On the Radar

Oh-My-Bama!

Life is very interesting…

It’s interesting how people in general live blinkered lives only to remove these blinkers when involved in an emergent situation. Yesterday I listened to a radio host spit fiery words about President Obama and how he had failed miserably in his capacity as president.

You see, according to this host President Obama had made so many promises to the American people and had fallen short. I kind of let out a small eek and had to suppress my disbelief at how insular and narrow-minded many people seem to be.

My question to these so-called “real American people” is, how much have you accomplished in the last three hundred and sixty five days? Running the biggest government in the world efficiently and trying to appease over three hundred million people at the same time is no small feat.

In my view, it’s time that all inhabitants of America take a close look at what is happening around the world and not just what’s outside their front door. It’s easy to pick and complain about our own situation but compared to the majority of the world we still have it good.

Count your blessings and be patient.

Unusual Weather

The UK and much of Europe has been hit by the coldest and snowiest weather seen in decades – much to their chagrin! Having lived in the North East of America for several years I am almost accustomed to the snow and bone-chilling temperatures.

In the UK everything ground to a halt – trains, buses, airports – the whole lot. Emergency crews were overwhelmed and everything that could shut down was shut down.

When I was very young I remember a snowstorm in the UK that crippled the entire transportation system and gave all of us kids several days off school. When we woke up and saw several feet of blanketed snow outside just ready for us to dive into and rumple, we could hardly contain ourselves. I had ever before seen so much snow in England before that and never since.

I thought it funny when several callers in to a TV station at the height of the storm, enquired whether or not global warming was the culprit for this type of weather anomaly. I was pleasantly comforted when the weather reporter insisted that these types of weather variances have been happening for centuries. It’s just that it hasn’t occurred in the UK for such a long time, we had almost forgotten. Well I haven’t forgotten and like the majority of things in life I am certain that we have not seen the last of unusual weather activity.

2009 Farewells

Goodbye 2009! Farewell! For 2010 promises to fulfill all of my earthly desires!

I thought that I would compile this little list of items, ideas, thoughts and circumstances that will hopefully die with 2009 and be buried forever, never again to see the light of day: -

1. Twitter and all the micro-blogging nonsense associated with it
2. Media stories about unfaithful husbands
3. Snuggies – (actually I quite like the doggy ones so…)
4. Rude customers in the queue behind you at the local CVS shop
5. Rude customers in the queue behind you at the local CVS shop who exclaim quite loudly to the cashier as you leave, “I’m glad that you noticed my frustration and hurried up”.
6. Belly fat and the silly belly fat adverts that continually remind of us of our, ahem, let’s call them “love handles”.
7. Chopped. Let’s hope this Food Network show gets the chop!
8. Unnecessary shows about food and real estate, such as Real Estate Intervention. Who’s ever heard of such a thing? Can HGTV stoop any lower?
9. Bernard Madoff
10. Insincerity

Please feel free to add to my list or comment on the ones already recorded. I’ll just add that 2009 was good year for me. I consider myself extremely blessed and I am certain that there are others out there who are feeling equally fortunate for escaping a lot of the horrors of 2009. Let’s just hope that 2010 anecdotes will bring joy to more people rather than less.

So This is Christmas

After the hurtling of snow we got earlier this week, it at least feels like Christmas this year. The snow hurried in the brutally cold weather which has somewhat curtailed our daily walks and deterred many from the local wind swept boardwalk.

As someone who was brought up never celebrating Christmas, I am uncertain as to why I would feel a little left out this year. In fact it isn’t a celebration that I have wholeheartedly embraced because of my upbringing, but it is also not something I detest completely.

In my view Christmas is all about family and my family is not here. They are miles away and will more than likely get together and have some sort of family gathering. Trouble is that when I lived in the UK I hated these family get-togethers. They were boring for a teenager who just wanted to hang out with their mates or go down the pub. How times have changed!

So I have presumed that my desire to go to one of these sometimes war some gatherings is due to old age. Never thought I would get to this point but don’t we all confuse youth with reality? This is reality. It’s the desire to be with family and the need to feel that connection with people who have known you all your life. By moving to the USA I attempted to steal youth and keep it hostage…Sigh…

So this is Christmas…

Eye of the Tiger

Normally I am not one for gossip and frivolous bits of tat *cough*, however this Tiger Woods nonsense has peaked my interest ever so slightly.

In my humble opinion it is still none of our business what he wants to do in his personal life. I know I know that people in this position of fame are somewhat role models. I hate that term sometimes because who am I to let someone else decide my idea of a role model.

So he has lost some sponsors and will probably lose a lot more before all is said and done. But do you know what? I don’t think he gives a toss what the media or you and I think about it all. I believe that he will continue playing golf with or without the big endorsements. By god, he can well afford to never even play another tournament.

When it comes down to it all, he is a human being and as fallible as the rest of us. He’s not the first and he won’t be the last to go down this road.

Underneath it all

So a friend of mine who also has a blog recently posted a link to a trailer advert for a new film entitled, “Babies.” The story, in the  form of four anecdotes, follows the lives of four babies from Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo.

It’s very interesting to me when people look at different cultures and races and come to the conclusion of how different we all are. I’m usually the opposite. I tend to see how very similar we are and that despite our unique appearances underneath it all we are truly the same.

Parents wish the best life for their children and any parent would do anything to protect their child. It is a very basic human instinct. It goes beyond rational thinking. It’s the main reason we exist and as long as humans believe in the potential of new life then we may be here for another thousand years…