At Last.... a sequel

Preamble to the Ramble.....

It's been a while since my last post, I missed out all of 2016, and quite a lot has happened, both in the wide world, and personally, in the intervening while, so I thought it about time to put virtual pen to virtual paper and fill in some gaps, if anyone's interested......

My Health Issue......

I'd thought about writing this for ages,but then thought “who cares? Who would
want to read my story?” I am just a nobody, an ex-pat living in Limassol, with a small
circle of friends, who just happens to have got sick in later life, afflicted with a disease
that is, as I recently found out, hereditary, so could not have been prevented, even if I had known about it.

It has been just about a year since I first learnt the gravity of the situation, a need to upgrade my blood pressure tablets sent me to a local doctor, who correctly ordered blood tests to check me out.

She found some anomaly with my blood and phoned me the same day to advise a trip to the emergency room of the hospital.

Well, I can say I crapped it, it took me a couple of days to get up the courage to go, no-one needs bad news, but on the Saturday, I got my mate to take me. This was around April 2016. I waited patiently (no pun) and was called in. When the ER doc checked my BP he looked at me sort of sideways, and ushered me into a cubicle whereupon, after a short wait, a nurse appeared and took a blood sample or two.

Some time later, probably a couple of hours, a doctor came and showed me into a small side room and proceeded to fire up some equipment, an ultrasound scanner, and bade me lie on a bed so she could take a look at my errant offal. I don't know if you have ever seen an ultrasound, like pregnant ladies have, for instance, but I for one am unable to ever make head nor tail of them, so I don't bother to look, and I knew what she was going to tell me anyhow, from my diagnosis of 35-odd years ago, I have Polycystic kidneys.

What I didn't know, however, was that it is a degenerative disease, exacerbated by high blood pressure, which I have also suffered for many years. The GP that originally diagnosed me omitted to mention that at the time, when I could have taken better care of the old BP. He also neglected to tell me it was hereditary so any of my future offspring needed checking out.

Anyway, this Doc duly told me, and then hit me with the facts. My kidneys were only working at 30% and BP was an issue that needed addressing, so that was that, after a short wait, I was admitted, and ferried up to the ward in a chair by a nice orderly, who despite my protestations that I could walk, insisted I must ride, Hospital policy, apparently.

I have to say, and I know this is not the general view, that that week was amongst the most boring of my life, not helped by being in another country, and me being the foreigner in a ward of four, unable to communicate much, with my little knowledge of Greek. Thankfully the nurses and doctors have some English, more than my Greek anyway.

The days went thus, wake around 6, toddle off to the loo to pee in a jug( all fluids in and out have to be measured and accounted for) check the obligatory drip which had been inserted in ER, and sit on the bed waiting for meds. BP check, breakfast (bread, cheese triangle and jam, tea or milk, strange I know.) Meds, Doctors rounds, sit dozing waiting for BP check, Lunch, more meds, a couple more hours of nothing or dozing, BP, Dinner and more meds, and some time later BP and then sleep,  again. The highlight, if it can be called that, of the week was a little irish fella that was in the bed opposite me. To say he was hard work is an understatement. The nurses, bless them, had to ask, each time they took and recorded BP, how much fluid you had had, now to me this is no biggie, the tea mug I had was aproximately 300ml, so a quick mental sum was all that was required. My erstwhile neighbour had a similar dinking vessel, but seemed unable to co-operate for some reason, and his answer was usually "how do I know?" It gave me something to do to count his drinks, without him realising, and to tell the nurses. They gave up asking him after two days and asked me. He could never understand why his BP was different each time, when at home it was always the same, methinks he perhaps owned a faulty machine?

One of the days was quite exciting, I had to have tests! Whoopee, a ride in a wheelchair for an ECG, another ride to the Ophthalmologist, and yet another to the Cardiologist, and a couple of X-rays.
All proved OK, so at least I know which bits are working correctly! Anyway, after a week of that and several changes of meds I was paroled, with instructions to take BP readings twice a day, and report to the clinic at the hospital two monthly.

All went well after that for a while until I noticed blood in my wee about the middle of July, and once again zoomed off to the ER, after some worrying hours. I was seen quite quickly by one of the docs from the ward, who was quite blase about the bleeding, but was more concerned about the blood test, which showed a desperate lack of sodium, and needed to be addressed asap.

The bleed turned out to be just a reaction to aspirin that I had been given previously, but the sodium issue meant another week in hospital with a drip as a constant companion, and more changes of meds.Yet another boring week, same routine, same everything.

From my discharge then until around the end of January 2017 all was well, BP under control, and blood tests stable. But then the creatinine levels in my blood started to gradually increase, and I was on monthly clinic visits. Not good. On one visit my doctor suggested I go to Nicosia Hospital, for a test by the vascular surgeon, to determine the place for a fistula, the detail of which I won't go into, for the squeamish.

Now, that first visit was a little stressed and strange, an hour on a bus to a city I'd not been before, to a hospital I'd not been before, to have some test that I knew nothing about, a worry to say the least. After finding out where to go in the sprawling Nicosia general, I duly signed in and paid my 6 Euro and was directed to wait. My wife was with me thankfully, so at least I wasn't alone. After an hour and a half, with no information, and no sign of being called, I decided I'd had enough, and said we were leaving, a wasted journey.

It was at another clinic visit that I was asked about that test, after explaining what happened, the doc suggested I go back for another go, as it was now a bit more important to be prepared to go on dialysis sooner, rather than later. Okay, back I go, same sign in, but this time I'm directed to go along the corridor to the vascular laboratory. I didn't like the sound of that, but away I went. After a short wait, I was shown into a cubicle and given an ultrasound on both forearms. This it to determine the best place for the fistula. The right was decided on as the blood vessels were larger. An appointment made for two weeks time for day surgery.

Well, now I'm really bricking it, it's that word, surgery, some people can take that in their stride, not me, I hate the thought even of volunteering to be opened up by someone, however minor it's considered. The fatefull day came and I made the journey. To cut a long story short, it wasn't that bad, three things only. The wait beforehand, that dread, pit of the stomach feeling.
Laying on a table in one position for an hour and a half, a thoroughly uncomfortable experience. And the two hour wait after to be checked out afterward, when I felt fine and all I wanted was a ciggie and a cup of tea. The actual operation was no biggie.

Only thing was, at my clinic visit two days later, doc tells me the bugger's not working, and I had to go back to get it checked out!

So off I go on the Friday, back to Nicosia general, and register and wait patiently to be assessed. After a lengthy examination the tech tells me I have a clot in the fistula, and gives me a prescription for anticoagulant which I have to inject twice daily for a fortnight, then return to hopefully find all is good.
Unfortunately all was not good, and on 12 April, I had to go and have it done again, other arm this time.

Thankfully this one is fine and although they normally like to leave two months or more for the fistula to mature, poor blood results hurried that along, so just one month later, here I am on regular dialysis, twice weekly just now. Worst thing is, it's boring, just sitting next to a machine for 4 hours, a little discomfort, but not painful.

One of the hardest parts of this situation is the realization that you are no longer able to perform the tasks and jobs you previously could do only a matter of months before, and also that although you look okay, and normal, you are in fact quite sick. It's hard to try to convey to others, even those closest to you, how you feel unable to do things that you previously took in your stride. How a simple ten minute walk to work or to the shops is now quite an undertaking.

