Archive for August, 2010
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 19, 2010
Today has been a much better day. I had been working hard and earning my pennies but missed my lunch. I had a light snack late afternoon and was expecting my beautician at six o’clock but she didn’t turn up. I haven’t heard from her so I’ve no idea what went wrong. My eldest son and his wife called in about the same time and we discussed what we were going to do for our evening meal. Eventually it was decided that we should all go out to a restaurant. My youngest son didn’t fancy going out so he stayed at home but we went to a Chinese restaurant in town. It was surprisingly empty so we had no problem getting a table. Now I am not particularly fond of Chinese food but I enjoy it occasionally. It has been a while since I dined out in the evening but it was a nice change from our usual daytime excursions! I have been rather busy this week for a change too and I have the prospect of more work on the horizon. Life goes on….
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 18, 2010
The day started quite well as I watched some early morning television whilst eating my breakfast. I was laughing at the antics of superstar ‘wannabees’ on the best and worst of recent X Factor competitors. However I had to face the world and go off to work. As I opened the front door the guy who delivers one of our local free newspapers pushed inside and dropped the paper at my feet. I was a bit taken by surprise but wished him ‘Good morning’. No response at all. He just turned away and left the premises. Now at this point I have to explain that the guy has a psychological/medical problem in that he may be suffering from severe Autism or some similar complaint because his behaviour never changes and he totally ignores anyone who tries to engage him in conversation. It is really sad. I drove to my first job. When I had completed the job the guy (who was originally from India or Pakistan) wanted to haggle over the price. Now this seems to be the usual practice for people of his ethnic background but it is something I won’t accept in business. He relented and went to pay me. As it wasn’t a large sum and because I needed some cash in my purse I asked for cash. He then explained that he didn’t have any cash but would pay by cheque. This is very inconvenient for me because it means I have to make a trip to my own town to deposit cheques and such a trip for paying in one cheque would be such a hassle beginning with the difficulty in finding a parking space (and having to pay for it) or parking some distance away and walking back. Either way takes an hour or so out of my day which is ridiculous for one cheque. I suggested he could go to an ATM and there was one but half a mile away from his house. I followed him there and eventually was paid but he said to me that he didn’t like ‘this sort of black market dealing’. What cheek! You’d think I was asking for thousands of pounds. After he’d paid me I told him not to bother calling on my services again. Sheesh!
My second job, in my home town, was a much better affair and the couple for whom I was doing the job were more than pleased with my work and the prices I was charging them. They even asked me if it was enough!
I told E about my day and she agreed with me regarding my thoughts about it all. Later in the afternoon we were visited by the guy who had fitted our windows. We had been asking for somebody to come and iron out some of the faults we have been troubled with. It has taken them eight weeks to respond despite the number of times we’d asked them to and despite the many promises by them to do so. Anyhow he fixed the problems within a half hour and then left. He returned a short time later with the guy who had given us the original quotation for the work. Now it seems that this guy was after more money. They had fitted ‘liners’ as they call them, to all the windows they had installed but it was something we had not requested. Sometime during the work he agreed to let that fact rest and we were not invoiced for the extra work. Today however he decided to ask for ‘something toward the cost’, £800! I flatly refused and reminded him of what he’d said previously and that this ‘mistake’ was theirs, not mine and I shouldn’t have to pay for something I didn’t ask for. He tried to convince me that the cost of the liners was actually £2500! That would mean in real terms a price of £4 per foot of plastic. I wasn’t born yesterday. Whether he will pursue the matter I have no idea but all I can say is that we paid an agreed price and we have been inconvenienced in not only waiting for them to repair the faults they shouldn’t have left us with in the first place but also for the damage they had caused on a bay window roof after I had specifically told them not to stand on it! This roof had been repaired only months before. Okay, they fixed the broken tiles but that isn’t the point. On the whole I wasn’t impressed with their approach in carrying out the work whilst they were here so there is no way I am inclined to pay them more!
