A lovely bit of London

I am currently in London for work, staying overnight. this is not normal, but a late finish and an early start mean a hotel works better this time...and whilst the hotel I am staying in is not flash, not 'state of the art' , not boutique and not a lot of other things, it is all this:
Central - 5 mins from Euston station on foot , clean & tidy , friendly and
on a pretty Georgian crescent - so not a main road and so minimal traffic noise.


The rooms are basic but roomy (a rarity in London) and as long as you can manage to switch the main light off by the door and use the bedside lamp without the plethora of switches you often get by hotel beds these days, it all works well!

The shower was hot and functional, but not powerful and the brekky was good enough.




Also, if you we're staying a couple of nights, the Brunswick is only a 5 minute walk away with a good mix of shops, eateries and a cinema

If I ever had the need and the money to live in central London, I'd probably pick this area - Brunswick Square gardens, pretty even in the early autumn light - Bloomsbury dahling!

A few minor frustrations...

I have been frustrated / annoyed / exasperated by a number of small things this week - maybe writing them down will deal with them once and for all...

1) and most recently - self-serve tills in a very busy supermarket are NOT suitable to be played with by a child 'helping' his mother put things through said till when the queue to use these modern miracles is growing. Take the child away from the till, use it yourself and get out of there - that is what it is all about.

2) and just before the above happened - self-serve tills are clever, they can find the bar code on the item if you wave it over the criss-cross red lighty bits... you do not need to find the bar code, flatten it out and press it firmly against the base reader for every item... especially when the queue is growing!




3) from yesterday - if you are getting on a train with a bike and at ALL the stations that train stops at people have to get off on the left hand side - do not park your bike in front of the left hand doors and then huff and puff at people who then need you to move your bike so they can get off the train.

4) same train - if there is a young lady who is clearly pregnant, stand the f*ck up and let her sit down. It should not take another passenger (me) to point out her need is greater than yours, you perfectly healthy mid-20's man on your mobile phone.

5) work related - when someone looks busy and is clearly typing something on their computer, do not just assume you and your needs are more important, especially when it relates to the Christmas (f*cking) party, stand there for a few seconds quietly and you will be acknowledged as soon as the busy person is able to...





6) dog walking related - when you park your car do not block the whole pavement AND the sight lines of a junction - one or the other would be bad, both just shows what an inconsiderate tw*t you are.





I think that's it for now - I'm hoping this is a kind of therapy and from now on these irks will simply wash over me - if that happens you can be sure other things will p*ss me off though!

From Miss UK to Jimmy Savile

I just watched 'Wonderland' on BBC2 all about ladies who were once beauty queens of the 1970's and 80's - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008tj5q - it was truly shocking, but explains a lot about where we are today...

As one girl walked across the screen the TV announcer described her swimsuit as "that provocative little item she is nearly wearing..." FFS, that was on NATIONAL TV!

Another compére asked a girl what she wanted to be and she said 'a bank manageress' his response "Really? Do we have such things as bank manageresses" he went on to ask "surely the men would be put out that you girls are muscling in..." never mind the arcane use of 'manageress', the whole attitude is shocking - and he was able to say it openly on national TV... That was 1982 I think - I was 10! I was alive when such  was the norm and accepted on the telly, every year for Miss England, Miss UK and Miss World.

What was most shocking was that, at the time, no one seemed to notice this misogynistic bent to our nations entertainment - no one thought it was belittling and wrong. No one shouted 'No! Stop! you can't treat girls like that!' and there in lies a stark reminder of a current news story. 

The accusations about Jimmy Savile and other radio and TV presenters from that era abusing young women are making headlines and the talk of rumors and gossip abounding, but no one doing anything about it, is the sickening sub-story to it all.

The blasé attitude of (it would seem) the entire nation to the objectification of young women allowed barely clad girls to parade across our TV screens and our TV listings magazines, declaring their life ambition to work with children or animals (heaven forbid they would want to be manageress of a Bank!) and to marry someone famous.

