How Ridiculous

Just a quick post - but I thought this was blatantly ludicrous.

I am sat here (06.30 UK Time) having a quiet five minutes before I go to work. There has just been an item on the BBC breakfast news. A Senior Ambulance Driver, in a marked Ambulance Car (Blue lights the lot) has been summons by the Lincolnshire Police Force for speeding down the A1 at 100 miles an hour plus.

The reason he was "speeding". He was taking a replacement Liver from the Yorkshire area to Cambridge for transplant.

What's Next?

A Fire Engine getting a ticket to run a Red Light?

A Police Car getting a ticket for speeding to an accident?

How ridiculous can it get?

Bank Holiday Monday

Morning All


It's getting like you can't stay at work at the minute, as I sit here, it is yet another bank holiday here in the UK.

Not that I'm complaining though - it gives me another day to try and get over the colds that everyone round here seems to have.

Mind you, unlike most Bank Holiday Mondays, the day has started bright and blue (but for how much longer?). Have to garden to sort out though. It has been so wet (AGAIN) over the last few weeks that the grass has grown, the weeds encroached and the Green house filled out. So much to sort and not enough time to do it. There is also the loft to finish boarding out, Liam's bedroom to decorate with his Liverpool wallpaper , and the paper to pick up (Dolphins and all) from the Decorator supplies. So much to do, so little time to do anything.


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Sunday night is, as some of your know, Ghost night so to speak. The more I watch the Living TV program Most Haunted, the more fascinated I become with it, and Ghosts and the question of Ghosts, the more I find myself looking for other programs to watch.

To be honest , last night's Welsh Manor house encounter (a repeat of the program broadcast first on Tuesday - but I saw only ten minutes if that. One minute - TV. Next - Alarm Clock) was a bit of a let down. Although Derek Acorah, the Spirit medium did pick up on a number of spirit energies, none of them appeared to want to talk to anyone else. Never mind - that's the way it goes I suppose.

I have always, for as long as I remember, had an interest in both Ghosts and Space ( OK - U.F.O's). Read books. Seen films and video's. Watched Program's. With work I have been to some places that have certainly "had an atmosphere" as I mentioned before. Several times there has been a feeling of being, not exactly oppressed, but uncomfortable. But, at the minute, it seems that, at least when the house is queit at either end of the day, I'm looking to see of there are any Ghost progams on. Sky (that's the satillite supllier I have) have done their own programs, but I have tended to stick to either Most Haunted or one form Discovery / Civilization called Ghosthunters.

I want to know, like everything I get into, every piece of information about a subject that I have time to find.

Does that make me a Geek, an Anorak?

Sat 24may2003

Plague and Contagion

I'm sorry about the icon - it's a bit "wrong", but I don't have, nor can I find, a "flu buggy" type icon - mind you, as I type this, I do feel a bit like death.

I haven't slept very well and , although this is being typed at around 07.00 am UK time, I have already been awake for well over an hour.

As I said earlier in the week, the kids have been off for most of the week with the worst Coughs' and Colds that they have had; if not in a long time, the worst colds ever. Laura has been coughing the badly that she has made herself sick, and Liam has just coughed, coughed, coughed.

Although they are starting to get better, they still aren't right, they are still coughing.

Liam was supposed to be in a Football tournament on Bank Holiday Monday, but because of the state he has been in, he has been unable to attend any of the training sessions. He looks tired and drawn. So we have had to ring the team manager up and tell him that Liam is not available. It will put the team at a disadvantage - after all he is number one goalkeeper. But he's still a young lad (just turned 12) and getting over illness is more important at this point than one of four summer tournaments.

Laura, for once I suppose, as come off even worse. She got caught up in coughing spasms that ended up in flem and vomit in most cases. Not like her at all. My normally bouncing,happy "Baby" (and she'll love that at a grown up 7), is a sad, dejected bundle, hiding under a duvet on the settee. Yesterday was the first time, in several days, that she actually wanted to do ANYTHING.

Me and "She who must be obeyed"?

As usual, we are getting it second hand.

Not bad enough that I have had Sinus's trouble in the last month, but it feels a little like "here we go again".My ears feel full of fluid. Throat is dry and sore. Chest like wise.

What with this, and the "wonderful" weather we have had this spring (I'm starting to feel like a goldfish) I'm feeling a little fed up to say the least.

Doesn't Time Fly?

It's Thursday morning already and it will soon be another Bank Holiday (with the appropriate British Weather too if you believe the forecast).

It doesn't seem 5 minutes from the last time I posted - but it is a good three or four days. It has been a different week so far.

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Liam came back from camp without any injuries what so ever. I went over to the course site at Market Rasen .Although the site isn't far off the road, and the map I was given was very good, I still missed the entrance twice. As I pulled into the "Car Park" ( and I use the term loosely) you could see some of the training towers and the like. AND I thought that the poles I climb at work were tall. Liam never actually said much about what happened - apart form the odd "it was alright" , "it was OK". Must have been good then.

