Euros

I continue to be puzzled by the Euro and the fact that so many different economies have been prepared to share the same currency when their underlying economic strengths are so different. Take for example Germany and Greece whose economies are poles apart. At the present time the Pound to Euro exchange rate is very favourable. One pound Sterling buys about 1.33 Euros. Greece has said today it will not default on its loans,but how will it pay its debts?

Auschwitz - 70 years on since liberation

Some years ago I visited Auschwitz. Even in the 21st century this Nazi death camp still gave me shivers. It is a miserable place and during WW2 it must have been horrific.

Today, hatred of the Jews seems to be on the increase. I have no sympathy for Israel's position over Gaza and Israel's position on the Palestinian people. All I wish is that everyone can respect the views of others and of their right to exist and worship as they wish, even if they chose to do so differently. Life is too short for hatred.

Arab, Christian, Jew? It matters not. What matters is we all share this little planet together, and should do so  in peace.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30996555 .

Park and Ride

Every Tuesday I drive into Cambridge (Newmarket Road Park and Ride) where I pick up the Park and Ride bus into Cambridge, where I attend my U3AC course called "Maps in the Computer Age". It is an excellent course with good supporting notes and links. Apart from the £1 to park, travel into the city is free as I have an OAP bus pass.

Visit by son and granddaughter

Today our son and granddaughter visited us from London. It was good to see them both. She is very good at 24 piece jigsaws on the iPad. She did about 6 or 7 without any help whilst sitting on my lap. Seeing them always cheers me up. She is 4 in May.

FTSE 100

Amazingly, the FTSE 100 share index ended the day slightly higher than it started, despite the turbulence of the Greek's voting into power a government that is mostly composed of the far-left Syriza party that wants to renegotiate its bailout terms.

NHS poor communications

I have concluded (yet again) that NHS communications is very bad. My speech therapy sessions were cancelled out of the blue (no reasons given). When I tried to email the address given it bounced ("not recognised"). So I tried another email address given on their website and again this bounced ("not recognised").

Also, I found out today of someone awaiting a rearranged chemo session for cancer who was asked to phone first but for a whole hour the phone was not answered! The appointment the previous day was cancelled as "everyone has gone home".  Sorry but NHS communications is unbelievably poor. Nobody takes ownership. Frankly it is CRAP.

The NHS needs to smarten up its communications. If this was the private sector, there would be ownership (individual responsibility) and someone would be sacked if things did not improve.

Every day, the NHS probably throws away millions of unnecessary pounds. The sheer waste is staggering.

I believe in the NHS but get very frustrated by the evident inefficiency.

Currencies

Against all currencies, apart from the Euro, the pound is stronger. I was expecting the pound to strengthen against the Euro today following the Greek vote yesterday. Markets are fickle! Even the FTSE 100 share index has hardly changed. It has bounced around all day but, at the moment, is little changed all day.