Blogroll bother

Can anyone enlighten me as to why Blogroll have decided to no longer show 'updates' on my account?? This occured prior to the recent demise of this pc but as yet seems not to have rectified itself. Tsk! Anyone else got this problem?

Am I ever glad.......

....to see the back of that week!

It was horrendous in a non life threatening kind of way, I know on the scale of world disasters my last few days were nothing but I'm in no hurry to go through them again. A bout with Mike Tyson would seem preferable.

Work was just horrible, I felt ill, we were seriously under staffed, the stress levels at times were completely unacceptable and management were not satisfied until I had been reduced to tears, a situation I am not easily forced into...oh the shame, and having reduced me to a blubbering heap those in question 'jumped ship', gave me an extremely wide berth and seemed completely unable to handle the situation that had been created, or at least handled it so badly that ultimately nothing viable was done....so on I plodded, finally escaping out of the madness and mayhem last night for four days off, and man am I glad!

It is completely beyond me how some individuals can attain such management positions and have acquired absolutely no man-management skills, let's face it, it's hardly rocket science is it, it's only very basic psychology and if one is paid to manage people then one ought to understand them just a little. One thing I learnt in the last few days was that the situation was not as a result of my weakness or inability to cope rather the lack of necessary interpersonal and management skills displayed by some of those involved....it is they that have the problem, not me just for once.

Enough of all of that, for me work will not exist for the next few days, self preservation has taken over and they can go to hell.

Things on the pc front are almost back to normal now, there is only one problem left to resolve and that is the apparent corruption of a disk holding the site building software I use, kinda awkward as I have a site I have to build this week, a paying job that I have to get completed and for which I cannot make excuses. No matter, with luck a new copy will be winging it's way to gemmak's-ville later today and everything will be hunky dory. Somebody cross their fingers here please, for on recent form said disk will likely disintegrate en route somehwere if I have anything to do with it!

Amusingly all this hoo ha on the virtual front over the last few days had an unexpected effect. Saturday night, completely computer-less I suddenly felt quite liberated. There was nothing I could do about it, it was a fait acomplis, there was no way I was able to build websites, fiddle with code, send email or any of the other myriad of things I am usually embroiled in......I could actually sit and read a book without feeling I ought to be getting something else done.....and I enjoyed it! Really quite liberating.

That said.....hell, I'm glad to be back to normal! :o)

Up and running again

At last we have a working computer again, two in fact! PG has spent every waking moment working on the pair of them and finally they are reformatted, most of the software is back on and things are slowly getting back to normal

Every time this happens I kinda forget the amount of work involved getting things back to 'normal', the hundreds of settings for one thing or another that become so much part of everyday you don't notice them until they are missing or changed. The majority of tomorrow I think will be taken up with getting this back to where it was, replacing missing fonts, downloading all manner of bits and pieces that disappeared in a puff of virtual smoke, rebuilding my sadly lacking desktop and generally fidgeting about with it all until it is back to normal.

On the upside, yes there is one, this hadn't been reformatted for almost two years and it's running like greased lightening now, I didn't lose one single file, folder, picture or email...nothing at all..... I will be eternally grateful for my birthday present, the external hard drive and carrier that PG bestowed upon me!

Talking of gratitude, all this has been done and until this evening I haven't lifted a finger, ok so I had to work but PG has slaved away and done the lot by himself, just so he didn't leave me for his upcoming week of nightshifts computer-less. What a star.

So now I'm off to fiddle a little and then fall, semi comatose into bed until the morning when fiddling will begin in a more serious manner.

Good night :o)

Sods law at its very best

That old adage, the one that tells us that things come in three's...does that apply to multiples of three also??

Having discovered that this pc has some problem of a serious nature and as yet having been unable to fix it, we set about getting the laptop updated, only to find that the infamous 'Nortons' was shall we say, buggered. Easy fixed we think and uninstall it, the next move was a silly one. Having reinstalled it we connected to the internet to get some information regarding a specific trojan, what happened? Nortons was not fully updated and within seconds we had a dialler and a home page permanently set to a porn site masquerading as Google! FFS.

This seems to be sods law at it's best. We really only keep the laptop as a backup should the pc die a death....the first time we need it it also turns up it's toes for believe me, this dialer etc. is very resistant to removal!

Oh happiness....tonight we have two machines to reformat and all that that entails, all the software to reinstall and far too many gig of information to get back on.

It's gonna be a very long night and should I go AWOL for longer than usual you will understand why. These things as you know have a nasty habit of not being as simple as they should be!

Ugh!

And now.......

....this damn computer is bust! It just keep getting better and better as I said.

Last night, out of the blue it suddently declined to such a point that it behaves as though it has 10 meg of ram!! PG has been up most of the night trying to fix it but thus far it is still on a serious 'go slow'. He just cannot find what is causing it and I have a nasty feeling we are going to have to reformat. Arghhhh. Looks like I will have to vacate this seat for a while and get the laptop up and running.

For now I'm off to another happy day 'at the office'.

The day just kept on getting better.....not!

Those of you who suggested I would go into work today where indeed correct, the wimp in me had it's head and even the thought of a day feeling like crawling under a stone was not sufficient to persuade me to make the call. There was no way out, I have to call each day, I have to speak to the manager and I have to make the call myself. If PG had called he would have been told to give the phone to me, if he refused I would be in bigger trouble. Yes, I have tested it, it actually happens that way!

So off I set trying to look on the bright side.......and eight miles into my journey I broke down, the goddamn brakes that I have now paid to have fixed on three occasions stuck so badly that a pall of smoke was trailing from my offside front wheel! Marvelous, just bloody marvelous.....brake fade, my favourite pastime!

There was nothing to be done, I was stuck on the side of the road for half an hour while I waited for the offending brake to cool off and then drove very slowly the remainder of the journey. I could have called a rescue service but here I would have waited for hours and I have to get to work somehow the next two days. I can at least drive slowly like this, I can't get there at all with no car!

