Christmas shopping used to be something I looked forward to with glee, it was the beginning of the festivities for me and part and parcel (no pun intended) of the run up to the big day.
12 years in retail have somewhat eroded that. I have been listening to 'Jingle Bells' and 'Hark the bloody Herald Angels Sing, for weeks now. Christmas started in gemmaks-ville in mid September, lugging Christmas trees about and packing tinsel, lights and all the other paraphernalia for weeks has worn a little thin now and Christmas cheer among Joe Public, is as ever, in short supply.
It is thus that the thought of getting my own shopping done and dusted did not fill me with ecstasy, add to that PG and I don't have many days off together and it always requires a few trips to get it all done and that each trip is 150 miles.
How the answer never hit me before amazes me, I spend a large proportion of my time sat infront of this infernal machine and yet it took me until this year to realise the solution to the Christmas shopping horror was staring me in the face! Doh!
Shop on the internet, obvious really. Strange how one gets a mind set about a particular activity, most other things I buy off the internet and yet Christmas gifts I had never thought of!
And so one day last week I logged onto johnlewis.com, charge card gripped firmly in hand and set about virtual shopping. What a delight, two hours later, no crowds, no Hark the bloody Herald Angels and no fuss, it was done.....90% of what I needed was purchased leaving only a few odds and sods left to be found.
The down side of course was that given recent experiences I was not entirely convinced that my order would be delivered without fuss or on time. 3-7 working days was quoted, it arrived in 4! How impressed am I? I know, John lewis of all retailers were going to get it right if anyone was but 'Ms Sceptical' here still harboured doubts! Not only did said parcel arrive within the specified period but also, on finding no one at home, the delivery driver, proving to have an IQ above that of a peanut used his nouse and left it with a neighbour!
Christmas shopping 21st century style, it may be cheating not to suffer the crowds etc. but it's the way to go for me.
All I have to do now is the wrapping and distribution. That involves a 600 mile round trip to my sisters in the Midlands a day or two before Christmas if PG and I have a day off together, I can't say I fancy the drive alone. The one thing I overlooked in my excitement at finding a route out of the shopping nightmare was to buy gifts of a 'postable' size! At least I get to see my nieces for a few hours near to Christmas this way..... we might be shattered after the journey but it will be happy shattered.
"Haaark the herald angels siiiing, glooory tooo the new born King"............
Tuesday, 30 November 2004
Monday, 29 November 2004
Comment-less
Having worked the last four days I finally get time to sit and have a good read through my regulars only to find that the illustrious Blogger is at it again.....I can't post comments anywhere!
So....if you notice I have hit you and haven't left a comment, almost certainly it's not because I have suddenly become dumb-struck (as if, this is me, I say stuff) it's because the Blogger gremlins are at it again.
Oh....and having just hit the button to spell check, it seems that is dysfunctional too so forgive me any great faux pas :o)
So....if you notice I have hit you and haven't left a comment, almost certainly it's not because I have suddenly become dumb-struck (as if, this is me, I say stuff) it's because the Blogger gremlins are at it again.
Oh....and having just hit the button to spell check, it seems that is dysfunctional too so forgive me any great faux pas :o)
Happy?
I found this 'Are you happy' quiz on Jennifers World,..... have a go HERE.
Seems a little like fortune telling to me though.......my results I think, could probably be applied to 99% of those living in the western world! Lol.
Seems a little like fortune telling to me though.......my results I think, could probably be applied to 99% of those living in the western world! Lol.
You're happy enough, but could be more so.
"You know the feeling of happiness, but every now and then, fear clutches your heart and ruins the whole thing. Your primitive fear sensors -- the ones left over from the days when life was fraught with rampaging tigers -- are working overtime. Change scares you a little, bad days seem permanent, and you sometimes feel isolated from others. Sometimes your life feels out of control.
"Unhappiness is based on fear, and fear cannot be held in the brain at the same time as love," says Dr. Dan Baker, psychologist and author of What Happy People Know (St. Martin's Press, 2004). His quick fix to start the attitude change: look for something in the moment to appreciate. "See problems as possibilities," he says. Done something great, or even good? Appreciate yourself and pause for a moment of pride.
David Myers, a professor of social psychology at Hope College and one of the nation's foremost research experts on happiness, says, "We can sometimes act ourselves into a frame of mind. Manipulated into a smiling expression, people feel better; when they scowl, the whole world seems to scowl back. So talk as if you feel positive self-esteem, are optimistic, and are outgoing. Going through the motions can trigger the emotions." He also recommends strengthening connections with others, sleep, exercise, an appreciation journal, and membership in a faith community.
If you hate your job, either change it or engage in a hobby that will help you experience "flow." The state of flow -- a sense of un-self-consciousness and serenity -- is caused by pursuing enjoyable and meaningful activities, either on the job or off, from golf to needlepoint, from weeding a garden to organizing your closet. The activities or thoughts that bring on a state of flow are different for each of us. Doing more of those things, though, brings on more joy and a habit of happy living."
Late moon
The Scottish sky is both beautiful and peculiar, nowhere before have I seen the moon still suspended in a pink sky at 09.05am!
This picture and my camera cannot do it justice, the moon was as bright and clear as I have ever seen it, so much so that with the naked eye I could see the 'patterns' on its surface. In the same sky but in the opposite direction the sun was shining.
(Click to enlarge)
9.05 am, 29 November 2004
This picture and my camera cannot do it justice, the moon was as bright and clear as I have ever seen it, so much so that with the naked eye I could see the 'patterns' on its surface. In the same sky but in the opposite direction the sun was shining.
(Click to enlarge)
9.05 am, 29 November 2004
Saturday, 27 November 2004
A horse maybe?
You won't believe it, I didn't...... well actually given it's history you probably will.........the exhaust fell off PG's car last night, not three days since the last car catastrophe!
This damnable vehicle was returned to us a few days ago with it's last problem (a distinct inability where starting was concerned) fixed and a jovial promise from the mechanic that there is nothing left to go wrong with it, we have had almost every part of any significance replaced over the last year.....the exhaust included!
Despite all this, at about the time I was expecting PG to arrive home from a late shift at work last night I instead got him somewhat disgruntled on the phone, accompanied by the God awful sound of his pipe dragging along tarmac and the engine blowing straight through! He was not a happy man I can tell you.
"I'll get nicked driving this" says he,
"well pull it off then" says I,
"I can't" says he
"Why not?", says I
"It's too bloody hot" he says,
"Well stop and wait for it to cool down" I suggest,
"No" I wanna get home", is the response,
"Well get nicked then," I somewhat un-sympathetically offer.
Point made, he stops and waits a while and treats me to the inevitable tirade of verbal abuse aimed at the car in the meantime.
"Is it cool yet" I ask,
"yes" is the reply ..... "but I can't get the ******(expletive deleted) thing off"
"Well pull harder"
"I am!!....its fixed on with a rubber 'thing' that I cant break"
Ok.....this is 15 stone of strong man and rubber has defeated him?
"Use a knife" I suggest rather obviously,
"I don't have one" is tersely replied.
PG I might add, owns various 'Leatherman' tools among other gadgets but it seems none are about his person nor in his car!
"Ok........ just drive home, it's the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere, I think the likelihood of the police being in attendance is slim!!"
And so home he comes, dragging the exhaust in his wake with an unearthly clatter, a knife we find and the offending part is removed.
This may all seem quite unimportant but out here where public transport is virtually nil and we both work shifts, a car each is not a luxury, if it were we would most definitely not have two and the incumbent running costs. Thankfully a new pipe was fitted this afternoon just in time for him to get to work but of course it bought with it yet another bill! I dread to think what this car has cost to keep on the road over the last 12 months. It is by no means new but it is not archaic, I think we have a classic 'Friday afternoon' car here and I'm beginning to think a horse instead, might be a good idea!
This damnable vehicle was returned to us a few days ago with it's last problem (a distinct inability where starting was concerned) fixed and a jovial promise from the mechanic that there is nothing left to go wrong with it, we have had almost every part of any significance replaced over the last year.....the exhaust included!
Despite all this, at about the time I was expecting PG to arrive home from a late shift at work last night I instead got him somewhat disgruntled on the phone, accompanied by the God awful sound of his pipe dragging along tarmac and the engine blowing straight through! He was not a happy man I can tell you.
"I'll get nicked driving this" says he,
"well pull it off then" says I,
"I can't" says he
"Why not?", says I
"It's too bloody hot" he says,
"Well stop and wait for it to cool down" I suggest,
"No" I wanna get home", is the response,
"Well get nicked then," I somewhat un-sympathetically offer.
Point made, he stops and waits a while and treats me to the inevitable tirade of verbal abuse aimed at the car in the meantime.
"Is it cool yet" I ask,
"yes" is the reply ..... "but I can't get the ******(expletive deleted) thing off"
"Well pull harder"
"I am!!....its fixed on with a rubber 'thing' that I cant break"
Ok.....this is 15 stone of strong man and rubber has defeated him?
"Use a knife" I suggest rather obviously,
"I don't have one" is tersely replied.
PG I might add, owns various 'Leatherman' tools among other gadgets but it seems none are about his person nor in his car!
"Ok........ just drive home, it's the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere, I think the likelihood of the police being in attendance is slim!!"
And so home he comes, dragging the exhaust in his wake with an unearthly clatter, a knife we find and the offending part is removed.
This may all seem quite unimportant but out here where public transport is virtually nil and we both work shifts, a car each is not a luxury, if it were we would most definitely not have two and the incumbent running costs. Thankfully a new pipe was fitted this afternoon just in time for him to get to work but of course it bought with it yet another bill! I dread to think what this car has cost to keep on the road over the last 12 months. It is by no means new but it is not archaic, I think we have a classic 'Friday afternoon' car here and I'm beginning to think a horse instead, might be a good idea!
Friday, 26 November 2004
Friday's Feast (25)
Here we go again :o)
Appetizer:
How much money do you plan to spend this upcoming holiday season?
As little as possible, I have no money!
Soup:
What was the last television show you watched, and was it good?
Coronation Street and YES! Lol
Salad:
If you had to paint the walls of your living room tomorrow, what color would you choose?
I like what I have, Aubergine and beige suede but if I had to change then:
Feature wall: chocolate brown, remaining walls something light and natural. NOT magnolia!
Main Course:
Name something clever or practical you have thought of that should be invented, but hasn't yet.
A self cleaning cat litter box!
Dessert:
List 3 things you would like to receive as gifts this holiday season.
Reality time: Broadband, a kitten, chocolate.
Dream time: Broadband, a tiny laptop, an R1.
Appetizer:
How much money do you plan to spend this upcoming holiday season?
As little as possible, I have no money!
Soup:
What was the last television show you watched, and was it good?
Coronation Street and YES! Lol
Salad:
If you had to paint the walls of your living room tomorrow, what color would you choose?
I like what I have, Aubergine and beige suede but if I had to change then:
Feature wall: chocolate brown, remaining walls something light and natural. NOT magnolia!
Main Course:
Name something clever or practical you have thought of that should be invented, but hasn't yet.
A self cleaning cat litter box!
Dessert:
List 3 things you would like to receive as gifts this holiday season.
Reality time: Broadband, a kitten, chocolate.
Dream time: Broadband, a tiny laptop, an R1.
Morphing and child pornography
The following comment was posted on here this morning, I felt it needed to be given higher exposure than to be left loitering at the bottom of a line of comments and thus have posted it here.
I consider myself to be reasonably internet 'savvy' but I didn't realise this problem was so advanced. If you doubt the validity of this check the authors credentials out here.
Enough said.
I consider myself to be reasonably internet 'savvy' but I didn't realise this problem was so advanced. If you doubt the validity of this check the authors credentials out here.
Michelle Said:
As your resident 'legal eagle'....NEVER post pics of your kids on the net....you're asking for trouble. Trust me it's just not worth it. I ve seen "morphing" of kids with my own eyes....I'd never advise anyone to post pics of children, even teenage kids. Child internet pornography (by morphing) is the fastest growing computer crime in the western world, just behind fraud.
