Getting Things Done or Fifty Shades of Grey

Only a couple of days ago I put in an order with Amazon for a book, it's called Getting Things Done by David Allen.  Perhaps I'm a little sad but I now can't wait to open it up and get started.  It's like the thing!!  The thing!! To organize my life and make sure I do what I need to do, all those things being held in mid air as if nowhere to go, just waiting to be started, or finished or in some other state of flux but without the word required in English to describe them, besides my own procrastination. It's exciting.  Yes, exciting.  Books do this to me as well.  Any book about a subject I am interested in will make me happy.  In the meantime, Sparkling has texted me she is interested in a book.  Then asked if I had heard of it, Fifty Shades of Grey.  Nope.  It means nothing to me (oh Vienna - Ultravox song). 

Out of a interest I immediately had a look on the internet to find out what this book is she has taken an interested in.  Great.  Bloody great.  The reviews indicate it's a woman's porno book.  Or rather slightly more tasteful woman's literature porno.  The reviews are mixed, some indicating it isn't as well written as it could be but still a book worth reading. Well fifty shades of grey, blue, pink, red, purple, doesn't make it any better if the colour changes, is not up my street.  Further I could see why it's useful to have a Kindle, where you can read discretely any porno you like, but apparently Fifty Shades of Grey has been running out of the shops and into womens handbags all over the place.  They are not afraid to brazenly hold their porn up to the light and be seen reading it.  It makes me feel a bit of a prude.  So much for being anonymous.  If you have a desire, let the world know it.  No matter what others think.hold your paper backs high, especially if you're  a woman.  Men would rather buy theirs off the top shelf, put it in a bag and look at pictures in privacy.  Men don't do so well with words, we're all imagery, visual.  It's what gets the blood going. Sitting in a chair in privacy, and all I want to do is get things done.  Maybe I'm reading the wrong literature altogether.

Think I'll just go and pick up the Beano.

London's Olympic fiasco in waiting

It seems wherever I turn there is some kind of media blaring out about the Olympics.  It's not even started yet but already it is getting to saturation point for most Londoners.  This morning the discussion I heard on the radio was about Olympic Lanes.  These are not the lanes in which athletes can be seen racing hard against each other, but rather the lanes where traffic will be allowed to run just of the purpose of Olympic sponsors.  There must be a great deal of these sponsors because the lanes run through half of London.   The worse thing about them is they will be restricted only to officials and sponsors, no other car driving Londoner is allowed to use them.  The lanes have been marked with the five Olympic circles symbol just so people are quite aware of them.  If someone is caught using the Olympic Lane and they are not authorised then they will be fined.  These lanes were not built just for this purpose, they were built with the funds from taxpayers of London and are actually pre-existing roads.  As London is pretty close to traffic grid lock restricting these roads will lead to grid lock in East London.  This subject is talked about all over East London.  On the radio, on TV and by Londoners.  I personally take offence such lanes should exist.  When my hard earned tax payers money built them in the first place.  The total cost of the Olympics to London has been 9.3 billion pounds.  Therefore I've come up with a plan.  It's my bicycle.  If I can find an Olympic Lane near me I will make an extra special effort to cycle along it regardless of what they think.  I have no number plates so it don't matter if I'm on camera.  In fact it's about time we revolted.

Clogging up the arteries of London will have resounding effects.  Commuters will try to use alternative roads, but will then find there is a mass of other commuters also trying to use those same roads.  The gridlock will end up in emergency services also being grid locked, unless they are also allowed to jump in on the Olympic Lanes.  If there is an accident with an Olympic vehicle on one of these routes then there will be another backlog on the actual route with Olympic traffic.  If anyone else thinks they are going to get to the accident spot they have got another thing coming. It isn't going to happen.  In trying to make transport more efficient for the Olympic crowd it could be they have just created the perfect gridlock scenario, it's waiting to happen.  In the meantime I'll get a little pull along attachment to my cycle.  In it I'll put refreshments from non-Olympic sponsors and sell them to those stuck in the grid lock.  Tin drinks, sweet snacks, ice creams.  Perhaps some very non-Olympic sandwiches.  I will not sell any of these items at the extortionist rates the normal Olympic vendors will want.  I'll make a fortune.

