I'll stick to cats!

Yesterday was a peculiar day. I remained distracted all day, somehow just couldn't sort it out!

I was on dog walking duty against my better judgement. I have a neighbour who's 'baby' is a first cross Border terrier, tho she would have you believe he is full pedigree. This dog, whilst being a nice natured creature, hates Ditto with a passion and must be the most wayward domestic animal I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. He is completely uncontrollable, barks manically at any movement, be it leaf, cat or bird, pulls incessantly on his lead and worst of all has me completely sussed.

My instructions, as ever, when I take on this dubious role are to walk him every two hours if you please, for fear that he might 'disgrace' himself indoors...... and so my two hourly foray into the strange world that is dog behaviour began.

Firstly I have to wrestle him into a corner to get his lead on, not because he is scared or doesn't fancy a walk but because he is too excited at the prospect of walking me to remain still. Having achieved that feat and made a grab for the delightfully provided plastic bag, I am immediately dragged unceremoniously, shoulder almost removed from it's socket, in whatever direction he fancies. No use me deciding, in go his heels, down goes his head and no amount of persuasion on my part will shift him! My choice would be a cat free route, his apparently is not and so begins the constant barking on each and every sighting.

Yesterday I was walked on all 4 occasions to a cornfield, I'm still a city girl at heart and too aware of my personal safety, all this pottering and ferreting about in the middle of nowhere alone still makes me uneasy. So whilst he merrily investigated each and every little thing that took his fancy I, less than riveted by a beetle in the grass etc. was looking over my shoulder wishing he would get on and do what we came here to do!!

And that is why I say he has me sussed...............he knows, I'm sure, that my fear of him 'disgracing' himself at a latter point in the day and therefore my failing in my duty, will ensure that if he doesn't 'make use of the facilities' I will be obliged to take him out time and time again........and it works Goddamn him!!!!

Walking duty over and I have then to face Ditto's palpable disapproval for what she sees as my gross betrayal of loyalty! She has to endure being harassed by this dog day in and day out and should he ever catch her I doubt she would escape unscathed. She just isn't pleased at seeing her human apparently siding with the enemy......... little does she know................

Staring blankly & Tornados

I'm having one of those frustrating days it seems, despite half hearted efforts I just can't get my head together........it's all jumbled bits and pieces. I have a 1001 things I ought to, or want to be doing but thus far am unable to even muster the presence of mind to organise them into some sort of priority, let alone get doing any of them!

So instead I am alternating between gazing uselessly out of the window and staring blankly at this screen trying to string a few sentences together!

My random, disorganised thoughts are frequently interrupted by my own private 'air show', military jets hurtling overhead at what seems only about 50 foot. The only thing my 'ex' left me with a slight passion for, is military aircraft and here the airspace is used by the forces for low level practice. The locals hate it, complain bitterly about the earth shattering noise that comes from out of nowhere. I love it! These guys have the ultimate 'boys toys' and they play impressively!! Ok..... so those of you who know about that stuff will doubtless say its all 'fly by wire' etc. but hell it's impressive. It won't ever cease to amaze me how one can have the abiltiy to be upside down, pulling that sorta 'G', close enough that I can see the pilot and still be in control! I struggle with a car at times! :o)

My days of being able to identify each and every one of them are gone....probably a good thing, but there is some damn scary hardware up there.

What's more scary is the obvious increase in air traffic that goes hand in hand with any international political wranglings being reported at the time!!

Into the lions mouth

It's back to work for me today, I was only off 'post op' coincidentally but it saved me from the unpleasantness of having to phone in sick and face being spoken to like a naughty child.

I'm not sure how it's gonna go today, my voice is still pathetic and still hurts...... my job usually requires me to speak loudly or shout for much of the time!

I feel a little like I'm about to walk into the lions mouth,(well a small lion maybe) once I'm there, if it all goes horribly wrong the possibility of escape, other than by death, is remote.

