Just wave the “little finger”

I haven’t been on here for a while because I’ve been concentrating on another project, but I came back to the old “HN” today because I wanted to comment on a blogging friend’s latest post.
After that I thought I’d refresh my memory about what some of my more recent posts had been about, (“Recent!? That’s a laugh!”), and I watched the Youtube video again in the post “It’s not the words, it’s what you do with them“.
When the video finished Youtube brought up some alternatives for me to view, as it does, and I watched this one.
Being someone who has been hit by a car who’s driver wasn’t paying full attention I found it quite moving. But most of all I liked the message at the end of it.
I hope when you see someone driving like an idiot you too will wave the little finger!

It’s not the words, it what you do with them

Once again I’m grateful to Cheri for the inspiration for a post, and for some deep thought.
While catching up on some blog reading today I followed some suggested links from one of her posts and came across this short, inspiring video.
I’ll let you watch it before commenting further.

We go together

It’s been my pleasure to “bump into” another Farmerama player this past week whose life, let’s say, could be a lot easier than it is. No names, no pack drill, but you know who you are.

This person (L) and their spouse (K) are both wheelchair users but, after a comment L made in an email about what they were doing last night (dancing together, even through the pain) I wondered what they might have been dancing to ?

Given that L had referred to them as “soul mates” and detailed how well they work together and help each other, just one tune came into my mind, along with the image of them dancing to it in their wheelchairs out in the back yard. 😀

In case you can’t remember exactly how it goes, L & K, here’s a little reminder…

Oh, and Happy Birthday, L. 😀

Always worth checking your tyres (tires)

How old are the tyres on your car ?… Do you know ?… Do you really know ?
It seems obvious when you think about it but tyres are made of rubber, and rubber slowly perishes.
Tyres that you may think you are buying as “new” may not have been used, but that does not make them safe to use if they have been sitting on the shelf for years.
Well done Cheri for pointing this one out.
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897 (with a commercial at the start, of course)
Oh, and the inference in the report (from 2008) is that British drivers are aware of this dating system… take it from me, it is not common knowledge !
Y’all take care now.

Justice for all – Food for thought

Let’s put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home.

This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies, and walks.

They would receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc. and they’d receive money instead of paying it out.

They would have constant video monitoring so they could be helped instantly if they fell or needed assistance.

Bedding would be washed twice a week and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.

They would have family visits in a suite especially built for that purpose.

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool, and education.

Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, P.J.’s and legal aid would be free on request.

Private, secure rooms for all with an outdoor exercise yard and gardens.

Each pensioner could have a P.C., a T.V., a radio and daily phone calls.

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

Criminals in Nursing Homes

The “criminals” would get cold food and be left all alone and unsupervised.

“Lights out” would be at 8pm, and showers would only be available once a week.

They would live in a tiny room for which they would have to pay £3,000.00 a month, and they would have no hope of ever getting out.

Justice for all !

Sponsor a long-distance hamster for charity

Sweetie

You can have some fun following the exploits of Amanda’s hamster, Sweetie, and sponsor her on her nightly marathons to help raise funds for Fife Headway. Guess how far she can run in one day ! To read Sweetie’s full story, click here. Update: Sweetie now has her own blog !

Google Healthcare: an unscientific poll

That is… the Google situation with respect to China, and Obama’s Health Care reforms.

I am interested in people’s reactions to these, purely out of curiosity, and invite you to take part in a quick survey.

There are only three questions so it will only take a moment, and none of your personal data is collected.

Please click on this link to open the survey in a new tab or window.

Thank you for participating. I hope to publish the results by 1st April. (!)
(Update April 2nd: I’m going to let this run a bit longer)

Have a good day.

Have you ever been eaten by fish ?