This total lack of realisation that this was not right, added to the casual attitude, described brilliantly by Katy Brand here (http://t.co/cag1lBbQ) in the Telegraph, of those involved in the world of entertainment to young females at the time - even those who have since the 1980's made a living out of 'good works' for children for goodness sake - makes my blood boil.

If all of this does nothing else, I hope it makes people realise that such images and events are not 'OK' and that they never were. That some one has to say' No! Stop! we can't let this go on' - because go on it does... 






The last vestige of this era that still pollutes our national consciousness  is Page 3 in the Sun newspaper - so come on lets have No More Page 3 - join the dots, see the light and sign the petition - I just have: https://www.facebook.com/NoMorePage3

A week of culture!

This week I went to see Swan Lake performed by Birmingham royal Ballet on Tuesday and the stadium production of Jesus Christ Superstar tonight - I am nothing if not eclectic in my tastes!

So, the ballet was a beautiful and classic production of this iconic ballet - just visually gorgeous and musically brilliant. 


A highlight was the curtain coming up to a scene of the lake covered in foggy smoke - only for the chorus of swans to rise up out of the fog to the "ooohs" and "aaahhhhs" of the audience.

Ballet dancers astound me - the girls look so delicate and waif like, but they clearly have immense strength and muscular control plus flexibility. The boys are more clearly muscular and bulgy (socks down the tights!) but perform amazing leaps with grace and agility... 

My own experience of ballet classes was very brief - we all knew I was no Darcy Bussell, but I was good at "naughty toes, good toes" ;-)

Tonight was totally different - a modern take on the Lloyd Webber classic I have seen before in a more traditional setting... This is the 'Stadium Tour' version of Jesus Christ Superstar, with Jesus played by Ben Forster - who won the TV talent show to find Jesus. He was very good, although if I'm being picky (and I am!) his wig was a bit odd...
Tim Minchin plays Judas and he is, quite simply, brilliant in the role. I'd seen the very clever piano  /song sketches on the telly, but I had no idea of the power and depth of his voice - shivers down the spine... and as for his anguish as he realises the consequences of that kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane, that was so well done, I don't quite know how to express it. (and that's not like me!)




Mel C as Mary Magdalene was also impressive and even (though it pains me to say it) Chris Moyles as Herod was better than expected...

So, overall a cultural week spent in the company of two lovely friends - I should do this more often!

My first Blogg by app!

Following my rant about useless iPhone apps I can not get rid of, here is one that might be helpful in meeting my objective of doing more, shorter Blogg entires...

This is the Blogger app, it was free and it appears to work :-) now, lets see if I use it...

(ps- thanks to a Twitter user I follow for pointing me in it's direction)

Quick and Dirty (ooh err Missus) & APPLE

Up to now I have posted quite long bloggs about things that impact on me / my life etc... but from now on I am going to try to do (more regular) quick and dirty bloggs about anything and everything.

Today it's the annoyance of Apple to MAKE me have 'things' on my iPhone I am never going to use.

There are 2 such items that currently irk me - the 'Newstand' icon which appeared with the last operating system upgrade and now (thanks for iOS6) the 'Passbook' icon.

Apparently 'Newstand' is imperative to my life and my use of my iPhone, because it holds all those subscription publications I pay for in 1 handy place - only I subscribe to nothing, nada, nowt - so it is totally useless to me.

The 'Passbook' holds all those smart phone boarding cards I need to travel on all those flights I take on a daily basis and are accepted by all those airlines I frequently use... Only although I am a lover of holidays and I do fly off to the sun every now and then, I have never had / used a smart phone boarding pass... and it also holds all those smart tickets to the cinema, theatre, concerts etc I have... only I don't. I have paper/card type tickets for all such events so again, useless.


I can not delete either of these useless icons. At least with the 'Passbook' thing I have consigned it to the 'Utilities' folder thing and will ignore it, the 'Newstand' is not so simple - it refuses to go into any folder, it has to have primary space on a home screen - so on my phone it sits oh home screen number 4 - alone and unused.

I've not even looked at the maps...



So there, you have it - lets see what the future brings ;-)

Ahhhh Rugby - shall I compare thee...?

