Wednesday

Nice warm summer's day, blue skies and sunshine.   Change from the grey skies and heavy drenching rain of the last couple of days.

You have probably heard the news that is dominating our tv channels about the riots that have been going on all the week in Baltimore, everything is given over to it.

A mother was watching it on television, and saw her son in a hoodie hurling rocks at the police, the video of her thumping him to kingdom come has been played over and over.   Big headline in the Wall Street Journal said 'Bring in the Moms'.

A tv anchor said compassionately "she doesn't want him to be like Freddy Gray (the guy who started all this) she wants him to be like Ben Carson".    Of course she does.   He's the brilliant African American neurosurgeon who is running for President and pulled himself out of poverty to live the American dream.

 

The mother here has six children, the guy is her only son, and one of her daughters is going to Police Academy, she's obviously done her best to bring them up right.

 

There have been protests too in New York and other US cities but I can't see them getting any traction in Oklahoma City.

 

I got up because I couldn't get off to sleep, I suffer from insomnia, but although wide awake I still feel very tired.

 

Tuesday morning

Yesterday, Monday, the news channel (at least the serious one I watch, I don't know what was happening on the others) was given over entirely to the race riots in Baltimore, and I will come back to that.   But before I do let's catch up with Hilary.

OOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..............................dear.

Yeah Hilary......you go Girl. You're not going to make President.  The writing's on the wall.  Heed Rand Paul's OMINOUS warnings.   But as I've said before, I am just the foreign bystander here.  And of course I wouldn't be Holier Than Thou and suggest our MPs aren't above corruption.

Is it my disrespectful imagination, or do they look as if they want to move in for a smooch?

But back to the serious stuff of life.

Freddie Gray was an African American who - and I haven't yet turned on today's news - died in highly suspicious and mysterious circumstances whilst in police custody.  Prior to his arrest he made eye contact with a police officer, and apparently that is illegal in this African American city with a white police force.     And that just ripped the scab off the simmering racial tensions.

And now I'll turn on the television and catch up.

ps I haven't captured it very well on the photo, but the rain was so heavy yesterday the street outside was just like a fast moving river.   I didn't pick my mail up yesterday from the box, heaven knows what it is like.

Sunday 26th - 76 and a day

When I was 75, it was half way between 70 and 80, and I joked at pushing 80.  But now I'm nearer 80 than 70, it's not such a joke.    Reality is setting in.

 

Up and out early this morning, was reading at the 8 o'clock.    This afternoon the group from Emmanuel came back from their Cursillo weekend, and those of us who are Cusillistas - I joined in Chichester Diocese in 2002 -  had a 'welcome back' party for them.   Pizzas and salad, and I introduced them to Garibaldi biscuits from the British Food Store.   I told them they were colloquially referred to in Britain as 'squashed fly' biscuits.   I'd also made some caramel crunch, but I put it aside for another day.  Our youth minister likes it so much - and she was away at the weekend - her husband Googled the recipe, and made a big plate of it.  I have to say his was better than mine, it was cut into neat little squares, instead of jagged pieces, and he sprinkled a little sea salt over the top, which was an innovative touch.   Salt and caramel goes well together.

 

Bruce and Rosalyn invited me to see 'Woman in Gold' this evening, and it was lovely, very very good.  I've seen a few good films lately, and I think that is one of the best.   I recommend it to all you movie goers out there.

 

The news here is all the Clinton corruption scandal.   I thought at first it was a Republican plot to derail Hilary's Presidency, and that might well have something to do with it all coming out now, but it doesn't look good for them, and the book which set it all off isn't even out for another few days.   

 

I don't know how she thinks she can campaign for the Presidency, and dodge the media.  Perhaps she is waiting for the book to be published before weighing in.   And if there isn't any truth in the allegations she would do well to hold a press conference, take questions and move on.    But the way things look at the moment I think the Democrats are going to be scrambling for another candidate.   There's a New Jersey senator who has recently been indicted on bribery and corruption charges, and people are saying the Clinton's offences are worse than his.  

 

Anyway, that's my two cents worth for tonight.