Employers it seems make all the right noises but somehow lack the ability to follow through or to be genuinely sympathetic.......yeah ok,I know, I'm being very naive!!! :o)

Gremlins & 'Parental warnings'

Yet again my host seems to have gremlins, this is becoming a rather too frequent thing in my book and as such my profile pic is absent. Having lost patience, I have spent the morning so far, downloading an alternative means of posting a picture but I'm having a 'dense day' and I'll be damned if I can get it to do as I want! So for now there is STILL no pic.

One the good side I have found one of the funniest blog's I have yet to read..this is where the parental warning comes in!:o)

I have endeavoured not to include too much 'profanity' in this blog because I don't think it is necessary but just now and again something is worth it! In future any such inclusion will be preceded with my 'parental warning', which should also be considered to be a' not suitable for minors or those of an easily offended nature' warning.

I'm sure my parents can cope, they're pretty savvy, it just ain't their 'thang' and I'm a considerate kinda daughter....hmmmmmm!?? Lol.

So for those that want a giggle go here ..........this lady is hilarious, well I think so! :o)

And courtesy of Menina, if you have an hour or two to waste go play with this, its a hoot!

A new toy.

Oooooooooo.......I want one of these!

Ferocious beast!

Ditto doesn't 'do' windy days as a rule and this morning hovered with a look of distain on the doorstep for 10 minutes, while she decided if she would stay in or go out! Needless to say 'out' triumphed and off she went, still looking miffed and with her coat blowing backwards........ something she seems to have a particular dislike of.

That was it, not a sign of her for hours. Her fear of the wind apparently overcome quite easily, though it was patently obvious she had been in the vicinity when a recently deceased mouse turned up on the doorstep. She had obviously decided against a 'personal presentation' after her last efforts only resulted in a stern ticking off.

Again, hours later and without preamble, she rushed headlong through the door and straight under the sofa, always a sign that she has a 'catch'. As ever in my endeavours to save whatever she has in her clutches we did the 'chase me' thing, she was caught, the ungainly process of trying to prise her jaws apart was successful and her prey fell to the floor ............

a small piece of navy blue fur fabric!!!!

She looked at me, picked it up again and walked off swiftly, head and tail held high with pride!!!

Tsk!

B**ger!! My throat still hurts like hell...........I remain on squished food and the local shop has no Haagen Dazs. :o(

What is the world coming to?

Oh.... and to the continued joy of those around me I remain silent-ish!

Sunshine and chocolate brownie.

What a beautiful day..........

Bright sunshine, a gentle breeze and cows and sheep pottering about lazily. Yesterday I had repeated emails from a friend in the centre of London giving graphic despcription of the beautiful weather while I was languishing in cold damp fog all day!

Things are looking up all round, I have even managed to nibble my way, hamster like, through a slice of bread and butter and half a chocolate brownie this morning......strange how one manages a chocolate brownie isn't it?! My intake having been minimal over the last 36 hours I should perhaps have tried something marginally more nourishing but what the hell......I'm poorly and you gotta make the most of it. :o)

Have I missed something here?

I am a veteran of IRC and have regularly used chat rooms, or more specifically two chat rooms on one server, for years. The rooms I use are well moderated and overseen by responsible adults but the concern is always there that a 'groomer' may slip through the net.

I have no real idea of the statistics involved but worldwide chatrooms receive more hits than just about any other type of site (porn aside) and despite the efforts of many out there to keep them safe, some of those rooms leave a great deal to be desired. I consider myself un-shockable and very open minded but none the less, believe me, there are some weirdo's...... and one groomer operating is too many.

And so I read with interest this morning an article in the the BBCi News email that hits my inbox at 5am every day that the police in many countries are considering eavesdropping on internet chat room conversations.

My immediate reaction was positive in that anything that can reduce the dangers for young people is a good thing but as I considered it further I began to wonder if I was missing something!! Apparently if the police are 'listening in' an icon will appear on the screen to inform the chatter that their conversation is being monitored. Would that not mean that in the event that the conversation was with a groomer, he or she would just log off and that if a server became known as one that is monitored in those with such intent would just use another?????