While also listening to this morning's news I have heard about how many officials from different countries have been selling their Olympic tickets for ten times the face value of the tickets.  Considering many of these are in their hundreds of pounds the black market trade means some officials will be thousands of pounds happier.  I don't have any,  I wasn't invited, poor old me on my bicycle trying to negotiate gridlocked lanes will not get to see a single blade of the Olympic grass even though it's only three stone throws away.  My only thoughts on this is anyone who has a ticked should first be ID'd to ensure it is the legitimate owner of the ticket.  In the UK we have laws against ticket touts so selling of an Olympic ticket wherever you happen to, and then to get away with it in London may not happen.  Be aware.  I nod my head.  Yes.  Those men with blue helmets will nick you.  I'd like to know what the Olympic Committee have got to say on the matter.  Then I'd also like to know what our mayor Boris Johnson has to say.  I'm sure he wouldn't be to happy and would give the men in blue a nod and a wink to be actively seeking these ticket holders.  Mind as long as he lets the cyclists do what they want to do then I got no problems with it.  OK better go get busy.  Where can I buy 52 loafs of bread?

I hate washing my hair

I hate washing my hair, as I did this morning, then was reminded, that the ever creeping years of age have decided to go from the top down.  Shampoo, a good soak and massage, then the rinse and horror of horrors as I look down into the sink and the water drains away.  If my eyes were worse than they are I wouldn't worry because I wouldn't be able to see it.  Strands and strands of hair.  It's becoming finer, it used to be thick.  I'm losing it.  Down the plug hole.  Or just left there as a little message to my conscious mind for something I'd rather was in my subconscious mind.  I'm going thin on top, it's progressing.  How many hair washes have I got left before there is just not enough to cover my head?  Not many at this rate.  In a couple of years I'll have a shiny top with a parting the size of a motorway and nice neat tufts around my ears.  It's OK for my ears perhaps the remaining hair will distract from the tough obstreperous strands which are trying to grow out of my ears. I hate washing my hair.  Maybe if I never washed it again then it wouldn't fall out.  Then nobody would notice.  Look who goes there.  Yes it's baldy, the bald headed man.  Hiya baldy I have some wax, would you like to rub it in, they might call you mahogany head.  Let it breath, have the lot off, even down the sides.  If you're bald be proud of it, don't hide it away.  And certainly don't put a rug on top.  Syrup of fig to those who know a little Cockney, i.e. wig.

Am I bothered?  Yes I am,  it's a marker a point of no return, unless you happen to be a wealthy soccer player like Rooney.  When I see those beautiful dark brown strands in the sink I feel like holding a wake, I'm in mourning for my lost hair.  I get bothered every time I wash it, at least a couple of times a week.  When i have it cut short then I don't worry because I just think my head needs air.  For we all know air equals hair, it grows.  But it's not returning.  When I see Sparkling she can tell the difference.  She is so sweet, and doesn't make much of an ado about it.  She just has a face, the face which says oh dear, then looks away in an effort to think of a comforting reply.  She can see it.  So can the rest of the world.  It's not a thing you can hide, not really.  Hats only go so far and everyone looks good in a hat.  But then there comes a time when the hat has to come off.  Then everyone knows what's underneath.  Not blooming much, that's what.  Not much at all.

Things could be worse I say to myself.  I am not Samson.  I never have been Samson to tell the truth.  As I get older and rounder I'm much closer to Friar Tuck.  I really don't want to become a monk and wear a brown robe.  Although it would be a good way to disguise the lack of hair it's a complete lifestyle change.   Then I don't want to put my head in the sand either and pretend it's not happening, because when I pull my head out of the sand I'd of left a pile of hair there.  I keep going back to the option of short hair cuts.  Face up to it.  Bring it on hair lost, I'll cut you off before you get a chance to fall out.  This way I've got control over it.  What can I do?  Not much, just say thank you hair for being here, although it's your time to go.  Just find a nice breeze and go with the wind, but whatever you do drop in the sink because it doesn't leave me in the pink.  More of a blue.  Toddle loo and ta ta, my brown stranded friends.  I'll hold back the tears and thank you for the years, but it's time to say ta ra.