It's frustrating for me, and I expect difficult for my boss of more than ten years to accept, that I am no longer able to work in the same way, I have to have frequent ten minute rests, I cannot lift heavy items any more, even a box of wine or crate of beer is taxing nowadays, and frequent days off must be annoying. I have two years before I can get my UK pension, hopefully I can keep at it till then, even if it means cutting my hours back a bit.

It's financially taxing too, because if I don't work, I don't get paid, so days at the hospital are a drain. The hospital costs are met through ni , a small charge is paid for drugs and consultations, but it's a trouble. They do acknowledge that you can work, so my dialysis sessions start at 4:30, I get a full day in before I have to go there.

An Expat View.

Almost eleven years have passed since the momentous day we decided to move, lock stock and barrel to Cyprus. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, and down the pan, if you catch my drift. 
In an effort to not cause embarrassment to any of my co-expats I'm changing names here and there. Some don't care, and some are no longer with us, so the names remain.

Coming from an industrial type background I had insight into work practices and the 'why can't it be done yesterday ' attitudes of the south east of England so there were a few surprises coming my way to be sure.

To say, in 2004 when we came, that Cyprus was a 'laid-back' country is somewhat of an understatement, the truth is, I couldn't believe my eyes at times, and some attitudes perplexed me.
After our first weekend, in  a hotel, we moved into a house not far away on a not yet completed estate, ours being one of the first. Several things were a bit out of whack, we had a front wall, and a gate, but the path was unmade, we had a door, with a lock, but from inside no handle to open it, so one had to struggle with the key, turned slightly, to open it. We had a downstairs shower, but no rail or curtain, so we couldn't use it. The pavement along the road was unmade, so we had to walk in the road for fear of breaking an ankle, but Hey! it's November, the sun is shining and in the day it's quite warm. Nice for us brits. Locally, the bars are good, open late, and the beer's cold and cheap! What more could you ask?

The builder was still around, so we asked him about these things, "When are we going to get a path?" and "How about the handle on the door?" Stock answer. "I come tomorrow and fix it", which of course never happened and we were actually moving out a month later when he came to put the door handle on! Cyprus... Gotta love it! 

There are some strange attitudes to life as well, we discovered, whilst looking for a more affordable long term property. The rental market here is quite strange, and the purchase market even more so, but that's another story, as we weren't looking to buy. 
In 2004 Cyprus still had their Pound, which was, at the time worth more than sterling, about  £ 1.20 each, and rentals varied a great deal, dependant on the area. We were paying cyp450 a month for the house, but found a 2 bed apartment, overlooking the sea, with central heating for the winter (Yes, it does get quite cold here) for only cyp260, quite a saving,and a nice area and a super landlord (also hard to find here).

 My first proper job here was in a car wash (one does what one has to to pay the rent) and mighty hard it was too for a 50 something year old, but it paid pretty well, and it was opposite our apartment block, so convenient. I was on 'detailing' , leathering off and hoovering inside.

One day whilst waiting for the next car I was chatting to a youngster (20ish) about what he's doing etc. He said he was at college going on to uni to study some high faluting subject, so I said, "What is your goal in life then? What do you want to achieve? " he sat for half a minute, deep in thought, and then replied, "I want a Mercedes or a BMW!" I was gobsmacked to say the least. Thankfully the next car came from the wash so I could gracefully excuse myself and continue working, but not without a huge grin! How sad was that?


We were a bit concerned when the government decided to adopt the Euro, the exchange rate was quite harsh, and because of that (€1.74 to the cyp) prices seemed to almost double overnight, and although the sensible amongst us realised it's just a number, to go from

paying 1cyp for a pint on Saturday to €1.74 on Monday was hard on the grey matter! The good news, of course was that  my wages also followed the same pattern!

There were some instances of 'profiteering' but the eagle eyed and quick witted amongst us soon put a stop to that locally, as our local shopkeepers relied on our custom, and knew that bad news travels fast!
I'm sure it would happen, has happened, in any country that adopts the Euro, but 'People Power' can help.

Up until fairly recently (the last three or four years ) Health and Safety was an unheard of concept here, and you would regularly see young brown fellas climbing 40 or 50 foot palm trees with only a couple of lengths of broomstick and a bit old rope as a ladder inching their way up with a razor sharp knife tucked in the back pocket of their shorts, to cut the dead leaves off.

It was also not unusual to see someone up a ladder 20 or so feet leaning out sideways to cut branches using a petrol chainsaw one handed! The 'dead man's switch ' disabled to allow this to happen.

Scaffolding generally used is like frames that slot into one another and these can be built up to any height. I've seen them four or five stories high, and tied into the wall only twice or three times in a span of about 40mtr. It's nothing unusual to see an odd block of wood or a brick propping up one corner, because of a hollow or hole in the ground!

Now here's one that never used to fail to crack me up. The Police. They have changed dramatically in the last few years but when we first came it was quite fun. In the bar at 2:30 and the barman would get a phone call, he would signal the Karaoke to stop, the music would go off, and all would be quiet. The police would come in, having been told about the loud music, find it all quiet, and go speak with the boss, who would crack a couple of Carlsbergs open, and all would be well with the world! I kid you not. There have also been a few(?) cases where friends of mine have been stopped at around 3 in the morning and asked"Have you been drinking?" "Yes" "How many beers?" "Dunno, 6 or 7" "Where do you live?" "'Bout a kilometre up the road" "Well drive safely the rest of the way! Goodnight."    Yes, it's true! 
But give credit where credit's due the clear up rate for crime is very good in Cyprus and this was explained to me by a C.I.D officer whom I happened to come into contact with a few years ago (that story to follow!) Cyprus is a smallish island, and with the north separated, even smaller, and crooks are generally low intelligence sort of creatures, that quite often like to brag about their 'adventures' in their local bar, what they don't realise is that policemen have friends and relations all over, and communities are quite tight knit, so bragging in a bar whilst under the influence may well seem pretty macho, but it inevitably leads to an early morning knock on the door with a battering ram, closely followed by the aforementioned policemen, with nice shiny adjustable bracelets, case closed your honour!

I'm quite taken by old buildings, and I love to wander about the 'old town' just looking. It gives me food for thought that some of the buildings are more than 100 years old, and still there, albeit a little dilapidated in some cases. And sitting opposite the castle, with a cold beer thinking how they managed to build the thing, how labour intensive it must have been, how long it took, and the extreme skills that went into the perfection of it, and that was before Richard the Lionheart came with Berengaria!

I love places like this, meet Christakis Konstantinou, he's probably had that shop and done the same thing every day for the last 60 odd years, speaks very little English(don't blame him, we should learn his language, we live in his country) and the only thing that's probably changed is the stock, and I’d bet that if you rummaged in the back you'd find something  that’s been there forever. Bet he still closes early Wednesday and Saturday and never opens on Sunday.

There are lots of places like this one too, never eaten at one, but I'm told they are wonderful. Good food, plenty of it, and reasonably priced. Places like this generally don't open until 6 or 7 at night and stay till the wee hours.
Tables and chairs are just household items and are left out all the time. Amazingly they never disappear. Nothing fancy here, and no need for there to be. These places are never populated by the well to do young set, older generations gather, eat and talk old times here. Restaurants menus, written obviously in Greek and then translated into English are a source of endless amusement, with such delicacies as God goujons, paper steak and god and chips as regular items with one offering 'Deep fried code' in the fish section, a meal for spies perhaps?

