Is it any wonder.....

....I worry from time to time about the safety of one 'not so small anymore' young cat!

Her behavior has changed as she's gotten older, she no longer climbs the curtains at such regular intervals, she doesn't decimate books chewing on them and she has ceased the door climbing antics to a greater degree but this does not make for an any more peaceful life. Instead she has merely advanced to other mischief and has a particular penchant for all things electrical.


She has long had a passion for the spaghetti mess of wires at the back of the PC but now we can add to that constant attempts at removing the bulbs from the bedside lights, creating an 'oh so attractive' perforated pattern in the delicate paper shades as she does so, an obsession with jamming her not so tiny furriness atop the stereo, resulting in pitiful cries when she gets stuck and a rather worrying new delight in sleeping ontop of the television!

This small cat is a 'dribbler', she purrs incessantly and when she does she dribbles, I know, most unpleasant but it's a 'cat thang'....this would be fine, dribbling I can cope with, it at least illustrates her degree of happiness but dribbling, perched ontop of electrical items carrying high current is just not good!


It is a constant battle in her waking hours, she flies, at high velocity, around the place from one of her favoured places to another constantly, with me in hot pursuit attempting to remove her time and time again. Time out tactics don't work and she seems to know I can't squirt her with the once dreaded, but now ignored, water sprayer when her preference for naughtiness is an electrical item!

Nothing works, nothing will cause her to desist and on the very rare occasion I manage to dissuade her for a time, she turns her attentions instead to clawing at the now ruined speaker fronts! I've given up replacing things, they can wait until she has grown out of her mischief, thus far replacement has been good money after bad, I just wish she would cease taking her little life in her paws around household electrics!

This little Tilly cat is a darling, I adore her but over the months she has more than earned her now regular title of 'hell puss'!

Crush ~ a sickening report

The world has gone mad....or at least some of it's population, though hopefully only a tiny minority. My apologies for this post, it does not make for pleasant reading, quite the reverse, but the more of us that protest our outrage, perhaps the more chance there is that

This woman is dubbed 'The Kitten Killer of Hangzhou',


and she is apparently responsible for one of the most sickening acts of barbarism I have had the misfortune to read about in a very long time, she produces 'crush videos' from China, which if you haven't until now been aware of, are videos of extreme cruelty perpetrated against defenseless animals in the name of 'amusement'. China, we know has no legal protection in it's statutes for animals but that doesn't excuse the complete lack of humanity displayed in this woman's actions. You can read more of the details HERE, on Paddy's blog or on the Newsvine link HERE but I don't recommend it, it took me four attempts to be able to read it in it's entirety.

Aside from my obvious feelings of horror that this woman could in the first instance behave in such an utterly heinous manner, what concerns me even further is that for her to produce videos of such monstrous behaviour must by the very fact that she does, mean that there are individuals out there who want to purchase them!

What kind of sick and twisted mind derives pleasure from something like this? What kind of psychological dysfunction do people who enjoy any cruelty, but particularly this level of cruelty suffer? I am not naive, I know that man perpetrates against man even more horrific acts of violence than this, there have long been the truly evil individuals that produce and purchase the likes of snuff movies but this is just one more instance of our world gone mad.

Most days I love those who inhabit this global village but some days, when I read of atrocities like this, I hate it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~


N.B. If you hit this post as a result of a search for the above mentioned 'adult movies' I will do my level best to trace your I.P.

Your day will come!

From my inbox this morning and ok that's cheating but it's scarily true ....if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder

This is how it manifests ..... I decide to water my garden. As I turn on
the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the front verandah table
that I brought up from the letter box earlier, just after the mailman had
been.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I put my car keys
on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage bin beside the table, and
notice that the bin is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table
and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the post box when I take out
the garbage anyway (and the mailman picks up the mail at noon) ... I
may as well pay the bills first. So, I take my cheque book off the table,
and see that there is only 1 cheque left. My spare cheque book is in my
desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking earlier this morning.

I know I going to look for my cheque book, but first I need to push the
Coke can aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The Coke is
warm, so I decide to put it in the refrigerator to make it cold again. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the dining room table catches my eye -- they need water.

I put the Coke on the dining room table and discover my reading glasses
that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back
on my desk, but first I'm going to put more water in the flowers. I set the
glasses back down on the table, go to the kitchen sink to get a jug and
fill it with water and suddenly spot the TV remote on the window sill.
Some-one left it there.

I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the window sill, so I decide to put it back in the lounge room where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the jug, but spill some on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the kitchen bench, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was
planning to do.

At the end of the day:
- the car isn't washed
- the cheque's aren't written for the bills to be paid
- there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the dining room table
- the flowers don't have enough water,
- there is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book,
- I can't find the remote,
- I can't find my glasses,
- the garbage hasn't been taken out
- and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired now.

I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

Head to head!

I think there can be no disputing that these two are now firm friends!


(Clickable)

Saturday skies

All in the space of twelve hours!




(Clickable)

You won't believe this.......

....well actually you probably will!

