27 March 2012
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Another glorious day with the temperature in the mid-20s, almost double the norm for this time of year again breaking all previous records. I was delighted to see that the warmest place in England yesterday, was Mildenhall, where my golf club is situated. Being a Tuesday I couldn’t wait to get there. Ollie arrived, as usual, at 10.15 together with another driver, Joe, who he was obviously being broken in. They got me to the club around 11.00 and then Ollie went off leaving Joe in charge, to wait and bring me home. The pattern of my visit followed that of last summer. I was years grateful to have survived the winter unscathed and the back in the old routine. I drove around the course, in my electric wheelchair, for one and a half hours or so, chatting to this group and that as I tick tacked across the course before returning to the clubhouse and sitting outside in the sunshine with a glass of chilled white wine and my regular small cigar. John Gray took on the role of nanny today, relieving me of my outer garments and feeding me once we got into the dining room. There is just sufficient time after lunch to return to our outside table and indulged myself in the best part of another cigar. Joe turned up, as instructed, to take me home at 2.15. I must say I had enjoyed myself immensely but by the time I got home I was seriously fatigued and I think six hours is about my limit. I just wonder how I will manage at Lord’s and just hope that I am strong enough to last out the day. The backlash from the Budget continues with the row over keeping the pensioners tax free threshold unchanged, this forthcoming financial year. Despite these widespread protests I cannot see that the government can, or will, change its policy. Whilst I personally think it was badly handled I would be disappointed if they fail to stick to their guns. It is all part of everyone having to tighten their belts for the next year or two to get us out of the black hole of debt inherited from the previous Labour government. The government have announced a radical change in the planning laws. From now on there will be a presumption in favour of consent for an application to build, presumably houses, subject to a number of checks and balances to be decided by the local council members. Presumably, the idea is to try to get the economy moving again and also to start making inroads into the half a million or so backlog of homes that the government claim are needed over the next decade. Whilst one applauds the idea of ridding ourselves of some of the red tape obstacles in the way of planning, and leaving the decision to local people whose lives will be affected by a change, there is an underlying fear that the criteria to be applied for any consent, will vary substantially from place to place and in some areas we will start to see the loss of elements of our Green Belt, the maintenance of which has been fiercely fought over ever since its introduction in the 50’s. For my overseas readers I should perhaps explain that the concept of greenbelt land is to keep, in reserve, areas of open space mostly around large urban conurbations. The purpose being to protect this land from urban sprawl and maintain the designated areas for forestry and agriculture, as well as to provide habitat to wildlife. When and Kimberly and Miles came down on Saturday for lunch, Kimberly very kindly brought me a pineapple – appropriately, an ancient symbol of hospitality in past times, often displayed in carved stone on the top of the wall either side of the gates to mansions and manors. It reminded me personally of the very first fresh pineapple I ever tasted. This was in the British Club in Singapore, on route to Australia in 1955. Remember, in the UK, we had rationing maintained for seven years after the war and whether such things as pineapples were freely available or not, I could not say, however, if they were they would have been undoubtedly relatively expensive. Having found myself sitting by the swimming pool in this club, no doubt resting between flights – it took about three days to get to Australia in those days – I saw one of the waiters taking a whole fresh pineapple to some people sitting nearby. I could not resist asking him, as he passed by on his way back to the kitchen, what was the cost of such a luxury. I was delighted to hear that it was about 10 shillings (50 p. In modern coinage). Although this would still be an expensive luxury to me at the time I took a devil may care attitude and ordered one. It arrived beautifully sliced and devoid of all those nasty spiky bits. You can get a machine that does that for you today but I expect in 1955, it was done by hand. Having never tasted fresh pineapple before I was absolutely delighted with my purchase and no pineapple ever since has quite come up to the same gastronomic heights as did this very first one. The nearest I could get to a story about pineapples was one about artichokes. Click here to read it.
