Memories . . .

The other day my wife said: "It's about time we sorted through the cupboard in the study". So we started - but it wasn't long before we came across an old loose-leaf folder. On opening it I got lost in reminiscences. It was the start of a project by my father-in-law to write his memoirs. We encouraged him because his stories were always fascinating. We helped him by typing what he wrote. He was taken ill and took to taping the scripts, which I tried to transcribe but I'm sure there are tapes somewhere which I have not typed out. I'm going to look for them. Unfortunately he died before he finished the story but what we have I am in the process of publishing on blogger.com.
Go to http://spitfireman.blogspot.com and read.
Perhaps it will not have the same effect on you as it has on me because you did not know the man. He was a God-fearing, ordinary bloke who cared about others and had extraordinary insights into life. His memoirs are not finished and never will be because they died with him. But you may consider that what is written down is worth reading.

Whether the Weather is Right?

What's up with the BBC's weather forecasts on their website? Can they not even look out of the window and see what it's like out there? The forecast for my city is given for five days or you have the option of clicking for the 24-hour forecast. The latter is divided into three-hour periods starting at the nearest time to the present which is divisible by three - thus 3.0 am, 6.0 am, 9.0 am and so on. It predicted for 6.0 pm this evening that it would be clear with a temperature of 3 degrees. I looked out of my window at the appointed time to see that quite heavy SNOW was falling and the temperature was 1.5 degrees. Now in Bristol it is almost unheard of for there to be snow before Christmas. It happens very occasionally but not often. So one can forgive the meteorologists for getting it wrong - once. But - time after time I look out of the window to discover that what the weather is doing is nothing like that which was forecast. Perhaps the boffins should get rid of their fancy instruments and go back to watching the cows in the fields and consulting the seaweed.
Medical Bulletin
Woe is me . . . my reliable old Sony tuner/amplifier in my hi-fi is seriously ill. The right hand channel has gone all crackly. I thought it was the speaker - so I swapped them round to test this theory and lo and behold - the right hand channel was still crackling. Oh dear, I fear it is seriously ill. It could even be terminal. What ever happened to Sony's reputation for reliability? After all, it's only 24 years old.

The end of the world . . .

It's happened.
All the soothsayers said it would.
The writings foretold it.
Even the grafitti warned of it.
The Three-and-a-Half Donkeymen of the Apostrophe were seen silhouetted on the dawn horizon and I knew then that this was it.
This was the day of reckoning.
JUDGEMENT DAY!
I knew that I could not face normal routine. Not with that hanging over the whole of mankind.
I stayed home from work - Normal procedures were suspended.
After all - I have a cold!

Death of a Legend

A football legend died on Friday. All the big football clubs marked his death at their matches - some with a minute's silence, some with a minute's applause (I like that).
George Best was a brilliant footballer in his day and nobody can take that away from his memory. I celebrate his skills and recognise greatness when I see it.
Like George I was born in Belfast.
Like George I have problems with vices. I am really struggling with the smoking thing - but I will make it!
Unlike George I don't have the money or the charisma to attract women. He could have any woman he wanted. I am very happy with my long-suffering wife.
He had a wife who loved him. She is beautiful. Many men would kill to have her. She stuck by him through most of his problems but finally had to give up the fight and leave him when he abused even her trust.
George drank his liver to extinction.
He was given a second chance - someone else's liver.
He swore he would look after it and justify the gift of a second chance.
George abused it. Because of that abuse he lost his wife, any sensible respect he should have had and - finally - his life.
We can all see parallels between George Best and our own lives. Things we should do better, things we shouldn't do. We know what we should do - but we don't always have the strength of character to do it.
Why am I taking the time to write this crap?
Because it is important. Because I think "There, but for the grace . . ."

Oh my God! My offspring's a CHAV!

