Spring has sprung (or something)

After the whinges of the last few enties a positive note.
I've got Blackbirds nesting in my garden,the daffs are in full bloom
and I have seen about 8 different species of birds on the feeders and bird table. One sour note was a rat decided to pay a visit! So just bear in mind when you put food out for the birds, try and keep it off the ground and up on a bird table. Make it difficult for the rats and if you see any get in touch with the council, not the HHS office they can't help.
Although it's a little way ahead there will be a lack of entries on the blog during late April and again at the end of May beginning of June. Mrs Spook and I are going to spirit ourselves away for a well earned break (well thats my excuse anyway).
There will be a reminder nearer the time but with all my thouseands of readers (?) I don't want you to be too disappointed.
You never know there may even be an entry from the Great Lakes and Niagra, if your really unlucky.
May the sun continue to shine and get dark at least once a day so the Spook can come out to play.

Cambridge Spooked

Cambridge Spooked

Its spooky - I've cracked it

After all these years I have now realised that all it takes to be a a member of parliament is the ability to stand up in the the house, spout on for over an hour and says absolutely nothing other than promise to rip off a few more tax payers.

As usual old "Prudence" has got it wrong! He is going to increase the excise duty on the good old Chelsea Tractor. Big deal, but has he not realised that there are two different beasts lurking under the same skin. The truth is the difference between the V8 4.2 Range Rover and the TDV6 are as different as chalk and cheese. This applies to other models not just the ones mentioned

I had the dubious pleasure of taking two of the new Landrover sport vehicles to Glasgow several weeks ago. The first week it was the V8 4.2 and used over £140 pounds of petrol, yet two weeks later I took the oil burner TDV6 on an almost identical trip, drove it exactly the same way and arrived with over half a tank of fuel left. Yet under Prudence's plan the owners of both will have to pay the increased duty, WHY?

Don't get me wrong I am not a supporter of these vehicles. Using a small bus to take the kids half a mile to school is totally ludicrus.

Another consideration is that if you can afford £72000 to by one of these things, a extra few quid on the duty will achive absolutely nothing, except raise of few more bob for him to waste on some other pet project.

What about the pensioners? It never ceases to confuse me how quickly you forget. Only very recently He gave you a 75p rise in your pension, yet given the promise of jam tomorrow, you all vote for them again!

We all complain about rent rises, where do they come from? Not your landlord, but by direct instruction of the office of the deputy prime minister, Johnny 2 Jags, to the National Housing Federation. Who, when told to jump ask "How High". Never why!

With the number of stealth taxes introduced by this government I am suprised anyone can afford to live.

Its real spooky around here, I keep right up to date with the latest news. Has any one read the bar room banter in tonights (21st) CEN page 21?

Has the world gone mad? Everyone want more money for rent,water, gas,electricity you name it they want more.
Does our income match these demands, of course not.

The way things are going there will be more people on benefit because they earn less than £30000 a year but still need to pay the basic bills of living.

Mr Prudence Brown will no doubt screw even more of our hard earned cash out of us tomorrow. Just think what he will inflict on us when he becomes Prime Minister, god forbid.

Another bone of contention is the "Key Worker" issue. Has no one considered that the real "key workers" are the cooks, porters, cleaners that keep these essential services moving and earn a pathetic wage in return. Do they get preferential treatment when it comes to housing, not on your sweet life.
Johnny 2 Jags has decreed that all rents are to be at a commercial rate. Who decides what is a commercial rent. Is it the rip off merchants that buy up property and then charge why over the odds for what is frequently sub standard property. Or could it be that those in politics on grossly inflated incomes have totally lost touched with reality. Mind you if anyone out there has a few million that they could lend the spook for a new polictical party I'm all ears.
Spook

Its that time of year again

I guess just like us, you have received the latest demand for money from our local authorities. While we all agree that services have to be paid for, but when you look at the unbelievable degree of waste and wasted money that our councils spend, you should start to think "hang on there baby" why?
Have you ever asked a a local polition why such and such is being done in our city? If you do, I bet most of the time the answer would be "well its not us, its the county council/goverment" or any other excuse that springs to mind at the time. If its not the city council then why do we have one? Save money and just have one council to run the entire county. Look at the mess South Cambs have got themselves into and who is going to pay for it? There is only one answer and it aint difficult to figure it out.
Any thoughts contact the Spook, thats what I'm here for

The story begins

The first entry on to the Spooks blog site is are you happy if not why not?
Over the next few days and weeks we will spirit you into the world of happiness or not as the case may be.
If you are unhappy with some aspect of Cambridge life or HHS. put your comments (clean please) on here. Let us work on the assumption that if we work on and discuss problems together we might find and suitable solution to our mutial benefit.
The Spook

My mission

Hey,

My name is Spook. Well, that's not my real name. My real name is a secret.

My name is a secret because I don't really exist. I am an imaginery character, an observer of life. Specifically, an observer of life in Cambridge (UK). Even more specifically, I am a tenant of the Hundred Houses Society - a Cambridge-based social housing association.

My mission is simply to observe and report on the everyday issues of ordinary folk. The ordinary folk in this case are the tenants and residents of the Hundred Houses Society.

My objective is to establish an online presence for us folk, and hopefully to create a bit of an online community for us, and for anyone with an interest in life in Cambridge.

My (imaginery) life will be much easier and more fulfilling if other people join in. So - if you are a fellow tenant or resident of the Hundred House Society, or a Cambridge resident, or anyone at all with anything to say - please join in. Please comment, ask me questions, and contribute.

Keep checking back here, and keep in touch.

Spook