Ah it’s been a busy couple of weeks! So, what’s gone on, i hear you the reader cry, avidly leaning forward to gulp in what’s new in the world of Wiseman.

Well, we did go see Cat, Fox, and the Style dogs who were not bad. Denny couldn’t be heard which sucked but the music was fun. I think we had an indian again in Everest in Lieden, which was excellent. Prawn Cylon i seem to remember. All good stuff!

I found me a dojo. Nimpojutsu in the same group as Alf’s in Crewe. Went down for a night to try it out and enjoyed it hugely. The first guy i spoke to was italian, and spoke little dutch, and everyone else there spoke english to me and made me feel welcome. Excellent.

I get home, to find that a friend has been online and asked if i’m interested in a full time job at the pub i frequent!  An interesting idea, but one loaded with choices to go with it. Full time would interfere with the new dojo training. It would also mess with our tax system, which at the moment benefits us quite nicely. The money, although probably better than what i’d get in the uk for the same hours,  is ok, but not actually needed, as we’ve survived happily up until now with no problems. Plus, we’d be going from us being at home together 7 nights a week, to my training taking 2 nights, and then the pub taking at least 3 more! Quite a change in the dynamic of the way the house exists.  So i had to sit, and think about it. In the meantime a few more training sessions happened, ending in me winding up having a drink afterwards with two guys from the club. Good fun! And i was reminded of the last time I tried to get back into martial arts, and wound up living in the Kings Arms in Crewe and not being able to train!

And so the time came for me and the chap who offered the job to chat. I’d decided that, after having talked everything through with the wifey… I was going to say no to the job, but felt abit crappy really as this guy had gone out of his way to offer it to me. I explained out my reasoning, and he then offered me the position but with more managerial orientation. Again this appeals to me. I’ve managed pubs before. Lived in, run them, ordered and audited, stock controlled and staff rotated. I loved it. But was it worth upsetting the status quo at home, especially after having been training, each time I’d come home late Es was still up/awake, yet had to be up early for work next day herself. Again he said think about it, and i put it to a couple of people I know. Most said, you know what’s more important to you, the job or the life you have and the now new social aspect of the martial arts as well as the training. I’d be lying if i said the choice was easy straight away, but in hindsight, it becomes more sensible the more i look at it. The issues with tax and insurance benefits etc were factors, but at the end of the day if something isn’t broken there’s no need to fix it, and so I turned it down. I hope I didn't piss the guy off too much by not taking the job, it was great that he thought of me!

So i shoot off to the next set of training, only to rip my pants clean open at the crotch! Now.. i don’t wear underwear, so imagine how fortuitous it was that, in a strange air of inexplicability, i donned a pair of undies before heading out! Fortunately I was leant a pair of pants to go home in.

Actually since then, we had a really good night out, part in the Kings where the job was offered, and part in Brothers Of Beer in Leiden (next door near enough to the Kings n spitting distance from Everest), where by i finally got my pool game together and won somewhere in the region of 12 games in a row, much to the annoyance of the barkeeper, as he was one of the thwarted! All this after having spent the day in Amsterdam and having had Beef and Yorkshire pudding in O’Rileys and kilkenny! All good stuff.

Twists and turns are always interesting. I wonder what i’ll think when i look back in a year at this. Hmm!

Asides from all that, my sister called by to say hi, along with 4 of her kids and Paul. They called by again the next day too.. and are apparently heading over on thursday for another flying visit. That’ll take the total number of visits from Su to the same as all of Esther’s friends visits (and she didnt want to borrow the playstation! lmao) and outdo the majority of visits from Esther’s family too. Not bad considering they live 1500k’s away instead of about 30! It still baffles me how it seems ok for us to go over there about once a month but not the other way round. It baffles me more that Es is ok with it too, but then i suppose I cant exactly comment on relationships with family! I guess i just want more for her than what’s gone on with my lot. *rolls eyes* That’s not hard though in all fairness!

Right my back hurts and this regularly doesn’t post so.. let the battle commence to publish my musings!

Mutters... ah this has changed formats again so I can no longer add entries on dates gone by, so i'll have to log dates as I go!