I finally arrived a work late, hot and bothered and feeling very queasy and the place was bedlam. I am never late, I hate being late. A friend kindly offered to cover my shift if I had the courage to go home, which I didn't and I plodded on until 8.45 this evening when I finally escaped for my very slow drive home.

Oh....and again I got hit on the head by a colleague, another accident but it damn well hurt and made my headache worse.

Thank you all of you who left kind comments earlier today, it is very much appreciated.

I'm off now to crawl under a stone somewhere! Tomorrow is another day.

Dithering

So here I am sitting dithering as ever I do in these circumstances. I am due into work, a late shift which doesn't help the situation, trying to decide if I am well enough and vacillating wildly.

I am thankfully improved a little from my condition yesterday but my common sense tells me I am not yet well enough to spend a hard day on my feet, on a day when 110% is required of me and my day won't finish until gone 21.00 hrs. The other side of the coin of course is that to avoid putting myself through that in my 'tender' state I have to go the 'calling in sick route' again! Ugh.

I could of course make my way in and see how it goes but that is not really a valid option, for should I feel too unwell to remain in situ the chances of my being allowed to leave are almost nil. Yup, even if I pluck up the courage to ask to go home I will be argued with and whilst in reality I cannot be chained to the place I will be made crystal clear to me that to desert my post is not an option. Half measures?... will I be granted the privilege of taking it slightly easier than if I was firing on all cylinders?....not a hope, it is unlikely anyone will even ask how I am and add to that I have to endure what is politely called the 'return to work interview' which of course, whilst it is hailed as the employer taking care of it's staff, in reality is just another form of intimidation. Eekkkk and ugh!

I know I am needed today, that is not incidentally a case of my 'blowing my own trumpet' rather a reflection on the skeleton staff we struggle by with, I feel guilty as hell for letting my colleagues down and I need the money......but I feel like crap, though not quite as large a heap of crap as I did.

And so I dither on, stress levels rising in my effort to make a decision and of course I know the outcome already.... for I am far too big a scaredy-cat to call in for a second day, rather I spend the next three long days in abject misery and collapse in a heap on Tuesday.

Oh to be brave!

Ooopssss....Friday's feast on a Saturday

Friday's feast 49.

Appetizer
What job would you definitely not want to have?
Mine, right now.

Soup
Oprah calls and wants you to appear on her show. What would that day's show be about?
It wouldn't matter, I wouldn't attend whatever it was about.

Salad
Name 3 vegetables that you eat on a regular basis.
Peas, broccoli and corn though despite being a veggie the words 'vegetables' and 'regular basis' do not sit well together where I am concerned

Main Course
If you were commissioned to rename your hometown, what would you call it.
'gemmaks-ville'. heh.

Dessert
If you had a personal assistant, what kind of tasks would you have them to do?
Go to work for me today!

In sickness and Big Brother

Protection!

Today I should have been at work but instead I have been languishing here courtesy of something very un-nice that has seen fit to my invade person. I will spare you the detail, I promise you don't want to know, suffice to say I spent the majority of the early part of the day parked in the bathroom feeling particularly sorry for myself...... bleugh.

I of course had to go through the added trauma of calling in sick to work, I tell you, one has to feel very ill to run that gamut! Having made the decision that work would not be a good idea, it then took me half an hour to pluck up the courage to call, knowing full well today was not a good day from a staffing point of view to fall ill. Having been privy to a very un-nice conversation between another member of staff and the manager a few days ago did not make me feel any the braver, It had not been pretty, my heart bled for the poor lad on the other end of the line and so in trepidation as ever, I eventually made the call and credit where credit is due, my manager was surprisingly kind and understanding.

I am a grown woman of 40 something and yet the calling in sick thing terrifies me, as it does most of my colleagues, why does one person have the right to do that to another? I was shaking making the call and you just don't need it when already feeling like death. Hey ho, it's power and life and stuff I suppose.

Onto better things, having plied myself with appropriate medicaments the 'poorliness' is subsiding, I even managed to eat some toast with success and tonight is the night I have been waiting for, for months! I have the courage of my convictions, I have Ditto at the ready protecting the television remote from PG's grasp and I am prepared and looking forward with anticipation to the one TV programme I just have to watch....tonight is the first night of Big Brother 2005!!! Yayyyyyy.

Yup, I'm afraid to say I am a BB addict, it's crap I know but I can't help it....we all have to have one vice afterall!

Shining through

(Click to enlarge)

Dusk ~ 26.05.05

A woman thing?

Have you ever noticed how there are some things that guys just 'don't get'?

One of these things is the unexpected pleasure in the breakdown of an item of necessity. Certainly when a household item for instance, gives up the ghost suddenly the immediate inconvenience is somewhat less than amusing but for us women there is of course the realisation, that dawns on us within seconds that the untimely demise of this item, provides for a little guilt free shopping! Whatever the item might be it is without question 'indispensable' and a replacement must be sought immediately!

It barely matters how mundane an item we are dealing with here, after all, shopping is shopping and we can find interest in it's every form.

It was thus that a few days ago, having discovered our kettle had shuffled off this mortal coil it was imperative that a newer model was purchased 'post haste'. PG's first reaction to the news was "can't you boil water in a pan for a few days while I try to fix it"?

Fix it? what on earth was the man thinking, fix it indeed, er, no I can't boil water on a bloody pan, are you mad man! A small 'discussion' ensued and he was suitably convinced that it wasn't worth the effort, it is of course highly unlikely that one could by any parts required is it not?

And so, the very next day I found myself in a 'kettle shop', my eyes lit almost immediately on the model I was going to have, all that remained was to convince PG. I could of course have just made my purchase and been done with it but it is just so much less tiresome if one's partners approval can be won and avoids any unnecessary grumbling after returning home. With this in mind I called PG hurriedly and described said kettle, a flash brushed steel affair with internal neon lighting.....changing colours no less, depending on the task it is performing. No guys kettles do not just boil water, they simmer and idle too, each requiring in turn, a blue, purple or red internal lighting display that glows interestingly through the fill level window!

"Does it boil water" was his reply to my animated description,

"tsk, of course it does" was my terse reply.