I just had to put this one in, it so often happens that you get just this sort of question asked by visitors. I have to say, yes it is great to wake up to sunshine nearly all year round, but after 4 months or more of 35-45 degrees C in the shade, and having to work in it, it does get a little wearing and we do celebrate the odd shower, or cooler breeze when we get the opportunity, not very often in the summer months unfortunately, plus we have to put up with water cuts periodically, because all of our water comes via dams in the mountains, which are rapidly depleted in hot times. But it is surprising that you acclimatise fairly quickly to it. When we came in November we found it quite pleasant, temperatures in the low 20's or so, quite warm after England in October/ November, but by the February, we were feeling it a bit more. The first summer was hard to take, but  we soldiered on and put up with it the best we could, still in holiday mode, it was cold beers whenever but that fades, and then you encounter your first winter here. Let me tell you 15°C is mighty cold when you just spent 7 months in 30odd C!

All in all it's been a good experience,as far as I'm concerned anyway, to live here in Cyprus and I'm really glad we did it, my only regret is we didn't do it earlier. There are some funny quirks that you have to get used to, like it's still a paper society, and everything has to be done on reams and reams of forms, like they must use half a rain forest every year here churning out forms, and explanatory notes for forms, and explanatory notes for the explanatory notes! It is changing, and I'm into Cypriot ways enough that it really doesn't bother me that it's a painfully slow transition, but they will wake up one day, maybe.  


Just had a boozy afternoon at a local, the entertainment was great, someone had left a 2-seater, 3-seater and a matching armchair out by the bins, and this happens quite often. Well, along comes old fella and his missus in a little mazda 2- door hatch, and decide this would look very nice in their room, so they ask the bar owner, can they take it, he says, "nothing to do with me" and so here we go, first the armchair, there’s a bit hanging out, but no matter, second, after half an hour they come back, this time for the three seater..... in a Mazda 2-door hatch... I kid you not, they did it, with three quarters of the thing hanging out the back, half hour later, the 2-seater. Good luck is all we can say, and enjoy!

Tiny Living.....

'Tiny house movement....'

An interesting article popped up on the BBC News website recently about the 'new' phenomenon of Tiny Living. Now you may or may not have heard of this before, but it's all about 'downsizing'. Selling up your big sprawling house and building yourself a garden shed, with all mod cons, to live out your days in.
Needless to say, this is being hailed as a new American idea, but, forgive me for disagreeing, it's been going on in one form or another in the UK for about a hundred years or more, and how about all those pilgrims and prospectors in the american 'gold rush' days.
Anyway, I decided to research this one, thinking I might make a whole piece out of it. Surprised? Yes I was. My first Google query yielded over 200 million hits and even allowing for there being a goodly number of them being nothing to do with the actual query,as usually happens with Google searches, that's still an awful lot of hits. Narrow it down further to the first ten or so pages, and you've got a hundred or so dedicated sites about the construction of, or living in, a Tiny House or apartment. Fascinating reading mostly too.
Now, being in the construction/engineering/maintenance sector, I found the descriptions quite simplistic, but I have to step away from that background, no easy task after 40 odd years of doing, and look at it from a novice point of view.




Many houses have innovative, space saving designs making full use of mezzanine floors,and compact, modern kitchen and laundry equipment. Most that I've seen make full use of wood cladding on the inside and out, although personally I think this makes them look kind of temporary, rather than contemporary, and would give me the feel of living in a Swedish sauna, or in some cases a garden shed. But that's a matter of personal taste, and bearing in mind that the majority seem to be self design and build, that personal choice would be reflected in the final finished house.




When first thinking of design a look at some retro images of older caravans may be useful, as this kitchen from a 1960's caravan shows. Although modern cooking equipment can be more compact, and should electricity be available, cleaner in terms of design and use.
Many, if not all, early 'holiday' caravans made full and innovative use of folding panels, and multi use items, such as dining table/ bench units that doubled as beds at night, full height cupboard doors that would unfold out across the width to form a bedroom at one end and drop down doors on kitchen cabinets which formed worktops. Of course this changing around was time consuming at bedtime and in the morning, but the family all joined in, it was part of the holiday fun!









A typical 1960's holiday caravan. This would be on a large site with maybe 100 similar 'vans, arranged in rows around central shower, washing and toilet blocks. It was very unusual to find a caravan with toilet facilities, the best hoped for was to be close to the block, and that they were clean!







Now, of course, life is much easier for 'tiny livers' because build-ins and mezzanine floors have negated the need for these daily changes to the living space, except where folk have opted for a futon rather than a conventional bed, and the only drawback I can think of just now is the provision of fresh water and sewerage problems.
But, of course, if you are lucky enough to find a plot of land where a) You want to live and b) The land is already, or can be connected to at reasonable cost, the relevant services, then away you go, start building your 'tiny house.'
As far as I am aware they don't need planning permissions because of their size, but local zoning/building regulations and safety/sanitary rules will apply. Ask the local authorities before you commit. You don't want to end up with a plot in an ideal position that you can only picnic on a few times a year!

A Varied Bunch of Nonsense

Legal Aid...


There is definitely something wrong with a legal system that allows confessed, tried and convicted killers to challenge the Judge's sentencing in the first place. But to allow them to pay for the services of lawyers and barristers with legal aid is bordering on total madness. We can only hope that any appeal is denied for this man, Michael Adebolajo, who walked the streets of London carrying a knife and a machete in order to cut down and viciously murder a soldier, Lee Rigby. The astonishing thing is that he didn't run, or try to hide, he flaunted his actions, calmly speaking to passers by as he waited for the police to come to arrest him. If for any reason he manages to get an appeal, and some reduction is made to his whole life sentence, then those do-gooders that facilitate that, one would hope, will be outcasts in society and pilloried by everyone that they know. 


Windows XP...


So, after 12 years Microsoft has decided to cease support and security updates for one of their best ever efforts, XP. It comes as no surprise I suppose, after all, they have released three operating systems since XP,Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, (plenty of thought went into those names, obviously!) and in an effort to get yet more of our hard earned, they had to stop supporting the older brother sometime. I'm still firmly entrenched in 7, although I did cling on to XP for a good while, only a disastrous crash meant a complete rebuild and the machine came back with 7 installed. Who am I to argue.
Just a short while ago I tried Linux, hey, it's free and I thought I'd be able to break away from windows forever. Unfortunately, things are never that simple. I just could not get on with Linux. Half of my programs didn't work, I couldn't get Wine( an abstraction layer that runs windows programs on Linux) to work correctly and the free programs I downloaded to replace the windows ones that wouldn't perform weren't a patch on the originals. So it was back to Win 7.
In short, I'll run with 7 until Microsoft decide to be generous and give away a free OS to a poor struggling OAP and wordsmith! It is rumoured  that a free lite version of 8.1+Bing will be available this summer, lets see eh?

Pakistan Baby 'Killer'...
Incredible but true. This 9 month old baby was accused, arrested and taken to court in Pakistan for attempted murder. Yes, he was part of a gang that was accused of the attempted murder of the policemen that were sent to break up their demonstration which was to bring attention to the erratic electricity supply in their neighbourhood. When the police arrived the demonstrators apparently started throwing stones at them, which so angered the police that they arrested them all and charged them with attempted murder. Good job none of them had real weapons or the nasty policemen might have got really hurt! Needless to say a top cop and several underlings have been carpeted, and the boy was acquitted and released, seen leaving court with his grandfather.

