Universal Truths

1) Triangular sandwiches taste better than square ones.
2) At the end of every party there is always a girl crying.
3) One of the most awkward things that can happen in a pub is when your pint-to-toilet cycle gets synchronised with a complete stranger.
4) You've never quite sure whether it's ok to eat green crisps. (That's Chips to the Americans)
5) Everyone who grew up in the 80's has entered the digits 55378008 into a calculator.
6) Reading when you're drunk is horrible.
7) Sharpening a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.
8) You're never quite sure whether it's against the law or not to have a fire in your back garden.
10) Nobody ever dares make cup-a-soup in a bowl.
11) You never know where to look when eating a banana.
12) Its impossible to describe the smell of a wet cat.
13) Prodding a fire with a stick makes you feel manly. (Women are not permitted to prod a fire...It's a man thing :o) )
14) Rummaging in an overgrown garden will always turn up a bouncy ball and an old chair
15) You always feel a bit scared when stroking horses.
16) Everyone always remembers the day a dog ran into your school.
17) The most embarrassing thing you can do as schoolchild is to call your teacher mum or dad.
18) The smaller the monkey the more it looks like it would kill you at the first given opportunity.
19) Some days you see lots of people on crutches.
20) Every bloke has at some stage while taking a pee flushed half way through and then raced against the flush.
21) Old women with mobile phones look wrong!
22) Its impossible to look cool whilst picking up a Frisbee.
23) Driving through a tunnel makes you feel excited.
24) You never ever run out of salt.
25) Old ladies can eat more than you think. (and can carry 50 times their own weight...like ants)
26) You can't respect a man who carries a dog.
27) There's no panic like the panic you momentarily feel when you've got your hand or head stuck in something.
28) No one knows the origins of their metal coat hangers. (They are the Larval form of Shopping Trolleys)
29) Despite constant warning, you have never met anybody who has had their arm broken by a swan.
30) The most painful household incident is wearing socks and stepping on an upturned plug.
31) People who don't drive slam car doors too hard
32) You've turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood specifically to stir paint with. (I have several)
33) Everyone had an uncle who tried to steal their nose. (I am that uncle :o) )
34) Bricks are horrible to carry.
35) In every plate of chips there is a bad chip. (that's fries to those in the US)

Half a day

Half a day spent at work, half a day at home and crying out my duties as a school governor.

Being a school governor, not that onerous a task, just need to attend a few meetings every year (well ok 12 or so) and be willing to give up a few other days to do things for teh school...in my case I am on teh property committee and have resposibiity for advising the governors and the head on Health and Safety Matters. Next week I will be carrying out the annual Structure and H&S survey for the head.

Not such a hard thing to give up a bit of time for the school your children attend is it, in fact I really don't understand how as a parent someone couldn't see the importance of supporting the school in some way, Mrs A is on the Parent Teacher Association btw, the nemisis of the Governors ...he he he :o) They look after all the fundraising and we think up ways to spend it ;o)

Work give me 6 days a year as additional Paid Leave to carry out my commitment, which is really very good of them.

Where have you been?

So I've taken a break from my hectic Eve playing Schedule to blog......

What do you mean "at last"?

OK I admit it I have neglected teh blog a bit, but I haven't abandonned it :o)

I have been doing other stuff as well as playing Computer games...

Shocked Mrs.A by putting up a couple of wall panels, got another couple of boards marked up and when I have some daylight to work in I'll do some more :o)

Work is very busy, I am travelling all over the south of England at the moment, various meetings about important stuff...well It's important to the people I'm meeting with I'm sure, to me it's just a job and a wage packet, Work to Live don't Live to Work is a motto I totally agree with. I've applied for another job dealing more in the direction my interests in Health and Safety lie.

LMD is pretending she can't walk. We know she could if she wanted too, but she knows crawling is fater and is sticking to it , however much we cheer and encourage her occasional step. Toilet training LMB continues to be an abjecy failure , but no worries, we'll have more chance in teh summer when she can run around the garden naked.

Agi Junior is apparently Gifted, and bored at school as a result, it is apparent from the Educational Psychologist's report on him that he is going to require one on one contact to assist him in his studies, mainly to keep his attention on teh work he has to do to satisfy the requirements to pass his Key Stage one Assessments.

So situation normal in Casa Aginoth.

Craziequeen has put me and Cyberkitten in charge of her blog for a couple of weeks whilst she learns to ski in Bavaria. Not that I'm jealous at all, honest :o).....She has left s a load of posts to trickle into her blog in her absence

I have been taken off of my Psoriasis medication, as I kind of indicated it had started to cause damage to my liver...not good, so I'm slowly becoming spotty again as my skin deteriorates, I'm seeing the Dermatologist in 2 weeks time and hopefully now at long last I can be prescribed the expensive treatment that I have been trying to get them to give me for nearly 2 years. My doctor is willing to let me have it but the cost (£17000/year) means that I have had to exhaust all teh cheaper options before the hospital trust will allow her to do so....now I am at that stage....watch this space

My Dad is recovering from his stroke, he is still in Hospital, on a stroke rehabilitation ward at the Bristol General Hospital. He still hasn't regained use of his Left arm to any degree, but he is starting to be able to use his left leg again, the Physiotherapists have got him up and walking in a fashion, he can take a couple of steps with help now, but they do think this means he should eventually be able to walk unaided again.

There you go a quick recap of my recent doings....I will try to blog more often again....I promise :o)

I am an addict

Fighting it though...

It's all SleepyPete's fault, the addiction..Eve Online a Space trading game much like Elite used to be many years ago... It is jolly good

I am trying to limit my playing to when I'm awake....LOL

actually it's not too bad, as the game allows you to train your character when u are offline, and only needs you there when carrying out missions etc

I will try to remember to eat drink and blog...and work is going to get in the way too :o)

Help !!!!

A day of Twos

Two...

...Teeth more in LMD's Mouth (at last)
...Steps LMD took today (Very proud smug Daddy moment)
...Hours spent Travelling to and from work
...Hours to sort out a remortgage (sucessfully)
...Hours back on my time clock at work that I was wrongfully divested of
...Helpings of the delicious Beef Stew Mrs.A cooked for Dinner
...Amazon Vouchers for Mrs.A from Sleepypete (late Xmas Pressie)
...Pounds in my pocket
...Children who ate their dinner (one who didn't)
...Inches each of the Aginothlings have grown apparently in the last week (Nothing fits !!!)
...Times my correct Liver Enzyme level (No more Methotrexate for me)
...Fortnights until my next dermatology appointment
...Hours until al the aginothlings should be in bed
...Thousand Pounds for the repairs to our roofs
...Weeks we have had scaffolding around the house
...Credit Cards that we have cut up today
...Days until Wednesday (OK grasping here now...)
...Weeks until February (See told you I was grasping...)
...Weeks until LMD's First Birthday (YAY PARRRRRRTTTTYYYYYYYYYY)

I am Daddy hear me and tremble....

