Vive l'internet!

Reading Gemmak's latest post this morning led me to pondering on how important the internet has been to me. Having come to computers in the days of the BBC microcomputer (32 bit memory!), I was hooked immediately, but it was some years later when I made the acquaintance of the internet. In fact it was when Elder Daughter went off to university and we were able to set up a dial up connection which was temperamental, to say the least. But it was a start and eventually we graduated to broadband and the delights of the world wide web became more accessible.
Now, I am well and truly hooked and couldn't imagine having to do without it (witness my withdrawal symptoms when I am away from home and have no access!) I have made lots of online friends through Blogger, of course, and emailing friends and family is so much easier and more immediate than old fashioned 'snail mail'. When Elder Son is abroad on a tour of duty, I can email him and he receives the email within a couple of days rather than having to wait for weeks and during my last few years of teaching, internet access in the classroom through an interactive whiteboard was a real thrill for me, although the six year old pupils were so much more blase about it, of course.
Through the internet, I have renewed contact with people from my past and when you have an intenet 'presence' who knows who you might be reunited with or what new friends are just a click away? It can be a two-edged sword, but my life would be very different now were it not for the internet and yes, I'm happy about that.

Walking some more

There was a prescription for Keith waiting at the chemist so off I went yesterday morning, braving the gale force winds, uphill all the way, to walk the two and a half (or maybe three) miles to Coed Poeth where the chemist's shop is.
"I walked to Coed Poeth this morning," I said to Keith later.
"You didn't! You're joking!What on earth did you do that for?" was the reply.
Not really what I was looking for. "Thank you for getting my prescription," would have been more the sort of reaction I was seeking.
"Oh yes, thank you for getting my prescription," he said meekly.
(Anyway it must have been at least half a stone's worth of walking - at least.)

The Government and the banks are looking after us - honest!

I was sent a link to The Daily Mash in an email this weekend and couldn't resist posting it here. We probably mostly breathed a sigh of relief that the USA and European governments finally decided to do something about the chaotic financial abyss yawning at our feet, but looking at it this way - well, it does make you wonder...
The Government is to invest £500bn of your money in British banks so they can lend it back to you with interest.
The historic move is being hailed as a lifeline for the financial system as long as nobody asks too many questions. Julian Cook, chief economist at Corbett and Barker, said: "The government will give your money to the banks so the banks can start lending you that money, probably at around 7% APR. Thanks to all the interest you're paying on your own money, the banks will make billions of pounds again and normality will be restored. After a few years of this the government will cash in the bank shares it bought with your money and use the profits to build a huge f*****g dome somewhere."
He added: "In case you hadn't already worked it out - the entire global financial system is predicated on the assumption that you're an idiot."
Chancellor Alistair Darling said the decision had been taken in tandem with the banking industry, adding: "They used a lot of dirty words I'd never heard before and one of them had an angry looking dog."
Meanwhile, Emma Bradford, a sales manager from Bath, said: "Why doesn't the government just give my money to me so I can buy stuff from businesses who will then make a profit and put it in a bank?"
But Mr Darling insisted: "Shut up."
And then, of course, when you keep hearing snippets of news about how the city wizz kids are still getting their fantastic bonuses and no heads are really rolling over this and no-one seems to be addressing the question of how to prevent this sort of thing happening again, you have to wonder if your money (if you still have any) would be safer in a sock under the mattress.

Walking

Today I was very good and walked to my place of counselling and back again this afternoon. The weather was fine so it was enjoyable and it was high time I got back into that routine again as over the past few months, I have become rather lazy.
This morning, I had a Voicemail message asking me to return the call from the company who is going to assess the damage done to my car, so I did, quoting the reference number, as requested.
"Ah yes, a Ford Focus, isn't it?"
"No, a Toyota Yaris," I corrected.
"Oh, it's not showing up on the system....."
Finally it was found, identified and booked in to be inspected tomorrow. Watch this space...

An accident

I met up with Gill and Julie in Chester on Thursday - our usual monthly (or thereabouts) get-together and very pleasant it was too. Then I came back to the Park and Ride on the bus, got into my trusty little Toyota Yaris and set off home. I had pulled onto the roundabout when a bigger and obviously much faster car, coming from my right decided to keep on coming at top speed, hit the back of my car, spin me round in a full circle and deposit me facing in my original direction but several feet further on and wondering what the hell was going on. It was one of those "I can't believe that really happened" moments, as I got out of the car to find the back of it minus most of the back bumper, lights etc. and somewhat skewed. Even the tax disc had jumped out of its holder to land on the floor by the driver's seat.
As you can imagine by the fact that I am able to write about this in a fairly light-hearted vein, I was not hurt and neither was the driver of the other vehicle (What could have happened --- no, we're not even going there.)
"Well, I think we can treat this as a 'knock for knock'," said the police officer who attended the scene. "Oh, do you," I thought. "Not bothered to look at the skid marks from the other vehicle, then?" But I didn't say anything - I just wanted it not to have happened.
By then Keith had arrived on the scene and ascertained that it was still driveable, so I drove back, following him.
He said he was very proud of me for doing that. Gold star for me, then!
But it looks like I'll be walking to my counselling work on Monday. Let's hope it won't be raining.

Strictly Come Dancing

The weekend evenings are transformed again with the advent of the new series of 'Strictly'. Keith and I have, in the main, very different tastes in TV programmes - for him think 'Scrapheap Challenge', 'Salvage Squad' and that boring thing in Orange County where they are supposed to be building motor bikes but spend all their time yelling at each other. However, this is one programme we both enjoy and I commented that it's a far cry from the old 'Come Dancing' from years ago, which prompted Keith to wonder about how today's version would fare if Health and Safety ever got their claws into it:

High kicks to be banished to avoid partners' heads being kicked in.
Sequins to be welded on - (no more 10,000 sequins being hand sewn by Molly Gubbins's mother.)
No sharp turns in the tango in case of cutting someone. ('sharp' turn - get it?)
Couples to be at least 2 chevrons apart to avoid danger of collision.
Women not allowed to do spins in long gowns to avoid danger of tripping.
Scaffolding to be used during lifts.
Hard hats to be worn at all times in case of head injuries.
No stiletto heels to be worn in case of broken ankles.
Far fetched? Hmm, maybe...

Car booting in the rain

Yes, I know what the weather forecast said about the north/south rain divide, but it was a toss up as to which side we were on, so off we went, bright and early this morning, in the hope that the rain was about to stop.
It didn't.
When we arrive at 6am, the field is normally already alive with car booters and the professional marketeers. This morning, there were about six of us hardy (foolish) souls. As it was still pitch black and getting darker, (Well, as they say, it's always darkest before dawn.) we sat in the van and played a quick game of 'I spy'. I thought mine was quite good - T for tail-lights, from a car which had arrived, looked around and then decided to high-tail it off back home again.
By seven o'clock it was getting light and we had had our first coffees, put the signs up and were ready for business.
By 8.30 Keith had some half decent music on the computer (all mod cons in that van!) and I was devising an energetic dance routine to keep warm and not completely lose the feeling in my extremities.
By 9.15 we had decided to call it a day - probably the sight of several other vans and cars disappearing down the track to the exit clinched it for us.
Back in Wrexham, there was blue in the sky and no doubt the millions of readers based in North Wales will be reading this and saying, "Rain? What rain?" This afternoon was a perfect, sunny autumn afternoon. Sod's Law!