagine how he could have got away with his alleged predatory behaviour for so long without at least one authority taking action. There was either a massive conspiracy to cover up what was taking place or the people in charge were in complete denial.

Now we are told about the cover up that allowed Lance Armstrong to win seven Tour de France titles.

In  its 1,000 page report, Usada says it has "found proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Lance Armstrong engaged in serial cheating through the use, administration and trafficking of performance-enhancing drugs and methods that Armstrong participated in running in the US Postal Service Team as a doping conspiracy".

It added that his goal of winning the Tour de France multiple times "led him to depend on EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions but also, more ruthlessly, to expect and to require that his team-mates would likewise use drugs to support his goals if not their own".

It continued: "It was not enough that his team-mates give maximum effort on the bike, he also required that they adhere to the doping programme outlined for them or be replaced.

"He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team, he enforced and re-enforced it. Armstrong's use of drugs was extensive and the doping programme on his team, designed in large part to benefit Armstrong, was massive and pervasive.

"Armstrong and his co-conspirators sought to achieve their ambitions through a massive fraud now more fully exposed. So ends one of the most sordid chapters in sports history."

There is a remarkable similarity in elements of both stories. Both men were philanthropic in that they raised millions to help their supported causes. Does that make their behaviour acceptable? In the case of Saville, the jury is clear that it did not but in the case of Armstrong things could be different. It seems there are some who are willing to forgive him of his doping practices and even to deny that they took place.

Local rain

Not a drop fell here in Bigastro and yet on the coast there was a downpour at about 3:30pm. Although it did not last long, the rain created swampy puddles and dragged furniture on the beaches about.

Who is responsible for our palm trees?

The palm groves at the side of the Segura river outside the city of Orihuela are full of the red palm weevil and are using the path as a route to continue their destruction. The reason why the beetle is not under control is down to the tardiness shown in disposing properly of the trees that have been cut down.

Once the trees are cut down they are supposed to be covered with a tarpaulin to prevent the beetles from flying to the next trees. The cut pieces are then meant to be crushed and sieved to destroy the adults and the larvae that remain inside. Apparently this has not happened in the case of the trees by the river so the weevil is spreading unabated.

As you might expect, the issue is about who is responsible for the work. Unfortunately, whilst they debate who should pay the bill, the weevil is having a field day destroying beautiful old palm trees.  

Some good news for a change

According to the Costa Blanca News,sales of properties in the Alicante Province fell over the last 17 months.  No doubt this fall was fuelled by the financial crisis aided by the controversial land grab laws and the law relating to coastal properties.

Valencia promises that the new five-in-one land law will mean that home owners affected by development plans will be give adequate information to prevent them from being surprised by building companies intentions. That sounds like an improvement but doesn’t seem to remove the risk that part of your land may be taken away by developers.

However, on a more positive note, houses that lie inside the boundary set by the law of the coast have also been given a stay of execution following a recent amendment.

As those who intend to sell know,  prices of houses have slumped but at least there now seems to be some movement; in August sales in he province increased by 10% compared to last year. The buyers are mainly foreigners looking for either a second home or to start a new life here. At rock bottom prices, is it any wonder that people are snapping up the opportunity to own a property in the sun.

Of the houses that sold, 13,922 were new properties – a rise of 6.3% over last year, the remaining 49.8% were resales.

In the name of charity

I’m told by my intrepid scout John that next Tuesday between 11:30 and 12am there will be 2 Chelsea Pensioners at the Teraza Bar bringing Poppy Appeal boxes along with poppies. I hope the weather is a little cooler for them because you would not want to be in their uniforms when the thermometer is around the 30 degree mark.

On the Saturday, 3rd November there will be a charity function on behalf of the British Legion at La Terraza. Darren promises live entertainment with music from the 40s along with a buffet for the cost of 6 euros of which 1 euro will go to the British Legion.

Done and dusted

When Pam and I got married back in 1970, we had a photographer to record the event who came armed with two twin lens Rolleicords. The photos that he took were all posed; from groups arriving at the church to the cutting of the cake and they were all in black and white. In fact he did carry a spare camera and took a roll of colour film at our request but they were not to be included in the album.

The main things he had to concentrate on were making sure everyone was looking the right way i.e. directly at him, that everyone’s eyes were open and that the focus and exposure were both correct. 

In due course we received our album which we still keep in its presentation box. The cover is embossed white leather and the pages are thick card with the photos stuck to them using mounting tissue (shellac coated tissue that melts when heated).  Each page has just one photo on it and is interleaved with tissue to protect them.

When I was a young teacher, I used to take wedding photos to supplement my income and help pay for my hobby. I followed much the same process as the man that took pictures at our wedding. The only difference was that my photos would be in colour which I had processed by a specialist laboratory in Birmingham. Otherwise it was a case of taking the groups, cutting the cake and signing the register – that was about it. 

These days very few wedding photographers shoot film, they mostly use digital single lens reflex cameras. That gives them an advantage over the man who took pictures at our wedding. Whilst he had to swap cameras every 12 shots and reload both cameras after 24, digital cameras can record hundreds of pictures one one card- even in uncompressed RAW format. They can also ‘chimp’ the pictures on the screen at the back and reshoot if necessary.

The biggest difference though is in the style of photography that couples are after as a record of their big day. There is still room for the formal group shots as a reminder of the people that were there but more and more couples want a reportage style where the pictures tell the story of the day. It starts with bridal preparations and carries on through to the first dance and beyond. It is a longer day for the photographer who has to be alert at all times looking for those special moments, little incidents and the expressions on people’s faces that convey the emotion and joy of the event. If you miss those moments then all may be lost – that is stressful.

Once home, the photographer of the past had his work cut out with all those rolls of film to develop and then proofs to be printed in the darkroom. By comparison, the digital photographer has it easy. Programs like Adobe Lightroom allow you to go through large batches of pictures, selecting those that are OK and rejecting those that are not. You can also quickly adjust for any inaccuracies in colour, exposure and composition. Within an hour or so, the digital photographer can have an album hundreds of pictures on line for the couple to view. That compares well with the days if not weeks it used to take the film guys.

Then we come to the all important album. Although you can still get matted albums where individual photos are stuck to pages, the majority of couples opt to have a photo book. With these you have a lot of scope to layout each page with one photo or many photos.

Usually the key photos are chosen to tell the story of the day and then smaller photos are added to to embellish the theme. It is a very time consuming operation because not only do you want to tell a story but you also want to achieve a balance on the pages and throughout the book. As you move pictures about and swap them around the whole theme of the page changes. Thankfully, the whole process is either done online or using a program on your computer so changes like this are relatively easy to achieve.