Enough said.
Data disaster
PG and I are 'gadget freaks', if it has a chip in it, is electronic or is even vaguely computer related we will have it if we can remotely afford it.... and fiddle with it unendingly! Not, I hasten to add, necessarily because we need whatever gadget has taken our fancy, more purely because it exists to be played with!
It is as a consequence of this that we encounter the odd disaster as did PG last night. All this technology is fine and wonderful until such time as a 'mishap' occurs.
Bear in mind here that last time PG acquired a cell phone, Bluetooth was still financially out of the question and so as of course one has too, when he bought said phone we had to have the data cable and software to go with it.
Somehow I think life would have gone on just fine without the ability to back up the information on both phones, or to be able to download pictures and tones for free but the option was there for more fiddling and so needless to say we took it.
That is where the trouble began! This is a Nokia data cable and Nokia software, nothing hookey or brand 'X' but still, within a month of use a year ago I had inadvertently, completely destroyed a brand new phone with it. Fiddle excessively we may do but my understanding of things technological still does not explain to me how Nokia's own equipment could wreck the chip in the phone so completely. Ours is not to question why apparently and Nokia did at least replaced the phone after some degree of wrangling. This brings me to last night and PG's endeavors to take off his phone, prior to acquiring a new one and selling the old one, all things deemed 'important'.
I did warn him, I reiterated how unreliable this system appears to be but not to be off put and siting the fact that I used it subsequently and without incident he went ahead......... *pfffff*, in a silent and virtual puff of smoke gone forever was another phone, chip blown, everything gone, completely and utterly defunct!!
We, of course have spare phones, he is not going to be utterly lost but I think we will not be going the same route again!
Technology........hmmmmmm?
It is as a consequence of this that we encounter the odd disaster as did PG last night. All this technology is fine and wonderful until such time as a 'mishap' occurs.
Bear in mind here that last time PG acquired a cell phone, Bluetooth was still financially out of the question and so as of course one has too, when he bought said phone we had to have the data cable and software to go with it.
Somehow I think life would have gone on just fine without the ability to back up the information on both phones, or to be able to download pictures and tones for free but the option was there for more fiddling and so needless to say we took it.
That is where the trouble began! This is a Nokia data cable and Nokia software, nothing hookey or brand 'X' but still, within a month of use a year ago I had inadvertently, completely destroyed a brand new phone with it. Fiddle excessively we may do but my understanding of things technological still does not explain to me how Nokia's own equipment could wreck the chip in the phone so completely. Ours is not to question why apparently and Nokia did at least replaced the phone after some degree of wrangling. This brings me to last night and PG's endeavors to take off his phone, prior to acquiring a new one and selling the old one, all things deemed 'important'.
I did warn him, I reiterated how unreliable this system appears to be but not to be off put and siting the fact that I used it subsequently and without incident he went ahead......... *pfffff*, in a silent and virtual puff of smoke gone forever was another phone, chip blown, everything gone, completely and utterly defunct!!
We, of course have spare phones, he is not going to be utterly lost but I think we will not be going the same route again!
Technology........hmmmmmm?
Thursday, 25 November 2004
All systems go!
I am always somewhat amused in an ironic sense just how much organisation and difficulty is involved in my trying to get a few days off work with PG to do anything.
Bear in mind here that my contract of employment is only for 15 hours a week, apparently my services are not required for more than that and yet whenever I need to be off, such as for the impending 'parental visit', suddenly my attendance seems to be a matter of life or death and to extricate myself from the place for a day or two is a feat of endurance in itself.
I have to be honest here and say that my boss has bent over backwards to accommodate me this festive season and it is not her fault that my plans where suddenly thrown into chaos by a change in PG's shift rota but as luck would have it, or not in this case, the one time my parents can visit I was scheduled to work for one day and nothing could be done. I suppose I should be flattered (she says with tongue very firmly in cheek) that I am so indispensable........or should I be a little miffed that the company that will only offer me a contracted 15 hours a week ask that I be available at their convenience 24/7 and at the drop of a hat!?
Thank goodness for friends is all I can say, as I saw my parents visit disappearing as quickly as it had appeared through my inability to be able to actually be here when they had planned to be, a friend offered to cover my shift at work! Hurahhh!
This colleague and I have an understanding that is separate from management and other colleagues in so much as where we can, we help each other out by covering shifts for one another on the occasions the other really needs the time off.
We both understand that if the other asks then it is important and we go out of our way to do it. What an employer considers a necessary reason to be absent is often very different to what the individual does......a situation I am sure we have all been in!
And so it is thus that courtesy of my friend the 'parental visit' at New Year is all systems go..........it's actually gonna happen, I had my doubts for a while yesterday but we got there in the end! Yayyyyyyyy, I can't wait!
Thank goodness for friends!
Bear in mind here that my contract of employment is only for 15 hours a week, apparently my services are not required for more than that and yet whenever I need to be off, such as for the impending 'parental visit', suddenly my attendance seems to be a matter of life or death and to extricate myself from the place for a day or two is a feat of endurance in itself.
I have to be honest here and say that my boss has bent over backwards to accommodate me this festive season and it is not her fault that my plans where suddenly thrown into chaos by a change in PG's shift rota but as luck would have it, or not in this case, the one time my parents can visit I was scheduled to work for one day and nothing could be done. I suppose I should be flattered (she says with tongue very firmly in cheek) that I am so indispensable........or should I be a little miffed that the company that will only offer me a contracted 15 hours a week ask that I be available at their convenience 24/7 and at the drop of a hat!?
Thank goodness for friends is all I can say, as I saw my parents visit disappearing as quickly as it had appeared through my inability to be able to actually be here when they had planned to be, a friend offered to cover my shift at work! Hurahhh!
This colleague and I have an understanding that is separate from management and other colleagues in so much as where we can, we help each other out by covering shifts for one another on the occasions the other really needs the time off.
We both understand that if the other asks then it is important and we go out of our way to do it. What an employer considers a necessary reason to be absent is often very different to what the individual does......a situation I am sure we have all been in!
And so it is thus that courtesy of my friend the 'parental visit' at New Year is all systems go..........it's actually gonna happen, I had my doubts for a while yesterday but we got there in the end! Yayyyyyyyy, I can't wait!
Thank goodness for friends!
Wednesday, 24 November 2004
Sunset and moonrise
I'm still fascinated by the speed with which night falls here in Scotland in winter and the reverse in the summer. At the height of summer it barely gets dark at all and remains dusk until well past 11pm. In the winter the reverse applies, the sun sets and the moon rises almost at once.
These pictures where both taken this evening barely 30 minutes apart!
(click to enlarge)
.jpg)
Sunset
Sliver of cloud
These pictures where both taken this evening barely 30 minutes apart!
(click to enlarge)
.jpg)
Sunset
Sliver of cloud
Another hop across 'The Pond'
So it's Thanksgiving sometime around now and it is patently obvious from that one sentence that I am somewhat ignorant on the subject!
I did ask a friend recently what it is all about but somehow it has gone from my none to retentive mind again. Hence it is that I have taken another quick trip in the direction of Nebraska and my 'second home' to find some answers!
Whatever and whenever, I wish all of you in the US and Canada a very happy Thanksgiving.
I did ask a friend recently what it is all about but somehow it has gone from my none to retentive mind again. Hence it is that I have taken another quick trip in the direction of Nebraska and my 'second home' to find some answers!
Whatever and whenever, I wish all of you in the US and Canada a very happy Thanksgiving.
Smart cats
I wonder......could Ditto be trained!
Farm cats!
Thanks to Lisa for landing this in my inbox :o)
Farm cats!
Thanks to Lisa for landing this in my inbox :o)
Font download
I have used the font 'Notepad' in the design of this template but it seems not everyone has it on their pc and hence can't view this page as intended.
It is of little consequence but if you don't have the Notepad.ttf file and would like it to view this, or anything else, you can download it from my server.
Click here to download the font save it to your hard drive somewhere and then copy it into your 'Windows font folder' ............done and sorted. (File size ~ 30.5kb)
Alternatively there is a link to the same file in the sidebar, directly below the guestbook.
Any problems just shout and I will try to help.
It is of little consequence but if you don't have the Notepad.ttf file and would like it to view this, or anything else, you can download it from my server.
Click here to download the font save it to your hard drive somewhere and then copy it into your 'Windows font folder' ............done and sorted. (File size ~ 30.5kb)
Alternatively there is a link to the same file in the sidebar, directly below the guestbook.
Any problems just shout and I will try to help.
Tuesday, 23 November 2004
Post script
Yipeeee!......
within minutes of finishing my last post my phone rang, unusually for this time in the evening it was my father, in fact unusual period, as it is usually my mother who calls in the first instance.
The purpose of this late call..........to tell us that providing we can fetch and carry them from the airport they are coming to stay for the New Year!!!!!
All I have to do now is check with work that I have taken down my shifts correctly (all this technology and I still don't trust it!) and can thus do the airport run and it's done.....flights booked in the morning........ I can't wait.
Yayyyyyyy :o))
Parents.....dontcha just love em.
within minutes of finishing my last post my phone rang, unusually for this time in the evening it was my father, in fact unusual period, as it is usually my mother who calls in the first instance.
The purpose of this late call..........to tell us that providing we can fetch and carry them from the airport they are coming to stay for the New Year!!!!!
All I have to do now is check with work that I have taken down my shifts correctly (all this technology and I still don't trust it!) and can thus do the airport run and it's done.....flights booked in the morning........ I can't wait.
Yayyyyyyy :o))
Parents.....dontcha just love em.
Freaky
Hell......it's kinda freaky to no longer be all black, I'm so used to looking at the same set up I'm somewhat lost every time I open the page now and find a different colour....momentarily I think I've hit the wrong button and landed somewhere I didn't intend to be.
From my end this slightly new look all appears to be in working order...please tell me if you find anything amiss, particularly those of you on firefox. I've had enough of looking at it and fiddling for one day and the thought of checking it all in FF as well does not fill me with glee.....so I'm not gonna, I will rely on you good people to holler if anything is defunct!
So what of today..........not much aside from the obvious fiddling. PG's car has again been jump started and ushered to the local garage for yet more diagnostics and hopefully repair. No doubt any repair will be accompanied by yet another hefty bill.
Aside from that nothing of note has happened. I am still attempting, thus far without luck, to find a way to spend Christmas that doesn't involve sitting here sulking! I called my mother earlier for a chat, not having spoken for a couple of weeks I decided it was about time. Part of me wishes I hadn't......right now hearing how the rest of the family are getting together for Christmas is not top of my list of things I want to discuss! Lol..... I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet......not a card, not a sheet of wrapping paper, nothing!
Best I pull my finger out I think!
From my end this slightly new look all appears to be in working order...please tell me if you find anything amiss, particularly those of you on firefox. I've had enough of looking at it and fiddling for one day and the thought of checking it all in FF as well does not fill me with glee.....so I'm not gonna, I will rely on you good people to holler if anything is defunct!
So what of today..........not much aside from the obvious fiddling. PG's car has again been jump started and ushered to the local garage for yet more diagnostics and hopefully repair. No doubt any repair will be accompanied by yet another hefty bill.
Aside from that nothing of note has happened. I am still attempting, thus far without luck, to find a way to spend Christmas that doesn't involve sitting here sulking! I called my mother earlier for a chat, not having spoken for a couple of weeks I decided it was about time. Part of me wishes I hadn't......right now hearing how the rest of the family are getting together for Christmas is not top of my list of things I want to discuss! Lol..... I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet......not a card, not a sheet of wrapping paper, nothing!
Best I pull my finger out I think!
Monday, 22 November 2004
Contrary...moi??
As if!
A year ago I had long hair, the real deal, lots of the stuff and it drove me crazy! I have hair that has a closer affinity to a sheep's fleece than to that, of let's, say Demi Moore, not for me a sleek, straight, perfect mane sadly and if left to it's own devices I begin to bear a strong resemblance to Crystal Tipps.
