london
This book (like all the rest of the winnie the pooh series) pokes fun at all those people who have so much spare time in their life, that they cook up diversions in their life just for something to do, and they find to their horror that what started out as a small thing blows up into a full scale disaster, and after going through the anguish and involving more and more people, everything suddenly dissolves and the problem disappears of its own accord. That is what all the stories in here reminds me of. Something like that happened with my friends, but unlike the stories here, where everything goes back to normal after each episode, in real life, it does not, and its effects linger on usually making the life a little bit worse.
added 1.8.08
i have been unduly pessimistic about the outcome. it does not always ends in tears. the series of events which I have called the laptop saga shows it need not end in tears.
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
laptop saga
london
All is well that ends well.
My friend bought a laptop, not the £165 one, but an acer, like mine, but with a dual core(whatever that means, but obviously very good.haha) for £230. And what's more, he got the guy to fix simon's laptop. It seems in downloading all those dvd programs last night, simon had also got infected... quite a lot of viruses and worms, and this guy from worthing got rid of them, and installed a temporary antivirus program that would protect the laptop until such time as we install a proper antivirus program.
My friend says that since the trial antivirus norton that has been installed in my new laptop, is expiring soon, and it has the option to pay for 3 laptop protection, and my friend says he would like to join us for his antivirus protection.
so all is well that ends well. Simon's laptop's dvd has a component that is not working, and the guy from worthing replaced it, all for about £50.
I am glad simon's little adventure has turned out well. Looking back, simon said the con man certainly used a lot of psychology on him. Postponing the meeting times quite a few times, so that it makes simon work hard for it, and so when he finally got there, he was wound up and in a state where he is reluctant to walk away empty handed. The laptop is actually as stated, so that was good. The con man could easily have sold him a dud, but it has all the right certification and has no pirate software.
And the other guy, in Worthing has restored our faith in these internet computer services. That guy has given good service.
and thanks to our friend from thailand, for going to the trouble of taking simon's laptop to that guy in worthing.
But such a lot of rigmarole, only their souls can want it. If it were up to me, i know my soul do not want to bother.
Added. Now we are all three in three separate rooms in the flat tapping away at our laptops. haha. hooray for wifi.
Added. correction about the ending well bit. simon's soul still wants his life to be difficult. The virus in his laptop is not removed. it is preventing him from logging on.
Added 31.7.08 I think it is people's desire that gets them to spend more. Take my friend for eg. he went there wanting to spend only £165 and ended up spending £230. After going all that way and spending time and money to get there, psychologically it is difficult to walk away without buying anything. He was shown an old laptop, and external wifi attachment if he wants that price of £165. It did not look appealing, but really if that is all he wanted to do, that is to get online and just email and webcam chat with friends it will serve. I think the guy who is selling knows this. He entice people by advertising this price on ebay, and knows that when they see it practically everyone will opt for another model. People desires something that looks modern, and so when my friend is shown an acer and told it has dual processing power, its a foregone conclusion. To most of us, it would not make a blind bit of difference, after all my acer has none of that dual whatsis, and it works fine and fast enough for me. In all the excitement, he did not find out the acer he bought has no built in webcam, unlike mine, and for my and his purpose, a webcam is better to have than a dual processor. He likes to make msn chat with his bf in thailand, and using my acer they were able to see each other. He might be better off asking for a laptop with a webcam, no dual processor and costing £165. But these guys who sell laptops, like car salesmen, knows that pandering to vanity and blinding people with technical talk always gets their man. It is just like selling a car. How many men will really use the horse speeds and quick acceleration from standing, or even understands it, and and all the gizmos that comes with the car? yet it gets them every time. Sell him on his desires, and u can get anyone to buy. Except me of course. I am immune to it or so i would like to believe. I daresay I am not immune, but I am more aware of the dangers of it than my friends.
All is well that ends well.
My friend bought a laptop, not the £165 one, but an acer, like mine, but with a dual core(whatever that means, but obviously very good.haha) for £230. And what's more, he got the guy to fix simon's laptop. It seems in downloading all those dvd programs last night, simon had also got infected... quite a lot of viruses and worms, and this guy from worthing got rid of them, and installed a temporary antivirus program that would protect the laptop until such time as we install a proper antivirus program.
My friend says that since the trial antivirus norton that has been installed in my new laptop, is expiring soon, and it has the option to pay for 3 laptop protection, and my friend says he would like to join us for his antivirus protection.
so all is well that ends well. Simon's laptop's dvd has a component that is not working, and the guy from worthing replaced it, all for about £50.
I am glad simon's little adventure has turned out well. Looking back, simon said the con man certainly used a lot of psychology on him. Postponing the meeting times quite a few times, so that it makes simon work hard for it, and so when he finally got there, he was wound up and in a state where he is reluctant to walk away empty handed. The laptop is actually as stated, so that was good. The con man could easily have sold him a dud, but it has all the right certification and has no pirate software.
And the other guy, in Worthing has restored our faith in these internet computer services. That guy has given good service.
and thanks to our friend from thailand, for going to the trouble of taking simon's laptop to that guy in worthing.
But such a lot of rigmarole, only their souls can want it. If it were up to me, i know my soul do not want to bother.
Added. Now we are all three in three separate rooms in the flat tapping away at our laptops. haha. hooray for wifi.
Added. correction about the ending well bit. simon's soul still wants his life to be difficult. The virus in his laptop is not removed. it is preventing him from logging on.
Added 31.7.08 I think it is people's desire that gets them to spend more. Take my friend for eg. he went there wanting to spend only £165 and ended up spending £230. After going all that way and spending time and money to get there, psychologically it is difficult to walk away without buying anything. He was shown an old laptop, and external wifi attachment if he wants that price of £165. It did not look appealing, but really if that is all he wanted to do, that is to get online and just email and webcam chat with friends it will serve. I think the guy who is selling knows this. He entice people by advertising this price on ebay, and knows that when they see it practically everyone will opt for another model. People desires something that looks modern, and so when my friend is shown an acer and told it has dual processing power, its a foregone conclusion. To most of us, it would not make a blind bit of difference, after all my acer has none of that dual whatsis, and it works fine and fast enough for me. In all the excitement, he did not find out the acer he bought has no built in webcam, unlike mine, and for my and his purpose, a webcam is better to have than a dual processor. He likes to make msn chat with his bf in thailand, and using my acer they were able to see each other. He might be better off asking for a laptop with a webcam, no dual processor and costing £165. But these guys who sell laptops, like car salesmen, knows that pandering to vanity and blinding people with technical talk always gets their man. It is just like selling a car. How many men will really use the horse speeds and quick acceleration from standing, or even understands it, and and all the gizmos that comes with the car? yet it gets them every time. Sell him on his desires, and u can get anyone to buy. Except me of course. I am immune to it or so i would like to believe. I daresay I am not immune, but I am more aware of the dangers of it than my friends.
laptop saga the beginning
london#
My friend is now travelling by train from victoria to brighton, and then to worthing, to meet the man he contacted via ebay to buy the laptop for £165. He is also bringing a new laptop that simon bought yesterday from a dodgy character last night. Last night,Simon drove there with my friend to this car park in Eltham, in south london, and without testing the dvd , he bought it for £300. well, when he got it back, he found the dvd did not work. So my friend is now bringing it to this dealer in Worthing, hoping he might be able to figure it out.
Now why does all this makes me glad i am not involved? The whole thing does not attract me at all. I have allready got a laptop which we bought in argos, it too costs £300 but it has all i need. simon wants to see porn on spectacular vivid hi definition, that is why he wants the high specification laptop that was offerred by this dodgy dealer. That was the bait and simon bit.
I have often thought porn will be the death of simon. In the past, he overheated our old laptop because he would have it download porn over the internet for 2or 3days. \naturally it overheated and it cooked the hard drive. I tell u, how many of us have ever heard of the hard drive destroyed from prolonged use? it happened not once but twice to that laptop. he had destroyed two hard drives. All because he wants those porn. I suggested it would be cheaper and quicker to just pay the money to the website and get them.
And i dont know how many times he got the laptop infected with viruses and worms via these porn sites.
Ah well, at least i can be hope this laptop will not be afflicted because he wont use it to download any porn.
I think people are vulnerable to being swindled when the swindler finds their hot button. the thing that they really want.
I know they cant get me, because there is nothing i want that badly. In fact, my accountant once offered me lots of money from investing in a fail safe investment, or so she says. But I could not be bothered, ok it makes money, but as i told her, what can i do with it? I cant think of anything i want to buy that i cannot get allready.
and the things i like money cannot buy. so i was supposed to call her after my holiday in ibiza to invest, but i did not.
I think if a anyone comes to me offering me riches, i will just say, thanks but no thanks, i dont need all that money, if i have it i shall give it away anyway, so go and offer it to someone else who will appreciate it more. No point wasting that great investment on me.
give it to someone else who will be more in need of it.
I find by doing this, i dont have any worries. 'Right now i dont have to worry about a laptop which does not work. haha. and dont have to travel miles to buy another one, with all the tension and fear of being conned.
I was in the library just now, and reading all the newspapers. And because the news was so bad, i began to feel there is something that i dont like to do but have to do it. All those bad news made me think like that. Then, i realise i dont have anything at all that i must do, or dont like doing. hahaaahahha.
So i just settled back and smiled. And then i took all those newspapers i have been reading and dumped them on the rack and walked out to the sunshine. hahahaha. And came home and cooked a nice prawn fried rice, and washed it all down with a nice mug of tea. hohohahaa.
My friend is now travelling by train from victoria to brighton, and then to worthing, to meet the man he contacted via ebay to buy the laptop for £165. He is also bringing a new laptop that simon bought yesterday from a dodgy character last night. Last night,Simon drove there with my friend to this car park in Eltham, in south london, and without testing the dvd , he bought it for £300. well, when he got it back, he found the dvd did not work. So my friend is now bringing it to this dealer in Worthing, hoping he might be able to figure it out.
Now why does all this makes me glad i am not involved? The whole thing does not attract me at all. I have allready got a laptop which we bought in argos, it too costs £300 but it has all i need. simon wants to see porn on spectacular vivid hi definition, that is why he wants the high specification laptop that was offerred by this dodgy dealer. That was the bait and simon bit.
I have often thought porn will be the death of simon. In the past, he overheated our old laptop because he would have it download porn over the internet for 2or 3days. \naturally it overheated and it cooked the hard drive. I tell u, how many of us have ever heard of the hard drive destroyed from prolonged use? it happened not once but twice to that laptop. he had destroyed two hard drives. All because he wants those porn. I suggested it would be cheaper and quicker to just pay the money to the website and get them.
And i dont know how many times he got the laptop infected with viruses and worms via these porn sites.
Ah well, at least i can be hope this laptop will not be afflicted because he wont use it to download any porn.
I think people are vulnerable to being swindled when the swindler finds their hot button. the thing that they really want.
I know they cant get me, because there is nothing i want that badly. In fact, my accountant once offered me lots of money from investing in a fail safe investment, or so she says. But I could not be bothered, ok it makes money, but as i told her, what can i do with it? I cant think of anything i want to buy that i cannot get allready.
and the things i like money cannot buy. so i was supposed to call her after my holiday in ibiza to invest, but i did not.
I think if a anyone comes to me offering me riches, i will just say, thanks but no thanks, i dont need all that money, if i have it i shall give it away anyway, so go and offer it to someone else who will appreciate it more. No point wasting that great investment on me.
give it to someone else who will be more in need of it.
I find by doing this, i dont have any worries. 'Right now i dont have to worry about a laptop which does not work. haha. and dont have to travel miles to buy another one, with all the tension and fear of being conned.
I was in the library just now, and reading all the newspapers. And because the news was so bad, i began to feel there is something that i dont like to do but have to do it. All those bad news made me think like that. Then, i realise i dont have anything at all that i must do, or dont like doing. hahaaahahha.
So i just settled back and smiled. And then i took all those newspapers i have been reading and dumped them on the rack and walked out to the sunshine. hahahaha. And came home and cooked a nice prawn fried rice, and washed it all down with a nice mug of tea. hohohahaa.
another twist in the housing negative equity trail
london
this one attracted my attention. It is about wealthy people who can afford the mortgage on their homes, deliberately defaulting and letting the bank repossess it. There is a loophole in the law, made during the 1930's depression which prevents the banks from pursueing them for the mortgage debt. So it makes business sense to default if , as happened in one case, the house was worth $200,000 less on a $500,000 mortgage. Especially when the banks keep increasing the interest.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7529277.stm
I am sure a lot of uk mortgage holders will be very glad to have that loophole too, but it does not exist in uk. The banks can pursue u for the outstanding amount theoretically for life. In uk, the banks have got u by the goolies, but in usa, they are the ones left with the baby. haha.
this one attracted my attention. It is about wealthy people who can afford the mortgage on their homes, deliberately defaulting and letting the bank repossess it. There is a loophole in the law, made during the 1930's depression which prevents the banks from pursueing them for the mortgage debt. So it makes business sense to default if , as happened in one case, the house was worth $200,000 less on a $500,000 mortgage. Especially when the banks keep increasing the interest.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7529277.stm
I am sure a lot of uk mortgage holders will be very glad to have that loophole too, but it does not exist in uk. The banks can pursue u for the outstanding amount theoretically for life. In uk, the banks have got u by the goolies, but in usa, they are the ones left with the baby. haha.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
£3 one way fast train fr victoria(london) to brighton
london
My friend who is staying with me went to victoria advance booking counter in victoria and got a £3 single fare to brighton, on the fast train. This is a good bargain, because nationalexpress cheapest fare is £5 single, and online booking on railnet is £5 single.
I wonder why it is cheaper to book at the station than online.
I did ask my friend maybe because he looks over 60yrs old and it is free travel for over 60's on railways now. (it is a recent concession brought in by boris johnson when he became mayor of london), so maybe the fare he got was the special one for over 60's where he only have to pay for that stretch of rail between coulsdon and brighton. My friend said he did not think so as he was not asked if he was over 60yrs old nor was asked for proof of it.
Well, I shall see if I go and ask for this fare whether it costs the same for me. If so, than david P, who lives near brighton, if u manage to read this, i shall be visiting u. However, it wont be this weekend as it is the Brighton Pride week end and i dont fancy going then.
(this is an old post which i wrote and did not finish. so it was stored as a draft within this blog. I posted this today, 1.8.08).
My friend who is staying with me went to victoria advance booking counter in victoria and got a £3 single fare to brighton, on the fast train. This is a good bargain, because nationalexpress cheapest fare is £5 single, and online booking on railnet is £5 single.
I wonder why it is cheaper to book at the station than online.
I did ask my friend maybe because he looks over 60yrs old and it is free travel for over 60's on railways now. (it is a recent concession brought in by boris johnson when he became mayor of london), so maybe the fare he got was the special one for over 60's where he only have to pay for that stretch of rail between coulsdon and brighton. My friend said he did not think so as he was not asked if he was over 60yrs old nor was asked for proof of it.