"Well it will do for me then" came back at me.

"But" said I and reiterated the delights of this modern convenience.

"So I am assuming it is not cheap" he said "or you wouldn't be trying to convince me"

"well no" I said, "but it's not the most expensive model"......and on the conversation carried, with PG's voice becoming more exasperated!

PG "How much"

Me "less than £50"

PG "Only just less I assume"

Me "a bit less"

PG "How bloody much less?"

Me "Oh for goodness sake does it matter, I'm paying for it and it matches the coffee machine"

PG "So why ask my opinion in the first place, do we need a kettle with flashing lights and anyways you don't use the coffee machine you use the caffetiere"

Me " Well no we don't need flashing lights, (ignoring the coffee machine comment here) but it's nice' and I want you to like it"

PG " Don't gimme that bollocks, you just don't want a hard time... it boils water yes?....ok get it, I won't give you a hard time, just enough about the kettle ok"?

Good enough for me! It was purchased and now sits proudly on the counter top, pretty lights flashing and glowing and he still just doesn't 'get it'! MEN!

It must be a woman 'thing' ;o)

A perfect circle

Well almost!

(Clickable)

Ditto.

Tagged again...a literary theme this time.

I've been tagged again, this time by Dr.Rob..... Methinks revenge is being sought :o)

This one is quite hard for me, the last few years, despite the intent, I have barely read a thing, unless of course it has been on a monitor, but here goes, I'll give it a shot.

1. Total number of books I've owned
I have no real idea, I used to won probably something in the region of 1000 but most of them were left behind in an enforced house move. I now maybe own 200 ish, mostly non-fiction.

2. The last book I bought
'Never hit a jellyfish with a spade' Guy Browning.

3. The Last Book I read
'Chocolat' by Joanne Harris....but I didn't quite finish it!

4. 5 books that mean something to me
Good Lord, you really want five?!

a. 'Catwatching' Desmond Morris.

b. 'Jeanne - A love story' Derek Tangye.

c. 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X'.

d. 'Scruples' Judith Krantz. (should I be admitting such trash?)

Sorry, I can't make five!

5. Tag 5 people and request they fill this out on their journals

Lisa
Justitia
Idgie
Larry
Mrs Wann

Spoilt brat!

Today is one of those days, my mind seems to have beat a hasty retreat and hidden somewhere as yet unfound.

I have started a thousand tasks, well ok, maybe just four or five but none of them are completed, I can't seem to concentrate and I have the definite 'hump'!

Yeah, I accept I am behaving like a spoilt brat but the thought of six days straight at work beginning tomorrow is not filling me with joy.....and this morning who should turn up on my doorstep but the neighbour from hell and killer dog.

Thankfully she was accompanied by her friend who is visiting from Germany so killer dog could be dispatched elsewhere for a walk. Ditto went on immediate red alert as the mere whiff of him hit her small nose and scurried off under the bed looking slightly puzzled. I think she had kinda got used to not having to deal with him this last week and his sudden re-appearance on her doorstep was rather confusing.

So, this afternoon it looks as though I will be assisting in the final stages of removal, apparently she still has a few items here she left behind and there is the final cleaning jobs to be attended to.....oh silly me for thinking it was all done and dusted!

Little and large

Pandas. © Ellis / Minden

(Clickable)
I thought this picture might be a nice start to the day, it made me smile so maybe it will do the same for you.

Is this the largest ratio in size between mother and child in the natural world? I can't think of anything that competes.

Too weird

So I got my sleep, my head hit the pillow, which incidentally I had to share with small cat, and I was away, gone, completely out of it....and I wish I hadn't bothered!

I woke up four hours later with a stiff neck, sore shoulders, no evidence that Richard Gere had dropped by and I had nightmares, or should that be 'daymares', for what felt like the entire time I was sleeping.

I'm not into dreams, I don't dream often or at least I don't remember them if I do but this was very wired and one of those that kinda stayed with me long after I woke up. No doubt someone could analyse my daymare and come up with all manner of worrying theories but I prefer to just think I am odd from time to time!

So what did this dream entail?

I was in Manchester city center with a friend, though I have no idea who the friend was or why I was in Manchester. I had to buy a pair of shoes but half way through my purchase a commotion erupted outside in the street. I, along with many others rushed outside to discover that two police officers had been fatally shot and wounded. We couldn't see this in the crowd but we just knew the details...oh and for the remainder of the dream I only had one shoe on!

There were sirens and pandemonium everywhere and I recall being worried that that my cell phone wouldn't work because despite all the emergency vehicles no one was attending to the injured officers. I wanted to call for more help but every time I picked the phone up it fell to pieces, though the next time I tried it was intact until I touched it! I think I must have been inflicted with whatever the opposite of the 'Midas touch' is. It was all very peculiar, nothing worked correctly and no one was reacting in the manner I expected.

WTF was that all about then?? I think I'll book me a place at the priory!

Whatever, I woke up feeling like I had gone ten rounds with Muhammad Ali and my neck and shoulders are still complaining loudly.

Someone please remind me next time, that I am far too old to sit up on IRC all night anymore!

That's it......

....I'm gone! I have completed the 'woman's work'....have you ever noticed when the guys get a day off they go out to play, when we women get a day off we do the laundry, dusting blah blah blah?...... the washing is blowing on the line, the place is spick and span, I have jiggled my template and 'small cat' is now fast asleep in the sun!

I'm outta here and off to the land of nod for a few hours. Nothing, not even Richard Gere will stop me, I am going to sleep! Ok, well just maybe I could jump him make a small exception should Mr Gere happen to pass this way, but aside from that don't expect a response or any movement from this corner of the virtual world for the next few hours!

zzzzzzzzzzz.........

A very bad idea

Last night, most unusually, PG announced he was off to bed....at ten o'clock, having fallen asleep on the sofa an hour earlier, this from a guy who never makes it to bed before midnight and more usually much later.