Consequently much time was wasted with what the manufacturers strangely now term 'product', and with electrical devices, hair dryers, straightening irons and the like in an endeavor to look presentable. All to no avail. One hint of dampness in the air and the moment I stepped outside up it would spring again. Despite all the effort involved I persevered with it, I had not had hair of any magnitude since I was 14, I grew it when I moved North figuring no one knew me so if I looked a mess for the interim no matter.
And so it was, it took two years to grow and having finally got there, within 6 months I was fed up with all the fiddling and straightening etc. and this week last year I ventured into a local salon and had it cut off! The stylist was not happy, she feared I would regret it, I assured her I would not, after all it was only hair. Still she would not be persuaded that I really meant short, as in very short! No one she said went from long to very short in one hit......I do I insisted, "I have had short hair most of my life",I assured her "it's no big deal" cut it"!....but no, it became hilarious, the whole salon became embroiled in this decision, various stylist's telling me I would live to wish I had hair and gathering round making 'helpful' suggestions.
Those of you who are regulars here may recall that I don't have much time for the inane carryings on that seem part and parcel of any hairdressing salon, I avoid the places like the plague and finally in amusement and some frustration at this poor girls fear of retribution should she hack off my hair I snatched the scissors from their resting place on the side, pulled up a big lump of hair from the crown of my head and cut off 8 inches..."there now" I said........"you have to finish it now"! This caused some hilarity but it did the trick and an hour later, the somewhat nervous young stylist ejected me from the seat, still crowing that I would regret it and that she had never been asked to cut off so much in one go! For goodness sake.
A year on?.........bugger!........ok, ok, I admit I regret it, I will live of course, it is not one of life's major disasters. It is of course easy, it's not hot, it dries in 10 minutes instead of 2 hours, it doesn't get in the way, doesn't require copious amounts of attention and is tidy but I miss it and what it does require of course is 6 weekly treks to the bloody hairdresser and we know how I feel about that!
Thus, it is abandoned again to the birds nest stage while I re-grow it all over again....Goddamn.........another two years!
Contrary? moi?
A year ago I had long hair, the real deal, lots of the stuff and it drove me crazy! I have hair that has a closer affinity to a sheep's fleece than to that, of let's, say Demi Moore, not for me a sleek, straight, perfect mane sadly and if left to it's own devices I begin to bear a strong resemblance to Crystal Tipps.
Consequently much time was wasted with what the manufacturers strangely now term 'product', and with electrical devices, hair dryers, straightening irons and the like in an endeavor to look presentable. All to no avail. One hint of dampness in the air and the moment I stepped outside up it would spring again. Despite all the effort involved I persevered with it, I had not had hair of any magnitude since I was 14, I grew it when I moved North figuring no one knew me so if I looked a mess for the interim no matter.
And so it was, it took two years to grow and having finally got there, within 6 months I was fed up with all the fiddling and straightening etc. and this week last year I ventured into a local salon and had it cut off! The stylist was not happy, she feared I would regret it, I assured her I would not, after all it was only hair. Still she would not be persuaded that I really meant short, as in very short! No one she said went from long to very short in one hit......I do I insisted, "I have had short hair most of my life",I assured her "it's no big deal" cut it"!....but no, it became hilarious, the whole salon became embroiled in this decision, various stylist's telling me I would live to wish I had hair and gathering round making 'helpful' suggestions.
Those of you who are regulars here may recall that I don't have much time for the inane carryings on that seem part and parcel of any hairdressing salon, I avoid the places like the plague and finally in amusement and some frustration at this poor girls fear of retribution should she hack off my hair I snatched the scissors from their resting place on the side, pulled up a big lump of hair from the crown of my head and cut off 8 inches..."there now" I said........"you have to finish it now"! This caused some hilarity but it did the trick and an hour later, the somewhat nervous young stylist ejected me from the seat, still crowing that I would regret it and that she had never been asked to cut off so much in one go! For goodness sake.
A year on?.........bugger!........ok, ok, I admit I regret it, I will live of course, it is not one of life's major disasters. It is of course easy, it's not hot, it dries in 10 minutes instead of 2 hours, it doesn't get in the way, doesn't require copious amounts of attention and is tidy but I miss it and what it does require of course is 6 weekly treks to the bloody hairdresser and we know how I feel about that!
Thus, it is abandoned again to the birds nest stage while I re-grow it all over again....Goddamn.........another two years!
Contrary? moi?
Sunday, 21 November 2004
Oh the embarrassment.
There are some days, we all have them, when the fact that you even got out of bed was your first big mistake. Today was one of those days!
Having woken to minus 5 degrees and frost a foot thick rendering my car white as opposed to it's usual blue, I trudged outside, already feeling a little 'fragile' (reason unknown), and gingerly scraped the ice from the windows, not wishing to repeat my experience of a few weeks ago and damage the windscreen. Mission accomplished off I set to work.
At about the half way point I encountered an odd problem. You have to understand first that we live so close to the border with England that on each journey, to or from work, I cross over the border. This morning upon crossing into England I discovered that someone, somewhere in local authority, in their wisdom, had decided that despite the weather forecast grit would not be spread on the roads. Scotland had gritted but no, not England. Last winter it was the same....when snow fell there was a definite line in the road on one occasion where the snow plough and gritters had stopped at the border and presumably the boundary of their jurisdiction. This morning it was the same....in Scotland the roads were fine, I hit England and immediately had to begin crawling along on ice!
Journey completed and having arrived in one piece a cup of coffee was hastily obtained from the 'nasty coffee' machine and then straight into the business of work. Well that at least was the theory.
I unlocked the office and settled for the mornings work of cashing up the previous days takings, within less than a minute the fire alarm sounded! The manager and myself looked at each other, there was no way this was a drill, there was only he in the building with authority to carry out a drill, I locked the safe fastish and the six of us that had arrived by that time evacuated into the freezing temperatures, no coats, no coffee, no damn cigarettes!
The usual hoo ha of checking every one who went in was out etc. carried on while something struck me.....only moments before the alarm sounded I had turned on the heater in my office........hells bells, the alarm panel was blinking a light furiously, designating said office as the seat of the fire. The Fire exit and the office are very close to one another. I am not completely without common sense, I was after all married to a fireman for many years, you can't help but learn a little so we nipped back in and sure enough there was the heater, still only smoking at this stage. It was duly turned off and the more serious consequences averted.........we still had to wait outside in the cold for the bloody fire brigade to arrive and officially declare the building safe though.
That sorted we had lost precious time, come hell or high water we have to open ontime and for anyone who has never worked in a large store, getting it up and running is no mean feat in 20 minutes! We made it......... but the day only degenerated from there.
We were staffed by only 8 and one manager, this is a BIG store, and just about every demanding obnoxious customer in the area appeared at our door at some point in the day, each one of us seemed to have to give 150% for 100% of the time and it began to take it's toll. The place felt like mayhem for the main part, negativity set in and things began to fall apart. I needed 20 or more staff at any given point to attend to outstanding customer requirements and only had 8 including myself. We are generally used to stress in my workplace but hell......this was something else particularly for one who had begun the day 'fragile'!
Ultimately for me the wheel came off as they say, the umpteenth difficult and rude customer said the wrong thing at the wrong time and I did the unthinkable, something I haven't done in as long as I can remember and I don't wish to do again. I finished serving her, ditched my keys with a capable colleague, fled to the staff room and fell into a heap of pathetic tears.........oh the embarrassment, thank God the only person who found me was feeling similarly herself! I gathered my wits, had a smoke and went back into the 'throng'....FFS, I hate myself for 'losing it', I don't 'do' losing it, I 'do' appearing at least to keep it all together......Goddamn, why didn't I do as the guys do and go run the forklift into the side of a container or something macho instead of behaving like a pathetic woman!! Grrrr.
Oh, and PG rang in the middle of all this to inform me his car has 'died' yet again.......happy days!
Hey ho....tomorrow is another day :o)
Having woken to minus 5 degrees and frost a foot thick rendering my car white as opposed to it's usual blue, I trudged outside, already feeling a little 'fragile' (reason unknown), and gingerly scraped the ice from the windows, not wishing to repeat my experience of a few weeks ago and damage the windscreen. Mission accomplished off I set to work.
At about the half way point I encountered an odd problem. You have to understand first that we live so close to the border with England that on each journey, to or from work, I cross over the border. This morning upon crossing into England I discovered that someone, somewhere in local authority, in their wisdom, had decided that despite the weather forecast grit would not be spread on the roads. Scotland had gritted but no, not England. Last winter it was the same....when snow fell there was a definite line in the road on one occasion where the snow plough and gritters had stopped at the border and presumably the boundary of their jurisdiction. This morning it was the same....in Scotland the roads were fine, I hit England and immediately had to begin crawling along on ice!
Journey completed and having arrived in one piece a cup of coffee was hastily obtained from the 'nasty coffee' machine and then straight into the business of work. Well that at least was the theory.
I unlocked the office and settled for the mornings work of cashing up the previous days takings, within less than a minute the fire alarm sounded! The manager and myself looked at each other, there was no way this was a drill, there was only he in the building with authority to carry out a drill, I locked the safe fastish and the six of us that had arrived by that time evacuated into the freezing temperatures, no coats, no coffee, no damn cigarettes!
The usual hoo ha of checking every one who went in was out etc. carried on while something struck me.....only moments before the alarm sounded I had turned on the heater in my office........hells bells, the alarm panel was blinking a light furiously, designating said office as the seat of the fire. The Fire exit and the office are very close to one another. I am not completely without common sense, I was after all married to a fireman for many years, you can't help but learn a little so we nipped back in and sure enough there was the heater, still only smoking at this stage. It was duly turned off and the more serious consequences averted.........we still had to wait outside in the cold for the bloody fire brigade to arrive and officially declare the building safe though.
That sorted we had lost precious time, come hell or high water we have to open ontime and for anyone who has never worked in a large store, getting it up and running is no mean feat in 20 minutes! We made it......... but the day only degenerated from there.
We were staffed by only 8 and one manager, this is a BIG store, and just about every demanding obnoxious customer in the area appeared at our door at some point in the day, each one of us seemed to have to give 150% for 100% of the time and it began to take it's toll. The place felt like mayhem for the main part, negativity set in and things began to fall apart. I needed 20 or more staff at any given point to attend to outstanding customer requirements and only had 8 including myself. We are generally used to stress in my workplace but hell......this was something else particularly for one who had begun the day 'fragile'!
Ultimately for me the wheel came off as they say, the umpteenth difficult and rude customer said the wrong thing at the wrong time and I did the unthinkable, something I haven't done in as long as I can remember and I don't wish to do again. I finished serving her, ditched my keys with a capable colleague, fled to the staff room and fell into a heap of pathetic tears.........oh the embarrassment, thank God the only person who found me was feeling similarly herself! I gathered my wits, had a smoke and went back into the 'throng'....FFS, I hate myself for 'losing it', I don't 'do' losing it, I 'do' appearing at least to keep it all together......Goddamn, why didn't I do as the guys do and go run the forklift into the side of a container or something macho instead of behaving like a pathetic woman!! Grrrr.
Oh, and PG rang in the middle of all this to inform me his car has 'died' yet again.......happy days!
Hey ho....tomorrow is another day :o)
Saturday, 20 November 2004
The 'freezer'
I'm amused by this, it's a first for me.
Knowing I wouldn't be home this evening from work until well past 9 and never one for slaving over a hot stove at the best of times, I bought at lunch time, a frozen 'ready meal' for my supper. I plonked it in the boot of my car and left it until I arrived home this evening.
6 hours later........it's still frozen solid!!
I know it's cold and I know if I had considered it, it was obvious it would not defrost at minus 2-5 degrees all day, but I didn't consider it and I'm highly amused, it hasn't even begun to defrost!