I hope tomorrow will be a better day.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Behaviour, People | Tagged: People | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 17, 2010
Are you satisfied with your life? Have you all you want or are you still striving for something? When you have what you are looking for do you then think that you will be satisfied? Remember when you were a child and wished for something. Perhaps you got it or perhaps you did not. If you did get it how long did it keep you satisfied? When you lost interest, do you remember wishing for something else instead? If you didn’t get your wish were you disappointed? Did you suffer as a result or did you carry on regardless and maybe wish for something different? You may not realise it at the time but we go through our lives wishing for things, aiming for goals, making plans, saving for something we desire to own and later when we have done all these things we focus on something else. Did you ever reason why we do this? Are we simply creatures that are never fully satisfied and must we always be searching for something? Is there really anything at all that can truly satisfy our hearts? Everything we do is ultimately a waste of time. The things we do are only pleasurable for a season, the things we own become mundane after a while. Life seems so pointless when we look at it this way, yet few actually do so. Live and be happy and more importantly, be content. It isn’t the amount of things we can cram into our lives that are important, it’s the quality of our lives and how we live it.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Philosophy, Religion | Tagged: Life, Philosophy, Religion | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 16, 2010
I had a bowl of porridge, fruit and a fruit drink for breakfast. I dined out for lunch and had a starter of mushrooms in a breaded batter with a dip and a salad followed by Shepherds Pie, chips (French Fries) and vegetables with a couple of drinks to wash it all down. This evening I don’t feel up to eating anything at the moment but the opportunity is there should I wish to.
I am very privileged I feel to be able to eat when I wish and as much as I want without worrying where the next meal is coming from. This isn’t a luxury that many people around the world enjoy, not because they are necessarily poor even though that is a major problem for some but because there is simply nothing for them to eat. Maybe it is a natural disaster like the current situation in Pakistan or the severe droughts in Ethiopia and other places that leaves people without food or even the prospect of getting any. With that in mind wouldn’t it be a wonderful gesture to be able to provide that food if it was possible?
Well it is! All it takes is a minute or so of your time to answer a couple of questions, a sort of mini-survey and a generous host will provide a meal for the hungry. It costs you nothing but a minute of your time and each time to click on the survey another meal will be provided for some starving child. Please consider taking just a minute to fill out a very short survey by clicking on the link on the left.
Thank you
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 16, 2010
I’ve done nothing since last Friday and I feel I am in danger of becoming too used to the idea! Okay, Saturday is my rest day anyhow so I hadn’t anything planned nor was there anything pressing to do. Sunday found me a little out of sorts in as much as I had contracted a bladder infection, the consequence of which kept me sitting on the toilet most of the day! By evening time I was out of the woods and all was back to normal. Strange one that. Today I was ready for work, should anything become available but it didn’t. In any case I had an appointment to visit a clinic at 12.20 which meant my working day would have to be planned around that, something sometimes awkward to do in my business. As it happened and because I had no work I decided to take E out to lunch. We drove the twelve or so miles out-of-town and did just that. I have spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the sofa reading a book, that is reading the book in between my cat-naps! Am I getting lazy or what? I feel I am discumnockerated, charnached and inklypooped but in a happy daze! Here’s to tomorrow when I will be gainfully employed!
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 15, 2010
There is a little box on the left whereby you can help a charitable cause and it’s free………please consider clicking on the tab.
Shirley Anne x
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 15, 2010
I had been watching television until 1am and wasn’t feeling at all tired, probably because I’d done nothing all day. I opened my bedroom window and stood there for about twenty minutes or more just gazing up at the sky (one does strange things at my age….LOL). The view from my windows is roughly toward north-east and although there are tall trees across the garden I still have quite a lot of the northern sky on view. However, as has been usual these last few weeks, there were clouds. At the time I was looking skyward the clouds were beginning to block my view but as they were moving very slowly they were not a problem. I was looking specifically at three groups of stars, that is constellations, Ursa Major, Cassiopea and Perseus. The main stars in the constellation of Cassiopea are in the shape of a large W with one star at each point of the letter (five stars). I was reminded in my thoughts that everything I was looking at is not stationary but just appears to be. It is all about distance, although the stars (including the sun) are all moving through the Galaxy and all at different speeds, we cannot see that motion because of the vast distances involved. One of the stars forming the W shape of Cassiopea however can be seen to move position over a relatively short period. In fifty years the motion is noticeable and I remember what Cassiopea looked like fifty years ago. The star that is showing this relatively large motion is the first one in the formation of the W and if you draw the imaginary line down to the second star you can see at this time that the angle has widened and it looks as though the W’s leading side is falling outward. Over the next fifty years that will become even more apparent.