 

 

Saturday - pushing 77.

The YMCA opens at 7 on Saturdays.  I set my alarm, intending to be there at 7.30 before the children came and their splashy toys were turned on.  However, it was 8.30 by the time I got there, and although there were quite a few children they were either in their own play area, or the shallow pool with their mothers.  And the splashy things weren't turned on, so I was able to go round the walk way.   Kevin called and waved from the swimming lanes, he spends a lot of time there and I think he is on the Board.

 

Other than that I haven't done a lot today.  I have been concerned about Pattisue because I can't get hold of her - when I ring her phone goes straight to voice mail.  The last I heard, during the week was that she needed a bone marrow transplant.

 

For some reason I can't figure, her family are either unsociable, or don't like me, so I know I won't get anywhere if I try calling at her daughter's house.     I tried University Baptist church this morning, but they were  closed, so I will go in the morning after the 8 o'clock at Emmanuel.  Her family are also members there, so it is my best chance of finding anything out.

 

I'd earlier filled my car up, and picked up a hot dog and I had a thermos of tea with me so I crossed the road to OBU, and had a little picnic in a pretty spot on the campus.

The weather is very warm at the moment, it was 84 as I drove through town.  And 75 in the house, which is not too bad, I didn't think I needed the air conditioning just yet.

There are two films showing I thought I'd like to see, "Woman in Gold" and "The Age of Adaline".  The last performances were 10.00, and 9.50, and in spite of my intentions I didn't have the energy to make it to either.   Maybe tomorrow.

Thursday update

I've been running around this morning.  I drop all my small change into a jar on the kitchen window sill and when it is full I take it to the bank.   I just love their automatic change counting thing (yeah I know, I should get a life) I tip it in and help it down the chute, and watch the total ratcheting up, which in this case came to nearly $100.   Have banks in England got round to gadgets like this, or do the tellers still weigh out the change?

I've no idea what an 'Ike' dollar is.

A bit later on I went to Communion then seven of us had lunch at the Bricktown Brewery, which was very nice.   I was first out of the car park. took what I thought was the most direct route there, and still arrived last, my friends had ordered my tea, and specified the 'boiling water' and the creamers.

 

I am still very into my books on the East End, and GI Brides.   I didn't know this, but they left for the States from Croydon Airport, which handled all aircraft to and from the States.   No wonder it was so heavily bombed.   The author talks a lot about always going around with her gas mask.   When I was a baby living with my aunties and grandparents on the edge of the airport, I first of all had a 'baby' gas mask which was something they had to put me into.  Then as I grew I got one that was supposed to look like Mickey Mouse,  it still looked  like a gas mask to me and in retrospect a very scary Mickey Mouse.

 

All children of school age had to be evacuated - with their schools and teachers - to a safe place, I've seen old news reels of them setting off on trains, clutching their gas masks (and not Mickey Mouse ones) and  I am really thankful I wasn't old enough for that, and instead I got to grow up with  people who loved me.  And young as I was, sirens and the air raid shelter at the bottom of Grandma's garden was normal life.   I had no awareness of the danger we lived under.

From books I have since read, I understand that when these children  got to their destinations they were all lined up in village halls, and one by one they were picked out, 'chosen' as it were, by the families taking them in.  Which is fine if you're one of the first to be picked, but how dreadfully mortifying if you were last.  I would have thought that did more psychological harm than any amount of bombing.

This was Thursday's 'update'  but as it is now Saturday morning I will hit 'publish'.    And thank you Ken and loved ones for your birthday wishes.   Now I'm 'really' pushing 80!


 

Wednesday 22nd April/Thursday

Bill was having a Training Day for chaplains today, so I got to the hospital early to do my round before it started.   It was good getting together, and we all had lunch afterwards.

Doesn't it say something about 21st century America that we have to do this?  But being the news addict I am, I see it happening all too often, all over the country.   The bottom line of this (for us) is "flee" - don't try and take them down.  They needn't worry about me, I'll play the 'little old lady pushing 80' card, I'll be found cowering under a desk, I'm not the stuff of which heroines are made.