I called the 'powers that be' again yesterday in a final attempt to solve the debacle of the court case date with the intention if necessary of then withdrawing my statement and taking whatever the consequences of that might be.

After much ado I managed to get hold of a member of their staff I had dealt with previously and who had been less inept than the majority. She took the details again and promised to call me back....which she did inside of an hour.

The problem was solved and despite myself I couldn't help hooting with laughter down the phone, probably rather impolitely, as a response to the information she gave me.......the date given for the case, only two days after the original date, the 15th of March.....was a typo!!! it should have read the 15th of May!!! Impressive stuff eh?

To give her her due she was full of apology and thanks that I had brought it to their attention and saved all and sundry turning up on date when the case wasn't able to be heard....can you imagine my joy had I cancelled my holiday and been one of those stood in the cold with no case to hear?

I know we are all human and to err is part of that but hell fire, does no-one proof read or check anything these days?!

SNOW....we got SNOW!

Snow!
Video sent by gemmak

Breathing a tentative sigh of relief

Today is the first day of over two weeks off the 'day job' for yours truly and I think after the last week I am going to treat myself to a day off everything and just do, for one day what I want to do!

It will doubtless still mean I am glued here, PG is working and it's minus four outside so I have no wish to venture further than this warm little spot but I'm going to play just for the one day, maybe re-vamp this little patch and actually get time to read a few blogs for a change....oh and I might even get to sleep some!

I am finally catching up a little on the design problems I have encountered over recent days, I still have some work to catch up on but the main difficulties have been attended too and though, in fear of speaking to soon, I think I deserve one day off and to tentatively begin to breath a big sigh of relief.

Tomorrow it's back to 'Gemmak Designs' for as long as the work I have lasts and then at the end of next week we are off to London to my parents for five days....things are beginning to feel a little back to normal and it's a good feeling. Long may it last! Did I just tempt fate in saying that I wonder?

Life in gemmak's-ville is going to be somewhat quiet, if still busy, for the next week or so, PG is working night shifts which means he sleeps all day and is gone all night, Lisa is busy and not online much right now to chatter and my usual 'all day email companion' is away on a much deserved holiday as of today, yup, it's gonna be quiet here, real hermit stuff for a little while but there is of course still Tilly to ensure I don't get too complacent or bored! ;o)

You couldn't make it up!

Remember the debacle last month in which my endeavors to do the 'right thing' (mistake) and appear as a witness in a court case ultimately resulted in my being threatened with arrest for contempt of court?.....well today the system involved truly excelled in it's efforts to lose any remaining respect I might have held for it.

The crux of the problem, if you recall, was that the court date was set for the 13th of March, a date I am due to be in London visiting my parents. I went through the correct channels in an attempt to get it changed explaining countless times that from the 12th to the 17th of March I would be unable to attend court. Ultimately I succeeded in getting an adjournment but it was no mean feat and along the way it seemed I was the one being treated as a criminal.

So what happened today?

Today I received the paperwork notifying me of the new date the case is to be heard and informing me that I am to attend. And what date is it?..... I'll tell you what date it is....it's the bloody 15th of March is what date it is, just two days later!!! Hell fire...am I speaking English here because it sure seems like I'm not making myself understood in some quarters!

So once more I have called the illustrious CPS and once more I have explained, and although I received an apology there is of course no guarantee that the date will be changed yet again.

What is guaranteed now however is that I will go on holiday, enough is enough. I tried my best against the apparent ineptness I was up against but I've given up .......if they change the date I'll be there, if they don't then I won't and if they see fit (which I doubt in reality) to issue a warrant for my arrest then so be it. I tried, I really did, to do what my conscience told me I should but it's beyond funny now and I'm not playing anymore.

Back in business

I've done it!

As of now Gemmak Designs is open for business! New look, new URL, new beginning.


It's just under a week since it's predecessor hit the skids and one way and another and I can't say it's been a week I would like to re-live but it's over with now and there's only one way to go....forward.

I still have much to catch up on, I've lost a week of working on existing designs for clients who have been waiting patiently and I still have a million little bits to sort out but in essence 'Gemmak Designs' is now up and running, though it might take me a little time to get it back up to full speed.

Now I have to beg!

The demise of the 'former enterprise' also meant the demise of any advertising, links, search engine returns etc. etc. that we had accrued, I have to start from scratch again so to that end,....this is where I beg, if any one of you feels charitable enough to carry a 'gemmak Designs' button on your site I would be eternally, unendingly, utterly, grateful. Just drop me a mail or a comment and I'll send it to you, I'll install it for you if you prefer or feel free to take the code from below with a big thank you attached.

So all that remains is to hope I actually get some custom under my new guise and to thank all of you for your support and encouragement. There were a few moments along the way where I almost decided to pack it all in for good, but I didn't, and for that I owe many of you a big thank you, but particularly two people,(and I'm gonna get shot for this so anyone close by, duck now please) P.G. who has tolerated the last weeks fallout magnificently and Fletch who has been an absolute star.

That's it then, I'm on my own, kinda scary still but hey, onward and upward and (more begging) please, if you fancy a new look anytime go HERE!