Okay... So... We're back! Alive, well, no pig flu, standard sore throat from flights but that's it! I have a bit of a browning going on, as does E, but no major burning which is surprising as there wasn't a day under 90f and at least one day at100f +.

Monday : 

So, we headed out to Hamsterspam Airport on the Monday a.m. Heading to the Irish bar on the airport i had a breakfast of Murphy's stout and sausage sandwiches with Es having coke and something not quite as palatable, so I've forgotten it! Flight to Philadelphia was fine although landing was pretty bouncy due to turbulence! Filled faces with Fish and Chips and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at the Olde Philadelphia Tavern on the airport where we bumped into Tamara and Adrian, one a WOW fan, the other a published Egyptologist known formally (according to wikipedia) as Her Holiness, Sekhenet-Ma'at-Ra Setep-en-Ra User Hekatawy I, Nisut-Bity of the Kemetic Orthodox faith, and founder and current head of Kemetic Orthodoxy and the House of Netjer, which is nice! We waffled for a good while about alsorts of stuff until twas time to wander away, only to find that our gate had been changed! Still all was well and we headed off into the sun! Hooora! (heavy on the "Ra" for our earlier company's sake!). Face broke out again but managed to contain the infection. was mostly gone by Friday

Landed happily in Vegas, watched a house episode in flight from my phone, trip to the hotel on the bus was eventful as there was a merry ole lass at the back of the bus being loud and playful. Checked in at The Sahara Hotel & Casino, where by our room was instantly upgraded upon mention of how far we'd travelled, so that, when I said "I'm led to believe if we ask nicely you might upgrade us" the person behind the desk said "Tis already done!". Sorted! Ripped! Lets Off Road!!

The room its self was... absolutely fine. Two double beds instead of a king, but wasn't a problem. One bed housed our "to hand" stuff", the other, us! The TV worked well. Cable gave us Law and Order, Boston Legal, Grey's Anatomy etc etc! All good. No sign of bed bugs, nor dirt, a bath, a shower, all clean fine and dandy! We grabbed a drink, had a wander, then curled up for the night!

Tuesday :

Off to McMullans Irish Bar / Pub at silly o'clock for Arsenal v Man U! Took a bit of getting to but got there in the end! Caught the monorail to MGM and then discovered we "couldn't walk it" so wound up in a taxi! Frankly we were awful! I hope Arsene Wenger takes some notes from this as we have been deserving of a sound lesson for some time now to show quite how far off we are from the top teams! Had a laugh with other fans there, had Boddies to drink, and a steak and mushroom pie for me, steak sandwich for Es. Then, off to the Las Vegas outlets, where Es found.... not lello, but PINK bars! grrr... zx7020s! And cheaper than a cheap thing at close to £20! Also found a dress in the Adidas shop, which was cute too! Day was spent wandering here and there and generally just relaxing!

Wednesday :

Off to MuMullans again for the Chelsea game via Starbucks for breakfast in New York New York! Chicken curry pie for me, and an over dressed Caesar salad for Es in McMullans today! This time Chelsea were robbed! Badly. Another argument for match fixing me thinks! We wandered into The Orleans while in that area, and were so impressed we came back after the game, and wound up watching Wolverine there! Trotted across to the Luxor, which was a bit pants really! Made a new boobs pic in Mandalay Bay, wandered about in Excalibur and had to chuckle as the All Cried Out version by Fink played in the background! Nice! Again, seriously toasty day!

Thursday :

Off we trundled to the Premium Outlets shops. Had a cracking breakfast / lunch of spicey chicken / chicken with jalapenos with rice from the food court there! Es got jeans, top and shorts, and I got swimming shorts to save the people from Speedos! Wasn't really anything for me there cos I'm a bugger to shop for! had a shufti in the Riviera and wandered about a bit, then back to the Sahara for slots. Was tired, tried to order a pint from the waitress who claimed she had no idea what a pint was, so Es got a drink and I didn't! Went out to the pool which was lovely. Not too busy, not to big. Actually ideal! Why people on Trip Advisor have moaned about the place I have no idea!

