MY Word

Christmas will soon be upon us!

I have posted two packages today, thought it was safer to do so now that the postal system is fully back to normal, (whatever that is). I have more to do yet, and I have every intention of keeping them as light as possible, to keep post costs very much down.

One child's gift was resolved today. Rather than put the present away, I got on with wrapping the two items, which are snugly sitting in a "Ho.Ho." Santa designed carrier bag (recycled from last year).

The trouble is, if I post the UK gifts too early, I know for sure that some of them will be opened just that bit too soon. It means therefore, I can't make space just yet, I shall have to hold on to the items. They'll definitely go about the end of this month - November.

I still have a few items to find. I have absolutely no idea what to do about them; I hope inspiration will suddenly surprise me.

Depending which side you were on, a person was either labelled a freedom fighter or a terrorist. In that regard, we have just been paying annual homage to Guy Fawkes with the usual pyrotechnic displays, officially centred on a bonfire with an effigy on it, called a 'Guy'. No prizes for guessing why. These days what are we celebrating?

The French don't ritually burn Jeanne D'Arc - who died at the stake - every year. But, we ritually ignite a long forgotten character who had every intention of blowing up the mother of all parliament's together with all who sat in her chamber, including the king.

Nowadays, November the 5th is just an excuse to brighten up dark nights with a bonfire, buy and let off a few bangers sparklers and any other gunpowder designs in a firework. Who understands or bothers with;

"Please to remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot".

Dear GPS

You are the guide for people wandering into the unknown. Much faith is placed in your ability, the prowess to lead the unwary. There is such trust that even the simplest of directions, offered by a person, (rather than an electronic device) is declined in preference to you. You have developed like an extra skin attached to homo sapiens ... "Me and my GPS will find it, it will get me there". When have I heard " Me and my partner will find it, we'll get there. " In truth, I have not.

M

Things happen in threes. There are some events that I would rather not happen, not even in threes. The frustrating thing is, we usually do not have control over the happenings that occur in threes, they just happen.

This week has been a case in point. On Tuesday I received two notifications;

One was of the death of a beloved pet, a fabulous great dane, a gentle giant, a king of canines. I was most honoured, as this dog, who had a huge inside 'house/nest' invited me, on one occasion, to sit with him in it. I did decline and made a huge fuss of him instead. On another visit, dog also bared his tummy for tickles, not a feature of all his human contacts. He was a great character and will be sorely missed by his people and their friends.

My next note was from a friend to say she was bereaved, her mother had died. Though not unexpected, it is usually a shock and a huge loss.

Today, we had our day planned, nothing too strenuous. On leaving the dentist, twenty miles away from home, hubby received a call from a close relative who was about to be boarded into an ambulance. The good thing about this was that we were on the right side of the county and were able to meet the ambulance at the general hospital.

I've been racking my brains in case there's been another threesome this week of a different sort. So far, we are up to two domestic appliance breakdowns; with one, a repair has been done, the bill has yet to be received. Just in case, I think I shall take superstition by the horns and break the spells. The domestic issues can stop at two. I've decided, that in this instance, three's a crowd! So, while it is fresh in my mind, I shall depart this blog and do what has to be done.

There seems to be a shower of cameras scrolling the listings of blog. I am sure I previously saw two or three 'blogs' for a different make to the ones I saw tonight.

Talk about selling opportunities, if that's what these "reviews" are. It seems the perpetrators of the information just cannot use the usual marketing sites. At least though, the snippets of information appear to be written in our universal tongue, rather than gobbledygook. I would prefer it, if blog sites were spam free. That is, of course, like seeking Utopia...a dream!

I've been thinking about the parents in America who acted out accidentally sending their youngest son off in un-piloted flight in a silver saucer-shaped air balloon.

The child had been 'hiding' in the house loft for several hours while the charade was being acted out, while it was filmed and the alarm being raised with the emergency authorities, including the police. The happy families game was then paraded before the media cameras with the youngest child evidently miserable, sitting on the lap of one of his parents, saying he wanted to go that he wanted to vomit.

The parents, who are trained actors, have set stunts before to publicize themselves, though, I believe the stunts were not quite at the level of this one. Following investigation, these hedonistic adults have admitted wasting everyone's time and are now being charged with offences.

What I have not heard, is anything said about the psychological cruelty that has been inflicted on to the youngest child, the poor parenting that has been demonstrated by these morally deficient individuals. I believe this family are worthy of closer examination by the child welfare organisations in America. I hope that not hearing anything about it, does not mean this aspect of the parents' performance has been neglected by the public child protection agencies.

