Omar's Diary to 31st January 24

Christmas and New Year are well behind us as well as the month of January.

My most memorable present last year came from one of my Servants' friends. Bearing in mind my sophistication, knowledge and ability to turn a good phrase every so often, I think it was chosen extremely well. I will let you decide if it is suitable or not. It has pride of place above my dining area here at Omar Towers.

Two of our very dear friends are taking their son to New Zealand for a trip of a lifetime. Man and Lady Servant thought it would be good idea to buy a personalised luggage label for him with a strong dinosaur logo on it. Lady servant duly ordered the label. A few days later Man Servant received a picture of the young man holding a new toilet brush and looking very confused. Man Servant explained to his mother what had happened.

As well as ordering the label to be sent to the young man's home Lady Servant also ordered a new toilet brush. But when ordering she omitted to change the delivery address back to Omar Towers. Late yesterday we were much relieved when we saw that the label had arrived in plenty of time to be attached to the luggage.

This must have been so much easier than attaching a toilet brush don't you think? And less problematic, especially when progressing through check in at the airport. The lesson to learn from this is to never order anything from Amazon late at night. (Three days for a toilet brush and four for a luggage label from South America is amazing.)

Everyone here at Omar Towers was relieved to hear that the prostate cancer Man Servant was diagnosed with before Christmas is manageable with medications and a treatment called 'radiotherapy'. He is already on his medications which sometimes make him feel more tired than usual. Another of the side effects he was warned about was mood swings including grumpiness. To be honest we haven't really noticed any difference.

I know he likes Radio's Three and Four from the BBC. If that is what the treatment involves I am sure he will be very happy to go through with it.

Neither of the Servants can fault the NHS for how they have dealt with this health issue. Appointments and treatments have happened to a very tight schedule and as never cancelled. The support beyond those moments has been second to none. It just makes us wonder how much more the NHS could achieve if it was properly resourced in terms of money and able to plan for the needs of the population without staff shortages and strikes.

These industrial disputes that not only affect the NHS and the railways have gone on for far too long and been far too disruptive to the health, life and prosperity of the nation.

Man Servant was regaling the other day about how in the 1960's things like this were handled so differently. He remembers black and white footage of news about national strikes on the news. He says that quite often it would show a delivery of crates of beer and trays of sandwiches arriving at 10 Downing Street. They were followed by various leaders involved in the dispute and by morning when the beer and sandwiches were finished the dispute would have been resolved.

The Government are the ultimate owners of the health service and the transport infrastructure. Therefore it is their ultimate responsibility to make sure they are fully functioning for the overall health and prosperity of the nation. So, why aren't they doing this now?

Granted it would not involve beer and sandwiches. In keeping with the times the delivery would involve Prosecco and canapes. Or, are the powers that be too worried about news of more drink and food being consumed at the heart of Government would run the risk of incurring fixed penalty fines.

I am sure Larry, the Downing Street feline, would make everyone welcome especially as it could only result i9n a positive outcome for everyone.