Mumble mumble

Poorly, not playing today.

Tired, going to bed early.

[waves]

night night.........

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Blog Fodder #9

woo hoo! I'm on time this week!!

This week’s topic was submitted by none other than Rob, over at My Bloddy Great Nutshell. Go on over and say hi to Rob.

Name a sensory input(s) which trigger a mood change be it uplifting, depressing, poignancy or remind you of a past event or period in time. Examples - the smell of an aftershave or perfume, a song, a baby crying, the sound of a vegas slot machine, the feel of clean sheets, the taste of a childhood drink.

Would it be cheating to say a song? Yeah, thought so.......

OK, sensory input........hmm........other than the usual stuff, it would be the word hearing the word 'pigeon'.

'Pigeon'.

My stepfather is Polish and my mother taught herself to make several Polish dishes to please her husband - and we liked them too!

One of my very favourites was 'Gołąbki'; a hearty traditional Polish dish consisting of boiled cabbage leaves stuffed with ground beef, chopped onions, and rice, baked in a spicy tomato sauce.

We called them by their other name golumpki.

OK, fair enough - so where do the pigeons come into it?

Time for a Polish lesson:

Gołąbki is a plural form of gołąbek.

Gołąb means pigeon, and gołąbek is a diminutive of it.

Hence 'Little Pigeons'.

In spite of its meaning, it isn't made from pigeon's meat!

And when I went vegetarian, my mother even made me vegetarian golumpki!!

Looking for pictures, I found not only pictures - but a recipe and instructions on this blog!!

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Decisions, decisions.......

Well, wasn't I the irrational bunny last night? Mind you, I was extremely annoyed that I was forced into switching....

I had already come home early from work and cancelled several appointments because I wasn't well, and all I wanted to do was post a blog, but Blogger decided it was time for me to switch! So, I was unhappy, to say the least.

I will have to think what to do with the cats' blog. Delete it, keep it going under my account, or open them their own account.

As mentioned by Mrs A and Jean Luc - Wordpress is an option, but it won't accept a hotmail email address. So to get Wordpress, I would have to create yet *another* account somewhere else.........

btw - oh, I was definitely ill last night as I woke in the middle of the night with a roaring temperature and my skin felt like it was on fire. Remnants of the gastric flu. I think. That lasted most of the night and I ended up in the spare room.

Very, very tired this morning...........

Oh - what was I going to post about last night? Just a cute thing I got in my email box. My Member of Parliament (MP) is a very nice local chap, cares about his constituency and I always vote for him....and now - the man has a blog! Yep, my MP has a Blog! Not only does he have a blog, but he has it open for comments!! I have a *very* cool MP....

Saturday afternoon and I am sitting immersed in what is possibly one of the greatest movies ever made - Steel Magnolias.

Dolly, Sally, Olympia and Shirley are absolutely wonderful as the four beautiful but strong Southern women - not to mention the *gorgeous* Tom Skerritt as Drum Eatenton.

All this wonderful Southern wisdom - excellent.

One of my favourite quotes : 'Ouiser, you know I love you more than my luggage'...

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stupid STUPID Blogger!!!!!!!!!

Forcing me into switching.....telling me everything was fine nothing was going to change.....I didn't even WANT to change......

And my feckin' profile is wrong!!!!!!!!!! How feckin' basic is THAT change!! And I can't even leave a COMMENT as myself!!!!

I am NOT my cats............!

Well, I am for blogging reasons.....but NOT here......

Stupid, STUPID blogger....now I'm gonna have to spend hours working out how to put this right!!

[copies and pastes into email, sends to blogger]

update: ok - changed the profile to something more 'me' for now - except the Britcats also now have me as their profile.......!!

Update 2: CRUD!!
'A single Blogger account can only have a single profile, so if you have multiple blogs that need different profiles, you may want to put them on different accounts.'
Yeah right, like 'nothing is gonna change' - it's gonna take forever to sort this out, work out what to do - tempted to just bin the lot.

