Coping strategy

I had a bath this morning. I doubt I am any cleaner than the extensive soap and flannel body wash I had standing on one leg each day since I left hospital after my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee operation on Monday. But I feel completely different.

And how you feel is vital. When you have an injury, illness or something else that knocks you back – especially as a freelance, potentially alone for long periods – you need a strategy to cope. Continue reading

Mark Watts’ error

Mark Watts’ McCarthyite attack on Rich Simcox as a candidate for the National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ’s) editor was a strange and misguided mistake.

I woke in hospital from my knee operation on Tuesday to two items of bad news: Watt’s email and the fact that my knee was worse than expected, I had lost my cartilage and I had arthritis.

The knee will get better. I am not sure Watts will. Continue reading

Alternative vote

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) ballot to elect an editor for The Journalist is run by the electoral reform society using the alternative vote system, (called instant run-off voting in the US).

This is the single transferable voting system for when there is only one elected position – a variation of which elected Boris Johnson mayor or London.

Continue reading