Monkey Mind

This evening I have been chatting to Sparkling about Monkey Mind.  This happens when it is not possible to think straight because there are too many things on the mind.  If an individual were able to just consider one topic at a time then it would be with clarity and insight.  However, with Monkey Mind every little though encroaches on the mind.  It becomes very difficult to make a good valued judgement.  So either mistakes take place or nothing takes place because a state of bewilderment and dumb foundedness occurs.

I had Monkey Mind this afternoon.  I wanted to talk to Sparkling but could not get through to her when I rang.  She had been on  my mind and in my thoughts.  Yet she was not the only thing, there were others.  It was like my head was juggling a dozen different balls.  I know going for a walk can help, the walk must be a good one and then the gentle exercise has the effect of gradually physically tiring the body.  As the body tires it helps to clear the mind.  This didn't work.  An hour had passed and I was walking pretty vigorously, I knew all those wonderful brain chemicals would be kicking into play, but still I could not get out of my Monkey Mind state.  This phrase apparently was termed by Buddhists, if you're interested in knowing.  Anyway, I walked and walked but still the blooming Monkey kept jumping up and down and swinging from the vines of my neurons, from temporal lobe to parietal lobe, it was doing the rounds and enjoying itself.  Further because I'd been walking for some time I had now got to the point where I had to return home.  The walk wasn't doing it.  The odd thing was I really did have the will power to walk for anther hour, but decided I shouldn't.  My feet would of killed me and rebelled.  So I returned back to base camp still with a Monkey Mind.  Then I rang Sparkling and managed to actually get through to her.  The mind calmed down just a little bit.

There is no doubt only so much willpower a person can have and then it gives in to all kinds of things.  Monkeys being one of them.  We're just blooming lucky it wasn't elephants, I'm sure they'd be great dancers though.

An unexpected reaction? Perhaps

Our house has a small garden and behind it there is a set of flat roofed garages and a path which goes around the garages to a back gate.  Between one set of garages there is a space of about six feet then there is another set of flat garages.  At times teenage boys will climb on top of these garages and jump from one set across to the other.  They can be a nuisance especially for Big Momma who although barely five foot tall goes out into the back garden waves her fist at them and even tells them to "feck off." She also says out loud "stop using this short cut," a comment which only lodges into their little minds as if to say these garages are a short cut and they should be treated as such.  To the lads seeing a 73 year old woman acting in this way there is very little impact.  They laugh it off, and see it as a dare or entertainment.  As there's is usually a gang of them (five or six) they may see the crazy old woman as just a crazy old woman and running and jumping on garages as even more fun.  She adds to the situation.  Her reaction is like icing on top of a pretty plain cake.  I have seen the lads at times and the one thing I've tried to do is  not react.  The way I see it there's not much I can really do in this situation.  This evening as I sat at my computer I heard voices from the back and feet.  It was apparent they had decided to come back.

I looked from behind the curtain and could see them.  They seemed to be sauntering about as if they were in no rush to do anything or be anywhere.  Like they wanted to be seen in the act, they get more street cred then, it's all part of their little adventure and something to boast about later on.  The light was on and I don't know if they could see me.  I kept myself as calm as I could although just a little nerved.  After all they were trespassing on the garages and there was a group of them.  I stopped and thought for a moment, but I knew one thing, making a spectacle would be no good and to be wary about getting Big Momma involved, she'd just make things worse.  In a moments reflection I then thought I had to get my camera, pictures of them would be evidence and could be seen by anyone if worse came to worse.  I went downstairs and then put my boots on, with camera in hand I opened the back door and stood there.

