O.K. I will try to update this page with some photographs sometime, the moment I have found the cable needed to attach my camera to the computer and have worked out how to do it but for now I'll have to rely on just description. A challenge for my writing skills so here goes:
We moved to our new house on the fourth of August. Four days later Mother had the kitchen clean enough to start unpacking the boxes marked 'Kitchen'. That should give you an idea of just how disgustingly dirty this place is. I know it is probably very unchristian but I am rather glad that we didn't have time at the old place to wash out the cupboards in the kitchen. As I said unchristian but I don't think that it would have been appreciated any way.
What is more we can't really complain about it to the council because we had already signed the tenancy agreement which states 'taken as seen'. However, that was signed before we saw it empty and I'm sorry but you can't see the maggots crawling in the back of the utility room when it's still full of their crap (if you'll pardon the language).
Once the kitchen was just about clean enough to use my first job was to chop down the hedge that ran along side the drive and dig out it's roots, seeing that it was the cause of us having to call out the plumber at eight o'clock at night on the day we moved because it had blocked up the toilet drain. Thankfully we have a terrific bunch of neighbours, the first one helping us to chop down the hedge and then dig it up. His friend then helped us chop it all up and his other friend then donating his tractor and trailer to cart it all away. That took us about two weeks.
The next job that I was assigned was the de-papering of my room. You know that a very heavy smoker has been smoking in the house when you spray the wallpaper to soak it off and the water runs down the wall yellow. And not a paint yellow either, unless you have some really, shall we say, unusual tastes.
The amount of nicotine on the walls may have had something to do with the struggle we had to remove the wall paper in the bedroom that is going to be mine. In the end we resorted to the streamer and that finally managed to budge it.
I'm not entirely sure why, other than the fact that the plaster was falling off, the room had been papered because it was exactly the same purple under the paper as on top of it. I was not keeping that colour, especially as it still stank of cigarette smoke so we took the plaster off the really badly cracked wall and then I tried to steam the paint off the others. Not only was the paint horrible to look at but it had been put on only one layer thick so steaming it off was not possible, unless I fancied picking it off one square inch at a time, if I was lucky. Out came the sander. Que lots of dust and noise. However, it was coming off fairly quickly, until my sister came home yelling that she had found a cheap source of plaster board so we were going to do that instead.
Cheap source of plaster board? If over a hundred and nine pounds is cheap, I'd hate to see expensive. However, I will admit that it did mean that I could dyson up the dust a lot sooner, although the dyson objected to the treatment.
And all this only takes us up to August the twenty fourth.
Monday, 3 September 2012
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Additives
I've been doing a little research, aided by the book by Bill Statham 'What's Really in Your Basket?'.
A warning - do not read this book if you are looking for some light entertainment. However, do read this book if you wish to avoid the uncertain-effects, harmful or out right poisonous chemicals the food production companies are adding to our food.
For example:
Aspartame (also known as E951), a artificial sweetener and flavour enhancer
This additive is present in artificial sweeteners such as Nutrisweet. It can also be present in low calorie foods, diet drinks, chewing gum, soft drinks, instant coffee and may be added to anything which is sugar free or without added sugar.
The one that is utterly horrifying, when you learn what this substance does, is its presence in medication, including those for children.
Prepared from phenylalanine and aspartic acid, Aspartame breaks down into methanol and then formaldehyde in the body.
In medical studies it has been documented as causing "headaches, depression, anxiety, asthma, fatigue, hyperactivity, MS like symptoms, blindness, aggression, migraine, insomnia, dizziness, irritability, epilepsy, memory loss, seizures - more than 92 in all, NRC, not recommended for women during pregnancy, teratogenic."
O.K. I will admit that I do not know what all of those words mean, but the ones I do understand like blindness and epilepsy do not sound good, in fact they sound out right terrifying. And the companies are putting this stuff in our food!
