Friday 21 January 2011

comings and goings

It's been a busy week, one way or another.  


I spent Monday working in London, familiarizing myself with places I'll be discussing in hearings in a few weeks time.  


Wednesday evening we went out for a splendid meal with friends and said a fond farewell (well, more of an au revoir I hope!) to Ian who is traveling back to Vietnam today.  He left us with a tempting invitation to go sailing in Indonesia latter in the year........


Yesterday, we were in Bristol, me for a work-related meeting, Steve to visit his mum, pay a return trip to the SS Great Britain to take photos in the wonderful light and to collect some prints from the Royal Photographic Society offices in Bath.


I think yesterday's traveling has caught up with Steve today - he's had a nap this afternoon and is feeling a bit flat (but that's probably frustration because he STILL hasn't finished his accounts, in spite of being almost there.....) Hopefully, tomorrow will lift him up again, with a day of socializing and culture.  


Our friends Anne and Colin are making a return visit to Oxford to see some more of the Ashmolean Museum in the morning and we'll join them a nostalgic visit to the University and Pitt Rivers Museums in the afternoon.  The socializing will be around meal times, no doubt!  


Our barrister will be coming to Oxford next Friday to represent Steve at the case management meeting about his damages claim. We are waiting to hear whether or not Steve's presence will be required.  I'm not sure what is going to happen at the meeting, other than that our team will be asking for leave to take samples from the former Polytechnic (now University) building where Steve was involved in demolition works as an architectural student back in the early 70s. 


By this time next week, we will know the Judge's decision on that matter, if nothing else.  I still find it hard to understand why the University will not cooperate with the request for two samples to be tested, given that it denies the presence of asbestos.  Still, I assume it's par for the course in cases like this. 


That said, our experience to date is nothing like the struggle in Australia between the firm of James Hardie and the many victims of asbestos-related disease who worked for the company.  If you have a few minutes to spare, watch the video "Running up that hill - Tribute to Bernie Banton" Bernie led and won the fight for compensation.  He was born in the year before Steve.  He died in 2007, just 103 days after being diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma.  There is a link to the video on the right under WATCH.  Please do.



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