Now you have read all that you’re probably wondering what is the point of this post. Well my youngest daughter and her husband have now got their wedding album back and I am pleased to say that, thanks to the efforts of all the photographers who contributed along with my efforts on the computer, they are delighted with the end result.

PS For the benefit of my reader Charles Smythe, I did not manage to lose any loose pictures in the book.

Mobile abuse

You read of countless people having been caught out by their mobile phones – inappropriate calls, text messages and incriminating photos. When the riots took place in England, many of the young people thought they were safe to use their mobile phones to summon up friends to join in with them. Some even used them to post comments on Twitter and Facebook which of course led to their arrest.

Calls from mobiles are recorded* so If you are going to phone prostitutes then it is probably best not to use the company’s Nokia.

According to the Costa Blanca News, Torrevieja Councillor, Daniel Plaza made 49 calls in just two months to prostitutes who had advertised their numbers on the internet. Now, the opposition councillors are calling for his resignation.  

No doubt, Sr Plaza will say he was making the calls as part of some sort of investigation yeah right!

* My reader Charles Smythe is right in correcting me -  I should have said that the numbers called are recorded - not the actual calls. That, of course would be illegal even in Spain 

A touch of the Orient

Last night, two young ladies, Azucena and Shameena performed what they described as ‘oriental dance fusion’ at the Auditorium. We were surprised to see so many empty seats and people leaving after the first part of the show.

The young ladies had a variety of styles and interpretation – they were very good in fact excellent.
You can see my album of photos here. 

More on Vista woes

In his comment about my item regarding a neighbour’s problems with Vista, one of my readers tells of the experiences he had with the operating system.

Bill says that he had Vista Home Premium installed on a new machine. For a few months everything was fine and then the problems started.  He reinstalled Vista and everything seemed OK for another few months when he would have to do the same thing again. In the end he gave up and bought netbook computers that ran Windows XP.

The last desktop I owned ran Windows Vista. Like all Windows systems, I had to nurse it with kid gloves making sure that I never installed anything that might upset the fragile infrastructure. In the end, my copy of Vista mostly behaved itself. It would often take an age to load up and sometimes refused to shut down but mostly it was satisfactory – no better or worse. 

Actually, when you look at the various versions of Windows it seems that every other one that Microsoft brings out is a rogue. Windows 95, Millenium edition and then Vista have all caused problems. The ones in-between, Windows 98 SE, XP and now Windows 7 have all been fine. What that says about the forthcoming Windows 8 is hard to judge. Experience tells me to avoid it and wait for Windows 9 instead.

Finally Bill says that he might consider buying Apple in future and I can see sense in that. None of the Apple computers I owned have had a problem with the operating system. Admittedly there were a few flaws with some of the hardware but the software has always been  flawless. For example, my current MacBook Pro has not skipped a heartbeat since I bought it which is more than I can say for any of the Windows PCs, including my current desktop Dell which runs Windows 7.

A can of worms

The revelations that are coming out about Jimmy Saville have opened a can of worms regarding the antics that went on at the BBC. As I said yesterday, the 60s and 70s were a different era – there was no such thing as political correctness in those days. What went on at the BBC was repeated in many places of work to a greater or lesser extent. 

Liz Kershaw, who was a young DJ at Radio 1 during the 80s describes the place as intimidating and compares it with a rugby club locker room. She says that she was routinely groped whilst on the air by one presenter.

“I would be sitting in the studio with my headphones on and my back to the studio door.  I couldn’t hear a thing . . . then I’d find these wandering hands up my jumper, fondling my breasts.I couldn’t say anything, I couldn’t even explain because  I was broadcasting to the nation.”

“When I complained, they (the managers) were incredulous and said “Don’t you like it? Are you a lesbian?”

Although Jimmy Saville had left the BBC before Miss Kershaw joined the station she says that the stories about his behaviour were rife. In particular the tales of what went on during the BBC Roadshow which toured the country each summer were scandalous. It wasn’t only Jimmy Saville though, there were also stories about the late John Peel and an underage girl.

In the PC world of today, these things would either never happen or would be dealt with straight away. That makes it less intimidating for young ladies in the workplace which must be a good thing.

Windows woes

One of my neighbours tells me that she is having problems with her computer. The machine, which is only a few years old, runs Windows Vista. Although she was told by the shop where she bought the machine that the language could be changed from Spanish to English, that proved difficult with the Vista Basic copy supplied. No matter, the lady in question has learnt a bit of Spanish by mastering the menus in a different language.

Now though she finds that the computer won’t boot up properly into Vista. It struggles, eventually tries to remedy the fault(s) and finally loads the operating system. I imagine that, even when Vista does come on the screen, everything runs at a crawl.

I reassured my neighbour that the actual machine was not at fault. The problem lies with Vista which has become corrupted over time and that it is not necessarily anything that she has done which has caused this. It  is Windows itself and possibly the programs she has loaded that are to blame.

When things like this happen, the chief culprit is usually the Registry where all the settings that Windows and other programs are stored. The other likely cause are the .dlls or dynamic linked libraries. These extensions to programs are often shared to save space and so if they are erased or altered by one program that can impinge on the behaviour of others.

We all imagine that if we uninstall a program we rarely use, that it will be gone completely from our computer. That is rarely the case – there are often files and folders left on the hard drive and entries in the Registry that are left behind and these can have an adverse effect of the performance of Windows.

The sure fire way to get her machine back to fully working condition is to reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows and the programs from scratch but that would mean loosing all of the data she has stored and it relies upon her having all the installation discs to hand.

The less belt and braces approach is to get Windows to repair itself properly which can only be done by starting the computer up from the Windows installation disc. The repair programs on that disc can then work on the copy of Windows installed on the hard drive which of course is not running at the time.

I do hope she can sort this out, I know of several people who have given up on the task and gone out to buy a new computer instead. To me that is a bit drastic, a bit like buying a new car just because some part of it needs repair.

An icon of the BBC

The sixties and seventies formed a unique era in Britain - a highly sexualised period when many types of activity and behaviour now regarded as dubious were considered commonplace. Reliable contraception was available for all and nobody had heard of aids so in a sense we were liberated in a way that our parents could never have dreamed of.

In those days, you rarely  heard of complaints of sexual harassment - a racy comment and a quick hug at work were common place and it wasn’t all coming from the men, some of the women were just as bad. 

Those of us who grew up through that period were aware of groupies that hung around pop stars and DJs. Many of those young stars, with over active libidos, have admitted that taking advantage of the young fans was common place. The last thing that would concern the young men was to ask about the girl’s ages and even if they did, the girls would have lied.