Conspiracy Theorists....

They are out there somewhere... conspiracy theorists I mean. From the sinking of the Titanic, to the first moon landing, Roswell, Torrey Canyon, Gulf of Mexico, The World Trade Centre 9/11, and now MH370, the list goes on. Wherever and whenever there is a disaster or a great event the conspiracy theorists will be there with their own interpretation of events, and lets face it, some of them are laughable, crackpot ideas that could only have been formed in the mind of some person or persons not in full control of their faculties. Theories still abound claiming that the moon landings were a put up job, filmed in California, Mexico, Florida and various international locations. The 9/11 atrocity was actually carried out by the US military, on the orders of the CIA, who also, by the way, have had a hand in the assassination attempts on every president since Lincoln, the Gulf Oil disaster and Torrey Canyon oil tanker disaster. Aliens, both alive and dead are being kept at Roswell even now, even though no-one actually knows where the facility may be located, although pictures have surfaced from time to time of huge underground caverns, built by, you guessed it, the CIA and of course, the aliens helped with their superior technology because they like it so much they don't want to go home. The Mafia tried to kill the Pope, And MI5 have been linked to bombings, plane and ship disasters and of course spy deaths.

Some Thoughts on Our Modern Way of Life...

French Working Hours.
I'm amazed at the reactions to this one, have we become a Europe of workaholics? Is it so much to ask that our leisure time is actually our time? And anyway, isn't it personal choice to allow telephone calls out of normal work hours?
In my 'day job' I work maintenance for a bar and restaurant group, and sometimes get 'phone calls after work. For the most part I can sort the problem during the call by instructions, and don't have to go in, but there have been occasions when attendance is necessary, because the caller either hasn't the skill or ability to solve the problem. What this boils down to, in my mind, is the old fashioned work ethic, which sadly doesn't seem to exist any longer, that what is good for the company, is good for me. The company prospers, I prosper. Maybe I've been lucky, maybe my boss is unusual.
We don't have a house 'phone, we use mobiles, they're cheaper to use here, and my boss only has my number, and he knows my 'phone is off after about 9pm, so any jobs for the following day are by text or a call after 7am the in the morning, when I switch on again.
My thinking is that one of the problems faced today is that more and more companies are 'floated' on the markets, and workloads are driven, not by consumer demand, but by shareholder requirements and accountants figures. Chasing the buck to please shareholders has become the norm, rather than good old customer satisfaction.

Office Jargon...
I crack up laughing sometimes when I hear or read some of the stuff that 'office types' come out with nowadays, the so-called 'office jargon'. Things like "Let's touch base in a think-shower" meaning "We'll have a meeting an see if we can come up with some good ideas between us". Or "Can I stir fry an idea in your think-wok", which translates to "Can I have your opinion of my idea?". "Can you leverage the drinkables" is a good one, "Go get the coffees".
Just Google 'office jargon' and have a good laugh in your next 'offline time'.

Text Speak...
I'm in the process of reading a book, not a 'real' book you understand, but an electronic version of a book. I don't have a problem with technology, I regularly use a computer, and a tablet, as this blog attests, and indeed send more texts than I make 'phone calls, but I do get seriously antsy when I receive some missive, be it text, instant message or e-mail, and it's full of abbreviations or jargon, the dreaded 'text speak' or 'txt spk' as folk are wont to put it.
Just last week I read, in a UK national daily newspaper, an article where a celebrity was described thus: 'She 'channels' [a long dead celebrity] and 'rocks' [some item of clothing]'. Now what on earth that is supposed to mean is beyond me! Why can they not just write 'reminds us of' and 'looks stunning in' or something like it? Maybe the price of printing ink has risen again, so economy is called for in its use.
Anyway, I digress, the book in question is a classic, Oliver Twist, and the copy I got is a faithful reproduction of the original manuscript by Charles Dickens. The language does make heavy going at first, but once used to the turn of phrase and the slang of the time, is quite enjoyable. I defy anyone under the age of 50 to read it and understand it at first reading!

Stupid News Of The Month
I just had to throw this one in. It may even be the best of the year.
A 'Body language expert' has worked out that Prince George is advanced for his age, and I quote
"Prince George's body language spoke volumes at his first royal 'meet and greet' - and every movement revealed a baby destined to be King, says body language expert Judi James".
What a load of twaddle! The baby, bless him, is 8 months old, his movements and 'body language' are the same as any other 8 month old, play, explore, feel, taste etc, he has no idea of his parent's station in life, or his own, he is simply doing the same as all babies, learning by example.
Well done Daily Mail, for finding this 'expert' and sharing her insight.

Reflections on Some Things of Note.........To Me

Moving...
Funny how, when you move to another part of your country, or another country altogether, some things you get used to straight away, and others take a while. In each place, be it village, town, city or whatever, the local population have their own ways and idiosyncrasies which may, or may not, match with yours.

One of the very first things about Cyprus that I noticed, on moving here, bearing in mind that I'd never been here before, was the laid back attitude, so laid back, in fact, it's practically horizontal!

In the UK, if you order a delivery, or call a plumber or builder or electrician, you almost expect them to be knocking on the door before you have put the 'phone down. In Cyprus you get  "Maybe I come tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow." ..... Truly! How great is that? It's like the Spanish "Manyana" but with passion!

 

Politicians...
There is an old joke, which still circulates now and again, which goes thus:

"How do you tell when a politician is lying?.....Their lips are moving!"

It still raises a chuckle, and to my mind, still holds true. No matter your country, language or political allegiance, they're generally all the same, of course there are exceptions, and I know I shouldn't generalize, but think about it, when they are chasing votes, they're nice people, but once elected, seem not to care a jot for supporters, only to line their own pockets.

Kim Dotcom and Piracy
The German/New Zealander Kim Dotcom seems to be in a lot of trouble because he dared challenge the greed of the film and music
industries by setting up MegaUpload a few years ago.
The 'aggrieved' seem to have worked out, and it probably cost them millions of dollars to find, that he's cost them more than $500 million.
Now my simple question is, if they are that perplexed about so-called 'piracy' why are thy not persuing a legal case against the makers of DVD and CD re-writers and dvd-r and cd-r disks?
Probably because those manufacturers have their own billions of dollars to fight with!
I can buy a spindle of 50 dvd-rw's for 8euro, so how come a single mass-produced DVD film costs upwards of 15 euro? My opinion, which I think may be shared by a good portion of the free world, is that we don't have 'piracy', we have highway robbery, and not by the likes of Mr Dotcom.


Newspaper story comments
I like, each morning, to scan through a couple of UK daily papers. My two of choice are diverse, one a traditionally thought of middle class, middle of the road daily, The Guardian, and the other thought of as a working class 'sensationalist' daily, The Mail.
I read the articles, the reporting styles differ greatly, but most of all I enjoy reading the comments by 'readers' at the bottom of them.
It is quite clear from those comments, that a large percentage of the 'readers' of The Mail are actually 'lookers' not 'readers'. I'll explain. In the online version, the pictures tell most of the story, but not all, so when you read the comments it becomes obvious which are by 'lookers' and which are 'readers'.
The Guardian, on the other hand, has few pictures, and the comments reflect this, where they are actually about the copy and the news rather than the pictures.

April so Soon!

So, here we are already a week into April, and it seems not that long since we were doing Christmas! Here in Cyprus it's starting to warm up nicely, can't wait for summer myself.