 

There was time to collect myself at home before going to Emmanuel this evening, which was a special occasion for us.  Elizabeth, who is a lovely, much loved person, was a member at Emmanuel before leaving to become a priest at the nearby parishes of Seminole and Holdenville.  I have visited her parish and she is very popular there, so our loss is very much their gain.   Anyway, she came to Emmanuel this evening and celebrated Communion, and that was lovely.  Fr Bill sat in the congregation.

 

I made some caramel crunch for the meal tonight, I don't know why I didn't photograph it.  People seem to like it, at least those who aren't members of the food police do, as it is extremely high in sugar, fat, calories and all that evil stuff.

 

You can see who is the rebel is in this healthy eating society, but all the time people are eating it, and telling me they like it, I'll make it.

 

Changing the subject......

 

Ben Carson: You Can Bet I'll Run for President Dr. Ben Carson, the famed neurosurgeon turned rising conservative political star, tells Newsmax TV he's leaning heavily toward running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. In fact, you can bet on it, Carson revealed Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show." "The things that I look for are how strong the financial support is. It seems to be very strong. It's looking quite positive," said Carson, who added that his exploratory committee has raised over $2 million in 28 days.

If the Election were won on likeability Ben Carson would have a very good chance, but I think common sense will prevail, and it is hard to imagine how someone without any political experience can become President.   Obama was at least a senator and look at the failure of his Presidency  in foreign affairs, the Middle East, and Russia.   He claims he has been successful because he has made IMPORTANT climate changes (not that I've noticed, but who am I - the foreign bystander - to judge.)

 

I think even Hilary Clinton stands a better chance than he does of getting in.   But I'll leave that op-ed for another day.

Tuesday

I didn't go to the AARP meeting last Saturday so rang my friend Phyllis for a chat and a catch up.  I was very distressed to learn that her grand daughter recently died from a botched surgical procedure, she was 37.   Obviously a loss like that is devastating for all the family,  and it has been hard on her 12 year old great grand daughter to lose her mother.  Phyllis seems to be coming through it though with all her Cockney grit and courage.   I know I've said this before, but I can never get over the fact that she sounds as if she left the East End this morning, and she's been here more than 50 years.

 

I called at the Senior Centre as I'd had an appeal from them for paper goods, and bingo prizes.   They have had their funding seriously cut, staff hours have been cut, and they are struggling to maintain their services, like providing a breakfast.   I think the breakfast is supposed to be for seniors, but they get a lot of elderly homeless.

 

I went water walking this afternoon at the YMCA, usually known in these days as "The Y".  

In the morning the pool is full of fat, old people - like myself - having aquatic exercise classes, but that's not for me, I'd rather do my own thing, so I go in the early afternoon before the kiddos come out of school, and I have the place to myself, and I water walk, then jump in the hot tub, or Jacuzzi which isn't in the picture.

The walkway starts at the right of that sticking out thing, goes down to the bottom, then back up under the arches - when the children are there, the archways are squirting jets of water.   It is a lovely facility.  I know I have shown pictures of it before, but I've had one or two new followers since then.

The current in the walkway never looks very strong, but putting one foot in front of the other, pushing against it, is actually quite hard work.

    

 

 

 

 

Sunday update

At Emmanuel this morning, between the two services, there was a very interesting presentation by a representative of an Agency who helps the children of incarcerated parents, and Oklahoma has the highest number of incarcerated mothers in the nation.   

 

Volunteers do a lot to reach out to these children, befriending and helping them, and it is to raise awareness of the needs of these children that presentations like this are given.  I have never encountered anything like this before.  I think in Britain it is generally assumed that the 'state' - social workers etc. - take care of them, but it does seem to me that willing volunteers probably help and accomplish more than a paid social worker.

 

I was intending to go to the 10.30 service afterwards, but one of my ankles was painful and I needed to go home and put a support on.