Friday :

Made a point of going to the Hard Rock Cafe. For anyone else reading this and considering it.... Don't bother. Boring as Hell, Dexy's Midnight Runners playing wasn't, isn't, will never be hard rock. The cafe it's self is not part of the hotel, and.... get this.. there is a dress code! for a "Rock" place. No vests / sleeveless shirts! Bizarre! Seriously, it's a long way out of the way and is such a let down! Avoid!

Instead.. wander over to Monte Carlo's Brew Pub! Music was rock, and the food was great! Prices were a tad steep but that's life!

After eating there we headed across to the Venetian, where we grabbed an Indoor gondola trip, while having that song from the Ice Cream advert sung at us by a lass with a seriously pretty voice, and then headed up to Freemont Street for the "experience". The Queen display was good fun! *warbles "We will rock you" and chuckles*. Newcastle Brown to drink. All is good!

Saturday :

Asked at Sahara desk if they knew when ESPN zone opened, only for the lass to claim she'd never heard of ESPN and what is it. Now.. asides from ESPN being the major sports channels in the states, and the sports bar in vegas being huge (over 100 flat screen tv's), the woman was sat opposite the Sahara's own sports bar where ESPN channels were in abundance. It was about this time that I was finally really fed up with interaction with anyone in the Vegas "help"  type business, because it appears, you have to ask them something at least twice, and then they answer not the question which you asked, but what they think you want to know, eg: "Do you know what time X opens", will gain the reply "Y opens @ 10pm". The answer is a yes or no. It's simple! ArrgggG!!

Anyway, the day was spent wandering here, there, and everywhere, drinks in Rock House (Bud Lite Lime!!) Newcastle Brown at Trader Vics again, and a Prime Rib dinner at Circus Circus which was great!

Sunday :

Wandered about a bit more ! Breakfast of 2 giant hotdogs in Circus Circus! Big ass hotdogs! lmao! Today was just wanderings really, and sampling of the Sin City Brew Pub Stout and Pale Ale / Wheat beer. Tea at Binions was Prime rib again and was huge!!

Monday :

Took in Treasure Island, Caesars Palace, and Mirage, all much of a muchness really. Watched Newcastle v Middlesbrough in Caesars then headed off and watched Star Trek, then off to Tamba Indian restaraunt where we both had Rogan Josh, which was very good! You'll notice that entries for days are smaller now as we'd basically looked everywhere and were just wandering to take in atmosphere!

Tuesday :

Knowing this was our last day we thought we'd have a lazy day in preparation for travelling! Headed down to the Monte Carlo for food at the Brew Pub again only to find it closed! grrr! Hit Starbucks instead and had coffee & muffin with Es having Tea and Brownie!, which I followed up with 2 jalapeno pretzel dogs! On the bridge over by MGM Es hand fed a sparrow. Cheaky thing she was too! (Sparrow, not Es lol).  Then, off back to the Sahara for the pool and relaxation with cocktails and swimming! Toasted Wiseman's we were! The headed to an Italian restaurant for a pretentiously priced meal, only to wind up eating just the meat as the veg looked like it'd been digested twice already! Esther says her meal was good, but only ate about a third of it, and that two looked like intestines of pig mixed with jellyfish! (Was a lobster pasta thing). The meal cost near on what we spent all day the day before, and for myself i just cant justify it! I'd prefer hotdog and the cash thank you very much but in an effort to be more sophisticated I got my just deserts, which was being blatantly exposed as just not cut out for that sort of thing. I feel sorry for Esther in stuff like that cos i hold her back. Earlier on in the week I'd lost my cool over another meal and left without ordering, telling her she should go do her own thing cos again my idiosyncrasies mixed with eating out problems and issues with cost finally got the better of me. Needless to say we walked about a bit til we wound up going elsewhere that time, but here I just ate the meat and was left looking silly, as i'd already enquired as to what the veg was. Not eating it all further exacerbates my annoyance at the price too. grrr!

Then back through the casino, couple of drinks, and back upstairs, where sleep completely avoided me, and Es had a few hours! 