Since discovering what this additive is and what it does to the human body I have started reading the labels of every soft drink I buy. So far the only lemonade I have found that does not contain this additive is Sainsbury's Own. This is now the only lemonade I will buy. This is not only a health choice, it is a move to force the food companies to remove this chemical from their list of acceptable additives. If more people refuse to buy a product with this stuff in and will only buy the products that are clean of it, then the companies will have no choice but to remove it from the recipes to stay competitive. This is what is meant by 'the power of the people', we do not have to accept that they put this stuff in our food, a simple choice can improve our diets and force the food production companies to do something about their immoral practises.
For the full detail I would highly recommend Bill Statham's book 'What's Really in Your Basket?'. Ignorance maybe bliss but in this case it will also see you poisoned by what you eat.
A warning - do not read this book if you are looking for some light entertainment. However, do read this book if you wish to avoid the uncertain-effects, harmful or out right poisonous chemicals the food production companies are adding to our food.
For example:
Aspartame (also known as E951), a artificial sweetener and flavour enhancer
This additive is present in artificial sweeteners such as Nutrisweet. It can also be present in low calorie foods, diet drinks, chewing gum, soft drinks, instant coffee and may be added to anything which is sugar free or without added sugar.
The one that is utterly horrifying, when you learn what this substance does, is its presence in medication, including those for children.
Prepared from phenylalanine and aspartic acid, Aspartame breaks down into methanol and then formaldehyde in the body.
In medical studies it has been documented as causing "headaches, depression, anxiety, asthma, fatigue, hyperactivity, MS like symptoms, blindness, aggression, migraine, insomnia, dizziness, irritability, epilepsy, memory loss, seizures - more than 92 in all, NRC, not recommended for women during pregnancy, teratogenic."
O.K. I will admit that I do not know what all of those words mean, but the ones I do understand like blindness and epilepsy do not sound good, in fact they sound out right terrifying. And the companies are putting this stuff in our food!
Since discovering what this additive is and what it does to the human body I have started reading the labels of every soft drink I buy. So far the only lemonade I have found that does not contain this additive is Sainsbury's Own. This is now the only lemonade I will buy. This is not only a health choice, it is a move to force the food companies to remove this chemical from their list of acceptable additives. If more people refuse to buy a product with this stuff in and will only buy the products that are clean of it, then the companies will have no choice but to remove it from the recipes to stay competitive. This is what is meant by 'the power of the people', we do not have to accept that they put this stuff in our food, a simple choice can improve our diets and force the food production companies to do something about their immoral practises.
For the full detail I would highly recommend Bill Statham's book 'What's Really in Your Basket?'. Ignorance maybe bliss but in this case it will also see you poisoned by what you eat.
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Caring About Strangers
Have just seen in the newspapers about the escalating violence in Syria and it reminds me of a conversion I over heard after one of the major earthquakes in recent years. (Is it not sad that there have been so many that I cannot remember which one it was?)
The base line of the argument was 'caring because you cannot do anything else' versus 'not caring because you cannot do anything meaningful to stop the situation'.
To my way of thinking the 'not caring because you cannot do anything meaningful' is the root of much evil in the world. As an Asperger/Autistic I have often been accused of not being sympathetic or sensitive to those around me. This seems to me to be a very hypercritical statement, coming from people who will read about atrocity and disaster in their newspaper and then turn over the page without comment or care.
Yes, I agree, I have had to learn how to be compassionate and I have not always got it right. However, now that I know how to feel their pain as my pain, I do not limit my compassion to only those who I meet every day. Compassion is not an emotion that should be limited to only those within our borders. I will agree that are probably too many immigrants for this country's social structure to cope with. However, I also agree that having a third world in the so called enlightened age is a hypocrisy of democracy and that third world debt is an evil that ought to have been wiped off the books years ago. I can share my apple with my neighbour but my neighbour does not have to be in my house for me to do it.
