Thursday, 17 February 2005
Wednesday, 16 February 2005
I may not have snow....
....but I have friends in the blogosphere doing their damnedest to alleviate my snow 'shortfall'!
For me these pictures are virtually (no pun intended) impossible to imagine. I don't recall seeing snow like this since I was a child and believe me that was some time ago. This snow fell in just an hour this morning in New York and Just Jade kindly thought of me, braved the flakes, took some pictures and emailed them to me before the snow had even stopped falling.........can you believe......all this in just an hour!!! Heaven.
New York today
Not long after Jennifer left me a gift on her blog.....more of the beautiful white stuff I so long for, hers too fell quickly, clear last night and a stunning white covering when she woke this morning!
A big thank you to the both of you, it seems I am not completely snowless after all :o)
New York 16.02.05
I hasten to add, though of course as I mentioned a few days ago I am not any longer looking at the forecasts, I, er..... happened to notice after I received Jade's mail that there is a 30% possibility of snow here over the next 9 days. Well, given that rumour has it we get a few days later, what New York has now, it would have been rude not to check!
For me these pictures are virtually (no pun intended) impossible to imagine. I don't recall seeing snow like this since I was a child and believe me that was some time ago. This snow fell in just an hour this morning in New York and Just Jade kindly thought of me, braved the flakes, took some pictures and emailed them to me before the snow had even stopped falling.........can you believe......all this in just an hour!!! Heaven.
New York today
Not long after Jennifer left me a gift on her blog.....more of the beautiful white stuff I so long for, hers too fell quickly, clear last night and a stunning white covering when she woke this morning!
A big thank you to the both of you, it seems I am not completely snowless after all :o)
New York 16.02.05
I hasten to add, though of course as I mentioned a few days ago I am not any longer looking at the forecasts, I, er..... happened to notice after I received Jade's mail that there is a 30% possibility of snow here over the next 9 days. Well, given that rumour has it we get a few days later, what New York has now, it would have been rude not to check!
A worrying thought
An extremely concerning realisation came to mind this morning regarding this unusually mild winter that we in the UK are experiencing. Those among you who are glad of it, nay relish it and pray not for snow and sub zero temperatures might like to consider this:
Without the bone chilling, sustained freezing temperatures of years gone by the arachnid population thrives. Come spring there will be many, abnormally few, courtesy of a cold winter, having passed to the great spider's web in the sky and worse still, much much worse,......come September-ish time and 'spider season,' having had far more time to mature than they deserve, the specimens creeping and crawling around your home will be of gargantuan proportions. Forget the glass and piece of paper for spider trapping activities, you're gonna need a bucket and paving slab for these mothers!!!
Without the bone chilling, sustained freezing temperatures of years gone by the arachnid population thrives. Come spring there will be many, abnormally few, courtesy of a cold winter, having passed to the great spider's web in the sky and worse still, much much worse,......come September-ish time and 'spider season,' having had far more time to mature than they deserve, the specimens creeping and crawling around your home will be of gargantuan proportions. Forget the glass and piece of paper for spider trapping activities, you're gonna need a bucket and paving slab for these mothers!!!
Tuesday, 15 February 2005
Jackson ill?
So Michael Jackson has been rushed from court to hospital apparently 'very very ill'.
Forgive my scepticism here but it all seems very convenient. I may be forced to eat my hat on this one but we'll see, I have a feeling his entourages definition of very very ill may well not be that same as yours or mine.
Forgive my scepticism here but it all seems very convenient. I may be forced to eat my hat on this one but we'll see, I have a feeling his entourages definition of very very ill may well not be that same as yours or mine.
Siesta anyone?
I have to get out of this habit!
Of late I seem to have adopted the Mediterranean habit of taking a 'siesta' somewhere around about mid afternoon, at least I had until I began this working lark again and still have a tendency toward it on my days off. My excuse of course is that the body's natural sleep rhythm would dictate such a siesta if given its head, what the body's natural rhythm of course does not dictate is that one stays up and surfing the internet until 2 or 3am most mornings! That of course is the real reason I have adopted this strange pattern of sleep!
PG can happily go for 48 hours without sleep and apparently with no ill effect, though of course he rarely has cause to.....me? most nights I promise myself an earlier night but get engrossed in something and then don't crawl off to bed until stupid o'clock, unless I have work the following morning.
