More unusual observations

As I sit here in my somewhat vulnerable state, I realise that life is to be lived rather than scared of, and in many ways I have chosen to be bound by the conventions that society and life have imposed upon me. One wonders whether this is due to upbringing and protocol. My days of just keeping to the house are over and now I have a wife it is important that I make sure that we share a lot of things together. The days of a singleton are behind me and now I have to realise the necessity to share everything and not keep everything as secure as it used to be, that really just doesn't work.
    My wife, bless her is as unpredictable as the wind but then it certainly stops me from becoming too complacent in my actions and realising what a gift that I have been sent by the Almighty. It takes a good woman to make a man realise what he has and to contemplate the future with a better sense of security than in the past. I sometimes think that I have been unlucky in life events but then when I am brought such a gift as my wife, it makes me reappraise my life and realise that not everyone is lucky except of course for me.!!!!  For all you men out there, marriage is a sacred ritual and you should all learn to accept that women are a very special breed and if you can't get your heads around that fact, then maybe it is time for you to move on.

Party time

Last night we attended a party in the wilds of North Staffordshire, in a large house and a grand marquee in the garden. My wife's eyes were bulging as we headed through the large gates and up toward the front of the house where our hostess was waiting for us. It had been a very long day and of course we had combined this event with the usual spate of house viewing which has recently taken over our lives. It was a very eventful day as we finally felt we had found the house we really wanted to buy and to live in, but in the current climate selling our own pile is beginning to prove a thorny issue but at least we are not alone. The party gave us time to focus for one evening on other matters. The garden was massive and as the guests congregated on the grass and in the marquee we felt quite at home, as my wife's eyes continued to enlarge unabated, irrespective of the rather inclement weather conditions. We spent around 3 hours in this environment chatting and talking to some of my work colleagues and eating the freshly cooked chicken and snacks that had been laid on. The noise from the guest artiste was truly horrendous which is synonymous with such parties but if the theme had been dour as a consequence of the weather at the time, then Shostakovich would have been a better bet. We could have all been depressed together at this time !!!.  It proved a useful outlet from our normal routine and we enjoyed ourselves even though the heavens were not exactly kind to us. On the way home after a good evening and when I needed to speak to my wife to keep me awake she repaid me in the best possible way by falling into a deep sleep and communicated via grunts and snores and of course received my thanks for this event. Such loyalty and devotion, and realising that at the end of a very busy day the last thing she wanted to do was to indulge in small chit chat with her over stimulated husband. Thanks darling but in retrospect she was probably right but then aren't they always .....?

Night time driving

It has always been apparent to me how driving techniques change as the daylight reduces. The other night I had to drive at night to London Standsted airport to pick up my wife from a flight from Malaysia. It is a journey of around 150 miles and normally it can take around 2hours 30 minutes and has no major complications. I tried to sleep a little in advance of the journey but was not able to do so and so consequently I set off feeling unusually tired, generally the tiredness wears off as I drive however as the temperature was moderate and there was little breeze in the air the lethargy didn't wear off so by the time I reached the outskirts of Cambridge around 4am I was beginning to look like a characted out of Victor Hugo's novel -- The hunchback of Notre Dame, namely Quasimodo. If anyone had seen me, I'm sure I would have been a dead ringer for Lon Chaney's version of this character in the 1923 version of this famous story, piercing eyes and bad makeup would have suited my appearance at that time but surprisingly as daybreak began to take effect my metamorphosis was virtually instantaneous. The lethargy that had beset me disappeared and I suddenly became a more stimulated and rationale figure looking less like the aforesaid Chaney so viewers it shows that with the advent of light the body remarkably seems to ressurect itself back to its former self, and on this occasion, I, at least looked human when I met my wife from the airport, rather  than the miserable wretch that was Quasimodo in that famous novel by that well known French author Hugo. " Comme bien dans l'amour et le guerre " aptly said I think !!!

Politicians-- do they ever listen?

It's strange that when I listen to political programmes the protagonists involved never ever seem to give the electorate reasonable and honest answers, all they seem to be interested in is keeping their own jobs at whatever cost? I wonder at times the point of any politician, and their attitudes are quite frankly of no real value to a country as a whole, as many are purely in it for the greed and the corruption that it provides them with, as a form of furthering their careers and nests. European countries have their own issues but regarding Blighty, we always seem to score own goals when it comes to policies. It may be that as a country we should take a leaf out of France's book by completely disregarding some of the ridiculous European rules imposed upon us and create mayhem, and let's face it if the French hauliers can do it by blocking the tunnel then surely we can also cause our own particular brand of non obedience to both political mandarins and the political system in general. Together they have dismantled and disrupted every country they are involved in, surely there has to be a better way than politics to govern a country and send these parasites back from whence they came. Sometimes I just despair at how countries are governed.