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26 March 2012
Then Paul ‘the computer’ turned up, in lieu of Jane,’ the sheep’, to babysit me while Alice went off to do her own thing. We spent three happy hours tinkering with the computer exploring new ideas to make life easier. For example, Paul is making it possible for me to link my laptop to the television so that by using catch up, I can share Alice various programmes which run on after nine o’clock which she is interested in seeing. He is also tidying up my music library and working out some macros so that I can find and start a particular piece of music using my voice activation. During the afternoon, Claire ‘the nurse’, turned up to look at my sebaceous cyst. The cuts which Dr Lort had made have now healed over but there was still a hard lump under the skin, which would probably have to be cut out at some stage. Then, at 4.30 my friend Edward Oliver kindly called in to discuss a monstrous tax demand that and I received. By the time Edward left it was almost time for the six o’clock carers and I felt pretty whacked out. Although the good Dr Michael has told us the generality of his son Tom’s problem, we still do not know what is the prognosis perhaps, they might have to see the outcome of the chemotherapy and even perhaps the stem cell therapy before they can give us a good idea what is the prognosis. We are both fond of Tom and are anxious for him. I have always admired stand-up comics who real of one, one-liner jokes after another. Click here for some of Frank Carson’s who was a master in this genre. |
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25 March 2012
Another beautiful day. The trouble is people are already beginning to wonder whether this is going to be like last year when we had our summer, so to speak in April and early May. Then, the weather was superb and relatively warm the time of year. After that early period of beautiful weather the rest of the summer months were disappointing no’ flaming June or stiflingly hot August. The weather just continued to disappoint through September and August slipping seamlessly into autumn and winter.
This being so when anyone complains to me about the weather I can only suggest that they enjoy a day at the time and that if this is they are summer them try to take it as such and not to rely on hot summer days later in the year, they may not come!
Last night’s the clocks went forward by one hour- having been put back by one hour in October-hour thus wiping out British Summertime (BST) and putting us in line with the rest of Europe on Greenwich Mean Time.
The idea was conceived by a man called William Willett. As my first job, 60 odd years ago was with Sir John Browne, A . Henson and Partners, in Sloane Street, I frequently saw the brass plate which had been set up in Sloane Square to commemorate Mr Willett’s idea. Willett had concluded that the early light on summer mornings was wasted and that by moving the clocks forward one hour the time we would get longer afternoons and evenings. . He came up with the idea in 1907 in a pamphlet entitled The Waste of Daylight. But it was not until a year or so after Willets death in 1916, that the British government finally adopted the idea of BST..
The proponents of the idea were proved right in a number of ways one of which was a comparison of the accident data prior to the introduction of BST. Although there was a slight increase in casualties in the morning they had been substantially fewer accidents in the afternoon and evening amounting to 2700 fewer people killed or seriously injured during the first two winters that BST was in operation.
A couple of days in the the Queen addressed vast congregation seated in the old Westminster Hall-the original seat of government, before the present House of Commons was built. Basically she was renewing her manners to serve the country as she had done over the previous 60 odd years she is undoubted a monarch who is universally admired but nowhere more than in the USA. where she has had state visits would 11 different presidents which is one less than the number of British Prime Minister’s is that span her reign.
These photographs were such a wonderful record of the American Presidents and bearing in mind that it is the Queens Diamond Jubilee that I could not resist including them.
I don’t know about you, but I went OMG somewhere between Eisenhower andTruman.( P.S. After looking at this I am shocked at how long I’ve been around, too…)
IF YOU REMEMBER ALL OR MOST OF THESE PRESIDENTS, YOU’RE NO SPRING CHICKEN EITHER!
24 March 2012
Another bad night, basically because of pain in my hips and. buttocks. I am beginning to wonder whether it is possibly anything to do with sitting in the same position for around 11 hours each day as I am totally immobile and cannot even move a fraction in order to relieve the pressure at least. After a little bullying by me, the district nurse has persuaded the authorities that I qualified for a pressure cushion. I looked up the company on the net and see that the one I have in my wheelchair, which I’m temporally using in my lounger chair, is for someone classified as ‘low risk.’ On the same page is illustrated a similar cushion for a ‘high-risk’ patient which is unfortunately much, more expensive (around £640). Presumably,’ low risk’ patients are those who sit in the chair for prolonged periods but are able to get up, walk around from time to time and, most importantly of all, can move enough, from time to time, to change the pressure. On the other hand’ high-risk’ patients must be people like me, totally immobile, who cannot move a centimetre in order to relieve the pressure. Not surprisingly, after 11 or 12 hours in the same position on the same cushion, the last couple of hours can be very uncomfortable. I shall discuss this with the pain consultant during our telephone appointment, on 4 April, and, if there is any validity in my assumption, try to persuade the pain consultant to intervene and try to get me a higher quality cushion more in keeping with my condition.