Well, I shall see if I go and ask for this fare whether it costs the same for me. If so, than david P, who lives near brighton, if u manage to read this, i shall be visiting u. However, it wont be this weekend as it is the Brighton Pride week end and i dont fancy going then.
(this is an old post which i wrote and did not finish. so it was stored as a draft within this blog. I posted this today, 1.8.08).
an idiosyncracy
london
I came back from the library at 1.45pm today, and saw through the open door of the spare bedroom that the bedside lamp was on and the curtains drawn. My friend was in the kitchen trying to figure out how the washing machine works. So i told him, and then we walked back to the bedroom door and i said. 'Tell me something, is there a logical explanation for switching on the light while keeping the curtains drawn?'
My friend must have thought i was criticising him, because he immediately became defensive, saying he was only out of the room a short time and mentioning he slept through a drilling racket this morning. (What it has got to do with this i have no idea.)
Anyway, i quickly said "I asked because it reminds me of a time when a previous occupant of that room complained that the room was dark. i took a look and said, 'well it would help if u open the curtains'". haha. I said 'simon does it too, and I am curious to know why people do that.'
Well, i still have not got an answer to it. Why do people switch on the lights and leave the curtains drawn during the day? don't they like sunshine?
One reason may be absentmindedness. I have noticed most people are not very aware of their actions. They see the room is dark, and forgot they have not opened the curtains, and so their natural reaction is to switch on the light.
The other reason is one that may apply to simon. I know he is a night person. He is most active at night. That is why he likes working the night shift. I have seen him leave the curtains drawn in the living room blocking out the daylight and switch on the artificial light. Night people will prefer artificial lighting to the natural lighting. Any other theories from u people out there who likes to draw the curtains and live in artificial light all ur lives?
Added. 18.8.2011 Been re reading this, and i have another reason why people switch the lights on and draw the curtains. if they are on the laptop , the bright sunshine make it difficult to see the things on the screen. I noticed this when i saw offices with windows completely blocked by curtains or blinds and they are offices with computers screens on every desk.
the same friend mentioned in this post, and who visited me from thailand is here now. 3yrs since he last holidayed in uk. time flies, and we are both older and greyer.haha.
he tells me that laptop he bought when he was here 3yrs ago has long gone kaput. so it did not last. unlike mine which i am still using.
I came back from the library at 1.45pm today, and saw through the open door of the spare bedroom that the bedside lamp was on and the curtains drawn. My friend was in the kitchen trying to figure out how the washing machine works. So i told him, and then we walked back to the bedroom door and i said. 'Tell me something, is there a logical explanation for switching on the light while keeping the curtains drawn?'
My friend must have thought i was criticising him, because he immediately became defensive, saying he was only out of the room a short time and mentioning he slept through a drilling racket this morning. (What it has got to do with this i have no idea.)
Anyway, i quickly said "I asked because it reminds me of a time when a previous occupant of that room complained that the room was dark. i took a look and said, 'well it would help if u open the curtains'". haha. I said 'simon does it too, and I am curious to know why people do that.'
Well, i still have not got an answer to it. Why do people switch on the lights and leave the curtains drawn during the day? don't they like sunshine?
One reason may be absentmindedness. I have noticed most people are not very aware of their actions. They see the room is dark, and forgot they have not opened the curtains, and so their natural reaction is to switch on the light.
The other reason is one that may apply to simon. I know he is a night person. He is most active at night. That is why he likes working the night shift. I have seen him leave the curtains drawn in the living room blocking out the daylight and switch on the artificial light. Night people will prefer artificial lighting to the natural lighting. Any other theories from u people out there who likes to draw the curtains and live in artificial light all ur lives?
Added. 18.8.2011 Been re reading this, and i have another reason why people switch the lights on and draw the curtains. if they are on the laptop , the bright sunshine make it difficult to see the things on the screen. I noticed this when i saw offices with windows completely blocked by curtains or blinds and they are offices with computers screens on every desk.
the same friend mentioned in this post, and who visited me from thailand is here now. 3yrs since he last holidayed in uk. time flies, and we are both older and greyer.haha.
he tells me that laptop he bought when he was here 3yrs ago has long gone kaput. so it did not last. unlike mine which i am still using.
Monday, 28 July 2008
i crave bread
london
its such a lovely warm night. I suddenly had a craving for bread, and so went to the local tesco to buy wheatflour. It costs 93p for 1.5kg. however, i saw 400mg farmhouse loaves were reduced from 79p to 20p, so i abandoned my plan to buy the wheatflour and bought 4 loaves instead. It was cheaper than making my own loaves. (Added. I had some last night, and this morning, and i can say that it is not as dense as it used to be. When i cut it, it is v friable, the line of cut shows a crumbly cut, instead of a clean cut. and i notice a distinct difference in texture, not so dense. So that is the result of the higher flour price, they have reduced the amount of flour or added some other stuff to it. Well, I have been warned. I may forgo buying any bread and just bake my own from now on).
There was also broccoli for 40p for 300mg.I did not buy any because when they are wrapped in cellophane,instead of loose, i know they are v close to yellowing. These wont last long, so buy only as much as u can finish in a day or so.I prefer to buy when tesco reduces their loose broccoli per kg price below 90p.
I also bought 500mg mince beef, less than 12%fat for 74p, reduced from £2.99.(added. I cooked the mince beef and noticed a lot of water came out. Its been some time since i bought mince beef, and the 12% beef usually are dry. This time a lot of water comes out when i fry it. The supermarkets are now adding water to their 12%beef. Another reason why i dont buy at the full price anymore.)
I went to the supermarket at 9.30pm. It does depand on luck, as they only reduce this much on beef that expires today and this is the only pack left. The others which expires tomorrow were only slightly reduced.
My white friend from thailand volunteered to fix the ceiling pull switch that operates my electric shower. It looked v complicated when he did it,but he was a qualified electrician. It was just unfortunate the porcelain grip for the screw broke. The new switch works well, and my friend says if i m lucky it might be another 10yrs before the screw cannot support it any longer. he wants to replace the whole box, but it might mean drilling holes in the ceiling. so i said 'nevermind i shall take my chances and change it only if it breaks down'. He said the old switch definitely needs replacing as it was worn out,(it sometimes wont switch on) so i guess it is just as well he has changed it to this new switch even though this mishap made one screw (of two) less secure.
It is kind of him to do it for me, because if i have to get an electrician it will be very expensive.
he also told me he bought a reconditioned laptop on ebay, from a chap in worthing, sussex, for £165. I thought it was a very good price, but of course we have not seen it and it might all go bad. My friend will need to go to brighton, and then Worthing, and he hopes to find a similar fare as the £3 single fare by train that he bought in brighton (at the onestop shop,16 Old Steine), when he came to me in london. I told him if he finds the travel agent who can sell it at that price i want to know too. I dont mind visiting my friend David who lives near brighton for that fare. I am glad he is buying a laptop for himself, before he was sharing mine, and it would be great for me to get back my laptop again. We have wifi, so he can be online all the time without disrupting my own usage.
he doesnot like the way i configure my laptop. and forgot himself asking me to change the configuration to the way he likes it. I have to put my foot down and say firmly to him, 'this is my laptop, and i can do whatever i want with it. get yourself your own laptop.' #
So that is why he is buying one himself. haha. he had been telling me he dislikes laptops but they are so potable, that he has come round to accepting them. i told him beware of not adapting to new things, for that is a sign of old age. So perhaps he has come round to my way of thinking.
its such a lovely warm night. I suddenly had a craving for bread, and so went to the local tesco to buy wheatflour. It costs 93p for 1.5kg. however, i saw 400mg farmhouse loaves were reduced from 79p to 20p, so i abandoned my plan to buy the wheatflour and bought 4 loaves instead. It was cheaper than making my own loaves. (Added. I had some last night, and this morning, and i can say that it is not as dense as it used to be. When i cut it, it is v friable, the line of cut shows a crumbly cut, instead of a clean cut. and i notice a distinct difference in texture, not so dense. So that is the result of the higher flour price, they have reduced the amount of flour or added some other stuff to it. Well, I have been warned. I may forgo buying any bread and just bake my own from now on).
There was also broccoli for 40p for 300mg.I did not buy any because when they are wrapped in cellophane,instead of loose, i know they are v close to yellowing. These wont last long, so buy only as much as u can finish in a day or so.I prefer to buy when tesco reduces their loose broccoli per kg price below 90p.
I also bought 500mg mince beef, less than 12%fat for 74p, reduced from £2.99.(added. I cooked the mince beef and noticed a lot of water came out. Its been some time since i bought mince beef, and the 12% beef usually are dry. This time a lot of water comes out when i fry it. The supermarkets are now adding water to their 12%beef. Another reason why i dont buy at the full price anymore.)
I went to the supermarket at 9.30pm. It does depand on luck, as they only reduce this much on beef that expires today and this is the only pack left. The others which expires tomorrow were only slightly reduced.
My white friend from thailand volunteered to fix the ceiling pull switch that operates my electric shower. It looked v complicated when he did it,but he was a qualified electrician. It was just unfortunate the porcelain grip for the screw broke. The new switch works well, and my friend says if i m lucky it might be another 10yrs before the screw cannot support it any longer. he wants to replace the whole box, but it might mean drilling holes in the ceiling. so i said 'nevermind i shall take my chances and change it only if it breaks down'. He said the old switch definitely needs replacing as it was worn out,(it sometimes wont switch on) so i guess it is just as well he has changed it to this new switch even though this mishap made one screw (of two) less secure.
It is kind of him to do it for me, because if i have to get an electrician it will be very expensive.
he also told me he bought a reconditioned laptop on ebay, from a chap in worthing, sussex, for £165. I thought it was a very good price, but of course we have not seen it and it might all go bad. My friend will need to go to brighton, and then Worthing, and he hopes to find a similar fare as the £3 single fare by train that he bought in brighton (at the onestop shop,16 Old Steine), when he came to me in london. I told him if he finds the travel agent who can sell it at that price i want to know too. I dont mind visiting my friend David who lives near brighton for that fare. I am glad he is buying a laptop for himself, before he was sharing mine, and it would be great for me to get back my laptop again. We have wifi, so he can be online all the time without disrupting my own usage.
he doesnot like the way i configure my laptop. and forgot himself asking me to change the configuration to the way he likes it. I have to put my foot down and say firmly to him, 'this is my laptop, and i can do whatever i want with it. get yourself your own laptop.' #
So that is why he is buying one himself. haha. he had been telling me he dislikes laptops but they are so potable, that he has come round to accepting them. i told him beware of not adapting to new things, for that is a sign of old age. So perhaps he has come round to my way of thinking.
resuming volunteering for foodchain
london
My first session with food chain tooting branch on sunday. Its been a long time since i stopped going to the hammersmith branch. I did not do anything about starting again,even though i said i will, as i ws kind of ambivalent about it, but i got an email from the organiser, saying its been some time since i stopped and would i like to resume? So i have to praise their persistence, and follow up that made me resume again. Well done to them. They are a very strong team, the organisation and running of the charity is first class. Everything ran like clockwork in the tooting branch during this sunday.
I thought the tooting branch will be nearer and quicker to get to than the hammersmith branch. but it is about the same length of time by bus. it is one bus, 77, but it meanders all over south london.
the people are very nice there, and i ws given a driver who knows the route, and so it was v easy. He even packed the food for me, and all i have to do was take the food to the address. the route was long, as there was one household that was miles down south. We took about 2hrs to finish. And by the time we returned no one else was there except the supervisor, and there was not much choice of food to take. but of course, it is not the main aim to provide food for us volunteers, so I was rather pleased that there was some food for us. My friend from Thailand came with me, and there was a spare carton of food for him too.
the route was very green, there seems to be plenty of parks in south london, full of people sunning themselves and playing games.
My first session with food chain tooting branch on sunday. Its been a long time since i stopped going to the hammersmith branch. I did not do anything about starting again,even though i said i will, as i ws kind of ambivalent about it, but i got an email from the organiser, saying its been some time since i stopped and would i like to resume? So i have to praise their persistence, and follow up that made me resume again. Well done to them. They are a very strong team, the organisation and running of the charity is first class. Everything ran like clockwork in the tooting branch during this sunday.
I thought the tooting branch will be nearer and quicker to get to than the hammersmith branch. but it is about the same length of time by bus. it is one bus, 77, but it meanders all over south london.
the people are very nice there, and i ws given a driver who knows the route, and so it was v easy. He even packed the food for me, and all i have to do was take the food to the address. the route was long, as there was one household that was miles down south. We took about 2hrs to finish. And by the time we returned no one else was there except the supervisor, and there was not much choice of food to take. but of course, it is not the main aim to provide food for us volunteers, so I was rather pleased that there was some food for us. My friend from Thailand came with me, and there was a spare carton of food for him too.
the route was very green, there seems to be plenty of parks in south london, full of people sunning themselves and playing games.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
face creams are a con
london
I have always thought they were a con, and now someone has said it outloud in a newspaper.
Liz Earle, the co-founder of Britain's biggest independent beauty brand, has dismissed many so-called "super creams" as a waste of money.
Newby Hands, the beauty director of Harper's Bazaar magazine, said: "I tend to think that you get what you pay for, and when it comes to luxury creams, the extra costs are not only about the ingredients, but also about the customer experience of having someone on the other side of the counter, rather than taking it off a shelf, or exquisite packaging and wrapping.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2462192/The-ugly-truth-about-skin-creams%2C-by-beauty-boss-Liz-Earle.html
I think in the case of face creams the price reflects the unreality of the dream, the more unreal it is the higher the price. they are selling dreams and so the price reflects that.
I have always thought they were a con, and now someone has said it outloud in a newspaper.
Liz Earle, the co-founder of Britain's biggest independent beauty brand, has dismissed many so-called "super creams" as a waste of money.
Newby Hands, the beauty director of Harper's Bazaar magazine, said: "I tend to think that you get what you pay for, and when it comes to luxury creams, the extra costs are not only about the ingredients, but also about the customer experience of having someone on the other side of the counter, rather than taking it off a shelf, or exquisite packaging and wrapping.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2462192/The-ugly-truth-about-skin-creams%2C-by-beauty-boss-Liz-Earle.html
I think in the case of face creams the price reflects the unreality of the dream, the more unreal it is the higher the price. they are selling dreams and so the price reflects that.
Vacancy for a maths genius in countdown
london
Perhaps it is time for carol voderman to leave countdown.So even without the paycut, her soul must have realised she has been there too long. How else to explain why she was given such a derisory pay offer when her contract came up for renewal. This article suggests that she was told to take a 90% paycut. That is no way to treat anyone, least of all someone so important to the show. After all , to me, the attraction of the show is just watching her come up with the solution to the maths problem, nevermind what the answer is really. Its fascinating when she goes through that routine of juggling the numbers to come up with the preconceived answer and how seemingly miraculous that it all adds up. Not that i confirm it adds up, for all I know it may not, but who cares. haha.
no self respecting person will ever accept 10% of their salary. Rather short sighted of the countdown executives to even think of it, especially when the present presenter has indicated he is resigning and they will need Voderman more than ever to carry the program till the new presenter beds in.