No matter I hear you say, I have no children, my odd sleeping habits affect no one but they do! I wake up, 'post' siesta, feeling like absolute crap. Maybe the body's natural sleep patterns in the UK are not supposed to include mid afternoon.
It has to stop, I must show some self discipline!
Of late I seem to have adopted the Mediterranean habit of taking a 'siesta' somewhere around about mid afternoon, at least I had until I began this working lark again and still have a tendency toward it on my days off. My excuse of course is that the body's natural sleep rhythm would dictate such a siesta if given its head, what the body's natural rhythm of course does not dictate is that one stays up and surfing the internet until 2 or 3am most mornings! That of course is the real reason I have adopted this strange pattern of sleep!
PG can happily go for 48 hours without sleep and apparently with no ill effect, though of course he rarely has cause to.....me? most nights I promise myself an earlier night but get engrossed in something and then don't crawl off to bed until stupid o'clock, unless I have work the following morning.
No matter I hear you say, I have no children, my odd sleeping habits affect no one but they do! I wake up, 'post' siesta, feeling like absolute crap. Maybe the body's natural sleep patterns in the UK are not supposed to include mid afternoon.
It has to stop, I must show some self discipline!
Contrary creature
'Small cat' in the normal vein of cat behaviour has a tendency to nervousness, make a loud noise, move too quickly or ring the door bell and she jumps out of her little furry jacket and instantly adopts the 'red alert' cat position of stretched neck and forward facing whiskers and ears. Not so it seems where the vacuum cleaner is concerned.
She has utter disdain for the usual grooming procedures involving brush and comb and wriggles unendingly offering teeth and claws in resistance......but point the vacuum cleaner in her direction and she immediately puts her head down and her rear in the air, a position in cat behaviour normally reserved for more base activities, and will happily be 'vacuum groomed' for as long as the pleasure is on offer!
Cat-vac
She has utter disdain for the usual grooming procedures involving brush and comb and wriggles unendingly offering teeth and claws in resistance......but point the vacuum cleaner in her direction and she immediately puts her head down and her rear in the air, a position in cat behaviour normally reserved for more base activities, and will happily be 'vacuum groomed' for as long as the pleasure is on offer!
Cat-vac
Monday, 14 February 2005
I will get a grip
I knew the novelty (was there ever a novelty involved?) would soon wear off. I am talking about my new found necessity to earn a living, it's wearing thin already, I have been spoilt for the last few years on the work front and getting back 'into it' is rapidly turning out not to be my idea of fun!
How do people fit everything in I wonder.....and work nigh on full time? Perhaps it just takes practice again, I used to do it. I think have to re-learn the art of NOT being so laid back!
PG and I seem to be like ships passing in the night, the cats are wondering why I am suddenly not there to attend to their every whim and all I seem to do is fall in the door tired, eat and sleep, before it all starts again.... Pah! I remember it well and along with the memory I recall why I was so glad to be out of it for those few years.
Add to that have I barely managed to post these last few days and my blog-surfing has been sadly minimal, I promise, I am still here even if I haven't commented quite as often as my norm and I will get a grip of my new routine, it's just taking me, um.....er....... a few days longer than I had anticipated to get re-organised!
How do people fit everything in I wonder.....and work nigh on full time? Perhaps it just takes practice again, I used to do it. I think have to re-learn the art of NOT being so laid back!
PG and I seem to be like ships passing in the night, the cats are wondering why I am suddenly not there to attend to their every whim and all I seem to do is fall in the door tired, eat and sleep, before it all starts again.... Pah! I remember it well and along with the memory I recall why I was so glad to be out of it for those few years.
Add to that have I barely managed to post these last few days and my blog-surfing has been sadly minimal, I promise, I am still here even if I haven't commented quite as often as my norm and I will get a grip of my new routine, it's just taking me, um.....er....... a few days longer than I had anticipated to get re-organised!
The stuff of dreams!
Ok....I wanna move to Boston!
(Click to enlarge)
Boston blizzard 2005.
Boston blizzard.
Boston blizzard.
Thanks to Michelle, for a whole power point of Boston snow.
(Click to enlarge)
Boston blizzard 2005.
Boston blizzard.
Boston blizzard.
Thanks to Michelle, for a whole power point of Boston snow.
Sunday, 13 February 2005
That's it!
No more wishing for snow, I've given up, it's just not gonna happen in any serious manner!
