Fitness For Duty Form 2020: Fill & Download for Free

Question: Will Prince Charles die of the coronavirus?It’s possible.After all, he’s 71, which is within the age range of the majority of COVID-19 deaths in Europe so far. He also may have other underlying illnesses which may exacerbate it, he’s a well-known follower of homeopathic medicines which are nearly useless, and his duties and travel schedule may not allow him to get the proper amounts of rest. He may need to take it easy for the next few weeks and months to ensure that if he does become symptomatic that he’s able to fight off the infection.On the plus side:He’s an extremely wealthy man and so he can afford top notch medical care and the most effective medications.He’s the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom and that will make it likely that the government will do everything possible to ensure his survival.His children and his parents are also extremely wealthy and they will do almost everything within their power to ensure his survival.He appears to be fit for a man of his age, and that seems to be a positive when suffering from this disease.He’s never suffered a serious illness during his adult life. That is certainly a testament to a strong constitution, and his being concerned about his personal health.Yes, Prince Charles could die from coronavirus.But his general state of health, his tremendous wealth, and his prominence within his society make it unlikely that he will do so, barring unforeseen circumstances.

My personal struggle.Almost every police officer who graduates from a police academy is usually in the best shape of their life. The transformation from a physically fit officer to, well jumbo officer takes years.Look at the photograph, which is not me! Do you think this officer could run from his car, 50 yards to a house, and then run-up two flights of stairs and physically engage and overpower an assailant?I seriously doubt it. An officer in this condition is likely to suffer a heart attack during an event such as I described. It’s hard to serve and protect in an emergency situation when you are not physically capable.In my very first year, I worked shift work, grabbed fast food meals on the run, and spent the majority of my day sitting in a police car, and the process had begun.Sitting behind a typewriter or computer screen doesn’t help either. It doesn’t happen all at once. I tried to work out and jog on my days off and only gained a few pounds per year. But it was a few pounds every year, going from 185 pounds out of the academy to 200 pounds after four years on the street.From there it was a slow steady progression of just a couple of pounds a year. I would work at it and level off at 215 for three or four years but then the weight would continue to slowly rise. Bear in mind, I was considered one of the more physically fit officers in the department. I worked on street crimes and narcotics. It’s even worse for the officers in patrol cars working rotating shifts.I found, the more stress I was under the more I ate. Burger King, McDonald's, and those personal pizzas from Little Ceasers were my favorite. I can still taste them. I did have a year that I ate only Subway subs for lunch, but then they closed and I was back to Pizza-Pizza, in a box ready to go for five bucks.Most departments don’t have exercise programs or incentives for officers to stay in shape. When I became a lieutenant, our department moved into a newer, old building which unlike the last old building was not full of asbestos.The newer building had a full basement which I wanted to turn into a fitness and workout area for the officers.I completed a detailed final project for my Certified Public Manager course consisting of plans for a fitness center at the department. It had sample policies regarding the use of the facility and the funding sources were all in place.The center would include dumbbells, specific plate stack machines, a cable crossover machine, treadmills, and other cardio fitness equipment.I had grant money in place for building walls and rubber floors, and the purchase of equipment. The union loved the idea!I made a presentation to our chief, who very quickly said no. He believed that officers would injure themselves on the equipment and claim duty injuries. I suggested waivers of liability, but the plan died a quick and quiet death.The chief pointed to our paid fire department that had a nice exercise facility which we could use. The only problem was we couldn’t workout at night or in the early morning hours because the firefighters were all sleeping. (Yes, that always bugged me, getting paid to sleep)After six years in Internal Affairs which was all behind a desk, conducting interviews and writing detailed reports, with massive stress, I topped out at 245 pounds. That’s sixty pounds I added during my career!Once I retired it took me two years to get my weight back down to two hundred pounds which is where I’m trying to keep it. My health is now my number one concern and without all the stress, life is much better, and fast food is but a distant memory.I think going forward; departments owe it to their officers and the public to keep their officers healthy, and physically fit. This should be done either through monetary incentives verified by testing or by providing an exercise facility and some time to exercise.If the city can afford to pay firefighters to sleep for eight hours, then they can afford to pay police officers to exercise for one!Author of the 2020 book “One Cop’s Life” available on amazon

The confiscation of a British trucker’s ham and cheese sandwich by a Dutch customs officer was very enlightening. In terms of our trading relationship with the EU, we are now a ‘Third Country’, and one of the many new restrictions is the import of processed meat and dairy products. We have, in effect, put economic sanctions on ourselves.Yesterday I received a message from a German firm I buy guitars and guitar parts from. This was to inform me of their experience trying to send goods to the UK. There was a band at about 136 euros, which, if beneath, meant that the VAT could be handled from Germany, but there would be a shipping fee and an additional charge from the handler for filling in the paperwork. If above that figure, there was no shipping charge, but VAT had to be applied in the UK, (at 20%), with an additional charge of 2.5% to cover administrative costs. There was also a possibility of having to pay import duties, seemingly from random acts by HMRC rather than anything predictable. The arrangements for Northern Ireland looked quite mind-bogglingly difficult.If I had been in business trying to trade goods to the EU I would find a similar wall of bureaucracy, which is why the government’s own advice is to open up subsidiary companies in the EU. The Netherlands appears to be the favoured place to do this. But it means extra costs for exporters and a loss of jobs and tax revenues for the UK. And the EU is by far and away our largest trading partner.I was listening to a story on the Today programme about a UK businessman who managed to fill in all the necessary work for an order in a weekend, and was congratulated by HMRC as it was something of a record to do it that quickly. The computer systems which handle this are antediluvian, like the ones I used to work on forty years ago. They are not fit for purpose and appear to have been revived without revision. The standard of communication with business and preparation by the government is wholly inadequate. There is a great shortage of customs officers and shipping agents.When shopping in recent weeks I have noticed that fresh food from the EU has either disappeared from the shelves or is more expensive and of lower quality. The import of greenhouse vegetables from the Netherlands is now subject to delays. What used to take less than a day now takes two or three days. Tomatoes from Spain seem less affected, and goods from outside the EU not affected at all. Shipping in green beans from Kenya is hardly good for the environment.No doubt businesses will become more used to the arrangements over time, but it is an extra burden that they could do without. We had frictionless trade, and now we have considerable friction.UPDATE, 9th February:Courgettes are now available in my local supermarket, (Morrisons), at more or less the same price as before. However, there has, according to the RHA, been a 68% fall in goods exported from the UK to the EU, comparing January 2020 and January 2021. That is more than 2/3 drop. Even I didn’t think it would be that bad. These are not teething problems, this is extraction without anaesthetic.