In the news....
My heart goes out to the families of the MH370 passengers. Let's hope that the latest 'ping' discovery leads to some answers and maybe some closure for them, any news at this stage is bound to be bad, but its maybe better than no news.
In Pretoria the Pistorius trial continues, and I can't help thinking that this trial, in common with a number of high profile trials of late, UK, Italy, USA, are no more than a stage for the barristers to enhance their reputations. I feel that they don't really care if the accused is guilty or innocent, as long as they win their own particular argument.

Formula 1
It seems the governing body of formula 1 have finally listened to fans and viewers and leveled the field for all teams with the latest rule changes. I remember the days of drivers actually having to drive the car, with a clutch and gearstick and no electronics for brake balance etc, and then it was exciting, although more dangerous, even with maximum speeds of only around 100mph.
It sounds to me like the only team to be chucking their toys is Red Bull, because they have now lost last seasons advantage, and are trailing badly.

Protesters
Have you noticed lately how protesters, wherever they are in the world, tend to be masked. In my youth protests were quite common, against wars, financial institutions, universities, government, in fact any excuse for a protest. I joined in a few, even though I wasn't directly involved in the 'cause'. The war in Vietnam was perhaps the biggest, and as I then was only about 15, and lived in Dagenham in the UK, the protest was hardly relevant to my somewhat small existence.
The point being, we didn't throw rocks or Molotov cocktails, we didn't, mostly, fight with the police, we carried and waved our banners and placards, we chanted and sang protest songs, and not a Guy Fawkes mask or face covering in sight. Generally protest marches broke up at opening time, where we regaled each other with our tales of derring do over a pint of best bitter! Any news of violence toward the authorities reaching our parents would have resulted in a right hander from dad, and a grounding for a week!
How parenting has changed in the last 60 years!

Time for a change... not quite.

  New Toy

    Since being bought a tablet for my birthday from the family in the UK, I've been looking at apps to use for blogging. I was getting quite disappointed with the reviews I've been reading, and as for some strange reason I am not able to get the official Blogger app from Google, I gave Blog away a try, despite some adverse reviews.
    The result?  Well, I have so far managed to suss out most of it. I'd like to be able to add HTML formatting, and a help section would come in handy for first time users, but other than that, I'm happy so far.

    What's wrong with this picture...
    A jhadist 'hate preacher' makes a human rights claim, paid for, no doubt, with legal aid, to prevent his deportation because his wife speaks no English.
   Yet our government can consider legislation to deny millions their human rights by banning smoking. Will there be, I wonder, claims allowed, paid for by legal aid, against this?...... I think not.

  MH370
     Much is being made of the search for the plane and many resources are being targetted in the recovery effort, all power to them and good luck. I wonder if behind the scenes research is being carried out to add a GPS locator to the black boxes that will transmit coordinates from greater depth and for longer periods.

  Kate Bush return.
     Kate bush returns to perform after 35 years! And tickets sell out in 7 minutes.
Nuff said.

  First beach walk.
      I thought to take a walk along the beach path on the way to work this morning, it was a bit windy, but pleasant. Always a giggle when holidaymakers at the big hotels, sunbathing on the beach or in the gardens give you a funny look because you're wearing jeans and a jacket. When a good portion of the year is in the high 30's/low 40's C. 17C is not that warm. But if you live in Russia, where a lot of our visitors live, 17C  must seem quite warm. I have a little smile when I see them swimming in the sea. Brrrr, far too cold just yet.

    Daily Mail Fail.
      I 'read' the Mail online every day, quite why I'm not sure, maybe 'cause I'm tight and it's free, but I'm constantly amazed by their sensationalism. An article today was about Samantha Cameron's step-brother having a laugh by wearing a dress while on a night out. Many years ago, a mate of mine was told he couldn't get into a club because he was wearing jeans. He did not more than walk back to the other bar and borrowed a 'little black dress' from a girl friend of ours, put it on and returned to the club entrance. The doormen, when they had stopped laughing, had no option but to let him enter, but with the caveat that he could not change whilst inside. We all had one of the best and funniest times that night, and not a papparatzi in sight.
       Does this mean that just because the guy has the Prime Minister for his brother-in-law he can't have a life.
       Get your acts together papps, this is not news, this is intrusion and you're out of control.

Admonishments for sloth

It occurred to me recently that I've been seriously neglecting my blog.
No excuses... Several reasons, but no excuses!  The bottom line... I've been lazy, and I've allowed other things to get in the way.
  But I'm back.

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     It seems things have taken a turn for the worst in the UK, in the six or so months that I've been neglecting my blog. It would appear now that it is extremely dangerous to touch, or speak to any other person without running the risk of some kind of legal ramifications.
     A few 'celebs' and a couple of politico's have been accused of  'historical offences' since the Saville enquiry, and I'm not sure in my mind if they are entirely justified.
     Now I'm not lucky enough to have been blessed with good looks, or loads of money, or fame, but it seems that if you have one or more of the above, you have to be extremely careful who you speak to, and, having decided that you are relatively safe, you have to stand several feet away with your hands firmly in your pockets so as not to be accused of any kind of assault, be it sexual or otherwise.
    I am no fan of Lord Rennard, in fact I'd never even heard of him until that particular story broke in the tabloid (and sensationalist) press, but having read the various articles associated with that tale, I cannot fathom why such a fuss is being made, unless there are hidden depths to the story.
    It also transpires that some several members of the public of an age (around their mid to late fifties) suddenly have total recall of their younger life forty-odd years ago, and can remember, in graphic detail, how they were manhandled, or 'assaulted' by certain celebs. Now I'm of a similar age, fast approaching 60, and I can no more tell you where I was and what happened when I was 15, than I can tell what will happen in ten days time. So how is it, unless these 'victims' have total recall, that they suddenly remember, in detail what happened in the seventies.
     It must also occur to others of my age, both male and female, how easy it was to make yourself look much older, particularly fifteen year old girls, with make up and correct dressing.
     Maybe it's cynical of me, but I can't help thinking that just maybe these girls and boys were a little provocative at the time, and now see their  'fifteen minutes of fame' looming.
     It would be a shame for careers, and even a life, to be destroyed because of that.

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     So, the 'big six' energy  companies in the UK are in trouble again because of their exorbitant profits. No surprise really, but by my somewhat old fashioned standards, they shouldn't show any profit above that needed for infrastructure maintenance and improvement.
That's what you get for privatizing what should be a publicly owned service.
   

Posted via Blogaway

Posted via Blogaway

Comment............

It worries me when politicians anywhere start talking about  "a crackdown."  This latest PC-speak for "make it sound good and they will believe we're actually going to do something" doesn't fool me for one second.

The only thing it signifies for me is that loads of public money will be spent on lots of dinners in expensive feeding rooms whilst a lot of hot air is exchanged and the end result will be not a lot!

We hear a lot about "crackdowns" but we don't very often get to hear the "results of the crackdown" do we. The latest seems to be a "crackdown" on huge multinational companies not paying taxes because they are closely following the rules laid down by this or previous governments and the HMRC, or IRS (UK or US).
Now they are saying that these companies are using "loopholes" in the various laws of the country concerned to avoid paying taxes not evade taxes.

Why didn't these governments have a "crackdown" on the bodies that wrote the rules in the first place (HMRC or IRS) to avoid "loopholes" to begin with?
They (politicos) always seem to be able to come up with a reason that it's someone else's fault, instead of accepting the blame, changing the faulty rules, and moving on, so they have to make the corporations the bad guys, and have a "crackdown" (AKA feed-up at public expense).

