At the end of a day.......

....when a colleague and friend died very unexpectedly, a beautiful sunset. Perhaps to celebrate the life of a guy who was strong, different and special and who lived through some very tough times but always stood tall.



Rest easy 'M'.

An absolute must have!

A real chocolate fountain in your own home, the cure for all ills, the 'must have' gadget of the decade and instant cure of PMS, how did any of us cope with life before this nifty little device was available to grace our lives?!

Get yours HERE.

Music Meme Thingymabob

Oh how I have to beat Idgie over the head thank Idgie for tagging me with this!

I hardly ever listen to music so for me this has to be what just happens to be on the CD in my car right now!

Here's the meme.......

List ten songs that you are currently digging ... it doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're no good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the ten songs in your blog. Then tag five other people to see what they're listening to.

And the answers in no particular order.......

Katie Melua ~ Closest thing to crazy.
Lighthouse Family ~ Lifted.
Lighthouse Family ~ Run.
Justin Timberlake ~ Cry me a river.
Bob Marley ~ Jammin'.
DJ Mystic ~ Unchained melody.
Savage Garden ~ I knew I loved you (before I met you), Yeah I know very appropriate and kinda 'bleugh'
Real Crazy Apartment ~ Feeling Close.
Blue ~ Supersexual.
Stereophonics ~ Handbags and gladrags.

Ha! Now that's over it's my turn to 'make someone's day' so here goes, the five unsuspecting souls who are to suffer are:

Lisa,
Justitia.
Karen.
John W.
Dale

Go guys! Heh.

Friday's feast (57)

Appetizer
Name 3 people whom you admire for their intelligence.

PG
My brother in law
Stephen Hawkin

Soup
What's the last food you tried that you really didn't care for.

Ham! and 'didn't really care for' is a massive understatement!

Salad
If you could rename the street that you live on, what would you want it to be called?

Er....I don't live on a street, I live in a field, no street here.

Main Course
When was the last time you were genuinely surprised?

Three years ago when inherited some money......and again when I realised I had spent it all!

Dessert
Share a household tip.

Don't have a black sofa and two cats with lots of white bits!

If only......

....this option could be available sometimes! Heh.

Fake 'tube safety' email

I am sure that most people passing on this current email 'doing the rounds' offering 'advice' in the event that they become stuck, for whatever reason, on a tube train, did so out of genuine care and/or concern, however it is a hoax.

The text of the email follows:

Important Number you should note 25/July/05 09:24.

If you travel to work on the tube please note the following information: If your mobile phone has no signal (so even if you were in a tunnel) if you dial 112 it diverts to a satellite signal and puts you through to the 999 call centre. ALL phone companies have signed up and as it is a satellite service it also gives them a trace to you if you don't know where you are.

This is most definitely not the case, there is no mobile signal in a tube tunnel and neither is there access to a satellite connection, even for the few who own a sat. phone.

Wherever this information and mail originated maybe again it was with good intent but in times of heightened anxiety about personal safety 'duff gen' only adds to the confusion.

For further details go HERE.

Heros

"Most people involved took a big risk and are heros"

The above is a quote from a doctor who found himself treating casualties of the London bombings on the 7th of July.

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

This evening quite by chance I turned the television on to find a programme just beginning, episodes of which I have seen before. The programme was 'Trauma', a fly on the wall documentary that accompanies HEMS and London paramedics to incidents in and around London as they occur. This evenings episode was however very different and centered on the emergency service personnel involved when the major incident plan that they had trained for so often, became a terrifying reality.

Only once before in my life have I felt as I did watching this programme and that was watching live coverage of the aircraft that hit the Twin Towers on 9/11.

This documentary was not graphic, horrifying, blood thirsty images, it wasn't footage of individuals screaming in fear and pain, though it so easily could have been. Instead it was interviews with those on the front line, those who's bleepers, phones and colleagues had called them to assist in what will likely be the most dangerous and demanding job of their careers.

These people are astounding to me. We assume that paramedics, doctors, nurses, firefighters and the police are used to dealing with the less pleasant aspects of life and certainly to a point they are, but to hear these highly skilled professionals describe not only the carnage but their reactions and thoughts to it, is probably one of the most powerful pieces of television I will ever see. Individuals used to seeing and dealing with the worst an RTA or illness can throw at them, visibly moved and describing with such humility and care the events of that awful day didn't just make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, it sent shivers all over for the duration of the broadcast.

One doctor was quoted as saying that for one serious incident they could reasonably expect to lose 50% of the resources needed. Consider then that this fateful day bought not one but four major incidents and still each and every incident was attended quickly and by all required professionals.

I can't begin to repeat all that was said and even if I could the power in the words would be lost here, but along with great sadness for the victims, as I listened to these professionals thoughts and descriptions of the environments they had to work in and situations they faced, I felt and enormous sense of pride in being British and in these skilled men and women who we so often take for granted.

We have a great debt of gratitude and much to thank them for, and whilst I am sure most of them would refute it, these individuals are for me, and I am sure for most others, some of our true heros.

Hurahhhhh!

Yipee, wooo hoooo,and yayyyyyy!

Finally, amazingly, unbelievably, incredibly it has happened. My life is set to become unrecognizable, things will never be the same again, I will not know what to do with myself, I am dumbfounded, incredulous and gobsmacked.

After almost three years of false starts, broken promises and excuses my little corner of Scotland was yesterday dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century despite all it's previous efforts at avoidance.

Yes, amazingly, yesterday the great God broadband finally arrived here and not wishing to wait a moment longer by midday it was ordered, bought and paid for in gemmak's-ville!!! Can you believe it? At last it has happened....holy hell, you may believe it but I can't quite!

So, all that remains now is for Parcelforce to get the hardware here and for it to be installed. BT still have to do a little work on the line to our specific property to enable it to carry 2 meg and then it's all systems go.

Ok, so there was a worrying phrase in there, 'BT', they have promised that within 10 days we will be 'live' but I have experience of their promises and I won't be placing any large bets! It is though beginning to look very, very likely that at last, and not withstanding 'technical hitches', my 44kbps connection will be replaced with 2 meg. Hells bells and little fishes, did I say '2 meg'? 2 meg, I can't believe it.....2 whole meg !!

Bring it on!

Sometimes......

.....just sometimes this 'post every day for a year' malarky gets hard. I was up today at the crack of dawn having slept very little. Thoughts of my friend who has cancer and is having surgery today filling my mind and mulled around and around, you know that feeling, the one where your head just won't stop working despite all attempts. Lord knows why it chooses to become active in the middle of the night when I want to sleep, it struggles to be active in the day when I need it to be! Sod's law :o)

It was a 'day job' day today, I could happily have not been there but 'needs must' and all of that, so I duly complied with the terms of my contract and showed up. Nothing of interest to report from that eight hours and here I am again, parked infront of my pc thinking 'oh hell, I haven't posted today and my mind is blank! See, I told you it only works when I have no need of it to in the wee small hours!