I love going to rugby matches - I love the fact that you sit next to opposing fans and have a bit of banter and a chat, shake hands at the end, no matter what the result and go home, having seen no bother at all and being able to buy alcohol in the ground. I love the fact that you can see the sheer physicality of the game played out in front of you by a team of men whose shape and size define their skill and dedication. I love the fact that referees are called 'sir' and are respected, or if argued with have the authority to remove a player from the field of play for a 10 minute reflection (!) I love the songs sung by the fans with passion and no need for vulgarity or insult. I love that whole families from grandparents to their grandkids can go to a game feeling sure of a great afternoon... I just love rugby.

This all started back in my student days in Leicester... In my earlier teens I had been taken to the Holt End at the Villa ground and watched football with my brother. I enjoyed getting to the matches and looking at the police horses (my other passion is horses) and I did enjoy the matches, but I hated the exit from the ground afterwards, with running battles across Villa Park going on as we scuttled back to the car.

Then I chose Leicester for my student days, and lived in a house with a passionate rugby fan with whom I went drinking in the rugby pubs of Leicester - and went to Welly Road to watch matches, and joined the women's rugby club - social duties only! - and so began my love of rugby...

Karma meant I met and married a rugby man and so my interest in the sport has grown over the years - including standing at the side of rugby pitches on cold wet Saturdays watching him play, taking him to casualty on the odd occasion it all went a bit wrong, and now watching him referee matches...

Over recent years I've watched Munster beat Biarritz in Cardiff 2006 - and the Munster fans rendition of 'The fields of Athenry' was magnificent - I watched Leinster beat Tigers in Edinburgh 2009- broken hearted, I let my Irish family pay for the drinks ;-) and I've watched numerous Tigers matches at Welly Road, fitted a game into a weekend in Bath and watched local derby's and colts finals in local leagues... 

All this and in recent weeks my life has taken on a bit of a Twickenham theme... A few weeks back now (St Patrick's day to be exact!) the hubby and I went to watch Ireland get beaten by England, a good day for me, less so for him. But it balanced our tally as last time we watched our respective nations battle it out on the hallowed turf, Ireland beat England, so there you go and we're still speaking! 

Yesterday we made our way down to London to watch the Heineken Cup final - Leinster vs Ulster. We were both in the mainly white of Ulster - and I was wearing the hubby's 20+ yr old Ulster strip that he played age group rugby in for them... but despite all that, and meeting up with brother & sister-in-law, Ulster did not come out victorious :-( but at least the weather was dry, so I carried my coat for nothing :-) and the Murphy's did not run out at the bar!

Now, next Saturday we will return to Twickenham to see Leicester Tigers play Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership final - I will be wearing my new Tigers top, emblazoned with my name and my age - Thank you hubby - to (positive mental attitude) see Tigers victorious :-)

For next year we have our tickets for the Heineken Cup final in Dublin already - I can not wait, no matter who is in the final, it will be a great weekend!

So my affinity with rugby goes on and on top of the old adage that "Football is a game for gentlemen played by thugs whereas Rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen" I read a tweet today "Football - a game played by men who pretend to be injured. Rugby - a game played by men desperate to prove they are not injured" - there is no comparison to rugby :-)

Manners maketh the man (or woman)

I realise I am soon to hit a big '0' birthday, but I know I have not lost it yet - I definitely remember being taught basic manners by my mother, my grandparents and various other adults in my life - including school teachers.
I am not talking here about anything in particular, no need to put yourself out at all but just a general understanding that to be a reasonable human being and a part of society you needed to act like that... i.e. as a reasonable human being who wanted to be part of society.


So, when you're walking along and you accidentally bump into another person, you'd say sorry, check they were OK and move on. If you were going through a door anyway and another person was following you, you'd hold the door for their ease of passage and that person would say 'Thank you'. If someone dropped something right in front of you, you'd alert them, maybe even pick it up and hand it back, they'd again thank you and that would be that... is all this so much to ask?


Apparently yes, it is.