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Being a 50's child, and growing up in a post war rapidly changing working class world in Dagenham, Essex I was instilled with a good sense of right and wrong by my parents and older siblings. My education was basic,  junior and then secondary (having failed the eleven plus) schools, and straight to work.

I find myself increasingly worried about educational standards in the 21st century when a television presenter, on Sky News, explained that he has had A-level students sending him work to review as part of some project, I didn't catch which, but he had had finished work submitted which consisted of an essay without one capital letter in the whole thing.

Now call me old-fashioned if you will, but in his place I would not of even read that, just sent it back with a note saying something like "grammatically incorrect" or something like it. I am fully aware that my English language skills are not of teaching standards, but even I can see the fault in that. Are our teaching standards that poor, or are we teaching our youth to speak in the manner that they use for text messages?

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I find it hard to believe that Sky News managed to fill the whole day today (18 Jun) with Charles Saatchi's indiscretion with his wife Nigella Lawson.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not, and won't, defend him. What he did was indefensible, but a whole day!
What he did was a) Stupid.
                           b) very stupid outside a popular restaurant in the center of London.
                           c) very very stupid as both he and his wife are 'celebs' and therefore probably followed everywhere by paparazzi.
But Sky News managed to overshadow The Syria conflict, The Turkish unrest, The Greek unrest and the G8 summit in Ireland, not to mention Stuart Hall's ridiculous sentence. They paraded, during various segments, at least ten 'experts' from varied women's charities, psychologists, psychiatrists and whatever to decry what was really yesterdays news.

He did wrong. Then he did right, by nipping along to his local nick to accept a caution. Nigella will probably use it against him for years, and so she should, but  thats it, end of.

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Call me old, but isn't Angela Merkel in serious need of some wardrobe assistance?
I just googled pics of, and she seems to be in the same jacket, albeit in different colours, in most of them.
Now I'm no Style Icon, as anyone who actually knows me will attest, but then I'm not a 'World Leader' and I don't jet around the world on political jollies, but come on the same style all the time?

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Weekly Comment......

Call Mulder and Scully!
A Best Western hotel in North Carolina has ended up with a not so good rep after three people have been found dead in the same room within two months.

An elderly couple were found dead in the room in April, and this latest incident, last saturday involves an 11 year old boy and his 49 year-old mother who was found alive but injured. Police are investigating, but can find nothing to link the two incidents. The boy's cause of death has not yet been established.

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One of my pet hates. Giving convicted felons any rights or privileges. If anybody, male, female, young or old
is convicted of any crime worthy of a prison sentence, then they give up any rights they may have had previously.

So how comes a bunch of convicts on their way to court to testify in another case can claim, on legal aid, for whiplash injuries after two prison vans bumped into each other? Even worse is that four prison officers went to hospital as a result of the incident, yet eleven are claiming for whiplash injuries... strange. 

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Watch out! The Nannies are back!
The We-can't-enjoy-ourselves-so-why-should-anyone-else brigade are back, this time with the crackpot idea to ban all alcohol advertising from sport, cinema, television, etc. This is, they say, to stop young people from becoming 'brand aware' before they come of age, or some such tripe.

I say that a sure fire way of encouraging an impressionable youngster to try something is to ban it.
The precedents exist in all spheres in the last 30 years.
The nanny BBC bans a record from their programmes - it shoots to No.1 with record sales.
The nanny government bans offshore 'free' radio - listener figures soar to new highs.
Cigarette advertising banned in sports - No significant difference.

From my own limited research, the ban on cigarette advertising did nothing to encourage anybody to stop,
it was peer pressure, (the same peer pressure that started many smoking in the first place) health issues and social unacceptability that caused the people I've asked about it, to stop.

And that's not to mention the thousands of people whose jobs would be at risk in the advertising world if firms lose big and lucrative contracts. But that's OK, because the overpaid, un-necessary nannies will still have their jobs and they can move on to spend more public cash on another rubbish project

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It has emerged, via Sky News, that every household in the UK is around £4500 a year worse off because of local authority and government spending on crackpot schemes.

The Taxpayers Alliance has produced a free book 'Bumper Book Of Government Waste' available for download at http://www.taxpayersalliance.com. Makes interesting reading.

Like Lancashire County Council spent £40,000 setting up a 20mph zone villagers in Lancashire didn’t want. There were hardly any accidents recorded in Longton, near Preston, yet the County Council still pressed ahead with the scheme.

Like Cotswold Council spent £19,000 on a 'motivational magician' to improve staff morale.

Like An arts council grant of £92,000 in Brighton for a skip decorated with yellow lights.

Altogether during 2011-12 the TPA identified £120 billion worth of waste. Criminal I call it.

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Protesters filled the streets in Brasilia this week to protest over the high cost of building venues for the 2014 World Cup. Whilst I do admit it is prestigious for a country to host the games, building stadiums for
 $600 million that will rarely be used afterward does seem a bit extravagant. Protesters have a point when they say that public money that could build schools and hospitals is being used and it is grossly unfair.

Comment....

It seems to have come as a big surprise to the world that the US NSA and UK GCHQ are collecting information from social media, e-mail and 'phone records via the US' Prism operation, why?

I must admit it does seem to smack a little of paranoia, but the thinking behind it is sound. Terrorists are quite communication savvy now, they are no longer third world uneducated brainwashees, they are as sophisticated and clever as top scientists, and can use all electronic and covert methods to pass information to each other , in far removed 'target' countries, so it does make some sense to try to intercept and act on those messages.

Unfortunately, both the NSA and GCHQ have picked a rather daft way to go about it, in trying to make it 'covert'. Did they, given the somewhat huge holes in internal security in both countries,  for one second truly believe that it wouldn't be discovered? I find that a little hard to believe. Why not just come out and say it, "We believe that terrorists are using social media etc to pass messages, so, in the interests of National Security, we're going to check all social media." or something similar. Yes there would have outcry, but not as much, or as embarrassing, as having your 'secret' project slapped across front pages the world over.

And as for the general populace in these countries, UK included, are they really that naive that they thought that private use of social media was really private? This kind of thing has probably been going on since the first public use of the Internet, in fact, public use of the Internet was probably a godsend to security agencies everywhere.

I personally have no problem with any government agency in any country checking my posts, e-mail, texts etc, because, along with the vast overwhelming majority of worldwide citizens, I have absolutely nothing to hide!  And it seems to me that the people causing the most noise over this and are protesting the loudest, are those that may have a skeleton in the closet somewhere.

If it did happen that I had some confidential information to pass on to someone, official or otherwise, and that's unlikely, I hope I would be sensible enough to do it face to face, and in a quiet place somewhere, like a park or a secluded beach, certainly not on the Internet.

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India appears to be heading toward the first throes of some sort of sexual revolution if the latest news to come out is correct. Women are demanding that female mannequins are removed from shopfront and market displays because "When men see them and look at them it inflames their passions and they go on to attack women."  I have to think that if that is the case, the society is in such poor shape that removing mannequins is no answer. I wish them well, but in a society that has, supposedly, treated women as second class citizens for centuries, they have a seriously uphill struggle on their hands.

It is indeed a very poor state of affairs when so many sexual attacks against women take place in such a short time, but surely the robust investigation of cases and prosecution of offenders is the way forward, and there must be some underlying social reasons that are in need of investigation.

