Here and Now

So, I started this years ago to help my mum get started and give her the technical support she needed at the time. Then, I was a single dad, I worked around my kids (which was lovely) and looking back I'd say my quality of life was pretty up there.

Now, my kids are 11 & 13 and I work, work, work! Got married again - 2 step-kids, 2 hairy beasts (dogs, not kids) and not a lot of time. My mum just asked me a blog related question and I read a few of the last things I wrote and I realised that I really enjoyed writing.

So here I am, many years later, greyer, stiffer and probably just pissed off enough to think about writing a few things!

Watch this space.....

An odd side effect

My usual part-time work that I occasionally manage to squeeze between school runs has been severely, or to be more accurate, fatally effected by my now constant sciatica. That really should be SCIATICA read with a very deep Grim Reaper-esque voice. If anyone has not experienced the pleasure of being inflicted by this particularly nasty ailment I will try to describe it for you. Imagine, if you will, a poker that has been heated until white-hot. Imagine that very same poker being repeatedly dipped in napalm and then inserted at base of spine and thrust down the inside of your leg until it protrudes from your big toe. Then, having been allowed to cool just long enough to attach itself to your entire nervous system, being ripped out. That my friends is SCIATICA, although in the interest of health and safety I should point out that I haven't actually tried the comparison I so can't guarantee the results, or the well-being of anyone that feels like having a go.

Most people who suffer from SCIATICA have had some kind of back injury but for me it is just a symptom of injuries sustained in a rather nasty motorcycle accident a long, long time ago. My Uncle Eddie would very much like me to tell you about my leg, and I will, in due course, but not today. For the time being lets just say that one leg is shorter than the other.

As if my usual pains were not enough I have recently been afflicted by night cramps. Just two words, sounds so innocent! If any of you have had simultaneous cramp in toes, calf and thigh at 3am you might have a more descriptive phrase than night cramps! At the doctors today I mentioned this new development and was prescribed Quinine which will also get rid of any malaria I may have picked up.

I was at Maggie May's house (after a lovely day with Eddie Bluelights) when I opened the Quinine and she suggested I should read the literature to make sure there were no hideous side effects. Good idea I thought, so I read the list aloud. "Can cause kidney problems, breathing difficulties, blood disorders, heart problems, muscle weakness, fluid retention, sciatica and leg shortening". "What?" exclaimed Maggie, "surely you aren't going to risk that! What on earth is wrong with your doctor giving you something like that!". There was a pause while I kept a completely straight face. "Leg shortening?" said Maggie, "leg shortening?".

Let them eat chocolate!

OBESE WILL BANKRUPT NHS read the Sunday Express yesterday. Apparently Britain has the highest number of obese adults in Europe. Not stopping there the paper claims that 25% of our children are obese too! A good look round the playground this morning however found not the slightest case of junior rotundity. So where are they hiding I wonder?

The article tells us that the fast food industry influences negative eating patterns and the government should really do something to stop them manipulating us into eating the wrong foods. (What? The five-a-day campaign didn't work?)

Earlier this year it seems that Health Secretary Andrew Lansley asked some makers of fast food to do something about this awful trend until it was revealed that Mr Lansley was being paid a lot of money by an advertising agency that represents several fine purveyors of junk food including one known for confectionary.

So today I guess the only logical thing for the Daily Express to do was give us a voucher for a free box of choccies!

Witch's Hat

Inspired by a recent post by Teacher's Pet, I remembered a type of roundabout I played on as a child called a Witch's Hat. It was really a combination of a roundabout and a swing as it swung around and into the central pole. Anyone remember these? I don't recall seeing them past the early '70's as I believe they were banned after several serious accidents, although lacking any real data this may be an urban myth.

I don't remember ever hurting myself but I can see how it was possible! The photo to the left doesn't really emanate danger and it looks like there is a restrictor near the top to limit the amount of movement towards the central pole. The photo below is better and with no restrictor this was the type that probably broke legs!

It's a little sad that my kids will never know the thrill of playing on one of these - I'm sure they weren't that dangerous!

I should point out that these aren't my photos and I'm not in them - I might remember the Witch's Hat but I'm not that old!

Sunday Funday

Ordinarily the very thought of paying £19.50 for 1 adult and 2 children to go to the cinema throws me into a grumpy gloominess. It's not just the admission price but why does popcorn cost £5? Why aren't adults free when accompanying small children? Why do the toilets smell like the rhino enclosure at the zoo? And I could go on and on spiralling into despair at the injustice of it all.

Today was no ordinary day though. Today the inflated cost of entry to the cinema was of no concern. I was happy at the idea of watching Tangled with my two daughters. Positively excited even. For this morning I checked my lottery ticket. And found to my astonishment 4 matching numbers! Only £60 but I was high on euphoria for a while. Long enough to promise my kids a trip to the cinema anyway!

A Quick Year

Well it's been a year and 26 days since my last post and a year and 20 days since my divorce - one of the many reasons I didn't feel like writing anything. After all there is enough doom and gloom in the world without my adding to it!

Well I am in the mood to add to it! So be warned, a grumpy git this way comes......

Happy New Year!

Well here we are, the end of the noughties! At least it is for me here in Japan - the rest of you will have to wait a few hours.

I would love to have some profound thoughts to share with you but alas I have none. So in the absence of perspicacity all I can say is thank you. Ah, but who to you may ask? Well some that truly deserve to hear it will have long forgotten me and have no chance of reading this, such as the many people that helped my 13 years in Japan a (mostly!) pleasant stay.

One person stands out above all others though - someone who has never stopped believing in me and has given me the strength to carry on in the face of adversity - someone who gave me my own mantra "I am a fighter and I will not give in" - someone who sees the days of the week in colours (and probably responsible for my daughter doing the same).........

And I could go on, and on.........

Thank you for everything so far......

To my mother Maggie May

Some say it with flowers, I say it with music - you won't understand the words but this is for you - arigatou (thank you)

With all my love