 

I then thought I might go to Larry's church this evening down by the lake, but when it was time to go the clouds were looking ominous - like they were last night before the rain started sheeting down, and I could never drive through that.    So I just went out to pick up what has become my Sunday evening supper of a medium rare steak from the Golden Corrall, a buffet and take-out.   Steaks in the supermarket are quite expensive, probably because they are so huge, whereas I can get one ready grilled that is the right size for me for about $4, or £2.67.    I do sometimes long for a lamb chop, but this is cattle country.

 

So mostly I have been watching television.   Since my usual Fox News channel devoted the entire evening to the legends of the Wild West and the truth behind them - Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickock, all that lot - I had to actually scroll through the guide on the remote to look for something else.

 

Does anyone remember The Waltons?   'night Jim Bob'  'night Elizabeth'  'night John Boy'  'night 'Jason, etc etc - all them.   I watched a two hour episode tonight and really caught up, they were all children when I last saw them.   But now John Boy is married and a hot shot tv anchor in New York (a clip showed him commentating on the Moon landing) but he was back on Walton's mountain with his very pregnant wife, visiting.  Elizabeth had been travelling round the world and had just come home.   Mary Ellen was a doctor, and at the end of the episode she delivered John Boy's twins who arrived a bit premature.  

 

Even the cat was watching.

 

Sunday 18th April

Well, I had a very interesting evening last night.  Bruce and Rosalyn kindly invited me to join them in a trip to a Buddhist monastery, and a vegetarian meal, just outside Oklahoma City.  It was a really lovely place, and a very enjoyable outing.

I don't know why that guy in the yellow shirt continued to stand there when he could see I was trying to take a photograph.   I kept waiting for him to move, but he didn't.

 

Anyone who has seen the 145 framed photographs of friends and loved ones on the walls of my house would attest to the fact that they have an important place in life, but if I am taking a picture of a landmark it is an irritant to have someone standing ramrod straight in front of it.   If he'd been a friend or family member I would have suggested he adopted a more relaxed pose and focused in on him.   Then I would have taken another one of the monastery.   

As I said, it was a beautiful place.   It is new - the old monastery was next door, but in this country there is so much land, it is no problem to just put up a new building on surrounding land, when the time is right.

This is the meditation room.   We were given a talk, then had ten minutes meditation, which was plenty long enough for someone like me with ADHD.

After our tour, and introduction to meditation, we were served a very good vegetarian supper, with a wide variety of dishes.

The monks were all women, but they looked like men because their heads were shaved, only their voices gave away the fact that they were women.

Coming back we had a violent thunderstorm, lightning flashing across the sky all the way to Shawnee, and extremely heavy rain.  Bruce did a wonderful job driving through it, I just couldn't have done it.  I couldn't even do it from their house to mine.  I asked them to just drop me off at my house and I would sort the car out today, but Bruce drove my car home, and Rosalyn followed behind to take him back, which was very kind, I hated giving them extra driving on top of what they had to do.

 

Thursday morning early

It has been nearly a week since the last post but have not done a great deal, just the usual routines of hospital, meal at Emmanuel last night Wednesday, and I am meeting Bruce and Rosalyn for lunch today.

 

More presidential candidates are coming forward.  Hilary Clinton has declared she is going to run.   But is keeping under the radar, and has yet to give an interview to the media, whereas the other candidates have given 4 or 5 each.    She stated she wants to concentrate on "the middle classes and the economy".    Certainly the last thing she wants is a barrage of questions on her somewhat less than brilliant tenure as Secretary of State, which has seen chaos erupt in the Middle East; the rise of ISIS; Iran and its nuclear weapons, and I suspect anyone asking her about Benghazi is going to get very short shrift indeed.   She has already been questioned about it by - I think it was Congress, some committee anyway - and she threw her hands in the air and asked - shouted in fact - "why does it matter".   I wondered how many people like me thought that it matters very much to the families of the four Americans who died, and she should have been sensitive to that.    You can go off someone, and I think that's when I went off her. 

 

I've been into some interesting books, memoirs of people the same age as me who grew up in wartime Britain.   The book I am currently reading is by an East Ender who married a GI at 16 - in this day and age that would be considered child abuse - and came to America with her husband on a troopship which sounded very, very uncomfortable with everyone vomiting all over the place.

