Visitors' Book

There has been some discussion as to why no-one comments on any of my blogs ... so I invite everyone and anyone to leave a quick "hello" (or more) as proof that I'm not faking the visitor counter and that people are in fact visiting even if for a split second!!

I may of course end up being mighty embarrassed!! Let's see ...

Swastika Shopping

I may sound a little controversial here but what is all the fuss about a swastika found on a handbag at Zara?

Yes, I realise that the swastika was the symbol of the Nazi's but for thousands of years before Adolf decided to adopt it, it was used, and is still being used, by many different faiths around the world.

Hindu's and Buddhists I definitely know about, but apparently it is also used by Northern European pagans (the hammer of Thor); Roman pagans (on Roman coins and tombs); Early Christians (everlasting life); Jains (their seventh saint); Falun Gong (Wheel of the Dharma - a Chinese cult before you ask and nothing to do with Lost as far as I am aware!); Masons (Mystic Cross); Esoteric philosophers and Occultists!

I can appreciate that now the swastika is synonymous with Nazism & fascism but at what point do we allow the symbol to revert back to it's original purer uses. I have personally seen it used at a home in a bunting style on the front door. I can appreciate that this is the correct use of the symbol and am not going to refuse to enter the house until it is torn down and burnt!

Yes, to many the symbol is still too raw a wound. But there are many others who have encountered similar atrocities and have moved on. Were the moors terrified of the Christian cross during the crusades? If I found a burning cross in my front garden I'd know it's the KKK that have visited and not the local group of Jehovah's witnesses calling card! Should we ban the cross for this reason? At what point do we look at the context of it's use rather than the bare symbol itself.

So ... lets figure this out ... Do we think that those who still use the symbol, added it to a flowery bag they were making for a pittance, to give good luck and blessings to the person who bought it!? Or is it more likely that in some tiny sweat shop somewhere on the Indian continent, a skin-headed Nazi fascist, sat in a conveyor belt style of production sewing on swastikas, peering over his shoulder and hoping that no-one would notice?

Parking meters tick me off!!

What is it about parking meters?? The companies obviously realise that no-one willingly parks their cars at a parking meter and so have thought up an ingenious way of making the most of the occasion.

Today, I had to dash Goldie off to the vets after spending two days trying to get rid of a tick. At first I thought I'd pull it off ... but he squealed the house down when I went anywhere near him ... and so did Goldie. So I moved on to Plan B .. Kill it with Frontline combo and then pick it off in one fail swoop.

24 hours later and the blighter is still hanging in there, waving it's little legs in the air at me. Goldie scarpers every time he sees me as he begins to equate hurt with my presence.

48 hours later and it's still alive and taunting me by hanging on for dear life with teeth that it's borrowed from the world strongest man. I've spoken to the vet, read several articles and a couple of Internet video's and feel prepared to get rid of this unwelcome hitchhiker.

Unfortunately, the tick has other thoughts ... He resists any attempt to remove him and me being rather squeamish, can't bear to hear Goldie's yelps of pain as we play tug of war. I throw in the towel and call in the cavalry, the vets. I dash down and as I'm already late for work, I decide to cough up and park as close to the vets as possible rather than parking 5 minutes down the road for free. And this is where I get ticked off.

"30p for 20 mins, 60p for 40 mins & 1.50 for 1 hour," it declares. What bloody nonsense is that? Why not just 50p for half an hour and £1 for an hour ... no ... it has to involve you finding at least two coins for each transaction!! This of course cunningly increases the chances that you are not going to have the correct change.

So I reach into my bag and find a £5 note, a £2 coin and 50p. Great ... So I pop in the 50p and hope that it will calculate the overpayment and allow me extra time or provide me with change. The machine bleeps, "20 mins" is displayed, although no message about change being dispensed! Bloody great ...

In order to get rid of one parasite I am having to be bled by another! I curse at the machine and it spits out my money with an "aborted" message. What the ...!!

I take a deep breath, kiss my 50p goodbye and press the green button. I run into the vets and after a short wait, she slowly but surely tugs the tick off using a green contraption. I console myself with the fact that it took her three attempts before the tick decides to let go and prepare myself for the more painful experience of paying the vets fees.

"What's the damage?" I ask the receptionist ... She peers at her computer, looking confused and then strains her neck in for a closer look. "The Vet hasn't charged you ... it was free" she says slightly bewildered, to my hastely retreating figure.