But all is not lost. This may be a chance for an unknown maths genius to make his/er fortune. maybe some child prodigy like voderman. Perhaps the countdown executives have found such a person and so decided to give voderman a derisory offer that she has to refuse (as opposed to the famous mafia 'offer that you cannot refuse').
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7527091.stm
Perhaps it is time for carol voderman to leave countdown.So even without the paycut, her soul must have realised she has been there too long. How else to explain why she was given such a derisory pay offer when her contract came up for renewal. This article suggests that she was told to take a 90% paycut. That is no way to treat anyone, least of all someone so important to the show. After all , to me, the attraction of the show is just watching her come up with the solution to the maths problem, nevermind what the answer is really. Its fascinating when she goes through that routine of juggling the numbers to come up with the preconceived answer and how seemingly miraculous that it all adds up. Not that i confirm it adds up, for all I know it may not, but who cares. haha.
no self respecting person will ever accept 10% of their salary. Rather short sighted of the countdown executives to even think of it, especially when the present presenter has indicated he is resigning and they will need Voderman more than ever to carry the program till the new presenter beds in.
But all is not lost. This may be a chance for an unknown maths genius to make his/er fortune. maybe some child prodigy like voderman. Perhaps the countdown executives have found such a person and so decided to give voderman a derisory offer that she has to refuse (as opposed to the famous mafia 'offer that you cannot refuse').
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7527091.stm
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Living abroad
london
I have a friend staying with me now who lives in Thailand. He formerly lived in France, but decided to migrate to Thailand about 2yrs ago. I have an idea of what it is like to uproot and move to a foreign country through the eyes of a white man.
He has experienced things that happened because he is a white man in a poor asian country. I think if I were to be in his shoes, as a asian myself i wont attract that kind of people that he attracts. On the other hand, i wonder how much of the people he attracts to him is due to his soul wanting them and not anything to do with being white or asian. Certainly i would not want to get involved with ladyboys and start subsidising them and their families which is what has happened to him.
Hearing of his experience and being neither for or against it, i can see each of us chose our life, and it is unique, so there are no lessons to be learnt, as what happened to him was what his soul wants to experience. To another, his life there may be exotic and attractive, or a disaster, but it will be neither here nor there, for it matters not what others think of his experiences there. To him and to anyone living their lives, it is Life as it is lived by them, and that is that.
The only thing is if u r a friend, u might get involved in it indirectly. For eg, my friend in thailand, an entirely separate situation in France has occurred in which he might have to pay out large costs, so he is now harbouring his money and hence has not as much to spend. He is careful about money when he is here, not only because of his new situation, but also because he notices his money does not stretch very far and that is quite a common occurrence with people who have spent a long time in asia. The danger of this way of always comparing prices with thailand is that he overspends in thailand. It is cheap there but then he also loses his sense of constraint and splashes out, and without realising it, by being so extravagant, and also by giving the impression to everyone there that he is loaded, no one helps him save, nor restrain him when he orders another unneccessary dish... and so he ends up spending far more than he wouldlike.So he is extravagant in thailand, and parsimonious in uk. Neither is a good state of affairs as it is so extreme.
This is not unique to him, it happens to anyone who lives in s.e.asia and splits his time between there and the West. The following observations are not unique to my friend. It is a general observation. Part of it is the image he(this is a general 'he' and not refers to my friend) has cultivated in the east, as a rich man. It will be difficult to change that, without fear of losing his friends there or companions. If he entertains less he will find fewer people will seek his company and it will be rather too motifying to find himself abandoned. In a society like thailand, which observes the farang closely, this will be noted and news of it spread that he is poor after all and since his entertaining is less generous a lot of his followers will drift away. And yet if he carries on as before he will be really poor. haha. A catch 22 situation. Many of these people find the only solution to this is to simply disappear. They stop going to that town and find new places to visit and if they have learnt anything they adopt a less rich persona at their new place. haha.
S.E.Asia still attracts the moderately wealthy because on a small income u can get a lot of attention and u can put on a good show of wealth. They cannot hope to do that in Europe, as they have to be much wealthier to put on the same show. So these people find when they are in europe,they are on their own without an entourage of young cute guys and hardly anyone to have sex with. Whereas when in Thailand, they can live the life of a rich potentate with a host of young goodlooking men in attendance and available sexually.
Is this a realistic critique of the phenomenon that is the white man in thailand?It is from my observation of a lot of white guys who i have known, or chatted to over the years, and seen with my own eyes how they live in Thailand.Perhaps I should qualify it as a certain kind of gay white man in Thailand.
I have a friend staying with me now who lives in Thailand. He formerly lived in France, but decided to migrate to Thailand about 2yrs ago. I have an idea of what it is like to uproot and move to a foreign country through the eyes of a white man.
He has experienced things that happened because he is a white man in a poor asian country. I think if I were to be in his shoes, as a asian myself i wont attract that kind of people that he attracts. On the other hand, i wonder how much of the people he attracts to him is due to his soul wanting them and not anything to do with being white or asian. Certainly i would not want to get involved with ladyboys and start subsidising them and their families which is what has happened to him.
Hearing of his experience and being neither for or against it, i can see each of us chose our life, and it is unique, so there are no lessons to be learnt, as what happened to him was what his soul wants to experience. To another, his life there may be exotic and attractive, or a disaster, but it will be neither here nor there, for it matters not what others think of his experiences there. To him and to anyone living their lives, it is Life as it is lived by them, and that is that.
The only thing is if u r a friend, u might get involved in it indirectly. For eg, my friend in thailand, an entirely separate situation in France has occurred in which he might have to pay out large costs, so he is now harbouring his money and hence has not as much to spend. He is careful about money when he is here, not only because of his new situation, but also because he notices his money does not stretch very far and that is quite a common occurrence with people who have spent a long time in asia. The danger of this way of always comparing prices with thailand is that he overspends in thailand. It is cheap there but then he also loses his sense of constraint and splashes out, and without realising it, by being so extravagant, and also by giving the impression to everyone there that he is loaded, no one helps him save, nor restrain him when he orders another unneccessary dish... and so he ends up spending far more than he wouldlike.So he is extravagant in thailand, and parsimonious in uk. Neither is a good state of affairs as it is so extreme.
This is not unique to him, it happens to anyone who lives in s.e.asia and splits his time between there and the West. The following observations are not unique to my friend. It is a general observation. Part of it is the image he(this is a general 'he' and not refers to my friend) has cultivated in the east, as a rich man. It will be difficult to change that, without fear of losing his friends there or companions. If he entertains less he will find fewer people will seek his company and it will be rather too motifying to find himself abandoned. In a society like thailand, which observes the farang closely, this will be noted and news of it spread that he is poor after all and since his entertaining is less generous a lot of his followers will drift away. And yet if he carries on as before he will be really poor. haha. A catch 22 situation. Many of these people find the only solution to this is to simply disappear. They stop going to that town and find new places to visit and if they have learnt anything they adopt a less rich persona at their new place. haha.
S.E.Asia still attracts the moderately wealthy because on a small income u can get a lot of attention and u can put on a good show of wealth. They cannot hope to do that in Europe, as they have to be much wealthier to put on the same show. So these people find when they are in europe,they are on their own without an entourage of young cute guys and hardly anyone to have sex with. Whereas when in Thailand, they can live the life of a rich potentate with a host of young goodlooking men in attendance and available sexually.
Is this a realistic critique of the phenomenon that is the white man in thailand?It is from my observation of a lot of white guys who i have known, or chatted to over the years, and seen with my own eyes how they live in Thailand.Perhaps I should qualify it as a certain kind of gay white man in Thailand.
Friday, 25 July 2008
part 3 of 100 free minutes of calls given me by vodaphone
london
Still on the subject of the vodaphone 100 free minutes. My friend got a call from his thai friend, who was phoning from thailand. So he called back and i suggested using my phone to see if the free minutes are valid for overseas calls.
After the call, i checked the balance and found that it has taken all the 91p balance in my account. but the call was quite a long one. there was no reduction in the balance to the free minutes.
then, my friend tested it again by calling his thai friend again, but it wont put the call through. when i called a local line, it put it through.
one wonders how it all works and what the free minutes includes. i wonder whether when i top up, more money will be extracted to pay that thai call. Who knows.
My friend wants to get his free bus pass as he is over 60 and have found out he needs to have a uk address. So he is considering spending time in the uk as well as thailand.
I was going to my gym and he asked me to find out what the tariff is for someone who is not staying long. I asked at my gym, and was told it normally costs £10 a day to use the gym, but if i buy a daily pass he can sell it to me for £5 at a discount. On the way back, i was mulling over this, and thought cost of living here in uk is high,. For that price most probably it can give him a whole month's free membership in a thai gym.
When i told him of the tariff he pulled a face and castigated the gyms for their policy of tying someone to a yearly contract or charging them a lot for a daily basis. there dont seem to be a halfway house where they give 3months or 6months contracts. (His theory is that gyms know people do not stick around for long, after their initial enthusiasm in the new year resolutions to improve their health, and so giving short term contracts means no more income from that customer for the rest of the year. And i reminded him that it is a foretaste of how his money will not stretch v far in uk and whether he might not like to reconsider spending more time here.
And i ask him how will he spend his time here? it is too expensive to eat out, which he can do often in thailand because it is so cheap. He then volunteered the information that it is actually more costly to cook at home in Thailand than to eat out. I warned him that if he lives in uk, he might get bored, with things too expensive for him to go to, and being forced to stay indoors, and be stuck in the flat all the time.
I was in the library, and the librarian who was pottering around the books near me suddenly made a comment that there are new books elsewhere in the library and looked at the one i picked and said that is new. And then he went to the shelf where books are for sale and picked one by the same author . I said i wish it was not on sale, as i dont want to buy it , i just want to borrow it. and he said 'you come quite often here, don't u? I have seen you, and you can have it free'.
Well, i wasn't very keen on the author and the subject, it was a detective novel, but I took it anyway, as i certainly want to encourage him to give me free books in future. haha. While browsing the books for sale I saw one that i like. It was a paperback by michael moorcock 'The dancers at the end of time'. I love that book and it was on sale for 50p, like the hardback detective novel he gave me. So I exchanged it. maybe i was wrong, but he did say i can have the other book for free, and it was and cost the same as this one that i like. so i think it ws alright for me to exchange them.
I have allready borrowed this michael moorcock book before and read it but i like to keep it as a companion piece to the sequel, 'Legends at the End of Time' which i have got.
This paperback is the SF masterworks series, and it is a new editon being published in 2003 and the library is selling it allready. The first edition was in 1993. I am very pleased at getting to to add to my collection. One of the few books that i want to keep rather than just borrow and return to the library.
Still on the subject of the vodaphone 100 free minutes. My friend got a call from his thai friend, who was phoning from thailand. So he called back and i suggested using my phone to see if the free minutes are valid for overseas calls.
After the call, i checked the balance and found that it has taken all the 91p balance in my account. but the call was quite a long one. there was no reduction in the balance to the free minutes.
then, my friend tested it again by calling his thai friend again, but it wont put the call through. when i called a local line, it put it through.
one wonders how it all works and what the free minutes includes. i wonder whether when i top up, more money will be extracted to pay that thai call. Who knows.
My friend wants to get his free bus pass as he is over 60 and have found out he needs to have a uk address. So he is considering spending time in the uk as well as thailand.
I was going to my gym and he asked me to find out what the tariff is for someone who is not staying long. I asked at my gym, and was told it normally costs £10 a day to use the gym, but if i buy a daily pass he can sell it to me for £5 at a discount. On the way back, i was mulling over this, and thought cost of living here in uk is high,. For that price most probably it can give him a whole month's free membership in a thai gym.
When i told him of the tariff he pulled a face and castigated the gyms for their policy of tying someone to a yearly contract or charging them a lot for a daily basis. there dont seem to be a halfway house where they give 3months or 6months contracts. (His theory is that gyms know people do not stick around for long, after their initial enthusiasm in the new year resolutions to improve their health, and so giving short term contracts means no more income from that customer for the rest of the year. And i reminded him that it is a foretaste of how his money will not stretch v far in uk and whether he might not like to reconsider spending more time here.
And i ask him how will he spend his time here? it is too expensive to eat out, which he can do often in thailand because it is so cheap. He then volunteered the information that it is actually more costly to cook at home in Thailand than to eat out. I warned him that if he lives in uk, he might get bored, with things too expensive for him to go to, and being forced to stay indoors, and be stuck in the flat all the time.
I was in the library, and the librarian who was pottering around the books near me suddenly made a comment that there are new books elsewhere in the library and looked at the one i picked and said that is new. And then he went to the shelf where books are for sale and picked one by the same author . I said i wish it was not on sale, as i dont want to buy it , i just want to borrow it. and he said 'you come quite often here, don't u? I have seen you, and you can have it free'.
Well, i wasn't very keen on the author and the subject, it was a detective novel, but I took it anyway, as i certainly want to encourage him to give me free books in future. haha. While browsing the books for sale I saw one that i like. It was a paperback by michael moorcock 'The dancers at the end of time'. I love that book and it was on sale for 50p, like the hardback detective novel he gave me. So I exchanged it. maybe i was wrong, but he did say i can have the other book for free, and it was and cost the same as this one that i like. so i think it ws alright for me to exchange them.
I have allready borrowed this michael moorcock book before and read it but i like to keep it as a companion piece to the sequel, 'Legends at the End of Time' which i have got.
This paperback is the SF masterworks series, and it is a new editon being published in 2003 and the library is selling it allready. The first edition was in 1993. I am very pleased at getting to to add to my collection. One of the few books that i want to keep rather than just borrow and return to the library.
part 2 of 100 free minutes of calls given me by vodaphone#links#links
creating my life: 100 free minutes of calls given me by vodaphone#links#links
I had reason to txt my friend, as i wanted to ask him when he is coming to my flat to stay. he is coming today and i wish to find out the time so i can be in. I txt him a message, and then thought i shall ring his mobile phone again. This time, after listening to that message asking me to please top up, i continued to hold, and i heard the ringing tone, showing the number i had dialed was being called. And i got through. He did not answer, so i hung up. I then tested it by calling my landline, and answered the phone, and afterwards when i checked the balance on my mobile phone, i found that no money had been removed from my cash balance, but the free minutes have been adjusted. So it looks like they will connect after that warning. i think because the watchdog regulator in uk is v strict about free offers they give which must be unconditional if no mention is made of restrictions when they first offered it. But naturally vodaphone wont want to say so hoping people will top up. Most people would top up because they will want to access the free minutes. But I am unique. i dont bother with free offers if it does not suit me. I am perfectly able to walk away from a free offer. I think people like me must be as rare as hen's teeth. Would u do the same as i did, or would u have topped up? I think that explains why i will not go overweight, or get into debt, or become addicted because i can just say no and it is easy for me to do so. When i have enough, i stop. I am glad i m not greedy. it is greed to continue taking even though u have enough, or cannot use it anymore. I can stop myself because I believe I can leave it for the next person who comes after me. They might be in more need of it than me. So when i see something left behind by people, if i require it i will take it, if i dont , i leave it for the next person who will pass by. If more people do this take just enough for their needs, there will have enough for everyone. The rich are those who do not follow this philosophy. They amass and amass huge amounts of money, and hoard and hoard money and things. I think u have to have that selfish mentality to be rich. Coupled with a fear of insecurity and u will have got the personality profile of a rich person. Any person who lives a life attuned to nature will walk away when they have their fill but not the rich person.