Next time the freezer packs up I'll hope it's in winter! :o)
Knowing I wouldn't be home this evening from work until well past 9 and never one for slaving over a hot stove at the best of times, I bought at lunch time, a frozen 'ready meal' for my supper. I plonked it in the boot of my car and left it until I arrived home this evening.
6 hours later........it's still frozen solid!!
I know it's cold and I know if I had considered it, it was obvious it would not defrost at minus 2-5 degrees all day, but I didn't consider it and I'm highly amused, it hasn't even begun to defrost!
Next time the freezer packs up I'll hope it's in winter! :o)
Technical assistance......
....NOT!
With the onset of winter and the lack of suitable outside interests, Ditto has rediscovered the computer and has begun offering her own inimitable form of assistance again......
Tech 'help'!
Ditto 'assistance'!
With the onset of winter and the lack of suitable outside interests, Ditto has rediscovered the computer and has begun offering her own inimitable form of assistance again......
Tech 'help'!
Ditto 'assistance'!
Friday, 19 November 2004
Snow-less in Scotland
Flakes
Ye Gods it's cold!..........did I say a few weeks ago that I like winter? Can I retract that statement for a day or two whilst my little body adjusts to the arctic figures my external thermometer is currently displaying?
I have not been warm since sometime yesterday, the heating is belting it out and my nose has not crossed the threshold since we got home yesterday evening and yet I am still bloody freezing cold.
The temperature is only a degree or two below freezing but add to that the wind chill and we are somewhere in the region of minus 15 right now....and falling. PG was forced to cut his round of golf to only 9 holes this morning, the fact that he even considered standing in a field poking a stick at a ball with the wind whistling off the sea amazes me...the man is mad! Ditto's lifestyle has also been curtailed, she has only ventured out once or twice and then only for markedly briefer periods than is the norm!
This would of course all be acceptable if there was snow! I could stamp my feet in frustration, there is snow higher up the country, there is snow lower, Snowbabies have snow in Yorkshire ..........but no, not a flake of snow in gemmaks-ville, not one single, solitary flake to be seen anywhere! Bah!
Friday's Feast
This is my first attempt at this 'friday Feast' malarky, I'm promised it's fun so here goes!
Appetizer
What do you think is the perfect age to get married? To have a first child? To retire?
I don't think there is a perfect age but if forced I would say 32, 36 and 55
Soup
If you could change occupations tomorrow, what would you want to do for a living?
Can I have 2 new occupations please? Photographer or meteorologist.
Salad
What does the color green make you think of?
My credit card statement!
Main Course
What is something that has happened to you over the last year that you didn't expect?
I had to have oral surgery :o(
Dessert
How old were you when you had your first kiss?
Er....can I take the 5th amendment on this one? No.....ok......13, a guy at the local youth club and I'm glad to say things improved with age!
What planet are you from?
|
You Are From Neptune |
 You are dreamy and mystical, with a natural psychic ability. You love music, poetry, dance, and (most of all) the open sea. Your soul is filled with possibilities, and your heart overflows with compassion. You can be in a room full of friendly people and feel all alone. If you don't get carried away with one idea, your spiritual nature will see you through anything. |
Thursday, 18 November 2004
Very un-gemmak
Yesterday the drive to Edinburgh to deal with the cell phone debacle was the task at hand, I picked PG up from work mid afternoon and off we set again on the hour and a half journey. There were on this occasion no beautiful vistas, no myriad of autumn colours or overly wooly sheep meandering in fields. Instead we drove through cloud, thick, wet, all enveloping cloud, visibility was set at about the front of the car, the roads were caked in many places in thick, slippery mud, deposited by agricultural machinery hurriedly completing the Autumns sowing and any sheep that there were stood huddled miserably against walls for protection from the biting, strong wind and rain, their fleeces looking somewhat less than fluffy!
The wind was the meteorological thing of note.........a head wind and in typical Scottish fashion extremely strong. My car is small, it has an unimpressive number of apparently lazy horses under the bonnet and whilst I couldn't say it struggled the wind alone made rather more gear shifts than is normal necessary! On Sutre Hill, an extremely large bump in the landscape between here and Edinburgh (in cidentally I Googled 'Sutre Hill', in the hope of discovering it's elevation and came up with nothing!) the prospect of retaining a straight line in the road became frighteningly difficult.
Having made it, in a longer time than we had anticipated, to the outskirts of Edinburgh we were met with something I no longer consider and discovered that my tolerance for has diminished to almost nil..........a traffic jam, a big one, no escape route available. My irritation was notable, I just do not 'do' traffic jams anymore, they don't exist, in fact traffic rarely exists I any significant quantity on the journeys I make as a rule nowadays. An hour we sat, miffed and aggravated until we finally escaped and arrived at our destination.
And so the job was done, the cell phone was duly returned and changed for another, a Samsung E600. Yup, I know I said I am a Nokia girl but the lure of a VGA camera that actually produces a picture that can be defined and the attraction of something so tiny and shiny was more than a girl could resist......that and the fact that Nokia seem to have lost the plot a little of late.
That achieved it was off to Ikea......well you just have to visit an Ikea when there is one in close proximity don't you? By now hungry, we were forced to partake of the less than 'haute cuisine' fare on offer but I suppose to complain would be unreasonable, when one considers that two people can eat two courses for less than £10! We wandered around like herding cattle among the throng for a while, purchased the obligatory candles and a small table in the hope of not having to burn our legs with the laptop perched on our laps any longer (man those things give off some heat)and headed home.
The odd thing I discovered in this days activity was my most un-female and un-gemmak like growing disinterest in shopping! Not good, we women shop, it is what we do, the thing we love. All my life shopping could be considered a no.1 activity.........no longer! What on earth is happening to me? Save for more ram, a better graphics card or a bigger hard drive there was nothing I could raise interest in......well ok, I lie, diamonds, one can never have enough good diamonds but then one can rarely afford them either. Mostly we didn't even window shop, we fled the concrete jungle that is the shopping mall with some haste......PG was a happy man!
Scary, I think I'm turning into a hermit! :o)
The wind was the meteorological thing of note.........a head wind and in typical Scottish fashion extremely strong. My car is small, it has an unimpressive number of apparently lazy horses under the bonnet and whilst I couldn't say it struggled the wind alone made rather more gear shifts than is normal necessary! On Sutre Hill, an extremely large bump in the landscape between here and Edinburgh (in cidentally I Googled 'Sutre Hill', in the hope of discovering it's elevation and came up with nothing!) the prospect of retaining a straight line in the road became frighteningly difficult.
Having made it, in a longer time than we had anticipated, to the outskirts of Edinburgh we were met with something I no longer consider and discovered that my tolerance for has diminished to almost nil..........a traffic jam, a big one, no escape route available. My irritation was notable, I just do not 'do' traffic jams anymore, they don't exist, in fact traffic rarely exists I any significant quantity on the journeys I make as a rule nowadays. An hour we sat, miffed and aggravated until we finally escaped and arrived at our destination.
And so the job was done, the cell phone was duly returned and changed for another, a Samsung E600. Yup, I know I said I am a Nokia girl but the lure of a VGA camera that actually produces a picture that can be defined and the attraction of something so tiny and shiny was more than a girl could resist......that and the fact that Nokia seem to have lost the plot a little of late.
That achieved it was off to Ikea......well you just have to visit an Ikea when there is one in close proximity don't you? By now hungry, we were forced to partake of the less than 'haute cuisine' fare on offer but I suppose to complain would be unreasonable, when one considers that two people can eat two courses for less than £10! We wandered around like herding cattle among the throng for a while, purchased the obligatory candles and a small table in the hope of not having to burn our legs with the laptop perched on our laps any longer (man those things give off some heat)and headed home.
The odd thing I discovered in this days activity was my most un-female and un-gemmak like growing disinterest in shopping! Not good, we women shop, it is what we do, the thing we love. All my life shopping could be considered a no.1 activity.........no longer! What on earth is happening to me? Save for more ram, a better graphics card or a bigger hard drive there was nothing I could raise interest in......well ok, I lie, diamonds, one can never have enough good diamonds but then one can rarely afford them either. Mostly we didn't even window shop, we fled the concrete jungle that is the shopping mall with some haste......PG was a happy man!
Scary, I think I'm turning into a hermit! :o)
Wednesday, 17 November 2004
Is there no pleasure.......
......in life that is without dire warnings from the medical or other professions?
I read this story in a news paper yesterday and again this morning I was met with it almost the moment I booted up!
I am not sure exactly what the criteria is in this research to define a 'heavy user' but somehow I imagine I can't be too far off and as one that is struggling through no longer suitable spectacles, to see what I am typing at this very moment it is a little scary!
Best I make tracks to the optician in the not too distant future I think!
I read this story in a news paper yesterday and again this morning I was met with it almost the moment I booted up!
I am not sure exactly what the criteria is in this research to define a 'heavy user' but somehow I imagine I can't be too far off and as one that is struggling through no longer suitable spectacles, to see what I am typing at this very moment it is a little scary!
Best I make tracks to the optician in the not too distant future I think!
Tuesday, 16 November 2004
Not in my back yard
Practice makes perfect © Blackrat
This evening I watched the news, nothing remarkable in that other than it is something I always mean to do and somehow never actually manage to do!
Among the reports was one that caused my ears to pick up and for me to take notice.
The report in question concerned the dangers involved in members of the RAF practicing their low flying skills, specifically in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. It seems there have been a small number of 'near misses' involving low flying fighter jets and gliders resulting in those in support of the 'sport flyers' calling for more strict controls on the RAF's activities in the area.
This is not a new issue. Also this week a report was issued concerning a woman who was killed in Lincolnshire when a low flying helicopter apparently caused her horse to bolt resulting in her being throw off and her subsequent death. The coroner in the case sent various recommendations to the RAF regarding how they should in his opinion modify their practices!
This all raises a number of questions in my mind. Firstly is a coroner qualified to make such recommendations, after all his or her experience i doubt is generally based in military training and nor does it seem to me to look at the bigger picture..........and this is where the whole issue really begins to annoy me.
There is absolutely no doubt that to lose one's life or the life of a loved one in any such circumstances is a tragedy and not one any of us would like to have to experience, or to come face to face, from the cockpit of your glider, with a Tornado must be terrifying to say the least but, and for me this is a big but, is it not always the case that wherever a dangerous but necessary activity is engaged in, there will sadly be repercussions on occasion?
It is a fact, whether as individuals we like it or not, that we need to have highly trained fighter pilots in the RAF. it is not a choice, it is a necessity, current events and events of recent years have proved that beyond any doubt and yet there seems to be constant complaint from some quarters when our combat pilots require training. There are unending calls for the flying height restrictions and noise levels to be amended .........do those that complain think that in an environment of conflict a pilot has always a choice not to fly into certain situations, not to have to avoid the enemy or the landscape....to be able to fly nicely and politely within acceptable restraints? I think not!
So it seems this is yet another case of 'not in my back yard'. Yes, doubtless the complainants want a well trained Air Force, want our country and those of our allies suitably protected and no doubt in many cases are proud of our airmen and women's skills, they are second to none..........just as long as they themselves don't have to suffer the risks or noise pollution involved!
The not in my back yard mentality annoys me more than almost anything else. Where should these pilots practice the skills they need exactly? Perhaps those who complain would like to see this taking place over the centre of London, Edinburgh, Birmingham or some other large urban conurbation, where should one crash, hundreds could be killed or injured!! These guys (and gals) undertake a massive responsibility, should we not be allowing them to train suitably for this task...yes, the payback is massive, a Tornado for instance must be the ultimate 'grown up toy' but in the end, when push comes to shove these guys risk their lives and I have no doubt they want to stay alive as much as the rest of us.
It seems to me that given this training has to be undertaken it is far wiser to undertake it in areas such as the Brecon beacons where the risk to those on the ground is the smallest. Yes there is risk and yes there is phenomenal noise generated by a jet at 250 feet but it seems to me a relatively small price to pay.