Wednesday :

4a.m. wake up. Wash hair and away we go! Flight to Philadelphia was easy! Probably the best flight I've been on. Food in a Rock bar on the airport was burger n chips, and a pint of Bass! Then, with a 2 hour delay and a House episode watched before take off, we headed home. Some drunken fruitcake on the plane was being an asshole, but other than that, all was well.

So.. We had fun. Weather was great, Sahara was excellent, I was awkward company at times, but Es seems to like that lol. I have to say, it wasn't as fun as last time. I think the fact that money plays such a huge part in being there played on my mind. The opportunity to buy a meal at $80 is next door to a similar one for $12, as is the chance to play machines @ 1c per spin or $10 per spin. We never saw a show which again i feel responsible for, but i simply don't think  $140 for 90 mins is worth while! This serves to remind me at times of the differences between Es and me. I guess I need to work on letting go of some of these things, but to me, it's things like this that's allowed me to survive in this world.

And so we're back. Rested(ish) and ready to head back to daily life here in Leiden. No more riding the Deuce, no more Enchanted Unicorn, but two cats and a familiarity of home, where the sound of parakeets drift in through the window and the washing needs to be done. We had fun, as I said before, but in all honestly... it's nice to be home!

Mutters, I’m annoyed with this. It decided not to post the first time I wrote it, so now I have gto do it again.

In my quest to manage to get below 12 stone before Vegas, we’re off to the gym again tonight! The all singing all dancing scales seem to fluctuate far to much. One Day I'm 12.5, the next I’m at 12.1. Either way, I’m still not under the magical number 12! Still, there’s a week or so to go, so with a little bit of sweat and work…

It’s nice to report that, it appears I’ve finally shook off the scary infection thing that has hounded me for over a year on my cheeks. It manifested its self in all seriousness last time we were in Vegas, so am hoping that this time, it will decide to stay sorted so that, I can grab some pictures without the silly belly, and without the silly cheeks!

I can almost see the shaking of the heads…. lol!

Off to the grandparents house on the weekend for Opa’s birthday.  Handy that, Gran is “Oma”, Granddad, “Opa”. One of the few simple sets of words over here! We were at Oma’s birthday a few weeks ago and it was remarked upon that I was more animated than usual. This was because the in-laws were there, so i had other people I could communicate with. I think I like having grandparents. Especially grandparents who don’t understand me. It makes it less likely I’ll cause arguments! hehe!

Okies… well, while fiddling with skype settings I managed to swipe a pic so am going to add it here as the one of me looking like a gnome below is.. well… gnomelike!! Which reminds me, I owe the blog a vogeloozit album! Bad Me! Lets see if it posts this time! grr…

Okies… I’m not entirely sure how this as yet works, so, I’m using this entry as a test to see how widgets and gadgets etc are configurable via this ere tool, so that, in the end, my blogging will be magnifico!

This was taken on our excursion to the bird place. I’ve seen scarier pics of me i must admit! At least the day glow cheeks have gone!

Well, had a good time out and about on the weekend / monday and wound up at a bird sanctuary type place. All good fun. Es had wee parakeets land on her, and it reminded me of trundling around in Wayne's aviary, where the cockatiels seemed to like me! Will sling up some pics as and when lol

Ah, it's an entertaining world we live in still.

Most people who have followed my blog will of course know all this, but for those that don't, tis 3 years today since my then fiancée murdered what i thought was my unborn child, only to discover months after that, the reason for the abortion, (one which I had no say in, no input upon, no rights, no inclusion and ultimately all actions up to and including said dead were taken out of my hands), was not as stated "because I just can't deal with it", but because, said fiancée already had one child with an undetermined parent issue, and this would be putting her in the same situation. I.E. she'd been sleeping around, only this time there was a variety of people in the frame for fatherhood, rather than just the two for the child who wasn't killed pre-emptively.

To be fair, this had passed through my mind at the start of the day, but reared it's head more upon rereading again a few comments on my posts on a different forum regarding why people have affairs, offering the idea that, if I had never been on the wrong end of someone having an affair, I could not understand it, and that, my expressing my opinions as to how this comes about, and subsequently how to deal with it, were "insensitive".