Here's the button code:
<a href="http://gemmakdesigns.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a29/gemmak/gemmakbutton.gif" /></a><br /><a href="http://gemmakdesigns.blogspot.com/2006/03/steal-my-button.html"><h6>Steal this button here</h6></a>

It's snowing!!

Ok....so the picture is appalling and it's not much snow but it is snow, real snow!

What rubbish!

I wonder, is there a prerequisite when one applies for employment within a local authority for prospective employees to have gained skills not in the usual fields of things such as efficiency, politeness, customers service and financial awareness? It would appear so.

Yesterday I had the unfortunate opportunity to have a small 'contretemps' with the powers that govern all those wonderfully efficient services provided for us in return for payment of our (very high) council tax. In the first place the rate of tax here is the highest level I have suffered anywhere. I accept there are fewer people live here and consequently the services per capita are higher but at times I wonder exactly what services we are talking about.
Service does not seem to be the main function of this council, I'm sure it's not the only one, but what this council seems to excel at is prevarication, work avoidance and wasting, to the best of their ability, the monies they procure from us.

So the situation is this; the only service that we do receive directly, refuse collection, is undergoing changes, no longer do we have to drag our full bags of rubbish the 200 yards to a designated 'collection point' instead we have been issue with compost bins, wheelie bins and all manner of other rubbish recepticals. The theory is fine and good, it is 'sold' to us as a means of recycling household waste but what it actually appears to be is two things, one, an exercise in reducing still further the work done by the council employees and two, an very adept way of wasting as much money as possible......and no amount of talking common sense will seemingly resolve the problems we have been presented with. Ok, so the words 'council' and common sense' are probably not regularly used in one sentence I accept.

There are eight flats here, we live in the middle of the countryside. The first phase of this new scheme was that we were delivered four horrendously ugly plastic compost bins that none of us need, we have plenty of places to operate a real compost heap if we wish. On the day of delivery said bins were hurled around in strong winds resulting in considerable damage to two residents cars. We called the council and explained that we have no need for these items and as we have no gardens or out buildings we have nowhere to put them anyways so would they please remove them....the answer was no, so they continue to be a rolling, unused eyesore, perpetually needing collecting from wherever the latest wind has landed them.

Stage two, we were delivered yesterday eight ugly wheelie bins but only after I chased the deliverers halfway along the road to tell them that four bins for eight properties wasn't enough. Then we get to the 'instruction manual' that accompanies this system. Different colour bags for different types of waste, yada, yada, yada, you know the kind of drill but again we have to move said bins to the designated collection point. This requires that each bin be dragged approximately 100 yards along the front of the building to access a ramp, dragged up that ramp then across the same distance of gravel, up another ramp and then along the road some yards to the entrance of the properties. It is just not possible, we organised a practice run and even the guys here, and believe me some of them, PG included, are no lightweights, but trying to man handle a large heavy bin over gravel is not a simple operation and for me completely impossible! I couldn't even drag it up the ramp let alone get it over the gravel. Add to that we are not allowed to leave said bin at the collection point any sooner than the night before collection means that in winter this malarky has to be carried out in the dark.

There is a simple solution that would merely involve moving the 'collection point' and the pick-up vehicle reversing across the gravel to the top of the ramp, still a difficulty for most of us but easier. But no, way too simple. PG called the controlling authority to explain the problem and after much frustrated explanation finally the jobs-worth on the other end of the line agreed to a compromise....he would send an 'assessor' out to the properties to assess the situation!! FFS...so they employ someone to actually carry out an assessment rather than just use a little common sense?....no wonder councils attract more than their fair share of bad press. First they deliver useless compost bins, then the deliver too few wheelie bins, all way beyond the date we were informed the scheme would commence and now they are wasting time and money sending some halfwit all the way out here....... to look at a gravel car park! Gah!

The deed is done.....

....this morning I finally hit the button and killed off DAB forever.

I had kinda harboured secret thoughts that I could somehow save it but I couldn't, it just wasn't meant to be and so, with a second or two's hesitation and some sentimentality going on, I did the deed and consigned it to the great website in the sky.

I'm still feeling a bit lost without it, it has been 'what I did' for almost a year but there's no use crying over spilt milk as they say. Thus it's onward and upward, something new is on it's way, afterall this isn't the demise of M&S or some such (thankyou 'S' and 'F' for helping me regain that perspective) so I'm busy beetling away on a new site which I hope to get up and running very soon.

Watch this space.....

So far so good

Well I made it to Monday morning, I still have a connection, one down one to go, only tonight's 'updating' carry on to go and I'm home free.....I'll not start counting any chickens yet though!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a definitely more positive note, the last week may have been a relative disaster in gemmak's-ville, perhaps even one of the worst I recall one way and another but things are looking up in at least one area....among all the confusions I forgot that aside from this coming Thursday, I am now on holiday from the 'day job' for a whole three weeks!!!! Yayyyy.

Oh....and we have 'significant' snow forecast...again no chicken counts but the possibility of white-ness is there :o)