However, the revelations now coming out about Jimmy Saville are different.

To be honest, I never liked the man. The ostentatious jewellery, the gaudy track suits, huge cigars and his long blonded hair looked ridiculous on a man of his age and his supposed upbringing. Neither did I care for the leery look in his eye and the way he feted young girls on his shows. In my opinion, there were far better DJs at the time and better presenters of children’s TV shows.

Saville’s memory is now under scrutiny as a growing number of women are coming forward to say that they were sexually assaulted by him. Whilst the “pretty boy” pop stars were being chased by the idolising fans, it seems that in Saville’s case, he was the one doing the chasing. That is hardly surprising given his age at the time. Saville’s role might have seemed glamorous but I can hardly believe that young girls found his appearance and his manner attractive.

Apparently the claims made against Saville come as a surprise to the BBC executives who say that there were no complaints made about him. Yet it is reportedly no surprise to many who knew him and worked with him nor will it be to many of the millions who watched him on TV.

The sad thing is that Saville is no longer here to defend himself but then neither is he here to be called to account for whatever he did wrong.

Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow

Time to practice those steps and routines that you have learnt on the dance floor.

Every Tuesday, between 5:30pm and 6:30 pm there are ballroom dancing workshops at the Auditorium.  

PS You can tell how much I know about ballroom dancing from the title of this post.

Thank you

To the two people who cleaned up the pavement alongside the road down to the village. They did a wonderful job of making the route for walkers more pleasant.

I know that there are a number of residents who take great pride in their properties and the environs surrounding them by clearing weeds from the pavements and from the nearby vacant plots of land. Their efforts are also very much appreciated.

We all expected Star Sol to finish off the estate a lot smarter than it is but sadly that never happened. They sold off plots that have never been built on and sold off land to other companies who attempted to build on them without success.

There is little we can do about the failed developments nor the vacant plots that are fenced off but we can at least ensure that the pavements outside our properties are clear of weeds. Unfortunately, that isn’t a one off job. I’ve sprayed the weeds that grow in the gap between the tarmac and the pavement outside our house several times. Both myself and council workers have chopped them away but the weeds come back, especially after a bout of rain. Clearing the weeds that have come back is a job on my list to do this weekend.

The bottom line is that we are unlikely to have the smart urbanisation that we were led to expect but at least we can try and make it a little better than it is. 

Spanish classes

For the benefit of those who were unable to attend the meeting yesterday, Spanish classes will be at the Auditorium Francisco Grau on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 5 and 6:30pm starting on the 23rd October. 

A touch of the orient

Apparently the concert that was due to take place last Saturday was cancelled because of flooding following the heavy rain on Friday. Hopefully we won’t have rain this weekend to spoil the show on Sunday.

Azucena y Shameena are described as Oriental dance fusion and body expression – sounds exotic.
We shall see on Sunday 7th at 7:15pm.

Spanish classes for this year

A message from Aurelio – there will be a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday, 3rd October) at 5pm in the Auditorium Francisco Grau for anyone interested in learning Spanish.

Last week, our teacher Antonio informed us that he is willing to continue with classes this year. It is important that we remember that he volunteered to do this without charge to the council so we are indeed deeply indebted to him.

The main plaza

Pam and I visited the new shopping mall at La Zenia yesterday.

It did take us awhile to find the place because we tried to take a shortcut which turned out to be a long one! Still we saw parts of the coastal urbanisations we hadn’t seen before.

Once we got to La Zenia Boulevard, Pam and I agreed that it was worth the effort, this is a massive achievement for the designers who have come up with something that is quite spectacular as far as shopping malls go.

Although I like the architectural features of the Thader shopping centre, notably the noria at the entrance, I don’t care much for the journey to it via the AP-7. If I have to go to a shopping centre, then La Zenia Boulevard is a more palatable alternative. I can well see this being a must visit place when my daughters are next over.

The sports centre under water

We might have got off unscathed by the heavy rain on Friday but low lying areas around the river Segura and the water channels didn’t. The Reguerón overflowed in several places downstream from Orihuela. For example, I understand that parts of Molins were flooded.

Water also overflowed at the Bigastro sports centre which is adjacent to the channel. The tennis courts, artificial turf pitches and the pavilion were under several feet of water by Saturday.

Aurelio Murcia went to see the extent of the damage and said that it could be months before the facilities were fit for use again. Municipal insurance experts will now assess the damage to work out the cost which could be high if there are any wooden floors involved.

It’s a tough job being PM for Spain

Mariano Rajoy has fought hard to stave off applying for a formal bailout from Europe. Although he successfully negotiated a 100bn euro bailout for the banks, the cost in terms of austerity measures has been high and he still faces high borrowing costs to raise funds on the bond market. The possibility of a further downgrade of Spain by Moody’s certainly won’t help.

Faced with the challenge of driving through measures to secure a bailout and the public unrest they have created, the threat of Catalonia seeking separation and rising unemployment, you do wonder why he ever wanted the job in the first place.  

A bit of good news

Amongst all the doom and gloom surrounding the economy of Spain, It is nice to be be able to report some good news now and again.

Most of us are on what is called the Last Resort Rate for electricity. In fact 20 million consumers are on that rate. It was first set in 2009 by the government following the liberalisation of of the market. The cost of electricity has fluctuated since then but this will be the first time that those changes will be reflected in a reduction of the price to customers – in this case by 2.29%.

For those of you who use bottle gas, there will also be a reduction in price of 4.6% bringing the price down to 16.1 euros per bottle. The price of natural gas is not affected.

Many of the houses on our estate are connected to the propane tanks on Calle Escocia that supply gas for central heating and cooking. Since this is commercial propane we should also see a reduction in our costs.

Exercising the grey matter

Having spent the summer reading books on the beach or by the pool, you’ll be in need of a fresh supply. The heavy rain on Friday brought summer to an abrupt end and even if the weather stays mild for the next few weeks, you will need something to read as the nights start to draw in.

The good news is that help is at hand because today between 3pm and 4pm you can stroll (or drive) up to the Albergue at La Pedrera and stock up on some good novels to keep you busy during the cold months to come. I’m told there is a huge selection to choose from, everything from racy stuff to something a little more serious.

PS Rumour has it that one of our Liverpudlian neighbours has donated her 50 shades of grey books to the collection for those who might be interested.

No shine from the diamonds

The Diamonds of the Opera show that was advertised on the Bigastro web site was scheduled for last night at 9pm. Pam and I had our evening meal early and I packed my camera gear ready to take photos.