So, there you go, a post about nothing but a post none the less!

Oh.... I just remembered, I do have a little piece of news. My friend 'D' who I have blogged about before, mother of Jaydon, has started her own blog so please, if you have am moment pop over HERE and welcome her to the blogosphere :o)

March of the penguins

March of the penguins, the recent film collaboration between National Geographic and Warner Brothers will be the first film in many years to prize me from my chair and force me the 100 or so mile round trip to see it as soon as it is released here in the UK. Though quite when that will be seems to be anyone's guess, having been released in the US last month and having outstripped all projected financial and attendance expectations, it's release date here is still 'to be notified'.


Everything about this film is good in my opinion, it has no gratuitous violence, no overpaid megastars, no stunts, no special effects and is the furthest thing from 'Terminator 1000' I could possibly imagine.

The cinematography is stunning, it is educational, it is endearing, heartrending and fascinating, even the website is something else.

So what is it about? Simply the annual migration of thousands and thousands of penguins across the Antarctic in preparation for mating, the text from the website explains it so much better than I ever could, the following is an excerpt:

Each winter, alone in the pitiless ice deserts of Antarctica, deep in the most inhospitable terrain on Earth, a truly remarkable journey takes place as it has done for millennia. Emperor penguins in their thousands abandon the deep blue security of their ocean home and clamber onto the frozen ice to begin their long journey into a region so bleak, so extreme, it supports no other wildlife at this time of year. In single file, the penguins march blinded by blizzards, buffeted by gale force winds. Resolute, indomitable, driven by the overpowering urge to reproduce, to assure the survival of the species.



Guided by instinct, by the otherworldly radiance of the Southern Cross, they head unerringly for their traditional breeding ground where - after a ritual courtship of intricate dances and delicate maneuvering, accompanied by a cacophony of ecstatic song - they will pair off into monogamous couples and mate.

Text © Warner Brothers

Even if the film doesn't tempt you the website is worth a look.......and if anyone actually knows the UK release date, please let me know!


Images are clickable
All images © Bonne Pioche/APC Photo by Alex Berliner

Yeuch.....

.....can you smell something nasty?

(Clickable)

Ditto.

'ICE' scam?

I received and email this morning with the following content:

"If you have entered 'ICE' details into your mobile Please DELETE entry ASAP. This so called noble cause actually turned out to be a SCAM for downloading ringtones which are then charged off to mobile accounts".

It came originally from a reliable source....anyone have any idea if it is legit or how the scam works? I have thus far had no problem and not heard of anyone else who has but that is no indication!

All you 'cat people'.....

...out there have to read THIS!

Thanks Magz for bringing a smile to my face on what was an otherwise crap Sunday.

Confuzzled and other crap

It has not been the best of weekends in many ways, in fact I would really like to rewind to Friday night and begin again. It has been such an un-nice weekend that I am doing something I rarely do...just sitting down and typing with absolutely no idea of my post already formulated. Ok, so I don't generally have it meticulously planned but I do usually have some rough idea of what I am going to type and from what angle I will approach the subject....but not this time.

As ever my Saturday and Sunday have been spent working at the day job, something that whilst I don't adore it normally distracts me from any difficulties and problems I have.....but not this time.

I am dog tired, I'm worn out with thinking and I'm fed up, nay worse than that, I have the hump, good and proper but I feel guilty for it, for reasons that will become apparent.

Last week a friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer, she doesn't deserve it (does anyone). She is being immensely brave, she has been inspirational, a trooper and her attitude has amazed me but the fact that she has to fight this fight at all saddens and angers me, as it does her. I'm a big girl, I know that life is crap sometimes, I know that there is not reason in all things but still I find myself wanting to shout 'WHY HER' and still I find myself running out of supportive and positive things to say to her sometimes.

So that's why I feel guilty, this isn't happening to me, it's happening to her, she is being marvelous and I'm being confused, it should be her being confused and me being marvelous!

And another thing......'Mr Exhibitionist' treated me to another 'show' this morning, so again I am mulling over and over my next course of action, still indecisive, still unsure of my best route......bloody hell fire, I thought I had that one sorted.

More guilt, my friend is fighting cancer and I'm worrying over what to do about a weirdo..............crap perspective there I think.

I'm feeling pathetic, selfish, confuzzled and pissed off right now........ with me, with the world at large and with unfairness!

Normal service will be resumed in the morning.

Afterglow

Yesterday evenings glowing sunset.

More on 'The Eye'

In comments yesterday Lisa asked if I had been on 'The Eye' because she thought she had seen a picture of me from the inside. Well she was right, I have and despite being somewhat scared witless at the thought, the experience turned out to be fabulous and I would do it again tomorrow without question. Lisa also considered I 'ought' to post the aforementioned picture so, ever happy to oblige, here it is it is, and one or two views from 'within' to boot.

My apologies if I'm boring you, I may have posted something similar some time back but like I said in yesterday's post, my memory fails me but I would direct those of you who have 'been here before' to the little red cross at top right :o)

(Images clickable)

Yours truly, squinting into the sun!


The next 'pod'


Much higher than 'Big Ben'


March 2002.

(Apologies for quality, shooting through glass into sun is not advisable)

Homesick!

Unusually PG needed to use the camera today, his necessity for large amounts of card space caused me to rifle through all those we have and clear everything from them. To my surprise on one card I found a few pictures I don't even recall taking let alone ever downloaded, maybe I did and my memory is failing me but whatever this was one.

(Clickable)

'The London eye'

I must have taken it last summer sometime and it's sudden appearance infront of my eyes made feel kinda homesick. All is not lost though, it also made me consider exactly when next I get to 'go home'..... and it's less than a month away now :o)

Friday's feast (56)

Appetizer
What kind of car do you drive? If you could make an even trade for any other car, what would you want to drive?
I drive a Citroen Saxo when it works! Ugh. If I could drive anything? Does a Hyabusa count? No, it has to be a car.....ok, a Lotus Elise, my brother had one until recently.... and what fun! :o)

Soup
Take your phone number and add each number together separately (example: 8+6+7+5+3+0+9=38) - what's the total?
43

Salad
When were you last outside, and what were you doing?
About 15 minutes ago.....rescuing a shrew from 'small cat'.

Main Course
What is your favorite restaurant, and what do you usually order there?
I don't have a favourite. Anywhere that will prevent me from having to cook, without providing me with salmonella along the way is just fine. I do seem to frequent Pizza Hut quite often though.....no guesses on the 'what do I eat there' question.

Dessert
Name 3 things in which you occasionally indulge
I don't indulge in anything 'occasionally'.... anything worth indulging in at all is worth indulging in often!

Get stuffed!

So, it seems that the extremists have been at it again in London, though this time it seems not to have gone quite to plan for them.

I won't bore you with more of my opinions and feelings on the matter of bombings, rather I refer you to this post, that says better than I could, exactly how I feel too!

Especially for Jack....