Pffft, I thought to myself, I'll be damned if I'm off to sleep at such an early hour given that Monday is my day off and so off he went and I set about amusing myself. I watched a little TV, surfed the blogosphere, tried to un-muddle someone's code a little, ate chocolate and eventually at around midnight, beginning to feel a little sleepy, I decided I might do something I haven't done for an absolute age......visit IRC, just for a minute or two.

A very, very bad idea! Not for the reasons normally associated with IRC, I am a veteran, until last year it was a regular haunt and despite all it's bad press, with the odd exception it was normally fun and interesting, though one does of course have to tolerate a few idiots along the route to finding a good conversation.

And so it was, I logged on, in anticipation of nothing other than the likelihood of logging off again, the addictivness of this pursuit had slipped my mind somehow and the next time I looked at the clock, all ideas of sleeping having long passed me by, it was 4 am.

I staggered off to bed in the full and horrible knowledge that without doubt I would be up again at 6.30 am, when PG left for work, I just don't 'do' sleeping in, I don't know why, I just can't....and now it's payback time, I feel like crap, I'm on cup of strong Java number four, which of course is now giving me a headache and I can't go back to bed courtesy of a small cat who keeps insisting very loudly that she requires letting in, no out, no in again.........

A siesta this afternoon, I think is obligatory!

I got the baton

I've been tagged again, this time by Dale, who passed Cuppa's baton on to me, so here we go.....

The total volume of music files on my computer.
2 gig.

The last CD I bought was.
Power Ballads 3.

Song playing right now.
Nothing, I have 'spells' of listening to music. I listen obsessively for a few months and then hardly at all for months, I'm on a 'nothing' spell right now and besides, my pc is in the living room and PG has the tv on!

Five songs I listen to a lot or mean a lot to me, in no particular order.
1. Eagles: Hotel California.... because it reminds me of my last year in school and the wild time myself and my best friend had doing all the things 16 year old girls do that they shouldn't.

2.Savage Garden: 'Chained to you'......because PG emailed it to me at the very beginning, long before we met.

3. The Lighthouse Family: 'End of the sky'......because it reminds me of my first 400 mile drive to Scotland to visit PG.

4. Rod Stewart: 'I was only joking'....because it reminds me of someone who was once very important to me. (he knows who he is)

5.Gladys Knight: 'The way we were'....because it makes me think of something I shouldn't, enough said!

and if Dale can do it so can I, after all to choose just 5 is too difficult so I'm having one extra!

6. Lynyrd Skynyrd: 'Freebird'......just because it's fab!

Which 5 people are you passing this baton to and why?
Lisa ~ because I always do.
Sque ~ because I promised to get her back for tagging me!
Dr. Rob ~ because his answers should be interesting.
Jack ~ because it might make him post something!
John W. ~ just because.

Oh, and I took the 'right click disable' off here to make it easier for you!

Distant rain

(Clickable)

21.05.05 ~21.38 hrs

Saturday was an odd day, (is there any other kind?) where the weather was concerned. Alternating heavy rain and hail with bright warm sunlight, almost as though someone was constantly throwing a switch.

The sad demise of a blog

It falls to me to be the bearer of bad news.

Some of you, probably many of you, may have tried accessing the blog of one of our number over the last day or two and found it 'disappeared'.

Unfortunately, for reasons beyond her control 'Scarlett', author of one of the best and most amusing blogs on the block has taken a sabbatical from the blogosphere. No longer will we be treated daily to her sharp wit and very individual take on life, she has gone, her pages are no more.

Be rest assured she is well, no dreadful trauma has befallen her she just has other areas of her life that require her attentions for now.

Scarlett, I for one will miss you girl, as I'm sure many others will, good luck in whatever life throws at you and take care.

Friday's feast (48)

Appetizer
Approximately how many hours per day do you spend watching television?
I don't watch TV most days, maybe if I average it out 30 mins to an hour a day, perhaps less.

Soup
Which colors decorate your kitchen?
Deep mexican red and a stone colour.

Salad
Name 2 brand names you buy on a regular basis, and what do you like about them?
'Whiskas', I don't actually like it, it smells terrible but Poppy won't entertain any thing else at food time!

'Next, because their petite range really does fit small people, unlike most of it's competitors offerings, that assume 'petite' means 5'2''....oh to be that tall!

Main Course
What is your biggest fear?
Apart from the obvious, spiders, I'm unsure, I try not to think of scary things but probably being left completely alone when I'm old would be horrible.

Dessert
If you could wake up tomorrow and find yourself in another location, where would you want to be?
London or somewhere in the US.

Bonus Birthday Question
What's your favorite flavor of birthday cake?
Chocolate...is there any other?

London Eye eviction

How utterly typical! We (the UK as a nation that is), create a feat of engineering, we build a structure, the London Eye, that is not only aesthetically stunning but is a tourist attraction and a raging success and what happens............some damn fool organisation see's dollar signs and does it's level best to undermine, if not destroy the whole issue!

(Images are clickable)

Eye in the sky ~ 15.03.2003

The landlords, the South Bank Centre, on whose land part of the London Eye's supporting structure stands, have decided in their wisdom that a rent increase of 1500% is appropriate and have consequently issued an eviction notice against the 'offending' metal work! Should this issue not be resolved the Eye will be required to be dismantled in thirty days!

Having watched the gradual construction of this attraction myself with interest a few years ago, as piece by piece it was put together and hauled spectacularly (if a little late) from the horizontal to the vertical I can promise you it does not take an engineer to know how difficult removing it would be.....nor what a crime of stupidity.

Hells bells, can we in the UK not enjoy and celebrate the success of something for once instead of trying, as ever for the great God money, to destroy it?!! Other great structures in the city have stood for hundreds and hundreds of years but in this modern age of the millennium it seems another little clique of money grabbing bureaucrats are unable, just for once, to think outside the box!

The South Bank Centre declined to comment....no surprise there then!

Grrrrrrr.


From within ~ 15.03.2003

I can see a rainbow, a rainbow.....

Woken as I was this morning at some unearthly hour by the sound of rain falling against the window I scrambled bleary eyed out of bed to this sight:

(Clickable)

Dawn rainbow.

It was all worth it :o)

Toupee or not toupee?