My friend called me on my mobile and instead of answering it i switched his call off, (so he does not have to pay) and called him instead and got through. So this free 100 minutes offerred by vodaphone works for mobile phones too, and later when i checked the balance, the call only used up the minutes we were on. I wonder what happens if i call a overseas mobile. Would that 100 free minutes apply too? it might. Well, it looks like i have these free minutes to play about with for 30days. That is rather nice. hah.
I had reason to txt my friend, as i wanted to ask him when he is coming to my flat to stay. he is coming today and i wish to find out the time so i can be in. I txt him a message, and then thought i shall ring his mobile phone again. This time, after listening to that message asking me to please top up, i continued to hold, and i heard the ringing tone, showing the number i had dialed was being called. And i got through. He did not answer, so i hung up. I then tested it by calling my landline, and answered the phone, and afterwards when i checked the balance on my mobile phone, i found that no money had been removed from my cash balance, but the free minutes have been adjusted. So it looks like they will connect after that warning. i think because the watchdog regulator in uk is v strict about free offers they give which must be unconditional if no mention is made of restrictions when they first offered it. But naturally vodaphone wont want to say so hoping people will top up. Most people would top up because they will want to access the free minutes. But I am unique. i dont bother with free offers if it does not suit me. I am perfectly able to walk away from a free offer. I think people like me must be as rare as hen's teeth. Would u do the same as i did, or would u have topped up? I think that explains why i will not go overweight, or get into debt, or become addicted because i can just say no and it is easy for me to do so. When i have enough, i stop. I am glad i m not greedy. it is greed to continue taking even though u have enough, or cannot use it anymore. I can stop myself because I believe I can leave it for the next person who comes after me. They might be in more need of it than me. So when i see something left behind by people, if i require it i will take it, if i dont , i leave it for the next person who will pass by. If more people do this take just enough for their needs, there will have enough for everyone. The rich are those who do not follow this philosophy. They amass and amass huge amounts of money, and hoard and hoard money and things. I think u have to have that selfish mentality to be rich. Coupled with a fear of insecurity and u will have got the personality profile of a rich person. Any person who lives a life attuned to nature will walk away when they have their fill but not the rich person.
My friend called me on my mobile and instead of answering it i switched his call off, (so he does not have to pay) and called him instead and got through. So this free 100 minutes offerred by vodaphone works for mobile phones too, and later when i checked the balance, the call only used up the minutes we were on. I wonder what happens if i call a overseas mobile. Would that 100 free minutes apply too? it might. Well, it looks like i have these free minutes to play about with for 30days. That is rather nice. hah.
Thursday, 24 July 2008
stolen bike
london
I see that david cameron, the leader of the opposition conservative party has his bike stolen in portobello road. he chained it to a bollard, which is rather silly of him as anyone can lift the bike off and walk off with it.
he has been riding his bike to parliament followed by his official lexus car carrying his brief case.It seems really silly when i saw him cycling with that car following behind. the whole idea of saving petrol is negated. So i think his soul wants him to lose his bike, so he can get into that car and be driven like any politician. now he got a good excuse as he has no bike. If that is not his soul wanting it, i dont know what is. If he does not get a new bike soon, (and he can well afford another one, not to mention he most probably can claim the loss via his home insurance), I will take it as being proved right about his soul wanting him to lose that bike and get into that car.
Added,25july, saw this article about bike thefts. Seems that it is inevitable that ur bike will be stolen. So what to do? get a cheap 2nd hand bike, or find one in the recycle bin and make sure it is so old, decrepit that no one will bother to steal it. What do u think?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-truth-about-bike-crime-how-to-beat-the-thieves-876656.html
added 27.7.08 Cameron had been reunited with his bike, minus front wheel. it was opportunist thieves, (who happen to be kids)who took his bike. I can understand the temptation to take it must be irresistable. The silly git of a potential primeminister chained his bike to a bollard.he may have got his bike back, but I think this incident should destroy his chances of being prime minister. Would u trust the country to someone who dont even know what to chain his bike to? and he is not a novice biker either. silly git.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7527403.stm
I see that david cameron, the leader of the opposition conservative party has his bike stolen in portobello road. he chained it to a bollard, which is rather silly of him as anyone can lift the bike off and walk off with it.
he has been riding his bike to parliament followed by his official lexus car carrying his brief case.It seems really silly when i saw him cycling with that car following behind. the whole idea of saving petrol is negated. So i think his soul wants him to lose his bike, so he can get into that car and be driven like any politician. now he got a good excuse as he has no bike. If that is not his soul wanting it, i dont know what is. If he does not get a new bike soon, (and he can well afford another one, not to mention he most probably can claim the loss via his home insurance), I will take it as being proved right about his soul wanting him to lose that bike and get into that car.
Added,25july, saw this article about bike thefts. Seems that it is inevitable that ur bike will be stolen. So what to do? get a cheap 2nd hand bike, or find one in the recycle bin and make sure it is so old, decrepit that no one will bother to steal it. What do u think?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-truth-about-bike-crime-how-to-beat-the-thieves-876656.html
added 27.7.08 Cameron had been reunited with his bike, minus front wheel. it was opportunist thieves, (who happen to be kids)who took his bike. I can understand the temptation to take it must be irresistable. The silly git of a potential primeminister chained his bike to a bollard.he may have got his bike back, but I think this incident should destroy his chances of being prime minister. Would u trust the country to someone who dont even know what to chain his bike to? and he is not a novice biker either. silly git.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7527403.stm
making swedish meat balls
london
Now and then, I can get minced meats reduced very cheap at the supermarket, and so this article with its video on how to make swedish meat balls with mince beef and pork with fine bread crumbs and chopped onions , salt, pepper,milk,eggs is useful and easy to make. And they can be made in large quantities and frozen too.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2449290/Swedish-chefs-try-to-outdo-French-haute-cuisine.html
Now and then, I can get minced meats reduced very cheap at the supermarket, and so this article with its video on how to make swedish meat balls with mince beef and pork with fine bread crumbs and chopped onions , salt, pepper,milk,eggs is useful and easy to make. And they can be made in large quantities and frozen too.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2449290/Swedish-chefs-try-to-outdo-French-haute-cuisine.html
Nostalgia, GAY ends this saturday night at astoria.
london
A nice footnote to history. G.A.Y was the gay club that figured quite large when i was coming out. I first know of it when it was Bangs, on mondays and thursdays during the 80's. It has a large balcony which enable u to look at the guys dancing below and because it is quieter up there, u can cruise those on the balcony.And it has a cafe where u can have a snack in the early hours of the morning. Afterwards when it closes at 2am if u havent scored, or just dont want to go home that early, u would go to balans cafe in old compton st for a late night coffee and cruise guys there.
then jeremy joseph renamed it G.A.Y and moved it to the astoria next door . It was only £1 to go in, with the vouchers which u can get anywhere. And with another £1 for the coat check, it was a cheap night out where u can dance the night away. Those days i love to dance because I was young and full of energy to waste and it was HI-energy music then.
It has been years since i have gone there. They still give out £1 entry for mondays , but it has become younger and younger, and I have moved on to hard sex clubs. There was no sex to be had in GAY. So now this article says it is closing,its last night will be this saturday, 26july. That astoria building has long been threatened with demolition, to make way for the cross railway, and now i guess the axe has finally fallen. Jeremy must have found another venue.It seems he is moving to the scala, in kings cross. it is a former cinema, like the astoria. I dont think i shall go this saturday. That club has become very twinky, meaning lots of 25yrs old and below goes there. Both boys and girls, and not my scene at all.
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article4386037.ece
I have been googling for more news, and found this. It talked of 5 gay clubs closing. I used to wonder who are those gay guys going clubbing when for a fraction of the cost they can go to a sex club and have all the sex they want instead of spending so much and wasting so much time in the clubs having their ears deafened and ending up with nothing at the end of the long night. Well, it seems i have my answer. The gay guys are doing less clubbing. It looks like i m not the only one putting 2 and 2 together.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/01/where_are_all_the_dancing_quee.html
A nice footnote to history. G.A.Y was the gay club that figured quite large when i was coming out. I first know of it when it was Bangs, on mondays and thursdays during the 80's. It has a large balcony which enable u to look at the guys dancing below and because it is quieter up there, u can cruise those on the balcony.And it has a cafe where u can have a snack in the early hours of the morning. Afterwards when it closes at 2am if u havent scored, or just dont want to go home that early, u would go to balans cafe in old compton st for a late night coffee and cruise guys there.
then jeremy joseph renamed it G.A.Y and moved it to the astoria next door . It was only £1 to go in, with the vouchers which u can get anywhere. And with another £1 for the coat check, it was a cheap night out where u can dance the night away. Those days i love to dance because I was young and full of energy to waste and it was HI-energy music then.
It has been years since i have gone there. They still give out £1 entry for mondays , but it has become younger and younger, and I have moved on to hard sex clubs. There was no sex to be had in GAY. So now this article says it is closing,its last night will be this saturday, 26july. That astoria building has long been threatened with demolition, to make way for the cross railway, and now i guess the axe has finally fallen. Jeremy must have found another venue.It seems he is moving to the scala, in kings cross. it is a former cinema, like the astoria. I dont think i shall go this saturday. That club has become very twinky, meaning lots of 25yrs old and below goes there. Both boys and girls, and not my scene at all.
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article4386037.ece
I have been googling for more news, and found this. It talked of 5 gay clubs closing. I used to wonder who are those gay guys going clubbing when for a fraction of the cost they can go to a sex club and have all the sex they want instead of spending so much and wasting so much time in the clubs having their ears deafened and ending up with nothing at the end of the long night. Well, it seems i have my answer. The gay guys are doing less clubbing. It looks like i m not the only one putting 2 and 2 together.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/01/where_are_all_the_dancing_quee.html
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
2.2 litre skimmed 1%milk for 10p
london
I went to the local supermarket after my gym this afternoon and noticed they have huge amounts of skimmed milk2.2litres. At that time, they reduced it fr £1.44 to 89p. not enough reduction for me. But i know they will reduce it further if i return at the end of the day.I was thinking it might be 39p. when the time came, I nearly forgot. I had wanted to go around 8pm and it was over 9pm before i remembered. Usually it will be too late to get any, but this night they did not reduce it by much, only to 49p. so there were still loads on the shelf. so I hung around till closing time, when it was reduced to 20p. There was a long queue to pay, and while waiting my turn, i saw the last bottle reduced to 10p. I asked if he will reduce the ones i got to 10p too but he said no. so i replaced one of mine for the 10p one. I bought 5. That is 11 litres for 90p. when u consider that the long life skimmed milk simon bought was 50p per litre, this is a huge saving. I freeze them and they are just as good. And use them over a period of time. Milk keeps well when frozen. I use quite a lot of milk when I make porridge, and they are also v good with cereals though I dont eat a lot of that as they are full of suger. I am very pleased at tonight's foraging.
I also bought a pack of 2 raspberry cream turnovers. they were reduced from £1.55 to 59p, and then 29p. But there was no cream in it, and so I would warn people not to buy it at any price. Those were disappointing but I can remember their apple turnovers were quite good in the past, but I think they are skimping on the cream now. so I shall not buy them again no matter how low they are reduced.
You can well see why i am not affected by this inflation on food prices that all the papers are harping on about. I bide my time, and wait. Patience is a great virtue to cultivate. Everything in nature is catering to the person who waits. Food grows at its slow pace, and hunting depands on waiting for the prey. Time is what nature has a lot of and the seasons comes and goes taking its time about it, and bringing with it seasonal fruits and foods. If you live ur life atuned to the rythmn of nature, u will do well.
I went to the local supermarket after my gym this afternoon and noticed they have huge amounts of skimmed milk2.2litres. At that time, they reduced it fr £1.44 to 89p. not enough reduction for me. But i know they will reduce it further if i return at the end of the day.I was thinking it might be 39p. when the time came, I nearly forgot. I had wanted to go around 8pm and it was over 9pm before i remembered. Usually it will be too late to get any, but this night they did not reduce it by much, only to 49p. so there were still loads on the shelf. so I hung around till closing time, when it was reduced to 20p. There was a long queue to pay, and while waiting my turn, i saw the last bottle reduced to 10p. I asked if he will reduce the ones i got to 10p too but he said no. so i replaced one of mine for the 10p one. I bought 5. That is 11 litres for 90p. when u consider that the long life skimmed milk simon bought was 50p per litre, this is a huge saving. I freeze them and they are just as good. And use them over a period of time. Milk keeps well when frozen. I use quite a lot of milk when I make porridge, and they are also v good with cereals though I dont eat a lot of that as they are full of suger. I am very pleased at tonight's foraging.
I also bought a pack of 2 raspberry cream turnovers. they were reduced from £1.55 to 59p, and then 29p. But there was no cream in it, and so I would warn people not to buy it at any price. Those were disappointing but I can remember their apple turnovers were quite good in the past, but I think they are skimping on the cream now. so I shall not buy them again no matter how low they are reduced.
You can well see why i am not affected by this inflation on food prices that all the papers are harping on about. I bide my time, and wait. Patience is a great virtue to cultivate. Everything in nature is catering to the person who waits. Food grows at its slow pace, and hunting depands on waiting for the prey. Time is what nature has a lot of and the seasons comes and goes taking its time about it, and bringing with it seasonal fruits and foods. If you live ur life atuned to the rythmn of nature, u will do well.
100 free minutes of calls given me by vodaphone
london
It came via a text message on my pay-as -i- go vodaphone sim card. it will last only 1month till 22.8.08. and today i read in thepaper that vodaphone profits are down because of spain's housing downturn. Migrant workers in the construction business must make up a large part of their business, because they are all returning home as jobs dry up in spain.
'The company said trouble at its Spanish operations had dragged European organic revenues down by 0.2% year on year in the three months to the end of June. With more than 16 million customers, Spain is one of the company's four main European markets, along with the UK, Italy and Germany. Service revenues in Spain were down 2.5% in the quarter, contrasting with 8.1% growth over the course of last year'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/23/vodafonegroup.mobilephones
I hardly use my mobile phone anyway to make calls, preferring to use txt messaging and even then, very rarely. maybe they hope that by making it free for a month, i shall get so used to it that the habit will take hold and get me addicted to it. Well, it might work on other people. In fact, it must work if they are doing it. It is hardly likely they are offering this 100 free minutes out of the goodness of their business minded hearts. haha.
added, i have found out how it works. i have only £1 balance in my sim card, and they wont connect me if I make calls unless i top up. So that is the catch. to get the free 100mins of calls i have to top up my sim card. Psychologically they know people are more willing to make calls or write txt messages when they see a large balance on the account. Even i am not immune to that temptation, and i m very strong willed. So i thing 99% of the general population will succumb. Whereas if the balance is v low, u think twice about sending anything. Ah well, I won't bother to take up their free offer.