On Monday a middle-aged woman who I was walking alongside, but not 'with' if you get my drift, suddenly veered sideways - no idea why, but she did - and bumped into my arm. She tutted, muttered something about looking where you're going and glowered at me. I made a decision in that split second not to react by explaining that her change in direction had caused the bump, that she was clearly in the wrong and that to tut at me therefore made her look even more of an idiot than she already did by dint of her lack of directional control... in fact I simply smiled and walked on. What was going on in my head / under my breath is no one else's concern.


In my office, to get from the main office to the loo, you go into a communal hallway and push open a door onto a stair well, which services both the 'services' and other offices. In doing this the other day, I held the door open for another person (not a colleague of mine) who said 'thank you' and smiled - marvellous. On my return to my office someone was coming through the door towards me, not only did he let the door shut behind him when I was on the bottom stair, he then proceeded to walk straight at me as he approached the stairs, so I would have to move out of his way. I'm afraid I was not quite so controlled that time - I stopped in his path and simply smiled at him - he moved over... Sometimes of course there is the inadvertent 'dance of the route finder' as both parties on a collision course try to avoid the other - this too happened on the same day as I walked out of my place of work, we smiled at each other and mutually apologised. It restored my faith in humanity.


Then today I had the utter temerity to tell a man he had dropped something out of his pocket. It was a piece of paper and looked like a letter, something official. He said 'Oh it's rubbish' and went to walk on - this time I had to say my piece. I picked the paper up and said, 'Excuse me, this is yours' again 'yes it's rubbish', I decided not to let it go 'OK, then can I suggest you put it in a bin?' I asked. I was then asked in a most impolite manner if I was a member of the 'Litter Police', 'No' said I, 'I am not, but there really is no need to leave litter when there is a bin less than 10 feet away from you'. This man then told me to go away (only of course he was far ruder than that) and I was just about to get riled when another voice said 'There really is no need to speak to her like that - why can't you just put your rubbish in the bin?' it was another man, about the same age as 'Mr Litter' only about twice the size. Mr Litter snatched the paper out of my hand and walked away. I have no idea what he did with the paper after that, but I do know that Mr Saviour asked me if I was OK, was quite rude about Mr Litter, made me laugh and walked off...


All this has made me realise, it is not the grand gestures that are important on a day-to-day level - throwing down a cape to save my shoes from a puddle is simply not necessary - but I really value the normal niceties of human interaction and think that if we all concentrated on those a bit, the world might be a happier place.

Get Well Soon!

Is it just me? Am I so unreasonable in this thought that, if you are ill you should stay at home, keep your germs to yourself and give yourself time to get better?

In the last few weeks there have been a small, but increasingly irritating group of people who share my office who have been coming into said office and bringing with them all manner of coughs and sneezes.

I realise the correct word for this group of people is colleagues – but I fail to find anything collegiate in infecting people with your viral issues.

Seriously, and in a strictly business management view of this problem, one person off work for a few days is inconvenient, a whole office off sick because of one persons need to be indispensable could be a disaster.

This, of course is not just the fault of the infectious party – in a work situation it is also the fault of the work mates and manager… Fellow workers make the problem worse by playing their designated roles in the story of ‘the martyr who came to work’ with their "Oh poor you, you do look ill" or "you really should be at home" or the "can I get you anything" speeches. 

Needless to say I rail against this enforced type-casting of me in a supporting role, I have on a number of occasions instructed someone to go home and take their germs with them and I have meant it and I have ensured it happened. This has been followed by strict instruction not to return to work until well enough to do so without wasting company time either by moaning about being ill or by being so ill as to make their presence worthless. Harsh but fair and consistently so is my managerial motto on this matter!.

In a world in financial meltdown, some people feel pressure to show up at work and do their job, even when running a temperature, coughing, sneezing… and whilst it is understandable for those who feel their job is at risk, for anyone else it is just a form of vanity.

Some people appear to feel the need to be told how ill they sound, or how rough they look. It appears that this makes them feel more valued, indispensable and needed. They enjoy being the martyr to the cause of their job – they prove their dedication by struggling into the office to spread their germs and threaten the wider team with viral infection… It is selfish and it is unnecessary - go home, get well, come back again.