Realising that this could be popular, we set off in the car in good time. When we got to the car park on the other side of the bypass we did wonder why there were so few cars there. As we crossed the bridge we could see that the auditorium was in darkness and as we reached the doors it was clear that nothing was taking place.

On our way back home we began to doubt our sanity, had we just imagined that poster or had we simply misread it. Maybe we had the date wrong or possibly the concert was at some other venue so we both checked it thoroughly. I’m pleased to say that our sanity is still intact, the poster did say Saturday 29th September at 9pm and the concert was to be held in the Auditorium Francisco Grau.

There was obviously some good reason why the concert was cancelled. However, what I cannot understand is how come everyone else but us knew that. I would have expected at least a handful of others to be waiting outside having read the same advert on the web site but no, there wasn’t another soul by the doors to the auditorium.

Hopefully someone will be able to shed some light on this mystery for us.

Not so lucky Jim

One of our neighbours, Jim, celebrated his 70th birthday in the open entertainment area that had been newly created at La Pedrera. Friends and family gathered on what they hoped would be a dry night. Luckily, there were large sun umbrellas meant to provide us with shade. Instead they kept us dry as it poured with rain for most of the evening. It was so bad that Tony Kelly, who was singing that night, took his shoes off and performed in his socks to stop himself from sliding on the dance floor.

Last night, five years on, Jim celebrated his 75th birthday at La Pedrera. This time though the party was inside so the rain was not going to spoil it. As it happened, all the heavy rain came earlier in the day – it remained dry for the whole time of the party and even stayed dry for people to go home.

Jim’s party was one of those special occasions that you would not have wanted to miss; the food was good, the entertainment excellent and the company was first class. It reminded Pam and I of the events that used to be held regularly up at La Pedrera when we first came here.

At that time there was a strong community spirit = we were all Brits working out our new lives in the sun together. With time, people have learned to make their own way, groups that formed have dissipated and the community has settled into a peaceful form of life. Occasions like Jim’s party are now just a welcome reminder of how it used to be.

Many thanks go to all those responsible for organising and preparing last night; congratulations go to Jim for looking so good at 75. Just one thing though, can you organise for better weather to celebrate your 80th birthday in five years time. 

PS Before you write to me to complain about all the mistakes I made in this post, let me explain that I have been battling with toothache for two days. The first appointment I can get with my dentist is for the 8th October by which time the problem will have either have gone or will have driven me up the wall.

An annual event

We were warned that there would be very heavy rain yesterday. Storms in this area are almost an annual event you can put on the calendar.

According to one paper, 86 litres per square metre fell In Orihuela in just one hour. Another paper puts the figure at 46 litres per square metre. Whatever amount,the effect was flooding of streets and homes and washing debris out from ditches. In Torrevieja, 53 litres per square metre was recorded with much the same result.

In an area that has infrequent rain, there is very little that can be done to prevent flooding when so much water falls in such a short time. The drains at the side of the roads have no chance of carrying that much water. They would need to be doubled or even tripled in size to cope.

The good news is that, although there is a possibility of more rain today, it will only be light in comparison. That is no comfort for those whose homes were flooded yesterday but at least they can start to dry things out. 

Clear, clean water

The desalination plant in Torrevieja was completed in 2010 but has not yet opened. That is because of clashes between Central Government and the Generalit in Valencia. There has been much debate about the need for the plant in the first place and the environmental impact it will have.

The most contentious phase was the laying of the large concrete tubes that bring and take water from the sea. Now it seems that is complete and initial test are due to start in January 2013.

Let’s hope it works otherwise the plant will be another white elephant to surpass the airport at Castellón.  Although the one at Corvera has been delayed until summer 2013, they say that it will be operational and that flights will take place.

We got off lightly

The rain yesterday in Bigastro was neither torrential nor long lasting. In nearby Rojales though they had a right downpour which flooded the streets. Luckily it only lasted half an hour.  

We probably won’t fair as well today though because the area is on orange alert for rain and yellow alert for a thunderstorm. Take comfort in the fact that Andalucia is worse off, there the risk is red. What we have is an anticyclone centred over the Canary Islands pushing against the one centred over Britain. Basically, there is a lot of heavy cloud up there with a load of water just waiting to come down on us.

Now that’s a pain

Neither of us has been to see the doctor for awhile now which means a) we have not had any problems and b) we have not tried to book an appointment. Now Pam needs an appointment to continue with her medication so I went online to book one for her.

First off Google Chrome (the browser I use most these days) said the site was unavailable. What it really meant was that the security certificate was out of date.

Next I tried FIrefox and that came up with the following screen:-

 

 

 

 

 

Now I know that Firefox is only trying to protect my interests but I’m a big boy now. However, there was no way round this, it was either “Get me out of here” or nothing.

Third attempt with Internet Explorer still warned me of the dangers but allowed me to continue.  

So eventually I was able to make an appointment online but those of you with just either Firefox or Chrome will have a real problem.

Did I say it was going to rain?

I was right, that cloud that was tailing the anticyclone has brought rain this morning to the area. Typical, it is market day down in Bigastro and the last thing they need is rain. Tomorrow is market day in Torrevieja, it looks like we could have more persistent heavier rain for that.

In preparation for the rain, Pam and I covered the material on the gazebo and the blind with polythene yesterday and put away the poles for the sun umbrellas. We also stored the cover and the seat pad off the swing seat in the shed. If the pool cover was still decent, that would have been put in place as well.

It is sad when you clear up all the things you have out for summer in readiness for winter but experience has taught us that, if you don’t do it, by next spring the umbrella poles will be full of rusty water and the material on the gazebo etc will be dirty.

The next job is to fold up the sunbeds and stack them in case we have gale force winds this winter.

Summer has gone now

As parts of Britain prepare yet again to be lashed by storms, we face the prospect of the first rain we have had for several months. Although rain was forecast for last week, it never happened.

This time though, I think we will definitely will see some agua on Thursday and Friday tailing off into Saturday. There is a swirling mass of cloud, with its centre over Britain, pushing in from the Atlantic that has already engulfed northern Spain and much of the continent. It is the tail end of that cloud that will cover southern Spain later this week.

Even if the rain is only light, for sure, the high temperatures of summer have gone as the thermometer struggles to get above the mid twenties.

Business continues as normal

Just as there are differences of opinion between the conservatives and liberals that form a coalition in Britain, there are differences between the PP and the UPLC in Bigastro.

Aurelio Murcia (UPLC) explained that, because of the differences, the two sides of the pact hold regular meetings to redefine the agreement that they made just after the elections. He stressed though that these meetings were held behind closed doors away from the press. If there is any dirty washing, it will not be aired in public.