Cor...something is odd...I have the Aginothlings to myself and they are all behaving...all doing as they are told...all playing together nicely...

You have entered the Twilight zone where nothing is as it seems...

except...

this is for real, some days it feels bloody brilliant to be a parent, I've had a silly grin on my face over the antics of the three of them most of the day, I've had numerous pictures of Daddy drawn, Agi Junior has been brilliant helping cook lunch, helping clear the table and doing little chores, the girls are just a whole bundle of giggles.

Treated them to a viewing of Magic Roundabout (the film) after lunch of fish and pasta wih peas and carrots...nearly all eaten up by all three of them...Agi Junior even asked for extra vegetables !!!

Now slowing things down, Agi junior is playing on his nintendo for the first time today (after his exemplary behaviour an activity I happily allowed, LMD is curled up on my lap looking at picture books, LMB is playing with her educational packages on one of the PC's, whilst I am also cooking tea of burgers and potato waffles, before bathtime and bed, who knows I may even get Agi Junior in the Bath and wash his hair without a fight at this rate !

Above all the one thing that has made this easier is LMD is no longer dependant on Mrs.A for food, as she is down to one mid-evening feed of milk a day. So she no longer demands constant calming attention when Mummy is not here.

Some days it just goes right, and even though I am knackered I have really enjoyed being with the kids today :o)

Update: 18:50 and Agi Junior & LMB are quietly in bed, bathed and happy. Yep even managed to get Agi Junior to scrub off the detritus...now just have a slightly narky LMD waiting for her one feed of the day, Mrs.A due home shortly...time to relax in front of the TV :o)

Crazie gathering

The Crazies are gathering at chez Aginoth this afternoon/evening for one of our kind of regular DVD watching sessions...RCA, CrazieQueen, CyberKitten and Sleepypete should already be en root...BionicDwarf is to hungover, he got so drunk he lost his wallet, mobile phone and his shoes last night. Just how drunk do you need to be to lose your shoes [shakes head]???

Mrs.A called to doctor out to me yesterday for the food poisoning, who gave me a shot of stemitil to stop me vomiting. Feelin better today, if not 100%.

Leadership

I write this from the confines of my bed where i am doubled up with stomach cramps, it appears to be food poisoning, from a dodgy dip supplied from Dominos Pizza which I had last night. current time between toilet rushes is 15 minutes, and reducing I am glad to say.

I know I've been quiet the last few days but I have been on a Leadserhip Skills course in deepest Darkest Dorset. It was pretty intensive didn't get a chance to leave the hotel for the 3 days of the course, infact several others on teh course seemed to never make it to their rooms; being permanent fixtures at the bar.

The course involved us volunteering to be the team leader at some stage of the 3 days for particular tasks..guess who volunteered for the biggest and most complicated one to run {puts up hand}, 9 seperate tasks to be completed by 12 people in fluid sub-teams in under 1 hour; although we didn't complete the tasks (6/9) what we did was considered to be a sucess and I got very good feedback from the reat of the group and the trainers for my leadership style and skill...which was nice

Oooops.....off to the toilet again.....

Aphorism

Surprised myself by forming a rather good Aphorism today whilst talking to cyberkitten about the new series on Channel four tonight by Professor Richard Dawkins - The Root of all Evil?

The Aphorism is

I'd rather be sure in knowledge than ignorant in belief.

I thought perhaps I had heard it somewhere and was just repeating someone elses words overheard, but I have spent a good hour searching the internet and books this evening and can find no record of anyone saying it. I have to say I'm rather impressed with myself...Smug Mode engaged :o)

anyway back to Professor Dawkin's series. My first contact and knowledge of Professor Dawkins was seeing him give the annual Royal Institution Children's Lecture in 1991; the subject was Evolution. He is a fantastic teacher, author, orator and scientific explorer.

The British Royal Institution Christmas Lectures have been held annually since 1825. They serve as a forum for presenting complex scientific issues to young people in an informative and entertaining manner. In the mid 1820s Michael Faraday, a former Director of the Royal Institution, initiated the first Christmas Lecture series at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. He presented a total of 19 series, establishing an exciting new venture of teaching science to young people that was eventually copied by other institutions internationally.

The Christmas Lectures have continued annually since this time, stopping only during World War 2. Many world famous scientists have given the lectures, including Baroness Susan Greenfield (the current Director of the Royal Institution), naturalist David Attenborough, and Nobel Laureate George Porter.

Here is a precis of the first program's content.... I am watching it as I blog, and I urge anyone interested in the debate on belief in any given religion god or faith, or the evil acts that religion allows people to carry out in it's name to watch it, I hope this get repeated both here in the UK, and across the world. Mrs.Aginoth has posted here about it


Episode 1: The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins is astounded that religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth based on hard evidence. Julia Bard reports

In this two-part Channel 4 series, Professor Richard Dawkins challenges what he describes as 'a process of non-thinking called faith'. Dawkins is well known for bringing to a wide audience the complex scientific concepts that underpin evolution. His first book, The Selfish Gene was an international bestseller.

Truth lies and faith
He describes his astonishment that, at the start of the 21st century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth. Science, based on scepticism, investigation and evidence, must continuously test its own concepts and claims. Faith, by definition, defies evidence: it is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science.

In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, in fact, says Dawkins, they bring intolerance, violence and destruction. The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but, he argues, is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress – to become more enlightened and more tolerant.

At the extremes
He explores the state of the three Abrahamic religions in the world today, from the political influence of rich and powerful Christian fundamentalist institutions in America to the deadly clash of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the Middle East. He describes the Holy Land as the least enlightened place in the world, a microcosm of the threat to rational values and civilisation posed by religion, whose irrational roots, he says, are nourishing intolerance and murder.