This is not a subject I know nothing about, I live in an RAF low flying zone, I get woken regularly by the earth shattering noise, I am used to it but despite that it scares the life out of me at times. There is nothing in my experience, louder, more ear splitting or more sudden. These things come from out of 'nowhere' and often so low the pilot can easily be distinguished in the cockpit.
For those who complain I have one final point to make........ the death of anyone is a tragedy but despite being very much in the 'firing line' so to speak, I'm damn sure I would rather a Tornado crashed here than in the middle of Manchester!
Oh...and for those that are interested, and anyone who knows me knows the interest and care I have for animals, the field full of horses at the back at my property don't bat an eyelid at their airborne companions and nor, after only a very short time did my cats......... I see anything from 5 to 50 military jets a day, day after day, after day but I have yet to see one fall out of the sky, it happens I know but by comparison to the flying hours it is damn rare. Perhaps a little perspective is called for here by some!
Monday, 15 November 2004
Frustrations
I seem to be having a frustrating spell these last few days....along with the bad news life seems to be full of small aggravations and I just don't seem to be able to get anything in order!
Firstly, I am as a rule Ms. Organised, everything done when, or before, it needs doing and consequently plenty of time to do as I please. This last week there has been none of that, I'm not entirely sure why but somehow life seems to be getting in the way! I have bills that I am sure are now late but my motivation to pick them up and log onto my banks 'pay bills' page is nil, no doubt resulting in an horrendously large charge from those kind mastercard people and the like, for late payment. Goddamn, I must get to it..........one £25 charge I can accept but you don't want to know just how many plastic cards I keep in my purse, suffice to say that a charge for each would be bad!
Secondly, I seem again to have been sucked into the 'dog walking' thing, tho only once or twice thus far and in daylight. I fear this is the thin end of the wedge.........I have to practice the 'no' word some more on that one before things get completely out of hand again.
Thirdly and this is the bad one........I had the weekly fight with the bed this morning. Good God......who on earth thought up duvets and those damnable covers they reside in? They were certainly not made for ease of use, is this because I am so small that they present such a problem or are they such an utter frustration for all sizes or person? Having carefully ironed said cover the fight begins, I wonder why I iron it at all at the end of each incident for it invariably ends up in a screwed up heap!
I am sure there is a proper and right way to go about this task but if there is I have not yet become acquainted with it, I spend what always seems an eternity poking bits of duvet into cover, only to find another bit popped out, I shake, I stand on the bed shaking some more, I lay the whole bloody thing flat and crawl inside with the quilt in a vain attempt to straighten it all out and still, there are lumps and bumps and bits hanging out of the bottom! Invariably this task is not helped by two things, one, PG insisted on having a king size bed, all very nice but it isn't him wrestling a supersize bag full of feathers every week and two, Ditto always considers it necessary to 'help' and so along with the normal difficulties involved with the duvet situation I am also required to extricate her from within, on a number of occasions!
My final frustration of recent days is a seemingly general lack of time, I have struggled to blog, I have masses of blog reading to catch up on and three 'novels in 30 days' that I am falling sadly behind with.
What on earth happened to my days of being lost on here for hours on end, chatting, blogging and fiddling in general, what happened to my laid back demeanor and cheerful disposition? Life sodding happened!
Please, do not mention PMS or hormones right now! Pfftttt.
Firstly, I am as a rule Ms. Organised, everything done when, or before, it needs doing and consequently plenty of time to do as I please. This last week there has been none of that, I'm not entirely sure why but somehow life seems to be getting in the way! I have bills that I am sure are now late but my motivation to pick them up and log onto my banks 'pay bills' page is nil, no doubt resulting in an horrendously large charge from those kind mastercard people and the like, for late payment. Goddamn, I must get to it..........one £25 charge I can accept but you don't want to know just how many plastic cards I keep in my purse, suffice to say that a charge for each would be bad!
Secondly, I seem again to have been sucked into the 'dog walking' thing, tho only once or twice thus far and in daylight. I fear this is the thin end of the wedge.........I have to practice the 'no' word some more on that one before things get completely out of hand again.
Thirdly and this is the bad one........I had the weekly fight with the bed this morning. Good God......who on earth thought up duvets and those damnable covers they reside in? They were certainly not made for ease of use, is this because I am so small that they present such a problem or are they such an utter frustration for all sizes or person? Having carefully ironed said cover the fight begins, I wonder why I iron it at all at the end of each incident for it invariably ends up in a screwed up heap!
I am sure there is a proper and right way to go about this task but if there is I have not yet become acquainted with it, I spend what always seems an eternity poking bits of duvet into cover, only to find another bit popped out, I shake, I stand on the bed shaking some more, I lay the whole bloody thing flat and crawl inside with the quilt in a vain attempt to straighten it all out and still, there are lumps and bumps and bits hanging out of the bottom! Invariably this task is not helped by two things, one, PG insisted on having a king size bed, all very nice but it isn't him wrestling a supersize bag full of feathers every week and two, Ditto always considers it necessary to 'help' and so along with the normal difficulties involved with the duvet situation I am also required to extricate her from within, on a number of occasions!
My final frustration of recent days is a seemingly general lack of time, I have struggled to blog, I have masses of blog reading to catch up on and three 'novels in 30 days' that I am falling sadly behind with.
What on earth happened to my days of being lost on here for hours on end, chatting, blogging and fiddling in general, what happened to my laid back demeanor and cheerful disposition? Life sodding happened!
Please, do not mention PMS or hormones right now! Pfftttt.
Sunday, 14 November 2004
An un-wonderful weekend
It has been an odd weekend and not one I wish to repeat in a great hurry!
I was never superstitious but I am considering becoming so from this day, or rather yesterday, forward.
Yesterday was the 13th, hmmmmm, you may recall the last '13th' was not a good day in 'gemmaksville' well this one was worse. The day began cold and with an early start for work...that was the good bit, it degenerated badly from there on in, though more for PG than myself.
PG, if I haven't already explained, works with severely disabled adults and has done so for over 10 years. One of his charges, a lovely guy for whom he has been keyworker for 6 years, sadly died yesterday morning completely unexpectedly. The ramifications of that in a residential establishment, along with the obvious sadness made for a bad day alone...... but this was not to be the end.
I called PG later in the afternoon just to see how he was, only to discover he was at the police station! Whilst he had been out for lunch, some 'kind soul' had driven into the side of his car while he waited to turn........she had then proceeded to drive off! Thankfully the damage was slight and no one was injured, not that she waited to find out! A bystander who witnessed the proceedings, recognised her and subsequently sought out PG to give him the information........he was as I called him in the process of reporting the incident, though I doubt anything will ever come of it.
Still this was not the end. In the late afternoon we learned of the death of a close friends mother, again suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday morning.
Work was hard and tiring for both of us and I crawled through the door at 5.30 ready to do nothing but chill for a while.........yeah right!
I made a cup of tea and put the iron on, figuring I would get what needed doing done straight away and then we would have the evening to relax. I turned to fetch milk from the fridge and in the process managed to upend the iron, which promptly headed for the floor and landed with a crash, rendering it somewhat 'dismantled' and burning the floor just for good measure. In my haste to rescue the remains of the hot iron from it's resting place before too much damage was done I knocked over the cup of freshly made tea which, in an instant joined the other 'rubble' now residing in a heap on the floor and on its way burnt my leg, though luckily not badly!
Someone please.........remind me not to do anything or go anywhere on the next 13th!
I was never superstitious but I am considering becoming so from this day, or rather yesterday, forward.
Yesterday was the 13th, hmmmmm, you may recall the last '13th' was not a good day in 'gemmaksville' well this one was worse. The day began cold and with an early start for work...that was the good bit, it degenerated badly from there on in, though more for PG than myself.
PG, if I haven't already explained, works with severely disabled adults and has done so for over 10 years. One of his charges, a lovely guy for whom he has been keyworker for 6 years, sadly died yesterday morning completely unexpectedly. The ramifications of that in a residential establishment, along with the obvious sadness made for a bad day alone...... but this was not to be the end.
I called PG later in the afternoon just to see how he was, only to discover he was at the police station! Whilst he had been out for lunch, some 'kind soul' had driven into the side of his car while he waited to turn........she had then proceeded to drive off! Thankfully the damage was slight and no one was injured, not that she waited to find out! A bystander who witnessed the proceedings, recognised her and subsequently sought out PG to give him the information........he was as I called him in the process of reporting the incident, though I doubt anything will ever come of it.
Still this was not the end. In the late afternoon we learned of the death of a close friends mother, again suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday morning.
Work was hard and tiring for both of us and I crawled through the door at 5.30 ready to do nothing but chill for a while.........yeah right!
I made a cup of tea and put the iron on, figuring I would get what needed doing done straight away and then we would have the evening to relax. I turned to fetch milk from the fridge and in the process managed to upend the iron, which promptly headed for the floor and landed with a crash, rendering it somewhat 'dismantled' and burning the floor just for good measure. In my haste to rescue the remains of the hot iron from it's resting place before too much damage was done I knocked over the cup of freshly made tea which, in an instant joined the other 'rubble' now residing in a heap on the floor and on its way burnt my leg, though luckily not badly!
Someone please.........remind me not to do anything or go anywhere on the next 13th!
Saturday, 13 November 2004
Fickle female
Yesterday.......now let me think, oh yes, I recall now though it seems some time ago.
PG and I had arranged to go shopping after he finished work at 2 pm, I could tell he was enthralled with the idea, try as he might to hide his excitement at the prospect of an afternoon off shopping he couldn't disguise it, it was the positive and enraptured response to the suggestion that gave it away.....NOT! Severely lack lustre would be a closer description in fact!
And so it was, barely out of bed, sun shining and the prospect of the real world not an hour and a half away I decided to go alone, this decision did not displease PG. My destination was to be Edinburgh, purely on the basis that it it marginally closer then Newcastle, and so off I set. The route, assuming one doesn't use the A1, is stunning, winding open roads and unending vistas of hills and turns in all shades of greens and browns.
For me it is a somewhat frustrating journey, never before have I seen roads more suited to being traveled on two wheels. Quiet, winding, smooth, fast, just perfect. There are innumerable bends that I defy anyone, who has any passion whatsoever for motorcycling to be able to ride, without at least attempting to make contact between knee slider and tarmac! Do I miss it?...hell yeah I miss it and I do so wish, that on each occasion I make this journey, some leather clad smart ass wouldn't rub it in by 'doing his stuff' within my line of sight! I could spit feathers of frustration and envy as I potter along unexcitedly in my little car.
My destination arrived at I made purposefully for my first intended purchase, a new cell phone. Of course, having done my research on the internet prior to making the trip, what happened....they didn't have the phone I wanted...no one did.... so what did I do? I'll tell you what I did, what I always bloody well do, I singed another years contract for a different one. I was not, having driven 70 miles going to be thwarted at this point but of course I should learn. I know my self better than that. I love gadgets, I had researched my quarry thoroughly and I knew almost as I signed I would not want what I had signed for once I arrived home and I was right. It just wasn't quite what I wanted, in fact it was far from it.
I am a Nokia woman, I have been for 15 years, this interloper is not Nokia. Life is too short to fight with new menu systems and buttons, places strategically to trip up ones fingers, for weeks on end, missing calls and sending unintelligible messages, I knew that it would aggravate me, I should have had patience but no, I had to have it now! ......I checked the contract, I have 14 days within which I may return it, so now I have to drive all the way back again..........or maybe you will see it on Ebay sometime soon. Arggghhhhh
Is it any wonder guys consider us women fickle on occasion? Lol.
PG and I had arranged to go shopping after he finished work at 2 pm, I could tell he was enthralled with the idea, try as he might to hide his excitement at the prospect of an afternoon off shopping he couldn't disguise it, it was the positive and enraptured response to the suggestion that gave it away.....NOT! Severely lack lustre would be a closer description in fact!