I cannot do anything materially, finicially or physically to help the innocent people suffering in Syria. However, I can care! I can care that I can't do anything! I can care that people are terrified, are being hurt, are being killed. I can care and is that not better than not caring?
Also there is this, I cannot do anything for the people in Syria but if caring about their plight prompts me to care more for the people I meet in the street, is that not a good thing? Perhaps the world would be a better place if more people cared for those they cannot help and therefore, helped the ones that they can.
The base line of the argument was 'caring because you cannot do anything else' versus 'not caring because you cannot do anything meaningful to stop the situation'.
To my way of thinking the 'not caring because you cannot do anything meaningful' is the root of much evil in the world. As an Asperger/Autistic I have often been accused of not being sympathetic or sensitive to those around me. This seems to me to be a very hypercritical statement, coming from people who will read about atrocity and disaster in their newspaper and then turn over the page without comment or care.
Yes, I agree, I have had to learn how to be compassionate and I have not always got it right. However, now that I know how to feel their pain as my pain, I do not limit my compassion to only those who I meet every day. Compassion is not an emotion that should be limited to only those within our borders. I will agree that are probably too many immigrants for this country's social structure to cope with. However, I also agree that having a third world in the so called enlightened age is a hypocrisy of democracy and that third world debt is an evil that ought to have been wiped off the books years ago. I can share my apple with my neighbour but my neighbour does not have to be in my house for me to do it.
I cannot do anything materially, finicially or physically to help the innocent people suffering in Syria. However, I can care! I can care that I can't do anything! I can care that people are terrified, are being hurt, are being killed. I can care and is that not better than not caring?
Also there is this, I cannot do anything for the people in Syria but if caring about their plight prompts me to care more for the people I meet in the street, is that not a good thing? Perhaps the world would be a better place if more people cared for those they cannot help and therefore, helped the ones that they can.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Flooding Britain
I don't know about you but I think I have spotted a common theme in all government policies. It appears to me that the common answer that politicians give to the 'What if?' question is 'We sweep it under the rug until it happens.'
Some of you may have read my post earlier this year about Hearthrow Airport being snowed under again. Well it seems to have happened, again, only this time it is just plain rain. The one thing England is famous for, our persistent precipitation and once again it is flooding out swaths of our countryside and towns.
Now, it could be noted that a country that is noted for being one of the wettest in Europe ought to have councils that build drains that can take it. However this is unlikely to happen, even though it is what we pay them for. Instead, for the mentioned above reason, they are going to continued to ignore the problem until it is so obvious that it has become the equivalent of trying to hide an elephant under the rug.
So, what can the ordinary people of Britain do about it? Because I don't know about you, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for the government to do something about it, I hate passing out.
According to research done by the Woodland Trust and they should know their trees, planting a single row of trees down one side of a field will increase the grounds ability to soak up the rain by sixty percent. The more the soil can soak up, the less there is to run away over the soil and flood the dip down the road were the village happens to be. Also, increasing the number of trees planted within a city by five percent, in turn decreases the urban water run off by twenty percent. That seems to me to be a large amount of returns for a small amount of effort.
For those of you worried about subsidence there is apparently no scientific evidence of planting trees causing subsidence. The reason the lovely new concrete front garden subsides is not because of the tree planted the other side of the front garden wall. It subsides because it is a lovely new concrete front garden, which does not allow any water to reach the soil underneath it. Dehydrated soil shrinks in exactly the same manner as a dehydrated cell, which is why gravel driveways do not subside.
So it appears to me that the best way the people of Britain can look after themselves and prevent further flooding is to plant more trees, this having the added benefits of cleaning our air and lowing our stress levels, because what is scientific fact, is looking at a tree for five minutes a day de-stresses you almost as much as an hour in a yoga class. It's a lot cheaper as well.
Some of you may have read my post earlier this year about Hearthrow Airport being snowed under again. Well it seems to have happened, again, only this time it is just plain rain. The one thing England is famous for, our persistent precipitation and once again it is flooding out swaths of our countryside and towns.