I had to chuckle.

I think people still haven't changed, in all these years of civilisation. If they run up against a way of thinking, or an idea which they themselves find incomprehensible, they are prone to rebel against it. It's the whole "Hang the guy who says the world isn't flat", mentality. It's not the peoples fault that they think this. They've been programmed to from day one. Right up until finally someone actually proves the world is spherical. The problem with this analogy is of course :

1: A type of perspective, an approach to life view, if you will, is an individuals choice to make, rather than a provable fact, and
2: No one actually ever really believed the world was flat. We're just told they did, much like there were never any Christians thrown to the lions in the arena!

What scares me is though, some people, rather than acknowledging that there are always different ways to view a situation, and that they have chosen their individual one, instead refuse to even acknowledge any other way save for their own, and accordingly call people "mad", or "from another planet", or indeed "nutjob".

In this instance, the example is a classic one. A person cheats on you. Irrespective of circumstance. Should you

a: choose to sit for X amount of time bemoaning / bewailing your lot,
b: change your entire view on relationships,
c: leave the person
d: stay with the person forever holding it against them / not trusting them
e: examine why this happened as two adults, explore the idea that this was a mistake, and was no reflection upon feelings for the partner, merely nature overcoming an un-natural monogamy which you thought you could control but failed to.
f: decide the cheater was a prize tool out for all they could get, and move on knowing that your conscience was clear, and that, if you allow that person to have hurt you asides from the initial shock, they will forever have a power over you which YOU are allowing them.
For myself, it's a simple choice. If it is a mistake, plan e! Examine how much you actually want a relationship with this person, because at the end of the day, if you want someone enough, everything is tolerable / forgiveable / excusable.
If it becomes obvious that the person has planned and executed an affair, go straight to plan f: do pass go, do collect half of everything!

And there is where it appears people have issues. With the dealing with of pain. I read years ago that pain doesn't decompose, no matter how deep you bury it, and accordingly I thought I needed to come up with a suitable reply for this. Eventually I came up with the fact that, at the end of the day, when we feel pain, it is because we choose to. We give it power. This is something which can be changed, by first acknowledging that fact. Then you can choose how to deal with it, until you reach the understanding that, by giving pain no substance, it doesn't need to decompose... it's already dissipated long ago.

Which brings me back to today. 3 years ago i was inconsolable, believing my faithful fiancée was killing our child purely because she could. I am still mightily angry that this was done without any input whatsoever from me, (again it turns out she went to the clinic claiming she was single, removing her engagement ring to complete the ruse), leaving me, if you'll excuse the obvious error, impotent.

But, the same impotence which leaves a person ineffectual is actually their saviour, because, at the end of the day, you cannot be guilty of not taking responsibility for something you have no control over. Transfer that logic into the affair scenario, and this gives you the power to choose to, instead of feel pain / torture yourself / allow this to affect your life, say "No, I shall not allow this to affect who I am, what I hope for, and my beliefs in life its self".

A complete reversal of what could be a life of self torture, just through a change of perspective, all stemming from the idea... ney... the fact, that pain is an emotion which can be controlled. But, if that concept is so completely alien, or indeed, never even presented, how can the person ever come to this conclusion?

And so i turn to me. Not long after these events, I deal with the pain decisively, I move on, and then, within the space of a year and a month, place my life in the hands of another woman, move countries for her, even though experience of such a scenario before left me with nothing for nearly 3 years, and now sit here, rather than angry at the injustices from years ago, smiling at that which has come about because of belief in myself and my perspective on life, and the approach it allows me to have.

So when it boils down to it, which view is better of life? One that leaves you vulnerable, with old wounds laying heavy on the daily toil, or one which allows you to not only smile after things seem to conspire against you, but gain strength, knowledge, and courage from it?

If this is madness, I like it!