It came via a text message on my pay-as -i- go vodaphone sim card. it will last only 1month till 22.8.08. and today i read in thepaper that vodaphone profits are down because of spain's housing downturn. Migrant workers in the construction business must make up a large part of their business, because they are all returning home as jobs dry up in spain.
'The company said trouble at its Spanish operations had dragged European organic revenues down by 0.2% year on year in the three months to the end of June. With more than 16 million customers, Spain is one of the company's four main European markets, along with the UK, Italy and Germany. Service revenues in Spain were down 2.5% in the quarter, contrasting with 8.1% growth over the course of last year'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/23/vodafonegroup.mobilephones
I hardly use my mobile phone anyway to make calls, preferring to use txt messaging and even then, very rarely. maybe they hope that by making it free for a month, i shall get so used to it that the habit will take hold and get me addicted to it. Well, it might work on other people. In fact, it must work if they are doing it. It is hardly likely they are offering this 100 free minutes out of the goodness of their business minded hearts. haha.
added, i have found out how it works. i have only £1 balance in my sim card, and they wont connect me if I make calls unless i top up. So that is the catch. to get the free 100mins of calls i have to top up my sim card. Psychologically they know people are more willing to make calls or write txt messages when they see a large balance on the account. Even i am not immune to that temptation, and i m very strong willed. So i thing 99% of the general population will succumb. Whereas if the balance is v low, u think twice about sending anything. Ah well, I won't bother to take up their free offer.
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
nudist resort is allowed to ban someone for wearing clothes
london
This is rene oltra, who also runs the capdagde campsite and studio rentals. It is allowed to keep a ban list and amongst other infractions that can result in a ban is listed 'wearing clothes'. haha. This is a change from the usual ban against nakedness.
Since they are a naked resort, they have every right to ban people who wont conform to their rules.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jul/22/france.france
This is rene oltra, who also runs the capdagde campsite and studio rentals. It is allowed to keep a ban list and amongst other infractions that can result in a ban is listed 'wearing clothes'. haha. This is a change from the usual ban against nakedness.
Since they are a naked resort, they have every right to ban people who wont conform to their rules.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jul/22/france.france
free e-books downloads until 27july08
london
Thanks to chaotic in his weblog
There i found the link to the tor.com website where the offer of free e books have been extended to 27th july to download all them. Enjoy.
http://tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=577
Thanks to chaotic in his weblog
There i found the link to the tor.com website where the offer of free e books have been extended to 27th july to download all them. Enjoy.
http://tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=577
overheard in new york
london
I have a link on my sidebar to this website and today i could not help laughing at this latest post.
A Whole Continent Left Sticky and Unsatisfied
Guy: I need to go to Europe more often, I kinda compare it to sex, I always come back more relaxed and a little more pleasant to be around.
Girl with him: Gross.
--6 Train--
http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015504.html
It is the heading that got me.
I have a link on my sidebar to this website and today i could not help laughing at this latest post.
A Whole Continent Left Sticky and Unsatisfied
Guy: I need to go to Europe more often, I kinda compare it to sex, I always come back more relaxed and a little more pleasant to be around.
Girl with him: Gross.
--6 Train--
http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015504.html
It is the heading that got me.
Monday, 21 July 2008
is presentation more important than the substance?
london
how you view life may be illustrated by whether u think how a thing looks is more important than the substance of it.
I shall take as an example food. Does it looking nice on a plate be more important than the actual taste of it?
I would prefer the taste and quantity of food on the plate and never mind how it is presented on the plate.
But i do know others who think how they are viewed by others is more important than what they actually are.
so they want to be seen as fashionable, stylish, up to date, modern, successful... never mind if they are deep in debt, and cannot afford the lifestyle. I prefer to be debt free and appear to others to be living a poor life without luxuries. I am free of being a target for con men, and burglers for one thing. And any friends of mine will be friends because they like me rather than wanting to bask in what they perceive to be my desireable lifestyle. That must be a strong arguement for being yourself rather than putting on a false outward show. That living for show is such a stressful way of life, because it is a lie, and it is so much harder to maintain a lie and there is the constant fear of being found out.
how you view life may be illustrated by whether u think how a thing looks is more important than the substance of it.
I shall take as an example food. Does it looking nice on a plate be more important than the actual taste of it?
I would prefer the taste and quantity of food on the plate and never mind how it is presented on the plate.
But i do know others who think how they are viewed by others is more important than what they actually are.
so they want to be seen as fashionable, stylish, up to date, modern, successful... never mind if they are deep in debt, and cannot afford the lifestyle. I prefer to be debt free and appear to others to be living a poor life without luxuries. I am free of being a target for con men, and burglers for one thing. And any friends of mine will be friends because they like me rather than wanting to bask in what they perceive to be my desireable lifestyle. That must be a strong arguement for being yourself rather than putting on a false outward show. That living for show is such a stressful way of life, because it is a lie, and it is so much harder to maintain a lie and there is the constant fear of being found out.
pronunciation
london
Not only is it spelt without the 'o' as this google search found out ...
“Pronounce” is the verb, but the O is omitted for the noun: “pronunciation.” This mistake ranks right up there in incongruity with “writting.”
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/pronounciation.html
but when is it a good thing to correct someone's pronunciation?
I had a taste of that when we were on the yacht and John G said 'I have a lot of fun hearing anthony saying 'yau..cht'. It's nice of him to point it out to me. That was when it dawned on me that I have been mispronouncing that word all my life. I find it funny. And what is even funnier, no one brought it to my notice that i am mispronouncing it, until now. hmm. maybe they were too embarrassed to do so, or I say it with so much confidence that they did not feel it necessary as whatever way I pronounce it is just another of the quirky things about me that they have got used to. Maybe my friends think of me as eccentric, and so nothing i say or do, needs correcting. Well, that is how i would like to give as a reason why no one bothered to point out my mispronunciation of that word. I constantly mispronounce words when i place the wrong emphasis on the syllable. That is another thing I cannot figure out about english words. Where to place the stress in a long word of many syllables. I am glad no one points that out to me constantly. I think it is a good thing in a way, because it can be rather irritating to have someone constantly correcting your english. If i have to chose between being corrected on my english everytime, or to let me go my merry way mispronouncing and spelling it all wrong, i think i would chose not to be corrected.
After all I have some really quirky ways of living my life, which some people might feel they want to correct...like wanting to live a naked life, or a money free life,or views about sleeping with other guys, and about relationships, etc but so far no one has come up to me and point blank said it is wrong. I think because they know i shall not take a blind bit of notice. haha. When it is lifestyle anyone's choice to live their life is right for them. But facts like pronunciation and spelling is rather set in stone, and cannot be altered unless at the peril of being laughed at. I am glad i dont mind being laughed at. I think my life is unique and so will be different from the normal, and so being laughed at comes with the territory of being unique.
It is pronounced as in 'yought'. I think it is a silly way to pronounce that word, but then english is silly that way, as if trying to catch non english speakers out, to show they are foreigners. I wonder whether it is a way for the natives to pick out the foreigner and hence outsider in the community. I daresay some might use it for that purpose, but I think it is also because it shortens the pronunciation and so make it easy to say when talking about it, rather than say a mouthful of syllables. But there is no consistency to why it is pronounced that way and not another way.
It might be argued that with the word 'yacht', people find it lazy to pronounce the etch sound. Though if that is the reason than why is crisp not pronounced crips, rather than the harder to articulate 'crip..see' which really embarrasses the chinese speaker amongst others.
There is mispronunciation, there is misspelling, so when is it a good time to correct someone when they commit that mistake? nobody likes to be corrected but in some cases, it is worse to let them continue making that mistake and seeing others sniggering and the innocent offender being puzzled as to why, or in my case not even aware of it.haha.It is kinder to point out the correct pronunciation or spelling if done in a light hearted way. Usually prefacing it with 'by the way... it is pronounced...(fill in the blanks)or it is spelt...(fill in the blanks).
One word of caution, make sure u do know the correct form, otherwise it will be really awful, if u correct someone and find out u r the one who is wrong. haha. Also i think if u r a child, dont correct ur elders even if u r strongly tempted to do so and u r correct. Leave it to someone older to do so or ask someone else as if wanting to be corrected yourself ... 'how is it really pronounced/spelt? I always pronounce/spell it as ...(fill in the blanks). So which is it?'
Just look at how londoners secretly are amused at the tourist asking for 'lay-cester' square, instead of 'lester' sq (leicester sq) and for cholmondeley instead of saying 'chumley'.
Here is another one...
I read a newspaper article about what an actor or actress said when asked whether the film s/he has just made will be good or not... and s/he said 'the proof is in the pudding'
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/pudding.html
I should have looked up the pronunciation in the oxford dictionary where I belatedly found out it is pronounced 'yot'. I find i mispell that word yacht too. I found myself mispelling it as 'yatch' and have to go back to correct it in my blog.Now i know how it is pronounced, i can see why when i first used that word, i have spelt it as yatch instead of yacht.
money free life using dumpster diving technics
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/07/21/cnfree121.xml
Not only is it spelt without the 'o' as this google search found out ...
“Pronounce” is the verb, but the O is omitted for the noun: “pronunciation.” This mistake ranks right up there in incongruity with “writting.”
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/pronounciation.html
but when is it a good thing to correct someone's pronunciation?
I had a taste of that when we were on the yacht and John G said 'I have a lot of fun hearing anthony saying 'yau..cht'. It's nice of him to point it out to me. That was when it dawned on me that I have been mispronouncing that word all my life. I find it funny. And what is even funnier, no one brought it to my notice that i am mispronouncing it, until now. hmm. maybe they were too embarrassed to do so, or I say it with so much confidence that they did not feel it necessary as whatever way I pronounce it is just another of the quirky things about me that they have got used to. Maybe my friends think of me as eccentric, and so nothing i say or do, needs correcting. Well, that is how i would like to give as a reason why no one bothered to point out my mispronunciation of that word. I constantly mispronounce words when i place the wrong emphasis on the syllable. That is another thing I cannot figure out about english words. Where to place the stress in a long word of many syllables. I am glad no one points that out to me constantly. I think it is a good thing in a way, because it can be rather irritating to have someone constantly correcting your english. If i have to chose between being corrected on my english everytime, or to let me go my merry way mispronouncing and spelling it all wrong, i think i would chose not to be corrected.
After all I have some really quirky ways of living my life, which some people might feel they want to correct...like wanting to live a naked life, or a money free life,or views about sleeping with other guys, and about relationships, etc but so far no one has come up to me and point blank said it is wrong. I think because they know i shall not take a blind bit of notice. haha. When it is lifestyle anyone's choice to live their life is right for them. But facts like pronunciation and spelling is rather set in stone, and cannot be altered unless at the peril of being laughed at. I am glad i dont mind being laughed at. I think my life is unique and so will be different from the normal, and so being laughed at comes with the territory of being unique.
It is pronounced as in 'yought'. I think it is a silly way to pronounce that word, but then english is silly that way, as if trying to catch non english speakers out, to show they are foreigners. I wonder whether it is a way for the natives to pick out the foreigner and hence outsider in the community. I daresay some might use it for that purpose, but I think it is also because it shortens the pronunciation and so make it easy to say when talking about it, rather than say a mouthful of syllables. But there is no consistency to why it is pronounced that way and not another way.
It might be argued that with the word 'yacht', people find it lazy to pronounce the etch sound. Though if that is the reason than why is crisp not pronounced crips, rather than the harder to articulate 'crip..see' which really embarrasses the chinese speaker amongst others.
There is mispronunciation, there is misspelling, so when is it a good time to correct someone when they commit that mistake? nobody likes to be corrected but in some cases, it is worse to let them continue making that mistake and seeing others sniggering and the innocent offender being puzzled as to why, or in my case not even aware of it.haha.It is kinder to point out the correct pronunciation or spelling if done in a light hearted way. Usually prefacing it with 'by the way... it is pronounced...(fill in the blanks)or it is spelt...(fill in the blanks).
One word of caution, make sure u do know the correct form, otherwise it will be really awful, if u correct someone and find out u r the one who is wrong. haha. Also i think if u r a child, dont correct ur elders even if u r strongly tempted to do so and u r correct. Leave it to someone older to do so or ask someone else as if wanting to be corrected yourself ... 'how is it really pronounced/spelt? I always pronounce/spell it as ...(fill in the blanks). So which is it?'
Just look at how londoners secretly are amused at the tourist asking for 'lay-cester' square, instead of 'lester' sq (leicester sq) and for cholmondeley instead of saying 'chumley'.
Here is another one...
I read a newspaper article about what an actor or actress said when asked whether the film s/he has just made will be good or not... and s/he said 'the proof is in the pudding'
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/pudding.html
I should have looked up the pronunciation in the oxford dictionary where I belatedly found out it is pronounced 'yot'. I find i mispell that word yacht too. I found myself mispelling it as 'yatch' and have to go back to correct it in my blog.Now i know how it is pronounced, i can see why when i first used that word, i have spelt it as yatch instead of yacht.
money free life using dumpster diving technics
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/07/21/cnfree121.xml
Sunday, 20 July 2008
a mystery solved.
london
yesterday, simon and i were walking to the bus stop to go to our friend's civil partnership party. on the way we saw our downstairs neighbour walking ahead of us, and we caught up with her and chatted. #She said she saw some kids outside our flat throwing a tennis ball towards our window. She said to us thethought occurred to her that they might break our window, then the kids spontaneously clapped and walked away. They were aiming the ball to go through the gap between my window and the top and succeeded, that was why they clapped.
'Ah', I said 'so that explained why there was this green tennis ball on my fruit bowl on the kitchen table. I thought simon put it there'. Mystery which I was not aware of is now solved. haha.
yesterday, simon and i were walking to the bus stop to go to our friend's civil partnership party. on the way we saw our downstairs neighbour walking ahead of us, and we caught up with her and chatted. #She said she saw some kids outside our flat throwing a tennis ball towards our window. She said to us thethought occurred to her that they might break our window, then the kids spontaneously clapped and walked away. They were aiming the ball to go through the gap between my window and the top and succeeded, that was why they clapped.
'Ah', I said 'so that explained why there was this green tennis ball on my fruit bowl on the kitchen table. I thought simon put it there'. Mystery which I was not aware of is now solved. haha.
civil partnership party
london
Yesterday I and simon attended a friend's civil partnership party. They had the actual registrar signing on friday, for a small group of friends, but the main one was this party held in a dance studio in prince's gate. It was quite a strange address, because it was not on princes gate, the road, but along exhibition road. So that fooled simon and i. And it was not a dance studio but a restaurant.
During the speeches, my friend mentioned they spend a lot of time there, so it sounds like a club.
