Hark the Herald Angels....

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"............

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)

Arghhhhhhh.......

........PG's car has given up the ghost AGAIN!!!!

This is getting very un-funny!

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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?

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!

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)

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.

Smart cats

I wonder......could Ditto be trained!


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.

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.

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!

Pre-cut

I have to admit to feeling slightly weird about posting this but at Lisa's request.... this is me prior to the haircutting incident!


gemmak 09/03

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?

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)

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)

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'!

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.

What Planet Are You From?

Hmmm.....

...what's this then?...a hat perhaps?


Hmmm....

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)

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!

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!

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.

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!

Winter sunset

13.11.04

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.

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.....

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!

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:

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!

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.

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(

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!

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!

Fur-ball!

Ditto 09.11.04