As the door opened you could hear a droning, five...four...three...two... then the door shut before the final number was counted. The shop mail was hastily placed on the reception counter and the flustered-looking postman rushed out, without even a greeting to the staff in the shop. The urgency was to get back to the delivery van, press the off switch before the count of 'one' was complete.

The post delivery round is in a remote rural area, covering various villages and their businesses, the businesses get priority for the morning delivery over domestic post. No doubt, the postman had to get to the other villages and businesses on the route, each time, being counted out of his van with the individual deliveries and then being counted back. No two places have their counters or mail boxes in the same place.

Five seconds is a hellish and unrealistic time scale to work to per mail drop. What if it is not possible to park the van, (leaving the engine running for quick departure, which is illegal) close to where the mail needs to go. The postman is forced to double park as close as he can get. Other road users be damned! What if the conditions underfoot are slippery? We tend to have very inclement conditions; it can be icy in Winter; if there is a gale blowing, a regular feature of our climate, that can be another obstacle to timed speed deliveries. It is, in my view a recipe for an accident, it is also a recipe for developing, amongst other things, health problems.

Research undertaken by Cardiff University on a sample of 121 patients who have had major surgery, (because of cancer of the pancreas, stomach or oesophagus)has shown that feeding via tubes has speeded up recovery times. Apart from benefiting patient welfare, this research will also be attractive because of its potential cost savings.

In the past it was believed that introducing nourishment to such patients would hamper recovery. It was commonplace for there to be nil by mouth or fasting for up to ten days post-operatively.

What a thought. Patients would have to be selected for a strong constitution to survive that level of nourishment deficiency.

In the process of [disproving] the old theory, the Cardiff team introduced feeding by tube into the intestines, then observed and measured the results. Recovery times shortened as much as by three days.

I can't help but think, on a lay level you understand, that anyone deprived of balanced nourishment at a time when they are medically, highly vulnerable on many fronts, would physically struggle to overcome such a major trauma. Common sense has always supported 'keeping up your strength'. It's not just an adage is it. I am pleased that the deprivation theory has been challenged and found wanting.

Today, when there are so many medical techniques available that did not exist previously, it would not surprise me to see other older theories re-examined. A cautionary note though, unless the bottom line can be satisfied in some way, it could be much more difficult for a new process to develop, irrespective of how medically successful it might be.

I was away for a couple of nights, in Scotland. The differences in the standards of the accommodation were notable. The formal 3* hotel room that was reserved for me was totally underwhelming. It was sub-standard. The floorboards sounded and felt like you would walk through them to the joists. Once upon a time, the floor covering had been a carpet. The bathroom presented a scalding opportunity. I was grateful the single bed was comfortable. The heat in the room was unbearable, hot pipes to other floors 'travelled' through it. As I was tired I did get some sleep.

The hotel breakfast coffee was like tar and allowed to set like it. I was told breakfast was an either/or; that is, either continental or cooked. The natural smoked haddock, for me, was by far the best breakfast option.

In the next place I had booked myself into a 3* (Scottish Tourist Board) B&B hotel. Here, I had a bigger room, mostly taken up by a really comfortable double bed. It was clean and the décor was fresh. For sitting in, the room was a pleasant warmth, for sleeping in, it proved too hot. In the early hours though, I half awoke, feeling cold, and needing to put on more bed covers. I hope I don't get a chill.

Breakfast was being taken quietly and intently by all the other guests. The only sounds were that of cutlery in use as they dug into the continental and cooked foods on offer. You helped yourself to the filter coffee and what a pleasant cuppa it was to start the day.

Neither place had porridge on the menu. It is as if there is a fear to present Scotland's national breakfast cereal in Scotland. True, I once got a lump of spikey looking dough in a bowl at one place where I stayed. I hear via the grapevine, those B&B people have transformed their skills in porridge-making. With today's almost instant varieties, that should not be a difficult level to aspire to.

It defies belief. Maybe not for the organisation I have in mind. Happily, I shall not be requiring too much of them in the future, it is obviously too taxing for them to get things right.

Wouldn't you expect that when you check your banking online, (there are times when it is unavoidable) you would be able to see a statement that at least was bang up to date, with a 'today'. The site I visited tonight, all very bright and snazzy, like wearing a fur coat and no knickers, just could not do it.

It did not matter how hard I tried, for the one account, the best information I could bring up, was up to early October. One other type of account gave me today's details. If they can do it for one, why not the other? They have received a polite but patronising email from me. I wish they would be less interested in sub-headings for their emails and get their main act together.

