The Arrival of Winter and the Places Life Takes You

Well, here in England, I actually can't quite make my mind up about whether it has arrived or not! Like Katy Perry, the weather at home can't decide between hot and cold. It's Christmas Eve, and it's incredibly mild outside, almost not even coat weather. The mild temperatures have made Christmas seem somewhat absent, despite all the usual festivities, shenanigans, and Christmas decoration traumas.

Having said that, there have been numerous cold snaps, and at various times over the past few weeks I have been wishing I didn't leave all my winter clothes back in Madison. Indeed last weekend, I woke to find snow covering the ground, and some nice icy roads around town.

What I notice most about winter- and the reason for illuminating the outside of the house with as many lights as possible- are the long dark nights drawing in. Especially "up North" where it's often dark and gloomy and chucking it down with rain, it's going dark at 3.30pm, IF it's even got light at all. And when you're heading off to work in the dark, and leaving work in the dark, you can feel like you haven't seen daylight all day. Waking up and seeing it's dark outside, coupled with the encroaching cold drifting through the windows and walls, makes you just want to stay curled up nice and warm, deep amongst the covers of your bed.

Fortunately, the longest night has now passed-my Dad has the good fortune of having his birthday on that short day- and the days will be growing longer again.

It is on this arrival of winter, the depressing nights and the frantic goings-on of the holiday season, that I blame my writer's block, and the reason I haven't written for a month again. AGAIN. That shows I can't really blame winter, but I'm going to anyway. For reasons unknown, circumstances have conspired to make me lazy and lethargic when it comes to blogging (and perhaps other things too) and I seem to spend just too much time thinking about what I want to write about, what I should be writing about, and too much time contemplating about how I am going to do all these things, that I never get around to doing any of them!

My mind is racing, but I can't seem to kick my fingers into action. I guess I never was a very fast typer anyway, but at least I have progressed from the two-finger tap approach.

But, with the New Year comes new resolutions and new intentions to pull my finger out and get down to work writing and what not.

Winter has seen me venturing into new places though, and made me reflect on how life can often take turns you never really expected. I mean, who would have thought that someone who never really cared about any sport, or any team, or anything athletic at all really, would be planning a trip half way around the world just to watch his now favourite team compete in a big game. Well, having stayed up through the night just to see them win the Big Ten Conference-again something I thought I would never do- I'm off to California, to the Rose Bowl again, to see the Wisconsin Badgers take on the Oregon Ducks. I never thought I'd be able to converse confidently on a sports subject before!

Similarly, as someone who often despised physical education at high school, I now find myself working in the local gym! And one of the benefits I am excited about most is the free gym membership! My time selling suits has sadly come to an end, and I now have to travel just 1 minute down the road to work. It's a simple little part time job, but I'm fortunate enough to have just that in these trying economic circumstances.

Anyway, it's time to enjoy Christmas with the family now. I "intend" to write another blog post all about the Christmas period, but it will likely now come after Christmas. I'm sure it'll include lots of anecdotes from another crazy family Christmas though.

In the meantime, I hope you all have a very, merry, Christmas, and a wonderful New Year.

The American Holiday?

Turkey Day. Stuff Yourself. Family time. Perhaps watch Football. Could be Christmas, but I'm talking about Thanksgiving, a truly American holiday, unique to the US. Its origins lie in the Pilgrims and Native Americans, the first settlers in America and the Indian inhabitants.

 

Sweet Potato Ships

And so it should be unique to America right? Well, that's not what Amazon thinks, and a few other companies too. I seem to have been bombarded with offers for Black Friday sales- Black Friday being the big day of sales equivalent to our Boxing Day sales (which were originally January sales)- despite being in the UK, coming from Amazon UK. I suppose with a sluggish economy, stores are grabbing any opportunity they can to stir up interest.

But if you take away the origins of Thanksgiving, why shouldn't we, and other countries across the world celebrate the day too?

For a start, it helps stop the inevitable onslaught of Christmas, which now seems to start in September. When lots of people I spoke to here today seemed to find the need to mention that it was only one month to Christmas, Americans are focusing on the day at hand, taking a sabbatical from Christmas.

More seriously, Thanksgiving and the Thanksgiving weekend is a time that is genuinely about spending time with family, relaxing, and being thankful. Sure, there's the food, but more than any other holiday, Thanksgiving brings families together, without the need for presents and parties and decorations and all that kind of thing. Millions of Americans have travelled these past few days, in order to make it to a loving home for Thanksgiving. Both times I experienced Thanksgiving in the US, I was welcomed into incredibly loving families, to share in this special day, with special people.

Thanksgiving in California

And if nothing else, the day does make you reflect on life, and reflect on what you are thankful for. I've done a fair bit of sulking around recently, not at a point in my life where I want to be, away from the US, not with a job that I want, and all that kind of thing. But I have a roof over my head, I have food on the table. I have a wonderful family, and lots of great friends, loving and caring all around me, across the world. At times I feel sad, but when I stop think, I'm relatively happy, and I have nothing to complain. And happiness is just that, relative. To many, I am the luckiest person in the world, and today is a day that helps me acknowledge that.