A living Belen

Many towns in Spain have a Belen or Bethlehem scene at Christmas. These are made up of models of houses, along with other buildings and of course the stable at the inn. There are miniature figures and animals to adorn the scene and often moving features like smoke from chimneys and water in streams.

This however seems to be something different – a living Belen with people dressed up performing. I am intrigued!

Smooth diamonds

On Saturday September 29 at 9pm, the Municipal Auditorium, Francisco Grau will be presenting “Diamonds of the Operas” with a medley of arias, duets, trios and choirs ... and excellent staging.

Cost 3 €

Farming is a risky business

The weather plays such a big part in the fortunes of farmers. A good summer can make for a bumper crop and low prices, a bad one leads to a poor harvest and inflated prices. Neither is good and neither is welcome. What farmers would like is a good average harvest year on year.

Last year the olive crop in Spain was very good which lead to cheap prices meaning that many farmers were left on the breadline. This year, the harvest will be poor. Frosts during the flowering season followed by a long dry summer means that the fruit produced are small and shrivelled - prices will be high.

Spain accounts for over half of the worldwide crop of olives, so a poor crop here has a devastating effect on the market. Already, the wholesale price of oil has jumped by 62% in three months and is set to go much higher.

Of course, this will have minimal impact in Britain where the average consumption is just one half litre per year but in countries like Italy where average consumption is much higher at 14 litres, it will be a major issue.

It’s not fair

The cold weather a couple of weeks ago meant that the water in the pool dropped by four degrees. In the past we would have put the bubble plastic pool cover on to warm it up but that is shot and needs replacing.

On a day like yesterday, when we had clear skies and temperatures of 32, it would have been lovely to have gone for a dip but not when the water is so cold. Admittedly, after you have been in there for a few minutes, it starts to feel more comfortable but the initial shock puts you off. When the water was at 30 degrees, we’d go in and stay there for an hour or more – until the skin on our fingers was wrinkled. Yesterday, five minutes would have been the limit.

They’re on the case

Apparently there are a lot of holiday homes for rent in the Alicante province where the owners fail to pay tax on the income. The  State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT) are on the case and are investigating the extent of this fraud. They estimate that in 2010, this amounted to 209 million euros and that 80% of owners failed to pay tax on rentals.

By consulting Iberdola, AEAT can determine when the apartments and houses were occupied and use this information to track down offenders who claim that their properties were vacant.

Top of the list for evading paying taxes and corruption are the Greeks with Spain following close behind. Is is any wonder the country is in such a financial mess. 

Actually, I blame the authorities as much as the individuals for this. Bureaucracy in Spain is both slow and cumbersome. Even the most trivial transaction requires a pile of paperwork all of which has to be stamped appropriately and signed. One piece missing or failing to have the correct stamp on it and the process is voided. It therefore comes as no surprise that the country has no clear idea of how much tax they should have collected from holiday rentals.

Courses in Spanish

A total of 140 foreign residents from Algorfa, Jacarilla, Redován and San Miguel de Salinas have enrolled for Spanish courses organised by the Mancomunidad la Vega for October. The courses will be intensive and and are offered at three levels: Basic I, Basic II and Medium. Each level will have an average duration of 30 hours.

I know only too well that learning a new language, especially when you are the wrong side of 60, is hard but it really is essential if you want to get the most out of living in a foreign country. Good luck to the new students, I hope they get a lot of benefit from their courses. 

That’s batty

One thing we definitely don’t like about the summer months are the mosquitoes. To be honest, we haven’t had one bite this year, quite why that is I don’t know.

Those who live near the salt lakes of Torrevieja get plagued by them. The lakes and the salt marshes are a natural breeding ground for the insects, so each year the town spends  lot of money trying to control them.The normal method is to spray insecticides and in particular, larvacides which are used just after period of rainfall when the insects go into a breeding frenzy.

Now, they are trying a new method of combating mosquitoes.

Bats feed on mosquitoes, an average of two thousand per night. So the town has installed bat boxes around the lakes in the hope that the mammals will take to them. It certainly sounds like a good idea.

Body combat

Dora Fitness Centre have organised a master class to be held in the Parque Huerto del Cura on September 22nd at 10pm.

Note – the poster says 9pm but the item on the Bigastro web page says 10pm. However, since my body is already beyond this sort of intense training, it doesn’t really matter much to me! 

A rough patch

The pact between the two political parties in Bigastro is going through a rough patch.  Although Charo Bañuls, as mayor, leads all of the council meetings she delegated the important areas of Town Planning, Education and Health to Aurelio Murcia. Decisions made by him do require the signature of the mayor though.

Now we come to the thorny issue of IBI, the property tax.

In his manifesto, Murcia promised a reduction in property tax. However, with a debt of over 20 million euros, the mayor has decided to increase the tax for this year. In fact, according to my bank account, Pam and I have already paid the higher sum. This could become a sticking point between the two parties who may need to renegotiate the agreement they signed following the elections in 2011.

Cuts affecting education

The new academic year has started with problems already in Orihuela.

A lot of children live too far away from their school to walk and so get bussed each day. Children who live more than 3km by direct line are entitled to a place on the bus. The problem is that there are not enough buses from some of the areas leaving 300 students without a form of transport.

 Education cuts have also reduced the number of teachers by 10% - a total of 35 teachers. The ESO ratio has gone from 30 to 35 students per class and in high schools from 35 to 40. The lack of teachers will affect SEN programs, remedial education and attention to diversity.

 I imagine the cuts will also have posed huge problems for the schools creating timetables not to mention the issue of fitting extra desks and chairs into classrooms.

 When Pam started teaching at Gayton on the Wirral she had over 40 children in her primary school class. Hearing them all read each day was a daunting task as was marking all their books.

 At Anfield, I started with classes of 30+ for art in the lower school. With time though, class sizes were reduced especially for exam classes.

Having 35 to 40 pupils in a class very much restricts the methods that you can use to teach and the amount of attention you can give to individual children.

Getting there

The eagerly awaited La Zenia Boulevard is set to open on the 26th of this month, ahead of schedule.

Said to be one of  the largest commercial centres in Europe, it has the capacity for 150 shops along with catering facilities, many other attractions and parking for 5,000 cars. 

Last night, Pam and I went to Patio Andaluz to eat with some friends who are staying at Cabo Roig. En route we saw signs for the new shopping centre before we got  to Punta Prima that seemed to point in the wrong direction i.e. taking us into the Punta Prima urbanisation area inland from the N-332.

