And So.......Toward Winter

It's getting colder. The nights are getting longer.

Well, except my bikes don't think so. Both of them still show British Summer Time. The reason? I'm getting as bad as a man. I haven't read the handbooks, and I can't work out how to alter the time settings on either of them. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to get the books out and read up on it.

So, what's new? I took my usual jaunt to the annual NFL match at Wembley last Sunday. It was such a lousy game (Patriots beat the Rams 45-7) that I almost resent the exorbitant price of the ticket. I say almost, because, despite the terrible game, the atmosphere is just so uplifting and joyous, and Wembley is such a great stadium. It's also nice to get the chance to spend a day with my son and his beautiful wife. Days like that are few and far between at the moment.

Also new is my bathroom. Yes, finally got rid of the old one, installed when the house was built in the 60s, and got a nice new shiny one. The building firm have done a marvellous job, even if they did paint the walls totally the wrong colour! I chose a soft, creamy yellow - and they decided to paint it blue! They did say they'd redo it of course, but having seen the finished bathroom, and the way the blue complements the floor covering, I've decided I actually rather like it!

It wasn't an easy life whilst they were doing it though. They literally gutted it - right back to the brickwork and floor joists. They very thoughtfully put down carpet protectors throughout the house, but absolutely everything is covered in a thick layer of just - despite having been hoovered twice since they finished! And trying to sleep when you're on nights, with a jolly workman singing at the top of his voice, is not easy!

Won't be many more days this year when I feel inclined to go for a ride just because I can, but I'm determined to get at least a couple more in before the Winter hardens the ground and softens my resolve. I treated Jack to a pretty new windscreen a couple of days ago, and hopefully he'll get treated to one or two extras for Christmas to pretty him up ready for next year.  I'd also like to get a couple of runs out where I can take pictures with my new camera. I've not had much chance to use it yet.

What else..........ah yes, the American Presidential elections are upon us once again. I've not discussed it with my daughter-in-law, Brooke. We sort of have a tacit agreement that politics and religion are not generally discussed. That way, we don't fall out with each other ;) I assume though, being a Mormon, she will vote for Mitt Romney. Maybe I assume wrongly, I don't know. I know Obama has not been the best president ever, but in my opinion, he's not exactly been the worst either, and I do think he's probably still the lesser of two evils. Some of Romney's statements have done little less than horrify me. And Obama's reaction to the terrible destruction caused by SuperStorm Sandy, were 1000% better than George W's reaction to Hurricane Katrina and the terrible plight of the people of New Orleans.

And so, update on my various hobbies. As far as the genealogy is going, I'm still trying to piece together my father's family, and it's proving to be a nightmare. As well as being one of the largest families in Lancashire, they have some given names that propagate throughout the different lines and generations. I've lost count of how many Johns I've got married to Marys! The good thing to come out of this whole project though, is that I've re-established contact with the branch of my family that emigrated to Canada when I was very young, and I have a whole raft of previously unknown cousins and other various assorted relatives.

My jewellery shop is ticking along. I'm not pushing it too much yet, as I don't have time to keep making stuff for it, but it's very comforting to know that it is there, already established, for when I retire, or if I fall prey to redundancy. I've been spending a lot of time learning and practising new techniques, and expanding my horizons. There's absolutely loads of tutorials on websites, blogs and YouTube, so I've not needed to invest in many expensive books and so on. Which, of course,means I've got more money to spend on beads, doesn't it? ;) As one of my suppliers has it, 'money can't buy happiness, but it can buy beads'!

Anyway, enough drivel, I must get on with some work. Or perhaps, instead, I'll do the next episode of the A-Z..............

Racism, political correctness and a world gone mad

Browsing the web, as I do, when I'm bored at work, I came across an article in praise of gypsy caravans, or vardos. The article depicted both original ones, and those being made by a firm for suggested use as summer houses, caravans, garden decorations, or whatever takes your fancy.
It was interesting to me, as you may have read elsewhere in this blog, I have gypsy heritage. Anyway, the post was mostly pictorial, with very little verbage to detract from the beauty of the images, and a real pleasure to go through.