We live in a globalized world, yet with the materialism that is so prevalent in society, the suffering of millions in other parts of the Earth seem can seem further away than ever. I'm guilty of it, like almost everyone is; I want a new computer, I want to travel here and there, buy this and that, do all these things, and I'm disappointed when I can't. Instead I should be using technology to look across the globe and take the time to see how fortunate I really am. Millions will go hungry today, millions will fall ill with no hope of a cure. Many will die. It's easy to forget this, despite the global media coverage. I should be thankful for everything I have, and be wishing that everyone can join me in being as lucky as I am.

Safe, secure, healthy. Loved. And Happy.

For that, I am thankful.

 

Nicole: Hope you feel better!!!

How to Save a Life

Not as in the song by the Fray, but an actual, real life way to make a difference in someone's life.

Give Blood.

It's something I had always wanted to do, but never really the found the time. A completely rubbish excuse, I now realise. Then when the opportunity to actually donate came up, I'd conveniently be unable to attend, too nervous, and honestly a little scared to have a needle shoved into me and blood drained out of me.

But of course, it's nothing like that, and is seriously one of the best ways to spend 30 minutes of your day. I successfully gave blood for the second time on Thursday, and just as painlessly (literally and figuratively)as the first time, it was incredibly worthwhile.

For all you nay sayers out there, those who are perhaps like I was, a little scared and nervous, a little worried about what might happen, a little squemish perhaps, I want to tell you about my experiences, and how simple it really is. Some people cannot give blood, for various reasons, but there is no reason, none whatsoever, not to at least try. No matter how old you are, how long  you've put it off. Do it. You'll thank me for it.

The blood drive was just down the road from home, a 2 minute drive. I stopped in on my way home from the dentist. All I'd had to do before hand was fill in a little basic health question, which just ensures that you won't make a wasted trip. Very kind of the Red Cross to do that for you really. It's also simple to fill in the form on the day too. Anyway, I hand in the form, grab a glass of water, and take a seat. Out comes my book, and I wait for a maximum of five minutes.

A nurse calls me over, and we have a little chat about my health, making sure I'm feeling well, that everything is in order, and that I'm comfortable with the whole process. Basically, it boils down to "right everything is OK on the form" and "Do you have a cold? No? OK good."

After a quick pin prick of my finger tip, to make sure my iron levels are high enough, I get a huge plaster on a tiny little mark on my finger, and sit down to wait to be called up. Two minutes later, I'm lying back, making myself comfortable on the bed, arm outstretched, ready to donate. You even get to pick which arm you use, in case you need to keep one arm in tip top shape for something afterwards.

A nice informal chat with the nurse, a very chatty one this time, and my arm is cleaned, sterilised (basically a wet wipe), blood pressure taken, and a sharp scratch later, that just feels like a pin prick again really, and my blood is sliding down the tube, ready to give life to someone in the future.

Ok, so this time I had a Donor Carer look after me, and, as she was training, she wasn't as skilled with needle, and had to do a slight rearranging once it was in. No big deal at all. And the first time you donate you get an experienced nurse, who takes extra special care, and talks you through every stage. 

Once the needle is in, you just lie back and relax. If you're good like me, you can squeeze out a pint in 5-10 minutes- all you have to do is keep crossing and uncrossing your legs, and squeezing your fist together every now and then. And in no time at all, the needle is out, cotton bud and plaster/bandaid on the minuscule hole in your arm, and you slowly sit up from the bed, the nurse carefully watching to make sure you're not light headed or feeling unwell.

I felt exactly as I did before I gave blood, only there was a slight warming feeling inside me, a natural high, a sense of pride at what I had just done.

After it's all done, you get to sit down and have a drink, a biscuit/cookie, and a little natter with other folks, before you're free to leave whenever you feel like it. All said and done, less than 30 minutes.

30 minutes, to save a life.

A good half an hour well spent I would say, wouldn't you?

When a Sat Nav (GPS) came into it's own

After a frustrating few hours spent sat in traffic around the town of Preston in Lancashire, I decided the best way to vent my anger without doing any damage to anything but my keyboard, would be to type a blog post.

Ok, ok, so I'm exaggerating a little, I'm not that angry, but still, there really is something extremely agonizing about being stuck, in a long line of traffic, with nowhere to go, not moving an inch. Not only does it send my blood pressure sky rocketing and make me late, its also great for fuel consumption, and does wondrous things to the surrounding atmosphere.

So what happened? Well, there was some kind of oil spill on a motorway this morning at around 10am, as far as I understand. Unfortunately, it was on one of the only two major motorways which run from the South of England to the North. And because of the nature of the accident, to make the road safe, the entire 3 lane north bound carriageway needed to be re-surfaced. That meant the road was closed for the entire day. Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been too much of a problem, diversions would be in place to use the other major roads.