....a list of links to the pages that Design-a-blog have designed.

A piece of my mind

Welcome to MY world

Kitty's Scritchings

Quick Quack

GreekChickie

It's Always Something!

Stitchmania

Kiwi Jo

A Needle Pulling Thread

Forward the Canon

Daily Country Drama

Stitching Scientist

Dew on the Kudzu

A birthday wish

Today, my good friend and partner in crime design Lisa celebrates her birthday.

Not for her, cards, flowers or gifts, no, all she wants is comments.... so pop over to her place now, leave a comment and make a birthday girl a very happy blogger.

As for me, I've been there so Lisa, from me to you....

Crossed paws

I wonder, is Poppy is trying to attract a little luck in adopting this position....it just cannot be comfortable, particularly at almost 126 'people years' of age!

(Clickable)

Paws crossed for luck?

Recent events and other stuff

Things seem to have been a little hectic over these last few days and consequently I apologise for my apparent lack of posting, of email answering and of commenting! The last two days have rushed past my consciousness in a blur and where 48 whole hours have gone too I have absolutely no idea!

Well, if I'm entirely honest I do have some idea, the majority of those hours was spent glued to this machine in a state of 'design', in fact whilst on Monday amid the distraction of 'the incident' my design head completely deserted me, yesterday was another story entirely..........15 hours straight I spent working on one design or another for Design-a-blog, mostly one! I did of course allow myself short 'food breaks' but not once did I even step over the threshold and into the wider world. I recall it being 7am but the next moment is was bed-time, I didn't seem to notice the bit inbetween!

Hence, If I owe you mail or a phone call etc. I will get to it, I am not ignoring you I promise, my days just seem to be disappearing with a *poof* right now.

Other news: The 'incident' of indecency has been attended to. The decision as to whether to report the perpetrator officially was one of the hardest I have had to make in a long time. As ever the specifics were not quite a simple or straightforward as they might have been but I finally came to a conclusion regarding my course of action. Advice was sought from one or two people qualified in this area along with the police and my decision was ultimately not to report this as a crime. There is some possibility that the incident was not intended and while that possibility exists I cannot risk wrecking an individuals life. In UK law there is no middle ground here, if I report officially, there is not the possibility of a 'softly softly' approach.

Without being in possession of the full facts you may find my decision hard to understand, I may live to regret it but what I do know is that I gave this situation more thought, gathered more advice and information than I think I have ever done before in the space of three days and I made my decision to the best of my ability with the well considered information I had. The authorities have enough information to investigate a little should they choose and to approach me if they have real concern but they do not have sufficient to carry out an arrest.

Be rest assured, should there be a repeat performance which would then prove intent, the guy will have his collar felt very very swiftly.....this was strictly a 'one chance only' offer and only because some doubt exists.

So now that has been dealt with it is back to the business of design and HTML for me again today....assuming of course I can eject 'small cat' from my chair which has lately become her new 'best' sleeping place. She lies prone on the majority of it while I perch precariously on the front inch or two and repeated efforts to removed her only last for a few seconds!

Reactions are sometimes surprising

I mentioned briefly yesterday that my day had been a little peculiar. I was unsure as to whether I would blog on the subject of the peculiarity at all but having 'slept on it' I have decided that one aspect of what happened to me is worthy of mention.

So what did happen. I am not going to make a meal of this, it was a small incident but the aspect that interested and surprised me is perhaps not.

Early in the morning, as I was leaving for work, I was subjected to what one would I suppose refer legally to as an incident of indecent exposure. The perpetrator was a neighbour. It is not appropriate or necessary for me to go into details in this forum, I have yet to decide on exactly what course of action to take because as ever in life it is not quite a straightforward as it appears.

The aspect of this incident that interests and surprised me was my reaction rather than the incident itself and it was a reaction that hopefully has taught me a little about the suffering of those that are subjected to more serious assaults.

I consider myself to be a street-wise city girl, and not much of the 'harsh reality aspect' of life fazes me....or so I thought. Immediately post incident and for the majority of the day, I either forgot about it or concentrated on gathering information to help me make a decision as to what action to take. I have a couple of friends who I knew would be able to give me excellent advice on the subject in question and who came up trumps.

What really surprised me was that by late evening, tired and having had to discuss the situation a number of times I began to think those classic thoughts.....'did I do anything to encourage this man', 'do I dress in a provocative manner', could he have misconstrued anything I said to him in the past? The interesting aspect of this for me is that I would be the first to say to another woman (or man for that matter) that nothing we do gives someone the right to behave in that manner. I would be the first to defend the right of an individual to go about her daily business without being subjected to any kind of sexual harassment and if you had asked me two days ago if those thoughts would even have entered my head under the circumstances....... I would have replied with a resounding no!

Yet, completely out of the blue they did, I actually questioned my behaviour for a few minutes, despite knowing full well that I did none of those things and even if I had it is not an excuse for this guys actions! Ok, so I rapidly talked sense into myself but the mere fact that I had the thoughts at all bought home to me just how terrible and difficult it must be to be victim of a serious sexual offence.

The second surprising thing was that 'Ms. Street-wise, city slicker, I can handle it' here, actually feels a little vulnerable knowing that the perpetrator is within yards of me all day and that I am alone. I had cause to retrieve 'small cat' from the shrubbery earlier this morning and I actually felt a little nervous and uncomfortable knowing this guy could be watching me....oh and I have done something I never do here....I have locked my door!

I am kinda annoyed with myself for feeling this way, I know that these actions are common sense but it annoys and surprises me that such a small incident has had the impact it has, in fact any impact at all! My experience is somewhere at the very bottom of the trauma ladder and yet, whilst I will get over it rapidly I hope, it affected me more than I would have guessed.

I have been through this before following a very different incident many years ago but it seems ironic that here in the middle of nowhere, where life is supposed to be idyllic I can still feel as vulnerable as I did in the middle of a big city.

N.B. Thank you to J & J for their excellent and informed advice and support.

After the rain

It's been a long, very hot and slighly peculiar day, I barely made it here at all but having got over halfway through the year with my 'post every day for a year' challenge, I couldn't let it slip now! So, the best I can do is leave you with a rather nice sky from yesterday...... and promise that normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

(Clickable)
After the rain

Rear view

With intent

This is the sight, the in elegant view, that is to be seen almost permanently the last few weeks from our living room window. It is not the expanse of green, nor the mature trees that are of particular interest but the creature loitering with intent at the bottom of the picture....none other of course than 'small cat'. She has stood in that exact same spot, adopting the exact same position of rear up and ears hard forward for weeks now, utterly intent on something of feline interest, though I'll be damned if I can discover what it is!

Each morning when she is let out she goes straight to the same spot and is to be seen at regular intervals throughout the day returned to the exact same patch, as dusk falls she is back again, no matter what else may be going on she stands, rear end up, on sentry duty! She has a massive expanse of Scotland in which to play, but no, something as yet unseen by the human eye keeps her riveted to that one tiny area of shrubbery!

