Solution to world diesel shortage

Requisition all of McDonalds' BIODIESEL from recycled cooking oil. 

Prof. Kronk

NHS waiting times in A&E - a proposal

It’s urgent for pressure to be taken off A&E departments which are currently overwhelmed. My suggestion is for two streams following triage. There *seems to be* only one stream following triage at present, with the most serious cases being treated first. But queue theory shows that this will result in thousands more hours waiting time than if a small number of doctors could be allocated to an additional stream that treated patients on a different sequence, based on which would be the quickest ones to treat, dealing with simpler and lower priority problems.

At present the waiting rooms are full to overflowing, speaking from a lot of experience in different London NHS hospital A&E departments, namely Northwick Park, Charing Cross and St Mary’s. The waiting time clocked up by those lower-priority patients is enormous, compared to little for the very serious, of course. Since the high priority are dealt with comparatively quickly, total waiting time can only be reduced by processing the lower priority ones immediately. This can be done by sending them to a different department. They would not have to wait while the high priority patients take hours and hours to be processed. Don’t think of it as a hospital treating low priority patients faster, think of it as two separate departments or hospitals. So after triage, you get sent to either “St Peter’s” or “St Paul’s”, as it were.

To visualise how that helps, think about waiting in line at a local Post Office where there is only one counter attendant. Maybe you have a parcel to send, or want to buy stamps – something simple. Probably most of the people in line also need something quick and easy. But there are also some in line, one at the front probably at any given time, whose business with the cashier takes ages and ages. He has a sack of parcels, is changing a lot of money, or has other complex dealings. You might be familiar with this scenario.

Now imagine if, on top of that, there were a triage system on entry to the same Post Office and it was setup so that the people who needed the most time at the counter had to be served first while the rest had to wait. Those who had what would be the quickest tasks would be made to wait till last.

And not only that but all the while, people with more time-consuming tasks for the Post Office cashier continue to come in and get sent to the front of the queue, so the quick task people may never get served at all. That is what’s happening in A&E’s now.

One anecdote I can cite as evidence that this is true. I was waiting in my GP’s waiting room and two or three other people were sitting close by. We didn’t mind because my GP at that time afforded plenty of time to each patient. I overheard the man sitting next to me, whom I didn’t know, telling his neighbour that he’d spent all night in an A&E waiting room – he actually said “24 hours” – and had given up. So what? you might ask. His complaint, which he mentioned, was “a sore throat”.

They rightly don’t allow filming or photographing in the waiting rooms but you really should see how bad it is at any hour in Northwick Park, which I think is the busiest of all. But also the others are overwhelmed too. Charing Cross hasn’t got enough space to seat all waiting. Getting through triage there only gets you into another separate waiting room “of the blessed” if I may be a little bit funny about it, though it isn’t.

None of this is the fault of the staff. They are heroic. So please give every triage room the option of sending their client to “St Peter’s” or “St Paul’s”.

Stephen Moran 

Yvette Cooper, Gareth Thomas MP, Andy Burnham and others please copy.

The scene this evening

Wood End Road, Harrow, 27 August 2026

 

Example of AI error

Here you see a screen grab of Google Lens "AI Overview" misidentifying a street. It is not the street it names and nowhere near. Now imagine this instead saying "This is an enemy barracks" and the Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump bombing a girl's school in Iran and killing a hundred young schoolgirls. 

Photo: Contrary to the "AI Overview" the photo is not "Rectory Road in Grays Essex", it's Wood End Road, Harrow. AI is unreliable and deadly dangerous.

Your new view

Corner of South Vale and Greenford Road, Harrow, 12 August 2026

Safe guess the people in the houses opposite are not thrilled with the new view from their front doors.

Hosepipe ban -v- School playing fields

Affinity Water watering the John Lyon school playing fields. Some sports surfaces have exemption from the hosepipe bans.

Rapid EV charging - Sudbury Hill Harrow

A disused car park on the corner of South Vale and Greenford Road, Harrow has been converted into a charging station with space for 10 cars. The sign says "up to 300 kw ultra rapid charging". The car park belonged to the now burnt out Rising Sun inn across the road.

Night driving and the novel

Link to Bluesky

Event Photographer required

 

More Voi and Lime eBike hazards

Greenford Road, Monday 13 July 2026

Greenford Road, Monday 13 July 2026

The usual undocked eBike chaos and hazard for passersby on the path by the bike lane. Also note the floating bus stop on one side. Are you actually trying to kill people? Ealing Council please ban these undocked bikes.

