Assorted things

[juliet]

P and I saw the R4 show "The Problem With Adam Bloom" being recorded last night, which was pretty good. I suspect, though, that the programme itself won't be as good, since the best bits were the unscripted bits in the middle. Bah. Free tickets to things are good, though, & he'd certainly be worth seeing as a standup (as would his mate, Brendan Burns, who was also on - raucous Australian type, slightly anarchic, felt a bit sorry for the producer trying to get him to shut up and get finished as they neared the end & looked like going over). Mr Bloom himself was rather quieter, slightly self-deprecating humour, that sort of thing.

Late into work this morning, due to upset stomach (now thankfully recovered), which meant that I caught some nice music in Hyde Park as people gathered waiting for the Queen to come & open the Princess Diana Memorial Water Feature by the Serpentine. I did not wait.

• Public sector workers take more sick days - news that immediately caused a froth of media indignation about the LAZY SKIVERS in the public sector. This, of course, completely ignored the two possibilities that a) public sector workers actually get ill more often, and why that might be (in the case of the NHS staff who have the highest rates - gosh, I dunno, maybe working with ill people makes you more likely to get ill?), or b) that public sector management might be treating their staff better and more fairly by making them go home when ill rather than struggling on regardless. The claim about how much this costs also fails to take b) into account - it is entirely possible that more days off sick could lead to increased overall productivity (because it means more days at full working rate, rather than lots of half-competent slightly-ill days, because people actually recover properly). I mean, possibly public sector workers *are* a bunch of skivers, but that survey doesn't demonstrate this.
• David Steele on abortions.
• Microsoft 0wnZ0rz your skin.
• Tax 'em till the hubcaps squeak.