Cats can be most peculiar creatures!

One of those days!

I seem to be having one of 'those days'! it started promisingly enough, the sun was shining, I have the day off, I had nothing pressing to be done and I had managed a decent nights sleep....well decent by my standards at any rate.

And then it all began to degenerate rapidly.

Firstly I had some worrying news about a friend, followed soon by Ditto attempting to drink weed killer left lying around by a neighbour, don't panic, I did that for you, she is thankfully fine. I got to her almost as soon as her little tongue became 'interested' in said substance, checked with the vet and no symptoms have occurred within the specified timeframe.

Next I had the misfortune to need to call my bank on what began as a small problem. Now I have heard tell the misgivings of others who have dealt with the new trend of call centers operating out of India but to be honest I had taken it all with a pinch of salt. No more, this was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life! I wont bore you with the minutiae but suffice to say the employee I encountered was obstructive, barely knew her companies policy and I couldn't understand her nor her me. I'm sorry, this is not in any way intended to considered a racist comment though I am sure there are those that would suggest it is, but it just isn't helpful in a customer service environment when neither party can make head nor tail of what the other is saying!

What began as a straightforward request on my part ultimately became escalated, at my behest, to an 'all guns blazing' complaint and I spent an hour and a half being shuffled between one employee and another. As you can imagine my temperament was not improving throughout this 'encounter of the call center kind'. Finally and ultimately I succeeded in achieving my initial goal and in lodging an official complaint regarding the level of service offered by this very large bank....it took me almost three hours! Customer service?.....I would be sacked for considerably better service than that.

Stress levels rising rapidly I set about my chores, even that it seemed was not to be plain sailing........... the bottom fell out of the Goddamn bin back and it's contents squelched instantly all over the kitchen floor. Oh joy!

But then two little things happened and all of a sudden life is nice again and back in perspective, stress levels declining suitably. First I read this which made me glow with pride and put my minor mishaps into their correct and insignificant perspective and secondly I received 'Jack mail' via snail mail. What is Jack mail? Maybe I will explain another time or maybe someone else will but whatever, those two little things saved my day and I thank the guys responsible for making me a more civil little blogger this afternoon.

:o)

Scotland welcomes bikers

From the moment I was of an age the law allowed me a driving licence and until very recently I have spent my life on motorbikes, it wasn't a hobby, it wasn't a 'Sunday afternoon' thing it was a whole lifestyle and one that in my experience was often misunderstood.

It is thus that this item in the news this morning caught my eye. 'Visitscotland' has begun a drive to attract touring bikers into the area with the help of Colin McGregor (Yes he has a famous brother), in an endeavor to promote Scotland as the perfect touring destination, which save for the rain it is. The scenery is stunning, the cities are cosmopolitan and full of interest and the roads could have been designed with two wheels specifically in mind.

As a biker, to be welcomed and encouraged to an area makes a very welcome change. I have lost count of the times over the years when myself or friends have been denied entrance into campsites, pubs, restaurants or hotels merely because we arrived on two wheels and clad in leather. I am not talking here of gangs but of couples and individual riders.

For those in any doubt let me assure, you we wear leather not to be intimidating but because should we be unfortunate enough to be involved in a road traffic accident it may just save our life....or at least a limb. And why black, because whilst much of the leather clothing available now is brightly coloured attractive racing gear, for those touring it has to be borne in mind that what drivers on four wheels get stuck on their windscreen and bumper, all the debris, road dirt and insects, we get on our clothing. If you have ever tried keeping any other colour but black looking clean, having ridden thousands of miles, the reason for black becomes patently obvious.

Joe Public has a tendency to assume that all bikers are dirty, noisy, law breaking individuals covered in tattoos and piercings wearing an odd array of clothing and to be avoided at all costs. The stereotype suggests bikers are intimidating, even frightening and association with horror stories of the 60's and 70's Hells Angels is still not uncommon..... and though I hate to ruin the misconception, even Hells Angels are often nice people.

Of course, as in all walks of life there are those in the biking fraternity who will fulfill the worst expectations but in the main bikers are ordinary people, professionals, housewives, mothers, fathers, brothers, husbands and wives who just happen to share a passion for two wheeled engineering, a feeling of freedom, of camaraderie and a lifestyle that is a little different.

I have lost count of the times that on telling someone that I am (or was, though it never gets out of your blood) a biker, that my life revolved around all things 'bike' or that I got married in leather on a bike, their perception of the five foot female, suited and booted standing before them suddenly changes quite dramatically and not normally positively. The perceptions and pre-concieved stereotypes of women bikers is worse even than that of the men....on top of all the other claptrap we are also assumed by many to behave with the moral fibre of an alley cat, be 'fair game' for anyone and of course we are sexual predators who work our merry way around the entire biking community. I wish! Believe me, life as a biker was never that exciting.....perhaps I should feel affronted! We are subjected to an endless and boring tirade from some quarters of comments about 'women in leather'....the if I have heard the line' do you keep that on in bed' once, I've heard it a thousand times! Gah.

I would be the first to hold my hands up and admit that bikers are not always the epitome of excellent behaviour, I wouldn't deny that some actions of those riding endanger the lives of themselves and others or that to come face to face with a hundred machines is not a little intimidating, but, if those who support the stereotypes ever made the effort to get to know a biker or two instead of judging us out of hand they would find that for the most part we are just ordinary, everyday people.

So.......well done to 'Visitscotland' for making the move to encourage those on two wheels to visit and to welcome then...... what a very pleasant change.

80 degrees......

....is a little tiring when someone made your jacket with no zipper!

(Clickable)

Resting ~ Ditto

It's 3.30am......

....and I've given up the unequal struggle to sleep, so here I am, pottering about, slightly bleary eyed back in the blogosphere!

My foes? Those tormentors that will have my body evade sleep? Well, they include PG 'duvet wrestling' and snoring rather inelegantly, a screeching owl and a fox that has persisted in barking for most of the night.........oh, and Ditto, rolling around on my feet playing 'catch the toe', Gah! Did I say living in the middle of a field was peaceful? If I did may I please take it back and say instead it is bedlam?

So now I am trying to ignore the feeling of tiredness and the fact that 'small cat' has now decamped from the bed and is instead trying to muscle her way onto this chair. I will ignore as best I can the noise emanating still from the direction of the bedroom that is reminiscent of thunder and I will most certainly ignore the fact that daylight is now emerging!

Sleep? Fat chance and no chance....just please don't expect anything too coherent from me later in the day!

Well knock me down with a feather!

Good grief, a state of shock exists here in gemmak's-ville, after almost a year showing 286 posts, this morning my Blogger stats are suddenly showing 730, seems I had a manic night! :o)

ICE takes off

The idea of an East Anglian paramedic Bob Brotchie, to include an ICE number on our mobile phones seems to have taken off since the London bombing atrocity of last Thursday.

