Tips To Improve Your Well being

• Smile. Whether you feel like smiling or not, it makes you feel and look better, and other people respond better to you as well.
  
• Stop comparing your life with other people, especially celebrities. Most of them are worried sick about slipping down the charts or not getting offered the best roles. Their self-obsession means that they are rarely capable of holding down a happy and loving relationship.
  
• Keep a journal.  Imagine it’s being written for the future you and make it a good account of your life, filled with humour and positive insights. Make your tone brave and optimistic. Adopting this writing style will enable you to change your perspective of what’s happening to you.
  
• Compliment yourself and like yourself, the more you like yourself the happier you will be

Adobe Dreamweaver and Web Design

While trying to teach myself web design I waste so much time going not getting anywhere. I am in a world of my own, unaware that the hands of the clock just whizz round.

A local community school in Cowplain is offering a short course of 4 lessons of one and a half hours duration.  It's excellent value at only £3.50 per lesson.

In Web Page Design Part One, I will be using Dreamweaver to construct a 4 page website. I will be shown how to upload this site onto the Internet. I will also have web-space as part of this deal with this course.

As I can't justify the expense I don't have a copy of Dreamweaver but I am sure there must be some free open source alternatives.

Best Free Online Services and Applications

Gizmo has compiled a list of the very best free online applications and services, for the link click here

A Little Experiment

I've created this entry as an experiment using Adobe Contribute CS5. It's very challenging. Inserting an image proved impossible. The problem lies with interface not being intuitive. If only I could get my head round the intricacies of Wordpress. Small steps, one at a time will eventually get me there.

Highland Road Cemetery

The 1853 Burials Act meant that all councils should manage their own cemeteries.

Highland Road Cemetery was opened in November 1854 at a time when frequent out breaks of cholera killed a good many residents of Portsea Island. During 1848-9 some 800 people succumbed. In fact so many people died that there weren't enough skilled workers to keep the dockyard functioning and it was forced to close.

When the cemetery was built it stood in open country, over a mile away from the rapidly expanding town of Southsea. The land had been originally been used for brickmaking. Portsmouth rapidly expanded and urban buildings soon engulfed the cemetery.

Nest Building & Other Antics

A scrupulously tidy garden is not always a good thing. It's much better to leave dead leaves and twigs for the birds. In the last few days they've been busy collecting useful material from my garden. I often see a female blackbird searching & gathering. When she flies off she's holding a huge amount in her beak. She particularly favours dead grass so I've been giving her a helping hand by leaving it on the patio area. The cheeky sparrows have been having a lovely time dust bathing in an unplanted area and popping in and out of the privet hedge.

The Pope's Toilet

This film is a nutty Spanish-language farce is set Set in Melo, a godforsaken village near the Uruguay-Brazil border. It tracks the misfortunes of a dirt-poor petty smuggler named Beto. The film unfolds in 1988, during Pope John Paul II's visit. Dozens of economically struggling locals devise plans to turn a buck from the arrival of the papal father -- such as baking cakes and grilling chorizo sausages -- only one concocts a scheme to earn a fortune from offering the only public toilet in town. Our hero Beto, reasons that all of those cakes and sausages will be digested rather quickly and that the 50,000 expected visitors will soon be clamoring to use the porcelain bowl. Of course, toilets abound in South America, but Beto sets his public toilet apart by crowning it with an aura of prestige -- his will be the only Pope's Toilet in all of Uruguay, and the crowds, he is certain, will soon be clamouring to use it. Unfortunately, before he can set his scheme in motion, Beto must first locate the most appropriate toilet and make several risky trips, on his bike, across the Brazilian border and back to that end. Then, just as Beto is within arm's reach of success, someone thoughtlessly steals his beloved bicycle. Regardless of the complications at hand, however, Beto's determination persists. Parts of the film are truly touching and laugh-out-loud funny. The film shows how poverty in community happens in a humane, if saddening, way. It also highlights the eternal possibility of hope which gets expressed as a get-rich-quick scheme and how it enlivens and challenges community life.

Blogger Templates

I have a whole new look. The template I'd been using was called Agenda 03, designed by A. Zambrana, I found it here. I was very pleased with the result because for me it ticked all the right boxes. I even managed to replace the Spanish words with English ones. Then blow me down it suddenly stopped working properly. On investigation I discovered that some of the images weren't showing due to broken links etc. This is how it used to look before the header image broke. The designer did warn that users should host the images themselves but I never got round to doing it. He has made a new and improved template on the same theme but I don't like it so much. In the last few years I have taught myself a lot but getting my head round html etc is much too time consuming. I uploaded the original images to PhotoBucket and had a go at editing the html image links on the template but the result wasn't as good as the original. Boo!!! www.blogsmadeinspain.blogspot.com

Womans Hour

Usually one of my favourite programmes but just lately it's been a real turn off. Why? The producers have jumped on the 'as it's Christmas lets put everyone under pressure' band wagon. Yesterday, 23rd December, they had a phone-in with Agony Aunt, Deidre Sanders, on how to survive Christmas with the extended family. On 3rd December they had Delia answering cooking queries. Participants frequently used the phrase 'I want it to be perfect'. Why can't people accept that life happens? Save me from idiots!