Then, I started to read the comments posted underneath the article...............
Oh sweet heavens, the very first guy to post.......and I'm quoting him exactly, so you will have to excuse the language......

'“Gypsies” are real people. They are Roma. Making a wagon in the style of many Roma caravans from over a century ago does not make it “gypsy.” This is incredibly racist and offensive. Do some fucking research.'

Sorry, could you repeat that?
Do you need help with your drug addiction problem?
Can I get you a psychiatrist?

How does admiring something, irrespective of race, gender, creed or sexuality make it rascist and offensive?
Do you mean that I can't appreciate the wonderful singing voice of Paul Robeson, because he was a black man? Or admire the piano music of Achron because he was a Jew? Or like the songs of Elton John because he is gay?

I watched a program the other night about sexism in football, which apparently still exists. But so it does (although it's getting better) in the world of motorcycling. It, in fact, still exists in any field which has traditionally been a bastion of male power. It's not that many years ago, that my husband and I went into a local bike shop because I wanted a new bike.

The salesman was really offensive, and I ended up walking out of the shop and going somewhere else. Every time I asked him a question about the model I was interested in, he would turn to my husband, and give him the answer, and all he kept on about was how the colour of the bike particularly matched his (my husband's)leather jacket. This, despite being constantly told that it was me who wanted a new bike, and SHOCK! HORROR! I was buying it with my own money!

Now, I'm the first one to agree that if a woman does the same job as a man, then she should get the same pay, but it does seem to me that sometimes the pursuit of correctness has gone totally in the opposite direction, and the so-called disadvantaged classes are now given priority over the average Joe Bloggs.

This showed up a couple of years ago, when the company I worked for, was threatened with prosecution because, as a large company, they didn't employ the required number of disabled people. Now, I agree that disabled people deserve exactly the same chances of employment as able-bodied ones, and that certain allowances should be made to enable them to fulfil their potential. But what do you do when, as in this case, no disabled people had applied for the jobs? Do you go out on the street and beg disabled people to join your company for fear of getting heavily fined for not meeting your quota?

The fact of the matter is, that legislation will not change people's opinions, but education will.

When my son was little, he attended a pre-school group, where one of the little boys had epilepsy. When the child had a seizure, instead of panicking the other children, and shoo-ing them out of the room, the lady in charge sat them down on the floor, while she made the little boy safe and comfortable, and then quietly and calmly explained what had happened to him, and why, in words that any 2 year old could understand. As a consequence, my son has grown up with no fear, but total respect, for people with differences.

How different this, to when we were teenagers and my friend had severe epilepsy. She learned to recognise the onset of a seizure, and we would take steps to sit her on the floor away from solid obstructions etc., and allow the seizure to run it's course. 9 times out of 10, we would hear such comments from passers-by as 'disgusting, shouldn't be allowed', 'she must be drunk' etc.

I think a lot of people just simply feel uncomfortable around anybody who is a bit different to themselves, and need to cover up their embarrassment with a load of bluster and hot air. Which brings me full circle back to the guy who made that ridiculous post. My guess is he has no understanding of the gypsy way of life, he's fearful of them, but doesn't want to be seen as rascist, so he goes too far the other way.

There's too many people like him out there...........

You have the right to remain stupid

If someone told you the world was square with purple elephants on it, you'd be correct to label them stupid, insane or perhaps both and no one would disagree.

But you probably wouldn't call them stupid or insane to their face.

Everyone has a right to their own opinion, even if it's wrong, stupid, ignorant and without any basis in reality. I respect that 'right'. But I don't have to necessarily agree with it.

When I point out to people, friends or otherwise, the inaccuracies of their logic or prove them wrong, they rant and rave like demented souls.
Then they tell me they have the RIGHT to their opinion.

Well, if your opinion is that 2 + 2 = 5, well I'm sorry, you're stupid. That's not an opinion, that's a fact
And most people just can't accept being told that they're wrong.