Facebook Etiquette

If I comment on a friend's status, is it OK for a friend of theirs, who I don't know, to then address a response to me?

A friends daughter is getting bullied and I responded that I felt that if the bullies parents are aware of what their kids are doing but they're doing nothing about it, then that is bad parenting.  This prompted a lengthy response from her friend, lets call her Missy Moo.

So, Missy Moo basically reprimands me and says I am not being fair as my children could be bullies and ALL (yes, in capitals) ALL children act differently at school than when they are with us, their parents and NONE of us know what evil our children are up to.

I replied as calmly as possible but I really wanted to tell her to sod off.  I don't know Missy Moo and she's probably a very nice woman & all that but really??? Is it right to tell someone off for saying, "if parents allow their kids to be parasites, they are sh*t parents"? Missy Moo thought I was being unfair and disagreed so strongly that she kept responding.  To top it off, my friend said something along the lines of, 'ooh calm down you two and agree to disagree'. 

So, I deleted my three responses and left Missy Moo to argue with herself and just said that I had deleted my opinion and just hoped the little girl was allowed to enjoy school & learn. 

We need these guys!

I HATE BULLIES and I think they should be chucked out of school if they repeatedly do not respond positively to discipline.  They should be put on an island with other anti social folk and made to start from scratch, learning basic manners and taught stuff, like names of tree's and capitals of countries etc They should have their Nintendo DS' taken away and be made to read books and help old ladies across the street.  

Depending on the severity of the bullying, the bullies need to be punished accordingly.  I work in an environment where so much responsibility is passed on to others.
Unfortunately, the bullies seem to be winning at the moment. 

We need someone like Kick Ass to make a stand and sort out where the law, politicians, judges and parents have messed up.

You could see me in a green wet suit, mask & nun chukas near your town very soon!

Sunday Night, Bath Night!

Do you remember when you were little and you’d have a bath on Sunday night, (possibly more than that but I’m talking about Sundays here) ?  I'm almost sure we only had the one weekly bath, unless we were ill, then Mum would practically dettol us every time we coughed!

We’d have to share a bath, me and my bro and I can remember watching my Mum run the bath for us and she’d be a bit mean with the bubble bath but on the odd occasion that my Dad would run it, he’d tip half a bottle of Matey Bubble Bath in it and we’d watch excitedly as the bubbles grew and grew, like the magic porridge pot… (cook little pot, cook!).

 

So we’d have our bath and I’d put bubbles on my face to look like Father Christmas, or pretend I was a man in a shaving advert and use the pumice stone to ‘shave’ the bubbles off…ergh!

Once I was about 4 and I farted a bubbly bath fart but I didn’t realise it was more than a fart and my poor brother picked it up thinking it was a piece of chocolate, floating by!  I think the shared bathing stopped promptly after that.

After the bath, we’d get dry and dressed in our PJ’s… weirdly, I can remember my brother’s burgundy, striped, nylon numbers but I can’t remember mine.  I'd sit on a chair in the kitchen whilst my mum blow dried my hair with a slim-line orange hairdryer which was so weak that it’d take an hour to dry my 'page boy' but it was better than the odd 1960’s style blow up cap thing that they used before. You'd stick the bag on your head and it'd inflate with hot air! I think my auntie had worked in a hairdressers and it was one they were chucking out... hilarious!





Ah yes, much more modern...

The thing about 'Sunday Night, Bath Night' was that it was a real cosy, family ritual. We would have eaten our roast beef dinner on the dining room table and Dad would always finish first and he'd go back to his chair and put Grandstand on. Then we'd play, probably with our Action Men & Sindy's and clean out the hamsters cages, ( well, Mum would clean them while I would put the Hamster in the Sindy beach buggy), and we'd read, or make cakes with Mum, then it would be Sunday bath time.

So, after the bath and drying and pyjamas, we'd go into the front room and my Dad would be sitting in his chair, and we'd sit on the settee with mum. 

