Richard Baum

It was my Mum’s birthday this week, and she wanted to do what every middle aged lady / five year old boy in the land wants to do - go to the zoo! So that’s what we did today, getting up close and personal with a number of hairy beasts. Usually weekend encounters like that don’t take place until the early hours of Sunday morning and after I’ve had a bit too much to drink, but today I was safe because they were behind electrified fences and were, on the whole, not intent on inviting me back to their place via the late bus.

What I really should’ve been doing today instead was putting my serious head on and undertaking some leaflet-related chores about Prestwich and Whitefield. But the lure of the lemurs was too much, and so I’ve had to postpone all things political until this evening.

Aside from writing this blog tonight, I’ve been proof-reading a new Focus newsletter for a ward in Bury North which we hope to put out soon. I’ve also been chasing up a bit of casework, particularly around town centre litter. As I explained the other day, there have been some notable improvements recently, but there are still some hot grot spots to deal with, and one local resident has become my photographer-in-chief. She spots ‘em, I report ‘em, and then after some prodding and one of my angry looks, the Council clean ‘em! And she’s spotted some more today which, whilst disappointing evidence that the cleaning still isn’t totally up to scratch, is good news because now it’ll be dealt with.

Also today I’ve been chasing up a fairly desperate situation for one elderly lady in the ward who’s garden has turned into something of a bog, potentially because of a leaking sewage pipe. This is obviously something that needs solving very soon, so I’ve been talking to the Council about water sample testing and the swift fixing of pipes. I know more about sewage leaks than I did this morning, that’s for sure! And I’m not sure I like it!

There are plenty of jokes and puns to be made about a 28 year old spending his weekend evenings like that. Sadly none of them are printable on a respectable blog. Or even on this one. Suffice to say that it’s not really a great way to spend a Saturday night! I hope any people reading this are having more fun!

Rick