Hmmm, surprisingly it seems I might actually be able to post while I’m in China… I certainly couldn’t last year !
Have so many stories to tell and pictures to show from this trip that it will take me ages to catch up when I get home.
Anyway, we went to the Gentle Uptown Hot Spring Spa on the outskirts of Nanning yesterday where, apart from doing things like having my first ever proper sauna, we sat / lay in a pool with lots of little fish that nibble at your skin. What an incredible sensation ! Well worth the extra 20 RMB per person.
They always head straight for your feet when you first get in, but then they do work their way all over you. Apart from the tickling that your feet get, their little teeth are sometimes quite sharp and you feel like you want to swat them like flies.
Will definitely have to go back on every trip. I want more of this 🙂

A fishy feast

They liked Amanda too

Waaaaahhhh ! How am I going to eat ?

I am right handed, and have just been holding a set of chopsticks in my left hand to see if I could possibly eat left handed.

Why ?

Because on Thursday or Friday (I can’t remember which) I was going out of the building where I work and, as I pressed the button on the wall by the front door to release the electronic lock, I leant against the door to push it open and my hand caught the frame of the door as I went through it.  Not the sort of knuckle hit that you might expect, oh no !  The tip of the middle finger of my right hand got caught on the outside of the frame while the rest of my arm and hand proceeded to follow the remainder of me through the door, separating the outside three fingers  from my thumb and forefinger.  😥

It’s not often I do impressions of cartoon characters (other than my “Donald Duck” voice… Oh, and “Top Cat” and “Benny” 😉 ) but this made me hop around in circles on one foot, alternately clutching my injured appendage to my groin and then shaking it out to the side.  I half expected to look at my hand and find that it looked like a throbbing, inflated, red rubber glove ! 😕

The red rubber glove would have contrasted with the brilliant blue that the air had turned at that point. 😳

I remember thinking to myself that I was going to have a lovely bruise around the knuckle come Monday, and began to look forward to the ongoing pain that was destined to ensue.

So today (Saturday) the swelling has really started to build up and the ongoing pain is… well, ongoing.

Amanda had said last night that I should put some of her medication oils on it (she has left half a hospital full of assorted medicines, oils, creams and whatever here, all of them nicely emblazened with Chinese writing… very useful :???:) and tonight I took her advice and had a rummage around in the medical box until I found a spray with something written on it in English.  “Point and Fire”, I think it said.

That may, or may not, help to keep the swelling at bay and assist with mobility but, while we were chatting online just now I realised that reduced mobility of my hand over the coming days would mean that I might not be able to use chopsticks when I get to China on Thursday ! 😥  So how am I going to eat ? 😥

Well, although I am right handed by nature I have managed to teach myself to “write” with my left hand in the past.  When I play darts (right handed), unlike a lot of  “traditional” pub players I like my darts and my throwing hand to be very clean, as opposed to covered in chalk as used to be the preferred method by many.  So, as chalk is often used to mark up the scores on the board I have taught myself to always mark the scores left handed, thereby keeping my right hand as clean as possible. (It’s that sort of attention to detail that helped me to improve my dart playing so much, which is a clue to my previous post.)

On that basis I ought to be able to teach myself to use chopsticks left handed without too much difficulty.  The first “dummy run” a few minutes ago (well, about an hour ago now, given the speed I type :sad:) reminded me of the initial difficulties I faced when learning to use chopsticks, one of which is keeping the sticks on the same vertical plane.  The difference this time is that I know what the problem is, can remember what methods I employed to correct it and, therefore, I know how to counteract it.

Good news ! 😀  I may still be able to eat in China after all. 😎

Also good news on the memory front.  As soon as I got them into my hand and tried to move them I remembered exactly the experiences I had when I was first learning to use chopsticks properly and the methods I adopted to correct the fault.  This is a good sign, because it proves yet again that I can retain some memories from the past three years in a way which is instantly retrievable.

If only that would happen with things which occurred only a few moments beforehand…..

Ok, so I’ve been working on other things

Haven’t posted for a while on here because I’ve been working on my other blog, the one that explains about my head injury.

Click on the link above if you’re into the “real” me and the reasons why an intelligent guy in his early 50’s suddenly becomes confused, disorientated, has no sense of time, and can be too “off this planet” to be able to cope with day-to-day living.

On the other hand, if you couldn’t give two monkeys about that and just want to gaze at more pictures of my beautiful wife… watch this space 😉