Reflecting the Reflecting Pool

Willesden Herald Exclusive

The new colour ("color" in the US) is officially to be known as "covfefe".

From SJMoran on Bluesky

Fame at last (or hallucination?)

AN "AI OVERVIEW" OF "THE THOUGHTS OF RED WOODWARD"

[QUOTE]

"The thoughts of Red Woodward" typically refer to the humorous, cynical, and observational aphorisms of Irish writer and wit Redmond Woodward. His musings cover everything from the absurdity of life to the futility of certain self-help concepts, often balancing dark humor with sharp truths.

APHORISMS AND OBSERVATIONS

Some of his most notable recorded thoughts include:

- On Life and Guilt: "In life, you either do something and feel guilty about it, or do nothing and feel guilty about it. There is no in-between."

- On Waiting and Doing: "There's no such thing as waiting. You are either doing something useful or you are doing something useless."

- On Modern Wellness: "Meditation? It's a racket."

- On Creative Tastes: "Minimalism is the biggest load of crap ever."

- On Mortality: "You can put me in a box when I pop my clogs but not before."

CULTURAL CROSSOVER

The name Red Woodward is sometimes confused with a few other notable cultural figures:

The Musician: Red Woodward was a bandleader for the country and western swing band Red Woodward and His Red Hawks, who were popular in the American Southwest during the 1940s.

The Politician: Councillor Woodward, a local political figure, made headlines for his own "thoughts on the Red Wall" regarding the decline and political shifts in working-class, post-industrial areas of the UK, such as St Helens.

[UNQUOTE]

It's a shame that this Irish writer and wit is sometimes confused with other notable cultural figures. Yes, I am sometimes confused. So there you have it folks, "Man Bites Dog". AI Overview link to see for yourself 

Redmond Woodward

Omnibus donkeybus Willesdensis

When someone brought a donkey upstairs on the number 8 omnibus to Willesden

Chiltern Line view today

Chiltern Line train going away east, not stopping just passing by Sudbury Hill Harrow station in the distance. By the way, if you look very closely, you can always see a bit of the Wembley arch from this viewpoint.

AI: "Rubbish in, rubbish out"

“Voi” eBike pavement hazard

Before

After

So, the eBike that's been lying on the pavement like that for at least three days in quite a hazardous way for certain people... I took it upon myself to move it aside today. Photos before and after. (Ed.)

Tuesday's ebikes

Now imagine you are visually impaired or even just make a misstep, perhaps in the dark. “Be a good citizen and lift them up and move them”? Have you ever tried to lift one of those things? They’re very heavy. And dirty, of course, as you can imagine in this foul weather of late. (Ed.)

Kid’s Songs and Games, Belfast 1971

Lots of wonderful songs and games from the streets of Belfast 1971. Absolutely superb. Do these songs and games still exist? How much poorer we are now, if all the children have are phone screens with artificial rubbish.

Happy New eBikes (?)

Greenford Road near Sudbury Hill, Saturday 10 January 2026

These "Voi" brand eBikes are blocking the pavement beside the busy A-road.

The Voi (on this occasion) eBikes are also partially obstructing the service road.

Ealing Council please take note.

Click the eBikes tag to see our previous posts about eBike hazards and nuisance.

Happy and Peaceful Christmas to all

Crowded eBikes blocking footpath - Greenford Road

Greenford Road 12 December 2025

This crowd of "Voi" and "OnLime + Uber" ebikes completely blocked the footway for pedestrians today, forcing them into a bike lane. A bike lane! They are dumped near an official parking place for them but there are too many to fit in that space.

Viewed from the other side

Update: It's no better today.

Sunday 14 December 2025

"The Blue of You" by Amanda Huggins

In my office at Herald House (SM)

What happens when you go back to your hometown after many years away and find that everything you thought you knew about people has gone adrift and all you feared, everyone you loved, and the town itself is different but only to you. You had it all wrong. And there is newness in the old place, new people and new decisions to be made.

A book about love and loss, exile and return. You may recognise some of the chapters from stories first published right here in Stories of the Month. It’s a page turner from Amanda Huggins.

Buy from Waterstones or direct from Northodox Press or all online booksellers.

Stephen Moran

The Grand Union canal at Ladbroke Grove

Afternoon, Thursday 13 November 2025

 

Willesden Sports Centre by moonlight, 2009

Photo, 2 November 2009

WB Yeats "The O'Rahilly" set to music of a sort (demo)

Follow this link to see what that moonlighting so-and-so has to say about chords(?). How he has time to do all this while supposedly working for me, I really cannot fathom. Feargal, any thoughts? (Red)