Their attention was drawn to the door as it opened.  I'm sure they expected the crazy woman to be there as well.  It may have been different seeing a man stand there.  I looked at them for a very short moment and said "alright," they looked at me.  I think the odd one may have seen my camera, but I didn't attempt to take any pictures of them.  A hood went up.  I got a couple of "alright" replies and they then looked at the gap between the garages and chose to climb down.  Using a wall which divides our garden with the garages.  I don't know whether it was my presence there as a man or my presence there as someone who didn't react to them which would of been more of what they were expecting which led to them deciding to leave.  I didn't raise my camera up to take a picture and this could also have been a factor.  Something which may have made them feel uneasy.  I am hoping it was my complete unexpected way of reacting they found did not add to their adventurous outing.  I am glad Big Momma didn't come out and see what was happening, she was engrossed in the TV.  Had she gone out if may have turned out quite differently.  As they walked off, I made a small attempt to get the last one into conversation.  It was only a sentence which passed between the pair of us.  I asked if he had tried free running.  He replied they were and it was the way they were dressed.  In baggy track cheap track suit bottoms.  Of course though, this was just something he said it was of no real value as was my question.  However like it or not a momentary very brief conversation had taken place.  He'd see I was not an ogre or crazy and I could see as I thought they were just a group of lads. 

On the negative side it is groups of teenage lads like this which can easily engage in anti social behaviour.  Egged on because of the way other people react to them or because in a group it is a laugh.  From a semi benign situation their behaviour could escalate into something worse if given the energy from which to react.  They may come back again and they may not.  If they do I'll just stay as calm as I can, not react and again try to engage them in conversation, build a bridge so to say, maybe from one garage to the other.

I have read something recently in respect of communicating with people.  It goes along the lines of, before you can tell someone how you feel about a thing you have to first listen to them.  The more you listen and show you understand what they are saying, then the more likely they will give you the opportunity to say what you want.  However, seek to understand and speak less than seeking to be understood.  Words are valuable things when used in the right way, right amount, with respect and consideration and above all with an unexpected calm response.

Taking a walk and a mindful meander

So there i sat listening to a voice recording.  It was a motivational speaker and the subject was about self-discipline.  A lot of valid comments and tips were coming out.  For example the most successful people are those who do the things others don't.  The voice went on to elaborate taking for example exercise.  People who have self discipline to exercise will have an instant benefit in many other areas.  Whilst those who don't have the discipline will reap the consequences over the long term.  He went on to discuss organising tasks.  How sometimes when stuck on a problem it is good to go and take a walk.  To let your thoughts dwell on the thing which is a problem or an issue, advocating after thirty minutes or so a solution may present itself.  At this point as I listened I started to feel the urge to go out for a walk.  I had missed doing any kind of exercise today and it seemed to me this was a reasonable time.  I listened a little more.  Fast decision making is poor decision making.  I'm watching the minutes tick by on the recording and feeling all the more guilty I should be out having a walk because I'd failed to keep up exercising today and just as importantly I had things to think about.  The voice recommended not to take ear phones, the walk had to be without any distractions, for it's purpose was to mull, to cogitate, to meander and play with those things creating a state of Monkey Mind.  I couldn't help myself any longer, even though it had been raining all day long and was fine raining now.  I got up, put my shoes and coat on then proceeded to walk.  The route I was going to take would take between thirty and forty minutes.  I needed it.  I had to think.

Of all things in the world the more and more I think about it, the more I realise. You have to be comfortable in your own skin, with who you are, but also it's not possible to change other people, but you can change  your own attitude towards them.  AS Mahatma Gandi said:

"We must become the change we want to see."

I'm still figuring out the chestnut of coping with a lot of work, prioritising it and more importantly spending the time to get it done.  Which is very difficult with the number of distractions I get.  It rained lightly while I walked.  OK so I got wet, but it's not the end of the world and it wasn't really to bad rain.  I did have a chance to think.  As there are too many things to think about it seemed my mind wondered selective to one thing after the other.  I probably only got to part decisions on two items.  Or maybe one and a half items.  I got back home feeling better for the walk.  Now I've even got a slightly tired feeling come over me as my eyes are getting heavy. 