And so it was, barely out of bed, sun shining and the prospect of the real world not an hour and a half away I decided to go alone, this decision did not displease PG. My destination was to be Edinburgh, purely on the basis that it it marginally closer then Newcastle, and so off I set. The route, assuming one doesn't use the A1, is stunning, winding open roads and unending vistas of hills and turns in all shades of greens and browns.
For me it is a somewhat frustrating journey, never before have I seen roads more suited to being traveled on two wheels. Quiet, winding, smooth, fast, just perfect. There are innumerable bends that I defy anyone, who has any passion whatsoever for motorcycling to be able to ride, without at least attempting to make contact between knee slider and tarmac! Do I miss it?...hell yeah I miss it and I do so wish, that on each occasion I make this journey, some leather clad smart ass wouldn't rub it in by 'doing his stuff' within my line of sight! I could spit feathers of frustration and envy as I potter along unexcitedly in my little car.
My destination arrived at I made purposefully for my first intended purchase, a new cell phone. Of course, having done my research on the internet prior to making the trip, what happened....they didn't have the phone I wanted...no one did.... so what did I do? I'll tell you what I did, what I always bloody well do, I singed another years contract for a different one. I was not, having driven 70 miles going to be thwarted at this point but of course I should learn. I know my self better than that. I love gadgets, I had researched my quarry thoroughly and I knew almost as I signed I would not want what I had signed for once I arrived home and I was right. It just wasn't quite what I wanted, in fact it was far from it.
I am a Nokia woman, I have been for 15 years, this interloper is not Nokia. Life is too short to fight with new menu systems and buttons, places strategically to trip up ones fingers, for weeks on end, missing calls and sending unintelligible messages, I knew that it would aggravate me, I should have had patience but no, I had to have it now! ......I checked the contract, I have 14 days within which I may return it, so now I have to drive all the way back again..........or maybe you will see it on Ebay sometime soon. Arggghhhhh
Is it any wonder guys consider us women fickle on occasion? Lol.
Bah!
Ugh! 5.20 am on a Saturday and I'm off to work, it's 1 degree outside and my car, for the first time this winter, needs scraping....I will catch up I promise, hell where have the last 24 hours gone? Nowhere too exciting sadly! Lol.
Bah....and now I notice it is also the 13th! Oh no! Not, of course, that I am even remotely superstitious but.......you know.....
Bah....and now I notice it is also the 13th! Oh no! Not, of course, that I am even remotely superstitious but.......you know.....
Friday, 12 November 2004
Phew......
....I've made it here at last!
Most unlike me I know, a whole day gone by and not so much as a peep from me. In fact I can't even remember the last time that it took me until 8.30 in the evening to even check my mails, let alone a whole day without blogging!
That said, I still don't have any time, rush, rush, rush ......I'll be back later!
Most unlike me I know, a whole day gone by and not so much as a peep from me. In fact I can't even remember the last time that it took me until 8.30 in the evening to even check my mails, let alone a whole day without blogging!
That said, I still don't have any time, rush, rush, rush ......I'll be back later!
Thursday, 11 November 2004
What herb are you?
YOU ARE CATNIP
What herb are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
I kid you not....this is truly the result I got! Catnip, Lol
10000 and counting
Hurrahhhh,we got there, while I slept my 10000th visitor arrived and it was none other than MICHELLE of Justitia fame:
I'm kinda glad it was a regular and friend rather than someone just passing through. Amusingly and typically, as I sat an watched for a time last night as the counter had only 12 to go, it's provider kindly took it down and left a message telling me I was required to replace the code with a new one!! Even I don't relish fiddling with even the simplest piece of code and my template at that hour of the night but it had to be done! lol.
Anyways, thanks chaps and chapesses for your continued loyalty....the next big one is 100000 but at current rates it's gonna be at least another 4.5 years so I think for now I will forget about it!
Returning Visits:7
Location: Australia
Hostname:tow-ts1-2600.tpgi.com.au (203.213.0.10)
Entry Page:jmw500.blogspot.com/
Exit Page:jmw500.blogspot.com/2004/11/gemmak-gets-reviewed.html#comments
Referring URL:maggiezfarmaz.blogspot.com/
I'm kinda glad it was a regular and friend rather than someone just passing through. Amusingly and typically, as I sat an watched for a time last night as the counter had only 12 to go, it's provider kindly took it down and left a message telling me I was required to replace the code with a new one!! Even I don't relish fiddling with even the simplest piece of code and my template at that hour of the night but it had to be done! lol.
Anyways, thanks chaps and chapesses for your continued loyalty....the next big one is 100000 but at current rates it's gonna be at least another 4.5 years so I think for now I will forget about it!
Wednesday, 10 November 2004
gemmak gets reviewed
This goes a little against the grain for me but under threat of severe punishment being heaped upon me if I do not, I have promised Magz I will draw your attention to THIS
I submitted my blog to the Weblog Review a few days ago and today the considerations of three brave reviewers were published.
To Magz I have to say the biggest thank you....you flatter me, it is probably undeserved but it's kinda nice *blush*.
Where my other two reviewers are concerned, your points, good and bad, are of value, honest is good. I have taken your thoughts on board and I thank you for the time you spent here and your efforts in writing your reviews. I only take issue on one small point.....my world clocks are there because I need them in my dotage!! I use them constantly, I cannot for the life of me remember the time differences for so many places and when I can afford five small matching clocks for my desk they will be gone. None the less I have to concede, that for those who do not have a fondness for 'busy' sidebars mine was never going to be a winner! :o)
Thank you again to all of you but for obvious reasons a great big thank you to Magz.
I submitted my blog to the Weblog Review a few days ago and today the considerations of three brave reviewers were published.
To Magz I have to say the biggest thank you....you flatter me, it is probably undeserved but it's kinda nice *blush*.
Where my other two reviewers are concerned, your points, good and bad, are of value, honest is good. I have taken your thoughts on board and I thank you for the time you spent here and your efforts in writing your reviews. I only take issue on one small point.....my world clocks are there because I need them in my dotage!! I use them constantly, I cannot for the life of me remember the time differences for so many places and when I can afford five small matching clocks for my desk they will be gone. None the less I have to concede, that for those who do not have a fondness for 'busy' sidebars mine was never going to be a winner! :o)
Thank you again to all of you but for obvious reasons a great big thank you to Magz.
Christmas 2004? No thanks.
I'm feeling a little sorry for myself right now.
As a child and as an adult I have adored Christmas time, it has been marginally ruined by the unending run up entailed in retail but none the less it is a special time and one where I look forward to spending time with PG and our families. It has become more important to me with my move North and the consequent infrequency of time with them.
PG has just called me....what were we saying about employer loyalty? He has worked 9 of the last 10 Christmas's without complaint but this year requested time off to enable us to spend it with my family at my sisters home in the Midlands. Failing that he had asked for an early shift on Christmas day so that we at least could eat dinner together and enjoy the late afternoon and evening.
You know what's coming next don't you? He just received his rota for the festive season, he has the the Thursday and Christmas eve off........I am required to work those two days and that is followed by a 3pm-11pm shift on Christmas day and a repeat on Boxing day.....New Year is much the same!!
I have no relatives nearby and nor does PG and my friends here will be spending Christmas with their families. I could, I suppose, travel South alone but I don't want to leave PG alone for Christmas and I don't want to spend it without him.
I know someone has to do the job but hell......why is it always him?! All of his colleagues have families close to hand, and I know everyone would like Christmas off and that is not possible, it is a drawback of moving so far I suppose but FFS...........good will to all men?? Forget it.
So, if you need a blog baby-sat or a website designed over the festivities call me........I have a few free days!
I'm off to sulk now. :o(
As a child and as an adult I have adored Christmas time, it has been marginally ruined by the unending run up entailed in retail but none the less it is a special time and one where I look forward to spending time with PG and our families. It has become more important to me with my move North and the consequent infrequency of time with them.
PG has just called me....what were we saying about employer loyalty? He has worked 9 of the last 10 Christmas's without complaint but this year requested time off to enable us to spend it with my family at my sisters home in the Midlands. Failing that he had asked for an early shift on Christmas day so that we at least could eat dinner together and enjoy the late afternoon and evening.
You know what's coming next don't you? He just received his rota for the festive season, he has the the Thursday and Christmas eve off........I am required to work those two days and that is followed by a 3pm-11pm shift on Christmas day and a repeat on Boxing day.....New Year is much the same!!
I have no relatives nearby and nor does PG and my friends here will be spending Christmas with their families. I could, I suppose, travel South alone but I don't want to leave PG alone for Christmas and I don't want to spend it without him.
I know someone has to do the job but hell......why is it always him?! All of his colleagues have families close to hand, and I know everyone would like Christmas off and that is not possible, it is a drawback of moving so far I suppose but FFS...........good will to all men?? Forget it.
So, if you need a blog baby-sat or a website designed over the festivities call me........I have a few free days!
I'm off to sulk now. :o(
Bound Stateside again
Today again I am about to pack my virtual case and head off Stateside to take care of 'And now for something completely different'. Lisa, it's owner, is Chicago bound on a business trip and consequently will be absent for the day.
It's a little weird to be let loose in someone else's 'patch', kinda like taking care of someone else's child or pet, almost more worrying than looking after your own.
That said it should be fun assuming of course my small mind can come up with enough posts to keep both sides of the Atlantic up and running all day and can fathom the technicalities and navigation of a different provider!
Catch you there later maybe!
It's a little weird to be let loose in someone else's 'patch', kinda like taking care of someone else's child or pet, almost more worrying than looking after your own.
That said it should be fun assuming of course my small mind can come up with enough posts to keep both sides of the Atlantic up and running all day and can fathom the technicalities and navigation of a different provider!
Catch you there later maybe!
I'm ever hopeful
Today again I am at the mercy of another tradesman! I mentioned last week my small disaster with my car's windscreen whereby in my attempt to remove a large heap of something unpleasant not so kindly deposited by a seagull I scratched it so badly I rendered it akin to that obscure glass one finds in a bathroom window protecting the modesty of those therein! How I hear you say can seagull deposit damage glass........this was a new one on me but once aware it became sadly obvious that seagull 'pooh' is full of sand!
Hence it is that I await the arrival of the tradesman charged with the job of replacing the windscreen. Forgive my lack of faith but I'm not holding my breath. I have no reason to doubt this guys appearance at the stated appointment time other than my lifetime's experience of tradesmen and women. If this guy arrives at the time and place designated it will be a rare occurrence and I am currently attempting to think of a suitable prize should he do so. No lewd suggestion thank you!
Plumbers, electricians, heating engineers, landlords, insurance salesmen,telecommunications professionals and motor mechanics, none in my experience ever arrive on time if at all so why should a vehicle glazier be any different? I am ever hopeful though that this time will be different and that by dinner time I will have a bright shiny new windscreen designed to be seen through, installed.
There is of course the other issue involved here....how successful said installation will be, I have been this route before only to discover 3 inches of rainwater loitering under foot subsequent to rainfall and the fitting of a new windscreen. Again I am ever hopeful thought not convinced!
Hence it is that I await the arrival of the tradesman charged with the job of replacing the windscreen. Forgive my lack of faith but I'm not holding my breath. I have no reason to doubt this guys appearance at the stated appointment time other than my lifetime's experience of tradesmen and women. If this guy arrives at the time and place designated it will be a rare occurrence and I am currently attempting to think of a suitable prize should he do so. No lewd suggestion thank you!
Plumbers, electricians, heating engineers, landlords, insurance salesmen,telecommunications professionals and motor mechanics, none in my experience ever arrive on time if at all so why should a vehicle glazier be any different? I am ever hopeful though that this time will be different and that by dinner time I will have a bright shiny new windscreen designed to be seen through, installed.
There is of course the other issue involved here....how successful said installation will be, I have been this route before only to discover 3 inches of rainwater loitering under foot subsequent to rainfall and the fitting of a new windscreen. Again I am ever hopeful thought not convinced!
Tuesday, 9 November 2004
I must learn to say 'NO'!