Where did I go wrong? I always brought him up with the idea that normality was good, that ostentation was the root of all evil, that consumerism is the death of mankind and life as we know it. But . . .
HE COMES HOME.
He immediately states that our new LCD flat-screen TV is out of the ark (or even before) because it has a screen based on 4:3 ratio.
He then reminds us that he offered us his 16:9 TV to put in our lounge. When I gently pointed out that his TV had a Cathode Ray Tube (these were invented just before the Big Bang) and that the last time I saw a lump that big it was at Stonehenge he played the Chav card by saying that 16:9 was the ONLY format to watch TV in. I fully expected him to retreat into headphone-donning, i-pod listening, Beckham-copying total Chavism - but he just ranted and raved - even showing signs of foaming at the mouth (without a can of Guinness to create the foam!).

Suffering . . .

Ain't it strange that when a woman is ill she is expected to get on with life without complaining. After all "women were built for the pain of childbirth" etc, etc.
When us blokes get a heavy cold we're all close to death.
We demand to be nursed and waited-on hand, foot and finger.
Nobody has ever suffered as much as us blokes.
No-one has ever known pain quite as bad as this.
I have a cold.
Sympathise all you merely mortal girls and be grateful you're not a bloke.

Responsibility?

I've just heard a piece on the news about a man who was acquitted on a charge of rape because the "victim" admitted in evidence that she was "too drunk" to realise what was going on. I don't know what was in the judge's mind but thoughts of "binge drinking" may have come into his mind. Some young people do over-indulge in the alcohol and "recreational" drugs and it can lead to misjudgements in their actions. So if there was any doubt about consent for sex the verdict was probably correct. However, this is not an excuse for men to ply women with drink so that they can have sex with impunity. It all boils down to having a sense of responsibility towards each other but the words responsibility and enjoyment may not seem to go together, especially when you're young and out for a good time. This may reead like I'm preaching, but there it is . . .

Something's Bugging Me

I've just been watching the first in a new David Attenborough series "Life in the Undergrowth" and it looks fascinating. This week's episode looked at the likely origins of the invertebrate insect world in the ancient oceans and connected that to life forms like the centipedes and woodlice which still carry many of those characteristics today. It also had some really interesting photography - pictures of animals less than half a millimetre long called springtails. They are aptly named because they have a tail which acts like a spring to help them leap out of the way if trouble arises. They can jump 150mm! That's the equivalent of a man jumping over the Eifel Tower. I never thought I would be fascinated to watch slugs mating! See it now on http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/lifeintheundergrowth/video.shtml I don't normally advertise things - so it shows how impressed I was with the programme! Appreciate your comments - if anyone reads this crap!

Further up the Flu(e)

I didn't post yesterday. I was lazy and in a holiday mood. I woke up in the morning and realised that I'd forgotten I had the day off! How stupid can you get - forgetting something as important as that?

Today it's back to the grind. Pleasantly surprised at how well work went but, as most other people do, wishing for a way out. Roll on the lottery win - perhaps I ought to buy a ticket?

Changing the subject, the government has realised that we are running out of 'flu vaccine. What a surprise! It seems there is no centralised accounting for how much vaccine is ordered - it's left up to individual general practitioners to order what they think will be needed for their patients. What with increased awareness of the dangers of 'flu (due in part to the unconnected avian 'flu scare) and other factors there isn't enough to go round. But because of the individual ordering system the Department of Health was not aware of it. Generates confidence if we get a pandemic! Bye for now - I'm just off to shoot all the birds I can see 'cos I'm scared of them.