There are plenty of characters to illustrate his thesis. There are fanatics, like the former West Bank settler who has taken the small step of converting from Jewish fundamentalist to Muslim fundamentalist, transferring his hatred from one side of the looking glass to the other. And the frighteningly charismatic leader of America's National Association of Evangelicals, who believes he has been chosen by God to convert Americans through religious gatherings that resemble rock concerts – though to Dawkins they feel more reminiscent of Nuremberg rallies.

Then there are the desperate, like those carrying burdens of disability or disease, who are among the 80,000 people a year who make the pilgrimage to Lourdes. Dawkins does the maths: out of the millions who, over a century, have placed their faith in a miracle restoring them to good health, there have been only 66 authenticated cures. This is hardly a strong record, he says, arguing that it is better for us to embrace truth than false hope.

A sense of belonging
Drawing on such examples, it is not difficult to demolish the claims of religion as fairytales, and dangerous ones at that. But there is more to religion than ancient stories and articles of faith. Dawkins touches on the sense of belonging promised by religious groups but dismisses this as 'seductive group solidarity', which he describes as a 'shared delusion'. In doing so, he glances off the more subtle dilemmas of how religions and religious traditions are woven through people's notions of 'community', 'history' and 'identity'.

Having a sense of one's place in the world is important to everyone but has particular significance for minorities and peoples under political, economic or military pressure. Individuals may even accept Dawkins' atheistic and scientific deconstruction of the myths they have grown up with but still defend and nurture the matrix of institutions, practices and relationships which make them who they are.

So What did I think of it, it was good to finally see the atheist/non-believers standpoint put forward so well on mainstream television.

It makes me proud to live in a country where we have the freedom to be able to watch such a program and make up our own minds. I very much doubt that such a program could ever be shown in the USA due to the vociferous Religious element that seems to be gaining a greater and greater hold on the American culture and thought processes.

I have been involved on many occasions with many people over the Evil that religion causes otherwise good people to perpetrate. I find it impossible to understand how otherwise intelligent people can be swayed to commit atrocities in the name of an imaginary higher being (of whatever denomination) by what amounts to a set of myths passed down over several hundred years (and some stupid ones as well mind you, but that's more easily understood)

Yawn

A Late night last night, played Civilization 4 with sleepypete for nearly 5 hours.

I had a crap start but managed to hold my own.

Mrs A has a stinking cold so I was on child watching duties this morning, when i finally dragged my self out of bed at 8:30, amongst acting as the family IT technician, and lunch short order chef, not complaining, nice to be busy :o) And I got to play a little more Civ 4 this morning as well. She managed to get a couple of hours rest this morning as is looking much better for it

Been to the hospital my Dad has been moved too, he is much happier there, it is clean and well decorated, the staff seem friendly and he is getting the intensive rehab neuro-physio therapy he needs there. No real improvement in hos arm or leg yet, but the palsy in the left side of his face is definitely improving.

A study in comparative censorship

I had no idea what to blog today and then I read my comments form my last post...

In response to a comment by Katherine on my previous post.... (Thanks Katherine)

Katherine said...
Please explain to this under educated American how "arse" is used in Britain. I know it means "ass" but do you pronounce it just like it's spelled? Is it considered a "bad" word like ass is in America? Although the TV censors have been allowing it for a couple of years now...

An Ass = a Donkey in the UK

An Arse = Backside, Bum, or Fanny to you Americans. It can also me a particularly stupid person amongst other things.

Fanny in the UK is a polite version of C**t; a word which is probably the last taboo word left on British TV after 9pm at night.

Fuck is used on TV in the UK, usually only after 9pm, but not to excess or it will get bleeped. Shit, Tits, Wanker, plonker, prick, prat, dickhead, knob end, knob, bugger, bollocks, penis, vagina, breasts, dick, arsehole, bloody, bleeding hell, Jesus, God!, sod and feck, piss, and many many more are no longer considered all that bad at all and will be heard without much censorship at all in the early evening on TV and even during the day, the context in which it is used is more important than just the word itself.

There is very little censorship of language for censorships sake, or to protect the moral well being of the nation, or to appease the beliefs of the religious, or force their sensibilities on the rest of us, or politcally right wing in the UK at all. There is still quite strict rules on images and film however, and very well laid down rules as to what is allowed to be shown when on British Television; also a strict film classification system.

Basically we no longer have much censorship of language on television, film or in written material, apart from the C word, which most people (i think) including myself find distasteful.

I am glad that this is the case, we are after all adults, Childrens TV is very carefully regulated for swearing however. And images of smoking are becoming rarer in newly made programs and films.

I dislike the phrase "Bad Language" as I consider there to be no such thing, there is however lazy speech, and the over use of swearing tends to make a person sound stupid, the occasional expletive however is perfectly acceptable in the right company, and is unlikely to lead to any moral detriment

BTW learn to swear in many foreign languages here...YouSwear.com

The UK / US language Barrier

Two nations divided by a common Language , had this hanging around my hard drive, source unknown...

1) Buns. You know what these are. You're probably sitting on them now. Over here buns are either bread or cake rolls. Asking for a couple of sticky buns in a bakery here will mean Mr Crusty the baker will give you two cake buns with icing (frosting) on the top. If I went into a deli in Manhattan and asked for a couple of sticky buns I'd probably get arrested...
2) Fag. A goody but an oldie. Over here a 'fag' is a cigarette. So in the song 'It's a long way to Tipperary' the line 'As long as you have a Lucifer to light your fag' is not a fundementalist Christian's statement that all homosexuals will burn for eternity in hell, but saying that 'if you always have a match to light your cigarette...'

3) Faggots. Meat balls made from offal (chopped liver) in gravy. Also a small bundle of logs suitable to burn on a fire.

4) Pants. You call pants what we call trousers; pants are the things that go underneath.

5) Rubber. In this country a pencil eraser. Don't be shocked if the mild mannered new Englishman in your office asks for a pencil with a rubber on the end. Especially when he says that he enjoys chewing it when he is thinking.

6) Shit. To us, bodily waste. To you, practically everything as far as I could figure, good or bad (and you certainly don't want us to touch yours...)

7) Fanny. To us the front bottom; to you the back one. In Britain, the fanny pack is known as a bum bag for obvious reasons...

8) Muffler. To us what you call a muffler is called a silencer. In the UK a muffler is a long scarf a la Dickensian Novels. A muffler was also a derogatory name for a certain part of the female anatomy at my school, though this was probably unique to us. Try explaining THAT to a upstanding American when you are standing at the petrol (gas) station in fits of laughter...