Well if you have a good walk it helps clear the mind, like clearing out cobwebs, it then makes you fall asleep.  Now I imagine had I not gone for the walk I'd still be awake at two a.m. tomorrow morning.

Being efficient, personality change or willpower? Nahh

I am in the process of reading a number of different books, as usual.  One I have been on for a number of months, taking notes and really trying to get to the message it is delivering.  It's Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to date I've managed to read fully habit three and should soon be on habit four.  It's a slog to tell the truth and I'm finding my notes are becoming more critical of it.  I started of quite hopeful and one phrase came to mind, don't throw out the baby with the bath water.  I was looking for the things which are good and positive.  However, the philosophy I am beginning to think is flawed.  A second book I have just bought and talks about being effective is by two psychologists, Roy Baumeister and John Tierney.  Which is at the moment a lot easier to read, the title is Willpower Rediscovering our Greatest Strength.  Covey lets slip a minor jibe at psychology theories although he is actually trying to expound a complete theory of changing and manipulating personality in order to be efficient.  His efficiency, no matter the disclaimer about these habits being what he has observed.  The psychologist in turn have dropped in a few moments of disrespect to Covey and cited research of how to be efficient by use of your own willpower.  Unlike Covey they do not believe a full personality change is necessary.  I've only just got into the Willpower book and have to read a few more pages.  But it is easier to read and presently is drawing my attention more than Covey is.  It could be I've maxed out on Covey and am now getting bored with him.  He is just meandering his way to his habits.  If efficiency means having willpower to slog through a thick text mine is definitely on the brink.

Looking to priorities and schedules I have now booked a ticket to see Sparkling again.  It's about time and I instantly felt happier once I did it.  Here's a quote from someone who knew a little bit about prioritizing and efficiency, although he's no longer here, the words are relevant:


Things that matter most, should never be at the mercy of things which matter least. 
Goethe

To be truthful i am in a complete dilemma on how to being more efficient and prioritize life and work.  I certainly think a lot more about it.  I create lists of things which should be done and then I make a conscious choice whether I should do them.  This this is commonly called the To Do List.  It is ubiquitous, it is how the world revolves.  Deciding what to do is the process of prioritizing.  When given a choice it can be difficult in making a decision.  At this point vacillation takes place, left right, or right, left, I just don't know what direction to go in and then can spend valuable minutes deciding what to do.  I could preview all the outstanding jobs I do, but I'm not sure if this is a good thing either because how many previews can you do one day after the other.  Further the previews are tedious, they can't make a decision.  Decisions can be based on consequences. If the consequence is dire when something is not done then it should be high on the priority list, but it's not always the case. Other urgent things get in the way.  Urgent attention seeking things then distract from priorities and they become Fire Fighting events just to get through the day.  I should wear a yellow helmet, carry a hatchet, and have a high pressure hose under my arm.  Therefore priorities, events, tasks, lists, fires, vacillations all get mixed up into a hodgepodge. I scream out and ask for silence, put ear plugs in then still get interrupted.  The problem is people.  Other people.  Not me, just other people. 

Maybe I should of been a lion tamer.  There's one thing about lion tamers you can guarantee.  When they are in a cage with their chair and whip, not many people want to interrupt them, discuss the finer points of a cup of tea or more importantly, put their head in the lions mouth.  Better check out the vacancies page I've just found my next occupation.

Walking a different direction

It has been a relief to return back to the Fish Factory today.  Remarkably I woke up early so went out for a morning walk.  Rather than walk the circuit anti clockwise I walked clockwise and it gave me a funny feeling.  It was odd.  Just as it is when you do something differently from how you'd normally do it.  Which I think is good.  Sometimes the cobwebs have to be dusted even if it means walking a different route a different direction.  We just get so used to doing things one way.  It's fresh.  Though I will admit there are many areas in my life where I don't try out new things or different things.  Mostly because I know what to expect so carry on doing them.  But we all should try change, even if it is a shock to the system, it's a learning experience. 