Winter Wonderland

Working in retail, I have already endured "Christmas" for the last month or so. Gaudy tinsel, flashing lights, electronic voices singing Christmas greetings - I have to live with them all day every day in work. Seeing grown-up people coming in and saying "We must have that one to go with our display of lights!" What a waste! Spending on trivialities when it could be used to really help people live and give people health, education and a better standard of living. It debases Christmas and all that it really means. Don't get me wrong - I am not a "born again" Christian. But you don't have to be a Christian (or a Muslim, Jew, Sikh, Buddhist or any other religion) to appreciate the real story of Christmas, whether you believe it or not. I like the idea of giving and recieving presents. It's a way of showing people you love them, care about them, want to make them happy. But over-the-top - mainly showing off - decorations (whose origins often emanate from "pagan" rituals) are not for me.
Winter has descended on us quite suddenly. From temperatures in the high teens a couple of weeks ago my little thermometer tells me now that it hasn't been above freezing point for a couple of days now - a rare thing in this part of the world. I hate the cold - my hands freeze, my feet freeze and I feel the need to hibernate. I think I must have been a snake in any previous existence I may have had (it's the forked tongue that gives it away, folks!). I ventured out into my garden this morning and found that Mother Nature is much better at decorations than anything we mere mortals can produce, so I took this picture. Spiders' webs and frost on my hedge make patterns more intricate and beautiful than the incongruous "reindeer" and "snowflakes" and other shapes we make. Perhaps winter ain't so bad after all!

There, but for the grace . . .

George Best, as I write, is in intensive care. There are medical bulletins about his condition and reference to who is present at his bedside, what his condition is - almost everything up to what brand of toilet paper he used just before scoring a winning goal against some team or other.
Please don't get me wrong. I feel for George because I know about his condition. But I feel also for all those people who are suffering and dying and who are anonymous. They didn't score goals. They didn't womanise. They didn't wreck their bodies with alcohol or other substances. They just got ill. They are just dying. Nobody knows and only a few (or none) care. George Best was a footballing phenomenon. Belfast-born, like myself, and in the right place at the right time to gain fame and fortune (unlike me). I, like George, would not have been able to handle the fame and fortune and would probably have gone just the same way as him and suffered from my own self-abuse. I am thankful that I never had the chance of fame - or I would be another George Best. My sympathies and prayers go to George and those close to him. My prayers go also to the un-named and unsung people who suffer a similar fate through no fault of their own.

Frustration at work is a terrible thing

Frustration caused by the lack of proper training, the lack of materials and equipment and the lack of stock. Lack of stock! In a company with more than 300 branches nationwide - plus others worldwide! What's going wrong? Is it inept management or just bad planning - or does one stem from the other? Take, for example, our 10% weekend (or four days). I was asked to change my day off so that I could be available to work on Saturday for our 10% Weekend. The offer started today (Thursday) and the total lack of sensible advertising meant that customer numbers seemed to be no different to normal Thursdays. It's only worthwhile running these inducements to shop if you tell the people about them!!! Nuff said. I'm tired and dejected. I'm going to bed.

Going up the Flu(e)

Stories emanating from China could be very worrying - more deaths of people who contracted avian 'flu. But good news as well of a brother and sister who both contracted the disease. Although the sister died, the boy survived - we are told by the Chinese authorities that his own immune system kicked in.
Meanwhile there is consternation in Britain over the fact that the reports of an imported parrot from South America dying from avian 'flu were incorrect. In fact 50 finches from the Far East were the culprits. Yes, the outbreak was contained by the fact that all the birds in question were in quarantine but not even being able to tell which bird was diseased doesn't exactly fill one with confidence in the authorities. And also the more restrictions are placed on the import of exotic birds the more lucrative it will be to smuggle them into the country - thus by-passing any controls. Phrases about rocks and hard places come to mind.
More news of an "incurable" disease is the gentleman in Britain who tested positive for HIV in 2002 and when re-tested 14 months later was found to be completely clear. Investigations found that both tests were accurate - so the body can fight and win against HIV. The gentleman has agreed to undergo tests to help ascertain how it all happened - perhaps there can be hope for others who thought that theirs would be a slow lingering death.

Coincidence?

It's scary. It's more than scary, it's positively awe-inspiring. Look at yesterday's post about Gaza being the largest prison camp in the world. Now I know I wasn't too complimentary about Condoleezza Rice but perhaps it's done some good. She obviously read my post and thought she had to do something to make amends, so she twisted the Israelis' arms and lo and behold the Palestinians are to have control of their own borders back! It is giving me a strange feeling of power. Perhaps I should write more about things that matter, about things that aren't right. Maybe I can have the same effect on others. Just think - all the help the Kashmiris ever needed, no starvation or disease or famine in Africa, Sunni and Shi-ite co-operating and friendly in reconstructing Iraq and joining together to kick out the Yanks. Dream on . . .