In support of this and on a more’ healing’ note, it is a well-documented fact that the human body, utterly brilliant and amazing in its capacities as it is, needs time and dedication to heal itself. If you are ill, you will only prolong the problem by not allowing your body to rest most of itself and concentrate on healing the unhealthy bit – white blood cells need to be able to travel around the body and attack an infection, why make it more difficult than it needs to be? With it's feet up on the sofa, covered with a blanket to keep it warm, with plenty of fluids to keep it hydrated, your body is far more able to focus on fixing the problem quickly and effectively than it is if you are battling it by ‘keeping on keeping on’.

So next time you are ill – and I do mean ill – do your colleagues a favour, ring in sick, lie on the sofa, take medication as prescribed, stay hydrated and let your body heal. Get well and then go back to work in fine fettle and able to do your job properly… Your colleagues will appreciate that far more than catching your germs and being ill themselves!

Growing old is nothing to be scared of...

unless, it would appear you are a naturally attractive celeb who wants to freeze time, quite literally, with Botox. I simply do not get it.

I was re-watching a TV Christmas Special featuring the lovely Kylie Minogue this evening and as she warbled, in her distinctive Aussie-tinged voice, a happy Christmas ditty it struck me that it really was only her mouth that was moving in her face - the rest of it was frozen and it was wrong.

Teri Hatcher is another victim of this error in judgement - she is a beautiful woman who has had a great acting career, but now she can't really 'do' emotion, because her face simply doesn't respond... it does not look 'young' it just looks 'odd'.

Take a look at the gallery of faces that come up if you Google 'celeb botox before & after' and then consider the weird similarities that appear in the faces of the overly-botoxed... feline-slanting eyes, sometimes with an 'off' eye brow line, shiny foreheads, glossy cheeks and a total lack of any character or emotion being displayed by their facial features...except of course those wrinkles that show up on the side of the noses of botoxed celebs when they smile, these have even been given their own name 'bunny wrinkles' and I refer to you Renee Z and Nicole K.

Even those who are relatively young apparently befall this homogenisation of features - Megan Fox is 25 for goodness sake and shows up in these botox galleries, showing all the signs of injecting a form of botulism into her face – although she does also refute this claim, she is 25 FFS, I ask you?! 

Then you have the Katie Price / Jordan factor and frankly, it's just out of control. 

It is all a bit "Midwich Cuckoos" or "Stepford Wives" for my liking I can tell you.

The real question is what feeds this desire to freeze time by freezing your face? The world of the celeb must be a scary place - you need to be constantly gorgeous. God help you if you leave the house sans-slap, have a bad hair day or show a snippet of cellulite on the beach, because you will be photographed and it will appear in any number of red top papers and glossy mags - sometimes blown up and ringed just to make sure the readers get the point that being a normal human being is wrong!

Celebs are not 'allowed' to grow old, their mask of gorgeousness is not allowed to slip. We are fed this message constantly in the magazines that we spend our money on, we lap it up and it is big business. So what choice do these celebs have but to put it all 'on hold' quite literally?

Well, they could just say ‘sod it take your photos and to hell with you’ but (sadly) in the youth obsessed culture in which our film and music stars exist, this could have huge implications for their bank balances…

We (and I use the term lightly with reference to my own media purchases) could stop buying into this message, stop buying the mags that tout this obsession, stop looking at the pictures on-line… Just stop! But (sadly) this is not likely either and the media moguls know it.

The sad truth is that this message will go on – it is too big a business for too many people for it to stop. The public are too hooked on the idea of celebs being picture perfect at all times for it to stop. The celebs themselves, perhaps, are too hooked on looking ‘young’ for it to stop.

There are some battles you just can’t win in life – this is one of those for me. I think it is wrong. I think it is unhealthy. I think it is immoral and I think it is cruel in many ways, but I won’t lose sleep over it – that does cause wrinkles and I don’t want any of those, now do I?

Trolley cases on the streets should be banned

I have recently noticed an alarming proliferation in the attack of the trolley-cases.