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[yep honestly. me]

Blog Fodder #7 and #8

Again, time is running away without me, so you get two for one......


Karen over at Write from Karen, was the author of #7 Fodder which was a really good one. Be sure and visit Karen and send her some sunshine while you are there.

Which is more important, intelligence or common sense?

Having this question is kind of a coincidence, as it is very similar to one of the questions on the Myers Briggs psychometric test I completed today ready for a work event. Hmm - intelligence or common sense? In an ideal world they are both equally important, but if I had to choose (and I did today!) I would say common sense.

And this week’s topic is brought you to you by Melonie, over at The Joy of Being Melonie.

How does one handle work, home and family (or a combination thereof) without having a nervous breakdown?

Hmm - this is not a challenge for me as I am unable to have children, so no 'family' as such. Just MB (who is reasonably able to look after himself - and me, if necessary!) and two cats who are very low maintenance. I do most of my chores over the weekend, so I am ready for Monday with no outstanding laundry and so on. Years gone by, I looked after families, children, job etc etc. To be honest, I don't know how I did it. But I guess it's like most things; needs must. You try to organise, employ shortcuts, delegate, learn to exist without sleep.....

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Poorly Blogger

I have been poorly.

Real throwing everything up poorly.

I woke up yesterday with a bad tummy and then spent all day sipping water and periodically emptying my stomach. Add a temperature and no food, and I was ill!

It's 5am now and I am awake. I am horribly thirsty and incredibly hungry [sips plain water]. The temperature is still kicking around (prickly skin) and my kidneys are starting to wonder why they have been made redundant.

But with my stomach still doing somersaults, I'm thinking it wouldn't be wise to fill it just yet.

5am - what a bitch........

Update:
7am - went to work, because I had two meetings first thing. Then struggled with some basic errands.

1pm - left work in quite a bit of pain. My stomach was strained and very painful. and I've even pulled muscles in my back. One of my bosses said I did look rather white.

6pm - first meal in 48 hours. Just plain mashed potato with basted sprout and onion and a bit of gravy to stop it getting too dry. Nothing too much of a challenge, no complicated proteins. Let's see how that stays down.

I really HATE being sick.....

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Request Time

Naomi has requested more commercial footage....remember, the British don't like to be told to buy something - so how do you indirectly convince them to purchase your product??

Entertain them!

Here is a commercial guaranteed to make me smile........enjoy!!

For Vauxhall in the UK - This advert took Glassworks 10 weeks of 3D and Flame work to complete.



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Wow Effect!!

Bobkat posted about an advert that caught her attention.

Oddly enough, my visually favourite advert is for the same product - kudos to their advertising company!!

Sony Bravia
This TV ad - featuring massive paint explosions - took 10 days and 250 people to film. Huge quantities of paint were needed to accomplish this, which had to be delivered in 1 tonne trucks and mixed on-site by 20 people.
The effect was stunning, but afterwards a major clean-up operation was required to clear away all that paint!
The cleaning took 5 days and 60 people. Thankfully, the use of a special water-based paint made it easy to scrape-up once the water had evaporated.
Keeping everyone safe was also an important factor. A special kind of non-toxic paint was used that is safe enough to drink (it contains the same thickeners that are sometimes used in soups). It was also completely harmless to the skin.

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Faces and Passes...

'Put your face in the bag with your nametag'...

OK, this was my instructor Pam telling us how to look after these:

Resuscitation dolls have these cool removable faces to avoid passing germs around the classes. So we get our faces, and they are kept in a plastic bag with our nametags for the two days we would be using them. Then they are handed in and sterilised before being used by another class. Very cool - but seriously spooky......

Oh! And I passed........so not only do I get to wear the absolutely gorgeous green 'First Aider' lanyard just purchased by myself in my role as H&S officer for the site, but I also have a very nice St John Ambulance pin badge - and a certificate when the bill is paid!! [mental note; submit invoices for payment]

oh, the assessments were a nightmare!