The news as seen by Mac

I've just been looking at the bbc on-line. Fascinating, the coverage of the news. I always thought that Condoleeza Rice was a Latin American dish served with chillis and red kidney beans but apparently SHE'S a Doctor! She is presently in the Middle East (whose middle? and where's East?) seemingly condoning the creation by the Israelis of the largest prison camp in the world - namely Gaza. How can the Israelis go on murdering Palestinian "terrorists" when the whole modern state of Israel was created by terrorism? Israeli terrorism continues to this day, the only difference being they give their terrorists legitimacy by sticking them in army uniforms and giving them guns and tanks and helicopters. I do not condone acts of sabotage and terrorism by the Palestinians either. They have a lot to fight - and die - for, but peaceful co-existance seems a pipe-dream. Please, somebody take us out of the "eye for an eye" situation. Who was it who said that an eye for an eye only leads to total blindness?
Also according to BBC news the two Davids are battling it out for leadership of the Tory party. Why? What's it all for? Do they vote for the Blair substitute or the "tried and tested" Davis? Who cares?
We are entering the age of tighter security on Britain's public transport. I see that they are experimenting with "millimetre scanners" which can view through clothing to see any weapons or explosives secreted about the persons of the travellers. If we can segregate the sexes can I volunteer to be the operator of the Females scanner? Seriously folks, what about the common decency that this invades? Many religious sects (both Christian and Muslim) would regard this as sacrilege. But not only religion comes into it. How this situation could be abused! It's scary!
Said enough. Goodnight.

Frustration . . .

Trying to catch up with the news on-line with BBC and ABC (Australia) I find my broadband connection is so slow that I cannot get adequate video streaming! Tiscali UK customers beware! They promise you "fast" broadband connection and deliver slower than dial-up so that Realplayer and Windows Media Player fall down and need to stop every few seconds for more buffering! Crap! I am seriously thinking of going cable to get a more reliable connection.
A better day in work - I was mainly working on checkouts because there were so many customers that I needed to "queue-bust" all day! It made the time go a bit quicker - but it also reminded me that checkout operators are not immune from abusive customers who get angry for trivial (or non-existent) reasons. I made a play of calling for security on my radio to shut one of them up (he didn't know I hadn't pressed the transmit button). The vast majority of customers are cheery, and happy to be going through the tills because they know that the next step is out of the building and they can then go and play with their purchases and get on with real life outside. So be it - giving them a cheery smile and maybe a comment on what a good choice of product they have made very often makes them feel good about themselves, which makes me feel good about myself.
Not much else to say unless I catch up with the news later on. Perhaps there is no news! No news is good news, they say (who are the mysterious THEY?) Diary ends-ish!

And so to Bed . . .

What a particularly uninspiring title to a post! But then many people would say I am a particularly uninspiring person. So what?
Another frustrating day at work - I was sent off the shop floor for more than three hours to do theroetical training on our soon-to-be-introduced touch-screen tills. I passed the final test but by the time I get "hands on" I will have forgotten it all again. Still, while I was doing that I wasn't thinking of my colleagues who had that much more work to do on the shop floor because I wasn't there on one of the busiest days of the week (good planning by my team leader?). Most of my team colleagues can be relied upon to co-operate so that the team works well. But one or two - who shall remain nameless - find ways of "being busy" when you call for assistance. And there are others who just switch off their radios and "forget" to turn up when it is their turn to do door security work, thus leaving the real workers to get on with it and miss their breaks. Why can't they all be as perfect as me? Ha ha!
Further good management planning was that all three qualified electricians in the store are on holiday at the same time. I can cope with many customer "idiot" queries - like "how do I re-wire a fuse?" or "can I use lighting flex to take power to my 10.5kW electric shower heater?"!!!!!! (yes folks, they really are that stupid!) but some queries must, by law, only be dealt with by a qualified electrician and I have to end up telling many customers to come back after they have consulted an electrician. They then say "that's not helpful" (usually with added expletives) because it means they have to pay an electrician. But I still feel good about it because if they follow my advice and get an electrician it may save their lives. Roll on Tuesday when we will have at least one electrician back in store.