9) Pavement. Sidewalk to you. I couldn't think of anything smutty to go with this.

10) Pissed. To you it's quite legal to be pissed in a car in a traffic jam. In fact, in large cities sometimes you cannot help it. For us, it means that you have been over doing it 'down the boozer' (pub) and a kindly policeman will shortly flag you down and arrest you.

11) Shag. To you a dance. To us sexual congress. In otherwords you may have to summon up the courage to have a shag with someone, before you might have a shag with them later on. Also a sea bird similar to a cormorant and a type of rough tobacco.

12) Fancy. To be sexually attracted to or to desire. Also a tea cake.

13) Ass. To us a quadraped of the horse family or a stupid person. The word you guys are looking for in English english is 'arse'.

14) Sneakers. We call these 'trainers' for some reason.

15) Waistcoat. You call them vests.

16) Football. A classic example of our culture gap. To us football is what you call soccer. To you football is what we call pointless. You probably think the same way about cricket...

17) Baseball. In England we play a game called 'Rounders' which has identical rules bar the bat being a short baton designed to be used with only one hand. It's only played in schools. In the US, it's a PROPER game...

18) Some food differences


english american
------------------------
courgette zucchini
mars bar milky way
milky way three musketeers
opal fruits starburst
chips french fries
crisps chips



19) 'Knock you up'. In our country, to wake someone up in the morning so they won't be late. Slightly different meaning for our American Cousins...

20) Pastie. A pastie is a meat and potato pastry that originates from Cornwall, UK. In the guidebook I had for Michigan, it mentioned that some cornish tin miners had come over and brought over the recipe with them when they settled the Upper Peninsula. Even so, I had to taken aside and carefully told what an American pastie was so I wouldn't embarrass parents in front of children at the summer camp I was working at when I was talking about my liking for Cornish Pasties...

21) Knackered. I'm not sure if you have this word in the US. When I said I was knackered I got puzzled looks. It means you are tired. It comes from the fact that horses are often tired when they have testes removed (their knackers) when they are castrated. (Sorry! I guess you didn't want to know that...)

22) Fag. (Oh no not again!) When at a public (i.e. private - confused you will be) school in the UK, you may have to 'fag' for an older boy. This usually involves shining shoes, cleaning up and performing other favours for this older lad. In return for fagging, the older boy looks after your interests and makes sure that you fit into the school and promote the school spirit (bon vivre, not necessarily the alcoholic kind). This may also be a fag (i.e. a tiresome thing).

23) Trunk. In the US what we in the UK call the boot of a car. In the UK, the trunk is the front end of an elephant. Can be embarrassing if you happen to be a pachyderm working as a taxi driver in NY. (Also a large metal and wooden box much beloved of Edwardian travellers).

24) Spunk. In the US it is perfectly acceptable for a boss to ask whether you are feeling full of spunk of a morning (i.e. full of get up and go.) This situation in the UK may only arise when a director is quizzing a male actor in the adult entertainment business.

25) Woody. In the UK, an acceptable description of a wine that has taken on the flavour of the barrels it has matured in. In the US *never* go a wine tasting and claim that this wonderful Californian Chardonnay has an excellent 'woody' flavour, unless you are the female co-star of the aforementioned male actor and you are in the process of filming an 'arty' movie.

26) Hood. To our American cousins, the bit of a car that the engine sits under or place where you might live if you are a rapper. To us Brits, the part of a coat that is designed to cover your head when it rains. What you call the 'hood' we call the 'bonnet' on a car.

27) Gas. To the citizens of the United Kingdom, an instrument of warfare, the stuff that you use to cook your dinner on or a state of matter that is neither liquid nor solid. To you guys, what we call petrol and the gaseous by product of bottom burps (wind).

28) Pecker. To keep one's pecker up is a state of mind in the UK, an athletic feat in the US and a way of life for the common or garden woodpecker.

29) Toilets. Although we have a lot of colourful euphenisms for the lavatory experience in the UK (e.g. spend a penny, watering the daisies) we lack the prissiness of our American chums. To us a toilet is a bog, a kharzi, a shithouse (or alternatively an outhouse in more polite company), a gents/ladies but mostly a toilet. It is perfectly acceptable to be in the Ritz and request to use the toilet. However, you guys seem ashamed of the t-word. Hence you go to the John (where no-one called John is there) and the bathroom (where there is no bath). ...And a word of warning for English chaps in the US - never admit to eating baked beans out of the can.

30) Beer. What you call beer, we call lager. What we call beer, you call disgusting. This might be mutual.

31) Hard. In the UK, you might see an unshaven tattooed uncouth man with big muscles in a pub. If you accidentally spill his beer, he might get upset and request you to join him outside. He might say `Come on then if you think you're hard enough!' Or even 'I'm hard, me, so you better watch your step, mate.' He is not casting aspersions on your sexual persuasion, nor does he have an erection. He is merely stating the fact that unless you buy him another pint of lager in the very immediate future he might beat seven shades of shit out of you. In the US, our friend the male actor would probably say 'I'm hard' while sharing a bottle of woody flavoured chardonnay with his co-star...

32) Flummoxed? Our US chums will be if you use this word. It means to be confused. The typical reaction of the average Brit upon arriving in the US. Then again you might be 'hit for six' (i.e. upset to the point of falling over) by it all. Which just isn't cricket, eh chaps?

33) Roundabout. Imagine you are travelling in the UK along the M3 into Basingstoke (why I can't imagine - it's a God forsaken place.) You have already worked out that a motorway is the same as a freeway and you are feeling pretty pleased with yourself. In front of you is the biggest rotary you have ever seen. In the UK, we call them roundabouts. To instill a morbid fear of these things in our children we force them to play on minature versions of them in playgrounds (wooden disk that turns around with bars to hold onto) and make them watch endless re-runs of the Magic Roundabout. This program was originally a french satire on politics in the late 1960s though it looks just like a animated kiddies show made by someone on SERIOUS acid. Sugar cube eating dogs indeed.

34) Cookies. You eat these with milk and with great self control you only eat two at a time (you don't? naughty!). We call them biscuits. You call biscuits those dry crackery things that might go in soup (or at least in the part of the US I went to).

35) Stuffed. To be full up after eating too many cookies. Also 'Get Stuffed' a cookery program for insomniac students and people on a low income, where you are told how to make fancy versions of beans on toast using everyday ingredients like baked beans, bread, butter and curry powder. The recipies are invariably called things like 'Currybeanytoasty-yum-yum-a-go-go'. As well, 'get stuffed' is something you say to someone who isn't your best mate.