Well, another year has passed. I will be 35 tomorrow and time seems to be flying by. It's been over a year since the Vegas trip, and that just doesn't seem possible! However... as it appears we need a refresher, we're on our way back. We shall be in Vegas from may 4th to 13th, staying at the Sahara this time, landing back in Amsterdam on the morning of the 14th, doubtless more than a little tired, but hopefully toasted nicely! This time there is no agenda, merely rest and relaxation for Es, and a good dose of sun. It would be nice to see the grand canyon but, that's a decent distance away. Going via Philly again but this time we wont have the day there either way, which is fine, as we've no-one there this time to meet anyway!

The hotel pool is looking like the fav destination! Been a while since I last swam... it was probably in Australia with Glenda in a scary pool which probably had more snakes in it than you can shake a stick at... so I guess i'm gonna need swimwear!!! lol Am not sure about that! Last time I wore a speedo i was more than a little toned than I am now, although the gym has taken a few kilos from me. Phantom is playing somewhere. Would be quite a thing to say casually in years to come.. "Oh phantom... yeah, we saw that in Vegas!". Am not like that usually, but once in a while wouldn't hurt. lol

Speaking of the gym, we bought some scales, and with great trepidation I jumped on them, only to be pleasantly surprised! I was normal/average on all elements. Puzzled? Yeah i was too, but, these scales were super dooper things which measure muscle mass, water retention, and fat! Snazzy huh!? Had I have jumped on the scales mid november i think it might've told me my fat was slightly up, but now tis all in the right parameters! he gym is only 800 meters away so that's good, and the people there are friendly, or if they're not, I don't understand them anyway.. lol!

The more astute of you may have noticed that the music on here when you view the front page has altered. This is due to jolly old Deezer fighting with the law re music rights, so for now 70% of my playlists are down! Which, frankly, sucks! Sort it out eh? lol Actually I've been considering plopping a song into each blog entry to capture the mood of the piece, but am wary that maybe on the front page it would attempt to play all of the blog entry songs visible. *mutters.. damned thing*.

I should really add a couple of pics on here of how the house looks at the mo. is different again from how it was. Lot's of greenery adorn tables, windowsills and indeed the drier! I really like how the 'puter looks on the new desk, and just hope it stays looking like a new desk! Puss likes the scanner a tad too much though, and am reminded of the monitor in wolves, decorated in various shades of cat (depending on the.. err.... cat!!).

Well, sun is out, last night storm has vamooshed, so i may go grab a beer on the balcony and read the next instalment of the Steven Erikson books. Noticed that there are now 4 Asher books about that I've not read. The newest, is on sale for 30euros here, and for that much, it can carry on sitting exactly there. there was talk of going and getting my books from Hamish's but, that seems to have fizzled out and besides, we've a Vegas to go to!

So.. until i'm, half way to my 3 score year and 10... or maybe even later... Tot Ziens!

Well... we made it through the first year and have stayed sane, and not disembowelled each other as we slept, so am guessing we're doing ok! Heading off to the south of Holland now for a night in a hotel and a nosey at the sea. Still seems that the time has flown by. I wonder if i'll look bacvk on this next year and say the same about the one which is coming? We'll see. It's been a good year. We've progressed, the house has progressed, etc etc. And on that note.. its goodbye from me, and possibly goodbye from her too... although i know better than to put words in a lady's mouth! *winks*

Well.... seems like madness that this time last year I was getting up in a hotel in Vegas. Where did the time go? on the 7th we will have been married a year, and it doesn't feel possible. 2 years ago i was cleaning toilets out in order to fund a flat, and yet yesterday i built a desk and a bookshelf to make one of our rooms look far more cosy and welcoming than it was. Besides.. we needed the book space! The computer looks far better now, and the keyboard is at a far better hight for me..although i think we may need a new chair for E as she's shorter than me and used to an all singing farty desk set up at work with ergonomical this, that, and the other!