Readers will recall my plea recently to sign a petition to be presented to the government to try to persuade them not to change the meaning of marriage. I had two reasons for adding my name to the petition. Firstly our present tax laws are more favourable for single people, with children, living together, than they are for a married couple with the same number of children.
Secondly, I am against the idea of calling a union between same-sex couples, marriage, although I have no strong views against some sort of civil contract so that the partners have some protection in the event of the death of the other partner or a breakdown in the relationship, after a number of years together.
One of our readers disagreed with me, which he is perfectly entitled to do, and against my practice of confining the comments to the end of the entry to which they apply (see 18 and 19 March 2012 entries), in this case I make an exception. In order to give balance to the discussion. I repeat here the precise content of his comment and leave it to the readers to make up their own mind on the issue.
This is what the reader said:
“The original purpose for a legal marrige still exists, but the SPIRITUAL aspects, or ideals, are no longer homogenous and heterosexual. The rub is that the LEGAL purpose for marriage still exists and gives preference or protection to those who are legally married. We don’t prevent a man and a woman from becoming legally married, even if they are not in love, will never have children or they are simply manipulating the system.
Conversely, when lifelong partners of the same sex who are responsible citizens ask for a marriage license they are denied. Even if we don’t recognize / legitimize their alternate lifestyle, we should consider and accommodate, if warranted, their legal rights”.
Another lovely warm day. Smiler and Kimberly came down for lunch and we were able to eat in the garden which was a real joy after being cooped up for what seemed to me to be an interminable winter – the warm sunshine was around 30% higher than the norm for this time of year and the garden was looking particularly well groomed.. It was lovely to see them both, looking well. Kimberly, the kindly, brought me a pineapple which in times past was a symbol, quite often carved in stone or moulded in concrete, perched on the top of the posts holding the entrance gate, as a traditional sign of welcome, so I suspect strictly the gift should be the other way around.
However much one feels like leaping out of the chair to go have a round of golf, in this perfect weather, and then remember you can’t move, that is the time, when one must remember that there is always somebody far worse off than yourself. This is well illustrated by the case of the armless man. Click here for an object lesson.
23 March 2012
Continuing the saga of the pressure cushion, about which I wrote yesterday, I rang the manufacturers but they were not a great deal of help. They didn’t seem to think it was necessary to adjust the pressure in the cushion, despite the weight loss, although they did appreciate that a cushion in the wheelchair could be different from the one in the lounger, because the base, on which the cushion sits, would be different in each case. I really would have thought that the manufacturers selling this special cushion at around £240 would have been more helpful concerning setting it up .
I then rang the MND helpline (0845) 762 6262, but, polite and kind as they were, they were no more help. I then tried my local representative who suggested I rang the MND helpline, but when I told him that I had already done so and they didn’t seem to know the answer, he said that I should insist on being put through to the equipment side. Fearful of upsetting my district nurse I decided against that course of action. My final call was to the suppliers of the chair only to be told that the I rang only to be told that they had lost the contract and it was now dealt with by the Essex Social Services. As I am unable to write and could not note the telephone number, he very kindly took the knows I’m a number and said he would get them to ring me. Pretty decent I thought considering they had lost the contract. I will persevere on this matter and let my readers know the outcome as there must be many other patients with the same problem.
A number of my readers might wonder why I am making such a fuss about this business. I can only say that unless you have been in the same position as I am, totally unable to shift your weight, after 10 or 11 hours in the same position it can become very uncomfortable on your bottom. This, even though I get hoisted out of the chair at midday and six o’clock, for a few moments, to relieve the pressure and perhaps have some, Conotrane massaged onto my bottom.
Almost to a man, today’s front pages of our national newspapers focused on the treatment of pensioners in yesterday’s budget. Quite simply the Chancellor decided to freeze the threshold above which pensioners would pay income tax. whereas he raised this threshold for other categories of taxpayer. This coupled with the reduction from 50 to 45p. in the pound for persons earning over £200,000 p.a. and a reduction in corporation tax, was manerr from heaven for the tabloid press. To As one politician put it, as Chancellor was like a Robin Hood but instead of robbing the rich to help the poor, he had done it the other way round, robbed the poor to pay the rich..
