30 September (Part 1) - Earthquake hits Bexley
It is fortunate that no one has ever asked what this website is here for
because there could be no simple answer. There must be a dozen contributory
reasons but a personal one has always been the sense of mischievous delight that
comes from entering “Bexley council” into Google and seeing the words “dishonest,
incompetent, vindictive” right under Bexley council’s own entry. The position
occasionally bobs around for a day, Google’s algorithms are hard to fathom, but
it is generally as shown below.
What has always been a mystery is why typing in “Bexley council” produced a good
result but “Bexley” alone didn’t. “Bexley” was lucky to get Bonkers on to Google
Page 4. But that problem is now solved, a “Bexley” search now generally puts
Bonkers above Bexley NHS, Bexley Adult College, Bexley Conservatives (Google
Page 7). It still bobs around a bit, today is different from yesterday, but
Google now makes its contribution to Bexley council’s
world-wide reputation whatever the search criterion.
Google fooled me earlier this week. It sent me an Alert to the fact that Bexley
council was cutting the pay for its top executives. The council’s grant had been
slashed and it needed to cut costs and was keen to set a good example to residents it said.
• Several director positions have been eliminated.
• Director salaries have been reduced in many instances.
• Staff has been reduced in the Service and Parks and Recreation departments.
But it turned out to be
Bexley, Ohio.
There is another Bexley in New Zealand. It was wrecked by last September’s
earthquake. I have a very distant (in genealogy terms) relative who lives there.
She emails about twice a week to tell me how the town is recovering. Basically
it isn’t. It has suffered after shocks and new quakes every day and no one has
had a decent night’s sleep for a year. Sewer systems have been raised above
house level and in one part of town almost 90% of the houses have been
ear-marked for demolition. Vindictive,
anti-democratic Bexley council could do with a good shake too.
I
promised something relatively frivolous for the end of the month and there it is. Normal
service will resume next week with something about mayor Ray Sams.