Small apples are often better the bigger apple of their type for juiciness and flavour, the Cox apple which we only see for a very short time, being an example of this. The packs of little apples on the shop shelf - sadly not Cox's - looked like a good alternative to the non-existent Cox. I would need two bags because of the size of the apples. I checked the price, thought they would be okay, and then thought again. I wondered what the total weight of the purchase would be, so, went in search of weighing scales and weighed the pack.

Twenty per cent difference...never! I studied the pre-wrapped wee apples, about six of them in the bag, that were now sitting on the scales. I weighed them again, just in case I had misread the dial. The fruits really were perfectly formed, they were also very small. Each bag was a fixed price of £1.35p.

Just below the pre-packed apples, on another shelf, the same apple was sold loose. These were larger pieces of fruit priced at £1.37p per kilo. The pre-packed bag of small apples weighed 800grms. The loose apples I could weigh up to the kilo,and obtain the weight value.

There is so much shopping psychology at play today, which to a large extent relies on people who do not take the time to make comparisons.

An automated gizmo called 'links within' refers people to other articles they might wish to read, rather like the 'more interesting posts' feature on blog.

You can understand my bemusement after I had written up a description of a screwed up family to see that there were three photographs of links referring readers to further reading, as follows:

"You might also like"

A flood in full flow, depicting a drowning flower head;
A bleak coastal scene; or
A pawing bull amongst a herd of cows.

This is worthy of analysis.

It is less known that the Vikings enjoyed cultural interests and a Christian faith. St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney, is testament to it. From what we are told of our ancient history, the Vikings were warrior seafarers, indeed their striking double- ended long-ships together with the warriors' cone shaped helmets, are often seen as emblems of Viking aggression.

Fittingly, today, Sunday 11th October 2009, a memorial service took place in St Magnus Cathedral, the early construction of which, is Viking. The service was in memory to the crew of the HMS Royal Oak, who, like the Viking's before them, were at sea, but as warriors to defend the UK. in World War 2.

There were over 1000 men on board HMS Royal Oak on the 14th October 1939, when the ship was hit twice by torpedoes fired from a German U-boat in Scapa Flow, Orkney. The carnage amounted to 833 crew dead. About 400 crew were saved, many burned and badly injured. The ship is now one of a number wrecks below the clear waters of the North Atlantic and is a maritime grave.

Earlier this year I visited St Magnus Cathedral and spent quiet contemplation time at the memorial plaque, erected with respect and in honour of the crew, in particular, those who lost their lives on the 14th October 1939. So many young valuable lives extinguished in one fell swoop. Trying to comprehend the horrors of warfare, any kind, was, and still is, hard. These men and boys suffered, drowned, like many did, in World War 2.

Subsequently, what are known as the Churchill Barriers, were built to keep out enemy boats of any kind. The block ships, (wrecks) that were used as blockades, were proved to be inadequate by the U47 getting past them and sinking the Roal Oak. The Churchill Barriers, which have proper roads built upon them, have linked some of the smaller Orkney Islands to the main island. It took a war to do it. Prior to their war time construction, the main island was reached mainly by small boats, weather permitting.

War, so horrible an event, often produces innovation that can be used peacefully. In this case the conjoining of the small islands to the Orkney mainland is one of those peaceful and innovative outcomes that has occurred, as a result of the sinking of HMS Royal Oak and the heavy loss of life that day.

While sharing a lunch time with a business friend, we touched on the subject of these interminable political party conferences. To my utter surprise,she said her husband was "fed up with the lot of them, they were all the same, equally as bad"... and, she continued, he wasn't going to bother to vote for anyone come the general election. This business man is considered to be clear-headed. When he decides he's had enough of all-comers, alarm bells need to be ringing. The lady was also taken aback by this. She felt it was her duty to vote. The voting choices apart, for women, she said, obtaining the franchise of the vote was a hard fought right, one that should not be easily relinquished. Many women make the same observation.

'The common man' did not always have the franchise of a vote in the UK. With limitations, that right was given in 1884. Universal male suffrage was given in 1918 when all men over the age of 21 were given the vote. The current voting age is eighteen.

It might be that men are not so aware of the history of gaining their right to vote, their enfranchisement. It is by no means the first time I have heard men choosing to not use their voting power. Some make it sound like a positive virtue not to do so. It would be interesting to know the public gender breakdown of votes caste in elections. If men were better informed on how they acquired their right to vote, would it make any difference?