I enjoyed my own sandwiches at lunch time as well.  But it is becoming a bit of a habit making the same thing over and over.  This is something I'm going to have to change.  It takes time making sandwiches as well.  While I make them I eat my breakfast and listen to the radio.  Whereas prior to making my own sandwiches I would put my feet up and listen to the radio eating breakfast deliberately slow and enjoying the moment.  I'm sure the walking is increasing my appetite because I had to put on an extra slice of toast this morning.  Bread and toast seem to be a major part of my daily diet.  Brown, malted, granary bread.  It has a good taste to it and is good toasted.  Maybe I should get some baguettes and try them next time.  As we have been having a lot of rain recently I had to eat lunch indoors at the Fish Factory.  Then I went to the pub and had an exorbitantly priced cup of coffee.  It's the atmosphere there I like so it's what I pay for, even if I have disputed a number of times with different bar tenders what the correct prices are.  There seems to be such a turn around of staff many of them don't know what the correct prices are, until that is I dispute it and the manager gets involved.  I don't know where I will go for peace and quiet once the Olympics begins as this pub will be earmarked for the tourists, it's already listed in the literature.  I suppose at this point I'll have to try some other place.  One not so atmospheric.

I noticed on the news today how a water mains had burst and somehow managed to close down the Central Line.  There were ques of people at Stratford waiting to get buses.  If there's another burst water mains during the Olympic period public transport will be diabolical, especially considering normal commuters trying to get to their work or home.  There's something to be said for getting transport right.  Unfortunately the general opinion of Londoners is the Olympic Committee organisers have lost the plot.  Well they just will not be advised.  It's the usual command and control mentality of people at the top.  Then I suppose if the buses do stop it will give the general public and Olympic sight seers the chance to use their feet and walk.  Now there's an idea.  Little maps of East London for sale, giving all sorts of details on routes, buses and trains to get around.  I wonder if anyone else has thought of it.  Even better would be to become a taxi driver.  No.  I'm sure more people would purchase the maps, they'd get to see parts of London which can't be viewed from a train.  Depending what direction they walk of course.

Jubiliee over and will power depleted

At last its the final day, the Jubilee virus is about to be killed because the celebrations end today, whoopee.  When I turn on the news I'll be able to see real news.  There will no longer be 24/7 viewing boats going up and down the Thames as if they were in some way exceptional.  They weren't, they were just boats and that's what boats do.  Life can continue as normal.  Tomorrow I'll be back at the Fish Factory and will feel a lot better for being back there.  It is such an imposition to have too long a bank holiday compulsory put on the entire country.  We should of been back at work today.  Hell, I sure wouldn't of minded.  I can't wait to get back to the grindstone.  And the weather is still crap, it's likely to remain crap for the next week or so, such is the epitaph of the Jubilee. 

I have been reading a book about willpower.  It seems we can wear out our willpower during a normal day at the office, only to get home and go crazy because it was used up keeping control of our emotions an impulses to scream or kill the bosses.  Women to appear to use up a lot of will power during their period and of all things it seems glucose helps to return that will power.  Hence the need for chocolate.  The book recommends if you are doing something which requires a lot of will power then only do that one thing and expect everything else to go by the wayside.  Nothing else effectively counts besides the one thing you do.  It is almost a powder keg waiting to blow up when I think about it.  For example, if I'm exerting will power at the Fish Factory to prevent myself from chopping off the heads of large fishes then when I get home there is very little left to stop me from yelling at the most minor of things   This seems about right.  But the one thing the book doesn't account for is the individual choice a person makes in their life.  If two people in the same household are using their will power at two different things then they very well could end up wrestling each other, screaming or doing something else cathartic.  It seems to this extent will power is synonymous with patience.  Presently I've been using up my will power to prevent my foot going crashing through the TV set as I watch another trumped up royal procession.   I've been eating a lot to say the least, which may have increased my glucose levels and ability to cope. 