Now, don’t get me wrong, a trolley-case has its benefits and in the right environment is an asset to the puller-alonger. No group of cabin crew parading through an airport would be complete without these accessories, but a busy street full of pedestrians is not the right environment. Especially when these cases are almost invariably pulled slightly to the side of the pedestrian-owner, thereby making their pavement requirement bigger …

There is something of an unspoken, but ongoing, mobile stand-off between the normal bi-pedal pedestrian and one armed with this pulled appendage – who will give way first?

Will the unarmed pedestrian alter their course to make way for the advancing threat of the two wheeled, extended handled trolley-case pulled along by the ‘very important can’t you see how much stuff I have to carry’ business person or the ‘I’ve been to far flung shores and all I took was this capsule wardrobe’ seasoned traveller?

Today in London on the short walk between Kings Cross and Euston railway stations, I found myself facing what seemed like hoards of these damn cases – some pulled by smart suited corporate types, many pulled by errant tourists.

Now London is a nightmare to walk around at the best of times unless you are happy to potter along at tourist pace or simply barge through the throng ‘a la’ the seasoned London commuter – but when the trolley-case is thrown into the mix (along with the everyday hazards of bicycles and pushchairs) the nightmare becomes an epic, fraught with the danger of crushed toes and/or bashed shins – so today I took a stand (or more accurately a walk) not to give way to these pavement menaces.

At one point, when in an imminent stand-off situation with a female corporate trolley-case puller, where there was one stretch of pavement available between us, a railing and an Evening Standard kiosk, it took nerves of steel to hold her off – but then I am made of stern stuff. She glared at me, I smiled back cheerfully said ‘thank you’ and pushed on past with gleeful purpose… I felt her loathing for me as I went by but I worried not. 

A tourist pulling a Burberry patterned variety of trolley-case was next, I wanted to bear right as I crossed the road, the tourist was coming across the road on a diagonal collision course with me. Again I smiled and kept walking in a straight line, again the trolley-case was defeated… 

I found this 'walk-and-smile' tactic works in general - although in London I am probably viewed as best avoided anyway, given I am smiling randomly as I walk along :-)

I do realise this is all rather petty of me, but it kept me entertained on my walk to the train today and stopped me getting aggravated at the general annoyance of trying to walk on our capitals streets. No wonder there is a 'limo-lifestyle' for those who can afford it, you might get stuck in traffic but your Louboutins won't be damaged by a toe-vs-trolley-case incident on your way to the Ivy.

The upshot of all of this is that, along with my thoughts on umbrellas on crowded streets, I have decided that commuting in the classic sense is a dangerous undertaking, so far fewer people should do it allowing me to get to work safely… There you go David Cameron, another reason to increase the number of people out of work – commuting for those left with jobs would be safer and you might just also save the NHS (or what’s left of it) some cash too…

Everyone has an egg timer with their name on it...

...just ask Terry Pratchett! I am a great believer in fate and for those of you who do not read Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, the egg timer referenced in the title of this blog will mean very little, but is symbolic of my view that whilst you have every opportunity to make the most of your time on this planet of ours, that time is measured and when it runs out, there is not an awful lot you can do about it.

On Discworld, DEATH has a room full of egg timers, each with a name on it and when the sand runs out in any one of those devices, HE is waiting...

The events of recent days, with the Costa Concordia that is making global news and the myriad local news stories that will have been part of your lives wherever you read this, support the view that when your time is up, it's up. 

Every day people survive events other people die in - be they of natures making in tsunamis or avalanches or man made in terrorist attacks, car crashes or cruise ships sinking - and those survivors are left asking "why?” Some people survive medical conditions to defy the doctors or walk away from a snapping bungee cord, why? because it was not their time to die. Their egg timer still had sand in it.

Whether you choose to believe it is a higher being making these life and death decisions, a random set of events that create the opportunity for death to step in, or your egg timer running out of sand, is entirely up to you. 

I believe that accepting the end will come gives you the opportunity to make the most of the time you have.