36) Randy. In the US a perfectly reasonable first name. Pity then, the multitude of poor Americans given this unfortunate appellation when they come over to old Blighty. Wherever they go, grimy street urchins snigger, little old ladies try desperately to stifle guffaws and ordinarily quite sensible members of society burst out in laughter. And why? In the UK, saying 'Hi, I'm Randy!' is akin to saying to our American cousins 'Hello friend, I'm feeling horny.' However, save your pity for poor soul Randy Highman who introduced himself to my supervisor at a conference not so long ago...

37) Aluminium. Over here we say 'al-u-min-i-um'. You say 'aloom-i-num'. Neither nation can spell the word.... (Aluminiumiumium?)

38) Kip. In the UK to have a sleep or a nap. A kip house is apparently a brothel. Being young and innocent I was unaware of this...

39) English Swear Words. Our chums across the Atlantic should be warned about the following. If some English bloke comes up to you and uses one or more of them when addressing you, please be careful. He may not be friendly...

i) Wanker. A charming little word that implies that the addresser is accusing the addressee of onanism. Usually accompanied by the coital f-word and the oedipal compound-noun. The addresser may also raise his right hand and portray a chillingly accurate portrayal of the act in question...

ii) Bollocks. The round male dangly bits. Also, saying 'the dog's bollocks' is akin to stating 'this is the shit' in the US. Not to be confused in agricultural circles with 'bullocks' which are bull shaped and go 'moo!'.

iii) Nancy boy. A male who may express either a sexual preference for his own gender or acts in a less than masculine way.

iv) Spanner. Not only a component of every good mechanic's toolbox (see below) but also someone not overly blessed with intelligence or savoir faire. A geek, nerd, dork or a dweeb in other words.

v) Tosser. See 'wanker' and then use your imagination... Also tosspot.

vi) Slag. A woman of uncertain worth and reliability. Also used in English 1970s police shows (e.g. The Sweeney) when describing a notorious criminal. (e.g. Dosser Jenkins? That slaaaaag!). Originally used to describe a by-product of the (now sadly nearly defunct) coal mining industry.

vii) Wanger. Many a Saturday night I have heard this word being shouted by rival groups of young men at each other. The dulcit cries of 'Oi Wanger!!' have disturbed the peace of many a town centre. It is a word used to either describe a penis or an attempt by the alcoholically challenged to say 'wanker'.

viii) Plonker. Another willy euphenism. Immortalised in the TV program 'Only Fools and Horses', starring David Jason & Nicholas Lyndhurst - 'You plonker Rodney!'.

ix) Naff off. Go away. As used by the Princess Royal, Princess Anne. For a while she was known as the 'Naff Off Princess' in the tabloid press.

x) Wazzock - a fool or idiot.

Strange fact: British males often use wanker, bastard, tosser, plonker etc as terms of endearment.

40) Cars. In the UK, only the luxury car market have automatic transmission - in other words the Jaguars, Rolls Royces and Bentleys of the world. Most cars have manual transmission. This is because our roads aren't straight. As a consequence all learner drivers have to learn how to drive using a car with manual gears. I was told that in the States this is referred to as 'learning how to drive stick.' In the UK, asking your driving instructor whether he could teach you how to drive stick may cause potential embarrassment...

41) Blowjob. Blowjob, although a word in common use now in both our countries was referred to as 'Plating' before the GIs came over during WWII. Hence the calling card of Cynthia Plaster-Caster, the woman who made plaster casts of the erect willies of Jimi Hendrix and the Dave Clark Five, amongst others, had 'Your plater or mine?' on her calling cards...

42) Jelly & Jam. In the UK, jelly is either the stuff you US-types call jello or a seedless preserve made from fruit, sugar and pectin. To confuse things further, fruit preserves are generically called jam over here too. Hence, if you were in an English restaurant enjoying a piece of bread with peanut butter and fruit preserve on it you would be eating 'a peanut butter and jam sandwich.' BTW, I used to enjoy peanut and jelly sandwiches when I was little in the UK sense of the word... Sloppy, but very nice.

43) Stones. To you big rock things that geologists play with. To us also a unit of weight. 1 stone is equal to 14 pounds. Also, English pints show remarkable value for money compared to their US conterparts - 567ml compared to 430ml. Good thing to know when ordering beer.

44) Cheeky. In the UK to say someone is 'cheeky' is to imply that they are awnry or suggestively rude. Much beloved of the 'Carry On' Movies which starred Barbara Winsor and Sid James. Typical dialogue...

SJ: You don't get many of those to the pound! (Referring to BW's ample cleavage)


BW: Ooohhh! Cheeky!
SJ: Phoooarrr! I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers!
BW: Ooohhh! You are awful! (for a bit of variety...)
SJ: Loveliest pair of ...eyes I ever saw!
BW: Ooohhh! Cheeky!




and so on ad nauseum...

45) Khaki. In the UK a light beige colour. In US khaki can also be green when referring to army fatigues which are generically known as 'khaki'.

46) Knickers. A similar problem to 'pants' (cv). In the US they are knee-length trousers like what the Brits call 'breeches'. In the UK, they are the things that go underneath. Typically British men wear pants under their trousers and women wear knickers, unless of course, you are a Tory (Conservative) MP and then anything goes... Also NORWICH was an acronym used by service personel during WWII for '(k)Nickers Off Ready When I Come Home'. To be on the safe side when visiting the doctors it's best to keep your pants/knickers on...

47) Wellies. In the UK a type of waterproof rubberised boot named after that Great Englishman, the Duke Of Wellington. You guys in the US would call them 'gumboots' or 'galoshes'. In the UK wellies are much beloved of Tory MPs with large country estates and farmer-types with sheep, particularly the 'Hunter' welly with the handy straps on the side.

48) Warm clothing. In the UK we wear warm woolly upper garments during the winter which we call 'jumpers'. You call them 'sweaters'. Boring but true. Also a long woolly dress is called a 'jumper' in the US. I suppose both nations have the joke:


What do you get if you cross a kangaroo with a sweater?
A woolly jumper.




Groan. Somebody carbon date that joke please...

49) Spanner. You see that long metal object in your tool kit that you use to adjust bolts on your car? We call that a spanner, not a wrench.

