(no subject)
Burblings from a(n unusually) Hot Country
OK, so the 36.3C it got to in Charlsford, Hants, yesterday may not be hot by some of your standards. I gather it's been in the low 40s in Toronto, & in the mid 20s in Hell (Michigan, near Detroit - just across the Lake from Toronto)! Simon Bates, DJ on Classic fM, has just said it was hotter than Death Valley too, which I find hard to believe but . . .
It only got up to 30, apparently, in Portsmouth, which felt plenty hot enough. Fortunately the breeze also got up in the afternoon & that blew in some cloud cover. By bedtime it was a much nicer temperature - I went out into the yard to check, & heard crickets. Crickets! Think "Jungle film FX". In inner city Portsmouth. OK, so it only sounded like two of them but all the same. . . Remember the barrage of sound they used to create at the Wheeler's Bay Holiday Park, Kitten? But that was a whole grassy hillside of them singing their wings/legs off. At night, with all the crickets/grasshoppers going & the stars sparkling over the sea, not to mention the Perseid meteorites, it sounded as if the stars were singing.
The forecast today is for overcast & even some thunder. w00t! I may just find the energy to do some housework, already done the washing up (& I'm not saying how long that's been waiting). Good Thing I did the washing yesterday.
Apparently even Tutankhamun had glass 'jewels' in his finery! I'd love to see all the artefacts, apart from the mummy. There was an exhibition of replicas came to Portsmouth a few years back. That was fascinating.
Well, would you believe it. NHS Mental Health care providers are coming in within budget & consequently are being given less for next year! The rest is going to cover the rest of the NHS overspend. Hey, people, NHS Mental Health care is inadequate already. I mean they're, on the whole, doing the best they can with what they have but so many are falling through the safety net. BTW - that makes it less safe for those suffering mental distress NOT the rest of you/us!
With nearly one in four of us now likely to suffer mental distress requiring treatment (used to be called a nervous breakdown!) at sometime in our lives it doesn't do to ignore such things, nor to think that it won't affect me. Cos chances are it will, or someone I know. & for those of you who worry about the increase in mentally 'disturbed' people around who are likely to commit violent acts, another statistic: - In the past twenty years the incidence of violent attacks has doubled - that is violent attacks by 'normal' people (though how you can class them as 'normal' when they stick knives in people or beat them to a pulp . . .) In the same period the incidence of violent attacks perpetrated by people with 'mental distress' has remained the same. Furthermore if someone with mental distress attacks anyone it's most likely to be themselves. (Statistics: MIND UK)
So there you are. It may sound as if there are knife-wielding schizophrenics attacking people all over, but think about it. Journalists report sensationalism, & they report what rarely occurs. If it happens all the time it's not news - that's why rail & plane crashes are news & road deaths aren't, that often!
And Street Crime is up in the UK by 8%. Apparently it's due to the greater number of us having, & flashing, our expensive mobile phones & MP3 players. Nothing to do with an increase in opportunist thugs who nick them! So, should you be going out, make sure your MP3 player is well hidden. Apparently they tend to target iPods (there, no morals, but some taste!) which are easily distinguished cos they have white earphones. Do I have to spell out the obvious precaution, apart from making sure the headphone wire & the MP3 player itself are well covered? & if you keep yr flash mobile in it's case, in your pocket or bag, well, you'll be so much more appreciated by your fellow travellers. It's bad enough having to travel by train in this weather, without having idiots yelling into mobiles in the same carriage. BTW - it is possible to use a mobile, even somewhere noisy, and SPEAK QUIETLY!!!! Honestly! Please! Pretty Please, with sprinkles! *Climbs down from soapbox*
The Internet is growing in China. At present it's largely internal, but at least they are able to communicate freely with each other!
More shock news: I think President Bush got it right when he vetoed stem-cell research. For stem-cells from IVF embryos anyway. There are other sources of stem cells which don't involve killing living beings, or even living potential-beings. It's not often I agree with the reported acts of Dubya!
So I'm off back to bed for a while to catch up on sleep missed last night cos it was still too hot. Y'all have a good day now!