Mr Brotchie's idea, dreamt up a short while before London bombings was prompted by the difficulty he had in contacting next of kin when attending some emergencies.

If you are not already aware of his system it is this. We should all have pre- programmed into our cell phones an 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) number so that should the worst happen emergency service personnel have a uniform way of searching for the details of those we wish to be contacted in the first instance.

I heard of this idea on Friday, as I assume many did, when shortly after the London bombing emails regarding this idea were winging there electronic way from one corner of the earth to another with some frequency. From the outset it seemed to me like an excellent way of helping oneself and those taking care of us in emergency but my concern was that if only relatively few of us joined the scheme it would fail. Well this item on the news this morning would suggest that it is set to hopefully become the norm.

No help I know for those who don't carry a cell phone but the majority of us do now and it surely must be preferable to the emergency services having to trawl through all the personal belongings of an individual in an effort to contact their next of kin. Currently like many of us I carry those details but it would waste the valuable time of the police, ambulance service etc. in finding it, if in fact they could at all. In my case the information was contained on a PDA which until this idea made me consider my situation, it had not dawned on me is password protected! Duh.

So go now and 'ICE programme' your phone, the idea looks set to be winner and it's quite comforting to know that should the worst happen your nearest and dearest can be contacted immediately.

What a show!

The little patch of Scotland we inhabit is much used by the RAF for training...specifically the training of jet fighter pilots practicing low flying techniques.

It has long been a bone of contention with some locals, their displeasure is with the phenomenal noise and the danger. Well yes, it is noisy, very, and yes just maybe one day some poor pilot will make a mistake and land unplanned in a tragic manner, but is it not better that if it has to happen it does so here in the middle of nowhere, in an area where it is much less likely that a fall from the sky will involve many, if any civilians?

Would the objectors prefer they carried out this essential training over a city? Or would they prefer that they went into battle untrained?...Gah...the 'not in my backyard' mentality drives me demented.


GR4

I most certainly do not object, from a common sense point of view somewhere like this seems the obvious choice and from an individual point of view it is 'heaven in the back yard'! I have paid a fortune over the years to see these jets at one show or another but here, this morning, not the usual two but six Tornados at once, playing directly above my head, and play they can, these are serious big boys toys, performing so low I could define the pilots......the noise is deafening, almost painful the ground vibrates underfoot and Ditto hates it but hell, I love it...bring it on boys (or girls as the case maybe)......what a show and all for free, you practice all you want!

ABC meme

Courtesy Lisa.

A is for Age: Do I have to? Ok...44 :o(

B is for Booze: Never....I'm tee total, yes really.

C is for Career: Retail supervisor, translates to dogsbody.

D is for Dad's Name: Er...he likes his privacy if I told you he would have to shoot me!

E is for Essential Item to Bring to a Party: Ones self?

F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment: Don't have one right now.

G is for Goof-off Thing to Do: Talk to plants.

H is for Hometown: Again, the family privacy issue, a small town slightly north of London.

I is for Instrument You Play: Pass!

J is for Jam or Jelly You Like: Lime.

K is for Kids: Big fat zero.

L is for Living Arrangement: Co-habiting....marriage? eeeekkkk!

M is for Mom's Name: Grrr...not again.

N is for Names of Good Friends: Lisa, Wilma, Donna, Jacq and Jack, Maggie, Caroline, Jane, K, ..... and some who will remain nameless but they know who they are.

O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: As a child, for surgery following peritonitis (sp?)

P is for Phobias: Damn spiders. hate them. Passionately.

Q is for Quotes You Like: "The pursuit of happiness is the greatest cause of unhappiness" Anon.....think about it.

R is for Relationship That Lasted Longest: My parents....does that count? Ok...my first husband, 16 years.

S is for Siblings: One of each...both younger.

T is for Texas. Ever been there? Nope...would love to, anyone care to give me the fare?

U is for Unique Trait: My idiocy.

V is for Vegetables You Love: Asparagus, corn cob, spinach.

W is for Worst Traits: Perfectionism.

X is for X-rays You've Had: Teeth, mammogram, finger (to locate glass)

Y is for Yummy Food You Make: I don't, I detest cooking, yummy food here comes out of an M&S packet. Heh.

Z is for Zodiac Sign: Aries...not into that stuff so I have no idea what that tells you about me.

If you post this on your blog, leave a comment and I'll visit....like you care! :o)

Sound familiar?

Via my inbox and all too familiar in gemmak's-ville!


Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - 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 my car needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trash can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.

I set the Coke down on the counter, and I 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 water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers...

Now I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, 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 bills aren't paid,

-there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,

-the flowers don't have enough water,

-there is still only one check in my check book,

-I can't find the remote,

-I can't find my glasses, 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 long, and I'm really tired.

I realize 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!

Growing older is mandatory, growing up is optional.

Laughing at yourself is theraputic!

Keeping watch

Ditto ~ 10.07.05

We are not amused!

Those of you familiar with my ramblings will know that despite probably even Outer Mongolia now enjoying internet connection speeds nearing the speed of light, I here, in this little corner of Scotland still suffer a dialup connection. No choice, there is no option, there is nothing else.

You will also be familiar with the fact that over the last two and a half years the date promised us for our very own high speed connection has moved more times than you can shake a stick at.

Last month yet again we had a new date, finally we thought we have made it...but no, we got to within ten days of 'lift off' and it was put back again. So, we re-started our countdown, we added the extra three weeks BT told us we were to wait and we waited patiently.

To within three days we got this time, yes, almost there, just three small days to go and we were home free........I doubt I need to tell you what has happened do I?

We checked the BT site last night to reassure ourselves that we were still on target and BT HAVE CHANGED THE BLOODY DATE AGAIN!!!!

Another three weeks we have to wait, we seem unable to get explanation from our wonderful suppliers of broadband of quite what the problem is, in fact we can get nothing but platitudes, so from now on I am going to think of this infuriating state of affairs from a different perspective.

Hell....what do I want or need broadband for, this is not a big deal, I have a connection, I should be happy with that. Aggravated......me? why no, I have all the time in the world Mr. BT. Hey, I am happy to sit here and upload a website over a four hour period, your in convenient two hour breaks in service allow me time to make a cup of coffee, how thoughtful of you. Napster...what's napster, ah yes, just 20 minutes a track and good Lord, my very favourite time of the day, I wouldn't miss it for the world, you see I do so enjoy the half hour wait for for my mail to download, only to discover my ISP killed my mailbox half way through and requires me to complete another half an hours work to get it reinstated!!

So next time feel free, when you send me an 18 meg mail knowing how I love my dialup (yup, someone really did that to me), to laugh your socks off while you think of me stranded interminably in download hell!

Broadband...pah...what do I need broadband for?

Something more cheerful

Taken today in A&W's garden..... yes, summer returned today and I needed a little distraction from all the sadness of late and a reminder that there are still many beautiful things in our world.

Enjoy.