Was an odd day on March 1st. Iain, Hamish and Su all spoke! That just doesn't happen. Closing in on 2 years since Iain and me communicated, and the same for Hamish too. Must be something in the water?! Speaking of family... chuckles.. the new members of the tribe i mentioned in the last blog seem to have shown their blood ties. Immediately after having spoken with mother, both Su and myself were removed from friends lists on facebook by Lorraine Parsons, (Marie Nubbert's brothers spawn), much to my annoyance. Sometimes I should allow my nastier side to take control and maybe I should never have forwarded the info to my sis so then this couldn't occur. But... as ever, i do something nice for the family and get shat all over! Still, at least Su was deleted too! Misery loves company! hehe

Seems deezer is getting cross with the whole playlists thing and has now killed quite a few of the tracks which I had playing. Not impressed! HAd a lovely migraine thing for the last 36 hours and am just waiting for the eye to stab, then it'll be gone.

Am mildly amused. Had contact over the last month with Carol Nubbert, the lass who was researching mothers family tree. Seems mothers mother had an unknown brother, Charles Mead, and his grand daughter has instigated contact with Carol, and then subsequently, me. Ironic really that i should find out details of my mothers family while she has done all she can do destroy my own family relationships through lies and actions.

I suppose, the measure of myself is that I told Su about it, which of course opens the trail back to mother via Su's daughter. I could've just not said anything. Part of me wanted exactly that. I wonder if she'll remember when this other family get in touch that, if it wasn't for me, she'd still not even know her grandfathers name?

Had message from Glenda telling me Jack wants me to get in a helicopter to come see him! Seems she's enjoying the nurse thing she's doing, and has aspirations for what she will do once competed. Good Good!

And me? Am still failing miserably to motivate myself to get stuck into the dutch. I seem to go through spates of digging in, then leaving alone. At least things are sticking though these days. Less of what's said sounds like the speaker has neurological problems these days, although the structure still appears bonkers. I suppose it's an exercise for thinking outside the box? I can't help but think, I've played the stupid geography game, (one subject i freely admit to being rubbish at), and have somehow mastered recognising over 50 country flags, and 40 country shapes, so if I can find a way to input dutch the same way as I have the flags...? Perhaps i should eye open office's spreadsheet function and see if I can design a set up on there? Hmm!

Right.. coffee time

People are googling me again!! I don't know who you are, but leave me a comment on here etc and I'll get back to you! I've seen several hits in the last few days for the search terms "Alistair Wiseman" + Crewe, so it seems pretty obvious it's me you're looking for! Dont be shy... say Hi! lol

Sounds like a plan! Although, with my father already being dead, i'm guessing that should be singular. That's fine. I don't like my mother anyway!

So, now I've got your attention, do you, the reader, know of any good lawyers. It's my mother you see. She's killed 5 people, and is currently directly responsible for at least 14 others as a result of her actions. Impressive huh? And you all gasped at the horror of me not liking the woman earlier!

See, it's like this. I have, from my mother, gained 3 brothers and a sister. Were that my father was still alive, this would increase by one. But he isn't. So it won't. All of which, were planned children. All of whom, because of her actions, are now guaranteed to die.

My mother was in her mid twenties when she started popping out my siblings. I on the other hand, was born on her 39th birthday. As i recall, I didn't have much say in the matter. This, as far as I'm aware, is a trend she followed not just with me, but with the others too. We were expunged! Extruded! Forced into the world without so much as a by your leave.

By that age, (mid twenties), I think it's safe to say that she was aware that, she was mortal. Being a God fearing woman she knew well the consequences of living on this earth. Original sin, and eternal damnation awaiting those of us who do not follow umm.. *insert deity here*.

And yet, cognitively, she chose to create, not one, but FIVE new entities to bring into the world, knowing that ultimately these beings will suffer, degenerate, wither, and die. All because of her actions. She knew that by her actions, she condemned 5 beings to their separate deaths, deaths which could have been avoided.

In fact... she knew all this, before even beginning on the task of creation of these entities.

If that's not preconceived... I don't know what is!!

And so now I sit here. Trapped in an existence I didn't ask for. Enchained in a mortality which tortures my imaginary soul. Clothed in a body which even yesterday sought to remind me of it's fragility, via the medium of a cheese slicer and my own thumb.

Someone needs to be held responsible. That person, has to be my mother. For the deaths of my brothers, my sister, my nephews and nieces, and ultimately, myself as well, there has to be recompense! She has killed before, and considering the way my family breeds, she will, indirectly, doubtless kill again.