 

When they landed in New York she wanted to buy a dark brown jumper to go with a skirt she had.  A friend took her to the bargain basement at Macy's where she asked for a "nigger brown jumper".  The assistant visibly recoiled, and her friend had to drag her back out into the street.   

 

We never had taboo words like that in England in the 1950s, and I always just thought of nigger brown as a colour, it never occurred to me - like it didn't to her - to question its meaning, or make any racial connections.

 

Time to go back to bed and see if I can get some sleep before it is time to get up.

Friday

I  installed a programme to try and resolve my computer issues, but it made them worse,  so I took the computer to the downtown computer place.   They disabled the programme I'd installed, which they said was a scam, so I felt very foolish about that.  However, when I brought it home I have a whole new problem in that there is now something drastically wrong with my sound/music system.    Sigh.   They are not open on Saturdays so I will have to go back on Monday.   I wish now I had gone to Staples who are open seven days a week.

 

Pattisue was ready to leave hospital after my chaplaincy round this morning and as her daughter was at work, I took her home first of all to pick up some things, then  I took her to her daughter's house in Tecumseh.   She was not very happy, she would rather have stayed at her own home, but her cancer does seem to have entered another phase, and she has been told she shouldn't drive.

 

However, she was telling me defiantly that she was going to the Democrats' Convention in Shawnee tomorrow.   I asked if her daughter would take her, but she said somewhat bitterly that she was a Republican, so I guess that means she won't.    Even though I am not going to this Convention myself, I would have offered to take her if she'd been at home in Shawnee.   Part of me wants her to be able to do whatever she wants to do, at this end stage of her life, and the other part of me recognises that I shouldn't interfere, it is up to her daughter to take her - or not.

 

Thursday

Seem to be a bit accident prone this week.   Hurrying across the parish room to Communion this morning, I slipped on the just washed floor and fell.   My hip hurts but I am thanking God I didn't break it.

This isn't being a very good week, I am also have problems with both the desktop and lap top computers, but I'll take the desktop to either Staples, or the local, downtown computer place tomorrow. 

 

After Communion I did go to lunch with Fr Bill and two others, so that was very nice.    I rang Pattisue to see how she got on with her biopsy.   I called on her cell phone and she answered me in hospital, so I went straight along there.   The hospital decided to admit her to do the biopsy, and are keeping her in overnight.  I put a note under Bill's door so he will go and see her straight away when he comes in.

 

It has been suggested to her that she should not be trying to manage at home and should go into an assisted living place, but she is resisting the suggestion.

 

Will be back tomorrow if I have got a computer working, but I know when I take it in they like to run a 24 hour diagnostic test on it.  I don't see why it should take 24 hours myself.

Tuesday/Wednesday



My day started out alright, I was going to the YMCA pool, but before I got there I cut three fingers rather badly, slicing some onions with a new, very sharp, knife.   I put band aids on and thought they'd be alright, but after a little while a migraine came on, and I didn't feel well.   I didn't even feel up to the crochet class.  But later this evening I did go to Walmart as I was out of  goats milk. 

 

That's when I came across this.



 

 

Just when I thought this paper couldn't reach any further level of crazy, it comes out with this.  I can just about buy into the rumour that James Hewitt is Prince Harry's father, due to their startling resemblance, but I drove home from Walmart wondering how Diana could possibly have become pregnant, and have a secret baby without the media noticing.   

 

However I'd photographed the inside pages - I'd originally posted them, but the content can be summed up in this paragraph.  The story is that before their wedding Diana's eggs were harvested and fertilised with Prince Charles' sperm to prove she could bear a royal heir.  How feasible is that!!! 

 

The story went on to say that the embryos were later ordered to be destroyed, but a member of the medical  team kept one and implanted it into his wife.   

 

Today Wednesday, I did my chaplaincy round at the hospital.  Bill was going to join me for lunch in the cafeteria, but as sometimes happens, he was waylaid and held up on the way.    This evening I went to the meal at Emmanuel -  a great day for not cooking!    I didn't need take a dessert, there was plenty of Easter cake left over from Sunday.