We'd all watch telly together and what an odd thing telly was then. Maybe 'That's Life' would be on, with a dog that could say "sausages", or a Robotics contest. Or Dick Emery, Benny Hill, Morcambe & Wise, or The Two Ronnies.  My Dad had a really loud raucous laugh in the 70's.  His laugh has matured with him. Or maybe telly isn't as funny as it was in the 70's.

There were some really eery dramas on BBC1 on Sunday evenings, about 6pm. I remember The Ghost of Motley Hall, with Sheila Steeple. And I remember a scary one off drama, with a girl who appeared in a frozen lake, a mirror and then again when the main character was carol singing....singing 'Silent Night' but I can never remember enough to try to find it on You Tube or anything and no one else has ever heard of it.

Oh and there was Sapphire & Steel, that could be scary too! And Tales of the Unexpected.  I remember the public safety adverts warning us not to play with fireworks, they were terrifying too!

Then, after watching this macabre mix of entertainment, we'd be packed off to bed. My Mum always read me a bedtime story thank God. Something like The Magic Faraway Tree, or My Naughty Little Sister. Something calming and innocent. I think I would have definitely had nightmares after all that dodgy telly if she hadn't read me one.

And that was it. That was Sunday Night, bath night.

 It was awful but we liked it!

TOTES, RAH!

Made in Chelsea is the new 'The Only Way Is Essex' style reality series.

It follows a group of, hmm, what are they? Rich, RIDICULOUSLY rich 20 somethings, who live in London.  Here are the characters...

left - right ; Amber, Francis, Millie, Caggie, Hugo, Spencer, Freddie, Rosie, (seated-Binky, Ollie, Gabby) and Cheska

The main characters are Caggie, Ollie, Hugo & Spencer...At least that is how I think it was set out but I believe that Francis, (who is my favourite) and Millie & Binky are coming up in the popularity ranks. 

Noticeably, if you're a fan of MIC, Funda is missing from the photo above. Funda is/was the long suffering Brazilian girlfriend of Spencer.  Spencer has 'loved' Caggie for years apparently...they are only 22 ish by the way... and I think that being able to have whatever you want may become very apparent to him when/if he finally gets to be BF n GF with Cag's.  You just want what you haven't got at that moment in time.

Hugo is proving very popular amongst my home girls, even though he resembles a young, thin Freddie Mercury at times.  He is sweet and funny and listens and talks.  He has a way of making the girls feel like he is their friend and only has their best intentions at heart.  He is Spencer's best mate and tells Spencer often, to stop being such a prat. 

Spencer is a huge prat who looks like teen wolf

Well, Spencer has been a prat so far in every episode, (Monday, E4 at 10pm) but I got a glimmer of a sense of humour from him this week, when he seemed to send himself up by acknowledging that he loved how the conversation, (a private heart to heart between Hugo & Caggie) had turned into being solely about him within moments of his gatecrashing their table.

Spencer, whom I couldn't stand until this Mondays episode, is probably just the way a lot of us would be if we were very young and very, very privileged.  By privileged I mean LOADED! Example, whilst being in Sketch bar, drinking their umpteenth pricey beverage, during their umpteeth night out that week, Hugo and Spencer decided on the spare of the moment to ring Caggie up and tell her to, "pack a bikini and bring Millie, we're taking you away this weekend for your birthday - our treat"!  They had, just like that, decided to go to Cannes for the weekend.  Now, I don't know about you but if I went to Sketch, or a similar bar in London, I'd have no money left to take my friend on a surprise birthday trip to Butlins, let alone Cannes.

Poor old Millie doesn't know if she's coming, (literally) or going as she went on a date with Hugo, after bidding for him in a charity auction, (yep, kids with grands, bidding for charidee), and had since, told him that she'd like a relationship with him, only to be told by Hugo, that he actually prefers Rosie.  This is after Millie has pulled out all the flirtatious stops to such an uncomfortably obvious level... (dresses cut to the bony naval,  constant hair swinging and sucking of straws...the eyelashes will fall out if she bats them anymore).  And to be turned down for Rosie who, (sorry Rosie) but has a permanently alarmed look in her huge, frightened eyeballs. Such a pretty girl but what's with the bulging eyes?