My 'unconscious breathing' casualty was a big chap and I was nervous about turning him, but it was ok - except I forgot to check his pockets!

My 'unconscious non-breathing' casualty was a walk in the park - 'cos it was a doll!!

My 'incident casualty' was a very nice older gentleman with a convincing 'profusely bleeding wound' in his arm and a painful knee (badly bruised; broken? sprained? unknown) and a bad case of 'shock'. He was very sweet and asked me all the right questions for my assessment - can I have a cup of tea?, my cigarettes are in my jacket pocket - can I have one?, can I drive home? He was so good that after my assessment I thanked him and shook his hand.

Also helpful was the fact that two of my First Aiders from work were there to requalify and gave me lots of support and encouragement once the assessment time came. And Dave even managed a couple of big hugs when I got the wobbles waiting for my 'incident casualty' assessment.

So anyway, now I am a qualified First Aider in accordance with The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981. Impressive, huh?

New stuff:

in answer to rca's comment; of course not, we can't give casualties any meds or creams/potions/liniments.

in answer to rampant bicycle's comment; my answers to my casualty were quite right - no, he can't have a cup of tea. No, he can't have a cigarette. No, he can't drive himself home. Full marks for me!! [big smile]

in answer to david *and* judy; no, my casualty didn't ask me out, a) it was a test, so he wouldn't and b) he had to be at least 20yrs older than me! But I am now a First Aider on a site with 7,000 potential casualties - so there's always a chance [big grin]

in answer to jean-luc's comment; I know nosebleeds!! Sit patient up and forward slightly. Pinch nose closed for ten minutes, if still bleeding pinch for another ten minutes, if still bleeding repeat. If still bleeding after 30 minutes, call an ambulance. [attempts not to look too smug]

in answer to utenzi's comment; shh!! Don't say the words 'strong hands' in case silentmum hears - she's always banging on about my 'broad shoulders'....she'll have a field day with 'strong hands'!!

in answer to srp; I'm with you, I don't care who does my CPR if I wake up!!

Bobkat; mmmmm uniforms [dribble]

walker; the thought crossed my mind too - but the assessor watched me dump the face in the bag for cleansing....just couldn't get away with it :-( [snigger]

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Where'd my memory go??

Blimey - I didn't realise how much I had forgotten on my training......

I'm not in Kevin's class, although I saw him this morning. I also saw the manager, Anne, who remembered me from my last abortive visit! How embarrassing..........

My new lecturer, Pam, does know what happened, and she now has 13 in her class - nothing worse than having 13 in a class that is doing exercises that use two or three people! I've said 'sorry' so many times today!

I know about a breathing unconscious casualty. I know about a non-breathing casualty. I know my CPR protocols.

The only assessmment I am worried about is the injured breathing one. Hope my bandaging is up to snuff!!

And what am I working towards? Pay rise? Promotion? Bonus?

Nothing so mundane - just the opportunity to adorn myself in the very latest in stylish ID lanyards, which will identify me to all at work as a First Aider. My boss insisted I take one from store, as she is confident of my success! Wish I was........

Sentence you never expect to hear:

'Put your face in a bag with your nametag.'

And if you're really good, I'll tell you tomorrow what it means!!

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Try, try again......

Big Day tomorrow, tomorrow is the day I rejoin a First Aid course to, once again, attempt to get my certificate.
I rang the centre last week to check who would be the instructor - and, deep joy, it's Kevin....again. I am never gonna live this down.

In answer to several questions on my previous post, if my math is correct, Boo is now eight......

Here she is in August 2002 on a day out at Bristol Zoo.......

about six months before they left.....
We do talk by phone and email occasionally, but I find it very upsetting not being able to 'nip over' and see them. In fact, in the early days the three of us would usually end phonecalls in tears! Also, being a single working parent, M doesn't have a lot of spare time - or money! M is 'silentmum' whose comments you will see on here now and then.