The most obvious way to get there is via the AP-7 coming off at the La Zenia peage. To avoid paying it looks like you need to turn off eh N-332 at La Zenia roundabout and head inland through Villamartin. Reports I have read though say take care at the new roundabouts which have already caused some near accidents for confused motorists.

Celebrating World Alzheimer Day in Bigastro

Here is the programme that the association, 'Acuérdate de mí' in Bigastro have prepared to celebrate World Alzheimer Day.

As they say in the title, “Esfuerzo compartido” – Shared effort.

Wonderful news

The Department of Social Welfare and the association of relatives of patients with Alzheimer's and other dementias,  'Acuérdate de mí', plan to close a collaboration agreement between them which will provide  the association with social centre facilities.

Next week, the group will hold a series of events to celebrate World Alzheimer's Day which will culminate in the signing of the agreement to launch a respite care unit for Alzheimer's patients. The association also plans to organize a charity dinner at the restaurant Charlot in the near future to raise funds for their activities.

Readers of this blog will already know that our very good neighbour Eladia Grau is a key member of the association. She and the other members work hard to provide an invaluable service to the relatives of Alzheimer suffers. Having had a close relative who suffered from dementia, Pam and I know how stressful it can be for the family to cope. We were fortunate enough to find an excellent care home for Pamela’s father but others either do not have the means of cannot find suitable care and have to try and cope in their own homes. 

A lesson not yet learnt

Princess Diana was pursued relentlessly by the paparazzi in their bid to get intimate photos of her. Using an extreme telephoto lens, one did in fact get pictures of her sunbathing topless. Now that Diana’s son, William is married to the beautiful Kate Middleton, it is obvious that the paparazzi will target her in the same way.

However, the couple must have thought they were safe when holidaying in the South of France and so Kate removed her bikini top whilst sunbathing. Little did she realise that just 1,000 yards away a cameraman was armed with a long telephoto lens just waiting for some shots of the couple. He got lucky and sold them to Closer magazine who published them in the French edition. Now the royal palace are looking to sue the magazine and prevent the pictures going viral across the Internet. Too late, an Italian magazine already says it will also publish the photos and if you search for them, you will find them.

In my opinion there are two sides to this story. Yes, it is wrong to invade someone's privacy in the way that the paparazzi do but at the same time, the royal couple should have shown more discretion just as Harry should have shown more discretion in Las Vegas. They must have known there was a public road nearby with a view of the area they chose to sunbathe in. 

The magazine’s editor says that she can see nothing wrong with the pictures which show a beautiful young couple enjoying their holiday. That may be true but then Kate Middleton is the future queen of England which puts a very different slant on things.

The good news for the royal couple is that the magazine claims to have even more intimate pictures of them which they will not publish. 

It may be wrong for these two people not to be able to lead normal lives without the press hounding them but then that is their lot and they must live with it. In future Kate, keep your bikini top on – risking a couple of strap marks must be better than revealing your royal breasts to the world.

Council tax rises – different perspectives

By now, we should have all received our council tax bills and noticed that there has been a rise in the amount we have to pay. The socialist councillor, Raúl Valerio Medina complains that the average for the town is now 350 euros, an increase of 30 euros from last year.

Now of course, 30 euros is 30 euros and for households already facing a hike in VAT which rose to 21% at the start of the month it is yet another burden. As Charo Bañuls  points out though, the town is drowning in debt and that the interest alone amounts to 240,000 euros per year. She also points out that this debt was inherited from the days of Moya and then Medina and that it was they who allowed 200 households to be exempt from paying IBI.   

Putting this all into perspective, the average council tax bill in England and Wales for 2012/13 is £1,201(1,484 euros). Three hundred and fifty euros may seem a lot to bigastrense but in fact it won’t pay for very much.

23 years for the truth to be known

The latest investigation into the tragedy that occurred at Hillsborough, 15th April 1989 has now come to its conclusions. The occasion was the FA Cup semi final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest which ended with 96 of the Liverpool fans dying.

At the time I was teaching at Anfield, within sight of the ground. Many of my pupils had either been to the match or had friends and relatives at the game. For weeks and months there was an all pervading atmosphere of grief and suffering in the school and in Liverpool itself made worse by the Sun newspaper laying the blame firmly on the fans. To this day, many Liverpool fans will not buy that newspaper.  

An accident on the motorway between Liverpool and Sheffield had delayed fans who therefore arrived after the game had started. Naturally they were keen to get into the ground as quickly as possible and so a large crowd amassed outside the Leppings Lane end of the stadium.

In charge of policing was the inexperienced Chief Superintendent, David Duckenfield. Faced with 24,000 Liverpool fans all trying to get through 23 turnstiles, he decided that the large exit gate should be opened to allow the fans quick entrance. The result was that the, already crowded central area of the terrace quickly became vastly overcrowded and as fans tried to move forward, those already in the ground were crushed against the perimeter fence.

The result was that 96 fans died some crushed to death others asphyxiated. The youngest was only 10 years old. Of the 96, 41 were apparently still alive when they were moved to the pitch but again, the emergency services failed to help them. Their response was too slow to save their lives. In all it was a catalogue of disasters that conspired together but the main problem lay with inadequate policing – many of the officers didn’t even have radios that would have at least allowed them to alert their colleagues of what was happening.

At the time, the police tried to cover up their failure by blaming the fans saying that it was drunkenness and bad behaviour that caused the problems. They also claimed that there were many fans outside the ground without tickets. In the aftermath, they even went to the extent of having blood alcohol levels checked along with criminal records of the victims. Worst of all though, the police had 116 out of the 164 statements by police officers altered to take the blame away from their failure.

Along with the police, the Football Association must take some of the blame as well for choosing a ground that did not have a safety certificate. 

For 23 years, the Hillsborough Support Group has fought to seek justice. Now they have the truth, they will be seeking for criminal charges to be brought against those responsible.

Music lessons in Bigastro

Time for budding musicians to sign up for courses at the Bigastro School of Music organised by the Sociedad Unión Musical de Bigastro.  

I think I’ll just stick to taking photos of them, that is enough of a challenge for me!

The rising need for adult education

Throughout the boom years pupils abandoned their studies at school to go and work in either the lucrative construction industry or in the service sector. In the Alicante region, where construction was at its height, up to 50% of male students failed to graduate in secondary education.

Now, those young people are flocking to adult education to gain the qualifications that they missed. In particular, they are looking for courses in English.

Since the adult school at Bigastro closed last year and the one at Redován has closed this year, students are turning to Orihuela and the IES Thader school. Numbers of enrolments have increased from 400 to 1,000 and some courses are vastly oversubscribed e.g. English.

Will I be buying one?