All Millie's flirting couldn't beat the power of Rosie 'The Retina' Fortescue!

STOP IT ROSIE! IT'S WEIRD! RELAX!  Rosie then turned Hugo down just to confuse matters, so he, (obviously devastated) promptly invites Cag's n Mils to Cannes.

So hardy & resourceful these boarding school children. They just dust themselves off and start again don't they?

Caggie is meant to be the star girl but I find her a little bland compared to the others AND I can't take her sincerity seriously all the time she's pouting the entire way through her best friend Millie pouring her flirty heart out about Hugo dumping her for Rosie Retina. 

Rah Rah pout rah

 


boo hoo hoo-go

 


You just don't do that.  If you were telling your BF that you'd found out your nan had a dicky heart, then looked up and saw a pout, wouldn't you think, "you'orrible c*nt"?! I would.  It might just be a nervous tic though and if it is, sorry Cags.

Cheska, ("Now that Ollie's dumped Gabby, we're stuck with her"), it seems is just as bitchy as Amber.  She proudly wrote a grovelling piece on Amber's event, (I think it was the launch of a line of overpriced trinkets or something), but Rosie spitefully delivered the 'bombshell' to Cheska that Amber found it 'offensive' to be called 'an IT girl'.  Amber might be a very pleasant girl but she doesn't come across like that one jot. 

Here's Ambo & Chesky BFF!!!

Maybe she hasn't developed her personality yet. 

She has a spiteful face that needs softening,  by offering a few pleasantries now n again, rather than the cutting, clipped comments she utters at the moment. Some of her modelling photo's are beautiful but the frosty persona she has in the series, makes her look hard & one dimensional. You'll end up looking like a lemon if you keep up the bitterness Ambo!

Ollie the wally has just announced he's Bi. I'm sure he meant to be sincere but again, the expressions are just odd! And his ex girlfiriend Gabby looked SHOCKED hahaha 



Gabs, I'm bi....



I know, I'm as shocked as you are!

Binky is sweet, Freddie's funnyish, "Ollie, if you wanna be a model ditch the make up and stop straightening your hair", Funda is best rid of Spencer and Rosie's dog does not need therapy - (it's your eyes that are scaring the poor mutt Rosie!)  BUT BUT BUT, my favourite is little Francis.  The way he skated in to the restaurant in a posh suit, with a rose gripped in his hand, ready to play nerd and hand it over to his foxy date...and then he fell flat on his face.  He, in typical ex boarding school fashion, got up, handed the rose (to the rose) and didn't mention it. 

He is fabulous i think.  All twitchy and rich. Sitting at his desk in his office, in his company, studying a handful of diamonds, probably his.

He has the right mixture of nerdy school boy and young, powerful businessman. I also like the way he treats She Wolf Agne,  (that's a point, maybe Agne & Spencer should get together and produce little cubs). Agne is Francis' PA from Lithuania.  She is overtly flirty with everyone and very aware of the effect she has on the male species but Francis cuts her off in such a charmingly, inoffensive, twitchy way. 

Aww Francis.

  TOTES RAH!

Everyone has a Story.

If I sit and really think about it, I find it overwhelming, the amount of people I see in any one day but don't speak to.  Or even the people at my place of work who I see everyday and exchange polite chit chat with but don't bother scratching the surface. 

We buy books and go to the cinema, watch the telly and read the newspapers but we ignore each other.

People are interesting and it’s amazing what stories there are around you that you just don’t know about. 

I was chatting to Liz who works on our switchboard today. She’s lovely and  reminds me a bit of my Dads mum, Ada.  Liz was exchanging chit chat with me about holidays and she was talking about the holidays that her and her late husband used to go on with another couple.  They went back to the same farmhouse in the Italy every year.  She was talking about the scenery there and the delicious food that would be cooked for them and we nearly changed the subject when I decided to ask, "So why did you go back to the same place for years then? Why not somewhere different"?

