The other day I heard a news report that said that Cambridge was running out of water. Reservoir levels , it seems, are ‘dangerously low’. In an island as rainy as ours, how can Cambridge or any other city be running out of water?
Apparently there are plans to build thousands of new homes in Cambridgeshire but this has led to objections from the Environment Agency, because of the water situation, I assume. Cambridge Water, which supplies the area, said it was "working hard to reduce water demand in the region" and "focusing on reducing leakage across our network". And there are plans to build a new reservoir but understandably it takes a long time to build a reservoir and it might not be complete until the mid-to-late 2030s. Can water not just be piped from some other part of the country? Of course that would involve one (private) water company cooperating with another. Maybe a national water company could be a good idea.
Another thing that’s been going on is discussion about MPs having second jobs. Some people seem to think that some MPs use their parliamentary position as a kind of springboard to other jobs - the very idea! Here’s a link to an article about it.
I like the suggestion that if MPs want second jobs they could try something useful such as being teaching assistants. That would give them some first-hand experience of how schools work. I also quite liked this suggestion about performance management:
“In most jobs, performance management is used, starting with a clear job description and professional standards to be met. For MPs, this should include mandatory attendance when parliament is sitting, participation in debates when important issues are being considered, giving speeches and answering constituents’ letters, making public appearances, and tackling casework. Annual appraisals, from which basic attendance data is made public and performance targets set, would enable constituents to decide whether they had made the right selection at the ballot box.”
I’ve not been to the cinema for a while. I think the last time was when I went to see the remake of West Side Story - an film I would recommend. It was an afternoon screening, midweek as well, so the cinema was fairly empty. Granddaughter Number Two and I had a very good time, without popcorn or snack or drinks! But, judging by this article, that is not the general experience of cinema these days. Maybe it’s another manifestation of the selfish times we seem to be living in. So it goes!
Yesterday I went kite-flying with my daughter and the two smaller grandchildren. That made three days of fine weather on the run. Today the wind is still there, stronger if anything, and thunderstorms are forecast. But as I write this the sun is trying to break through once again. We shall see!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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