Another day, another dollar

After the political success of yesterday, I have come down to the reality of "back to work". Frustrating day in work where I had no real chance to do my proper job because I was "dogsbodying" for every other thing that had to be done around the store. Roll on when we are allowed to recruit more staff and I can get back to doing a real job. I haven't heard the news today so I can't comment - but I suspect that Tony Blair is about to commit a Maggie Thatcher and lose the leadership of his party and the Premiership under a cloud of "you've been here too long and outstayed your usefulness". I don't happen to like "Plastic Blair" but on the other hand there are few in his government who could seriously lead the country. The Heir to the throne ("Prudent" Gordon) does not attract me either. Probably the best leader for the Labour Party would be David Cameron but I don't think he'll be applying. Politicians in general do not grab my interest and the particular ones who will be looking to lead various parties soon are a particularly uninspiring lot. Enough said. Goodnight, sleep well and don't dream too much of a police state.
Later addition: I have just watched a piece on the BBC telling me that we may LOSE OUR LEAP SECONDS!!!!! Oh my! Catastrophe in the making! What the smeg does it matter? To us "normal" people time is time. It is usually measured by how long we have to stay at work. What time is tea, when is that TV programme, what time shall I set the alarm for the morning. The people at Greenwich who are "Guardians of the Absolute Time" are worried that their rule over the Dominion of Time will be eroded by these new upstarts who say the corrective leap seconds are not necessary. The old guard say that if they are no longer counted then eventually midday will happen in the middle of the night and breakfast will be the meal just before sunset. So What? That's none of my concern and will take thousands of years to happen. Smeg off, all you scientists and leave us in peace!

Flushed with success!! (?)

If anything I am an armchair politician (witness the rantings and ravings of previous postings). Not so today! I went along to the local Planning Committee meeting to speak against a proposal to change the use of a now-redundant shop to make it a fast-food takeaway. The local "convenience" store amalgamated with the local newsagent and closed one of the shops in the rank of four that serves my local area. They still own the site and want to sell it - but not to someone who will compete with their business! So they want to sell it with planning permission to become a "fast-food" takeaway! Well the locals don't want that. It causes traffic and parking problems in an already overcrowded street. It causes litter problems - which lead to public health problems from rotting food and vermin. So I thought: "Are you man or mouse, young Mac? Did our ancestors die in countless myriads of world wars to be ruled by the whims of the likes of McDonalds and Pizza Hut? STAND UP AND FIGHT!" And I did - as did several other local residents. I said my bit in the allotted 1 minute and 40 seconds (rules of the committee - chairman). And at the end of the debate the councillors voted 5-4 against the proposal and 5-4 to reject the proposed use! Another blow for Democracy? Probably not. More likely just a load of nimbys who don't want their way of life further eroded. A tiny blip in the whole sort of general mish mash of problems in the world. But I suspect the Mac household will witness the quaffing of the juice of the vine in celebration. One small win of a skirmish - roll on the war!!!!

OK - I wuz wrong!!!

So this is democracy in action! Tony's government beaten because 49 of his Labour MPs voted against the 90-day detention clause. They seem to have substituted an arbitrary 28-day rule (which may or may not be enough). I just wonder if the 28-day rule has been properly thought through by all - or do I seem to be changing sides? No - I just don't know what is best. Best of all would be if all people could sit down and talk instead of bombings and shootings (whether it be by "terrorists" or "legitimate" invasions).
Sobering news is that of the killing of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy. Israeli soldiers mistook his toy gun and thought he was going to fire on them. The boy was shot and fatally injured. When they discovered the mistake the boy was taken to a top Israeli hospital but they failed to save him. His father decided that his organs could be taken for transplant and the organs have gone to both Jewish and Arab recipients. The boy may not have died in vain - and the painful decision his father made should be looked on as a shining light by all involved in conflict anywhere in the world. I hope it lessens his grief to know that millions across the world will look up to him in thankfulness and hope for the future of mankind.
A short afterthought - I heard on BBC Radio Four today that the European Common Agricultural Policy means that every cow in Europe earns more in subsidy than most workers do in developing Third World countries. Perhaps there is less hope for mankind than I thought.