Apple has just launched its latest version of the iPhone - the iPhone 5. It is 18% thinner than the 4S and 20% lighter. Instead of a glass back, the new phone has a one piece aluminium back and sides (much like my MacBook Pro).

Of course, Apple claim it is faster than the previous model thanks to the new A6 processor.

There are a couple of downsides for those of you keen to have the  latest model. First of all the connector has been changed to what Apple call a “lightning connector. That means that existing docks won’t work without an adapter. Secondly the phone takes a nano-SIM card so existing micro-SIMS will have to be changed.

On the upside, when all the licences are worked out, it will connect to the faster 4G network.
And the all important price: unlocked the 16GB model will cost £529. Contract customers will pay less.

So, to answer the question – NO I will not be buying one. I have to confess that I hardly use my current phone. When I want to surf the net I have my desktop machine and a notebook computer. When I want to listen to music I have an old iPod touch. More to the point, when I want to take a casual photograph, I have a nice little compact camera that does the job a lot better than any phone can.

I’m a convert

When I first started processing digital pictures, I used a copy of Adobe Photoshop v7 which I acquired from a friend. I moved on to the CS versions up to v3 but then I needed to be able to process RAW pictures from my new camera which I found was not supported by v3. The workaround was to first process the RAW images in Canon’s Digital Photo Professional and then open them in Adobe Photoshop for further work - double the work and double the time.

Time to switch to another program that could handle the RAW uncompressed files from my new camera. That is when I bought Adobe Photoshop Elements (first v7 and then v9). At the time I looked at Adobe Lightroom as an alternative but it was much more expensive and I could not see the advantages that I would gain by spending more money.

With v4, Adobe have dropped the price by about a third so I thought it was time to have another look at Lightroom. Within a few days, I could see why so many serious amateurs and professionals choose Lightroom. There are still some things that I need a program like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements for but for most of my tasks Lighroom will allow me to work faster and more efficiently.

Your chance to support the local band as they travel to Albacete to play in the 101st National Festival for Bands.

As you can see the price is 15 euros for the trip with the option to have dinner included for a further 10 euros. 

The coach will leave from the bus stop by the tobacconist's at 5pm. And the date - Friday 14th September. 

It's been awhile

Followers of this blog might have wondered why there have been no posts since last Tuesday. Those who wander across to my Flickr album will know that Pam and I have been playing host to our daughters along with Miss Molly, our granddaughter.

At two and a half years old, Molly is as challenging as she is entertaining. You could say that she knows her own mind just like her mother did at the same age. Stil, she has kept us all amused and for sure, Pam and I have not laughed so much in ages.

Tomorrow, the three of them fly back to Manchester and so normal service will be resumed. It will be sad to wave goodbye though but it won't be for long. We already have our next trip to the UK booked and plans for a further visit later in the year. Next year, we have a villa booked in Mallorca for the whole family so we will have two weeks of fun in the sun right by the beach in Puerta Pollenca.

Many thanks go first to Molly for keeping us all so amused, to Laura for bringing her and for Jemma - the best Aunty a girl could have.

That’s rubbish

The councillor for finance, Antonio González says that there are many households in Bigastro who do not pay their fair share for garbage collection. Some pay less than they should and some pay nothing at all.

Actually, that should come as no surprise to us since some households apparently don’t pay council tax either. A study has been launched to look into this.

Notionally,  the town divides the cost of the service by the number of houses to set a figure. Currently, those in the town pay 35 euros whilst we at Villas Andrea pay 50.

The previous mayor told us that the 50 euro figure came about because the council divided the extra cost of the service by the number of houses built on our urbanisation. I’d like to bet that other new houses, even those built after ours, pay 35 euros.

As Councillor González says, with more houses contributing to the cost, each should end up paying less. I think we'd all agree with that. 

Strictly for football fans

Whilst Pam and I were down in Darren and Hazel’s bar this morning (the terrace bar opposite the medical centre), Darren was telling me that he is showing English premiership matches on a big screen.

I can only think it is tribal thing but I’m told that even those with Sky packages in their homes like to go and watch games in a bar. I suppose the close proximity to a beer pump might just have something to do with it.

Incidentally, whilst I was there I asked Hazel about the bacon sandwiches she makes. Hazel told me that they are very popular with their Spanish customers and having seen the quality of the rashers I’m not surprised. Apparently they even like a spot of HP sauce on their bacon – well I never!!!

Apart from the tasty looking bacon, Hazel has a variety of other tapas on offer which all looked very fresh and appetising. Popping in for a coffee and a snack should make a visit to the doctor a lot more palatable. 

The all important weather

My daughters, along with Molly, arrive tomorrow for a week’s holiday. After the disastrous summer they have suffered in England, all three are looking forward to some Spanish sunshine but will they get it?

As those who were here know, July and August were hot – very hot! Most days we had the air conditioning on in the house from about midday. Even at night it was steamy especially during the first week or so of August.

In the last week, temperatures have dropped to a more reasonable high twenties to low thirties. Those temperatures will feel like bliss to our visitors who have rarely seen the thermometer rise above 20 this summer.

Although night time temperatures have dropped to the high teens and it might feel a little chilly outside, at least they won’t be tempted to sleep with the air conditioning on as our last visitors were.

PS I was considering sending my girls a text reminding them to bring fleeces but that would be both cruel and unnecessary.  

They are kidding

I read this morning that Iberdrola distributes approximately 3.4 million supply points throughout the Valencian Community through an infrastructure which consists of more than 130 substations, 23,300 transformer stations, 3,400 kilometres of high and very high voltage lines and over 57,000 kilometres of low voltage  lines.

The company say they have invested more than 1,500 million euros during the past ten years in distribution facilities, which has helped reduce incidents in supply by 59%. They reckon that individuals and businesses no longer suffer from the major blackouts of the past.

So how come we still have short power cuts on a regular basis and the lights fluctuate regularly at nighttimes? Surely it can’t be the cabling to and around the estate which is no more than 9 years old. My UPS shows a graph of the voltage which is nominally at about 245 volts but can dip to about 210 volts and go up to 255 volts in a short space of time.

As I have said before, for a desktop computer a non interruptible power supply is a must. My desktop machine and monitor are connected to the power supply via an APC Smart UPS 750. Ideally, the satellite box and TV would be connected via one as well. The fluctuations in voltage are bad enough - a sudden disconnection can do a lot of harm to computers etc.

Out to get your money

The latest scam to hit the Costa Blanca coast involves phone calls telling people that their computers are putting out messages that are affecting large numbers of other computers. In fact there are so called bots that can actually do this so it sounds feasible until you stop and think about how they came by your phone number.