Now, it could be noted that a country that is noted for being one of the wettest in Europe ought to have councils that build drains that can take it. However this is unlikely to happen, even though it is what we pay them for. Instead, for the mentioned above reason, they are going to continued to ignore the problem until it is so obvious that it has become the equivalent of trying to hide an elephant under the rug.
So, what can the ordinary people of Britain do about it? Because I don't know about you, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for the government to do something about it, I hate passing out.
According to research done by the Woodland Trust and they should know their trees, planting a single row of trees down one side of a field will increase the grounds ability to soak up the rain by sixty percent. The more the soil can soak up, the less there is to run away over the soil and flood the dip down the road were the village happens to be. Also, increasing the number of trees planted within a city by five percent, in turn decreases the urban water run off by twenty percent. That seems to me to be a large amount of returns for a small amount of effort.
For those of you worried about subsidence there is apparently no scientific evidence of planting trees causing subsidence. The reason the lovely new concrete front garden subsides is not because of the tree planted the other side of the front garden wall. It subsides because it is a lovely new concrete front garden, which does not allow any water to reach the soil underneath it. Dehydrated soil shrinks in exactly the same manner as a dehydrated cell, which is why gravel driveways do not subside.
So it appears to me that the best way the people of Britain can look after themselves and prevent further flooding is to plant more trees, this having the added benefits of cleaning our air and lowing our stress levels, because what is scientific fact, is looking at a tree for five minutes a day de-stresses you almost as much as an hour in a yoga class. It's a lot cheaper as well.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Moving with Aspergers
O.K. The rest of the family is now talking about it to others so I suppose that I am allowed to as well - we are moving.
On the one hand - great! New house in what looks to be lovely area and a chance to leave the memories tied up in this place behind.
On the other hand - Aah! The current house is a tip, boxes everywhere, packing in progress, trying to work out what can go into storage for possibly six months!
So I am totally up in the air and my head is in a total mess. On top of everything else that I have to try to squeeze into the day (Trike ride to stop my ticker packing in, diary, working on my book and sending off to competitions to try and keep my career a float) I now have to deal with packing and making sure that the dinners get made and the ferret gets looked after. I also had to take the dog for a walk the other day, because the usual walker had totally over done it and had crashed out fast asleep on the sofa.
I am rapidly approaching the point where the amount of work to be done each day is no longer an incentive to get out of bed in the morning, rather it is what is making me pull the covers over my head and do my best to go back to sleep. In a way I am not unsurprised, looking back in my diaries before I packed them up and sealed the box, (one of the advantages of keeping a daily diary) revealed that the last house move took me in exactly the same way. It must be the same instinct that makes a frog cover up its eyes when it sees the approaching ferret - 'if I can't see it maybe it will go away'.
That or I'm on the verge of flinging myself on the floor and having a screaming temper-tantrum. I have done so before and I have found that it gives a huge amount of relief to inner tensions. Not that it does anything for the inner tension of my mother, hence why I'm trying desperately not to do it again.
Can I hold on? Remains to be seen.
On the one hand - great! New house in what looks to be lovely area and a chance to leave the memories tied up in this place behind.
On the other hand - Aah! The current house is a tip, boxes everywhere, packing in progress, trying to work out what can go into storage for possibly six months!
So I am totally up in the air and my head is in a total mess. On top of everything else that I have to try to squeeze into the day (Trike ride to stop my ticker packing in, diary, working on my book and sending off to competitions to try and keep my career a float) I now have to deal with packing and making sure that the dinners get made and the ferret gets looked after. I also had to take the dog for a walk the other day, because the usual walker had totally over done it and had crashed out fast asleep on the sofa.