Anyway, when we first entered the room, I felt out of place. there were so many middle aged people wearing formal clothes and looking very establishment. Amongst them in a small huddle were my friends who i have not met for years, mainly at this friend's birthday. We were dressed casually, one of us in sandals. haha.
Well, it is rather interesting to see how the other side lives. There was finger food, carried about amongst the guests by waiters and waitresses, which soon got eaten, each person only able to grab one or two from the tray so as not to seem too greedy. Not that it was easy to grab more with only the hands to hold them. The food was called finger food, but was eaten on sticks and it keeps falling off.
There was wine flowing, but i had soft drinks. For me, i would prefer more food and less wine. No wonder people get alcoholic, when there is so much drinking. When u r standing around trying to make conversation, it is automatic to fill the gaps in conversations with continual sips from the glass. It is only because i was drinking some red sugery confection that stops me from doing it too much. When smoking was allowed, the smokers could at least fiddle around with their cigarettes. But my hosts both dont smoke so i m glad that smokers are not allowed. Though there were balconies at both ends of the room, and so smokers could do it outside.
Well the gay contingent was in the minority, and so it appears my friends have moved off from their gay social circle and cultivated a broader field. Well, they are fashionably conscious people, and during the bestman's speech he did poked fun at them for it, saying that during the time they were together, they met in 1990, harvey nichols became very popular.
I was at a retirement party a few weeks ago, and it was rather similar atmosphere in a way. Though the retirment party was less formal there was the distinctive feeling that there were two camps, a gay camp and a straight contingent. The two dont really mix i think. both feel constraint by the presence of the other. At least i felt that, but it may be just me. haha.
I remember their parties in their earlier years and it was much gayer, and less formal. There are fewer gay people who are well connected in society and so anyone who wish to join the social ladder will have to abandon their gay friends, and move on and that is what my friend's may have to do or are abandoned by their gay friends in turn. Their gay friends from their younger days would feel uncomfortable in a society gathering where manners and etiquette are strictly observed. Certainly i felt as if i should behave.
I think in these parties one is supposed to mix and make new friends, and contacts. However, i have not much patience with small talk and so it was a lost opportunity for me. I wonder what the others think of it.
Well, I know now why i avoid such parties before. And i shall hope to avoid them in future.
Yesterday I and simon attended a friend's civil partnership party. They had the actual registrar signing on friday, for a small group of friends, but the main one was this party held in a dance studio in prince's gate. It was quite a strange address, because it was not on princes gate, the road, but along exhibition road. So that fooled simon and i. And it was not a dance studio but a restaurant.
During the speeches, my friend mentioned they spend a lot of time there, so it sounds like a club.
Anyway, when we first entered the room, I felt out of place. there were so many middle aged people wearing formal clothes and looking very establishment. Amongst them in a small huddle were my friends who i have not met for years, mainly at this friend's birthday. We were dressed casually, one of us in sandals. haha.
Well, it is rather interesting to see how the other side lives. There was finger food, carried about amongst the guests by waiters and waitresses, which soon got eaten, each person only able to grab one or two from the tray so as not to seem too greedy. Not that it was easy to grab more with only the hands to hold them. The food was called finger food, but was eaten on sticks and it keeps falling off.
There was wine flowing, but i had soft drinks. For me, i would prefer more food and less wine. No wonder people get alcoholic, when there is so much drinking. When u r standing around trying to make conversation, it is automatic to fill the gaps in conversations with continual sips from the glass. It is only because i was drinking some red sugery confection that stops me from doing it too much. When smoking was allowed, the smokers could at least fiddle around with their cigarettes. But my hosts both dont smoke so i m glad that smokers are not allowed. Though there were balconies at both ends of the room, and so smokers could do it outside.
Well the gay contingent was in the minority, and so it appears my friends have moved off from their gay social circle and cultivated a broader field. Well, they are fashionably conscious people, and during the bestman's speech he did poked fun at them for it, saying that during the time they were together, they met in 1990, harvey nichols became very popular.
I was at a retirement party a few weeks ago, and it was rather similar atmosphere in a way. Though the retirment party was less formal there was the distinctive feeling that there were two camps, a gay camp and a straight contingent. The two dont really mix i think. both feel constraint by the presence of the other. At least i felt that, but it may be just me. haha.
I remember their parties in their earlier years and it was much gayer, and less formal. There are fewer gay people who are well connected in society and so anyone who wish to join the social ladder will have to abandon their gay friends, and move on and that is what my friend's may have to do or are abandoned by their gay friends in turn. Their gay friends from their younger days would feel uncomfortable in a society gathering where manners and etiquette are strictly observed. Certainly i felt as if i should behave.
I think in these parties one is supposed to mix and make new friends, and contacts. However, i have not much patience with small talk and so it was a lost opportunity for me. I wonder what the others think of it.
Well, I know now why i avoid such parties before. And i shall hope to avoid them in future.
Saturday, 19 July 2008
more friends coming to visit
london
That is the fun thing about being in london, sooner or later, my friends will come to london and visit. I got an email from my good friend paul M, who lives in Thailand, saying he is in London now. That is a surprise, as i thought it will be some time before i see him since he went to live in thailand.
I am glad he is here as i dont fancy going to thailand or malaysia in the near future what with the airfares so high. Also, i just dont feel like going away for so long, which i will have to do if i go there. I think it silly to travel there and stay a short time, seeing the flight is so long. And yet i am rather loathe to be away from the comfort of my flat for that length of time. I have guests now, and so my desire for company is fulfilled without me having to travel to get it.
I have been reading a book I borrowed from the library, called china road by rob gifford, and it really tells a lot about china's problems that are potential powder kegs. It gives the background to reasons why and how the peasants are being exploited and the potential anger of the peasants which may erupt in future to spoil the boom times. There is a blogger called chinabounder which i have linked to in my bloglist on the rightsidebar. And the book confirms his own 50 things that will prevent china from becoming great.
High inflation will be the trigger to unrest. When people see the price of goods double overnight, that is when they will rise up in revolt. though if the govt is ruthless and kill off all dissenters it will remain in power. (eg, zimbabwe)
That is the fun thing about being in london, sooner or later, my friends will come to london and visit. I got an email from my good friend paul M, who lives in Thailand, saying he is in London now. That is a surprise, as i thought it will be some time before i see him since he went to live in thailand.
I am glad he is here as i dont fancy going to thailand or malaysia in the near future what with the airfares so high. Also, i just dont feel like going away for so long, which i will have to do if i go there. I think it silly to travel there and stay a short time, seeing the flight is so long. And yet i am rather loathe to be away from the comfort of my flat for that length of time. I have guests now, and so my desire for company is fulfilled without me having to travel to get it.
I have been reading a book I borrowed from the library, called china road by rob gifford, and it really tells a lot about china's problems that are potential powder kegs. It gives the background to reasons why and how the peasants are being exploited and the potential anger of the peasants which may erupt in future to spoil the boom times. There is a blogger called chinabounder which i have linked to in my bloglist on the rightsidebar. And the book confirms his own 50 things that will prevent china from becoming great.
High inflation will be the trigger to unrest. When people see the price of goods double overnight, that is when they will rise up in revolt. though if the govt is ruthless and kill off all dissenters it will remain in power. (eg, zimbabwe)
Friday, 18 July 2008
friends here on a visit
london
A friend from paris is here to stay with me today. He came over via eurorail, and he brought his boyfriend with him. The boyfriend is a student and waiting for an exam result. He brought his laptop and hooked up via our wifi to the internet. I am glad we got wifi. They both are here to attend a civil partnership party given by a mutual friend of ours.
Its been sometime since I saw my french friend. And he has not changed much. Still looked very handsome. Both of them are v tall, 6' or more and towered over me. I felt like i was in a forest of trees just standing next to them.
I also got emailing with a french guy who went to capdagde the french naturist town. I contacted him to ask him about his experience there this summer, he stayed at the campsite, and from what he said, it is more naturist there. Not to mention tohire a camp site is so much cheaper even in the peak season of july-august. It is only 28euros a night for two sharing, and up to 8 can stay. most probably there will be a extra charge for others, but it will still be v reasonable.
i have hoped to go to capdeagde next year, and this guy says he might go as well. he is french and lives in paris. he said another guy he met while he ws there might be interested in sharing next year too.
I know my friend david from brighton is interested as well.
it is a lot of fun planning for a trip there. Half the fun is in the anticipation and the chatting with likeminded guys who have gone there and building rapport so that there is ready made friends there. In the past I have gone in june, but i think the weather is warmer for 24hr nakedness in july-august, which is what i like to do.
From what he said, there is more chances of meeting people in the camp site with its communal showers and wash areas, as well as openness of the tented accommodation. There are chalets and caravans, but i think i shall opt for the campsite where we can pitch up a gazebo like tent. it will be possible to stand up in there, which is better than a conventional tent. I hope to find a cheap light potable gazebo to bring. It has to be all those things as we will only be taking hand luggage if we are to fly to beziers, the nearest airport, by ryanair.
I have given my guests the flat keys and so they have gone out now, he to show his friend, whose first time visitor to london, more of the area. They are later going on to see glyndebourne, this is held in a country house where opera is being performed and people picnic on the grass of the country. Oh dear, i just forgot to ask my friend what opera is performing now. maybe i can google it.
I did and it is showing today L'incoronazione di Poppea, the coronation of poppea. I am not familiar with this opera, but then glyndebourne is rather specialised and is for the real opera enthusiast. my friend works for paris opera and will know what is what, maybe even knows personally the main singers. I dont envy him, as it can be v boring sitting through a performance if u dont understand what is going on, or even if u do, because opera is not about plot but singing. Sometimes there is no tune to it, haha. having said that i do like la traviata, because it has some really nice tunes, and for really tugging at the heart strings, nothing beats madam butterfly.
I found out that i have been looking at the june program. Looking at the july program i see that there is no performance today. So I guess my friend must be going there to talk business with the people who runs it.
Added. I mentioned this to my friend when i saw him again late tonight, when he returned and he said they went for the dress rehearsal of hansel and gretel. The audience are invited, and consist of friends and people connected with the business.
There was a live broadcast of the royal opera house production of the marriage of figaro only a few days ago, in trafalgar square. but i did not go, because i m not that keen on that opera. but that is something to be said for living in london, because there are all these things happening for those interested. Long ago, when i first came here, i used to be interested in going to these things, but i think i have lived here long enough to ration the things i go to, because otherwise going to all these events will feel like work!! Exhibitions are going on all the time, and films and events etc, and it will be mad to go to everyone of them. One learns to be selective and not be too greedy about going to everything. I guess if i were in some kind of a social whirl i shall have to attend, to be seen and be seen. That is one thing to be grateful for... that i m not in that social whirl. As it is i have to make a bit of effort to go to my friend's civil partnership, but i hope to get away with wearing something that dont need too much effort.
A friend from paris is here to stay with me today. He came over via eurorail, and he brought his boyfriend with him. The boyfriend is a student and waiting for an exam result. He brought his laptop and hooked up via our wifi to the internet. I am glad we got wifi. They both are here to attend a civil partnership party given by a mutual friend of ours.
Its been sometime since I saw my french friend. And he has not changed much. Still looked very handsome. Both of them are v tall, 6' or more and towered over me. I felt like i was in a forest of trees just standing next to them.
I also got emailing with a french guy who went to capdagde the french naturist town. I contacted him to ask him about his experience there this summer, he stayed at the campsite, and from what he said, it is more naturist there. Not to mention tohire a camp site is so much cheaper even in the peak season of july-august. It is only 28euros a night for two sharing, and up to 8 can stay. most probably there will be a extra charge for others, but it will still be v reasonable.
i have hoped to go to capdeagde next year, and this guy says he might go as well. he is french and lives in paris. he said another guy he met while he ws there might be interested in sharing next year too.
I know my friend david from brighton is interested as well.
it is a lot of fun planning for a trip there. Half the fun is in the anticipation and the chatting with likeminded guys who have gone there and building rapport so that there is ready made friends there. In the past I have gone in june, but i think the weather is warmer for 24hr nakedness in july-august, which is what i like to do.
From what he said, there is more chances of meeting people in the camp site with its communal showers and wash areas, as well as openness of the tented accommodation. There are chalets and caravans, but i think i shall opt for the campsite where we can pitch up a gazebo like tent. it will be possible to stand up in there, which is better than a conventional tent. I hope to find a cheap light potable gazebo to bring. It has to be all those things as we will only be taking hand luggage if we are to fly to beziers, the nearest airport, by ryanair.
I have given my guests the flat keys and so they have gone out now, he to show his friend, whose first time visitor to london, more of the area. They are later going on to see glyndebourne, this is held in a country house where opera is being performed and people picnic on the grass of the country. Oh dear, i just forgot to ask my friend what opera is performing now. maybe i can google it.
I did and it is showing today L'incoronazione di Poppea, the coronation of poppea. I am not familiar with this opera, but then glyndebourne is rather specialised and is for the real opera enthusiast. my friend works for paris opera and will know what is what, maybe even knows personally the main singers. I dont envy him, as it can be v boring sitting through a performance if u dont understand what is going on, or even if u do, because opera is not about plot but singing. Sometimes there is no tune to it, haha. having said that i do like la traviata, because it has some really nice tunes, and for really tugging at the heart strings, nothing beats madam butterfly.
I found out that i have been looking at the june program. Looking at the july program i see that there is no performance today. So I guess my friend must be going there to talk business with the people who runs it.
Added. I mentioned this to my friend when i saw him again late tonight, when he returned and he said they went for the dress rehearsal of hansel and gretel. The audience are invited, and consist of friends and people connected with the business.
There was a live broadcast of the royal opera house production of the marriage of figaro only a few days ago, in trafalgar square. but i did not go, because i m not that keen on that opera. but that is something to be said for living in london, because there are all these things happening for those interested. Long ago, when i first came here, i used to be interested in going to these things, but i think i have lived here long enough to ration the things i go to, because otherwise going to all these events will feel like work!! Exhibitions are going on all the time, and films and events etc, and it will be mad to go to everyone of them. One learns to be selective and not be too greedy about going to everything. I guess if i were in some kind of a social whirl i shall have to attend, to be seen and be seen. That is one thing to be grateful for... that i m not in that social whirl. As it is i have to make a bit of effort to go to my friend's civil partnership, but i hope to get away with wearing something that dont need too much effort.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
excellent lesson in economics
london
To see what I mean consider the following example. In the old world before the arrival of “hyper-finance”, if a family wanted a £100,000 mortgage, they would simply go to the Halifax and borrow £100,000. Now consider what happens in the new financial world. The family would borrow £100,000 from Northern Rock, which would sell £100,000 of bonds to hedge funds, which buy these with £100,000 borrowed from Bear Stearns, their prime broker, which would raise this money by selling £100,000 of commercial paper to Citibank, which would then borrow £100,000 through the inter-bank market from Halifax.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/anatole_kaletsky/article4346962.ece
someone made a comment ...