Today was in the main uneventful, save for the comings and goings of the exiting neighbour and the entourage she seemed to have managed to gather around her to assist in the process of removal.

I for my part kept my distance, partly out of a still remaining tad of guilt and partly out of an odd feeling that after all that had gone before I wasn't sure quite what to say to her on her departure. Another situation mis-handled methinks. I detest these 'difficult situations' and consequently practice well honed avoidance techniques from time to time, probably not the ideal solution but better than making a complete pigs ear of the situation.

I have made mental note to send her a 'new home' card and then with luck all this will be history. I might add though that she has only moved half a mile away so whilst she can't be perpetually on my doorstep there is a distinct possibility I have not heard the last of her.....or the cat killing dog!

Hey ho....for now that is a situation over or at least avoided and onto better things.

This evening we pottered off for fish and chips, this time t o be consumed on a hill overlooking the nearest small market town and not the beach. A treat indeed to eat (even if it was only fast food) with the panoramic vista below us, green rolling hills, the bright yellow of the rape seed fields and the Cheviots on the horizon. There are unfortunately no photographs, PG and I had a er...small 'difference of opinion' before we left regarding our intended destination and a Chinese take-away, his preference did not tempt me to pick up my camera. Some swift persuasion en-route allowed me my chosen fare but I was of course camera-less by then!

Having devoured said meal it was off for the evening to our friends, 'D'&'W', parents of 'K' and of course the new arrival Jaydon....what a boy, as a woman none too familiar with small people it never ceases to amaze me just how much they change in such a short period of time. Already he is a proper little boy, he is now also particularly cuddly 12 or so pounds, no longer a tiny wee thing with a floppy head that is rather scary to handle!

Among all of this cuddling and cooing 'D' made amused mention of PG's appearance. His normally very short, spiky and dyed one or another colour hair was nice, tidy, well groomed and abnormally long and abnormally 'normal'. " That looks like a toupee" was all that she uttered, much to our hilarity! A short conversation ensued, most of it aimed amusingly at PG who is normally quite proud of his still full head of hair and it's rather 'interesting' styles. He was less than amused and within minutes had instructed 'W' to cut it. The kitchen promptly became a salon of sorts and the two guys headed off, clippers and scissors in hand. I might add briefly here that 'W' is an engineer, not a hair stylist!

Half an hour later, among teasing and laughter, having fully expected the outcome of these antics to require a quick and complete shave of the head to rectify the situation, PG emerged....... with a decent haircut!!

'W', you missed your vocation man, pretty good for an engineer!


Haircut!

This is just fab!

Courtesy of DKG, from whom I thieved this without so much as a 'by your leave' (please forgive me Dave...it is just too much madness to resist) I give you, for your complete amusement.....

'CAT BOUNCE'

I am at this stage, not prepared to divulge my own abysmal score but it will improve......I am hooked!

Too funny!

.....and now I feel guilty!

Remember the neighbour from hell? The German lady who last year took over my life? Who's shopping, house-work, dog walking and financial responsibilities became mine overnight when she was taken ill and who's clutches I found it very difficult to disentangle myself from?

Well tomorrow she moves home. I may have made brief mention of this a week or two ago, it was welcome news that no longer would I have to sneak past her flat on my way home (an impossible feat), no longer would I have to pretend to be out if I was busy, the dog, a terrier with a strong predilection to treating Ditto as quarry, would no longer be a genuine threat to her longevity and 'woman's Weekly would no longer we landed on my doorstep every week.

The weeks leading up to this grand event have been filled with more than the usual pressure to do assist her. A friend arrived from her homeland Germany who she wished us to collect from the airport (a 150 mile trip), we declined, work being our excuse. Yes we could have taken leave but I told myself I must learn to say 'no' and I did. In fact, over the months my ability to say no has improved where this lady is concerned, so much so that apart from walking the dog now and then and entertaining her for coffee, I have been involved in her life very little. The last few days while she and her visitor friend have been packing I have been at work and when I haven't I have avoided her like the plague and PG has been poorly in bed.

So what now is my problem you may ask...............she leaves tomorrow, lock stock and dog and I will be free, I should be happy shouldn't I? Well I am, but I also feel kinda guilty now that I didn't help her more over the last few weeks. She is after all alone, she is getting on in years a little and her health is not quite all it could be. Yes, she is manipulative, yes she takes advantage and yes her dog walking instructions and timetable drive me demented but none of that stops me feeling that I have been less than a perfect neighbour and that I should have helped a bit more.

Oh contrary woman that I am!

Celebrity love island

© ITV

I hold my hands up, looking shame-faced and admit that I did indeed watch last night's opening episode of this, the latest in reality TV offerings....well after all the hype and publicity one just has to doesn't one?

The title in itself is a little misleading, for this delectation produced for our viewing pleasure is neither about love nor does it appear to have celebrities! What it is most definitely about is that thing, the subject most likely to sell anything....sex. Let's face it, the producers of this 'wonder' are not hoping for anyone to fall madly in love and live happily ever after, what they are hoping for is some seriously hot,one on one action of a more base nature. Infact two on two or three on three would probably be even more welcome, this is after all about ratings!

As for the contestants, they I imagine, are more than likely to oblige. With a party including the likes of the ever demure Rebecca Loos, the somewhat appropriately named Abi Titmuss, Fran Cosgrove and Calum Best, who seems to have inherited most of his fathers less attractive qualities, tempting them to 'get it on' is not going to take massive effort.....hell, where Callum is concerned the media rumour mill would have us believe that Abi Titmuss is already notched on his bed post!

This bunch of z-listers, who with the exception of two athletes, Lee sharpe and Du'aine Ladejo, are famous for nothing more in the main than 'being famous' (the result of their much reported sexual exploits) are going to have a hard time poor daahlings. A tropical paradise, every luxury on tap and a prize of 100k to boot must be very difficult to live with, so difficult infact that last nights episode saw the 34 year old Jayne Middlemiss crying effusively to camera, because she couldn't sleep and wanted her mum! What's all that about then?.... give me strength!