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Beauty

This is my beautiful god-daughter. I have been wrapped up in their lives since Boo was a baby. Her mother worked in the same office as me. One day she needed someone to keep an eye on Boo during the day and plonked this absolutely beautiful baby on my desk. Since then we were constant companions, the three of us, until she and her mother emigrated from 'Ten Minutes Down the Road' to Canada four years ago next month.

I still miss them.


Isn't she just gorgeous?

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Cures.....and.....meat!

Woohoo!! Will you look at this wonderful news from Minerva.......

"It is good news. My CT scan is completely clear apart from the lymph node. The doctors are also going all out to 'cure' me. Never has such a word fallen with such import as it did at lunchtime. I LIKE the 'cure' word, I revel in the 'cure' word. In fact, I snuggled down into the 'cure' word and virtually missed the rest of the conversation."

What a star that girl is......!!

(original detail deleted as it seemed insignificant besides Minerva's amazing news......)

Fellow Fodderer Rob asked on my latest blog fodder if I was tempted to eat meat when I smell bacon cooking. Like most veggies, bacon is the real temptation to break the principle. But I am not tempted by the smell of cooking meat, because it is still animals. As I have to cook meat daily for MB, I am immune to the desire to eat it.
Luckily, I don't have to handle the meat much, just unwrap it and throw it in a pan!

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Blog Fodder #6

(Banner courtesy of Hootin-Anni)

This weeks topic was brought to us by non other than Kim, over at Kimbofo. All together now, Kim, you rock! What is your most memorable meal? Why?

I actually have two memorable meals, not for the food, but what happened. Kind of 'moment of clarity' meals....

1. My mother served up her delicious roast chicken one day and I looked at the glistening bird and suddenly realised that I couldn't eat it. Not didn't want it, or wanted to be different, but just couldn't bring myself to eat it. And so began 20+yrs of vegetarianism.
On the other side of the coin after being veggie for about 15 years I accidentally ate a mouthful of beef mince and was horrendously sick......

2. I was reasonably new in my office, only been there a couple of weeks, and the fleet manager was keeping a close eye on me (he told me later he fancied me rotten from the day I arrived!) and one day took me out for a quick pub lunch. I chose a cheese and tomato toastie (toasted sandwich) and something to drink, and while he stood at the bar with his back to me ordering I realised I was in love with him.......and so began the love of my life.....MB...........

Nice Fodder, Kim :-)

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Reality Bites

Time for a rant!

We have a media malaise these days. It's called 'Reality TV'. It started with the occasional gardening show, cookery series and DIY programme, and has exploded. But today's Reality TV is not about Reality - it's about shock and unreality.

We have business magnates deciding on staff recruitment on a TV show, we have a competition where a beauty contest is judged by cosmetic surgery peformed on the show, there is an opportunity for families to swap wives/mothers, in some shows contestants are encouraged (and in some cases paid) to try and have sex with other contestants on screen, we have islands and jungles and houses all populated by people desperate for their so-called 15 minutes of fame, we have z-list clebrities and members of the public taking part in some of the most demeaning TV ever seen.

And people watch this stuff! They watch women being hacked up in the name of beauty, they watch minor celebrities eat worms, they watch people being humiliated and debased on public TV.

When will these producers reach saturation point? Will we end up being offered TV like 'Series 7: The Contenders' as the programme makers become more and more desperate for viewers?

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Blog Meme

Picked this interesting little meme up from Naomi's blog.

1-Do you like the look and the contents of your blog?
Mostly. I’ve not found a template I really like yet (although I've downloaded a few to play with!), so in the meantime I have worked out how to play with bits of html. I like the rainbow impression of the colours. If anyone wants to make me a lovely purple Queenly blog, I wouldn’t say no…

2-Does your family know about your blog?
Yes. But my parents don’t even have a computer, so they would never see it. I have recently given the URL to my young nephews and niece, so will continue the family friendly rating!

3-Can you tell your friends about your blog?
Interesting change of question. Not ‘do your friends know?’ but ‘can you tell them?’ How curious….Anyway, the answer is yes. Think about it – my two closest friends are bloggers. In fact, out of the eight adult friends, five have blogs and two have blogger accounts!