Not true, but with a great number of pensioners unable to understand how the tax was worked out it was not difficult to make ‘the man on the Clapham omnibus ‘ believe that this was the case.. In fact, no pensioner is one penny worse off it is only that they expected the threshold to rise and as it didn’t people are claiming that the pensioners are worse off by the amount they anticipated they would have been and the threshold being raised as expected.!
Having heard a number of old-age pensioners interviewed in the street, on this matter, I am convinced that most of them have no idea what the fuss is all about except that they had been told they are worse off and believed that to be so. Unfortunately a preponderance of old-age pensioners are probably conservative voters and this perfectly sensible move by the Chancellor at this time of credit squeeze will certainly have lost them a few votes, conveniently forgetting that it was a Labour Party who left the country virtually bankrupt. However, people’s memories are short and hopefully within 2 to 3 years, when the next election takes place, things will look a bit rosier.
You’ve probably heard the expression, the grass always looks greeneron the other side of the fence,. This can be particularly so in auster times, such as we are suffering from at present Click here for an object lesson in being thankful for what you got now.
22 March 2012
Another uncomfortable night in bed with sporadic periods of pain in the usual places. By now I would have hoped that the injections, I had at the pain clinic in Addenbrookes, would have kicked in. I suppose the alternative, if these injections have not done the trick, would be to increase the dosage of painkillers taken just before I go to bed. I shall put it to the pain consultant, Mark Abraham, when I see him within the next couple of weeks
T had he extraordinary thing about the joint pains is that they disappear completely once I am up so I was able to enjoy an absolutely beautiful spring day. I’m lucky to have a window, close to where I sit all day, overlooking our paddock and a small part of the garden Peter’ in the gardener’ afternoon gives a friendly tap on the glass when he passes by. Through this window I’m able to see what is going on and, in particular, the changing seasons. In just two days all the daffodils have suddenly burst into flower and the birds are busy courting and nest building, so as far as they are concerned spring has arrived. In fact, yesterday was officially the beginning of spring.
Claire, one of the district nurses, came again today to dress my sebaceous cyst. She was pleased with the progress of the draining but there still remains doubt as to whether regular dressing will clear it completely and, if not, then I fear it is another trip to hospital to have it cut out under local anaesthetic. While Claire was here I asked her about the pressure cushion that I had requested for my NHS lounger. She promised to chase it up but said that they were unable to recommend the top of the NHS range, inflatable Roho cushion until I had tried out the next one up, from that which I already have. Presumably it’s another sort of sponge.. Why should I qualify for the more expensive, Roho cushion in my wheelchair and not for the chair I sit in 11 to 12 hours a day seemed strange to me. (In fact, we have transferred the wheelchair cushion to the lounger, pro tem, as it seems to fit perfectly. I have noticed an improvement but even then during the last hour before I go to bed it starts to get very uncomfortable). In any event, I asked her if she could check if it was necessary to adjust the air, in the individual pockets, of the Roho wheelchair cushion as I suspect I have lost quite a lot of weight since the computer calculated my pressure points.
Hot on Claire’s heels came the optician knowing my new glasses.
A late afternoon telephone call from Claire, to say that she has been able, after all, to order a Roho for my NHS lounger. She also said that the suppliers have told her that it is unnecessary to change the pressure spots in the existing one, despite me having lost weight. This seemed strange to me, particularly as first time round they made me sit on a plastic sheet connected to their portable computer and from that they calculated what air to put in which cells. It’s not that I didn’t believe Claire but I was curious to satisfy myself on this point so I will give the manufacturers a ring tomorrow..
No doubt most of my readers have come across the arrogance of authority in one form or another. Click here to see how this gentleman got his comeuppance. I must stress that this has nothing to do with the substance of this particular entry. The people I have dealt with, including Claire the district nurse, could not have been kinder or more helpful.
21 March 2012
My mother and Richard were driven down from Church Stretton, Shropshire, today for lunch. It seems a very long way to come to such a short time but my mother is 95 and Richard only a couple of years younger, so from 12 to 3 was quite long enough for all of us.. Again we were extremely fortunate with the weather. It was a perfect spring day and the garden was looking particularly lovely although it was not quite warm enough for us to sit out. Richard was characteristically generous and bought me a bottle of Bollinger and for Alice a fine box of chocolates handmade in Church Streeton he did the same last time he came and we begged him not to do it again but how on earth can we stop him?!
