"Doctors told to honour "human value" of patients with dementia."

The Mail,20 June 2018.If only Labour took the  "human" value of patients  with dementia into account  when they introduced The Court of Protection.The way The Court operated when I had  to deal with them was the most disgraceful,utterly despicable way a human being  can be mistreated.There has been a lot of justified bad publicity in recent years about this Court and I do hope things have changed but I do not hold my breath.If the old layabouts who go to The House Of Lords to eat,sleep and be merry and even after just signing their name  walk out with almost £400 attendance  fee,and we pay for the privilege,could they not at least do something for the ill and vulnerable and bring pressure on the Government  to overhaul this blot on the legal horizon.
And isn't it heartbreakingly sad that  the  doctors have to be TOLD to treat the  patients with dementia in  a decent way.

To the 71 countries and territories I have visited I must add one more,Crete.

Was there about six years ago when cruising the Med on the Queen Elizabeth, or was it the Queen Victoria?Near the port came across a tiny shop with the most  enchanting window display - jewellery of all kind,nothing too fancy,nothing too glittery,I walked inside this  treasure trove of unusual items.A silversmith sitting, working on a necklace.I said good-morning and smiled, he smiled back.You have the most beautiful shop,but I do not want to buy anything, I just would like to look around, may I,please?Yes, of course.There was nothing I did not like. Did you  make everything yourself, I asked. Yes.  You are a master craftsman,I said. A set of silver earrings and a ring I liked the most, there was something childlike about them, the beauty  was in  the design, simple,yet utterly exquisite.I could not take my eyes off them. Why don't you buy them,suggested the craftsman.It is too expensive for me,oh, they are worth every  cent, but I do not have enough money.I must have been in the shop good 10 minutes,then thanked him and walked out. About twenty meters down the road I felt a touch on my arm. It was the shop owner., These are for you, they have been waiting for you.he said and handed me a box containing the earrings and the ring.Pay me what you can, he added.I  knew at that very moment I could not insult him and  say no.He wanted me to have his creations,because  he could see how much I appreciated his work,he knew I would always  treasure what he had  put his heart and skill into. I emptied my purse into his palm, about 40 euros.  People can be infinitely kind.

I must add one more country to the 70 I have visited already,

it is Montenegro.Years ago, while at university, I spent two weeks in Petrovac. Not giving it much  thought any longer I have kind of presumed Petrovac is in Croatia,it is, in fact,in Montenegro. After the political and territorial changes in Yugoslavia, Montenegro is now an independent state.

There are 195 countries in the world,

Taiwan is not officially recognized by all, so this would bring it down to  194.
The United Nations has  193  member countries and 2 non-member observer countries ,The Holy See and The State of Palestine.
The Travellers Century Club  lists on 01.01.2018            327 countries and territories.
There are 1400 people worldwide registered with    The TCC,   who have visited at least 100 countries.

Today,1.1 2020, I can say with some pride, that I have now been to 89 countries.

Jesse Simon Gordon

who also calls himself William Baekeland and claims to be an English aristocrat,heir to a billion £ fortune, is a Walter Mitty character, who had fooled the sharpest minds three times his age. The master criminal in the making, when he was  22  he claimed he had studied in North Korea,[ NORTH KOREA,this should have rang the bells!], Switzerland, Monaco,visited 154 countries, piloted planes, trains, automobiles, all this by the age of 22, 22, for cry now loud! And the wealthy travellers from all over the world believed every single word of his and handed him what comes to half a million £ to organize extreme travel tours for them.That they will never see a penny of their money they have come to terms with.That they allowed this baby-faced conman to rip them off is embarrassment they will be digesting and living down for a long time yet. How could they have been so gullible? But then some people have more money than sense.

I must be a glutton for punishment.

Have cruised on Ventura three times in as many years. I remember clearly how dirty the area around the outside pool was when on board the very first time,stale filthy water not draining off from the guttering,rubbish not swept,I commented on it to a member of staff,he looked at me blankly and walked away.I had this overwhelming sense of grubbiness all around, yet I,a stickler for hygiene, still managed to have a lovely time,I just had to close my eyes to a lot of shortcomings. The second time on board last year in June I had a cabin on the top floor, kind of askew,the whole side of the ship spread ahead of me. I loved it.The ship was not any cleaner, the attitude of the staff any more eager,but yet again I had a lovely time. Now I am on board for the third time!Yep,a glutton for punishment,me!There was dust around my two TV sets on 21 April,today there is quite a sediment.I wiped all the drawers and shelves I wanted to use,they were dirty.The wardrobe mirror had nasty finger marks on.The bed in my superior deluxe cabin is the worst I have slept on,two single beds pushed together. Towels are harsh but the large ones are very large and that is how I like them. There is a shower fitting in the bath tub and here is where the magic happens - water is always hot and the flow powerful,I love to feel it on my back and alternate hot and cold. The carpet in the stateroom seems to be new,the fluff is coming off as I walk. The tables up and down the ship in all the dining venues are never clean,even now as I write am looking at the crumbs I had brushed to one side. The overwhelming sense of grubbiness around me prevails as it had the last year and the year before that. Yet in spite of everything I have had a lovely time and being a glutton for punishment am very likely going to be back again! Because Ventura offers a lot to make me happy,good food and decent entertainment.

La Coruna,you were so spick and span yesterday,you almost took my breath away.

No smell of urine in the port,no condoms, no cigarette butts covering the pavement next to a restaurant I pass on the way to Calle Real.You have so much going for you and the best thing of all is your patisserie La Gran Atilla on Rua Riego De Agua. I only discovered this little treasure about three years ago and now every time I come to La Coruna, I go there for the best coffee in town and the as light as a feather carrot cake. The baker is a genius, a slight sprinkling of sugar all over the top gives crunchiness to this exquisite deliciousness. I do not go on bus tours any longer,as have seen almost everything there is to see in town and its surroundings. Have been there many times, the first time in December 2010, the last time in December 2017,twice - when returning from the South America/Caribbean cruise on Columbus and again at Christmas on the Queen Victoria. The weather was not on our side yesterday,it rained all morning,it is very wet in this part of Spain and my plans for the day went out of the window.Wanted to walk to the Torre de Hercules lighthouse [I did see it from a distance during my first tour of the town,but wanted to go inside, it was built in the second century A.D. and it is believed to be the only working Roman lighthouse],but it was cloudy all afternoon,too, and I thought it best to make myself busy near the ship,so after my visit to the patisserie I popped in some shops. They have Bimba and Lola boutique in town,founded, like Zara, in Spain,but much more expensive.I bought a suede pair of shoes there,have been looking for something black,simple and smart on a low heel for a long time now and finally have walked out of a shop with it.