Further ramblings

So - day three and I'm still searching for sensible things to say about Life, The Universe and Everything. I'm fascinated by the media circus created by the "will they vote for 90 days or will it be less?" continuing saga. I very much expect the Messrs Blair (Tony and Sir Ian) will get their way and the compromise will be the so-called "sunset clause" - come back in a year's time and ratify it again. We all know the right-wing Conservatives want it and so does the right-wing "New Labour" government. That leaves the Lib-Dems and the "old Labour" members up a gum tree.
Me - I'm not sure. I don't want terrorists going free but whose definition of "terrorist" do we take? Who was it said "one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist?" I don't know. But then, there's lots of things I don't know - I'm finding that more and more as I get older. Perhaps that means I'm maturing? Heaven forbid!!! I promised myself I'd never grow up because you become sensible and sane and all the things I detested when I was physically young. So I'm permanently 14 years old with the world and all of life ahead of me!
I expect there will be further ramblings and meaningless doodles tomorrow because I'm still "playing with my new blog toy". You never know, somebody might even read it. Even worse somebody might even post a comment telling me what a waste of time all this typing is. Sod it!

Getting to Grips!

This is my second posting on my blog. I'm still a bit vague on even how I'm doing this but my excuse is that I'm over 50 and therefore don't understand anything that isn't either steam-powered or clockwork!
Perhaps I should explain the title of this blog. My family have been friendly with the Mussards, a family in Tours, France, for several years. It all started with a school exchange and has continued, via a teenage love affair between our offspring, ever since. Monsieur Mussard is very partial to the Loire Valley Vouvray wines, and when we all visited Tours in summer 2004 no meal (even breakfast) went without opening bottles of "ze ze ze ze Vouvray!". They are very drinkable wines and I recommend them to anyone - even you wine snobs who would not - as our French friends did - mix blackcurrant cordial with last night's left-over Vouvray to drink with breakfast. I, along with most French, hate wine "snobbery". If you like it - drink it. Never mind if it isn't the right colour for the meat dish. Never mind if it did not come from a traditional wine-producing country. As long as it tastes good to you - ENJOY!!!!!
Had a boring day in work today. I work for a well-known DIY chain (no names but if you try to guess - you can do it). There's a great team in my store and the management aren't bad. It's not their fault that they have to treat us all as numbers, that's just the way of the world in chain retail. The fact remains that all the team members are treated as dogsbodies unless they are sly management creeps (are the management naive enough to believe that they really are keen or do they recognise the creeps and just take advantage of them - I hope it's the latter!)
Meanwhile the news is, as always, depressing. Further race riots in France. Still too many people left without help in Kashmir while Pakistan and India pay lip service to co-operation. It still amazes me that the British tabloids treat soaps as if they were real life so that Eastenders gets the front page while life-changing news gets demoted to page four or five (after the tits and bums!). Am I cynical or what?

My introduction to blogging!

I have just been talked through how to do this by my 5-year-old son!!!!! He can also program a video recorder! (ain't he clever?).

Seriously though folks, I have never done this before so it may look a tad bitty for the time being while I learn more. ('m thinking of asking my 3-year-old son if he can help as well).

Even more seriously - I don't quite know what to do about this so I'm just typing random thoughts at the moment. As time goes by I will probably get a bit more serious about my input and possibly get a diary-style political comment column going like my offspring (they're really 20 and 18 years and both at university). I will blog more when I've got my head round the whole routine a bit better and begin to know what I'm doing and why!