10 Ways to be Wicked

I am used to all sorts of weird and not so wonderful suggestions finding their way to the junk folder of my email account. Several emails each week invite me to part with obscene amounts of money in order to enlarge my 'manhood'. They obviously know nothing about me! My mum made absolutely sure that I understood that a woman can do anything better than a man, because we take time to read the instructions! She is now a sprightly and determined 81 year old who can run rings around people half her age. Only a couple of weeks ago she announced that she has always been able to touch her toes with her hands flat on the floor and she would not going to give up doing so now, then just for good measure she gave a demonstration!


Today I received an email addressed to Robbie claiming to be from a regular blog reader suggesting that an article s/he had just written would dovetail well with the interests of those who read the blog. One look at the title, something along the lines of  '10 Ways to be Wicked' showed me that it certainly was not something I wished to publicise. In any case 10 ways seems rather limiting, I am sure Robbie could think of 110 ways!!


Robbie provoked an interesting discussion on facebook   with his appreciative comments about Shameless, one of his favourite television programmes. He referred to it as 'class', I don't watch it but I couldn't resist challenging him on that point, surely it is the very opposite of 'class'. I was pleased to find that there were one or two people who agreed with me. I know it is not real but I don't want to watch a fictional portrayal of the dregs of society failing as parents and most importantly of all failing as parents. I am not one for unnecessary rules and rituals but it troubles me that standards in this country seem to be eroding faster than our coastline. How hard is it for people to say please and thank you, to eat quietly with their mouth closed and to be aware that their behaviour can impact adversely on other people. It must be obvious that playing music through a mobile phone without headphones drives other people mad (especially on the bus or train). It must be obvious that holding a phone conversation while going through the supermarket checkout is downright rude and irritating to others in the queue who are being held up. So I must assume that people know that their actions are thoughtless, but they just don't care and that troubles me greatly. When I was little my grandma would occasionally tell me not to do something such as 'don't sit on the radiator or you will get piles' or 'don't pull faces, if the wind changes you will stay like that'. Once in a while I would dare to tell her that I didn't care and her response was always the same 'don't care brings care'. She may have been wrong about the piles but I think she was right that not caring has consequences.

Acceptance of prevailing standards often means we have no standards of our own. (Jean Toomer)

In Demand....AGAIN 10.07.07

It has been one of those nights again......
Christine was checking her emails and discovered she had received an email in her spam folder that 'looked' genuine. She opened it and discovered it was from her friend's daughter (the friend whose computer problems were mentioned in the blog last week). The email was asking me to give her a call as her internet wasn't working again. So off I trotted to her house for some tea and yet MORE flapjacks...lol.. 90 minutes later and a chat to a nice Indian lady in Bombay (called Shabna I think...) and she was back on line again. Christine was happy for me to go, she said she enjoyed the peace and quiet, I can't think why....?!?!?!?!...lol...

Plastic Pigs 11.01.07

Robbie managed to seriously annoy me tonight. It wasn't the usual combination of mild amusement and exasperation, I was seriously angry and ready to deck him. Robbie is a creature of habit and the trouble started this evening when his usual routine was disrupted. There was no conspiracy, it just worked out that way. First he wasn't able to put his briefcase in exactly the position that he usually does. Then Emily and I were preparing the evening meal together and Robbie had a king sized sulk, I would have been overjoyed if someone said I didn't have to cook but Robbie took it as a personal insult. He always makes a coffee, puts his 'lounge wear' on and then helps me in the kitchen, he couldn't cope with a change in his routine.

I am in the unenviable position of having two mother in law's, well almost, Robbie's mum is dead, but he has a step mum. Anyway my mother in law bought us an omelette maker for Christmas and Emily and I decided that it was time to try it out. Robbie announced that he hated omelettes and he hated salad too, he would just have chips. A different meal was cooked for him. He hovered around the kitchen banging stuff around, washing up things that I hadn't finished with, putting away things that I was still using and throwing away the ingredients for my omelette! Despite the adverse circumstances I managed to produce a meal for everyone with an alternative for him. All he had to do was to carry his meal to the table, but he failed to arrive. He was frying himself two eggs while the rest of his meal went cold, he could have done them earlier or asked me to do them for him. For me it was the last straw, I fantasised about creating a head sized dent in the frying pan, but I settled for a bit of 'fortune telling' instead. As we finished our meal he said 'those omelettes looked nice, I think I will try one next time'. I was speechless!!!

He did apologise later. They say that making up is the best part, but Robbie had his own unique ways of trying to get back into my good books. He sent me an email with his latest suggestions for dealing with overcrowding on the railways, I wasn't impressed! Then he asked if he could go out on Saturday because he wants to have one last ride on a Plastic Pig (train). I love him dearly, but just occasionally I wish he was a little more 'normal'. There is one thing to be thankful for - he's not twins!!