On Reacting to Negative People - What Does It Achieve?

People who are easily angered generally have what some psychologists call a low tolerance for frustration, they can't take things in stride, they feel that they should not have to be subjected to frustration, inconvenience, or annoyance. Dealing with these people can be quite a challenge. Negative people drain one's energy, deeply unhappy people will want to bring others down so that they are not suffering alone. Reacting is a waste of time because when people initiate negativity it is a reflection of their inner state. It’s not personal but it is easy to take it personally. Our ego likes problems and conflict, people are often so bored and unhappy with their own lives that they want to take others down with them. It is very easy to respond impulsively but it is not the smart thing to do. It does however feed our ego’s need for conflict. When we fight back, it feels really satisfying in our heads but it doesn’t feel very good in our soul. When we respond irrationally it turns the conversation from a one-sided negative expression into a battle of two egos. It becomes an unnecessary and unproductive battle for 'Who is Right'? When we’re emotionally charged, we are so much in our heads that we argue out of an impulse to be right, to defend ourselves, for the sake of our egos. Rationality and resolution can rarely arise out of an argument.

Apple Fantastic

Due to the weather the others cried off so I went to the Blackmoor Estate 'Apple Fair' on my own. Just as well because I came home with two apple trees and other goodies. As the car was filled up with my stuff there'd have been no room for passengers. Thank you Guardian Angel, you had my best interests at heart. As I hate crowds I set off early. There were lots of exhibitors, wild life, food producers, Blacksmith, Chair Bodger, Morris Dancers etc.... I left around lunchtime, far too many people and much too crowded for me A real treat was going up the Church spire for just £1.50. Narrow spiral stairs led to the bell ringers room where we saw the Victorian clock mechanism spring into action on the quarter hour. Nice to catch one's breath before the next stop which was the actual bell room. We saw one of the bells swing on it's axis while being rung by a volunteer in the room below. The final stop was the gallery which run round the base of the steeple. Lovely views but why did my legs feel like jelly? Journey down phased me a bit, parts of the spiral stairs were so dark I couldn't see where to put my feet. My apple trees were a real bargain at only £10 each, I just hope they thrive. James Grieve, the top one, is a very popular old Scottish apple variety. It was introduced in Edinburgh in 1893. These apples are a red flush stripe over a pale green. A juicy, crisp apple, they have an excellent flavour, hence their popularity. Red Windsor has a Cox type flavour and is a heavy cropper. It is a frost hardy apple tree, especially at blossom time. It has very compact and easy to grow with good disease resistance. This apple is the product of the cross between the apple varieties British Cox's Orange Pippin x German Sport of Alkmene and was first introduced in 1985. They will pollinate each other.

Crash Dummy

This 21 year old has written off three cars in three years and worries her parents to death. They're concerned, and quite rightly, that she'll do it again but won't walk away. Her confidence isn't dented, and she has the cheek to criticise her Mother for driving too cautiously. She commutes 60 miles every day and insists that she’s the more experienced driver. A feisty child will never take heed. As parents they'll always be in the wrong, but she'll expect them to pick up the pieces. You can't put an old head on young shoulders, it is a child's duty to push boundaries. It was ever thus, I seem to remember her Mother not taking much notice of me or anything I advised. All youngsters have to find their own way. I've advised the parents to give her advanced driving lessons for Christmas but will they take heed of me? If it was WWII and women had equal rights she'd be flying Spitfires. For five years I shared my home with a lodger. This young man wanted to learn to drive so lessons were booked. So he could gain experience I went out with him and I was usually terrified. He passed his test 1st time & it went to his head. For a token amount I sold him my J reg Micra and bought myself a W reg Clio. He crashed the Micra shortly afterwards. He drove like the 'Red Baron, I refused to let him drive me and as a passenger he constantly criticized my driving. That really rankled, I'm an experienced and competent driver, at one stage - during paid employment - I clocked up about 1000 miles every week. In the end a friend's husband, a former Police Officer, taught him defensive driving techniques. PS. The driving school car was also a Micra but the controls were on opposite sides. To overcome this obstacle he took it upon himself, and without seeking my permission, to alter the controls on my car. Apparently it was a job easily done. He's now married and lives in London.

On Love & Affinity

One can love one's relatives without having a particularly close-knit relationship. Personal values and lifestyle might have changed so much that there isn’t enough basic compatibility to form a strong common bond. Even though this might be the family one grew up with and shared many memories with, one's core values are so different now that one has moved on. Despite all these differences, one can be on good terms with each other and get along fairly well, but one's differences create such a big gap that one has to settle for being relatives without being close friends. If one is fortunate enough to have a close family that is wonderful but what if one's family isn't close? Dealing with this situation broadens one's definition of 'family'. I feel an unconditional connection with all human beings. I have a strong commitment to doing good for the planet as best I can. And a strong commitment to helping those who are less able. When I see people who are living very, very consciously and deliberately and who’ve dedicated their lives to the pursuit of a worthy purpose, I have a strong sense that on some level, those people are members of my surrogate family.