50) Slash. In the US a line denoting a separation on the written page or on a computer, or even a rip or tear in a piece of material. In the UK also a euphenism for a wee, a jimmy riddle or urination. Also the name of a rather well known guitarist who was born in England and hence should have thought a little harder before choosing his 'nom de rock'n'roooolll, man'.

51) Liberal. In the US someone who has enlightened and progressive views on abortion, welfare, health care, racial and sexual issues, and sympathsizes with the needs of those less fortunate than themselves. Or at least that's what they say. Republicans probably wouldn't agree with this statement... In the UK, someone is neither left wing nor right wing but somewhere in between. In both countries, 'liberal' can be used as an insult and a compliment. Although most Americans liberals would probably balk at the idea, in the UK they might be considered to be socialists. (Shock! Horror!)

52) Snogging. You know that thing you do when you are with your loved one when you tickle each others tonsils? In the UK that's called snogging. Much beloved of kids at school discos inbetween swigging illicit bottles of vodka and Special Brew beer and 'getting on down' to Take That (screaaaaammmmm!) (popular beat combo in the UK much admired by girlies).

53) Git. An undesirable and miserable person. Between 'sod' and 'bastard' on the 'are you going to get your head kicked in?' scale.

54) Jock. In the US, big guys who like sport, women and acting macho. In the UK, a Scottish person who probably also likes sport, women and acting macho but in a Glaswegian (i.e. from Glasgow) accent. Which is probably more scary since a lot of people have difficultly understanding them...

55) Lemonade. In the US, non-fizzy fruit drink possibly made from lemons that we Brits call 'squash'. Our 'lemonade' is fizzy, akin to your pop or soda (depending on what part of the US you are from.) I was most disappointed when I found this out for the first time in a US cinema...

56) Crossing the road. In the UK we love our cute fluffy and feathery friends. So much in fact that we name our road crossings after them. We have pedestrian walkways that have broad black & white stripes (like on the cover of 'Abbey Road' by the Beatles) which we call 'Zebra Crossings'. We also have crossings akin to yours with the 'walk/don't walk' signs on them which have a little red man standing still and a little green man walking. These are illuminated when you are supposed to stay where you are or walk respectively. For some inexplicable reason this is called a 'pelican crossing'. As for the little green man flashing...

57) Hotels. In the UK the floors in a hotel are numbered ground floor, first floor, second floor etc. In otherwords the first floor is the second floor, the second is the third and so on and so on. In the US, you have a more sensible numbering system. A good thing to note if you are a US bell-boy(UK)/bell-hop(US) looking for Take That's (screaaaaammmmm!) suite on the eighth floor in a UK hotel. (BTW Just follow the detritus of fluffy toys and soggy knickers (cv)...)

58) Waste disposal. In the UK our household waste is called 'rubbish' and is taken away by the dustmen or bin men in their dustcart. In the US you have two types of household waste - garbage and trash. Also, you see that piece of street furniture which you are supposed to put the packaging from your lunch? We call them bins; you call then trash cans. I was sooo confused about this.

59) Merchant Banker. On both sides of the Atlantic an honourable and decent profession. In the UK, cockney rhyming slang for an onanist (see 'wanker'). Possibly apt.

60) Buying a drink. Those establishments where you buy alcohol late at night where you are not allowed to drink it on the premises are called Off Licences (or Offies) in the UK and Liquor Stores in the US. I'm over 21 and was repeatedly carded(US)/id'ed(UK) when I tried to buy beer (this was before I tried American beer). I thought that a British Passport was good enough ID for a liquor store since it got me in the country, but no, I needed an in-state driver's licence. Hellooo? I'm a tourist with a British Passport and an English accent who is wearing a t-shirt with UK tour dates on the back. Don't you think I *might* be the genuine article? (Sorry. The incident still annoys me.)

61) Please and sorry. In the UK, no sentence is complete with either or even both of these words. In the US, the former is said begrudgedly and 'What's the name of your lawyer?' is said instead of the latter.

62) English. We speak english in the UK. So do you in the US. But yet we don't speak the same language...

63) Women's things. Pads = US. Towels = UK. Tampons = everywhere. Do you have the ones with wings too? Do you have a patronising Clare Rayner-type who does the advert?

64) Crusty. In the US the state of a bread roll when it is freshly baked and smelling yummy. In the UK, as well as this, a person of possibly no real fixed abode who engages in an alternative lifestyle involving travelling around the country, wearing 'alternative' clothes (ex-army or hippie gear), having a pragmatic attitude to drugs and has possibly dubious personal hygiene. They would rather be called 'Travellers' and I admire them for their stance against 'straight' society. (oooh a bit of politics there...)

65) Bum. In the UK, the definition of 'buns' (cv) describes more than adequately the biggest muscle in the body. In the US, a person whom we would call a tramp. Also the act of being a bum. I have been reliably informed that Take That (screaaaaammmmm!) have cute bums but only one (the scruffy git (cv) with the dreadlocks) actually looks like one...

66) North/South divide. Ask anyone from the north of England where the North ends and the South begins, they might say 'Worksop' is the dividing line. Ask anyone from the south and they might say 'north of Oxfordshire' or even 'north of London'. These definitions differ by well over 100 hundred miles! In the north the people have cloth caps, whippets (racing dogs, not aerosol cans of whipped cream!), keep pigeons, speak in a funny way and drink bitter in grim working mens clubs. In the south, the people are either country yokels who speak in a funny way, or people with loads of money who speak like the Queen or brash Cockneys who speak in funny way while engaged in dealings of a dubious nature and drinking lager. That is, if you believe the stereotypes as portrayed in the media. It is all utter bollocks (cv).

67) Pardon. As I said before, being sorry is all part of being English. We apologise for things that aren't our fault again and again and again. I am convinced that the first word that an English baby learns to say after 'Mama' and 'Dada' is 'sorry'. Anyway, 'pardon me' is a polite way of excusing your way through a crowd or excusing yourself or if your bodily functions betray you in public. The US equivalent, 'excuse me' only seems to be used in a sarcastic way, i.e. 'Well excuuuuuse me!' while exchanging lawyers' telephone numbers.

68) Lorry. A UK truck. A word used in the tongue twister 'Red Lorry Yellow Lorry' by parents to torture their kids. Try it. You'll hate me for it.

69) Irony. Along with sarcasm, the basis of English humour. Totally lost on most of our American chums. Saying '...NOT!' is not sarcasm.

