The Best of the BBC...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/spooks/

nothing else on telly makes me gasp, laugh, scream, wince, or cry as much as an hour long episode. Brilliant stuff.

little things for ittle minds

Today, I discovered iGoogle. My life is now complete, no more jiggling between tabs to check gmail or hotmail (the latter mostly rubbish) or facebook (when applicable) or the news or youtube or whatever. So much simpler to duck on and off if I need to when at work (not that that ever happens, of course, not ever).

Adding the 'Autumn' header, provides a little family of what could pass for racoons, possibly beavers (being a city girl, je ne sais pas) who seem to be working on their autumnal tasks. Earlier today they were clearing leaves, just now they are sitting drinking juice. Having set my time zone, the sun appears to be working it's way across their sky in my real time (more than it has been visible here for weeks).

It may be difficult to tear myself away from my new pet family to go to work, or do boring things this coming week.I hope no-one tries to hunt them down and kill them.

The folk at google are astoundingly clever, and I am geekily grateful for their talents.

a fuzzy piece of softness and fluffyness

For 8 weeks, little David has dictated our every move. It's a constant wonder to me that something so tiny can create such chaos, such disruption, generate such emotion, and inspire such love and hope. There's something about new babies which is balm for the soul.

a return to sanity?

I'm also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the
party say. And it is permitted to be said, such things as, "Well, you that know
Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a
Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: What if
he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The
answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old
Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet I have
heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he
might be associated with terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it
in America.

-Colin Powell

hold me back....

Several news media cause me to sigh wearily on a regular basis. Rarely do they make my blood boil, but today the Daily Telegraph online managed it, with one quote.

The article, entitled 'Financial crisis- how we're learning to love austerity' started harmlessly enough. A 40 year old mother of three (administrator by profession; hubby is a civil servant) is musing on the fact that, despite the credit crunch (IMHO, aka Robert Peston led doom and gloom), the inhabitants of Wandsworth High Street (which, in my day, was a dump) seem to be coping as usual. Says Mrs Jones:

"..the shops are still busy, everyone's wearing shoes, and no one's chopping up
furniture for firewood."

(no, that wasn't the quote that got me, although it is Telegraphian enough to send the humours into imbalance). She does however, plough on relentlessly, slowly displaying her attitude to finance, thus:

"for families like the Joneses, with apparently stable jobs and a
relatively small mortgage, the menace is harder to pinpoint. "Our pensions have
been clobbered, but we don't plan to cash them in for at least 20 years," says
Mrs Jones. "I'm finding all this doom-mongering hard to take."
In fact, Mrs
Jones is more prepared than she realises. "My friends and I do talk about the
shocking rise in food prices, how a £75 Ocado shop buys you half what it did a
year ago. We used to roast an organic chicken once a week; now it's once a
month.
"These days, I scrutinise price labels and mend clothes rather than
throw them away. It's actually very satisfying. I look back at how we were
living with meals out, five-star holidays, weekly manicures and I feel slightly
sick at our decadence. I feel I should have been storing the cash away for a
crisis, except it seems there is no safe storage place." "

So the blood temperature is starting to rise, slowly, as Mrs Jones' profligacy and self absorbed lifestyle starts to become evident.

The article continues, explaining that sales of sewing machines have shot through the roof, and they bring on one of my heroes, good old money saving expert Martin Lewis (here I must declare a conflict of interest- never a day goes by without I visit his site. It is a lifeline). He explains that collecting vouchers to reduce the cost of spending has become fashionable, morally acceptable, challenging. So far, so good. As the facts and figures are disclosed, the article closes with the quote that sent me over the edge. No disrespect to Martin Lewis for this. I am sure he speaks the truth.

"Not being able to feed your children, worrying about job security and
whether your savings are safe is hell on earth," says Martin Lewis. "But for
many of the post-Thatcherite generation who never learned to reuse or recycle, a
bit of austerity can be fun. They feel they've mastered a new skill."

Let's reflect on the last two sentences. For many of the post- Thatcherite generation, a bit of austerity can be fun.

Fun. Let us not forget that it is the "post- Thatcherite gimme- it- now- how- much- can- I- get?' generation which has created this mess in the first place, with it's selfish values, desires for more money, immoral bonuses, bigger houses, faster cars, plusher lifestyles. It's the post- Thatcherite generation which has brought the banking and financial systems of this country to it's knees, ensuring another recession (I've lost count in my lifetime) threatening pre- Thatcherite levels of unemployment, and will bring misery and hardship to millions in this country in the months ahead, as homes are repossessed, families are thrown onto the streets as the post- Thatcherite generation saw no need to replenish the social housing stocks so willingly sold off, and public services are inevitably cutback.

Those, whoever, who deserve to suffer most, will not, because to those people, austerity is not a necessity, or a lifestyle, but is fun. Good-oh.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3225886/Financial-crisis-How-were-learning-to-love-austerity.html

finding my way back...

so after a twelve week absence, the reason for which will become evident when my camera battery is recharged, I'm finding my way back verrrrry slowly. This story caught my eye today, because when I was 4, I asked for one of these for Christmas-specifically the BMW Isetta, although I didn't know that was the full title then, obviously. It was just a 'pretty bubble car'. For some reason, Father Christmas failed to deliver. Maybe he has a 'Lost property' box somewhere....it's worth asking.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3212786/Bubble-car-auction-80-cars-up-for-sale.html