4-Do you just read the blogs of those who comment on your blog?
No, I do smurf my blogroll and lurk about in blogdom, even just going on a link-hunt. Sometimes, I need to unlurk and comment. Depends how I am feeling.

5-Did your blog positively affect your mind?
What a curious question! Would I continue with it if it had a negative effect on my psychological state? I do occasionally use it to rant at my ever-present depression and mild psychoses. I guess that would be positive.

6-What does the number of visitors to your blog mean?
Er – it means I have visitors!?!

7-Did you imagine how other bloggers look like?
Do you talk to someone on the phone you don’t know and wonder what they look like? I think we all do, to a small extent.

8-Do you think blogging has any real benefit?
To whom?

9-Do you think that the blogosphere is a stand alone community separated from the real world?
Let’s see. I sent Christmas cards to two blogbuddies and a present to one of them. I have a blogbuddy saved in my mobile and at least three of them are regular chatters on my Messenger. So – I would have to say ‘No’. And that is not including my own circle of friends.

10-Do some political blogs scare you? Do you avoid them?
‘Scare’? Hmm – only really fundamentalist ones! I’ve tripped over a couple of scary ones. But political blogs mostly confuse me. I am a blogger of very little brain (to paraphrase AA Milne) and I really don’t understand politics. My dearest pal CK has a very religio-political blog and although I visit him regularly, I am not usually comfortable in commenting.

11-Do you think that criticizing your blog is useful?
Why would anyone do that? It’s my blog. My bit of the techno world. It’s written by me, and reflects my life, my opinions and my thoughts. So, if you don’t like it – why take the time to comment. If I don’t like a blog, or even just a post, I will usually leave without a comment.

12-Have you ever thought about what would happen to your blog in case you died?
Nope. Never gave it a second thought – although I did give CK my user name and password a little while ago.

13-Which blogger had the greatest impression on you?
Any blogger who is surmounting physical or family difficulties and coming out on top.

14-Which blogger do you think is the most similar to you?
I would hate to presume I knew them well enough to judge. There are a lot of blogs out there that are sort of on the same lines, but similar? No. That’s part of the appeal – each blog is a reflection of an individual.

15-Name a song you want to listen to?
Start Wearing Purple by Gogol Bordello. It’s a fab gipsy punk number that you can’t resist singing along to…….

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Blog Fodder #4 and #5

Wow - Blog Fodder #4 slipped by in the rush of Christmas......so I checked in at the hub to see what I missed!

Topic of the week commencing 18 December was submitted by Shane, over at Reflekshins.
“What is the best practical joke you have ever participated in, or one that was done on you?”

I'm not a fan of practical jokes, either playing them or having them played on me. So, this would actually be one fodder I can't complete........

So - onto #5 for this week.........

Marie, over at PractiGal, says

“Tell us something about your in-laws (funny, memories, etc.). If you don’t have any in-laws, pick a relative like siblings, parents, etc.”

Memories? At my age? Stacks of them......... :-) I do have in-laws (sort of, as we're not married), but one of my best memories is actually of my own parents.

Years ago, I was in a local works pantomime as the principal girl. How I got the part is a whole 'nother story. The pantomime was Rumplestiltskin (well, made a change from Aladdin!) and I got to be the Princess in gold and silver gowns! But I also had two solos! Anyway, I was desperately learning words, memorising songs and trying to remember stage positions for months. I mentioned to my mother while visiting that I was in local amateur dramatics, and told her all about it. I just thought she was interested because we are an arty kind of family. I didn't think it really went in, because I have have always bored her easily.

The week of the show came and we did a show each evening and a matinee on Saturday. As I took my bows on Saturday afternoon I looked across the dim hall and saw two figures standing at the back applauding as if their life depended on it. My mother and stepdad travelled 60 miles from their home just to see me in a penny-anty pantomime.

I think it was the one time my mother was truly proud of me.

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