It's said there are fewer bank holidays in the UK than the rest of Europe.  I agree.  However, there is a reason for this as well.  It's not just because a bank holiday means one less day at work, it's because while at work or away from alternative stressful situations will power is not being over extended.  We then fall back into old habits and the normal daily routine.  Which in some cases could mean having a chunk or two of chocolate.   It all becomes clear to me now, I should of got some right royal chocolate, shaped like the monarchy, then I could of bitten their heads off to my heart's content, soothing my taste buds and will power both at the same time.

The Jubilee Virus

This morning I had a nice walk, just over an hour.   It's a bank holiday weekend so it has to be used productively.  After promising myself to get fitter and seeing as I have a suspect knee cap walking and cycling seem the only options.  Before lunch I also had a 6 mile cycle, now I've had lunch I'm well and truly stuffed.  Like a turkey.  It's OK to say to someone just eat less and exercise more, but when you exercise you can't help but have a more voracious appetite.  So the eating less bit is difficult.  When out I popped into a shop to contemplate buying a newspaper, but then was greeted by the smiling face of Queenie.  I took another look to see if there was just one paper which did not have her face on the front, because if there was I would buy it.  Needless to say I walked out of the shop empty handed.  She's not my queen and never will be. 

It's said there are between 25 to 30 percent of people at any time who are anti-monarchy.  Which would suggest although it may be nice for some people to see the queen 24/7 on the news it's not proportionate to the whole of the viewing audience.  The BBC have well and truly let down a good proportion of the general public.  We are talking between 15 to 20 million people.  Which is not a number to be taken lightly.  Their coverage has been excessive and for those who have not liked watching it, it has been offensive.  Very offensive.  I've even tried spending hours looking out of the window and watching the rain fall, just to give me a break.  I've read books and then have put them down because I was tired of reading them.  There has to be a point of saturation and even for the royalists this surely should of been reached by now.  There can only be so much of royalty a person can take without going mentally insane.  Right now I guess the Health Service is preparing a lot of padded cells just for the new intake they will be having.  It'll be called the Jubilee virus.  Even though it's all mental health related, it has infected an enormous number of ordinarily reasonable and sane persons.  I now can't go out without bumping into someone who has either a pink hat on or a plastic union jack flag in their hand. 

If there's a God, don't give me strength, just keep me sane before the loons take over the UK.  As they say, the one sane man in the land of the insane will be king.  Then I'll be able to have my very own Jubilee.

Queeny day, so it's bad news for Republicans

Today is going to be a no news day.  Or you could say a no serious news day because everything will take the back seat of the bus in relation to Queenie moving slowly on the Thames with a 1000 different boats behind her.  Damn she must have a large backside, that's all I can say.  So big it must extend over the back of her royal barge and prevent any other boat from taking over.  It's not like a boat on water is an unremarkable sight, because of all things you'd expect to see, it would be a boat on the Thames.  Now a flying saucer would be something different and be worth of being on the news.  But nope, we get boats on water.  Today is a bad day for republicans, a day when the headache pills come out and are taken every four hours without fail.  Better still someone put me in a temporary coma so I can then wake up and find it has all passed.  I'd rather go to work and do something useful.