I digress.
Whilst my attention was fixed on this and the other constellations my eyes were drawn to the bright light of a meteor and when I traced the course to its origin I found it to be in the constellation of Perseus. I can only assume that it was a straggler of the recent Perseid shower. So I finally got to see one after all! Of course on any night of the year there are meteors to be seen if one is in the right place for viewing and there are several regular major showers during the year.
I went to bed at 2 by which time the sky was beginning to fill with clouds.
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 15, 2010
Whilst browsing my Blog Stats I look to see what folk have been reading. Many of my visitors read old posts but I seldom get comments on those even though they are not closed to comments. Perhaps they think because it is an old post any comments will be missed but that is far from the truth as any recent comments always show on my home page (and also on the dashboard under ‘comments’..LOL). So if anyone does read an old post then don’t be shy in making a comment if you feel you would like to. It’s never too late!
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 14, 2010
Those who regularly read my musings will know by now that Saturday is a sabbath day of rest for me, that is I do no occupational work and any other work if I can avoid it (LOL). That is not to say I am lazy, if something needs doing I will do it but I cherish the day whereby I can take time out from the hustle and bustle of daily life. I had an extra hour or so in bed and came down for a late breakfast at around 9.30 after which I retired to the rear lounge and did some reading for an hour or so. I find reading is a very relaxing pastime. That quietness was interrupted by the doorbell ringing so I reluctantly rose to my feet and answered the door. I was immediately greeted by two middle-aged women and noticed that one was carrying copies of The Watchtower. I bid them goodbye and closed the door. Now I do admire people who fervently believe in God and want to ‘spread the word’ because we are instructed in Scripture to do so. However, there are ways of doing that which do not disturb people in their own homes when probably they do not welcome the intrusion. That said though, I do not believe that Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine is correct so I wouldn’t have entertained them in any event. A pastor once told me that holding them in conversation for as long as possible would prevent them from annoying other people! Perhaps not a logical idea, who is to say that other people do not want to listen to what they have to say? Anyhow, it is all indicative of how much the world is constantly invading our quiet times. In society today we are bombarded with all sorts of things which can prevent us from taking respite and forgetting all our everyday problems for a while. The phone rings, the cell-phone rings, the doorbell sounds, the television, the radio, the Internet and of course people demand attention. Sometimes I feel like driving far away for some isolation and it isn’t impossible, anything for some peace and quiet for a while. I could never understand why people take their cell-phones with them wherever they go, even on vacation! Seems defeatist to me. Today I am going to try my level best to relax and enjoy the day………..woe betide anyone who spoils it…….LOL
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 13, 2010
Watch this space indeed! Well the weather didn’t disappoint me, it was cloudy all night long so I didn’t get to see the Perseid meter shower. No problem. Comet Hartley 2 will pass to within 11.2 million miles of the Earth on Oct. 20 but I’ll have to be up early in the mornings and somewhere out in the country to see it as it will not be very bright. Of course there are other events to see like the Geminid shower on or about Dec 14 and later on the 20/21st there is a total eclipse of the Moon but whether I will see them or not doesn’t really matter there are many other things of interest in the night sky which can be seen at almost any time.
At this moment the Sun is going through a fairly active phase after a long spell of minimum activity. The Solar Cycle (about 11 years) sees the Sun going between phases of minimum to maximum activity, more sunspots, more raging storms and solar prominences with the accompanying higher levels of radiation. For the amateur, the best way to observe the Sun is by the projection method. The output from the telescope is directed on to a sheet of white paper and the Sun’s image shows up quite clearly. Sunspots are easily seen as well as other features. Absolutely no way should one view the Sun directly through a telescope or binoculars as doing so will result in instant and permanent blindness!