OK, so the 36.3C it got to in Charlsford, Hants, yesterday may not be hot by some of your standards. I gather it's been in the low 40s in Toronto, & in the mid 20s in Hell (Michigan, near Detroit - just across the Lake from Toronto)! Simon Bates, DJ on Classic fM, has just said it was hotter than Death Valley too, which I find hard to believe but . . .
It only got up to 30, apparently, in Portsmouth, which felt plenty hot enough. Fortunately the breeze also got up in the afternoon & that blew in some cloud cover. By bedtime it was a much nicer temperature - I went out into the yard to check, & heard crickets. Crickets! Think "Jungle film FX". In inner city Portsmouth. OK, so it only sounded like two of them but all the same. . . Remember the barrage of sound they used to create at the Wheeler's Bay Holiday Park, Kitten? But that was a whole grassy hillside of them singing their wings/legs off. At night, with all the crickets/grasshoppers going & the stars sparkling over the sea, not to mention the Perseid meteorites, it sounded as if the stars were singing.
The forecast today is for overcast & even some thunder. w00t! I may just find the energy to do some housework, already done the washing up (& I'm not saying how long that's been waiting). Good Thing I did the washing yesterday.
Apparently even Tutankhamun had glass 'jewels' in his finery! I'd love to see all the artefacts, apart from the mummy. There was an exhibition of replicas came to Portsmouth a few years back. That was fascinating.
Well, would you believe it. NHS Mental Health care providers are coming in within budget & consequently are being given less for next year! The rest is going to cover the rest of the NHS overspend. Hey, people, NHS Mental Health care is inadequate already. I mean they're, on the whole, doing the best they can with what they have but so many are falling through the safety net. BTW - that makes it less safe for those suffering mental distress NOT the rest of you/us!
With nearly one in four of us now likely to suffer mental distress requiring treatment (used to be called a nervous breakdown!) at sometime in our lives it doesn't do to ignore such things, nor to think that it won't affect me. Cos chances are it will, or someone I know. & for those of you who worry about the increase in mentally 'disturbed' people around who are likely to commit violent acts, another statistic: - In the past twenty years the incidence of violent attacks has doubled - that is violent attacks by 'normal' people (though how you can class them as 'normal' when they stick knives in people or beat them to a pulp . . .) In the same period the incidence of violent attacks perpetrated by people with 'mental distress' has remained the same. Furthermore if someone with mental distress attacks anyone it's most likely to be themselves. (Statistics: MIND UK)
So there you are. It may sound as if there are knife-wielding schizophrenics attacking people all over, but think about it. Journalists report sensationalism, & they report what rarely occurs. If it happens all the time it's not news - that's why rail & plane crashes are news & road deaths aren't, that often!
And Street Crime is up in the UK by 8%. Apparently it's due to the greater number of us having, & flashing, our expensive mobile phones & MP3 players. Nothing to do with an increase in opportunist thugs who nick them! So, should you be going out, make sure your MP3 player is well hidden. Apparently they tend to target iPods (there, no morals, but some taste!) which are easily distinguished cos they have white earphones. Do I have to spell out the obvious precaution, apart from making sure the headphone wire & the MP3 player itself are well covered? & if you keep yr flash mobile in it's case, in your pocket or bag, well, you'll be so much more appreciated by your fellow travellers. It's bad enough having to travel by train in this weather, without having idiots yelling into mobiles in the same carriage. BTW - it is possible to use a mobile, even somewhere noisy, and SPEAK QUIETLY!!!! Honestly! Please! Pretty Please, with sprinkles! *Climbs down from soapbox*
The Internet is growing in China. At present it's largely internal, but at least they are able to communicate freely with each other!
More shock news: I think President Bush got it right when he vetoed stem-cell research. For stem-cells from IVF embryos anyway. There are other sources of stem cells which don't involve killing living beings, or even living potential-beings. It's not often I agree with the reported acts of Dubya!
So I'm off back to bed for a while to catch up on sleep missed last night cos it was still too hot. Y'all have a good day now!