However, as bad luck would have it, the accident occurred at a spot where 3 major motorways feed into one, such that all three motorways were affected. Since this isn't LA too, our motorways only have 3 lanes each, so there wasn't anyway to only close off parts of the road. And Britain's A roads...well lets just say we have nice windy,scenic, country lanes, and not a top notch infrastructure.

As an 'Always Be Prepared' scout, I knew about this accident, and knew about the backed up traffic. And I planned accordingly with a detour on the side streets. I pulled off before the tailbacks on the motorway, rounded the roundabout, and began my journey, very pleased with myself that I had skipped the traffic.

And then I saw red brake lights. And we stopped. And we moved about 300 yards in 20 minutes.

But while I was sat waiting for the traffic to move, I was able to play with my Sat Nav (I say mine but it's really my Grandad's!) And, I was able to calculate a new route to my destination, avoiding this gridlock in front of me. The left turn was inches in front of me, but the car in front, in true "sod's law" fashion, decided he couldn't edge any further forward, and couldn't move a touch to the left so I could slip past.

So I waited a little longer.

Finally, I was off, whizzing west down country lanes, through small countryside villages, seeing some places I never would've seen along the motorway. But every major road I came to going North, was rammed with cars, slowly creeping along like a drowsy snail.

Thankfully again though, I've been blessed with a good sense of direction, unlike some in my family, and can generally determine the rough direction I should be heading in! So again, it was off into the country roads, skipping out huge portions of traffic jams and edging a little closer to where I had to be a little faster.

Still, I spent a good time sat going nowhere. I made it to where I was heading only an hour and ten minutes behind schedule. Not bad, when the radio was saying it was taking most people at least 2 hours to get through to the other side of the jams. And the audition I was going to was very informal, so my tardiness was immaterial.

Coming back, I was eager to make up for lost time, and zoom back down the clear southbound carriages. Alas, I hit rush hour traffic, buses stopping in front of me and then pulling out, traffic lights always on red, cyclists dangerously cutting across the roads. Slowly I made it the short distance to the slip road entrance....only to be confronted by another gridlock, an absolute stand still slip road, and a motorway carriageway cluttered with unmoving headlights.

Back round the roundabout, back through the city centre traffic, and back to the trusty sat nav, to help me skip out the tailbacks from a multi vehicle pile up. Though again I was able to keep moving, I was still faced with little old men drivers, blocking lanes, not knowing where to turn, and not knowing how to accelerate. Gosh it was frustrating.

Finally, I made it to an open motorway, homeward bound. But then I got stuck with those idiotic drivers who hog the middle and outside lanes, and won't move over. And then all red traffic lights. And a learner driver.

The lesson from all this: Save Time, Save Money, Keep your blood pressure low, and Save the Planet....by taking the train

Muammar Gaddafi and the Future of Libya

So the news of the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, like the news of the deaths so many tyrants before him, was met today with that awkward feeling of gladness that an evil person has left the earth, but at the same time not wanting to rejoice in the death of an individual.

Libyans are out in the streets cheering, as politicians in England, America and France congratulate themselves on a nice victory.

As I was watching the news this evening as events unfolded, I couldn't help thinking about Iraq, and the similarities between the two campaigns. The initial attack/invasion was relatively simple, and before we knew it, Iraq/Libya was free, as "the good side" entered the Capital cities to declare victory. After a few weeks of nothing, the tyrannical leader was found hiding in his home town, cowering in some makeshift hidey hole. And then ordinary citizens got their justice, as the tyrant was killed.

A new day for the future of the country. Well look what happened next in Iraq.

 

Of course, there are lots of differences too, not least between the military tactics and campaigns, but behind the cause for the regime change in the first place. Libya is profoundly different than Iraq because, like with the Arab Spring, it began with local citizens organising themselves, and encompassed almost the entire population. Libyans fought to be free by themselves, before NATO offered support.

And yet, there are lots of rivalries between these freedom fighters, lots of divisions along ethnic and tribal lines. And so, while politicians may rejoice at "a successful intervention" and claim victory very easily, what they ought to be doing is remembering Iraq. Now is not the time to take your hands of the ball.

Libyans naturally deserve to make their own future, to shape a future constitution, a future society. A country where every Libyan is free, and has an equal say in how their country is run. But the US, the UK and France should not disappear now. They should be on hand in every way, helping the interim Libyan government in every way their help is wanted. They should be providing aid and support to help rebuild the towns their bombs have destroyed. They should be showing their good nature and genuine care to every Libyan citizen, and encouraging the new Libya to make strong ties to democracy, and strong ties to the West.

Hopefully, lessons were learnt from Iraq, and together, a prosperous, democratic Libya can be created from the fallen shackles of Gaddafi's regime.