70) Easy. When an English girl says 'I'm easy' she is not saying 'Please sleep with me.' She is saying 'I don't mind what we do.' Then again in the presence of Take That (screaaaaammmmm!) who knows?

71) Bonk. In a similar vein, to bonk someone in the UK is to enjoy sexual congress with them. It also means to hit someone, usually on the head. The two might be related if you like that sort of thing...

72) Rumpty. The latest word coined by the British Tabloid Press for fun stuff in the dark. Obviously they got bored with bonking... Anyway, a typical sex scandal headline in the Sun (infamous tabloid paper owned by Rupert Murdock) would read 'Robbie-ex-from-Take-That (screaaaaammmmm!) caught in four in bed rumpty with Divine Brown, OJ and some ugly Tory Minister who will shortly be resigning'....

73) Suspenders. In the UK those things that women hold their stocking up with. You call them garters. Confusingly, when I was in Cub Scouts, the things with the tags on them you used to hold your socks up were called garters too. These were instruments of torture - ideal for pinging and causing yelps of pain during prayer on church parade services. Some children are sooo cruel. Anyway, what you call suspenders we call braces.

74) Aubergine. Frankly foul purple vegetable used in moussaka. You call them eggplants.

75) Dinky. In the US something that is small or poorly made. In the UK something small and cute. I'm not sure if you had Dinky Cars in the US, but these toy cars are now worth a fortune over here. And I gave all mine away too (sob!)...

76) Table. Imagine you are in a boardroom. The chairperkin (note dubious PC nomenclature) says 'I reckon we should table the motion about the McBigcorp account'. If you were American you would think 'Gee, I guess we can forget about that for a while' - i.e. the motion has been postponed. If you were English, you would think 'Jolly good show old bean! I fancied (cv) talking about that one!', i.e. the motion has been brought up for discussion. How do people in trans-atlantic companies cope?

77) Twat. In the US, calling someone a twat is unwise since you are accusing them of resembling a part of the female anatomy. In the UK, a mild insult meaning 'idiot' much beloved of school children who might get into trouble with naughtier words.

78) Swank. In both countries to be 'swanky' implies that you are showy and vulgar, or to say that something is 'swanky' could also mean that it is posh or expensive. Comic book characters (e.g. those in UK comics The Beano and Whizzer & Chips) are often seen going into the 'Hotel de Swank' after getting money for some good turn, where they promptly blow it all on a plate of mashed potato with sausages sticking out of it. I have never seen such a delicacy on offer in the hotels I have been in, much to my disappointment. Anyway, I have also been reliably informed that 'Swank' is also the name of a US DIY magazine populated by young women who have great difficulty keeping their clothes on or their legs together. They also wear high heels in bed. Weird. I have a theory about how the magazine got named. The editor was wandering around Soho, London (the red light district) one day when he heard a Londoner shout 'S' wank innit?' (It is a wank(cv) isn't it). Thinking, 'Aha - I'm au fait with English slang: hence 'Swank' would be a great name for a porno mag' he toddled off back to the US and created said magazine. Unfortunately, in this context the Londoner was probably referring to his job being pointless...

79) Potty. In both countries 'potty' is that little plastic seat that kids are forced to use when they need to expel bodily waste when they are too big for nappies(UK) / diapers(US). Americans take the meaning of this word into adult life unchanged. English chaps use 'potty' to describe someone who is a bit silly, dolalley or, to be frank, mad. After watching the film 'The Madness of King George', I can see how the two meanings might have a common ancestry...

80) Bloody. You guys might describe an item covered in blood as 'bloody'. So might we. 'Bloody' is also a mild English swear word which is always used in cheesy programs made by Americans about the UK. Hardly anyone over here uses it anymore. Similarly, the word 'bleeding'. We use 'fuck' just as much as you guys, the big difference being that we can use it on network television after 9pm in a non-gratutious way, whereas you can only shout 'fuck' in the privacy of your own home. So there.

81) Grass. You can walk on it and you could smoke it (if it wasn't illegal). In the UK you can also do it as well. To grass on someone means to tell on them, usually to an authority figure like a policeman or a teacher. Someone who tells on a lot of people is known as a 'supergrass' - most often used when describing IRA informers who do the dirty on their Republican chums. Also 'Supergrass' is the name of a pop combo who are rather more popular over here than they are in the US. Whether they named themselves after this definition or one more akin to why Green Day are called 'Green Day' is uncertain...

82) Policemen. UK policemen are unarmed. As a consequence I feel safer over here than I did in the US. Anyway, the following are used to describe policemen: bobbies, peelers, filth, cops, pigs, the old Bill (or the Bill), rozzers, coppers, a plod or perhaps 'bastards' if you are feeling lucky. I'm not sure how many of those you guys might use. Imagine you are a tea leaf (thief) and you spot a car in good nick (reasonable condition) so you decide to nick (steal) it. Along comes PC (Police Constable) Plod, puts his hand on your shoulder and says 'You're nicked mate!' even though he isn't your friend and he probably isn't wielding a knife. This is your cue to say 'It's a fair cop! You got me banged to rights and make no mistake. You'll find the rest of the swag (illgotten gains) in the sack!' if you are stupid or 'I aint done nuffink copper!' if you are aren't.

83) Crime and punishment. If you had 'been a naughty boy' and taken to court, you may find yourself confronted by a 'beak' (a magistrate), who might send you down for some time 'at her Majesty's Pleasure'. You would go to gaol (or jail), or 'nick' as it is sometimes confusingly called.

84) Banger. Three meanings in the UK: a sausage, an old car well past it's prime and a small firework that makes a loud noise. If you were repulsed by the idea of eating a faggot (cv), the British banger would really make your stomach turn since it makes even a Taco Bell meal look like it contains high quality meat. The Tabloid press seem to think that the European Economic Community (the UK is a rather reluctant member) wants to ban the British Banger. WRONG! They just want to reduce the breadcrumb, eyes and goolies (male genitals) content and put meat in instead...

85) Conk. A nose. Also conkers is a game were small children thread horsechest nuts to lengths of string and hit the nuts together. The first nut to break is the loser. A conker that beats many conkers is known as a 'bully', as in a 'bully-niner' is a conker that has beaten nine other conkers. It has probably been soaked in vinegar, baked in an oven or scooped out and filled with concrete. If such a conker hit you on the conk you would know all about it.