I am rapidly approaching the point where the amount of work to be done each day is no longer an incentive to get out of bed in the morning, rather it is what is making me pull the covers over my head and do my best to go back to sleep. In a way I am not unsurprised, looking back in my diaries before I packed them up and sealed the box, (one of the advantages of keeping a daily diary) revealed that the last house move took me in exactly the same way. It must be the same instinct that makes a frog cover up its eyes when it sees the approaching ferret - 'if I can't see it maybe it will go away'.
That or I'm on the verge of flinging myself on the floor and having a screaming temper-tantrum. I have done so before and I have found that it gives a huge amount of relief to inner tensions. Not that it does anything for the inner tension of my mother, hence why I'm trying desperately not to do it again.
Can I hold on? Remains to be seen.
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Whale Wars - On Going
O.K. Tried to send an e-mail to the Federal Minister of Justice in Germany on behalf of Captain Paul Watson, only to find that it is the Microsoft e-mail engine i.e. none compatible with hotmail. However, if it had been compatible this is what it would have looked like:
"Dear Sadine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger,
Concerning the extradition of Captain Paul Watson.
I understand that this is a politically motivated order, originally sited by the shark finning barons of Costa Rica. Are you aware that these same barons have posted a bounty upon Captain Paul Watson's head of $250,000 USA dollars?
Extraditing him to a Costa Rica prison is not, no matter what you have been assured to the contrary, delivering him for trail. It is delivering him for murder.
He has be charged with the crime of stopping the illegal crime of poaching. If the perpetrators of this crime can use the law to prevent those fighting their crimes from bringing them to justice, then the law is a sham and government, the representative of the law, a mockery.
I remain hopeful of your sense of justice and obedience of the law.
Yours truly,
V. J. Bartlett"
Please can people copy this message and send it on to her, with your own name of course. It is really important that Captain Paul Watson does not end up in that prison. Nobody was hurt during the Sea Shepard mission in Costa Rica waters ten years ago and either was any property damaged. The e-mail address for the Federal Minister of Justice is on the Sea Shepherd web-site.
The voice of the people is the voice of God!
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Whale Wars - Success
O.k. sorry for false hopes if you thought that Captain Paul Watson had been released. As far as I know, not yet. Shame on all governments for their hypocrisy.
However, good news on the Whale War front.
Published in Wild World, the magazine of the WWF, this month is the fantastic news that 'Cold Storage', a supermarket chain in Singapore, has become the first retailer of that country to refuse to sell shark fin and other shark products. They made the move after joining the WWF's Sustainable Seafood Group.
Though this is news from another wildlife protection group, it should be something to make all supporters of both the WWF and the Sea Shepherd and any other wildlife protection group celebrate. Our efforts are not in vain, people in the management position of companies and organisations are listening to us, and realising that a quick buck today does not make up for the thousands lost tomorrow, if we continue to destroy this world. It is through these people and the economic pressure they can bring to bare on the governments of the world, that real and true change for the better protection of our home will begin.
If for no other reason it proves that human beings do not need their governments to make society work for the betterment of ourselves and our world. If enough of us can do that then maybe the governments will realise that it's time they earn their keep.
However, good news on the Whale War front.
Published in Wild World, the magazine of the WWF, this month is the fantastic news that 'Cold Storage', a supermarket chain in Singapore, has become the first retailer of that country to refuse to sell shark fin and other shark products. They made the move after joining the WWF's Sustainable Seafood Group.
Though this is news from another wildlife protection group, it should be something to make all supporters of both the WWF and the Sea Shepherd and any other wildlife protection group celebrate. Our efforts are not in vain, people in the management position of companies and organisations are listening to us, and realising that a quick buck today does not make up for the thousands lost tomorrow, if we continue to destroy this world. It is through these people and the economic pressure they can bring to bare on the governments of the world, that real and true change for the better protection of our home will begin.
If for no other reason it proves that human beings do not need their governments to make society work for the betterment of ourselves and our world. If enough of us can do that then maybe the governments will realise that it's time they earn their keep.
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