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Hmmmm....... I've just been reading the UK Daily Express online, well I only got as far as the main story on the first page and I'm fed up already. Yet more EU cash (£3.7 million this time ) has been wasted on research to tell us how to live.

Apparently now it transpires that two beers a year is enough to cause cancer. I don't know about you people, but I am getting thoroughly fed up with being told the best way to live my life by these so-called 'educated' scientists/doctors. They may well be very highly educated, super intelligent persons, but they lack one very important human quality... Common sense!

It seems that every week new, and sometimes conflicting, 'advice' is revealed on how best to extend/improve  our lives. Clicking through to the article I saw in the sidebar stories on how Biscuits are a health risk to children, Exposure to more natural daylight is the answer to sleep problems, We don't have enough time to relax, and how a Vegetarian diet can cut the risk of early death.

This last is a good one. They (scientists/doctors) researched and concluded that vegetarians are less likely to die than meat eaters. Could this possibly be because there are less vegetarians, so the incidence of death is of course less. It's not rocket science, is it.

A quote taken directly from the Express which says it all:

 But Ukip’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall said: “At what point do the nannying puritans stop spending our money in order to tell us how to behave. 
“One wonders if they have any relation to the world in which the rest of us live. “Can anybody imagine a world where they held sway? 
“Small, monochrome, browbeaten and miserable, a shadow of the fun, vibrant land we all love."

In The News........

So...108 youths got ejected from a 'plane in the US for not sitting, and not turning off mobiles and, because they happen to be Jewish and go to a Jewish school, it's racist. Well, i sincerely hope they have been shown the overwhelming number of comments generated as a result of this 'news' story (548 in the UK's Daily Mail alone)  and nearly all of them are in support of the Airline. I hope they all feel suitably ashamed, although given the normal attitude of youths in general today, I doubt it.

A Lazy unemployed 37 year-old father of 7 has just spent £2,500  on a 3d tv from his family's benefits and the family has been featured on Channel 4's programme 'Skint'. I hope the DHSS is now going to watch this guy like a hawk, and stick with him wherever he ventures. You can almost guarantee that he's up to no good somewhere along the line. Cynical..... maybe I am, but I've been around the block a few times in my 60 years, and not always on the right side of the line. Trust me... He's up to something.

Another child dies needlessly. A 10 year-old died after being accidentally shot in the chest whilst playing in a garage in an apartment complex in California. How many children have to die in America in this way before they wake up and change the gun laws? The owners of this handgun should be charged with murder and incarcerated for a very long time for being so stupid as to allow this to happen, and the most stringent new laws need to be introduced to combat this growing menace.

In a related story, a 20 year old, who had been in and out of mental hospitals for years, was able to buy an assault rifle in a Walmart store in Missouri. He had a history of attempting murder. How can this happen?
Luckily, his parents found the receipt for the gun, and, knowing his problems, turned him in to the Police.

Global Warming vs Sustainable energy.
Local councils in the UK can now ask local residents for their opinions before even considering planning applications for wind farms.
Prospective wind farm builders may as well just close up shop, because with the short-sighted attitude of most 'NIMBY' (Not In My Backyard) locals in the windiest, and therefore most suitable, locations they will never give another approval.
Unlike most other sources of fuel, coal mines, oil refineries, solar farms even peat bogs, the land in and around a wind farm is still usable, and although the turbines themselves may impact on a skyline view, they are, aside from a mild hum, quiet and clean and provide a source of electricity that is cost effective and environmentally friendly.
Wake up NIMBY's, and think of future generations instead of just yourselves for a change.

Civil Unrest?

Anyone ever noticed how, whenever there is any kind of civil unrest, of which there has been plenty in the world lately, there is always the small element that just want to cause mayhem, throw rocks and petrol bombs at the police or other authorities, and generally turn, what may have been an otherwise peaceful demonstration of anger at a particular situation, into a riot?

You also find as a matter of course, that  these rent-a-mob thugs are so brave that they are always masked, lest they be identified by their mothers, girlfriends, partners etc. Not to mention the fear of actual arrest and incarceration.

I attended several such demonstrations as a young student, and never once did anyone feel the need to a) indulge in any kind of violence (apart from some mild name-calling) and b) mask our faces, because we were proud of the fact that we could demonstrate against 'the bomb' or 'the war' or anything else, without resorting to that kind of behavior.

I think the worst we got up to was a passive linked arm sit-down, until we got dragged off by the police. We were given a telling off, and then some wag would realize that it was after opening time, and that was far more important! 

In The News This Week........

So, Ex-Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne and his Ex-Wife Vicky Pryce have been released from prison after serving only 62 days of an 8 month prison sentence. There is something wrong with this picture.

 Surely if someone breaks the law, and perverting the course of justice is not a minor offence, and is convicted and sentenced according to the law of the land, they should serve out that sentence in the place that the magistrate/ judge decrees.

What, I wonder, is the point of sentencing a convicted criminal to a custodial sentence as laid down by law, and then telling them they will only serve half of it, and if they behave, only half of that half? And not only are they laughing all the way there, they are sent to a 'prison' which has no bars, no locks, and a set of facilities that a good number of hard-working upright citizens can only dream of, much less afford.

Now supporters of this somewhat  strange way of behaving are saying that it makes sense to give early release because it costs around a thousand pounds to keep a convicted felon in prison each week. Well it would with all the perks the apparently get. Mr Huhne's supporters are saying that he is still not free, because he has to be electronically tagged for the remaining two months of the half of his sentence. Well big deal, I'm sure he will not be inconvenienced in the slightest by that in his million pound Camberwell home, just because he has to stay there from 6pm till 6am.

Only one person I've seen so far has made any sense, and that's Nigel Farage, Leader of the UK Independence Party, and his view was that the sentence should be served out, and that more prisons need to be built to house those convicted of crime. I totally agree.

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It turns out that Stuart Hazell, who has admitted sexually abusing and killing 12 year-old Tia Sharpe, has 30 previous convictions, and has served three prison sentences for drug dealing, assault and possession of a machete. Now how in God's name was he even on the streets, let alone able to get close to a 12 year-old girl?
If his sentences had been served out,  would young Tia still be alive?

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A feelgood story, Britain's young Laura Robson beat Venus Williams in straight sets in Rome. Williams fans will say it was only because she had an long standing injury, pshaa I say, If she has a long standing injury which stops her playing her best, why is she entering events.
At 19, Laura has a great future. Go Girl, Go.

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Commander Chris Hadfield, who up until today has had a five month tour of duty as commander of the International Space Station, has recorded a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in space. Check it out, its cool. He's a bit of a character, apparently, I'm sure he must have kept the rest of the crew entertained during his tour.
Mr Bowie himself has said that it's "The most poignant version" of the song, Good one Chris, Safe journey home.

What You Learn About Computers From Movies and TV

This was posted by someone on Daniweb, and I think its so funny I'm going to share.....