 

Afterwards I joined Fr Bill's discussion group, working through a book, the subtitle of which is "Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are".  I think it will be very interesting.

 

In the news...............

 

    

 I don't know if you have heard of this case over there.   Obama's Presidency seemed to be promising at the beginning, but has since gone downhill, and  has now descended to a whole new level of incompetency.

 

This guy walked off his base in Afghanistan, and it was a pretty clear cut case of desertion from day one.   His comrades had no doubts that he deserted, and the most awful aspect of it was that six members of his unit, who went to search for him, were captured and killed by the Taliban.  He was captured, held and tortured by the Taliban for five years.   Then - and this is where Obama's gross incompetence comes in - he exchanged him for five top Taliban leaders being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.  

 

When this is announced Obama has a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House, the guy's parents are invited, and White House officials are saying "he served his country with honour and distinction".

 

Fast forward to this week......he has now been charged with desertion and "misbehaving before the enemy".   I think that means he is a traitor.     Of course, the cringe making ceremony in the Rose Garden with the parents, is being played and replayed over and over, and this is probably where I would be told that I shouldn't be looking at Fox News.   But I want the facts of a matter,  and the facts are  what I get with Fox News.

 

Changing the subject to Iran and the so called Nuclear Agreement, these four American citizens are still being held in prison in Iran.

I am not even American and I think it is pretty outrageous that Obama did not secure their release when bargaining with Iran.   As for the 'Agreement' - I think the fact that Iranians were seen celebrating, dancing in the streets, and generally whooping it up, says it all.

 

And the Boston Bombing...........

 

I can't spell the name but he was found guilty on all 30 charges.  These are the victims.   I don't know what it must have been like inside the court room because I was shedding tears in front of my television.  Look at that precious, bright eyed child.   The bomb was placed beside him and his body was shredded.   Massachusetts isn't a death penalty state, but it is a Federal case and there seems to be little doubt that he will get the death penalty, it will be announced next week.   I think there is something to be said for keeping him alive in circumstances where he will wish he got the death penalty.

 

On a lighter note..............



This is an i-Pad incorporated into a wrist watch, I wish I could have captured the picture with the i-Pad icons on it instead of the time.   It is coming out on Friday.

 

 

 

 

Last Couple of Days

Weather has been very nice.....

By now I expect you can identify Oklahoma there, north of Dallas and between Amarillo in Texas, and Little Rock in Arkansas.

California is suffering from a very severe drought, I think it is the worst in history, and as they provide - I think it is about 80% - of the fruit and vegetables for the nation, it is a SERIOUS situation,  but you know how - at home - if you get two continuous days of sunshine in a row the government brings in a hose pipe ban, and you can't water your gardens or wash your car.   But UNBELIEVABLY to me, Californians still have all their sprinklers going on their lawns.   Also amazing is the fact that it takes one gallon of water to grow ONE almond.  There are murmurings that they should stop watering almonds.    I should think so too.

I haven't done a lot lately, but I enjoyed a chat on Skype with Jeremy and Tom yesterday, and Jeremy suggested I could perhaps do with some exercise - they'd both been working out at the gym - so I signed up at the YMCA, and will shortly be off there going round the water walkway, then I'll jump in the Jacuzzi.

The Presidential candidates are lining up....

I don't know how Ben Carson can even put himself forward, far less be in the middle of the pack there.  He is a nice guy, but a neurosurgeon who  has NO political experience, he has never even been a Senator, what qualifies him for the Presidency?   I ask myself.  

Scott Walker, on the other hand, is a two time governor of Wisconsin, eminently more qualified, I would have thought.   And I don't know why Rand Paul should be at the bottom of the heap, he is at least a Senator.  Likewise Mike Huckabee, he was Governor of Arkansas for eleven years.   Aren't they better qualified than Ben Carson.

But.........I am just the foreign bystander here, throwing in my two cents worth.  What do I know.