That need not be in a humanity-saving, global news-worthy way - just by being the best human being you can be, you make your presence on this planet a positive one. When a colleague is having a bad day, make them a cuppa, next time you catch someone’s eye randomly in the street, give them a smile - after all you never know when your egg timer will run out of sand, so you might as well finish up with a smile on your face if you possibly can :-)

Take your weather with you...

Crowded House sang about it and in these days of January Blues I thought I would share a life lesson I learnt a few years back - there is only one person responsible for your reaction to any life event and that is yourself. 

You make your own 'weather' so "Always take the weather with you" and make it a sunny day!

Simple eh?... No, OK well think of it this way;

When did you last say / think / rant(!) "Oh I can't stand XXX anymore he/she/it drives me mad!"

Now consider - who is it getting "mad"? It is you and only you, so simply decide not to get "mad" next time he/she/it behaves in that way or does that thing - decide on another reaction and carry it out. Make it sunny, rather than cloudy. Honestly you'll be amazed at the results.

I know you're probably thinking 'yaddy yaddy yadda" - "whatever" - "self help mumbo jumbo!" and such like and (to be honest) I did too, until I tried it.

At the time I had a boss I (quite literally) hated - and that's a pretty strong emotion to be dealing with for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week - it was exhausting and eventually made me ill. 

A very wise (and coincidentally very rich) man who was linked to the company I worked for said to me "own your own reactions, don't let yourself get so wound up, try a different tack". 

"Ha!" thought I, "you know nothing old man"... but then I pondered - who was it being made ill by it all? Me. Who was it using up their emotion and living with all that stress? Me. What was I getting out of this situation? Lots of migraines and a very grumpy working life. Did I want to go on like this? No.

So next time I felt my stress levels rising at the presence of my boss, I made myself respond differently - I smiled at him, I acquiesced to his request for whatever it was and I did it - even though I still thought what he had asked me to do was wrong, I decided "he's the boss, his decision". He knew how I felt and my thoughts, he had decided differently - so what? his neck on the block, not mine.

There is another saying "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got", so try to change what you do and I'm pretty sure you'll get something different as a result... and hopefully it will be better.

Once you've tried it you'll never go back - I still get wound-up, I still get cross, occasionally violence springs to mind as a viable reaction (!) but (honestly) I choose when something's worth the argument, I decide when to take on the fight and - more importantly - I decide when not to.

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal to throw at someone else - you are the only one sure to be burnt"

Seriously? Have you heard yourselves?

This has been some week for our esteemed political leaders from all parties to show just how antiquated and out of touch with reality and the world we, the normal people, live in they are (BTW, what is 'normal'?.. probably a rant for another day) : 

Diane Abbott caused offence by tweeting about white people loving to play divide and rule - not aware of the rules of that game myself, am I missing something Diane? Oh, sorry, you linked it 'colonialism' didn't you, and then said it was taken out of context... Hang on - you put it in the context, on your own twitter feed, so who exactly is to blame for this one?... Hmmmmmm

David Cameron described heckling by Ed Balls as "like having someone with Tourette's sitting opposite you" - because you would use that analogy wouldn't you? Oh, no? you wouldn't?? Right, no, nor would I actually.

Mr Cameron was describing Prime Ministers Question time in a newspaper interview - you know, that televised and heavily orchestrated event that takes place each week in which the Government and opposition ask pre-agreed questions of the Prime Minister to try to show the nation just how good or bad the Government is... Really Mr Cameron, if you don't know how it works yet, maybe you should reconsider your career?

Ed Miliband of course could not even get a tribute to Bob Holness right - it was "Blockbusters" Ed, not "Blackbusters" – I dread to think what Diane Abbott thought of that gaff...

So what lessons can politicians learn from this? 

Firstly, they should stop tweeting - simple as that, because clearly when not constrained by their parties media and communications teams vetting their every word, they cannot be trusted.

Secondly, they should stick to the script. I am betting that Mr Cameron knew the questions he would be asked by the journalist who interviewed him for the Sunday Telegraph and I am betting he had help in devising answers too - but then he decided to ad lib and add a hint of (inappropriate) jocularity into proceddings and it all went wrong...

