It's an interesting point, but it does also raise the question, WHO can actually afford it? The reality is, very few of us could. I flatter myself that I earn a pretty decent salary in comparison with my peers, and yet I know that if I have to pay for one of my parents to go into a nursing home, I'd be left with almost nothing. Both parents, forget it. So then the other option is to bring them into your own home, as would have been done historically. But you still need carers etc, as how many families can afford to have one adult staying at home as a carer? Most families are struggling with 2 working adults bringing wages in! Except we don't have travelling carers, and arguably that also makes the argument FOR nursing/care homes, by centralising care you can reduce the manpower, and therefore cost required. It's all a bit of a Catch 22 really. I do however fully support your idea of councils owning care homes. This is part of the problem, we have allowed private companies to take a service industry and turn it into a profit making business that only serves to benefit shareholders. Getting rid of the "profit" and the shareholders would go some ways to reducing overall costs.

Few years ago, I ordered  a special bottle for my aficianado son.   I had it delivered to me, but he couldn't come for Xmas, so I posted it on, in the same packaging.  It came by ParcelForce, the Post Office's subsidiary, and I took it to a local Post Office to send. It never arrived.  Then I got a letter from.the PO, to tell me that I had posted a forbidden substance,  strong alcohol.   Consequently my package had been seized and destroyed!     Destroyed, my *rs*.    I bet that some PO sorter enjoyed a bottle of Suntory that Xmas! John

I had a vintage bottle of Calvados go missing at Christmas, Royal mail said it was delivered and included a tiny photo of the corner of a door. I must have looked a wally as I compared every door on our street to the photo, no joy. The company who sent it couldn't be more helpful and filled out a enquiry with RM. RM got back to them promptly and said they would send the driver back to my house and show where it was delivered. The funny thing, a week later the company phoned me and said that RM had come to my address and re-delivered it to the correct address... The photo proof, another random door that wasn't mine 

Progress!  A meeting of the local TSSC brain trust pointed out that my issues were extremely similar to what you'd expect from an intermitent signal from a poor connetion or broken wire.  Despite having convinced myself I'd checked off all the basics, it turns out that under the strain relief boot there were some joints which look to have been soldered under some heat shrink and I guess one of those was intermittent. I have replaced the connector, crimped onto good cable and a bit of idling suggests the spurious high rpm nonsense signals have gone away.  Maybe I'll get out in it for a full test tomorrow evening. There's a saying that if you hear hoofbeats look for horses, not zebras.  I think I might have got carried away on a mental safari 😂

Hopefully just a soot trail running down!

Is that a crack running vertically down the middle.   Roger

It often does and I have my fair share

That's one trick machine, many moons ago I tried a fixie on the track, it ended up in some nasty wood burns. Talent ran out very quickly 

Floor down and walls going up.