Grrrr...I have to work today, it's not the work that is bugging me rather the inconsideration and stupidity that surrounds my working today.
I agreed a week or two back to take on an extra day a week, no problem, I need the money and was glad of the offer. Needless to say though this was not contracted and hence can be fiddled with at corporate will!
It is thus that on Sunday my shift for this week was changed suddenly, this is not unusual, apparently we as employees have no life outside of work and never have arrangements made! I would normally have worked a full day on Thursday which suits me fine but it has been decided in someone's wisdom that my presence is required for half a shift today and half a shift on Thursday instead.
This may sound like no big deal and mostly it isn't save for the fact that I have an almost 40 mile round trip on each occasion and as my remuneration is not impressive, once one deducts the tax and the cost of the fuel it is barely worth my working at all! In fact if you consider that it also makes two days this week unusable then from my point of view it is completely pointless.
Add to that this shift is across the middle of the day, I get no break, the length of the shift is carefully engineered just within employment laws to make sure I don't get one, and hence don't have a chance to eat the whole thing aggravates me intensely!
Of course, this situation is within the parameters of my contract so apart from appealing to the common sense (???) of my management I have no argument. I have had this 'discussion' on many occasions with those that decide my shifts but still it appears to fall on deaf ears!!
Why do I not just learn to stand my ground and say NO!? I'll tell you why, in the first place I am not good at the 'no' word and in the second, despite 'talking the talk' on employee considerations, when push comes to shove there is little action..... should I make my point too loudly they will stop offering me overtime at all. It seems we have to be more and more flexible as time goes on..........it will come as no surprise to learn that flexibility and loyalty seems to be a one way street!
This is a small point but it aggravates the hell out of me. Rant over.
I agreed a week or two back to take on an extra day a week, no problem, I need the money and was glad of the offer. Needless to say though this was not contracted and hence can be fiddled with at corporate will!
It is thus that on Sunday my shift for this week was changed suddenly, this is not unusual, apparently we as employees have no life outside of work and never have arrangements made! I would normally have worked a full day on Thursday which suits me fine but it has been decided in someone's wisdom that my presence is required for half a shift today and half a shift on Thursday instead.
This may sound like no big deal and mostly it isn't save for the fact that I have an almost 40 mile round trip on each occasion and as my remuneration is not impressive, once one deducts the tax and the cost of the fuel it is barely worth my working at all! In fact if you consider that it also makes two days this week unusable then from my point of view it is completely pointless.
Add to that this shift is across the middle of the day, I get no break, the length of the shift is carefully engineered just within employment laws to make sure I don't get one, and hence don't have a chance to eat the whole thing aggravates me intensely!
Of course, this situation is within the parameters of my contract so apart from appealing to the common sense (???) of my management I have no argument. I have had this 'discussion' on many occasions with those that decide my shifts but still it appears to fall on deaf ears!!
Why do I not just learn to stand my ground and say NO!? I'll tell you why, in the first place I am not good at the 'no' word and in the second, despite 'talking the talk' on employee considerations, when push comes to shove there is little action..... should I make my point too loudly they will stop offering me overtime at all. It seems we have to be more and more flexible as time goes on..........it will come as no surprise to learn that flexibility and loyalty seems to be a one way street!
This is a small point but it aggravates the hell out of me. Rant over.
Monday, 8 November 2004
gemmak goes Stateside
I made mention yesterday that someone had kindly and somewhat flatteringly, extended an invitation in my direction over the weekend to do something I have never done before and promised further details, well this is those details.
This morning I packed my virtual bags and headed Stateside to take up that invitation HERE for the first time.
Here's hoping I can maintain the standard, it's kinda scary to be plodding around in someone else's territory!
This morning I packed my virtual bags and headed Stateside to take up that invitation HERE for the first time.
Here's hoping I can maintain the standard, it's kinda scary to be plodding around in someone else's territory!
A narcissistic moment
Please excuse my narcissitic tendencies where my visitor stats are concerned!
Those of you who visit here regularly will have noticed by the number of bits of tracking code scattered around, that I am more than a little interested in seeing who has been here!
This week I am hoping to make it to what I see as a tiny milestone.....10000 hits, I never in a million moments of imagination envisaged when I began this, that anyone would read it let alone that number. There are those among us who have far more impressive stats but for me what I have is just fine. I might add here that my stats are reasonably accurate. I persist in using the less than professional Bravenet counter purely because it is the only one that allows me to ignore my own hits without having the luxury of a static I.P. and thereby does not artificially inflate my figures. On the odd occasion I have lost the cookie and registered my own visits I have even been know to subtract them! How's that for honesty? Lol.
Hidden away there are others that supply me with much improved tracking facilities, it fascinates me to see who has been here and where they came from etc. To be able to watch someone navigate my tiny little patch of the w.w.w. and know they are in the Bronx, Saudi, Spain, Canada or wherever and to narrow it down to a specific city or closer is still just amazing to me.
So like I said, apologies for my narcissism and to those of you who visit, ta very much!. I will endeavor, with all this technology, to define and report back who exactly makes the 10000th hit when it happens but I make no guarantees! I recently read a blog in which the author was thanking his 100000th visitor, hell, if I ever make it to that I will throw a party but by then I imagine I will be too decrepit to join in! :o)
Those of you who visit here regularly will have noticed by the number of bits of tracking code scattered around, that I am more than a little interested in seeing who has been here!
This week I am hoping to make it to what I see as a tiny milestone.....10000 hits, I never in a million moments of imagination envisaged when I began this, that anyone would read it let alone that number. There are those among us who have far more impressive stats but for me what I have is just fine. I might add here that my stats are reasonably accurate. I persist in using the less than professional Bravenet counter purely because it is the only one that allows me to ignore my own hits without having the luxury of a static I.P. and thereby does not artificially inflate my figures. On the odd occasion I have lost the cookie and registered my own visits I have even been know to subtract them! How's that for honesty? Lol.
Hidden away there are others that supply me with much improved tracking facilities, it fascinates me to see who has been here and where they came from etc. To be able to watch someone navigate my tiny little patch of the w.w.w. and know they are in the Bronx, Saudi, Spain, Canada or wherever and to narrow it down to a specific city or closer is still just amazing to me.
So like I said, apologies for my narcissism and to those of you who visit, ta very much!. I will endeavor, with all this technology, to define and report back who exactly makes the 10000th hit when it happens but I make no guarantees! I recently read a blog in which the author was thanking his 100000th visitor, hell, if I ever make it to that I will throw a party but by then I imagine I will be too decrepit to join in! :o)
Sunday, 7 November 2004
Little things
Fallow Doe © Laurie Campbell
As ever I have worked all weekend with nothing outstandingly good or bad involved, no customers of note in either a negative or positive respect, just day to day weekend retail madness.
It will never cease to amaze me that so many people want to shop on a weekend and and it confounds me further that they are forming a queue at the door by 9.30 on a Sunday morning, if not sooner. There are many places I might like to be at that hour on a Sunday, if I had not to work, but on the doorstep of a superstore in the cold would most certainly not be one of them!!
The mundanity and routine of the working weekend was tempered by one or two small but very pleasant surprises.
The first was an invitation from someone who has become a good friend of late, an invitation to do something I have never done before and that I am looking forward to like a small child.....more on that soon.
The second was the beautiful sight, as PG and I left home this morning for work, of two beautiful adult deer not 20 yards away. They had no cover other than a light mist, both turned in unison at the sound of the door closing shut, looked at us for a few moments and then meandered slowly on their way, stopping to graze intermittently as they went. We stood and watched in silence as they pottered around the field, seemingly unperturbed by our presence until they had gone from our sight.
We have lived her now for three years but until this morning had seen no evidence that there were deer 'in the back yard'.
So that was my weekend, no fireworks here, there are too many animals in close proximity had we even wanted them but instead a few little events that made it quite a special two days.
It's the small things in life as they say .........
Saturday, 6 November 2004
The case of the missing parcel
The birthday present to my Mother finally turned up but not I might add hastily, in quite the manner one would expect.
I left the situation with the company I purchased from somewhat in mid air, they had no idea where it was and couldn't contact the courier charged with responsibility for delivery because they were by then closed for business.
My father rang me at around 11.30 last night. He and my Mother had been out for the evening celebrating her birthday and upon their return my Mother commented that it appeared there was a parcel left on the doorstep of the house next door to them, she was concerned for it's safety. My father, aware of the lost gift, walked down the drive to investigate and sure enough it was the missing parcel. It was duly rescued and taken indoors.
None of this may sound that peculiar, I was relieved it was at last with it's recipient BUT it may sound a little less acceptable when I draw to your attention one or two small points!
Both my parents house and that next door have house numbers on the front door three inches high, both houses are set back from the road necessitating a walk toward them making it nigh on impossible that anyone could miss the numbers, the packege was clearly and correctly addressed and required a signature upon delivery and last but by no means least...........the property at which this gift was unceremoniously dumped is quite patently uninhabited and not yet entirely constructed!!!!
God preserve me from idiots; just let me loose with the courier at the start of business this morning.
Sorry Risky, but at this stage I am at a loss to know who else to blame if not the driver! :o(
I left the situation with the company I purchased from somewhat in mid air, they had no idea where it was and couldn't contact the courier charged with responsibility for delivery because they were by then closed for business.
My father rang me at around 11.30 last night. He and my Mother had been out for the evening celebrating her birthday and upon their return my Mother commented that it appeared there was a parcel left on the doorstep of the house next door to them, she was concerned for it's safety. My father, aware of the lost gift, walked down the drive to investigate and sure enough it was the missing parcel. It was duly rescued and taken indoors.
None of this may sound that peculiar, I was relieved it was at last with it's recipient BUT it may sound a little less acceptable when I draw to your attention one or two small points!
Both my parents house and that next door have house numbers on the front door three inches high, both houses are set back from the road necessitating a walk toward them making it nigh on impossible that anyone could miss the numbers, the packege was clearly and correctly addressed and required a signature upon delivery and last but by no means least...........the property at which this gift was unceremoniously dumped is quite patently uninhabited and not yet entirely constructed!!!!
God preserve me from idiots; just let me loose with the courier at the start of business this morning.
Sorry Risky, but at this stage I am at a loss to know who else to blame if not the driver! :o(
Friday, 5 November 2004
The best laid plans
What is it they say about the 'best laid plans'?
It being my Mothers birthday today and my being 400 miles away I duly very carefully arranged to have a gift delivered to her today. Well that at least was the theory!You know exactly what's coming here don't you?
Yup, the carefully arranged delivery is nowhere in evidence....the ineptitude of some companies never ceases to amaze me. I always buy from large, national and apparently reputable companies and doubtless pay through the nose but that's just fine....assuming they keep their side of the bargain, which on far to frequent occasions it seems they don't!!
So, the phone calls and courier chasing has begun. Granted the company concerned are most apologetic and apparently helpful but that doesn't change the fact that they now can't resolve this situation until Monday and that her birthday is today.
One thing is for sure, if said gift is not delivered sharpish on Monday and with profuse apologies, the very nice operator at the Next Directory call centre will be receiving a somewhat less than very nice call from yours truly.
How do companies of this size get away with it? I certainly couldn't!
Arghhhh.....
It being my Mothers birthday today and my being 400 miles away I duly very carefully arranged to have a gift delivered to her today. Well that at least was the theory!You know exactly what's coming here don't you?
Yup, the carefully arranged delivery is nowhere in evidence....the ineptitude of some companies never ceases to amaze me. I always buy from large, national and apparently reputable companies and doubtless pay through the nose but that's just fine....assuming they keep their side of the bargain, which on far to frequent occasions it seems they don't!!
So, the phone calls and courier chasing has begun. Granted the company concerned are most apologetic and apparently helpful but that doesn't change the fact that they now can't resolve this situation until Monday and that her birthday is today.
One thing is for sure, if said gift is not delivered sharpish on Monday and with profuse apologies, the very nice operator at the Next Directory call centre will be receiving a somewhat less than very nice call from yours truly.