I considered the idea further and gradually became a little miffed, we live more and more in a 'nanny state' where individuals and their guardians are not allowed to take responsibility for themselves and from a purely selfish point of view I just don't want to have the police monitoring my conversations. That is very much not because I am doing anything nefarious but because my conversations are private and mine!

I don't have children and so probably have no idea how hard it is to keep track of what they do or to control what they get up to but I'm damn sure some are left to their own devices and parked infront of a computer just to keep them 'out of the way'. I am no great techie but even I know that what a child can access on here can be controlled to a great degree if the effort is made to put those controls in place.

Is parental responsibility not the real answer here?

I'm not naive and I suppose in the end sadly not all parents take that responsibility. Even for those that do their offspring are likely to be more 'pc savvy' and able to circumnavigate whatever efforts are made to keep them safe! Ultimately in that case any controls put in place by the professionals have to be embraced.

One child harmed is one too many!

Sadly I think if a room is overseen by the police people will cease to use it. I consider myself to be responsible, reasonably informed and 'pro police' and whilst I deplore the activities of groomers and their like, if I'm honest I have to admit I don't think I would use a room if I was aware it was being eavesdropped!! That doesn't rest easy with me and presents me with a moral dilemma I feel I should do everything I can but I also value my privacy.

Maybe like I said ,I'm missing something here....... and what do I know anyway!

Silence!

Yesterday was a good and bad day in equal measure.

I had to attend a hospital appointment (I am particularly not good at hospitals) to investigate something 'peculiar' in my throat. In my sublime ignorance I imagined the surgeon would merely take a look and decide on a course of action to be followed at a later date............ How wrong was I??

Within minutes I had a gob full of needles and knives, thankfully allowing me no time to panic in my normal fashion!!

I now can't eat temporarliy and to the joy of those around me can't speak in anything more than a very pathetic whisper....I am not renowned for having 'demure feminine tones' and the relative silence has caused much humour among those around me :o)

We hear much criticism in the media on the subject of our national health service, in fact we seem to hear nothing but criticism.......well for my part I have never had anything but excellent and sensitive treatment at the hands of our medical professionals......and believe me I have had my fair share of dealings with them. Yes, I'm sure waiting lists could be shorter, management more efficient and that among their numbers there must be one or two 'dodgy characters' but at the sharp end it seems to me we are damn lucky to have so many dedicated individuals.

So it's soup and ice cream on the menu for a few days............bring on the Haagen Dazs :o)

Jostling for position

Well it's barely a week since I made mention here (post: 27 May) that the acquisition of a laptop to our household would bring an end to the constant jostling for position at the pc but undoubtedly would lead to a new 'problem'......that of who needs the dialup!!

I was not wrong............. yesterday saw me order phone line number 2! Having discovered BT owed us a sum of money more than equal to the cost of the installation there seemed little to stop the inevitable..... it was meant to be :o)

Let's face it......I can't split a connection now can I, that at best makes 46 Kbps and broadband ain't gonna wing its way to these parts until July 2005!!

The cat house

I know the phrase is 'the dog house' but in our household, for obvious reasons, serious misdemeanours result in the occupation of the 'cat house' :o)

Ditto is currently in residence having run riot for the day yesterday!!

It is horribly apparent that with the onset of warmer weather she has made a decision to hone her hunting skills! On four occasions during the day I had cause to rescue a small rodent from the clutches of her jaws. On each occasion she proudly arrived 'post haste' through the door, tail and head held high with pride to present me with her 'gift'!! Gift my foot. To her utter annoyance and chagrin a swift shake and adept prising of her jaws apart released the terrified, squealing rodent to hide under the furniture!

We then have a race to see if she can catch it again before I can, I'm pleased to say that on each occasion I won, the poor little things where inspected for injury to the best of my ability and released back into their field, hopefully not too much the worse for wear.

