Most of them run " discussion forums " where they threaten you with  private messages to conform to their agenda. Who the hell do they think they are ?  I had one such message just this morning..

I am a glutton at the moment. I eat fried food and chocolate cake everyday. I feel sluggish. The weather is mild and wet. Moisture penetrates every pore of me. Im tired most of the time.  My dreams are way to vivid . My car is off the road and im waiting for a new wheel to be delivered. This is irritating me. Im vegetating.  I have irritable bowl tonight from eating some sausages that contained too much fat.This is all just a phase though. I'll bounce back. I feel like buying something but I don't want anything. That sums up my mood !

Spade ? Check...Hole ? Check.....

I am seriously considering starting a new blog posting my observations on / of women. Maybe...

The Almighty - Waiting For Earthquakes

How we Brits see America  ?

Answer me these questions three. Ere the other side you'll see....

This week has been an eye opener. Having become more and more delusioned with capitalism, I have actually discovered that we are all in deeper than we were before, and have ever wanted to be. Due to low interest rates a sum of money, if it is to produce a reasonable return, must be invested in a bond that has links to the stock market. All safe savings accounts which dont use speculation are such poor performers that they are only a short term solution. There is no safe option anymore. The stock market now has even more power over us, even when we have come to fear and loathe it.
  These bonds are only accessible via the payment of fees that will make your eyes water. Hence the " gate keepers " who advice you and guide you. They also get their fee, and you are the one offering your money !
  Of course you can get guaranteed  bonds where you get back what you invested ,but they have higher yearly fees. Its all a gamble. The bank is gambling that it will not have to honour such a pledges ,and to be honest when I asked if they  even could I wasn't impressed with the response !  Never have times been so dangerous. No one knows the future.

A Draining Week

Nearly everyday this week I have had a meeting with someone or other. Ive talked about things ive never had to consider before. Im on the back foot at the moment, and that's always uncomfortable. Despite this scenario going better than I had previously expect, I feel exhausted and drained. My eyes feel like " two piss holes in the snow "  What movie was that line from ? It starred Kris Kristofenson, no Im too tired to spell his name properly...

The Times They Are A Changing

Ive recently moved house. I had previously lived in rented accommodation that was built by a housing association. They rent out houses cheaper than the commercial rates as they are a charity. Of course they make extra money from you as they fit subsidised green energy systems that are inefficient and costly to run etc, but that's another story...
   Ten years ago these houses were greatly sought after and there was a waiting list too. In fact when I filled out my application I was required to write a short piece about why I thought I was entitled to live in them. They are for local people solely. I was very surprised after I moved out upon hearing the housing association was having trouble finding anyone interested in renting my old house ! What has changed in the last 10 years then ?
  I know that renting has become stigmatised, as has any subsidised housing. People have become very proud. This kind of housing is now seen as a step down. Also I don't think many people can find jobs anymore around our village, and if they are thinking of settling down then they move nearer to a town of a reasonable size. Banks and services are in decline too...
   So who has moved in then ? Well as no local wanted our old house a foreign guy who works in the local pub has. Times really have changed. Once this would have caused an up roar but no one seems to care any more. The fact there was no one local who wanted to move in is a very bad sign. Things are in decline alright.
  The final twist though is that a few weeks after I moved out it seems the government has extended its " right to buy " policy to this kind of property even though it is run by a charity. This scheme was previously limited to government built houses. Tenants will be able to buy the house they have rented at a discount price and make a packet. I have missed this  scheme by weeks having moved out too soon. Maybe this is as well as I always took heart that these houses would one day help someone like I was looking for a cheap home to rent in a affluent area ( well affluent people have moved here ) Would I have sold out my beliefs ? Once these houses have gone for young people to rent cheap then I don't know what the future holds. The sad thing is that they don't even seem to be needed today anymore, so if they get sold off then maybe its not such a  great disaster

FROZEN PARODY: When it's NOT OKAY to sing 'Let it Go'

Me, me, me, me.....Yes !