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We have had a run of things going wrong on the Car. Over the last couple of months a couple of engine management sensors have gone , which either caused the engine to run rough, if it ran at all. Now I'm not a "Car Man" so into the garage it went and came out sorted. However, when I picked Liam up from his Scout meeting on Monday I notice one of the Dipped Beam bulbs had gone. This progressed to both. So on the way home Tuesday night I stopped at a Car Parts shop and brought to new bulbs. Last night was the first chance I had to replace them. Carefully I sorted out what I had to do, removed the power supplies and replaced the bulbs. Just to make sure everything was OK I tried the full set of lights out. The new bulbs - Brilliant (if you'll excuse the pun) - but guess what - a side light and a main beam bulb had also now gone - AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH

Drives you mad!!

Morning All

Just sat here , early on a bright Sunday Morning just wondering what has happened to this week. The whole week has just flown by.

The house is even more quite then normal - the Kids have gone out for the night (or in Liam's case the week end)

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Liam's gone away with the Scouts this weekend to Camp. The main purpose being what they call a "high ropes course" ( Click here to see the website ). It would suit Liam to the ground - climbing over everything. But some of those lines are seriously high up. Mind you we don't know if anything has happened at all. The weather has been so bad over the last few days , we have been half expecting a phone call saying that the camp had been abandoned due to an excess of water. Will let you know how things pan out.

Laura's treat, as such, is that she has been allowed a friend to sleep over. But saying that they managed to talk her friends dad into letting them sleep over at her house last night - so chez Smudger is very quite today.

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The pictures?

Someone asked me the other day if I would publish a few of my pictures on the web (not via a blog I hasten to add - but a forum board). Well normally I'm a bit wary of this sort of thing - I don't think that they are that good, but I was asked nicely so I shall post a few and see what happens.

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There has been another computer "glitch", and this time I can't work out why. I don't think anything has altered, and I certainly haven't changed anything.

The problem? Windows/MSN Messenger. I had it setup so that I had as much control over it as possible. It doesn't start up when the computer starts up, and if I want to use it I start it myself. But the last few days?

Every so often a window pops up and someone says "Hello".The problem is, as far as I can see, is that it shouldn't happen. Whatever I check says that the messenger program is not running. All the settings appear to be as they were before. But there is still the windows. Mind you - had a good "natter" with someone I hadn't "talked " to for some time, but I'm still confused.

Warning Will Robinson

Now that's dragging the memory (Robbie the Robot from Lost in Space for anyone that misses the reference)

For someone who wasn't going to post any posts, I now find myself posting a second, and it is one as a warning. I have just spent about an hour sorting out something I never asked for in the first place.

Liam (that's my eldest) had just finished searching the internet for information on the Lord of the Rings PS2 game. He had closed the browser, e-mail. Infact everything but the actual connection which normally isn't a worry. But I noticed that the "Modem TV's" were still flashing.

After some digging I found that a program called "Trickler" (although , according to what I've since found out, it does go under a number of other names as well - the other more common one is FGS) was doing the transmissions. As this is a program that I didn't recognise I tried to stop it. Only problem - it isn't one of my programs and the only way I could stop it was to halt it via the Windows Manager.

Back onto the internet to do a bit of research, and up came a set of results that gave me the shivers. This program is Spyware. And it is linked to Gater.com. Well I have had deallings with Gater before. They collect your habits and then sell them under the pose of a Information tool or a password manager. You sometimes encounter it if you have downloaded some free software - but I have always decicded that this type of deal isn't worth the free lunch.

This Trickler is a program that cheats.

1. It is loaded either from the install of another program, but in our case I can only assume it was because of a popup window, because we haven't downloaded any programs for a week or two.


2. You are NOT asked if you want it or not


3. There is NO uninstall


4. It downloads Gator programs in such a sneaky underhand way that you don't even know that it is doing it.

Further information can be seen at http://www.cexx.org/gator.htm or "http://boards.cexx.org/spyware/messages/3609.html?board=spyware .

I thought I would pass this on as I am normally very careful of what I do on the Internet, what I download, what I connect to and it got through my defences.

Just a quick entry.

As many of know, I am fascinated with the living TV program "Most Haunted".

The program is now in it's second series and this year they have altered things slightly.

They now have Phil Whyman as the scientist/expert and Richard Felix as the "onsite" historian, which is good as it gives added credence to the "readings" of the programs Spirit Medium, Derek Acorah, and then finishing the program with an expert "sceptic" commenting on what had happened in that particualr program.

The first three programs have been fairly good, with the program from Tutbury Castle being particularly good.

However the program last night, from Londons' The House of Dentention, Clerkenwell. This is, or was, and underground detention centre for prisoners before they were moved onto other places. The site, although now deserted, is over 300 years old, and has been the site of many a foul deed and misdemeanor. It has a history of investigations being left incomplete because the people involved felt compelled to leave. Derek had already described several incidents, explosions and spirit contacts. And then the program got a little disturbing (or rather a lot). From the start, it was obvious that this place had a forbidding atmosphere, something obviously was wrong.