Things which could be in the news today and mulled over with the normal leisure a Sunday gives could be: Spain, Greece and Italy, with their actions to get out of recession.  Being this is the UK a critical analysis of Osborne's policies and to see if they are working or not, now this would of been very interesting, especially if we started to look at the U-turns he had made and the reasons why.  The granny tax, where there was to be additional taxation added to granny flats, the mobile home tax, where holiday (static) caravans were going to fully taxed when they have none, the pasty tax, where full VAT was going to be added to the price of a Cornish Pasty when it was eaten hot. Osborne has done so many U-Turns he should be re named Usborne.  In one report I've read Osborne has been described as grossly incompetent by members of his own party.  The Levinson Enquiry into press contact and Jeremy Hunt.  I would of spent at least half an hour watching a program on how he still believes there is no need for him to retire as Culture secretary.  How he personally is able to accept being bias in view didn't make him bias in decision making on the BSkyB bid.  I'm sure it won't be long before he is booted, or side shuffled by Cameron, fingers crossed. Clegg (Deputy Prime Minster) doesn't support Hunt and independently believes he should be accounting for his actions as it's obvious he has broken the Ministerial Code.  Well look out Hunt Labour are going to force a vote and you're the subject of it all.  You're days could be more numbered than you think, even with Cam supporting you.  Then of course there is always Cameron (the man) himself.  The man who believes all the problems of the UK relate to public sector pay and conditions.  The man who extensively used the NHS for his late disabled son.  It's so ironic in consideration it was the private sector (banking) which had to be bailed out by the public purse.  If we had a true free market every private sector bank which could not sustain it's losses would of been bankrupt today.  The bankers have taken their money and ran, leaving the bill for the rest of us.  The incompetency and inability to manage and audit their selves should be the focal factor for Cameron not Public Sector pay and jobs.  Then again it could be because Cam's friends include some of those highly paid bankers, who have likely bankrolled his own political party as well.

Unbelievable.  So many intense and curious items of news which have a greater effect on the economy and standing of the UK than most topics of discussion and all we have is queeny going along the Thames.  Well her head is on our coins.  It should account for something.  Though I really do have my doubts as to what.

What's the queen done for me?

The queen's (60th year) Jubilee begins today.  Lots of royalists will be out there with their little red, white and blue plastic flags,  waving them.  Especially the oldies and small children and small dogs which have been press ganged into looking the part.  But I ask what has the queen done for them and there's difficulty trying to name a thing.  Beside seeing her head on money, both paper and coins.  Then a lot of other people could easily have images of their head put on money and be justified.  Inventors for instance, great people who have achieved things and they don't have to be of national origin.  There are some famous people on paper money on the other side of notes.  When I see them I usually recognise their achievements, and if I don't it makes me curious as to what they did.  Were I less educated it would still make me curious who was on the note.  I'd go and look it up, awe at what they discovered or the wonderful things they had done.  When I see the queen though no such awe comes over me.

I ask the question over again in my mind, what has she done?  There are only so many times you can ask a question and still be searching for an answer.  When one doesn't come then there is fantasy.  Well she didn't design the sewage system, she doesn't dance with pixies, she hasn't actively created an organization which goes out of it's way to help people but she is the patron of many.  She has never served me in a shop or spoken to me.  Further, how could she actually be in contact with all those patronised organizations?  I don't know, simply she can't.   She doesn't wake up in the morning and make a random phone call to any of her subjects just to ask them how they are today and have a good old chin wag.  Whereas a would be queen who acted for the people but was never made queen would of been the late Dianna.  She went out and did what she could to stop the use of landmines.  OK she was odd in her way, but she did act morally and care about others than herself.  What has this queen actually done which has helped the life of either me or any member of my family i ask.  The reply is silent.  I've not seen her ever standing at a bus stop, discussing the politics of the day or passing pleasantries.  Unless she does talk to the pixies and it is a well kept secret.  For if we knew about it our notions of who and what she is would become even more skewed.

Charlies is known to talk to his plants, the Duke he talks to anything and has an eye for the ladies, he might be an old man but you can tell he would of been a philanderer given half a chance.  The little ones enjoy popularity, fashion and fame as if they are special.  Willy and Harry have acquired their own present day followers, Harry especially as he to seems to show a common touch with the people.  And the corgi's well.  I haven't seen them for a long time but am sure there are some on the scene somewhere.  Probably chasing the pixies down at the end of the Palace garden, where you'll quietly find queeny in thoughtful conversation, chastising the corgis for harassing her friends.  So what have they done for me and my kin?  Not much, I shake my head, not much at all.