Some good news, for a change. Mrs Tebbutt, who was snatched by Somalis from a luxury resort in Kenya after shooting her husband dead, was returned home yesterday, ostensibly after the family raised a substantial ransom. Alice was over the moon and she has felt an affinity this poor woman whom I wrongly suspected would have been murdered herself by now. I’m glad to say I was wrong. No doubt the full account of her ordeal will appear in the national newspapers and this is one occasion where I have no strong feelings against someone cashing in, hopefully, recouping sufficient to pay back the kind people who put up the ransom money.
Talking of money, today was Budget Day when the Chancellor .of The Exchequer spelt out the measures he is taking over the next 12 months or so in order to continue reducing GB.Ltd s indebtedness. Although he took measures to ease the financial burden on the very rich by reducing the top rate of income tax from 50 p in the pound to 45 p and neither one of them neither one of them helped the lower paid by increasing the amount they could earn before they paid tax, but he did nothing for the pensioners. By doing nothing, i.e. leaving the personal allowances untouched, where as other categories were all increased, he has left the pensioners hypothetically around £250 a year worse off which, to some folk, will be significant. Whilst I fully appreciate the reason for a tight budget I am at a loss to know quite why he singled out the pensioners as one of the losers.
Bearing in mind the number of pensioners, most of whom would probably traditionally vote Conservative, he has to be taking a bit of a risk by singling them out. Similarly I think he missed a trick when it came down to tax credits. These will only now be paid by people earning more than £60,000 per annum but he has not addressed the inequity of two people living together where their combined income may well exceed £100,000 but individually neither one of them earns £60,000, which perpetuates the problem that it is always financially beneficial not to get married.
This really has nothing to do with my problem but it amused me when I read it. The point being, have you ever wondered why English is the official language in the EU, why not French or German, after all we are not the most popular member of that particular club? Click here and find out how and why we ended up with English!
20 March 2012
Today is the last day of winter or looked at the other way the first day of spring. Why today? Well, when Julius Caesar established his calendar in 45 BC it set March 25 as the spring equinox – the time when the length of day and night are roughly equal. (is the Latin for equal) Between 4th and 16th century, the calendar drifted with respect, sites that it began occurring on or about March 21st. It was finally fixed for March 20 by being Gregorian calendar.
Today did not let us down, it was a lovely spring day falling on a Tuesday and I am delighted to say that I was able to go to the golf club, ride around the course, in my her as a electric wheelchair, then sit outside with a drink and a small cigar before going into lunch. Heaven! It was great seeing so many of my old pals again who as always generously made me very welcome particularly John Gray who not only fed me but also struggled to get my warm jacket on after lunch so I could enjoy another half-hour out in the sunshine.
Between leaving at 10 o’clock and returning at 3.30 the garden was transformed. Hundreds of daffodils and other spring flowers had opened up and the garden was a sight to see.
.Let us hope it is another nice day tomorrow for my mother and Richard’s visit.
I know that technology seems to throw up something new almost every day but. I was amazed when I saw a talking telephone on television. That is a telephone with which you can actually hold a conversation. It claims to have 695 million facts and growing all the time. However the conversation that was demonstrated did not confine itself to facts. For example, the demonstrator asked the telephone why it was called Evi, .answer’ Because my creators thought that that was a good name’, .
Talking of new ideas, yesterday, I received an e-mail, from one of my golfing buddies attached to which was a site of medical explanations. In fact the site is from the National Library of Medicine which is under the National Institute of Health, and as such, is from the US government. Basically it has a long list of ailments or illnesses from which to select. You merely click on it to get a video explanation. It uses animated graphics for each tutorial! On each procedure or condition the site has An Interactive Tutorial; a Self Playing Tutorial and the Text Summary Each illness or condition has simple to understand explanations under the following typical headings:
Introduction
Anatomy
Symptoms and Causes
Treatment Options
Preventative Measures
Surgical Treatment
Risks
After the Surgery
Summary.
A truly helpful for site which I intend to keep on my desktop. I suggest you either do that or add it to your favourites. You will find it extremely useful to understand precisely what is wrong with one of your friends when they are diagnosed with one of the listed conditions were illnesses. Incidentally MND is covered by
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Click here and see how useful this site is for your.