Today I have no work to do but we have employed E’s other nephew (the builder and brother to the guy who has done some of the other work in our front garden) to build that buttress I talked about in the rear garden. Today he is digging further to what we have already done after which he will lay the foundation (concrete) for the buttress. Unfortunately he will be going to France on Sunday to see his girlfriend and will be away for a week. It gives us time however to finish the preparations to laying the hard-core for the extension to the existing concrete area. When he returns he will build the buttress and lay the concrete. E and I have unenviable task of either burning the large amount of branches we have stored on another plot to the side of the house behind the garage or ‘mince’ them in the wood-chipping machine. Probably both methods will be used. We are having the old greenhouse brick walls demolished together with some small garden walls in this area ready for the re-building of a perimeter wall and the landscaping of that plot of land which we hope to use as a vegetable garden and adjacent screened patio area but that will be months away yet. It all makes for an interesting life. I’m going to get a beer from the fridge……………………
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Activity, Astronomy, Garden, Life | Tagged: Astronomy, General Chat, Life | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 12, 2010
People in this country talk much about the weather, its ups and downs and all that, often with justification. Many times in the past has the weather let me down, not just me but many people. We cannot control the weather so we simply accept it and make the most of things. I have been interested in Astronomy since I was about eight years old and love going out on a dark, moonless night to just look at the sky. That of course means no clouds but therein lies the problem. Having no clouds at all in our skies is quite a rare thing in the UK. Last night, in fact over the last couple of nights the Earth has been passing through the debris left by an old comet. The earth does this several times every year although not through the same debris. This produces the well-known meteor showers we can see at different times during the year. The meteor showers themselves are usually named after the constellation of stars from which they appear to be coming from. This is purely a line-of-sight effect because the debris is in fact orbiting the sun albeit in most cases highly elliptical orbits. No doubt the other planets in the solar system experience the same thing when they pass through the debris. Last night was the turn of the ‘Persied’ shower. This particular shower has provided spectacular displays over previous years and by all accounts this years’ shower was going to be the same. This of course cannot last forever as each passage through the shower relieves it of material and we see that material burning brightly as each particle of dust and stones enters the Earths atmosphere. This is when we see the ‘shooting stars’, the long (in some cases) streaks in the sky left in their wake and to their demise. Some meteors are so large that they actually make it to the ground or into the oceans and thus become meteorites. Many places on the Earth have meteorites just lying around waiting for somebody to pick them up. Well all this is fine to know but the real thrill is seeing them light up the sky as they fly through the atmosphere. Last night I saw nothing! Oh they were there but the sky above my head was filled with dense cloud. This is typical of the UK weather. I have found over the years that here in the Uk we are not very well placed for seeing many of the sights that occur heaven-ward anyway but that combined with our notorious weather makes enjoyment of my hobby difficult. It is always the same. In order to see the beauty of the Milky Way for instance I have to travel to some remote corner of the country where there is no artificial lighting. Not impossible but just inconvenient. Perhaps I should have been outside of the country last night to watch those meteors. Maybe I will have another chance to see them tonight when the display is at its peak? Watch this space or better still go outside and have a look for yourself.
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 11, 2010
If you want tired then dig the garden! I am absolutely worn out after a few hours digging in the garden. I refer to that plot where E and I plan to place another greenhouse. Be began preparing the ground so it can be concreted over. That means digging and even more digging which in itself is pretty much straightforward, however this plot of land is strewn with the roots of the trees and shrubs we removed a few days ago. We determined that the whole area was a completely intertwined network of roots and we were not disappointed! This made inserting the spade into the ground extremely difficult with the result that we could not get all that we wanted to do finished. During the big dig I discovered that the boundary wall along which we have been digging has very little foundations. The wall separates our garden from our neighbours garden and has been at some time built an extra four or five feet higher along it’s thirty foot length! It is going to need a buttress built to support it and maybe two more if our bricklayer advises. He is a family member so we will be provided with sound advice. In the meantime we will dig deeper in the place where the buttress is to be built and lay suitable foundations. We have ample hard-core material from our previous works in the front garden. In fact we will be using that material for the foundations to the concreted area too. It’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks ahead by the looks of things. I like having a project to work on and E is very helpful and although she is limited in what she can do because of her condition she makes the task much more enjoyable for me because she is there. If I never see another root it will be too soon!
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 10, 2010
I am about to take an axe to this computer! All kinds of strange things seem to be happening with it lately. Most probably it is the site I have been visiting that is causing the problem. Which site might that one be….well this one actually. I have been finding that I am not getting connected or if and when I do I am being held back. My cursor in uncontrollable sometimes and I get locked out of the thing I am doing at that moment. Thinking it is my pc I try to see if some other program is running, my security program for instance which automatically updates itself might be causing a slow down. Occasionally I switch off the machine and find that all is now correct. It can be very frustrating at times.