(Clickable)

Purple poppy


Livingstone daisies


Gazania

The morning after the day before

High Holborn ~ © Kazaroth

I woke this morning with a strange mixture of feelings.

A part of me felt a little guilty for feeling so affected by an incident, that by comparison to some, barely touched my life, another part of me felt numb, overwhelmed and kinda lost for words (yes I know, most unusual in these quarters) but the remaining and biggest piece felt an unusual sort of pride and very strong urge to make an obscene gesture with two digits in Al Quaeida's direction and move forward to prove that this kind of 'soft target',heinouss, cowardly terrorism will not break or intimidate us......and will never win!

I like many watched almost unending televisioncoveragee of the bombings in London yesterday and what I was most struck by, aside of course from the horror for those caught up in it, was a sense of genuine pride in how it was handled by all those involved. The emergency services have long had well rehearsed plans for this kind of major incident and when finally and sadly faced with not just one, but multiple incidents they swung into action in the most professional and calm manner imaginable. Their expertise and organisation was stunning, I felt immensely proud to be British ( I don't always) and safe in the knowledge that in such extreme circumstances these are the people that take care of us.

A news reporter said in a report late last night that the emergency services had "sucked the terror out of terrorism" with their calm professionalism....that for me sums uppreciselyy how I felt watching as they dealt with an horrendous situation.

Thousands of civilians wereunwittinglyy caught up yesterday in an atrocity perpetrated by cowards....... but in the face of it showed strength, courage and great spirit.

So...OBL....go to hell, we have beaten worse than you, Hitler didn't cow us, America didn't quake in your shadow and London will not either.

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

My thoughts today are with those brave individuals who have been so affected, be it loss, injury or the psychological impact.

London ~ today

Thank you to Lisa for 'stepping into the breach' this morning when I had no access to a computer and was frantically tracking down family members in London.

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

I was at work taking a short break when I first heard that there was something amiss in London. I was checking my mails on my cell phone and among them was a bulletin from the BBC stating that a 'loud bang' had been heard, possibly a power problem.

It was not long of course before the full horror of what was happening in my home town was becoming apparent, though details were very sketchy.

A short time later I received a text from a friend who works in 'The city' saying he was safe. More details were available by that time and the magnitude of the incident was becoming obvious.

I spent a frantic lunch hour calling friends and family, all were accounted for bar one, a cousin who was working very near to one of the explosions. Thankfully after a fraught few hours she too was contacted safe and well....we were very lucky.

This is not the first time London has suffered at the hand of terrorists and tragically I don't imagine it will be the last but Lisa's post received a comment from 'Mick' that for me says it all, an excerpt of which I have copied here:

"In the past people have asked me if I worry about the wharf being a big target, my answer is always the same, if you let the terrorists dictate how you run you're life then they have won a victory and this is not acceptable."

Someone asked me the same question today in relation to when I lived in and when I now visit my parents in London. My answer was almost identical to Mick's comment. Yes, it crosses your mind once in a while and yes you are aware of your safety, maybe jump a little at loud noises but tomorrow I'm sure, all those that can be, will be back in town working, sightseeing and going about their everyday business.

Terrorism cannot win.

My thoughts are with the 37 (so far) families who's mother, father, son, daughter, husband or wife won't be arriving home tonight as usual..... and with the emergency service workers who willingly walk toward what the rest of us flee.

Bombs Go Off in London

As most of you are likely aware, several bombs went off in London today. Speaking from the US side, I am outragedat this and very concerned about some people I know there.

Gem is ok, and so are her parents. I know she would want to know, if you are in London, or have family or friends in London, please leave a comment and let her know that you or they are ok.

Whatever happened to summer?

It seems that over the last few days summer has departed and we are heading again toward autumn.

This morning I was woken by the familiar sound of rain beating against the window pane, wind rattling around the walls and a dismal grey light struggling to penetrate the low mist.

Nothing changed, it continued to rain all day, finally stopping in late afternoon! Ditto has spent the day miserably going alternatively from the window to the door, poking her nose out with some trepidation and immediately running back to the dry and safety of the windowsill.

The British weather is not renowned for it's predictability but here in Scotland it seems to be more erratic than I have known it anywhere else. Just a few days ago we were sweltering in temperatures well into the eighties....tonight I have the heating turned on yet again!

There is no beautiful red sunset, no lilac sky and no moonrise today, instead a solid a wall of cloud lines the horizon.

(Clickable)

Wall of cloud.

Wooooo hooooooo!

London got the 2012 Olympics!!!!

:o))

Now I'm on the edge of my seat.......

....it's gonna be London or Paris!

A sting in the tail!

Buzz!

Ditto is 3

Today is Ditto's third birthday. Well actually it's not, it is the third anniversary of when she became part of our little family but as we don't know her actual birthday it is the date we use.

This picture is the first one I took of her within an hour of her arrival in gemmaks-ville, she was a little flea infested scrap but adorable just the same.


Day one

Fresh chicken and tuna are on the menu for cat tea tonight!

Once is unkind, twice is downright unfair!

My dislike,nay, almost pathological fear of arachnids has long been documented here, try as O might I just cannot train myself to even tolerate them and the mere sight of one, even at ten paces elicits from me behaviour more fitting of a five year old child than a forty something adult!

I have tried aversion therapies, behavioural therapies even attempted to apply cognitive thinking but all to no avail, I still check my towel every morning for infestation, won't plant my rear end on grass for more than a moment or two, won't park my car in what I consider 'spidery' spots and always put the plug in the bath regardless of the need to retain water in it in a vain attempt at blocking the path of my dreaded foe. I'm kinda used to all this malarky now, it is just routine but still I would love to be shot of this fear. Nothing else concerns me, I would happily handle a rat, fly, daddy longlegs, snake, mouse etc. etc. Each year as winter comes and the spider population retreats I think that next year will be better, I will get a grip....next year comes and I return to a quivering, shrieking heap at my first encounter!

It is thus that yesterday was a very bad day in gemmak's-ville. In the morning, just as PG and I were about to leave to take his car in for repair (yes, he has car problems now) I noticed Ditto looking rather too interested in something. Further investigation showed she had found herself a mouse to terrorize and so I duly waded into the long grass, rescued said mouse and gave her a telling off. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at our destination, I got out of he car and PG shouted at me 'STAND STILL'.......ha, fat chance, I looked down to see the spider from hell wandering aimlessly up my left leg. Despite an audience the panic rose unchecked and as I flapped and screamed my way around the forecourt PG chased after me trying to remove the offending critter. Very funny it may sound, and very funny it may have looked but funny it was not! Thankfully within seconds my hero had dispatched the tormenter to the great web in the sky.

Worse almost than that was the thought that this spider must have latched onto me when I was 'having words' with Ditto and had hence been pottering about my person all the time I had been driving!

As if the mornings incident had not been enough for one day there was more to come. PG is currently working night shift, I'm not keen but someone has to do it and as a rule I don't mind. There is of course the spider issue to contend with though and what happens when he is not here and I am subjected to the company of one of these most horrid creatures.