Motorhome Magazine Letter

My set up is an Autosleeper Symbol and would really love to connect with those who go it alone. My experience of couples is that they are set in their ways and very comfortable in their relationship with other couples. They have no idea what it is like for Solo's but maybe they don't know how to cope with us. I have previously attended rallies with established organisations but people's natural tendency to form cliques has put me off. My last rally was Bank Holiday May 2007. It was Caravan Club's National Rally at Blenheim Palace, with E Hants Centre whose members are mostly couples. I had rallied with them before and was know to the 'officers'. It rained solidly for the duration and I passed the time alone in the van watching the rain turn the site into a quagmire. I got into a right state worrying about getting off pitch and site. In the end I was towed off by total strangers. While driving home I kept thinking. "I've paid good money to go away and enjoy myself but I've been as miserable as sin, why did I put myself through that?" I dropped out of E Hants Centre shortly afterwards. I wrote and told them why I left but didn't get a reply and have been put off established clubs since then. The other thing about traditional established organisations is that they hold events like 'Dinner Dances'. Great for couples but not for people like me.

Fashion Accessory or Something Useful?

I couldn't justify spending over £100 on frivolity so my clothes, shoes and bags are bought in charity shops or Ebay.

But I have just spent a serious amount of money on a new toy, some 'Red Line' Telesteps.

It's a handy ladder for every situation. Always the right length. Always at a safe angle. A telescopic ladder that can help me reach heights of up to 5 metres, amost anywhere and it only weighs 11KG.

This morning I easily accessed the roof of one of my sheds and fitted new felt. The ladder is so sturdy I felt perfectly safe and for someone aged 65 & 5/6's I have to take extra care.

Not having a significant other to deal with this sort of thing a girl has to look after herself.

I will get more value out of these telesteps than any fashion accessory. I will save money by doing the jobs myself and I won't be exasperated by useless workmen so there'll be no drain on my emotional health. All in all, money well spent!!

And While I Am In A Complaining Mood

I have emailed Chief Honcho at Home Retail Group, Oliver Stocken, about Homebase Farlington.

Below is the transcript:

The staff in the above store need retraining in Customer Service & Plant Care. Their attitude is sloppy and they clearly demonstrate that they don't care what impression they give to customers. Saturday evening, 26th September I spent over £30, during the checkout I was not offered the promotional October 10% discount card. It was only after I returned home that I realised that I should have asked for it. I returned the following day. The polite lad at the reception knew nothing about it and asked another lad to fetch the supervisor. The other lad's attitude annoyed me, he made inappropriate comments within earshot so I immediately took him to task and told him not to behave like that in front of customers. Where did he think he was? At home? The supervisor duly arrived, she apologised and I was given my 10% card. While shopping I noticed there were plants wilting through lack of water while the staff have plenty of time to stand around and chat. The paragraph below is taken from Homebase website. "We’re under no illusion that what really brings the customers back every time is our colleagues and the service they receive from them. From the team that purchases our products to the team that work on the tills, we offer the best customer service there is because everybody is encouraged to take responsibility for improving the customer’s experience." I should have been offered the 10% card without having to go back and ask for it. All the staff should have known about giving qualifying customers the 10% card. All plants need water, so what sort of impression does it give customers when they see plants needing a little TLC? I look forward to your comments.

Mandelson!! How Very dare He!!

So rude and superior!! While being interviewed this morning by BBC Breakfast's Sian Williams, he didn't like her question so instead of answering it in an intelligent manner he went on the attack.

Sian was only quoting something from 'The Times' and he sneeringly turned it back on her saying she had got it wrong and it was typical BBC sloppy reporting.

He's forgotten that he works for us, they've all forgotten that they work for us. 

My MP Sarah McCarthy-Fry will be hearing from me.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Creative Vado

Creative Vado. Slim and light, this pocket video cam records in VGA quality at the touch of a button.  The built-in USB connector lets me plug the Vado into any PC, so I can easily upload my videos straight to YouTube.

I bought it from QVC on easy pay otherwise I couldn't have justified the expense.

Yesterday I played with it while I was parked up at the entrance to Langstone Harbour.

Job Done

Even though my shed roof has been leaking for ages it was much too easy to put off this 'Heart Sink Job' and am too tight fisted to pay anyone to do it. It has been so dry in recent weeks that I found any excuse not to repair it. Yesterday it rained and water got in. Even though the hole was tiny I had to do something about it. I really didn't want to out but today I made myself do running repairs. I removed the clout nails and patched up with with an odd peice of new felt pushed under the old. While securing the old felt back in place I whacked in lots of extra nails. I won't know how successful my patching will be until it rains again I was very naughty. If I hurt myself no one can get in so in case I had an accident I should have unlocked the side gate (but I didn't). The words 'Be careful' kept going round inside my head. The new roll of felt will remain untouched until I can get up enough enthusiasm to do a proper job.