You are forgetting something. When people got their mortgages from the local Bank, that Bank took all the risk. And in that "Golden Age" that everyone now remembers, 500 Banks failed in the US in the eighties alone. Securitization has its problems, but one of its virtues is to spread risk.
jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/USA
I think that is a fallacy. In the past, the risk was clearly delineated and we all know who are at risk and can avoid them, and if there is a bankruptcy it is confined to them, now with risks spread out, no one knows who is involved, and even the prudent companies or individuals who have been careful with their money can get hit by it.
It is like insurance, the risk is spread to many, but it penalises the careful. Motor insurance penalises the careful driver who never gets an accident, whilst compensating the reckless driver. in fact, if u want ur money's worth it will pay u to get into accidents. Your car is written off, the insurance pays u and u use that to buy a brand new car. Take health insurance, it penalises the person who lives healthily, for they wont ever need the treatment, but those who are careless with their health gets fully paid when they get ill. It encourages reckless behaviour.
It is the same with the recent news of the OFT(office of fair trading) wanting to bring to court the banks for overcharging on overdrawn accounts. These people who overdraw are living recklessly, and should pay. But if the OFT wins, the banks will not be able to charge these reckless people but get everyone else to pay. So we shall have to pay for direct debits, cheques, etc etc, like people elsewhere in the world. I for one would be most annoyed if that happens. We shall be subsidising those reckless people who get into debt and dont budget.
Overall, customers can lose in one of two ways: large balances in current accounts forfeit the 6%-plus interest offered elsewhere; bigger losers are the 20% of customers who regularly stray into the red, and subsidise the rest through the high charges they pay.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/jul/17/currentaccounts.banking
And so they should. Anyone who is careless enough to leave so much in their currant account or to get into the red deserve to be penalised for it.
To see what I mean consider the following example. In the old world before the arrival of “hyper-finance”, if a family wanted a £100,000 mortgage, they would simply go to the Halifax and borrow £100,000. Now consider what happens in the new financial world. The family would borrow £100,000 from Northern Rock, which would sell £100,000 of bonds to hedge funds, which buy these with £100,000 borrowed from Bear Stearns, their prime broker, which would raise this money by selling £100,000 of commercial paper to Citibank, which would then borrow £100,000 through the inter-bank market from Halifax.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/anatole_kaletsky/article4346962.ece
someone made a comment ...
You are forgetting something. When people got their mortgages from the local Bank, that Bank took all the risk. And in that "Golden Age" that everyone now remembers, 500 Banks failed in the US in the eighties alone. Securitization has its problems, but one of its virtues is to spread risk.
jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/USA
I think that is a fallacy. In the past, the risk was clearly delineated and we all know who are at risk and can avoid them, and if there is a bankruptcy it is confined to them, now with risks spread out, no one knows who is involved, and even the prudent companies or individuals who have been careful with their money can get hit by it.
It is like insurance, the risk is spread to many, but it penalises the careful. Motor insurance penalises the careful driver who never gets an accident, whilst compensating the reckless driver. in fact, if u want ur money's worth it will pay u to get into accidents. Your car is written off, the insurance pays u and u use that to buy a brand new car. Take health insurance, it penalises the person who lives healthily, for they wont ever need the treatment, but those who are careless with their health gets fully paid when they get ill. It encourages reckless behaviour.
It is the same with the recent news of the OFT(office of fair trading) wanting to bring to court the banks for overcharging on overdrawn accounts. These people who overdraw are living recklessly, and should pay. But if the OFT wins, the banks will not be able to charge these reckless people but get everyone else to pay. So we shall have to pay for direct debits, cheques, etc etc, like people elsewhere in the world. I for one would be most annoyed if that happens. We shall be subsidising those reckless people who get into debt and dont budget.
Overall, customers can lose in one of two ways: large balances in current accounts forfeit the 6%-plus interest offered elsewhere; bigger losers are the 20% of customers who regularly stray into the red, and subsidise the rest through the high charges they pay.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/jul/17/currentaccounts.banking
And so they should. Anyone who is careless enough to leave so much in their currant account or to get into the red deserve to be penalised for it.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Unsettling times in malaysia
london
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7508805.stm
Saw this in the bbc news online. Anwar arrested for sodomy again. he is accused by a 23yr old (this reference to his age was removed at the bbc article when i looked again at it) aide. It is deja vu all over again. Has that person made such an accusation to get rid of a dangerous political opponent? It is one person's word against another, unless there are witnesses. My first reaction was 'not again!' it is getting boring this method of getting rid of a political opponent. They should be more imaginative.
Then it occurred to me that malaysia may get more unstable all because of the oil hike and the increase in petrol and food costs. That always brings unrest and sooner or later, violence. It starts with violence to an opponent by the state, and then violence amongst the populace. At this rate, it will frighten off the tourists. Thailand is not any better either, what with all the tension between the king and the ruling party. I think this economic crisis may turn out to be dangerous for the ruling party of malaysia.
Maybe it might make the airlines drastically reduce their fare if this frightens off the tourists. For me, that would be the silver lining in the cloud
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7508805.stm
Saw this in the bbc news online. Anwar arrested for sodomy again. he is accused by a 23yr old (this reference to his age was removed at the bbc article when i looked again at it) aide. It is deja vu all over again. Has that person made such an accusation to get rid of a dangerous political opponent? It is one person's word against another, unless there are witnesses. My first reaction was 'not again!' it is getting boring this method of getting rid of a political opponent. They should be more imaginative.
Then it occurred to me that malaysia may get more unstable all because of the oil hike and the increase in petrol and food costs. That always brings unrest and sooner or later, violence. It starts with violence to an opponent by the state, and then violence amongst the populace. At this rate, it will frighten off the tourists. Thailand is not any better either, what with all the tension between the king and the ruling party. I think this economic crisis may turn out to be dangerous for the ruling party of malaysia.
Maybe it might make the airlines drastically reduce their fare if this frightens off the tourists. For me, that would be the silver lining in the cloud
tomato plants
london
I saw a tv program last night, jimmy doherty's farming heroes, where i saw tomato plants being grown on a commercial scale in essex, and they grow so tall, with such large stems that it makes me wonder whether my puny weak stemmed tomato plants will really bear fruit. And then i heard that they need bees to pollinate them, and that really makes me realise that I might not get any tomatoes from them at all. But i learnt one useful thing, instead of tying them to the support, the farmer twists them clockwise round the support, and that is what i shall do with my tomato plants. Looking at the effort needed to grow them, and the picking of them individually, (not only for tomatoes but for celery as well... the number of steps to harvest the celery is so many and so labour intensive, i m surprised that celery costs so little (reduced to 40p fr 80p). They were using seasonal european workers that is why the costs are kept low. They earn £60 to £100 a day working 10hrs. compared to their home country it is good pay.
I went to look at my tomato plants this morning, and saw a weed growing in the soil, so i pulled it out, and found out it was not a weed. it was a beetroot. My neighbour must have planted it. some roots were allready growing out from it, so I hastily put it back.
I went this morning to the estate office to claim my free recycle bag. It is v useful to have and it is cleanable. i have been using shopping bags before.
I went to the library to find it is shut, the union workers are on strike because they wanted more pay rise. it is the consequence of rising inflation, the workers want more. There will be more strikes like these. It is funny that they start doing this when things are going bad. They should ask for pay rises long ago when everyone was making large profits. Well, when things are good nobody thought of saving for a rainy day, now the rainy day has come and everyone is screaming. haha.
But those of us who have saved for a rainy day are laughing. hoho.haha.
I saw a tv program last night, jimmy doherty's farming heroes, where i saw tomato plants being grown on a commercial scale in essex, and they grow so tall, with such large stems that it makes me wonder whether my puny weak stemmed tomato plants will really bear fruit. And then i heard that they need bees to pollinate them, and that really makes me realise that I might not get any tomatoes from them at all. But i learnt one useful thing, instead of tying them to the support, the farmer twists them clockwise round the support, and that is what i shall do with my tomato plants. Looking at the effort needed to grow them, and the picking of them individually, (not only for tomatoes but for celery as well... the number of steps to harvest the celery is so many and so labour intensive, i m surprised that celery costs so little (reduced to 40p fr 80p). They were using seasonal european workers that is why the costs are kept low. They earn £60 to £100 a day working 10hrs. compared to their home country it is good pay.
I went to look at my tomato plants this morning, and saw a weed growing in the soil, so i pulled it out, and found out it was not a weed. it was a beetroot. My neighbour must have planted it. some roots were allready growing out from it, so I hastily put it back.
I went this morning to the estate office to claim my free recycle bag. It is v useful to have and it is cleanable. i have been using shopping bags before.
I went to the library to find it is shut, the union workers are on strike because they wanted more pay rise. it is the consequence of rising inflation, the workers want more. There will be more strikes like these. It is funny that they start doing this when things are going bad. They should ask for pay rises long ago when everyone was making large profits. Well, when things are good nobody thought of saving for a rainy day, now the rainy day has come and everyone is screaming. haha.
But those of us who have saved for a rainy day are laughing. hoho.haha.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
recycling organic waste
london
we finally set up the framing rods and tied the tomato plants to it. Simon got those rods, and they have been sitting in the flat, unused till now. Actually it was simon who set them up. i was surprised that these rods were so long. The plants are now too big to put in the flat now, so we took them downstairs to the courtyard and stood it against the wall to get the sun and there they will remain.
After doing that, we were in the flat when the entry phone buzzed. I ignored it as i normally do when i m not expecting anyone. I had a fleeting thought that it might be an irate neighbour who is coming up to rant about our tomato plant being placed beneath their window. (Simon found out that I dont answer the entry phone when he forgot the key one day and I did not answer his buzz. He had to disturb our downstairs neighbour to get the spare key).
Anyway, someone else in the block must have let them in, because the next thing we heard was a knock on our front door.
It was the local westminster council worker asking if I recycle my things. I said Yes, then she asked did I know i can get free recycle bags from the estate office. And also whether i would like to have bags for organic waste to recycle. I said 'wont it smell? it may be a better idea to set up compost bins so we can get soil'. then another of the workers joined us and said council will collect everyday and put them in their own central compost heap, and it wont cost us anything as they will recoup the cost from the compost they will make from it. And that will be used to supply the parks. Well, that is a better idea than mine. I have noticed we have to empty our bin even though it is not full because the warm weather is making our waste smell, and attracting fruit flies.
The weather is getting warm now. It is ideal weather, with a cool wind so that the whole thing is just the right temperature to wear shorts without it being too humid and too hot. It is 25C, about 75F, which makes me think that is the ideal temperature.I was walking back from soho, and passing Westminster Abbey, when I looked up and saw Alistair darling, can't mistake him as he has dark eyebrows and white hair, walking towards me with a woman who looked like his wife, or secretary. naturally, i ignored him, haha. unlike star struck people in usa, we in britain do not pester our politicians when we see them in the streets.
we finally set up the framing rods and tied the tomato plants to it. Simon got those rods, and they have been sitting in the flat, unused till now. Actually it was simon who set them up. i was surprised that these rods were so long. The plants are now too big to put in the flat now, so we took them downstairs to the courtyard and stood it against the wall to get the sun and there they will remain.
After doing that, we were in the flat when the entry phone buzzed. I ignored it as i normally do when i m not expecting anyone. I had a fleeting thought that it might be an irate neighbour who is coming up to rant about our tomato plant being placed beneath their window. (Simon found out that I dont answer the entry phone when he forgot the key one day and I did not answer his buzz. He had to disturb our downstairs neighbour to get the spare key).
Anyway, someone else in the block must have let them in, because the next thing we heard was a knock on our front door.
It was the local westminster council worker asking if I recycle my things. I said Yes, then she asked did I know i can get free recycle bags from the estate office. And also whether i would like to have bags for organic waste to recycle. I said 'wont it smell? it may be a better idea to set up compost bins so we can get soil'. then another of the workers joined us and said council will collect everyday and put them in their own central compost heap, and it wont cost us anything as they will recoup the cost from the compost they will make from it. And that will be used to supply the parks. Well, that is a better idea than mine. I have noticed we have to empty our bin even though it is not full because the warm weather is making our waste smell, and attracting fruit flies.
The weather is getting warm now. It is ideal weather, with a cool wind so that the whole thing is just the right temperature to wear shorts without it being too humid and too hot. It is 25C, about 75F, which makes me think that is the ideal temperature.I was walking back from soho, and passing Westminster Abbey, when I looked up and saw Alistair darling, can't mistake him as he has dark eyebrows and white hair, walking towards me with a woman who looked like his wife, or secretary. naturally, i ignored him, haha. unlike star struck people in usa, we in britain do not pester our politicians when we see them in the streets.
Monday, 14 July 2008
etihadairline flight offers
london
Saw an advert in the papers today from etihad airlines, £480 rtn to bangkok.£500 to kl, The catch is travel out must be between sept and oct. hmm,and it involves a stopover at abu dhabi, of 2-5hrs. I would like to go to msia,spore or thailand in feb 09 and prefer a non stop flight. so, even though the fares seem reasonable, i shall wait and see if MAS or SIA or ThaiAir makes an offer for the same amount. If the recession deepens there will be less people flying and they might have to reduce their prices just to put bums on seats.
The thing is even at £500 rtn I am not very tempted. For that money i can have two short breaks in europe, or gran canary, rather than one long holiday in s.e.asia. And since i m interested in sex when i go on holiday, there is more variety in men and more gaymen available in europe than in s.e.asia.For value for money, two or three short breaks in europe,gran canary is so much more desireable.
In today's papers, etihad is reported to want to buy $20billion worth of planes in the farnborough plane fair that's opening this week. I wonder how true is that. When there are 20 airlines gone bankrupt, and more going to end up the same way, and oil prices so high, they will be rather foolish to do so. I for one would like to go non stop rather than change planes at abu dhabi with its long transit hours on top of the flight hours. And if another airline can offer the same fare non stop, i would go for it rather than take etihad. Even if the airline fare is £50 higher, i shall still prefer non stop. So i dont see how etihad can compete with them. Abu Dhabi is not a destination by itself. No one i know would willingly go there. The airline wants to be the hub for the world. It does not work. It can be the hub for the middle east, but since most of that area is not tourist friendly, (no alcohol and no sex allowed, what kind of tourist destination is that i ask you?) who would want to go there? Only business men.
SIA with its superjumbo will have to find more passengers and so the chances of competition for passengers will be fierce amongst the airlines going to s.e.asia. I think the chances of cheap fares is rather good. The thing is if there is nothing cheap enough , it does not matter, as all my travel is discretionary anyway. If the fares are too high, it is no hardship for me to stay in london, or go on short cheap ryanair flights to europe in winter.
And i bet a lot of people will be feeling the pinch now food, petrol, mortgages are going up. The airlines will find it harder to get customers I think.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/07/13/cnabu113.xml
Interestingly, I cannot find the article which mentioned the 20 airline bankruptcies and the fear that a huge chunk of the advance orders for airplanes may be cancelled. I guess the editor got a bollocking for printing it. It is in the print edition of the papers but disappeared in the online versions.