Not content with her day’s activity the night bought more misbehaviour. This tiny cat that must always sleep in the same position at the foot of our bed and who without fail arrives home for her tea at 21.30 hrs was still missing by midnight. I 'do' worrying..... One of the local toms has a particular dislike for her and has battered her intermittently quite badly, and so began the hunt by torchlight for her.

Two grown adults ferreting among the shrubbery, shaking various boxes of favourite food and calling daft pet names into the darkness...to no avail. By 2 o'clock she was still absent, 'Mr gemmak' was fast losing patience and the heavens had opened, the search was called off.

By 3 o'clock, having checked she wasn't at the door probably more than 100 times and 'himself' in bed I set off on another search in the rain, by this time the torch was no more. My dislike of the complete darkness in the countryside got the better of me within 15 minutes and convinced now that she had met some dreadful end I went home to bed. Of course I didn't sleep and after some careful manipulation managed to get 'Mr'to go on yet another cat hunt against all common sense and protestations!

Half an hour later, miffed and wet he returned still Ditto-less

We went back to bed.....within 10 minutes a familiar scratching was apparent at the door...in she sauntered, not a care in the world, checked out everything was still in order and settled down in her spot on the bed!!!!!!

Grrrrrrrrr ....why do I worry????

What on earth...

....has happened to 'Big Brother'???

I have to have the courage of my convictions and admit to having been an avid Big Brother fan in previous year's, judging by the first week of BB5 that's gonna change.

This years motley crew of contestants beggars belief, ok so C4 want viewing figures but is this the way to do it? Did the programmes researchers misunderstand their remit when they set about recruiting this years batch of hopefulls...were they under the impression they where employed to staff a circus!!

We have Marco who must be the most aggravating individual to ever grace our screens and gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'happy clappy', 'Kitten' who has more than her fair share of personal psychological 'issues',a gay guy who seems only to be interested in straight men and a plethora of female wannabes who's only interest seems to be getting their kit off on TV. The rest barely warrant a mention save for Stuart who thinks he's (and I quote) 'probably the brightest person the researchers have ever interviewed' solely on the basis that he has a few 'A' levels........come back to us on that one with your PhD sunshine!

It seems to me the entire approach has been for two purposes only, to incite conflict and to achieve on tape the 1st live sexual exploits within the house.....they may well achieve their goal........this lot seem more likely to indulge in an orgy of some description than one on one action!

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to live and let live and it takes allsorts to make a world, I'm hopefully un-shockable and all that but this just seems to be a bit OTT......who in there do the majority of us identify with this year?

Maybe I'm just getting old.......... and despite my misgivings you will notice I have been watching!!!! :o)

Murder in paradise.

My mother has commented throughout my life that I seem never to be far from some disaster or trauma.........

As a 16 year old I started work in a department store in the west end of London, quite awe inspiring at that age. Straight out of school and completely 'un-savvy'. My first journey home on the underground, already 'shell shocked' by the world of work, I was witness to some poor soul hurling himself under a train. Its was the mid '70's when the IRA were at their height and despite only working in town for 6 months I managed to be involved in or in the close vicinity of, one bombing, one hoax and an armed jewellery raid.

My catalogue of unpleasant happenings continued. I moved to Manchester and two days later the 'Moss Side' riots began within a mile of my new home! I was caught up in the first IRA bombing of the city centre and a number of years later, having two weeks previously moved to the outskirts of Cheshire, watched with disbelief when my house appeared on 'Crimewatch'............I might add here that it was coincidence and not any reflection on my lifestyle!!! :o)

I never liked that house and my feelings for it and the area where only confirmed when it became apparent that I was living only 100 yards from the infamous Harold Shipman's surgery during the latter years of his heinous wrong doings!

And so..........this little green paradise I now call home, a small village in the middle of nowhere woke yesterday morning to a murder.....it's first in living memory it seems. The normally quiet main street was a hive of activity and police vehicles and gossip was rife, though gossip these days even here it seems is conducted mostly by text!

I won't bore you with the details, in the main because I don't have any. Suffice to say it's a sad business for all those involved.

I shouldn't make light of such a terrible crime but forgive me if I have a few moments of paranoia!