There was just one amusing moment, one in which Fran Cosgrove referred to Abi as promiscuous.............she seemed most affronted, arguing that he surely must not understand the true meaning of the word, sorry Ms Titmuss but I fear it is you who has a problem with the definition.....or a very short personal memory.

In short it was a poorly hung together show, who's presenters seemed to have need of further training on the specifics of 'auto cue'. Very little happened and the majority of an hour and a half's prime time television was taken up in watching twelve, very minor, '20 or 30 something' celebrities, behaving like a bunch of over excited teenagers on a school day trip!

Yup, it has all the ingredients .......I'm sure it will be a great success and er, damned annoyingly addictive!

Guest post by Retroguy ~ Return to Japan

Return to Japan......seems like I was never away!

14 years, almost to the day, had passed since I left Narita to return home having lived in Tokyo for almost 3 years. I recall at the time being a little bit home sick, a feeling that lasted almost to the baggage reclaim at Heathrow, when I remembered that I would have to once again get used to lack of service, manners and the idea that getting something done was only a possibility and not something that a paying customer had the right to expect.

The years have passed, children have come, career has changed and the memory of happy, although at times frustrating experiences in Japan became more and more distant.

A pleasant flight courtesy of Virgin Upper class and a smooth transfer to the Hotel Okura in a typically spotless black Nissan President complete with pure cotton lace seat covers and a uniformed and gloved driver, was a wonderful beginning to my adventure.

The landscape and skyline were very familiar, additions being several rather large ferris wheels on the way to the city. The familiar view of Tokyo Disneyland......it's Cinderella castle came into view on the left and I knew that we were approaching the edge of this great city. There are many more tall buildings on the skyline since my time here and there are some very impressive structures to view. The orange and white structure of the Tokyo tower suddenly appeared and this seemed to have as big an impression as from memory. I believe that the additional skyscrapers give this impression but once darkness falls and the Tower is illuminated its former glory is restored.

previously I had only been to the Hotel Okura for and formal Japanese meal and once for a traditional tea ceremony. From the exterior the building looks very ordinary but it has an elegance that only the Japanese can carry off. Service doesn't’t just come with a smile but with reverence and respect that having not been used to for so many years I found embarrassing. Located opposite the American Embassy I'm sure you can imagine the security. Anyone who has been to Japan will recall the abundance of what can be described as Red Light sabres ...... I describe this way as this is exactly what they look like and are carried by traffic police to guide you along the way, workmen to guide you around roadworks, for a small hole being dug in the road there would be maybe 3 men digging, three tidying and three with light sabres directing people/traffic. Well around the American Embassy there are many guards with Star Wars swords!...plus amoured vehicles, fenced off sidewalks, armed guards and barbed wire. 100 metres down the road the Wooden clad facia of the Swedish embassy has the gate and door open and an invitation to come in and see their 'Sweden today' exhibition.

The Hotel was very apologetic as their very famous and very expensive Sushi restaurant was closed fro refurbishment. When asked when it would be re opening I was again told in a very apologetic manner that they were very sorry but as the room was being completely redecorated and extended that it wouldn't be open till Friday..... well this was Tuesday......errm do you mean this Friday I asked?...Yes sir we are very sorry. So who reckons a major hotel in the UK or the US for that matter would be able to close down a fairly large room, redecorate extend and have it back up in pristine and believe me it is absolutely spot on, top notch, first class the cows b**l*cks, in two days. As I said earlier I forgot that things happen here.....and that's in the Hotel Okura or Macdonalds.

Having had a bit of time away from work this week due to the Golden week holidays I've been exploring much on foot. I was amazed to find my old apartment where I first lived still there and the district much unchanged. This apartment was a very nice Western style 2 bedroom 2 bathroom in an block of 12 flats in a mostly Japanese area. The building was owned by a family who had the building constructed in the late 80s like many did at the time when property was booming and many had inherited land from their families. On the ground floor they ran a Sushi restaurant that had a very good reputation and appeared in guide books. We were treated very well as one of their only 'gaijin' customers and as locals and regulars were given the nicest cuts of tuna etc that was reserved for such people. We were even bought a present when we left. Well the restaurant is still here too and so I thought Id venture in there for nostalgia sake. Yes the same family run it and after some unsure glances from them I said 'Chinone-san'…for Mr Chinone to ask 'Keith san'…a very touching moment and his wife and son were duly called down and we exchanged stories of the last 14 years!

The skyline has changed somewhat with some very impressive structures around, two of note are the Mori tower in Roppongi Hills. This is a vast development on the site of what was the Wave building a well known record store during my previous life in Japan. There are now several buildings plus floors of shops and restaurants all very impressive. The Mori tower itself has an observation gallery on the 52nd floor giving an incredible 360 degree view of the city and beyond, Mount Fuji included. The sunset was something else and as the city lit up it was one a moment of a similar experience several years ago at the top of the twin towers in New York. This of course brought back sad memories of friends no longer around. The other building that took my eye was not as high but none the less equally impressive. Standing only 8 stories high the all glass Prada building in Aoyoma is something else.

I had forgotten the true meaning of this place being 24 hours. My Friday night began with drinks in a Sports bar before moving on to a Japanese fusion restaurant which served what was one of the best meals I have ever had. Another bar afterwards with a Brazilian theme, before going to a club at 1 am. Time flies when you are enjoying yourself and when seeing the time was almost 6 am I was somewhat surprised, more the fact that I was still awake. The evening was by no means over as we then headed to one of many recovery parties that kick off at 5 am and go through till 12 midday. We left at 10:30 am and went for a brunch at a place I frequented many years ago, Spiral Hall, returning to my hotel at 12:30 pm .......it was 17½ hours since I left. Now that was some night!

A memory from before was Sundays in Harajuku where the musical youth of Tokyo gather to put on the most incredible sound and visual performance seen anywhere. From cute girl band, to rap artists, to Heavy Rock, Jazz, Rock and Roll and anything else you can think of is seen here. The now world famous Harajuku girls gather adjacent to the station at the bottom of Yoyogi park and are all keen to be photographed. Their eye for detail and originality is impressive.