As I left for work this morning it began to snow, not the big fat flakes of blizzards but millions of beautiful little flakes dancing around in the wind, they continued to fall for half of my journey and then stopped as abruptly as they had started. An hour later and there were fat flakes falling in abundance as I poked my head out of the door at work. Not long later the sun broke through the cloud and melted the light white covering within minutes......and that was it, fin!
The remainder of the day was freezing cold and accompanied by 30mph winds whistling again through the broken store doors. The customers where cold, we were cold, it was a thoroughly horrible day.
Home at last and four hours later I am just begining to thaw out. I have a day off tomorrow and we have more snow forecast but this time I'm going to ignore the whole issue!
Snow? who needs it? heh.
As I left for work this morning it began to snow, not the big fat flakes of blizzards but millions of beautiful little flakes dancing around in the wind, they continued to fall for half of my journey and then stopped as abruptly as they had started. An hour later and there were fat flakes falling in abundance as I poked my head out of the door at work. Not long later the sun broke through the cloud and melted the light white covering within minutes......and that was it, fin!
The remainder of the day was freezing cold and accompanied by 30mph winds whistling again through the broken store doors. The customers where cold, we were cold, it was a thoroughly horrible day.
Home at last and four hours later I am just begining to thaw out. I have a day off tomorrow and we have more snow forecast but this time I'm going to ignore the whole issue!
Snow? who needs it? heh.
Yay......
....there is snow forecast for our little patch of Scotland today, we have a howling gale already and sub zero temperatures so it's looking hopeful.I won't be buying skiing equipment just yet mind!
Gotta run, I'm late for work.........
Gotta run, I'm late for work.........
Saturday, 12 February 2005
Bank policy
This is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by a 96 year-old
woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published
in the New York Times.
Oh to have this presence of mind at 40 something, let alone 96!
woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published
in the New York Times.
Oh to have this presence of mind at 40 something, let alone 96!
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I
endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three
nanoseconds must have elapsed between his depositing the check and
the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of
course, to the automatic monthly transfer of funds from my modest
savings account, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for
only thirty-one years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief
window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of
penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has
caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas
I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try
to
contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging,
pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has recently become.
From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a
flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will
therefore
and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by
check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your
bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offense under the
Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.
Please find attached an Application Contact Status form which I
require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight
pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank
knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies
of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary
Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation
(income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by
documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee with a PIN
number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it
cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the
number of button presses required of me to access my account balance
on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery.
Please allow me to level the playing field even further. When you
call me, you will now have a menu of options on my new voice mail
system to choose from.
Please press the buttons as follows:
1. To make an appointment to see me.
2. To query a missing payment.
3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my
computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later
date to the Authorized Contact.
8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 - 7.
9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be
put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.
While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music
will play for the duration of the call.
Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an
establishment fee of $50 to cover the setting up of this new
arrangement. Please credit my account after each occasion.
May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New
Year.
Your Humble Client,
Friday, 11 February 2005
Blogger comments
Hells bells...... just as I change to Haloscan, Blogger tart up their comments system, is it just 'pretty' I wonder, or will it work from here on in?
Er...I won't be removing Haloscan just yet!
Er...I won't be removing Haloscan just yet!
Friday's feast (35)
Appetizer - What do you want for Valentine's Day?
If I told you it wouldn't happen....it likely won't anyway but I'm hedging my bets :o)
Soup - If you could change the color of something you own, what would it be and which color would you make it?
I don't have anything I don't like the colour of, colour is important to me and I buy stuff the colour I want it or not at all. I would change the colour of my hair to lighter blonde but does one own hair??
Salad - What's your favorite day of the week and why?
Any day off...the reason? It's playtime :o)
Main Course - What excuse do you use most often?
'I'm too busy'
Dessert - Name something or someone you feel sorry for.
Any animal that has been or is being mistreated.
If I told you it wouldn't happen....it likely won't anyway but I'm hedging my bets :o)
Soup - If you could change the color of something you own, what would it be and which color would you make it?
I don't have anything I don't like the colour of, colour is important to me and I buy stuff the colour I want it or not at all. I would change the colour of my hair to lighter blonde but does one own hair??
Salad - What's your favorite day of the week and why?
Any day off...the reason? It's playtime :o)
Main Course - What excuse do you use most often?
'I'm too busy'
Dessert - Name something or someone you feel sorry for.
Any animal that has been or is being mistreated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
