Things I read – #1 – Focus Magazine

Focus Magazine is published by the BBC and is a science and technology monthly.

It keeps you up to date with news from around the world on anything interesting or ground breaking. Has features on all sorts of topics, interviews with and analysis by leading experts, reviews of various media and comparison tests of gadgets.

My favourite section is the Q & A. Each moth experts try to answer all sorts of odd and/or interesting questions i.e Why do mirrors revers left to right and not up and down? Could humans ever evolve wings? Is age an illness?

All this is done in simple, plain english. You do not need to be an expert to understand any of it and any jargon used is explained simply.

It’s in informative and enjoyable read that educates and entertains at the same time.

 

I Know It’s Not Real!

On Friday night my partner and I went to The Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle to watch the WWE Wrestlemania Revenge Tour.

I know, it’s quite sad. But I have been watching american wrestling ever since we first had cable TV back when I was a teenager, and before that the old World of Sport saturday afternoon specials as a kid. Remember them? Big Daddy? Giant Haystacks? Kendo Nagasaki? Old grannies waving their hanbags and shouting abuse at the wrestlers?

It’s the third time I have seen it live and this time was just as enjoyable as the other two. I think it’s great to see the stars I have watched on TV for years in real life. You appreciate how big they are and how they interact with the crowds. They make it a great spectacle and I thoroughly enjoy it.

Cats v Dogs

I’ve been brought up in a cat family. My parents have had cats as I was growing up until quite recently. My sister had four for a while. A lot of my friends have also got cats.

So it was a bit of a change for me when I moved in with my partner who has 2 dogs. This has recently increased to three due to an illness of her mother.

In general I think I have adapted quite well to dogs. I’ve enjoyed having to take them for walks and had fun wrestling them etc. It’s even been quite interesting learning why they do the things they do i.e. walking in circles before they lie down harks back to trampling the grass when they used to live in the wild.

This swinging over to the dogs side of the argument stopped this afternoon after my children and I took all three dogs onto the moors for a long walk. Pendle, the hairiest of the three, decided it would be a good idea to roll in a cow pat!

I think we should swap all three for cats now after bathing the dog, then cleaning the bathroom, then cleaning myself and putting my clothes and towels in the washing.

 

Campaign for Real English

I read the following news story in amazement last week….

- – - A teenager reportedly ended up with a cabinet instead of a taxi because she asked directory inquiries for a “cab, innit”.

According to The Sun, the Londoner, 19, wanted a taxi to take her to Bristol airport, and first used the Cockney rhyming slang “Joe Baxi”.

When the operator told her she couldn’t find anyone by that name, the teen replied: “It ain’t a person, it’s a cab, innit.”

The operator then found the nearest cabinet shop, Displaysense, and put the girl through.

She then spoke to a bemused saleswoman and eventually demanded: “Look love, how hard is it? All I want is your cheapest cab, innit. I need it for 10am. How much is it?”

The sales adviser said it would be £180 and the girl gave her address and paid with a credit card. The next morning, an office cabinet was delivered to her South London home.

The firm, of Bishop’s Stretford, Hers, has now apologised and refunded her cash after the mix-up two weeks ago.

Marketing manager Steve Whittle said: “We thought it was a joke at first but the girl was absolutely livid. We have suggested that maybe she should speak a bit clearer on the phone.”  – - -

I mean, c’mon! How hard is it to use proper english and real words for a 30 second conversation? We all have accents and we all use local slang, but please, you have to be able to switch it on and off to get your point across, surely!!

Phoenix from the Ashes

I went to see a good friend of mine today. She has been allowed to leave hospital for a few hours and go home as she is on the mend from quite a harrowing ordeal.

I’ve known her for almost 10 years and met her as she used to child-mind my children when they were younger and I used to live with them and their mother. My ex and I introduced her to her partner as he is one of my oldest friends from school and was actually one of my best men at my wedding.

They have lived together for a few years now, along with her 2 children from an earlier marriage who are the same ages as my own.

My friend had to go to a local hospital the week before last for a simple ‘procedure’. This would involve her going in and coming out the same day with just a little discomfort.

However, during this ’simple procedure’, the doctor accidentily burned my friends colon in a few places. To correct this, her simple procedure turned into major surgery as they had to find the burned pieces of colon, cut them out and re-attach the colon together.

As she recovered from this operation she became very ill. A portion of the burned colon had been missed. This had ruptured and the bile etc from her digestive system had leaked inside of her and begun to poison her.

Her body had begun to ’shut down’ and she was put on machines to keep her heart beating, lungs breathing and liver working corrctly. Her partner, my good friend, was even asked if she was religious and whether she would need a priest!!!!

That was the lowest moment and I am glad to say that, little by little, she was able to fight back against the poisons and slowly regain her strength. She is now up and about, although slowly and tentatively, and as mentioned earlier has been allowed to go home for a few hours.

I, along with all of her friends and everyone else who knows her, am so glad that she was able to pull through and start to get healthy again. She is only a small woman but has such a very large heart. I have never seen her really angry, mean spirited or spiteful. I have always been greeted with a warm smile and can talk about and laugh about almost anything with her. Everyone who I know who knows her agrees with me that she is a wonderful person and it would have been a much sadder world without her.

Dr Who

I must thank Dr Who for saving Saturday night TV for me, my family and extended family.

It is the only program that is currently on TV that we all look forward to and all sit down at the same time to enjoy. From our youngest (5) to the oldest (me, 35), we all get a load of enjoyment from it at different levels. The young’uns get scared and excited. The older children get more of the humour and the intrigue of the longer storylines. Us adults enjoy the show just as much but enjoy the family getting together more.

It certainly takes me back to when I was younger and would sit with my Mam, Dad and Sister to watch Tom Baker take on the tin foil Cybermen.

Of course we all watch other TV together too. But I get very bored quickly of most of kids TV (except some cartoons!) and the kids don’t appreciate a lot of my sci-fi programs and sport!

More fool them…….!

 

Trying hard not to be a Geek

Starting this blog is just another nail in the coffin for my ‘I’m not getting into all that tecno geeky stuff’ stance.

I started many moons ago when I eventually got a mobile phone.

I had fought against it for a very long time. My logic still stands….I spend most of my life at either home or work. Both of these places have a phone and I am easily contactable. If I’m not at these places, I’m either out socialising or I’m commuting. In both cases i probably don’t want to talk to you.

Still, I got a nice little Seimens phone, God forbid I get a Nokia like everyone else!, in case of emergencies. The use of my long list of phones (still no Nokias) has increased to the point of it being constantly at my side, even using it as my morning alarm clock. I don’t use my phone to its full potential, but that will probably change along with admitting I’m a geek wannabe.

Next up came the internet…….sigh

Along with the obvious benefits the internet provides, I can catagorically state that it was a major player in the disintergration of my relationship with my kids’ mother. No, I didn’t get caught doing bad things on it!

In my evolution as a potential geek it did lead to e-mails, hot-mail, chat rooms, internet dating and then Facebook.

I do admit that I really enjoy Facebook. Its helped me get in contact with some old friends who I would have never ran into ever again. I also enjoy the daft little games that you can compete against people on.

Plus…..I’ve even started to Twitter. I don’t know why. I can’t find anyone worth following that I can’t just speak to at work!

And now a blog…………I’m doomed!

 

Hello world!

Although the title was given I think its quite appropriate.

Helloooooo :O