Harajuku girls


Back to work Monday and this seems more like working as I remembered as all the Japanese are back from the Golden Week holidays. One has to remember that Yes means No, Maybe means No and it's a result if you ever get to being told No! ......You have then arrived.

An interesting day speaking to our various customers, who are used to speaking to a Japanese American. My different approach is welcomed by some and frowned upon by others. One has to tread carefully in such cases.
On returning to my hotel I found a little present (some cakes in a pretty box) from the Hotel thanking me for staying with them for the past week and hoping that everything was OK and that I enjoyed the rest of my stay. These kind of things are nice.

Wander round the basement of any of the supermarkets and you will find their food halls. These are something else with all manners of food stuffs in various states of ripeness, some dead some still alive but all presented in the same way..Impeccably. Go into a bakers for bread, the first problem is choosing from probably 15 different loaves, a similar amount of rolls, various pies and countless pastries. Once chosen your goods are placed in a bag which is then sealed, then wrapped then put into a carrier bag into which is also placed another plastic bag for the purpose of keeping your bread fresh when you open it at home. Just like Sainsburys eh!?

I spent a quiet evening eating alone in a brassiere that served wonderful food, was frequented by quaint young Japanese, the ambiance only disturbed by a Canadian and two Australian women who obviously lived here courtesy of a successful man and proceeded to try and out do each other by boasting of their exploits each of which was quantified by the cost. My experience is that people who boast about wealth tend not to actually have that much. A wonderful meal spent people watching and I was able to look upon the other western clientele with a firm tongue in my cheek!

Tuesday tonight and three more days to go. I'm meeting with a group of guys who I've worked with at various times through my career and they are all now working here in Tokyo. It's going to be strange to be in their company after a long time, a situation I never envisaged being in. Some of these guys I remember starting as trainees and now they are established in their careers, wow that was me a few years back and I looked at people my age and thought Ill never get that old!

A long night of conversation and reminiscing of times and people past and present. One of the guys in particular I'd only seen once in about 12 years but when together its like we were never apart. A good guy who is very similar to me in mannerisms and moods......we had a blast. As I sat in the taxi returning to the hotel I pondered what might have been had I stayed in Tokyo, would I have stayed for 10 years or more like these guys? Who knows! However I concluded that one cannot change the past and my family at home are my life now and I am really missing them to bits. It will be good to see them again in 3 days time.

Work was slow today probably coupled with the fact that I had a headache but I had to be looking my best as I have to visit a customer then go out for a formal dinner with them. A bit of a dodgy stomach coupled with the headache hasn't done much for my appetite for what will be a Japanese meal of some 10 courses. I hope I make it!

It didn’t go too badly.......nothing too heavy and everything was dead! Lots of polite discussion and not too late. A pleasant walk through the Tokyo night was nice to take in as I passed some landmarks for what may be the last time on this visit.

Thursday and my last day in the office. Was busy first thing due to some issues relating to New York…all now sorted and will spend today seeing everyone around the office for the last time and make sure Im taking back their issues and concerns to London. Will meet up with some friends tonight for some goodbyes, should be fun.

It's been great to be back here after so long, much has changed cosmetically but the same culture that I remembered from before is alive and well. The fact that I knew I was only here for 2 weeks made me have maybe a different attitude to how Ive lived as to when I came here knowing that this was to be my home for at least two years. I hope to return again much sooner than before, that possibility has been made probable by this trip.

Any one out there who gets the chance.......come and experience Japan, its something you will never forget.

Sayonara Tokyo, domo arigato gozai masu !

Unpleasantness

Warning: Not for the squeamish!

Well the weekend progressed badly. I duly trotted off to bed at a reasonable hour on Friday night in anticipation of my 5am start and was promptly woken an hour later by PG throwing up!

Poor guy, this carried on all night as some heinous bug invaded his digestive system (no he was not drunk) and kept him bathroom bound for the duration. You know the scenario, just back into bed and settled down and up he was again while I listened to the associated horrible noises from bed. I did attempt to play Florence Nightingale on a number of occasions but he hates to be fussed over and I was duly dispatched back to bed. It was pointless, this is a small flat, the bathroom is next to the bedroom and noise travels easily.

PG is unfortunately prone to such invasions of the digestive system, courtesy of the job he does but also courtesy, two years ago, of becoming one of only a handful of people in Scotland to have contracted 'giardiasis' in the last ten years. Originally a tropical parasitic infection it is relatively rare, though I can find no figures for the UK but as an indication Washington US has approximately only 700 cases a year.

How this happened we never did discover but his diagnosis took two very painful and long weeks because no one even suspected giardia in Scotland. Fair comment, I don't consider the medical profession at fault here, it was just one of those things.

The general professional consensus was that he probably contracted it in London somewhere, we had visited the week before and eaten and drunk in many many places. However he came by this particularly nasty and dangerous little parasite it was most definitely not a pleasant time! I will spare you the details but suffice to say he lost 3 stone in eight days and the heavy duty antibiotic treatment did nothing to put weight back on him.

The whole experience was far from fun. PG was extremely ill for weeks and weeks and from the moment his test results returned with the diagnosis we became subject of big brother (quite rightly so I might add) in full swing. Environmental health were immediately notified, I was horrified, Ms obsessively clean and tidy here having her home tested by environmental health! Gah.... they might well have assured me it was highly unlikely to have stemmed from here but horrified I remained! Everyone we had been in contact with had to be notified and checked out by a doctor if they showed any symptoms, our water supply and sceptic tank had to be checked for contamination and everywhere we had been had to be notified and/or checked. This was no mean feat considering our recent visit to London. PG had to remain quarantined at home and I had to effectively practice professional levels of infection control. Visitors where not allowed.

The end result was inconclusive regarding the source of his infection, all they where sure of was it hadn't originated here or at his place of work despite his work having been their expected source. He was off work for over three months and only allowed back once not only his doctor, but also environmental health were satisfied by three sets of negative test results.