Finally, they should learn that in a time when those of us working for both public and privately owned organisations do so within bounds of common decency and respect for our colleagues and the wider community, we expect the same from our politicians. If they fail to live up to that expectation, they should face the same disciplinary measures as we would plus a damn good metaphorical thrashing from the press - after-all, they chose to do the job they do and the consequences of getting it wrong.

Sorry Jessie Jackson – but you’re wrong...

Today the two men convicted of the murder of Stephen Lawrence have been sentenced.

This is something of a victory for both the Lawrence family, who have seen a degree of justice at last for the loss of Stephen 18 years ago and also for the Metropolitan Police who have finally delivered some justice in this case.

So for Jesse Jackson, on a visit to the Occupy group based near St Pauls Cathedral, to say that the length of the prison sentences given out "cheapens black life" is simply not helpful, or (to my mind) relevant. According to reports he added that "justice delayed is justice denied".

The sentences given out were the longest the judge could give. Mrs Doreen Lawrence, acting with her ongoing grace and dignity, recognised that fact and thanked the judge for what he had done. Everyone knows this has taken too long and been down too many blind legal alleys in the last 18 years. This is nothing new - Jesse Jackson comes in with his two penn’oth worth and adds what? Only more angst to an already terribly sad set of circumstances ...

The sentences do not cheapen any life – they are what they are and all that they can be.

Some people never achieve justice for the crimes committed against them or their family members, but we don’t hear about them in the same way we have heard about Stephen. This is not a good thing, but it is the truth.

So Jesse Jackson, go back to the USA and sort out the justice system for people – all people black or white – there. Look at what goes on in New York or Washington DC or any other US city in terms of fair and equal justice for the communities there. Fix that, then come back and tell us how we can make it better, don’t just throw negatives out there for the sake of column inches.

The UK is not perfect but every reasonable person recognises that the travesty of justice that was the Stephen Lawrence case has been learned from. To deny that cheapens what the Lawrence family and all their supporters have achieved.

Rhianna has a lot to answer for...

People of the West Midlands (and probably other places too) please be aware that in windy conditions where precipitation is also present, umbrellas are not advisable.
The normal umbrella-on-a-crowded-street scenario where heads in general and eyes in particular are at risk of being damaged by wayward umbrella spikes is made more dangerous by the tendencies of these devices to develop a mind of their own in windy conditions. And this is not helped by the seemingly mainly incompetent humans carrying the damn things...
I can only presume that these people feel the umbrella adds something of 'Rhianna' to their look for the day at the office - they are wrong.
Seriously people - your hair do is not worth the costs to the NHS and you ain't no Rhianna - wear a hat!

Had better days, but the party was worth it!

Oh dear - 2012 has started with me spending much of it's first day unable to move far from a bathroom...
The plan for New Years Eve was to go to Birmingham and spend the evening with family and friends, but alas no Mr D as he was working (boo hiss). It passed off well - the music played, the wine flowed and the dancing got worse as the evening got later. Midnight was 'bonged' in by Big Ben and we sang auld lang syne with gusto. All-in-all a good show. Then we got to my big brov's house and opened the port - it seemed like a good idea at the time!
On first waking this morning I thought I'd got away with it - just a bit of a sore head. I got up, had some water went back to bed.
Second awakening was less successful and entailed a chat with God on the big white telephone - it was to be an ongoing conversation throughout the day.


The plan for today was less of a success... I was supposed to get dropped at a train station and then wend my way home courtesy of my train pass. 
Didn't happen.
Eventually I gave up all thought of coping with train travel and sent Mr D a text requesting a collection service. Big Brov took me to Hopwood Services on the M42 (with just a short stop to talk to god at the roadside and a very quick exit at the services - my sincere apologies to the people who walked past me conversing with god yet again, but for the last time) and Mr D brought me home. He is a true hero :-)
A Geophizz Bath Bomb from Lush and an isotonic drink set me up for jama's and a quilt on the sofa - welcome to 2012!!