Last night I found out! My worst spider nightmare was upon me! At around 1am I pottered bleary eyed off to bed, as I walked into the bedroom Ditto was in her usual spot on the end of the bed..............and lying next to her as large as life was another monster spider....ON MY BED, a spider haters worst nightmare. I hesitated for a moment but the thought of this invader moving and my not knowing where it had gone was worse than the fear of doing something about it's presence. In a flash my slipper was off and had landed squarely ontop of it. Ditto, wondering what was going on and frightened by such sudden movement so close to her fled and I was left with a squashed mess I had to steal myself to remove from the bed clothes.....and that has now left an unpleasant stain despite a long bout in the washing machine!

Arghhhhhh....in all my life I am not aware of ever having one of these unmentionable creatures quite so close to me....and then, in one day, not just one but two of my worst and lifetime feared 'spider scenarios' befall me......that is just so downright unfair! Needless to say, today I have been on 'red alert' where minute movements are detected out of the corner of my eye.........and jumping out of my skin at every little bit of fluff! Gah and eekkkk.

G8, GWB and a difficult decision

As the G8 summit grows ever closer I find myself for the first time in more years than I care to remember increasingly motivated to join those protesting in Edinburgh.

It is a long time since I felt politically motivated. In the early 80's I was the typical young idealist who believed she could make a difference, I took notice of the political world around me, I briefly became a 'shop steward' and had a 'bit of bother' for being what was then referred to as (and maybe still would be if we had strikes) a 'flying picket. As the years rolled on I became more and more disenchanted and less and less able to believe that I, or the population in general, could make any difference whatsoever and consequently my interest dwindled until I barely had any idea at all of what was going on politically.

This weekend Bob Geldof kicked my ass hard again, as he did 20 years ago and last night, very unexpectedly, so did someone else. George W. Bush.

My complete political disinterest of recent years has meant that to the best of my knowledge, I don't recall ever having seen Bush interviewed, so when I learned that there was to be an interview between Trevor McDonald and Mr Bush broadcast last night I prised myself away from this pc and made an effort to watch properly. My genuine hope was that I would learn a little more about the G8 leaders and the impending summit. I have heard Bob's side but I wanted to hear a little of the 'other side' in an effort to have a reasonably rounded opinion of the situation.

It is not my intent, nor my wish, to insult or offend my friends in America and if in this post I inadvertently do, then I apologise sincerely but this is my blog and I am suitably angered that I have to post my feelings on what for me, is becoming an increasingly important issue.

Whatever the politics of the situation I had expected Mr Bush to come across as a strong articulate individual, he does after all hold the most powerful position in the world, as leader of the most powerful nation. What I saw was an arrogant and sometimes blustering individual who's responses reminded me of a cornered adolescent. I was genuinely amazed, this was not what I had expected at all.

As is the practice of almost all politicians he answered very few of the questions directed at him straightforwardly, preferring instead to attempt to engineer the conversation in a direction that suited him better but what I found terrifying was that he appeared to stumble over his replies and be unsure of how to respond. This guy almost rules the world for goodness sake. Very scary.

My main objection though was in his thinking and ethos. I had genuinely very little idea before this interview of his real approach to G8 but I was, as a Brit, very insulted to hear him say that he doesn't feel that his relationship with Tony Blair is 'quid pro quo', yeah, I bet he doesn't now! I wonder how he felt a year or two back when he wanted support in Iraq? Ok, so I agree that a schoolboy kind of blind following is far from appropriate in this situation but a little loyalty would have been good.

My second moment of horror came when he was question on whether he was prepared to agree to a specific level of of greenhouse gas reduction in the US. His response,

"if it looks like Kyoto, the answer is no"

In his defence he did say (repeatedly) that his government has invested an enormous amount into researching technological ways of reducing emission and whilst I, like I assume all of us would, would be only to happy for there to be a way to achieve these reductions in a less difficult manner than the current one he, didn't ever give examples. Again, I was genuinely interested in what he had to say but his replies did nothing to educate me.

I agree it would be utter madness and counter productive to "wreck" (his word not mine) America's economy, I would hope that no one would wish for that as a means to any end but please, I genuinely don't know the answer to this and I invite you to share your knowledge, would this truly be a case of 'wrecking' the economy or in reality of merely making a small dent in it that he would prefer not to? I suspect the latter but I need to be educated on this one.

My third objection is perhaps a naive one. Bush stated categorically that he will do at G8 what is "best for America". Whilst I understand that to a degree, he is after all paid to look after the interests of the U.S. is the concept of a global village completely foreign to him? Yes, if we support Africa to such degree that it is severely detrimental to our own nations, we can be of no help at all and it would become pointless but do we not have a moral responsibility to help others less fortunate than ourselves, even if that responsibility cost us more than we would like? Let's face it, we may all have problems in our own countries but by comparison to those in Africa it seems to me that those in the UK and the US who are in dire need live a more blessed life.

Sadly there will always be corruption in high places and I have never been a believer in just throwing money at a problem unendingly but the corruption is not the fault of the millions of ordinary Africans suffering and dying every day....surely we must all do more.

And so, to conclude, I am more than happy to have my opinions changed and to be educated on this subject but Mr Bush did probably more to motivate me to go to Edinburgh and protest tomorrow, than even Geldof my modern day hero did!

Sadly I will probably back out, the anarchists are already there, soon, no doubt to be joined by 'rent-a-mob', PG is working so I would have to go alone which he is not happy about and I know my nature once I get the 'bit between my teeth' . I may well think I am protesting peacefully and just exercising my right to free speech but among the furore that is 'protest' it is not always seen in that light.

I am perhaps in my dotage just a lightweight, if I truly had the courage of my convictions I would be there despite my fears (I still may) but what has surprised me the most is that it was in the end Bush more than Geldof who motivated me to really consider going!

Again, if I offend anyone with this post it is sincerely not my intention and I apologise if I have done so. My intention is two fold, to hopefully learn and understand better through discussion and to express my personal anger at what I feel strongly was an insult to the country I call home.

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

On a lighter note, G8 is at least likely to provide us here in this piece of Scotland with some interesting overhead military action and if I am lucky I might even catch a glimpse of Air Force 1........did I hear someone at the back there say 'anorak'?

July 4th

~ HAPPY 4th of JULY ~


© Terry Livingstone.

Live 8, neighbour from hell and near disaster

Yup, it was me, I hold my hands up, on Saturday night you may not have wanted to be living next door to gemmak.

As luck would have it all was not lost on Saturday in that I unexpectedly managed to see a fair proportion of Live8....thank the Lord for overruns, Harvey Goldsmith and the BBC production team may well have not been pleased from a professional or logistical point of view but I sure was.