And it is thus that he now seems to suffer more than usual should he be bug ridden and it is also thus that I went to work yesterday morning on less than an hours sleep. It goes without saying that ontop of the current hormonal situation the day was not a good one for either of us. I staggered through the day and PG remained ailing in his bed.

By today, a vomit free and sleep filled night later, things are improving. My 'state' has reached the 'I feel like I'm getting flu' stage which thankfully means it will all be over soon and PG has managed to keep a small dinner in his stomach.....so far for 2 hours.....it's looking good! :o)

Wild horses......

(Clickable)

Wild horses!

......they are of course not wild but for me they might as well be. They live on the land that is where my back garden would be if I had one and they belong to the stables adjoining the fields. There are perhaps twenty or so and day in and day out they potter around, graze and take paying customers for riding lessons. These are most definitely not wild horses, wild horses do not take five year old children out for riding lessons! There are of course one or two that are somewhat more 'spirited' and reserved for riding by the proprietor and those who's horse handling skills are more advanced. And there is the rub.

As a child of maybe 12 years old I learnt to ride, not well but I could generally persuade a horse to go in the direction I wished and at the speed I dictated. All was well until one December morning, girth not suitably tight and feet not yet placed in stirrups, some joker decided to crop the rear of my mount.....who immediately took off like the wind. Perched as I was, saddle slipping, feet flailing and reins dragging, it was only the strength in my then gymnastically trained legs that kept me vaguely seated That was until a fence was reached, the horse stopped dead and I was most un-ceremoniously catapulted, at high velocity, from loose saddle into a field full of cows and the associate 'muck'!

With bruised and shaken pride and butt, I gathered my sore self up, went home and never sat on a horse again! I meant many times to re-learn, it still has appeal to me. I now have a good riding school not 500 yards away and horses I kinda know but hell, they are just so goddamn big!. I may have ridden large, powerful bikes but I was in control, bikes can't dig their heels in, they don't have a mind of their own!

I was never really aware of horse personalities until I lived here watching them day in and day out. I love to see them roll over and over on their backs, race up and down the hills making snorting, happy noises, most obviously full of glee and fun. They always make me smile but the sound echoing around me and the earth vibrating under my feet, as 24 or so hooves thunder over hard ground, has an uncanny knack of reminding me just how big and heavy these beautiful creatures are........ and somehow I never quite make it to the other side of the fence or the riding lesson!

Another Friday the 13th!

Suffering as I am with the dreaded PMS, blundering around, my limbs seemingly beyond my control and my mind away with the fairies it is only within the last couple of hours that I realised this is another Friday the 13th!

Thankfully, unlike the last few, my car has not ground to a halt, PG has suffered no injury, indeed none of the usual disasters have befallen either of us. I have none the less had the day from hell, in a normal day to day sense.

I feel like crap, I have finished nothing I started, I am hot, bothered, bad tempered and liable at any moment to either blow a gasket or disintegrate into a grizzling heap at the slightest thing.....oh, and I managed to upset and apparently insult someone completely unintentionally!!

There was one high spot, my car passed it's MOT test, I have been lucky enough not have a vehicle old enough to require one for years and I was rather holding my breath in anticipation of something major needing repair, it was not so, all is well for once on the car front! Amazing, particularly considering the date.

tomorrow is my early Saturday at work, a 5am start, something else that is not helping my demeanor right now......how I wish right now that I were two years old and could lie on the floor and throw a tantrum, arms and legs flailing and screaming the at the top of my lungs. What a pity we don't remember when we could do that.....it must have been so therapeutic! Instead I will shuffle off and lick my hormonally imagined wounds, eat some chocolate and try to forget my horrible day.

Gah! If I get a 'next life' I'm gonna be a man!

Friday's feast (47)

Appetizer
Whose intelligence do you find intimidating?
Anyone who I feel is way out of my league intellectually! Notice an impressive level of confidence there? heh.

Soup
Name something you've done that surprised yourself.
Moving to Scotland.

Salad
List 3 people whom you have only "met" online, but consider good friends.
Lisa
Maggie
Retroguy

Main Course
Where is the dirtiest place you've ever been?
The cinema in a town I once lived in (Hyde in Cheshire) probably makes the top spot.

Dessert
What is the best example of "perfection" that you can think of?
A flawless diamond.

What....you don't talk to plants too?

As is well documented I have a passion for all things 'natural history' ....a specific, though only in a very small way, is bonsai trees. many moons ago it concerned me a little that those twisted branches and trunks, forced by wire, would be kinda 'painful' for the tree but I decided that thought was a little excessive and given that they seem to grow well regardless, they must be happy with their lot in life!

It seems though that I never get a perfect specimen, over the years I have 'rescued' three or four from certain death, that I have come by via strange routes or by others handing them on out of frustration. The last had it's trunk snapped almost in two, I bound it and cared for it until it healed and it now resides with a friend.

Most recently I 'came by' a larger specimen when I noticed it leafless and lifeless in a store and offered the owner a minimal amount to remove it from his abuse worry. The poor thing had survived maybe 20 or more years to attain it's size and in the space of a few days of neglect was taking it's last bonsai breaths!

Home it went with me and after just four weeks TLC, the appropriate care and a stern talking too ......what, you don't talk to plants too? I give you, full of health and happiness again, one little tree! :o)


Alive and kicking!

I really must apologise.....

....for boring you with yet more sunsets but I just can't resist. It seems that each evening, as I stand clicking away on the balcony here at crimson skies, I promise myself I will ignore the next one.....but I never do. After a lifetime of city living I just find it unbelievable and incredible that this kind of sunset is here time after time..... and it's free!

(Clickable)

Another sunset.....



and again....



and again.

The best new band in town

Thanks to 'D', who is always loyally here but never comments so you would never know, for this link.

Stolen off another blog somewhere (sorry whoever you are) and well worth the thievery! If you are in need of cheering up or just fancy a hoot go have a look .......should you suffer a dialup connection as I do it will take a minute or two to download but it's worth the wait!

Room service!

A sunny spot.

So what of Poppy? Of late there has been much mention made of Ditto and her v