Derek picked up a malevolent spirit that went round threaten to harm the whole team. Parts of the investigation had to be cut out because it could not be transmitted because it was so graphic. This was getting really nasty. And then one of the group (Karl who is one of the program producers) appeared to have been physically hit. You could see him fall forward, although there was no one near him - he even had a mark on his head where he had been "struck".

I know this is "just" a TV program - but this was something else.

Below is a copy of a posting I have placed on my Xanaga site. Normally I would just maybe paste them across without comment - but this one is different to the norm.

I wasn't going to create a post today - too much else to do I suppose. But, having five minutes spare at the beginning of the day, I thought I'd check my e-mails. In there was the subscription list for my Xanaga friends.

In there was the latest posting from Angeldreams.

In it she beautifully (I couldn't quite find the right word for what I felt) describes her feelings and emotion at both losing her Mum, and then the the further loss of her memories when she moved away from the home.

I have copied across the posting (I hope this is OK with you dear Angeldreams?)


The latest from AngelsDream's Xanga Site!

Well.. I really didn't have anything to blog about tonight. But then I came across this blog Guisseppe .

And it brought back my own memories of when my dad sold the house I grew up in after he married my 1st step-mother (aka: the wicked witch, and evil bitch)....
Some of you may know how my mom died of cancer when I was 15. It was completely unexpected as she had been declared to be in remission. But she got a cold and died of respiratory failure as a result.
Even now some 12 years later it still hurts. Deeply. Even more so when my dad married my ex-step mom less than a year after my mom's death. Then he gives me the biggest blow. We are going to be moving almost 100 miles away. Away from my childhood home, friends that I had known since Kindergarten. I was taken away from my whole life, so it seemed.
I remember bits and pieces of moving. I remember my car that I paid for was taken away from me. I remember the wicked witch critizing the way my mother had decorated the house.
**Just to note.. we had a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, cathedral ceilings in the den, home in the country on 34 acres with a pond, horse barn that had 7 horses**** I loved my home. We built it when I was 6 months old. My baby footprints are embeded in the concrete by the door. My intials are craved in a tree along with a life long friend of mine.
That house held so many memories for me.. It was my one way of still being able to be close to my mom. It still smelled like her. It was my comfort. And then it was snatched away. All in the span of a week.
In a week's time... we moved out, moved to a bumfuck town, I was moved into this tiny house, where nothing was my own, I knew no one, and i fit in like a sore thumb.
Not to be rude or sound conceited but I was a little rich girl. And in this town, that stuck out. I was sent to a public school when my whole life I was sent to private college prep schools. I was uncomfortable there. I had to end up taking the same classes I took in 7th grade my sophmore year b/c the public school didn't recognize my transfer credits.
I felt trapped by it all. Trapped by the people around me. I spent most of my time with head phones glued to my head. With the sounds of Metallica, Cinderella, Motley Crue and the like pouring through. I think that was the only way I survived living there.. Music was my saving grace then.
I don't really know why that one post made me remember that time in my life. I mean it was 12 years ago.. I guess that is what they mean by scarred for life..... Funny how when memories come rollling back they come in landslides... "

Reading this brought back memories of my Dad. He could be a right miserable devil. But he was my Dad, and I loved him. He loved my Mum.They were married for a very long time.He loved his kids and his Grand kids and we had to watch him die over a long time. He had heart troubles for a long time, but he was managing them. But the it was the cancer. What died was not my Dad. What was left was not my Dad.

I have tears in my eyes now. And that hasn't happened for a very long time. I am lucky. I still have my Mum, My Family. The House where we lived is still my Mum's home. My Dad is buried only a mile away.

I can't imagine the pain of being ripped away from your memories. I only know of the pain I still have in my heart.

Angelsdream is right of course - it funny the things that start you remembering.

That was the week that was

Here is the weekend again, and another bank holiday weekend for that.

( I hope that Englishjuls has a nice weekend away)

It has been one of those weeks that is best forgotten. Monday and Tuesday morning where OK, I suppose. Back to work after nearly two weeks off, and within a few hours it felt as thought I had never had any leave at all - that is the "normality" of things I suspect. Tuesday afternoon I started to feel "a little off it". The next 36 hours were awful. Pain and discomfort you would never wish on your worse enemy - again.

Yesterday, Friday, was down as a training day. And , although I wasn't (and still aren't) 100%, I felt fit enough to go over to Leeds (about 60 - 70 miles) for the day. It was alright. A refresher course on the Home Computer product. A couple of new bits. But it was almost a case of the usual.

Do this this way!

Do that, that way, and we will get a few more jobs done a day.

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Bank holidays tend to be Garden/DIY days, and at Chez Smudger we try not to book the trend (as the previous comments on decorating will bear out) But I have noticed that, I suspect mainly due to the relatively wet weather in the last few days, the garden is being badly attacked by a Gastropodic Assassin

SNAILS

This year the little devils are everywhere, more so than the last few years at least. When I went out to the garage the other night, just after the rain had finished, the driveway was covered in snails. I've never seen the like. And they make me shiver, especially when you tread on one by accident.

UGH!!!!