Easter Sunday

I hope you have all having a good Easter weekend.    Tomorrow isn't a bank holiday here, so it doesn't feel so much like a holiday weekend.    I went to Emmanuel this morning, the weather unfortunately was wet so the Easter egg hunt took place in the parish hall.   There wasn't a lot of hunting though, the Easter eggs were strewn across the floor, so the kiddos just had to gather them up in their baskets.

Kevin invited me to the family lunch he was hosting at his lovely home, which is huge, one can get lost in it, and his bathroom is the size of my ground floor.  I'd met his family at Thanksgiving and they are all very nice.  His father is incredible, he is 88, but strides about and doesn't look a day over 50.   As well as his family there was also another friend from Emmanuel there.

 

Since I got back home I have just been napping, and watching the Food Network competitions.    I was also channel hopping and discovered there is a special channel just for dogs.  It's called dog tv.

 

 I didn't capture the tv picture very well, but you can see Bubbles at the bottom of the bed, watching it.  There is no narration, just pictures of dogs doing things.    I looked it up on the internet and this is what it says about the channel.

"TV’s first network for canines, DOGTV offers a promise to our beloved best friends that they should never again feel alone.

DOGTV provides television for dogs as a 24/7 digital TV channel with dog – friendly programing scientifically developed to provide the right company for dogs when left alone. Through years of research with some of the world’s top pet experts, special content was created to meet specific attributes of a dog’s sense of vision and hearing and supports their natural behavior patterns. The result: a confident, happy dog, who’s less likely to develop stress, separation anxiety or other related problems".

 

 

 

Happy Easter

Scrolling back through my blog I see it was last Tuesday - LESS THAN A WEEK AGO - I was about to go out and buy my tenth electric kettle since being here.    I didn't expect it to last long, but I certainly expected it to last at least a week.    Am I being naïve here, thinking I would turn it on, read the last few pages of my book,  by which time I expected it would have boiled and turned itself off, and I would make a cup of tea. I've been doing this all my life, ever since electric kettles became an everyday kitchen appliance.   But no, it didn't turn itself off and I got there when there was just an inch of water boiling away at the bottom.

 

I am just so hacked off with the shoddy goods in this country (and apologies to any American reading this, I don't mean to cause offence) but why can't American companies pay decent, living wages to Chinese workers so that they can turn out decent products?   It can be done, Chinese imports in Britain are of good quality, and electric kettles have a decent life span, a lot more than five days.

 

Anyway, enough of my rant.

 

I haven't been watching much television lately since Obama announced his deal with Iran, and I came to the conclusion that we are all going to hell in a hand basket.   I heard it said - and I hope I've got this right - that it is possible to have a bad deal with good people, but it is not possible to have a good deal with bad people.

 

While typing the above I wondered how the phrase 'hell in a hand basket' came about, and looked it up.   This is what it said -

 

It isn't at all obvious why 'handbasket' was chosen as the preferred vehicle to convey people to hell.

 

One theory on the origin of the phrase is that it derives from the use of handbaskets in the guillotining method of capital punishment. If Hollywood films are to be believed, the decapitated heads were caught in baskets - the casualty presumably going straight to hell.

 

So I've taken to reading instead, at least for a little while.   And discovered an interesting new genre of fiction - novels based during the second world war, and in particular in a boarding house on the heavily bombed south coast,    The town has a fictitious name of course, but the author lives in Eastbourne, and it sounds like Eastbourne from the descriptive bits.   

 

There are a lot of air raids, and shelters, smoking, and Spam sandwiches, so I am identifying with it all.    As most of you reading this knows, I was born just months before war broke out and spent my earliest childhood in my grandma's air raid shelter.  It wasn't the south coast, but it was on the edge of a heavily bombed airfield, and my aunties often talked of rushing me down to the shelter at the bottom of the garden - I can remember it, I learned to walk down there.   And everybody in those days smoked, it wasn't the socially unacceptable habit that it has become in the 21st century.  And as for spam sandwiches - do you know, I actually bought a tin of spam when I was out shopping today.  Looking at it, before dropping it into my trolley, it occurred to me that it would not be something the food police would approve of.

I hope all of you, dear readers, have a very blessed Easter Day.


Thought for the day.......

Failure is an event, not a person