Holiday time

It is refreshing to know that during holiday time, regimes can change and often a new lease of life can be accommodated after the mundane drudgery of the ubiquitous working week. This week alone, I have been getting up at a more leisurely 9am and wandering down to breakfast debating as to what to eat, unlike the norm when porridge is the order of the day. Mainly for speed. So what did I have this morning, .....porridge!! well I like it ( he said indignantly) however I did push the tug boat out with a dish of sauteed mushrooms, sausages and a poached egg on toast. This you will understand is not usual, however on days when I can suit myself, it is nice to do something completely different. In the summer months it is quieter and life tends to be so for me, as well. My wife told me to go for a walk the other day and you can't disagree with her, it helps to keep the digestion and body working properly. Why are woman always right? Is it that innate desire in them to want the best for their loved ones? I would like to think it is, well in my wife's case that is a strong point for her. Family is the closest thing we have to genuine and honest support in our lives although I am aware that this is not always the case in some family environments. Holiday time is a period for robust and genuine reflection of your life and relationships, it makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have such great support and love from those closest to me. The shackles of work are released albeit for two weeks and there is more of a chance to let my hair down. The charging of my batteries and life are paramount in an otherwise cut throat and tense ridden world outside the four walls of my house and land. The garden at this time is a lovely sight with all the shrubs and plants vying for the sun and in some cases the rain to promote their appearance and vitality. Yes two weeks of solitude and relaxation will do very nicely. !!

Commentators and my pet hates

Do you know that when big global events come round like the World Cup and the Olympics, we are all waiting with a sense of anticipation only to find that the commentators spoil much of it with their inane drivel, and their highly inflated vocal patterns that turn the coverage from either a mellow and laid back chilled out individual, to that of a demented warrior who hasn't experienced real excitement in all their lives. I guess it is a sign of age when I make a rant about it but for many, the destruction of the grammatical content of our language is somewhat disconcerting. For example, certain tried and tested phrases which we have used for many years suddenly get a new structure and what on earth are they talking about?  The worst offenders are " they are nearly home and hosed " and the classic " we have to prevent getting beat !!! "  getting beat ? what sort of example are we setting to future generations when high profile commentators cannot even grasp the rudiments of simple basic everyday English? It is laziness to the extreme, and what for goodness sake, does " home and hosed " actually mean? home and dry I can understand, but hosed? this implies that the subjects were wet to begin with??? I will never understand the propensity for these so called reporters to crucify our language with such ridiculous phrases. Is it to find a level with those whose educational abilities were compromised early in life and isn't that somewhat patronising to them that these well paid people still seem to have little concept or comprehension of what language actually brings to a nation. I despair at times and wonder where we, as a country, have gone wrong over the years to allow such a poor grasp of language to pervade our media and television screens, where so much influence is meted out to the young with a diet of soap operas and poor intellectual communication. Is it any wonder that nowadays there seems to be a dumbing down of standards across the board, and that no one seem to be doing anything about it as that would be considered " uncool ", oh look, even I am not averse to such lingo.....woops there I go again.

CASE CLOSED I think .....!!!!

Nationalism

Patriotism is alive and well in deepest England, this can be seen, particularly at this time of the year with the flags of St George unfurling over the roofs of moving cars as we head into that phase of life that is the World Cup Finals. For some this tournament is the nadir of all that they hold sacred, for others and possibly the majority, the hope that it engenders with regard to business, prestige and nationalism is swelling over like the waves of the sea. The intensity and fanaticism that such tournaments bring to a country can be refreshing, enduring and often inspiring for all, even those that normally would not be seen watching a football, never mind a game, but it can envelop the whole country and consume and engulf innate passions in people that they would never think that they had. Such is the " beautiful game". Now for the Brazilians who spent their young years on Copocabana beach kicking a ball around; this is all very much part of their ritualistic lifestyle but for us, hard work and sheer passion tends to do it for us. As a previous traveller to Brasil, I would like to think that we might meet them in the final to test our skills against the real masters but I fear that might not happen but as a student of nostalgia I can but dream can't I? It is after all, what all our dreams are made of, ......hope, faith and nostalgia. Whether you like the game or not, the next four weeks for some will consign them to be " widows" during this time, for the rest, a glorious reflection and desire to succeed against the very best in that noble art of association football, so whatever team you are following, I wish you well and hope that this quad-annual spectacle musters up all sorts of emotions in all of us that allows us to reflect upon our own lifestyles and future prospects.