How do companies of this size get away with it? I certainly couldn't!
Arghhhh.....
5th November
Well it is Guy Fawkes night!!! What more can I say other than they won't be here long doing something very odd to your eyes :o)
It is also my Mothers birthday so:
~HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM~
fireworks especially for you!
xxxxx
~HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM~
fireworks especially for you!
xxxxx
Blasphemy and Blogger
Jeez....what in Gods name are Blogger up to now? It is perhaps not courteous to bite the hand that feeds you and feeds you for free into the bargain but hells bells and little fishes, never in all this time have I know our beloved server to be quite such a pain!
Last night, again it took a nose dive, it did allow me to post a picture but then refused point blank to let me into the dshboard or beyond to add any text. An hour and five minutes (yes I timed it) it took to load the page, not even an internal server error message, nothing, just a progress bar interminably making no progress. Success at last, I made it to 'edit posts' only to discover, yes you guessed it, again another unending wait. Not one to leave half a post hanging in mid cyberspace I persisted.......another half an hour to make it to 'delete post'! Arghhhhhh. Having made it that far I hit delete....more waiting and then, joy..... it froze my pc!
I re-booted a thousand times, I reconnected more, I blamed my appalling dialup connection but no, webpages the world over were fine, it was of course another Blogger gremlin!
This morning a little improvement, it kindly allowed me to post a comment the blogs of two others before fading like a dying swan yet again. It has struggled now, at a snails pace, as far as 'new post' but will this ever make it into the blogosphere I wonder.
Much more of this and I'm off elsewhere and be damned to the web spiders, life is too short to get stressed about something I do for fun!
Here's hoping this post makes it..........
P.S. I am amused to note that even with the weight of Google behind them, the Blogger dashboard this morning has a somewhat 'broken' sidebar! :o)
Last night, again it took a nose dive, it did allow me to post a picture but then refused point blank to let me into the dshboard or beyond to add any text. An hour and five minutes (yes I timed it) it took to load the page, not even an internal server error message, nothing, just a progress bar interminably making no progress. Success at last, I made it to 'edit posts' only to discover, yes you guessed it, again another unending wait. Not one to leave half a post hanging in mid cyberspace I persisted.......another half an hour to make it to 'delete post'! Arghhhhhh. Having made it that far I hit delete....more waiting and then, joy..... it froze my pc!
I re-booted a thousand times, I reconnected more, I blamed my appalling dialup connection but no, webpages the world over were fine, it was of course another Blogger gremlin!
This morning a little improvement, it kindly allowed me to post a comment the blogs of two others before fading like a dying swan yet again. It has struggled now, at a snails pace, as far as 'new post' but will this ever make it into the blogosphere I wonder.
Much more of this and I'm off elsewhere and be damned to the web spiders, life is too short to get stressed about something I do for fun!
Here's hoping this post makes it..........
P.S. I am amused to note that even with the weight of Google behind them, the Blogger dashboard this morning has a somewhat 'broken' sidebar! :o)
Thursday, 4 November 2004
Sleepless in Scotland
It is a bad habit of mine that I rarely hit the sack before the small hours and one that I am sure can't be good for me but none the less I seem to persist in it!
My excuse is that I am a 'night person', that would be just fine if unfortunately I wasn't also a 'morning person' and up with the birds on most occasions. Certainly the idea of sleeping is an appealing one at times but from morning until morning I just always seem to have far too much I want to do and sleeping then, in my peculiar mind, appears to be a waste of my lifetime!
Twas thus that yesterday evening I made an avowed promise to myself that I would entertain a state of narcosis by midnight..... Yeah right!
We had dinner at a reasonable hour or at least Ditto did. It was a lazy meal of pizza and a green salad, eaten off trays on our lap, infront of the moving wallpaper. I made a wrong move. Madam, is not generally given to the act of begging for human food off plates, unlike Poppy who has made a lifetimes study of the effect of pleading eyes and the 'silent meow' on humans, when requiring an unallowed titbit.
So, with this in mind you will understand, I took no notice as Ditto casually wandered along the arm of the sofa, still I was not completely aware as she advanced on me further, of her intent, that is until as I lifted a large portion of pizza toward my mouth only for her, in an instant, to extend a claw clad paw, pizza-ward and snatch it from out of my grip. Having attained her goal she just a rapidly ensnared it in her jaw and fled the scene of the crime, pizza dragging on the floor!!! Stern words were spoken in her direction, believe me, but she was unrepentant as she began the 'killing' process and somehow I couldn't quite keep a straight face.
And so, pizza thieving incident over I settled here to fiddle and still promising myself a reasonably early night logged off at midnight, it was not to be. I logged back on to sort 'just one more thing' and subsequently got involved (how did that happen?) in an IM conversation. At 1am I tried again and off I logged. ok, so 1am may not be an early night but it's pretty good for me. Suffice to say, I decided a few pages of my current book would settle me. I duly put my book down half an hour later to find I had become victim of that God-awful situation where one finds that to get up and crawl to bed is more effort than to stay put, at which point I became engrossed in something less than pleasant on the TV!
Ok...........I failed, my head finally hit the pillow at 4am! Ugh. Please don't ask me how I feel this morning....... I must find myself a little more self discipline!
My excuse is that I am a 'night person', that would be just fine if unfortunately I wasn't also a 'morning person' and up with the birds on most occasions. Certainly the idea of sleeping is an appealing one at times but from morning until morning I just always seem to have far too much I want to do and sleeping then, in my peculiar mind, appears to be a waste of my lifetime!
Twas thus that yesterday evening I made an avowed promise to myself that I would entertain a state of narcosis by midnight..... Yeah right!
We had dinner at a reasonable hour or at least Ditto did. It was a lazy meal of pizza and a green salad, eaten off trays on our lap, infront of the moving wallpaper. I made a wrong move. Madam, is not generally given to the act of begging for human food off plates, unlike Poppy who has made a lifetimes study of the effect of pleading eyes and the 'silent meow' on humans, when requiring an unallowed titbit.
So, with this in mind you will understand, I took no notice as Ditto casually wandered along the arm of the sofa, still I was not completely aware as she advanced on me further, of her intent, that is until as I lifted a large portion of pizza toward my mouth only for her, in an instant, to extend a claw clad paw, pizza-ward and snatch it from out of my grip. Having attained her goal she just a rapidly ensnared it in her jaw and fled the scene of the crime, pizza dragging on the floor!!! Stern words were spoken in her direction, believe me, but she was unrepentant as she began the 'killing' process and somehow I couldn't quite keep a straight face.
And so, pizza thieving incident over I settled here to fiddle and still promising myself a reasonably early night logged off at midnight, it was not to be. I logged back on to sort 'just one more thing' and subsequently got involved (how did that happen?) in an IM conversation. At 1am I tried again and off I logged. ok, so 1am may not be an early night but it's pretty good for me. Suffice to say, I decided a few pages of my current book would settle me. I duly put my book down half an hour later to find I had become victim of that God-awful situation where one finds that to get up and crawl to bed is more effort than to stay put, at which point I became engrossed in something less than pleasant on the TV!
Ok...........I failed, my head finally hit the pillow at 4am! Ugh. Please don't ask me how I feel this morning....... I must find myself a little more self discipline!
Queen of the Sky ~ update #2
The BBC reports today that Q of S has now been fired from her position with Delta Airlines. It seems a little late in the day, those of us following this one knew at the weekend but it is at least confirmation.
Well done Delta....for shooting yourselves in the foot! You deserve your impending bankruptcy.
Good luck Q of S in your litigation.
Well done Delta....for shooting yourselves in the foot! You deserve your impending bankruptcy.
Good luck Q of S in your litigation.
Wednesday, 3 November 2004
Just a little fun
In the absence of anything even remotely worthwhile in my mind to blog today I thought I would post one or two of those infernal emails we all get that still amuse me despite having been loitering on my hard drive for years!
I know, I'm easliy amused :o)
I know, I'm easliy amused :o)
Mouse
Stealth refuel
Cat Shower
Blog-less
I am completely blog-less and I appear not to be alone in this state today. This morning, on checking out my blogroll I discovered for the first time in my blogging life not one single updated blog!
Hours have passed since then and still nothing is milling around in my mind to blog and still no one has updated save for one. Blackrat has as ever, managed to post something well worth the read and on an item of news I feel strongly about, go look HERE.
Hours have passed since then and still nothing is milling around in my mind to blog and still no one has updated save for one. Blackrat has as ever, managed to post something well worth the read and on an item of news I feel strongly about, go look HERE.
Tuesday, 2 November 2004
Unhappy cat!
My apologies for the quality of this picture and the 'halloween eyes', it just so amused me I decided to post it anyways. :o)
Put me down!
Put me down!
Monday, 1 November 2004
Chilled
Ok guys, I have calmed down now..... I'm chilled and I'm calm and collected!
Sorry to disappoint but it was nothing earth shattering just personal stuff the details of which I can't blog about without aggravating the situation. Suffice to say it's not blog or internet related, I have discussed it with a friend (thank you, you know who you are)and I have a better perspective now.
Thanks for tolerating my rant, I will endeavor to keep a lid on it next time but the weird thing is....It actually helped to shout here for a few minutes, thanks. :o)
Sorry to disappoint but it was nothing earth shattering just personal stuff the details of which I can't blog about without aggravating the situation. Suffice to say it's not blog or internet related, I have discussed it with a friend (thank you, you know who you are)and I have a better perspective now.
Thanks for tolerating my rant, I will endeavor to keep a lid on it next time but the weird thing is....It actually helped to shout here for a few minutes, thanks. :o)
Sometimes.....
.....I just wish others would get out of my little world! Not, I hasten to add, everybody just one or two individuals who see fit, when I am as happy as a pig in muck, to come crashing in, uninvited shouting and screaming via technology and upset the apple cart with their unpleasantness and unnecessary nastiness!!
Why, I wonder, can't people just be nice to each other, life is too short. I love people, I love interaction but I most certainly don't love 'attitude'!
Talk to me, argue with me, discuss with me, laugh with me....... but those who just want to be plain difficult.....please, get the f**k out of my space!
I rarely get angry but right now is one of those occasions.
Rant over, sorry and thank you for listening.
Why, I wonder, can't people just be nice to each other, life is too short. I love people, I love interaction but I most certainly don't love 'attitude'!
Talk to me, argue with me, discuss with me, laugh with me....... but those who just want to be plain difficult.....please, get the f**k out of my space!
I rarely get angry but right now is one of those occasions.
Rant over, sorry and thank you for listening.
It's winter now
So the clocks have gone back and it was dark, it seemed by mid afternoon, yesterday, halloween is over and for me it is now winter. My favorite season.
Those loyal few that visit here regularly will have by now realised two of my passions, natural history and photography and whilst my personal endeavors to bring the two together fall somewhat short, those of others do not!
As a consequence, over the years I have gathered together a large number of such winter photographs that I adore and that are just begging to be used here. My blog is not known for being left be, I have a small obsession with 'template tampering' and so from now on you can expect more changes than usual whilst I share some of my most favorite images! It will at least be some respite from cats! :o)
I am currently awaiting permission from the copyright owner to use a photograph that has to be 'number one' on my list. Until such time as he is kind enough (or not!) to allow it, I will hope for the best where copyright is concerned with others that I just can't track down the owners of!
Those loyal few that visit here regularly will have by now realised two of my passions, natural history and photography and whilst my personal endeavors to bring the two together fall somewhat short, those of others do not!
As a consequence, over the years I have gathered together a large number of such winter photographs that I adore and that are just begging to be used here. My blog is not known for being left be, I have a small obsession with 'template tampering' and so from now on you can expect more changes than usual whilst I share some of my most favorite images! It will at least be some respite from cats! :o)
I am currently awaiting permission from the copyright owner to use a photograph that has to be 'number one' on my list. Until such time as he is kind enough (or not!) to allow it, I will hope for the best where copyright is concerned with others that I just can't track down the owners of!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