19 March 2012
The astute reader will realise that I wrote nothing yesterday on Mother’s Day. This should not be confused with Mothering Sunday, a Christian festival which falls on the fourth Sunday after Lent and is celebrated throughout Europe. In the UK however secularly in 17th or 18th century it became the only day that domestic servants were given off to visit their mother church with their own mother and other family members. It was it only day in the year when they were allowed off, as it was before the advent of holidays and on other occasions conflicting working hours often prevented the whole family getting together.
Today, Mother’s Day has little to do with the church and has traditionally become a day when children give cards and presents to their mother thanking them for the love and devotion they have shown them in the previous year
In the 1920s the tradition of observing Mothering Sunday lapsed but was r no evived by the American and Canadian Soldiers during World War II.
Mothering Sunday had continued to be celebrated by the Christian church but it was not until 1950 that merchants saw the commercial advantages of promoting Mothering Sunday and the secular celebration of Mother’s Day merged seamlessly into Mothering Sunday, although strictly they are not one of the same thing. As celebrations will take place on Wednesday, when my mother and Richard are driven down from Shropshire for lunch. I shall certainly give them a glass of champagne and hope that the weather is fine enough to sit in the garden.
Our two children dutifully sent greetings cards to their mother spelling out there deeply felt gratitude for being such a great mum. In Alice’s case the children have every reason for opening their hearts and pouring praise upon her. Of course, inevitably there is a Father’s Day which follows very much the same traditions as Mother’s Day. So far as I know this is a totally secular invention to exploit the commercial aspect. I am very fortunate as I see both children frequently. Chloe and her family were becoming to us for Good Friday will stop father, Karl, will then take them home leaving Chloe to spend a little time with us and returning to her home the following day.
Regular reader is will recall the Dr coming here on 14 March to cut a sebaceous cyst on my shoulder. Yesterday, the district nurse, Claire, came to dress it. However, she was not happy with what she saw and said it would need a further operation making a far deeper cut, under local anaesthetic, in order to get rid of all the oil and pus, as the wound was beginning to show signs of septicaemia. . She obviously thought there was a degree of urgency and suggested she would encourage the doctors come on Wednesday. However, we pointed out that my mother and Richard were coming that day, all the way from Shropshire and clearly we did not want to mess up those arrangements so it was left that she would try for Thursday. I just hope that Dr Lort is happy about carrying out this procedure in my study and will not insist that I either get myself to her surgery or Addenbrookes (both of which of course I could do, using Ollie)
I could not find anything vaguely appropriate for Mother’s Day so I chose this one. Click here to see It’s so good to have someone waiting at home for you.
18 March 2012
18 March 2012
Following on from my comments yesterday on Rees Mogg’s article in The Times, ‘ Protect traditional marriage for which children’s sake’, ‘my lovely’ presented me with a full-page advertisement from The Times, placed by Coalition for Marriage, claiming that 70% of people say keep marriage as it is. It goes on to say’ ‘.We agree politicians should not be meddling with one of our great national institutions. 190,000 people have sigmed our petition in favour of keeping the definition of marriage unchanged. Whilst fully recognising the rights and views of others, we’re asking you to support us. If you want to keep the true meaning of marriage as it is, and has been for thousands of years say “I do” – by signing our petition at C4M.org.uk. It concludes with the following exhortation.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION. Visit c4m.org.uk today.
Alice and I, intended to sign the petition. I did so first but when it came to Alice, as she had no e-mail address of her own, and they refused to accept mine on her behalf, she was unable to sign the petition and added her voice to the 240,000 or so other people who feel strongly about the subject. Shere must be thousands of elderly people who have experienced the value of marriage over a long period, who feel strongly about this and would like to add their voice to the exhortation but are unable to due to the lack of an e-mail address. I think it is an impertinence to suggest that everybody should have an e-mail address. No doubt the petition was drafted by a young person. It is the same as someone you have just met asking for your mobile telephone number and then looking at you as though you live on a different planet because you do not have one. Again a great number of elderly people do not have a mobile telephone number by choice. Why should people assume that everyone has one? Anyway in such a survey the promoters will lose a few thousand votes but we have done our best to support it. I think there’s another petition in here somewhere if the petitioners have enough energy to pursue it!