What You Learn About Computers In Movies
There are some interesting things you can learn about the behavior of computer in movies (and in television). Here's a list of some of the more curious observations about movie computers:

Word processors never display a cursor, but will always say: ENTER PASSWORD NOW.
You never have to use the spacebar when typing long sentences.
All monitors display 2-inch high letters.
High-tech computers, such as those used by NASA, the CIA, or some such governmental institution, have easy-to-understand graphical interfaces.
Those that don't will have incredibly powerful text-based command shells that can correctly understand and execute commands typed in plain English.
Corollary: You can gain access to any information you want by simply typing ACCESS ALL OF THE SECRET FILES on any keyboard.
Likewise, you can infect a computer with a destructive virus by simply typing UPLOAD VIRUS. Viruses cause temperatures in computers, just like they do in humans. After a while, smoke billows out of disk drives and monitors.
All computers are connected. You can access the information on the villain's desktop computer, even if it's turned off.
Powerful computers beep whenever you press a key or whenever the screen changes. Some computers also slow down the output on the screen so that it doesn't go faster than you can read. The really advanced ones also emulate the sound of a dot-matrix printer as the characters come across the screen.
All computer panels have thousands of volts and flash pots just underneath the surface. Malfunctions are indicated by a bright flash, a puff of smoke, a shower of sparks, and an explosion that forces you backward.
People typing away on a computer will turn it off without saving the data.
A hacker can get into the most sensitive computer in the world before intermission and guess the secret password in two tries.
Any PERMISSION DENIED has an override function.
Complex calculations and loading of huge amounts of data will be accomplished in under three seconds. In the movies, modems transmit data at two gigabytes per second.
When the power plant/missile site/whatever overheats, all the control panels will explode, as will the entire building.
If you display a file on the screen and someone deletes the file, it also disappears from the screen. There are no ways to copy a backup file -- and there are no undelete utilities.
If a disk has encrypted files, you are automatically asked for a password when you try to access it.
No matter what kind of computer disk it is, it'll be readable by any system you put it into. All application software is usable by all computer platforms.
The more high-tech the equipment, the more buttons it has. However, everyone must have been highly trained, because the buttons aren't labelled.
Most computers, no matter how small, have reality-defying three-dimensional, real-time, photo-realistic animated graphics capability.
Laptops, for some strange reason, always seem to have amazing real-time video phone capabilities and the performance of a CRAY-MP.
Whenever a character looks at a VDU, the image is so bright that it projects itself onto his/her face.
Computers never crash during key, high-intensity activities. Humans operating computers never make mistakes under stress.
Programs are fiendishly perfect and never have bugs that slow down users.
Most laptop computers are powerful enough to override the communication systems of any invading alien civilization.

Isn't Nature Great (2)

Now I don't know where you'll be when (if) reading this, but as it's the 'World Wide Web' it could be anywhere I suppose, (with a few notable exceptions, North Korea, China etc) and I wonder if you've noticed, the same as me, how the world weather seems to be a bit out of sync with the seasons in the last 20-25 years?

It used to be, when I was a kid, that winter was cold, spring was an improvement over winter, gradually warming and summer was hot, fading slowly into autumn (or fall) and then back to winter. This was the UK of my youth, and probably roughly equated, with regional differences, with your country.

Although my country has now changed, I've been living in Cyprus these past nine years, the weather patterns seem to have changed dramatically. Even here in the middle east as we are it's noticeable how the winter starts later, and therefore ends later, and there seems no gentle few weeks long transition as there was. It's winter one day with temperatures of max 17c, and two days later, we're in 30c sunshine, which peaks in August in the mid-to-high 40's.

Now I'm sure there must be some long detailed scientific explanation for that, but I'm sure 'Global Warming' ain't it! If global warming was all it's cracked up to be, wouldn't we have less rain and cold than we had before. Just a few weeks ago, towards the end of April my mother-in-law was speaking to my wife on the phone, and complaining that it was snowing!    In south east England!    in April!    unheard of... until now. Easter weekends of my childhood were picnic days in the countryside, balmy warmish days, you could even swim in the sea at Easter, the water was warm enough.

Now we are lucky here in Cyprus, one of the reasons we moved here was the weather  and, having got over the initial shock of the warm coming so quickly this year, we know with some certainty that it will last till around the end of November, and we have even spent Christmas day on our balcony in years past. That was until I checked the weather forecast , and they (local met office) reckon we could see an 8 degree drop in temperatures and thunderstorms over the next ten days. Most unusual!

I get to see the BBC world service at work, and see that weather patterns all over are changing and even they say, on numerous occasions, that this weather pattern is 'unusual for the time of year' or that pattern is later/ earlier than usual. Even the Gulf Stream is misbehaving, and is flowing too far north as it reaches Europe, apparently.

What can we do about it? Well nothing of course, its Nature at its best, keeping us on our toes.
Teaching us a lesson, some would say, for all the abuse we've given since... well the industrial revolution I suppose, since the countries in Europe (notably the UK, Spain and France) decided to expand their territories into the 'new world' which was, incidentally, doing very well without us, thank you very much, since we started to cut down the worlds trees, since we began pumping billions of litres of various gasses into the atmosphere because of new industrial processes?

Who knows? 

Isn't Nature great!

Now i'm not a 'nature lover' by any means, but I do respect it, and I am fascinated at times by the things I see.
Consider the humble ant, if you will, and even if you really don't like insects, you have to admire their persistence, strength and intelligence.

I sat on the balcony of my apartment last Sunday with a cup of tea and watched as ants came from the planter in the front, down a half metre high wall, found some crumbs and returned, along the same route, but this time up the wall, carrying what amounts to, in human terms, two people. Now that's some feat, even without the wall!

Put this into human terms. You leave home at 7am. You jog 50km across a barren landscape in search of potatoes, using only your sense of smell. You find (more luck than judgement in our case) a pile of sacks of potatoes, and you lift two of them (56k each) on to your back, and you  jog the 50km back home, remembering the direction and location, somehow, and you manage all this in about 50mins. Sound like you? If it does, enter The Worlds Strongest Man competition, you're a sure winner.

I've also seen, on one of my summer Sundays in the past, a group of ants gather round a piece of vegetation which would, scaled up, be around six metres across and half a metre thick, holding it like firemen around a jump net. In this fashion they carry it, twisting and turning, up the wall. Now the even more amazing thing is the way they all work together on this. When one gets weary (do ants get weary?) it peels away from the piece and another from the following group takes its place, and so on until the wall is scaled.

It might not seem much, as they are only lowly ants, but consider the intelligence and teamwork involved and maybe they are not so lowly after all!

Moving on, there are many creatures, great and small, that I have encountered, since moving to Cyprus, and if you really think about it, each one has its purpose in nature, its 'rasion d'etre.'

Cockroaches, (shudder!) seem to exist only to upset us, but they (apparently) do serve a purpose. In years gone, not so much now, houses and the like relied on cesspits to dispose of  'waste'. Apparently, so I'm told, cockroaches 'eat' this waste, and make cesspits more efficient. Now personally, I'd prefer a good modern system, with water treatment works etc, but we can't always have what we want, so we rely on nature, or we should.

On many occasions I've ventured onto my balcony in the early morning to find a 30cm lizard basking in the sun, I don't know the species, and I know I should find out, ( I think they're Gekos) but it's nice to see, and they eat flies, and other insects, so to encourage them could be good.

Many may be old enough to remember the song by Burl Ives "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly, I don't know why, she swallowed a fly" If you do know it, think about the words, it's a mother nature song. Each creature is there for a purpose, each creature forms a link in the food chain, to eradicate one would mean an abundance and 'plague' of the next, so next time you're having your holiday or weekend BBQ, and are complaining about the flies, remember, to break one link, breaks the chain. If we kill all the flies, the next up, the fly eating creatures starve, and the next down proliferate, so we may end up with a master race of ????