Naturally the crooks can offer a solution in the form of a program that will remedy the fault but it will cost money - quite a bit according to those who fell for the trap.

The phone calls apparently originate from Liverpool and Cairo but could come from anywhere in the world. Merseyside police are aware of the scam and advise people to ignore it.

What the criminals are doing is preying on people who have insufficient knowledge to understand that they are being taken for a ride.

Most people now will ignore those emails that tell you your online banking will cease to work unless you update your settings by going to a bogus site. They will also smell a rat when they are told that a parcel from UPS cannot be delivered and are invited to open a zip file that contains a virus.

The scammers therefore have to try new ways to fleece us and these phone calls are just one way they have discovered works for them. The scam is a double hit though because the innocent people who fall for it, not only pay for the program but also have to pay to have the program removed from their computers.

A good explanation of the problem

This article from the BBC website explains the problem that Spain faces.

Worries are increasing that Spain may become the fourth eurozone country to require a full bailout.

It has already asked for help with its banks - its main problem - and will receive up to 100bn euros ($125bn; £80bn) to be targeted at its financial sector.

But with its economy in recession it is struggling to balance its books and further pressure is coming from its regional governments, who are starting to ask Madrid for financial help to deal with their own debt issues.

What went wrong with Spain?

Spain's story illustrates the fact that the eurozone's problems run far deeper than the issue of excessive borrowing by ill-disciplined governments.

Greece, Portugal and Italy all had way too much debt.

But the Spanish government's borrowing was under control - that is, it ran a balanced budget on average - every year until the eve of the 2008 financial crisis.

And as Spain's economy grew rapidly before 2008, its debt-to-GDP ratio was falling. Germany's, by contrast, continued to rise.

When Spain joined the euro the Spanish government resisted the lure of cheap loans, but most ordinary Spaniards and its banks did not.

The country experienced a long boom, underpinned by a housing bubble, as Spanish households took on bigger and bigger mortgages.

House prices rose 44% from 2004 to 2008, at the tail end of a housing boom, according to ministry of housing data. Since the bubble burst, they have fallen by 25%.

The economy, which grew 3.7% per year on average from 1999 to 2007, has shrunk at an annual rate of 1% since then.

So, although the Spanish government still had relatively low debts, it is now having to borrow like crazy to deal with the effects of the property collapse, the recession and the worst unemployment rate in the eurozone.

What has happened at the regional government level?

Spain's 17 regional governments collectively have large debts of their own.

They run and pay for most of their own services, including social services, health and education, with the central government in Madrid funding less than 20% of national spending.

In the boom years they spent lavishly on new infrastructure and big projects like airports and swimming pools.

Valencia, which built an airport at which not a single plane has landed, asked the central government in Madrid to help it. Neighbouring Murcia is likely to follow.

Others, including giant Catalonia and Andalucia, Castilla La Mancha, the Balearics and the Canary Islands are other possible candidates.

They are under pressure from the central government to cut spending, but local politicians are reluctant to take unpopular action.

The regions collectively need to refinance 36bn euros in debt this year.

Not all of them have large debts though, the coal-mining region of Asturias in the north of the country is relatively debt-free. The region of Madrid itself has said it has already covered all its refinancing needs for the year, while Navarra, Galicia, Cantabria, Aragon and the Basque Country all seem to be on a sounder financial footing.

What is the problem with the banks?

It's another tale of high-living in the boom years followed by an uncomfortable return to reality.

Before the credit crunch, the banks had been thriving thanks to the rapid expansion of the property sector.

But its collapse brought default from borrowers who were suddenly bust and a plunge in the value of the assets the loans were based on.

Since the onset of the recession, which is expected to continue throughout this year and next, losses on loans have continued to mount as borrowers struggle to make repayments.

The situation has been made worse by the fact that the banks borrowed the money on the international markets to lend to developers and homebuyers, a much riskier strategy than using the deposits they get from savers.

They are sitting on massive losses whose size is not yet fully known - some say it could be as much as 180bn euros.

Not all of the banks are in this situation, however. The International Monetary Fund said a large part of the banking sector, including Santander and BBVA, is well run and resilient.

What has been done to help troubled banks?

Spain has begun to restructure its banking sector.

Many of its smaller, weaker banks have had to merge or have been rescued by larger ones. The number of branches has been cut by 15%, and 11% of the jobs in the industry have gone.

Up to the end of April, the government had injected 34bn euros into its banks, according to the IMF.

That is not including the 19bn euros Bankia, Spain's fourth-largest bank, asked for shortly before it was nationalised.

Bankia itself was formed when several regional banks, or cajas, were brought together because they were too small to bear the knock from the economic downturn.

With the crisis of confidence in the markets about the state of the banking sector and its impact on government finances, it has become increasingly expensive for the government to borrow on the markets.

Like credit card companies, investors demand higher interest the riskier a prospect they think you are. As a result, Spain has had to turn to emergency funding from its eurozone partners.

How will the bank bailout work?

Spain will be able to borrow up to 100bn euros. But it isn't a bailout or rescue, it insists.

The help it gets will differ from the bailouts given to Greece, Portugal and Ireland in a number of ways.

The loans will come from eurozone funds set up to help members in financial distress: the European Financial Stability Facility and/or the European Stability Mechanism, which is supposed to come on stream in July.

In previous cases, money has come from the troika of international authorities - the European Union and the International Monetary Fund as well as the eurozone.

Also, the money will be targeted specifically at Spain's banks, rather than at the economy as a whole through central government.

Spain was desperate to avoid this, as the sovereign bailouts have previously come with demands to cut spending and raise taxes and close supervision of the countries' finances.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has unveiled another set of austerity measures, including another 65bn euros of spending cuts and a rise in VAT from 18% to 21%.

At the meeting of eurozone finance ministers on 9 July, it was agreed that Spain could borrow an initial 30bn euros to support its banks.

The final figure of how much of the 100bn euros offered that Spain will want to borrow may not be known until September.

Day care

A group of former employees from the pre-school Bigastrin have formed a collective they call, Capital Coast Collective and plan to open a rival to their former employer.

La Casita Encantada opens it doors next week without a proper license. They made a request on July 2nd but as yet approval has not been granted. Aurelio Murcia explains that there are a few issues concerning ventilation, the evacuation route, emergency lighting and the lack of fire extinguishers that need to be addressed.  He also says that, what is on offer is more than a toy library and therefore comes under the jurisdiction of the government rather than the municipality. 

However, there will be those parents who have signed up for the service. It is only right that they know the situation clearly. 

NB The photo comes from a local paper.