Its sometimes easy to forget that no one looks after your interests better than you do. This is includes family, partners and people who give you professional advice. Everyone has an angle. Everyone wants to influence you. No one can resist the power of being influential... Lets here it for YOU !!

Well I can only take " So Much "

Today my daughter came home with this book given to her by the nursery she attends. At first I found the fact it was loaded with racial stereotypes rather amusing, but when the poor grammar started to match the images of the characters in the book, then that is a step too far. Lets have a look first at the characters....

 

 

The overweight jolly Aunt and her sidekick...

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ghetto boys....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are other stereo types too, but its the incorrect grammar that really annoys me. There is a distinct lack of the letter S in sentences that gives the narrative a distinct lazy ethnic sound, maybe even American. This is unforgivable in a book that's designed to help children learn to read. And they say that our children are not being dumbed down, or being racially brain washed. This book I see was published in London, and maybe this language is OK there, but as far as im concerned this is still England and we speak English !!

David Bowie - Let's Dance

Every time I hear this song Im taken back to the 80's . I remember listening to this song in our school minibus,it was bright orange with perforated brown vinyl seats. We were on a weeks field trip to the Lake District. Into my mind pops grey slate skrees and lakes and mountains. I can still feel the exact moment that song came on the radio, and how one female History teacher turned to the male Physical Education teacher and shared a comment they both found amusing, but I  couldnt quiet hear it above the song. Its funny how a song can capture a split second, however random.

Today I Met Julia

Today I met Julia. Julia was older than her name at first suggested. She looked good in a trouser suit, and her figure was above average for a woman of her age. She was not too tall or too short. Her looks though now showing signs of age, were still above average for a woman in her 50's. In her prime she would have scored an 8 or higher. Her lipstick was an almost a too obvious shade of cheap pink, but no, she had gone a shade darker as if to only hint at something more substantial to her character underneath.
   Bank branches are full of Julia's. Given her age she had probably spent a life time in this service work, her easy demeanour certainly suggested so. Whether this was a put on act. or just a ground down honest performance caused by of years of working in a mundane branch, I couldn't tell. Time had perfected her almost at times motherly character, and had the lipstick shade been a touch lighter then I would have not even bothered to write this post. As I left the room she gave me a sideways smile, as if for a moment giving all away to convention, almost. She walks a line just the right or wrong side of being a man pleaser. Not to much or too little, after all is dealing with your finances...However a short comment to my wife about children seemed almost like a punctuation of sorts that had to be said, or rather it was pure dogma that she felt she must include. It was a clumsy addition to an otherwise smooth performance,
   All in all I was quite pleased she was not the blond late 20 something with a figure to die for who attended to me on my last visit. Her tight bright red shirt and shortish skirt made it hard to take my visit, or anything she said seriously ! A mans mind can only deal with one thing at once. Money and sex do not mix well. She will be long gone, promoted City bound as eye candy at a worst case scenario. Maybe one day she will become a Julia too...

Toast Of London | Bonjovi, Madame Gaga and the Coldplay (S1-Ep5) | Chann...

Im slowly becoming out of touch too...

Im utterly sick of wet weather. O.K its December, but we recently broke a record for rainfall in this country as 12" fell in 24 hours in our region. Most days it rains now. The ground is so saturated that a mornings down pour can burst the banks of our local river, cutting off the village. There have been landslides in several parts of the dale, and houses with no history of flooding have experienced water running down hill sides into them. Some water that's come up through house floor boards has been described as gin clear. That's very odd, as it is  obviously coming from somewhere deep under ground, presumably from an over flowing water table. Enough is enough now.

Self Regulation

After a whole Summer of my internet cutting out, new routers and BT visits to check my phone line, I have reverted to using a cable to my WIFI hub. O.K its a method that seems back in the dark ages, but at least my connection doesn't cut off now after 2 minutes. Problem solved. Of course my laptop must stop near the router, and that has its advantages as it regulates my online usage, which can at times otherwise get out of hand. Im not adverse to waking up in the early hours to post something that's on my mind. Im getting more sleep now, and I don't waste time first thing in the morning logging on sat in bed. All in all it is an improvement however hard that maybe to take !