Today has been more or less a stay at home day for me with just one local call to assess a prospective job late in the afternoon. I had a really good night’s sleep last night and this has become the norm for me lately. This is a good sign and reflects my worry-free existence. Life is good and I am at peace with my Maker. I decided to begin the clearing out of that space behind the apple trees alongside the greenhouse which I’d wanted to start yesterday, or was it Sunday? I began by cutting the shrubs, trees and blackberry vines back to ground level and then began the task of digging out the roots. That part was in itself a hard job and I have lots more to do yet. I broke off doing that for a while because I had to burn the timber of an old fence and some of the old shrubbery I had removed some time ago. By this time it was way beyond lunchtime and I had to stop. I didn’t return to the garden until my return from the job assessment. As it was late afternoon I thought it best to mow the lawn in case it rains again. It was beginning to look like a jungle! If I find myself at home tomorrow I shall do more digging for roots. Later, maybe not tomorrow, I will lay hard-core and make the ground ready for some concrete. We need a much larger greenhouse and this is the preparation for it. Our little greenhouse has provided us with plenty of fruit which at the moment is not quite ready for picking. There are numerous bunches of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers and also some strawberry plants litter the floor although there are more of them outside. Today whilst we were digging out the roots we had a visitor hop by, a large natterjack toad. This is the second one we have come across in the last few weeks and there is plenty for them to eat in our garden.
We were too tired to start cooking this evening so we bought in some Chinese food instead. Tonight E is glued to the television, most of her favourite programs are on tonight. I will spend a little time on this computer before retiring to the back lounge to play my guitar.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Computer, Garden, Life | Tagged: Life | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on August 9, 2010
So much for Summer. We have had a glorious June followed by a not very good July and now it is August and the weather is leaving a lot to be desired. Today it is raining, yet again and the forecast doesn’t look promising. I have been talking about doing some work in our rear garden and there still remains work to be done in the front garden but for that work we are waiting upon E’s nephew. Of course little can be done whilst it is raining. I don’t mind the fact that it is raining but it gets tedious when it is constant with no breaks. The lawn needs cutting again but that cannot be done whilst the grass is wet and the more it rains the more it grows! Such is life. We can still do work indoors and there is plenty to do there, one bedroom and one lounge need re-decorating for a start. The hose pipe ban remains in force and it has almost never stopped raining since the ban started! I think we may be in for an Indian Summer as they say, warm and dry weather throughout September. We’ll see.
Shirley Anne
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Posted by Shirley Anne on August 8, 2010
I got up late. I was having a problem with my left eye yesterday. E had wanted to go into town to buy her mum a birthday present. She did go but came back after about twenty minutes because she couldn’t find a parking space. She hadn’t taken her display cards showing her disability so couldn’t park in spaces allocated for such people. I told her that I would take her and then go and park somewhere whilst she did her shopping. So off we went back into town. I dropped her off and went off to find a parking spot. Whilst I was waiting I began to feel that something was in my eye. I couldn’t see anything and for the rest of the day the irritation continued. I washed out my eye and got some respite and it became bearable. Late in the evening I decided to have a workout on my treadmill and did that at 11.15, crazy girl that I am. Nothing unusual for me, I used to go running at 3 in the morning! Anyhow after cooling down and then having a soak in the bath it was around 1.30 before I hit the sack. I wasn’t feeling tired so I watched some tv. I finally got to sleep around 2.30. I was awakened by my son who had returned home from a night out with his friends. It was 4.20! Thanks son. So I eventually got up at 9.45 but by the time I got downstairs it was 10.30, too late for breakfast, too early for lunch so I decided to fill the washing machine with my dirty bed linen and some clothes. I asked E if she would like to dine out today, no argument there! So that’s what we’ll be doing sometime before 2 o’clock. I had planned on doing some work in the rear garden today, digging out the area we had cleared of overgrown trees and shrubs last week. We want to prepare the ground for the laying of concrete as an extension to what is already there. The new greenhouse stands on that concrete and we want to install a larger greenhouse behind it. Anyway not today, there’s plenty of time to do that job. So it looks as if I’ll be having a two-day rest this weekend after all. Well I deserve it!
Shirley Anne
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