86) Soldiers. On both sides of the Atlantic, members of the military who run around shooting things while wearing khaki (cv). Also in the UK, soldiers are pieces of buttered toast or bread that you dip in your soft boiled egg at breakfast. Yum!

87) Half inch. To you, half an inch or 1.27cm. To us, to borrow without asking first. The likely activity of a Tea Leaf (cv) in otherwords.

88) Cock. There are four obvious meanings that are common to both the English and the Americans. A willy (penis), a male bird, to ready a gun and to knock or place something off centre. In England there is a fifth. If a person says 'Ello cock!' they are greeting you as a close personal friend. The first meaning may also apply if you are a very close personal friend and the third may apply if the first makes it's unwanted presence known in an unsuitable situation...

89) Squash. To you a vegetable. To us a fruit drink similar to US lemonade. Also called 'cordial', though how friendly a bottle of orange squash can be is open to debate.

90) Mug. There are many meanings to this word, e.g. a vessel to contain your 'cuppa' (cup of tea). In the UK, a mug is a fool or an idiot and to mug up is to learn. In the US a mug is a thug or a hoodlum (sortened version of mugger I suppose). In otherwords, you better mug up on how not to be a mug before you are mugged by a mug.

91) Drug slang. In the UK we have some great rock festivals like Reading, Phoenix and Glastonbury (yeah!). You guys have Lollapalooza (okay) and Woodstock (wasn't the second one a dodo or what?). Anyway, we have some drug slang which you might hear if you were into such things at these events (not that I'm condoning them but...)


Vera Lynns (or Veras) - skins or tobacco papers (named after a WWII singer.)
Mandies - Mandy Smiths (very young ex wife of ex Rolling Stone Bill Wyman) or
spliffs.
Billy Whizz - speed or amphetamine - named after a comic character who could
run very fast.
E - ecstacy or MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine). Much hilarity ensues
when a contestant on the UK quiz show 'Blockbusters' asks host Bob
Holness 'for an e'. Ho ho.



There are many others...

92) Mean. In the UK to be mean implies you are frugal to the point of being stingy. In the US you might be mean (i.e. aggressive) because of that English guy's inability to get his wallet out and buy you a beer (cv).

93) Autumn. My favourite time of year when the leaves turn orange, red and yellow. You call it 'Fall'. I prefer Autumn.

94) Candy. We call them sweets. Unless they are American confectionary, then we call them candy too. I have met quite a few Americans girls called 'Candy' but never ever an English one called 'Sweets'.

95) Cutlery. The impliments you eat with. You guys also call them flatware.

96) Sucker. In both countries a fool or a silly person. Also a piece of candy on the end of a stick that us Brits call a lollipop or a lolly. We also call money 'lolly' too to make things just that little bit more confusing...

97) Z. The twenty sixth letter of the alphabet. You call it 'Zee'; we call it 'Zed'. A whole generation in England has had to relearn the alphabet after hearing the 'Alphabet song' on Sesame Street. Sadder still, the song doesn't rhyme with the English 'Zed'. At least the 'Numbers song' works (1-2-3-4-5, 6-7-8-9-10, 11-12, do do-do do-do do-do do etc etc...)

98) Tire. When visiting the garage make sure you know the difference between a UK tire (band of metal placed around the rim of a wheel designed to strengthen it) and a US tire (pneumatic effort called a 'tyre' in the UK). If you make a mistake it could be a very long and bumpy ride home.

99) 99. In the US purely the number before one hundred. In the UK a yummy variety of ice cream consisting of a scoop of vanilla soft-scoop ice cream in wafer cone with a chocolate flake stuck in it. The cone is specially designed to allow the melting ice cream to flow all over your hand before you get to eat it.

100) Centennial. Dull but apt. You call the period lasting a hundred years a centenary.

Back to work... again

And so the lovely 13 days at home came to end and I was forced to arise at 06:00 to drag my sorry arse back to work...

Made the journey in more bearable by putting on the new Kate Bush Album - Aerial and it is brilliant, managed to listen to the first disk on the way into work, beautiful sounds filing every corner of the car.

Then I arrived, after 10 minutes I was buried in the same old pile of queries and problems, and it felt as if I had not left. I'm gld to say CQ raised the question of a group holiday during the day and so we had an enjoyable conversation with Cyberkitten about that, whilst she searched for properties suitable for 8 adults and 3 children...and she came up with a few cracking properties for us to consider, one in particular near Bideford, Devon looks excellent for our needs, but another in Betys y Coed in Snowdonia comes in at a close second.

Went to the hospital to visit my Dad after work, he is looking better; sitting up and much more talkative, but still prone to fall asleep with no warning. We talked for about an hour about nothing in particular. I confirmed with the ward sister that he is going to be assessed by the stroke specialist from another hospital with a dedicated stroke rehab ward with in the next couple of day, so he should be moved there by the weekend with any luck.

then home at 18:00, 12 hours away...greeted by Mrs.A on the sofa with a stonking head-ache, thankfully the children were playing nicely-ish, so I was able to get on making my own dinner of Tuna Steak, Bean burger and Pilau rice...time for tv then an early nght

Happy New Year

Sorry...been rushing around like a blue arsed fly...

My Dad is doing OK, he is regaining some use of his left leg but not his left arm, his speech is fine if slightly slurred, main problem is the fact he is in Hospital and can't get any sleep !, they moved him to a ward next to where I was a few weeks ago in the old building, so you know how horrible it is in there if you read my old blog.

[flashback of yellow walls...ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH}

He should start Physio tomorrow when all the medical staff return after the xmas break.

The decorations came down last night, the house looks quite bare without them, but we always take them down before we return to work and Agi Junior goes back to school. I'm back to work tomorrow, and have a ver full calendar for the next couple of months.

So i've got to make the most of my last day at home, enjoy my time with the kids, well only 2 of them this morning; Agi Junior is staying at Nanny A's house, he'll be home later today. Rather quiet and relaxed without him here, he is a little whirlwind of energy :o)

Just seen on the news that there is a £9.5Million lottery ticket unclaimed that expires today...wow! There must be a story behind that...can you imagine not claiming that much mney, even if only to give it all away? Wonder why it was never claimed?

So question for today....one day left off work...What shall I do?

Borrowed this off CQ

Your New Year's Resolutions

1) Get a pet Tasmanian devil 2) Eat more cheese 3) Travel to Sweden 4) Study Latin 5) Get in shape with roller derby

What Should Your New Year's Resoluton Be?