I arrived at work on Saturday with a plan in mind to secure for myself the day off and watch Live8, or at least part of it. My plan failed dismally. I attempted to appeal to my boss' conscience and better nature with a small bribe, that if he allowed me to return home I would donate £100 to an appropriate charity and supply him with the proof....but he was having none of it. No comment!

Plan two, make an appeal to have the television in the canteen turned on for our lunch breaks....no go, apparently we don't hold a licence. Plan three, the radio, again no go, again no licence. My plans were all foiled and I set about my days work in abject disgruntlement!

The day passed slowly, I listened in my car during my lunch break and then finally at 20.30 hrs escaped to catch what I imagined would be the final half hour.

My drive home was unpleasantly eventful when I experienced what to date has been my very closest 'near miss' on the road traffic accident front....some damn fool boy racer took a badbendn seriously too fast, 'lost it' and came heading straight for me, joint impact speed would have been approx. 120mph and I had nowhere to go! It was one of 'those' moments, I braced myself, everything began happening in slow motion, it felt like an age but was only a second or two, I braked as hard as I could, swung my car as hard left as I could..... and still we remained almost head on. This was it, no more I could do, I felt the adrenaline flood my body, heard Joss Stone in the background and then with only a nano second to spare boy racer miraculously veered out of my path. In my rear view mirror I saw him swerve a few times more before regaining control. All thoughts of Live 8 temporarily left my mind!!

I am, as a rule, not easy to shake up, I have spent my life on massive motorbikes but this really shook me up. My heart was almost jumping out of my chest, my breathing was in panic mode and struggling, I was only maybe two minutes from home but I parked up on the side of the road, put my head on the wheel and heard someone shout 'fuck' at the top of their voice....it took a second or two to realise it was my voice and thankfully I had no witnesses for they may well have thought I was just losing the plot sat in the middle of nowhere shouting obscenitiess!

Trauma over, I gather my wits and drove the short way home where things suddenly improved dramatically as I discovered that Live8 was running by then, over two hours behind schedule. Yayyyy, sorry Harvey but you made my day.

I settled down, well I say 'settled' that is probably not quite the correct term for I spent the next however many hours,surroundd sound on, bass up, volume way above normally acceptable levels, dancing and singing along at the top of my horribly out of tune voice! Well, I figured, I only have one neighbour right now, he makes a fair bit of noise at the best of times and he could 'live with it' just for one evening. I expected a knock on the door, I was prepared to apologise and turn it down but it never came and I rocked until it really was too late to be causing a disturbance!

In the end I got to see almost all of the acts I had really wanted to, I didn't need a ticket, I was there, my body may have been in Scotland but my head was in Hyde Park. It was awesome stuff, Pink Floyd and The Who 'doing their thing' again after so many years was just incredible, yup I was back there in the 70's in an instant. Stevie Wonder as ever, stunning, Macca may not any longer be the 'Fab 4' but remains a 'Fab 1' and love him or hate him Robbie just ROCKS!!!

"What a night, what a day" ~ Geldof. 2.7.5

Tony Blair, George Bush, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder, Vladimir Putin, Junichiro Koizumi, Silvio Berlusconi, Paul Martin, were you listening?

"Over to you" ~ Geldof. 2.7.5

A perfect moment.

As Pink Floyd played together for the first time in well over twenty years at Live8 last night, they were accompanied here in this little corner of Scotland by probably the most beautiful sunset I have witnessed to date.

Pastel skies and a perfect moment.

(Click to enlarge)

Quote

"What a night...what a day!"

Bob Geldof, Live8 ~ 2nd July 2005. 23.59 hrs.

Just how miffed am I!!!

EXTREMELY, that's how much...but it is my own silly fault, there is no one else to blame.

Having banged on about Live8 yesterday I realised late last night that through my own stupidity I will miss it in it's entirety!

A colleague a while back asked for a favour, to change shifts with her today, I merrily agreed, well actually not very merrily but you know how it is, and my small brain did not at the time put the two things together! If I am lucky and I drive home like the wind I may just catch the closing credits! Arghhhhhh.

I will admit to having considered a sickie, to even hoping that I would wake up this morning feeling 'under the weather' but neither were to be, I just knew I wouldn't have the balls to call in sick and I feel as fit as a horse. Goddamn!

Yeah, I'm sure I will see clips, there may be a DVD etc. etc. but it just ain't the same as watching it live!

I looked forward to today since it was announced, oh stupid, stupid me and while the world rocks....... I will be in a hot, windowless office counting piles of money and latterly attending to the every demand of Joe Public.

Just how miffed am I? Harumph!

Live 8

Tomorrow, as if you didn't already know, the world will once again rock to the sound of some of the biggest bands and musicians the world has to offer and again our thoughts and hopefully our actions, will be directed at those far less fortunate than ourselves, whilst we enjoy the spectacle that will be Live8!

Whether this event and the collective wishes of we mere mortals will have the desired effect on those making decisions at the G8 summit remains to be seen. I am not a politician, I am not even very politically motivated any longer but for me it seems easy, the solution for helping end the plight of those in Africa is black and white, there is no room for grey!

Bob Geldof has long been a hero of mine, long before even the days of Live Aid, back when his only fame was having uttered the words 'tell me why I don't like Mondays' along with the members of the Boomtown Rats.

Here was a man who for me had a charisma that was rare, his direct, probably considered rude by many, approach appealed to me, he spoke with a passion and a motivation that I could only wish I had the courage for and still do.

Scruffy, loud mouthed and opinionated he may be but he motivated a whole generation in 1985 to try and do something about Africa's poverty and he bought that poverty into the limelight. The 80's were for those of us in the more developed world were a time of excesses in many ways, we were a generation bought up to think we could 'have it all', it was the era of the 'yuppie' and until Mr Geldof 'did his thing' I doubt many of us genuinely considered what was going on away from our own doorstep. Bob, was for millions, the motivation for change.

Live Aid day is a day that is seared into my memory, I lived in Manchester at the time but travelled to my parents in London just to be 'closer to the action', having failed to obtain tickets. I sat for the whole day and night riveted to the television save for a brief trip into my local town to buy cigarettes. It was an odd experience, the fact that something 'big' was going on was palpable, the town was almost deserted and those that there were out and about had radios playing and were talking 'Live Aid'.

To this day to see or hear a clip, any clip, from that event still has the power to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and from that day forward Geldof became for me probably the individual I admire most in this world of ours.

He and what he stands for will always have critics, we will never all agree on the best way to deal with the problems he has bought to the fore with such a passion. There are those that think to encourage children to miss school for a day, or to encourage thousands to descend on Edinburgh en masse is irresponsible. Critics will always accuse Geldof, Ure, Bono and the other 'stars' involved of using Live Aid, and now presumably Live 8, to promote their own career's but if that was the case it certainly didn't work for Geldof! His concert tour soon after Live Aid was cancelled for lack of ticket sales!

Love him or hate him Geldof has made a difference. Tomorrow the world will tune into Live8 and hopefully minds will be changed, actions will be changed and world leaders will listen..........


~~~~~~~~