The reason for their repeated trips to this little, remote farm in the Italian mountains was because the friends they went there with, the man used to be in The British Army and during World War two, whilst in Italy in 1941, he and some of his comrades were captured by Nazi's and put on a train, like the one's I have seen in war films, to be taken to a Nazi concentration camp.

He jumped off the train and ran for his life.  He managed to escape and hid. 

In the middle of the mountains, past Ancona, near the Adriatic Sea, an Italian family, (peasants) found him and took him in. They fed him and looked after him,  digging a large hole to hide him in.

He stayed there, being kept hidden, with this family for four years, until the war had ended.  

His wife had received a letter back in 1941 from the Army stating that her husband had gone missing in action, presumed dead. 

He returned home to his wife in 1945! !

And so that was why every year, they’d return to the Italian family and stay with them for a week.

How fantastic is that? True acts of human kindness and bravery.

Psychoville - Tina Turner

These boys are my comedy idols.  Some of you might know them, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton from League of Gentleman (BBC2).  This is from the second series of Psychville, currently on BBC2 but the last episode is next week. They are dark but so original and just brilliant.  Enjoy!

Re Decorating

Last year I decided to paint the front room.  Three walls white with the chimney breast wall bright pink and royal blue.  It's not our house, (we missed the boat there and will probably be renting for many years to come), so it was a bit of a cheap makeover. 

I bought cushions to go on our second hand sofa, (a free, ginger suede number) and I felt I had to keep the price down due to S not understanding why we needed cushions in the first place.  

Surprisingly, the colours worked well together and it was warm and cosy and child friendly too.

We bought three cheap canvas prints as well.

But oh how things change. 

What a fickle lodger I am.

Now I really don't like the cost cutting look. I think the prints, even the Banksy rip off, look a bit Argos and the cushions irritate me. Two of them were bought from Primark and when you wash them, they come out lumpy and tired looking.  There's a pink one too but that's torn and luckily not pictured here.

I have decided that as S has finally bought a decent HD television and we bought a right bargain on Sunday at the boot sale. A large rug from Next, - new looking and really thick & soft under foot. It's made up of grown up shades of stone and cream.  We got it for £20 and it's still in Next for over £200 - that I must redecorate.  This time I have started with the cushions. All off eBay...

 

Right, so there's a definite chicken theme.  As I was scrolling through hundreds of designs I could hear myself saying, "well that's nice but it just doesn't go with anything else so that's a no no" and I'd then hear Kirsty Alsop as my imaginary designer conscience chirruping, "Tally Ho I say! If you like it....get it"!  So, whilst sensing that there was a lot of clashing going on, I pressed BID BID BID, or Buy Now! And am now the happy owner of five completely different cushions. 

I am now stuck for the colour of the walls.  We cannot afford a new sofa, so our ginger friend is staying.  See now these cushions atop that strawberry blond suite is a challenge it itself, without me going Rolf Harris on the walls as well! I am fearing the worst. I fear that due to my sudden cushion obsession, I will have to paint the walls cream.

Oh yeah, the rug is this one... but in real life it is slightly stony in colour.

So come on readers....what colours for the walls? I don't need opinions on the cushions as my colleagues all assured me today that they were nice INDIVIDUALLY but not as a job lot.

Ramalamadingdong

When was the last time you completely lost it?

When was the last time someone annoyed you so much that you could stand no more and just went Oriental? 

Not just a few cross words but a proper ding dong?

Maybe your storm is brewing now, after suffering a myriad of constant but minor irritants that have been circling you for a few days/weeks/months?

Maybe you are teetering on the very edge of reason and rationale, about to take that leap into FURIOUS ANGER & BUBBLING HOT WRATH!

I bicker a lot with S.  Just the boring mundane bickering about me not cooking enough, or leaving the washing up til the morning, or not being vocally appreciative enough when being handed S's culinary delights. 

And I'll bicker with him about being a RETARD and putting a dark wash on, with a couple of white items thrown in, coz, "i didn't see them", or putting a clean damp towel on the floor after a shower, or putting the kids dirty, food covered clothes neatly back in the drawers so that when we're in a hurry to go out somewhere, they have NO CLEAN CLOTHES LEFT!

