Photo of the Day 17

This is a gift from my son for Christmas. It's a painting he created himself of Santa water-skiing. It's actually one of the most precious things I have and I will soon arrange for it to be framed properly and hung on the wall.

I'm still wrestling with the idea of contacting one of my past work colleagues and friends. I see they are now involved in running their own little business and if what I've read is to be believed, they are doing very well. I see that they run a blog and the fact that it's been updated recently tells me they are not affected by the economic downturn. Good for them! I always knew they'd end up doing well for themselves. But the dilemma is to whether or not I should make contact. Do they want to know about all my problems? Probably not. Perhaps I should just be content in the knowledge that no harm has come to them and that they're out there somewhere working hard and enjoying what they do.

I've booked myself an appointment for the 31st January for some CBT. I'm hoping it will help with my anxiety and worry issues. I'm pretty open minded to it all really and if it helps me to get where I want to be, then great. I copied this from Wikipedia to explain a little more about it;
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach: a talking therapy. CBT aims to solve problems concerning dysfunctional emotions, behaviours and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure in the present. The title is used in diverse ways to designate behaviour therapy, cognitive therapy, and to refer to therapy based upon a combination of basic behavioural and cognitive research.
It does go on to get rather more technical, but I won't do that here. It's all there on wonderful Wikipedia.

 

A delicious little news item today. Parents have reacted strongly to the use of a new narrator for the children's TV programme Waybuloo. Parents have flooded parenting websites and Twitter with comments criticising the move claiming their children have been left confused and bewildered.
Personally I'm convinced that anyone capable of creating such a show must be under the influence of something pretty strong. If you've ever attempted to watch it, you'll know exactly what I mean.

Cold weather is on its way again we're being told. Any excuse for a roaring log fire here!

Friends of the Past

There can be a great deal of merit in looking up old work colleagues and friends on the Internet. It is an odd feeling when you do find a long lost friend. These are people you spent hours of every day with, in some cases more time was spent with them than with members of your own family. For me, I know this to be true. It is sometimes a very bitter-sweet thing finding someone you used to know. Someone you shared special moments with, someone you laughed with and someone you lunched with daily. It is also a blow to find that the person you once knew is no longer that person, changed beyond recognition. The people you knew who were anti-social, insular and quiet now have a wife and family. Those who were very technical and potential leaders of industry are now driving, designing gardens or coastguards. It's a strange feeling... Sometimes I wonder if I am best left with my memories, some strong and others vague. But memories nevertheless and precious recordings of those special times. I am also left with a quandary as to whether or not to contact a long lost friend. Having spent hours searching for someone and to finally track them down, is inevitable to try to contact them? Why haven't they contacted me? Perhaps they are best left alone. After all, if they wanted to find me, they could and quite easily. There are of course those who simply cannot be found. I begin to think of the worst or to imagine them living some foreign life in a far away country, miles from their past and their beginnings.
Some I find have done very well for themselves, MD's of their own companies or doing what they've always done for more money. The company MD's have grand labels, glitzy websites and an impressive portfolio. But strip away the surface and beneath you'll find them slaving away in sheds or tapping away on a laptop at the dining room table. For some it's just a facade.
But for most, the grand titles they once held, the executive toys, the power-lunches and play of authority, have all gone to be replaced with sedentary, mundane humdrum lives and jobs with no status or influence. These are less eager to make themselves available online. They hide their Facebook profiles and don't bother joining Linked-In. But like me, they'll cling to their memories of the past. Of better times when they really did count, when work was fun and our colleagues were our best friends...

Photo of the Day 16

Another of my Christmas gifts and thanks to my sister for this one. Aware of my new found passion for herb gardening, she bought me a rather nice planter with four types of herb - Lemon Basil, Italian Parsley, Sweet Marjoram and Greek Oregano. I'll check back in a couple of weeks or so to see how they're doing.

Time for a 'litle' moan and I may have mentioned before my frustrations with a 'can't care less' attitude spreading like a cancer through our communities. Sadly I see examples of this every day from the reckless way in which people drive to the dumping of rubbish at roadsides and in dykes. I'm actually beginning to get quite incensed by it all. There is simply no excuse and it's so sad to see it in what should be an area of beauty. I shouldn't have to explain to my son why people do such things when he is taught good citizenship and the differences between right and wrong. People have simply lost any respect for their communities, their surrounding and the people around them. This includes the refuse collection teams who just simply drive past with a 'it's not my problem' attitude. How long must it sit there rotting, being blown around by the wind and in some cases risking injury to wildlife...? No one seems to care.
From this weekend, I will endeavour to document all such cases I come across. I will where possible photograph anything I find and I will pass on my evidence to the local newspaper. It's time to shame those who want to ruin our community.

A Tad Breezy

There's an irritrating whistle coming from one of our doors. They are all double glazed and quite new so shouldn't be leaking air. But given the strength of the winds lately I suppose it'll seek out a path of least resistance. I haven't really known wind like this since first moving here in October 2002. Last night was lively to say the least with odd knocks and other less distinguishable noises.
No photo today as my wife had the car, but I could have taken many of fallen trees and other such debris. In fact the road from here to the next village was blocked by a fallen tree early this morning, such has been the ferocity of the wind.

A techie note and I have managed finally to get my Wii fully networked. It now sees every device and share on my home network allowing it to stream video and audio and show photographs from my somewhat growing collection. It's fair to say that I'm really getting the very most from it, which is good.

There's a lot in the news currently regarding racism, particularly following the conviction of two nasty individuals involved in the murder of Stephen Lawrence eighteen years ago. I now see that there is a media furore over comments made by Diane Abbott. Whilst any form of racism is wrong, I can't help feeling that things are beginning to get a little ridiculous, resulting in perfectly innocent comments being taken out of context. I really think it's about time some common sense prevail.