Get me my lawyer, and let justice take its course!

... possibly the wrong word. lol Incandescent might come closer at times. We bought a microwave a few days ago, which I must admit was my idea. I've missed the facility to "nuke" things, be it Stag Chilli, Xmas pudding (of which I have just indeed partaken of...), or baked spuds. The micro was on offer.. wasn't all singing all dancing, just a simple thing that'll save ass loads of time on stuff. We get to the counter to but the thing and the woman swipes Esther's card, and then asks her her name, and then her address, to which I ask... why does she need your name n address?? She's buying a microwave ffs!! Turns out that they don't require it at all, but E had already given both out happily with no questions asked. And people wonder why they get credit card scams. But wait, there's more. A nice subtle little surcharge was added to the price. Nearly 10% of the value of the microwave was added on! Why?? A recycling tax??!! Apparently it's to pay for disposal of old items which this one was replacing, or perhaps for the disposal of this one after it's done. I forget which but i think it was the first! I was fuming! If the price on the item say X pounds... or rather Euros... then that's what you should pay. I wouldn't have bought it had it have been just me, simply because the cost of the item is not that which it is advertised at! I have something of a theory about it. I suspect that, holland has fallen into the trap, not of blaming fruit, but of becoming a lovely little place where everyone pays by credit card, and basically they pick up their item, swipe their card, and it's done. The extra chunk, 9 times out of ten, wont even be noticed. Nice quick way to make a profit me thinks. Not a happy bunny.

And then there's today. Revelling in the glory that is the microwave, I went out on a mission for spuds. Potatoes. Aardappels. Oh yes... tuna and baked spuds was looking hopeful for tea, and xmas pudding maybe afterwards. but.. No chance. I went to a green grocers and a main supermarket, neither of which wanted to see loose potatoes. Buy them in 5 and 10 pound bags I could, but not able to pick ones out for myself was I. I felt myself leaning to the dark side, and so, returned home to molest the pudding earlier than expected. Of course, i had to eat first, how can you have any pudding if you don't eat your dinner.. so I made cheese butties. And succumbed to the evil that is the cheese slicer, nicely lopping off the edge of my left thumb! I'm hoping that there is no cheese detritus wedged in the wound!

However, all is not bad. I have to say we've also picked up a printer, which makes lovely photo prints. Very impressive. And, we went out and joined the gym properly, so soon am hoping to be back to how I used to look! Give or take an inch or two on the waist! Also.. I've installed G.I.M.P, which is a seriously good piece of free art package type thingy! And.. we went out Monday... had a good day all ways round, lovely duck meal, few drinks, and generally had a good day. I'd been ill for the week before, so it was good to be up, about, and healthy.

So.. now all i have to do is suss out this thing again. Yet more changes to the format have occurred, and the wifey is home so my tea making skills are required, so.. if this doesn't come out right.. it's not my fault

Ah.. a new year approaches.

One of the subjects I've had a good rant about this year was man made global warming. I've said from the beginning... it was absolute rubbish, and now it finally does seem to be the case. Carbon footprint shmutprint I say! lol Here is an excerpt from the article I'm linking to,

 "First, all over the world, temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models which have been used as the main drivers of the scare. Last winter, as temperatures plummeted, many parts of the world had snowfalls on a scale not seen for decades. This winter, with the whole of Canada and half the US under snow, looks likely to be even worse. After several years flatlining, global temperatures have dropped sharply enough to cancel out much of their net rise in the 20th century."

 And another part...

Secondly, 2008 was the year when any pretence that there was a "scientific consensus" in favour of man-made global warming collapsed. At long last, as in the Manhattan Declaration last March, hundreds of proper scientists, including many of the world's most eminent climate experts, have been rallying to pour scorn on that "consensus" which was only a politically engineered artifact, based on ever more blatantly manipulated data and computer models programmed to produce no more than convenient fictions.

Ahhh... it's nice to see such things from the Daily telegraph, one of the most respected newspapers in the Uk! Go read the whole article it's HERE