People at work irritate me sometimes but I love them really. I know I irritate them too. An example was just a couple of days ago.  L was visibly put out at the fact that I had worn a black, jersey, harem pant suit & Birkenstocks, with a 'grandad cardigan' to work.  She felt it wasn't appropriate work wear. I, on the other hand, felt I could easily answer the phones in what I had on, particularly because the majority of the people I'd be conversing with probably still had their Primark PJ's on at 2pm.  Nevertheless, my casual, unprofessional-looking presence had irritated her.  She gets me back though by saying 'physically' all the time, when it's not needed in a sentence.

Sometimes certain people just have to walk a certain way to irritate the masses, (and I'm the first to admit my walk is ridiculous, due to one leg being longer than the other and having a pot belly,big boobs and an arched spine) - or cough repeatedly, for effect I believe!! Or put on a sick voice.  OR and this could drive me mental....put an S on the end of words that don't have a feckin S....like, 'Hello Switchboardssssss'?  Or insist on using the word specifically, when they can't pronounce it.... PACIFIC IS AN OCEAN, YOU DIV!

When you've just come in from being outside and it's cold and your hands are freezing, you don't need to stick that frozen hand on my warm face to shock me into understanding the difference in temperature, MUM!

If I am buying something from your shop and I am standing in front of you at the till and waiting to pay, don't scan my item, whilst having a conversation on the mobile which is propped on your shoulder, then stick your hand out without looking at me, or informing me how much I owe you.  Actually, now here's a fun idea, it's what my 2 year old does when she's playing 'shops'; You could have your conversation when you have no customers in the shop and maybe even say words like, "Good morning", or "How can I help you"?....or even, "Thank you"! Funny eh?

Aside from day to day bickering, or piddly little non-arguments, when was the last time you seriously lost it.

You start realising that the human being in front of you is effecting your inner thermostat and your cheeks get hot....maybe your eyes feel cold and bulging?!  Before you can stop yourself, you have shouted something.  Maybe a whole shouty sentence has left your mouth before your brain has had time to catch up and it does, just in time to hear it's owner scream, "YOU FCUKING PR*CKFCUK"! Or some other swear word/s. 

I find the angrier I am, the odder the profanity.  "YOU FLAILING COCK-END" being one that I don't use in daily banter but that often warrants an airing when I'm driving somewhere and the car in front feels they just can't be bothered going anymore than 20mph on a straight, clear road. 

My Dad's friend Pete found that traffic wardens made him explode with rage.  They are a normal irritant to most people, even though I suppose they sometimes do have a job to do, BUT, the traffic wardens would be putting tickets on other peoples cars, not Pete's.  Even still, he felt he had to make a stand for Joe Public and I actually heard him bellow the words, "YOU SYPHILIS EPILEPTICS"!

We refuse to watch Eastenders but caught 10 minutes or so on Comic Relief, of a recent story line about Whitney's scumbag boyfriend trying to lead her into a life of prostitution. This enraged S so much that I thought he was going to cry.  He swore and shouted and finally sat at the computer and typed angrily until all his 'rage was on the page' (hahah).

When you have lost the plot, mid rant, maybe you had an out of body experience where you felt you were looking down on yourself screaming, and possibly felt embarrassed but still could not stop.  Maybe a little bit of spit even left your angry, contorted mouth.  Maybe the rational side of your brain was running neck & neck with the emotional side, like a cerebral steeple chase and you'd be quietly going, "oh calm down, you loon, you sound like a proper scumbag - GROW UP"! But the 'loon' could not be talked down. The loon was off!

I wonder if as I get older, I will calm down.  I really have calmed a lot already as at 38 yrs old, I can keep a lid on it for the majority of the time and I have a lot more stupidity around me now, so I should really have more to shout about.

S and I are a passionate pair. We are loud whether we are laughing and singing, or telling each other why we are right and the other is wrong.  So, as a result, our spawn are loud.  CLEVER AND GOOD LOOKING naturally but loud ;)

I'd love to hear what ruffles your feathers.