Saw an advert in the papers today from etihad airlines, £480 rtn to bangkok.£500 to kl, The catch is travel out must be between sept and oct. hmm,and it involves a stopover at abu dhabi, of 2-5hrs. I would like to go to msia,spore or thailand in feb 09 and prefer a non stop flight. so, even though the fares seem reasonable, i shall wait and see if MAS or SIA or ThaiAir makes an offer for the same amount. If the recession deepens there will be less people flying and they might have to reduce their prices just to put bums on seats.
The thing is even at £500 rtn I am not very tempted. For that money i can have two short breaks in europe, or gran canary, rather than one long holiday in s.e.asia. And since i m interested in sex when i go on holiday, there is more variety in men and more gaymen available in europe than in s.e.asia.For value for money, two or three short breaks in europe,gran canary is so much more desireable.
In today's papers, etihad is reported to want to buy $20billion worth of planes in the farnborough plane fair that's opening this week. I wonder how true is that. When there are 20 airlines gone bankrupt, and more going to end up the same way, and oil prices so high, they will be rather foolish to do so. I for one would like to go non stop rather than change planes at abu dhabi with its long transit hours on top of the flight hours. And if another airline can offer the same fare non stop, i would go for it rather than take etihad. Even if the airline fare is £50 higher, i shall still prefer non stop. So i dont see how etihad can compete with them. Abu Dhabi is not a destination by itself. No one i know would willingly go there. The airline wants to be the hub for the world. It does not work. It can be the hub for the middle east, but since most of that area is not tourist friendly, (no alcohol and no sex allowed, what kind of tourist destination is that i ask you?) who would want to go there? Only business men.
SIA with its superjumbo will have to find more passengers and so the chances of competition for passengers will be fierce amongst the airlines going to s.e.asia. I think the chances of cheap fares is rather good. The thing is if there is nothing cheap enough , it does not matter, as all my travel is discretionary anyway. If the fares are too high, it is no hardship for me to stay in london, or go on short cheap ryanair flights to europe in winter.
And i bet a lot of people will be feeling the pinch now food, petrol, mortgages are going up. The airlines will find it harder to get customers I think.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/07/13/cnabu113.xml
Interestingly, I cannot find the article which mentioned the 20 airline bankruptcies and the fear that a huge chunk of the advance orders for airplanes may be cancelled. I guess the editor got a bollocking for printing it. It is in the print edition of the papers but disappeared in the online versions.
Sunday, 13 July 2008
self service
london
I was at the victoria library yesterday, and wanted to borrow a book, but the librarian desk where we used to sign out the book has been removed. I asked at the information desk and was taken to a terminal and shown how to check out a book myself. This is the trend nowadays. Even the supermarkets have terminals where u can check out by yourself. One staff can look after a lot of terminals. My local tesco, which has limited spaces for queues, has now installed them. The staff is also there to make sure no one runs off by cheating and check in less food than they pick up. My local library in pimlico is closed for renovation, and i daresay when they reopen, i shall be seeing these terminals. I think we shall be seeing a lot of these self service terminals now.
But people will make mistakes and pay for it. I realise how useful a shop assistant is when i enquired curry's the electrical shop in victoria. I asked them for the £59 digital camera as advertised some time ago, and it was behind a locked case. It looked the right camera for me, using only 2AA batteries. I said i shall return to buy it, and then the assistant said it does not come with a sim memory card, and a card with 1G of memory will cost about £19. Well, that certainly made me pause. And this is when i m glad for a shop assistant to tell me of this. I went to argos and found a half price leaflet featuring a sanyo digital camera costing £62, but there was no mention of whether it includes a memory card nor whether is is rechargeable. I think i shall prefer a chargeble battery. There is no way to find out what its features are until i buy it. There is no one in the store to advise. I guess one way is to look it up in the main catalogue and hope all the information is listed there, though if it is a special purchase it might not be featured in the main catalogue. I am beginning to realise that in future if self service becomes more popular, lack of information will be the greatest obstacle to making a good purchase choice, and it will be difficult to correct any mistaken purchase.
I am in no hurry to buy a camera, as i think the recession will soon make them cheaper. Also, I am not a camera fiend,wanting to take pictures of everything. I am not going on holiday again till late september. A further reason is that I still like my old digital camera, and want to continue using it, and am trying to find other ways to retrieve the pics using the software that is only suitable for windowsXP. I could download it on this new laptop of mine, using window vista, but knowing windows, i m reluctant to do so because i have learnt from painful past experiences that if it is not compatible the whole thing will wreck the vista. If it aint broke i am not going to disturb it.
One very important thing i have found out is that if u take ur time, things resolve itself. Either u find it is not that important anymore, so u can do without it, or the problem disappears; or something comes up later that gives u that thing without any effort on ur part or solves it without u even trying.
I was at the victoria library yesterday, and wanted to borrow a book, but the librarian desk where we used to sign out the book has been removed. I asked at the information desk and was taken to a terminal and shown how to check out a book myself. This is the trend nowadays. Even the supermarkets have terminals where u can check out by yourself. One staff can look after a lot of terminals. My local tesco, which has limited spaces for queues, has now installed them. The staff is also there to make sure no one runs off by cheating and check in less food than they pick up. My local library in pimlico is closed for renovation, and i daresay when they reopen, i shall be seeing these terminals. I think we shall be seeing a lot of these self service terminals now.
But people will make mistakes and pay for it. I realise how useful a shop assistant is when i enquired curry's the electrical shop in victoria. I asked them for the £59 digital camera as advertised some time ago, and it was behind a locked case. It looked the right camera for me, using only 2AA batteries. I said i shall return to buy it, and then the assistant said it does not come with a sim memory card, and a card with 1G of memory will cost about £19. Well, that certainly made me pause. And this is when i m glad for a shop assistant to tell me of this. I went to argos and found a half price leaflet featuring a sanyo digital camera costing £62, but there was no mention of whether it includes a memory card nor whether is is rechargeable. I think i shall prefer a chargeble battery. There is no way to find out what its features are until i buy it. There is no one in the store to advise. I guess one way is to look it up in the main catalogue and hope all the information is listed there, though if it is a special purchase it might not be featured in the main catalogue. I am beginning to realise that in future if self service becomes more popular, lack of information will be the greatest obstacle to making a good purchase choice, and it will be difficult to correct any mistaken purchase.
I am in no hurry to buy a camera, as i think the recession will soon make them cheaper. Also, I am not a camera fiend,wanting to take pictures of everything. I am not going on holiday again till late september. A further reason is that I still like my old digital camera, and want to continue using it, and am trying to find other ways to retrieve the pics using the software that is only suitable for windowsXP. I could download it on this new laptop of mine, using window vista, but knowing windows, i m reluctant to do so because i have learnt from painful past experiences that if it is not compatible the whole thing will wreck the vista. If it aint broke i am not going to disturb it.
One very important thing i have found out is that if u take ur time, things resolve itself. Either u find it is not that important anymore, so u can do without it, or the problem disappears; or something comes up later that gives u that thing without any effort on ur part or solves it without u even trying.
a friend's retirement party
london
I was there yesterday. It was held in a pub in knightsbridge. I was looking for the loo actually and went downstairs having missed the gents loo upstairs, and found my host in the room downstairs. I was fairly early, and he asked me what will i drink. I don't really like liquour and was about to ask for orange juice, but he suggested one of those mixed fruit with alcohol in a bottle. It didnt taste alcoholic but was very sweet. It is unusual for him to pay for drinks because I thought the usual convention when a party is held in a pub is for people to buy drinks and at the end of the day, the party person pays the difference of the cost to hire it, or if the guests drink a lot, the pub pocket the profit.
There was a mix of people from his work, and from his gay life. One of the guest who was gay wondered why he did not have the party in a gay bar, instead of this straight bar; but this mix of work colleagues who will not be gay may have influenced his choice. I was chatting to a guy from Ghana, who lives in fulham, and he pointed out our retirement man's son. When I first saw the son, I thought he was a girl. He had just graduated from art school and says he hopes to go to New York and get work experience with a well known artist. Well he gave me the name of the artist but I have not heard of it. This is not any indication of the status of the artist, just shows my ignorance of the artistic world. He says he hopes to go to new york on a visitor visa, and find work. Is it that easy to do that? I thought it would be difficult seeing as just that day i read in the papers the govt is implementing online registration in advance for everyone in EU who visits the usa. It seems so, the authorities merely turns a blind eye to it, and as long as a visitor cross the border to canada every 3 months he can keep his stay valid.
it seems these illegal workers pay taxes. No wonder the authorities allows it. Anyway that is his plan.
There was a small buffet, the chicken was nice, but it soon was eaten up and was not replenished. Later, i saw a black man setting up huge loudspeakers but when he turned it on, the volume was very soft and i was quite relieved. however, as the party progressed the volume became deafening, and conversation became difficult. And i left.
People retire at 65yrs old and so by having a retirement party my friend has proclaimed his age. He intends to go to Thailand to live. he has a thai boyfriend there.
His wife did not turn up, because they are separated.
I was chatting to the chap from ghana, and he said it is well known in ghana that the lesbianism is rife there. it is unspoken, but acknowledged, even to the extent that a married woman will casually mention her lesbian lover. So like in the asian and indian societies, people get married and produce children and fulfill their duties to procreate, and then they are free to indulge in any sexuality they like. sounds like a good way of maintaining a society. The children continue to have a mother and father, and they have a life.
Here in the UK, the married couple are only free to indulge after their children have grown up and left the home. A long time to wait, by which time both will be old. It is not as much fun than when u r young. Finding sex partners when u r old is not so easy. Or have someone willing to give u the sex experience so u become good at it is more difficult when u are old than when u r young and nubile and full of juice.
I have sex with both young and old and i can say visually it is nicer to have sex with a young person. but when it comes to experience, an older person is better. But this applies to an older person who has a lot of skill in sex making. I have been with older guys who are inexperienced, and I think they are doubly disadvantage. One can enjoy some one's young body and that compensates for their inept love making, but it is difficult to do that with some one with an old body.
I was there yesterday. It was held in a pub in knightsbridge. I was looking for the loo actually and went downstairs having missed the gents loo upstairs, and found my host in the room downstairs. I was fairly early, and he asked me what will i drink. I don't really like liquour and was about to ask for orange juice, but he suggested one of those mixed fruit with alcohol in a bottle. It didnt taste alcoholic but was very sweet. It is unusual for him to pay for drinks because I thought the usual convention when a party is held in a pub is for people to buy drinks and at the end of the day, the party person pays the difference of the cost to hire it, or if the guests drink a lot, the pub pocket the profit.
There was a mix of people from his work, and from his gay life. One of the guest who was gay wondered why he did not have the party in a gay bar, instead of this straight bar; but this mix of work colleagues who will not be gay may have influenced his choice. I was chatting to a guy from Ghana, who lives in fulham, and he pointed out our retirement man's son. When I first saw the son, I thought he was a girl. He had just graduated from art school and says he hopes to go to New York and get work experience with a well known artist. Well he gave me the name of the artist but I have not heard of it. This is not any indication of the status of the artist, just shows my ignorance of the artistic world. He says he hopes to go to new york on a visitor visa, and find work. Is it that easy to do that? I thought it would be difficult seeing as just that day i read in the papers the govt is implementing online registration in advance for everyone in EU who visits the usa. It seems so, the authorities merely turns a blind eye to it, and as long as a visitor cross the border to canada every 3 months he can keep his stay valid.
it seems these illegal workers pay taxes. No wonder the authorities allows it. Anyway that is his plan.
There was a small buffet, the chicken was nice, but it soon was eaten up and was not replenished. Later, i saw a black man setting up huge loudspeakers but when he turned it on, the volume was very soft and i was quite relieved. however, as the party progressed the volume became deafening, and conversation became difficult. And i left.
People retire at 65yrs old and so by having a retirement party my friend has proclaimed his age. He intends to go to Thailand to live. he has a thai boyfriend there.
His wife did not turn up, because they are separated.
I was chatting to the chap from ghana, and he said it is well known in ghana that the lesbianism is rife there. it is unspoken, but acknowledged, even to the extent that a married woman will casually mention her lesbian lover. So like in the asian and indian societies, people get married and produce children and fulfill their duties to procreate, and then they are free to indulge in any sexuality they like. sounds like a good way of maintaining a society. The children continue to have a mother and father, and they have a life.
Here in the UK, the married couple are only free to indulge after their children have grown up and left the home. A long time to wait, by which time both will be old. It is not as much fun than when u r young. Finding sex partners when u r old is not so easy. Or have someone willing to give u the sex experience so u become good at it is more difficult when u are old than when u r young and nubile and full of juice.
I have sex with both young and old and i can say visually it is nicer to have sex with a young person. but when it comes to experience, an older person is better. But this applies to an older person who has a lot of skill in sex making. I have been with older guys who are inexperienced, and I think they are doubly disadvantage. One can enjoy some one's young body and that compensates for their inept love making, but it is difficult to do that with some one with an old body.
Friday, 11 July 2008
some pics fr our ibiza holiday
fish lunch for 4.the others did not want the fish head and the rest of the fish, so i had it and there was alot of flesh still on it. if my western friends are any indication, westerners dont know how to eat fish and throw a lot of it away. They just want the fillet.
all pics taken by john G.the yacht in the middle is ours. pengoin bay in ibiza
Thursday, 10 July 2008
pasta
london
I was eating my cheese salad open sandwich on my homemade bread (delicious with branston pickle... a great british invention) and simon came in having just woken up and said 'i m making pasta, are u hungry?'
I said yes, and laughed when I realise I was saying that when my mouth was stuffed full of sandwich. Simon makes such good pasta, he gets it al dente, and his sauces are real delicious. I know i wont be able to resist eating them.
simon also tells me our old laptop gave up the ghost the day I left for my ibiza holiday. The hard drive just went kaput. so now i dont have any means of downloading the pics i took with my digital camera. Looks like I may have to buy another digital camera. Unless i can find a cheap secondhand laptop that has windows 98 or windowsXP on it.
I was eating my cheese salad open sandwich on my homemade bread (delicious with branston pickle... a great british invention) and simon came in having just woken up and said 'i m making pasta, are u hungry?'
I said yes, and laughed when I realise I was saying that when my mouth was stuffed full of sandwich. Simon makes such good pasta, he gets it al dente, and his sauces are real delicious. I know i wont be able to resist eating them.
simon also tells me our old laptop gave up the ghost the day I left for my ibiza holiday. The hard drive just went kaput. so now i dont have any means of downloading the pics i took with my digital camera. Looks like I may have to buy another digital camera. Unless i can find a cheap secondhand laptop that has windows 98 or windowsXP on it.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
my views about gay sex
london
Warning! This is a explicit posting and if u r of a sensitive disposition, better skip it.
I have read lots of gay guys saying they are just waiting to meet their one true love and life would be perfect after that. Or they talk of people they reject just because of the frivolous reason that they do not support the same band.I used to think like that and reject people whose interests are different from mine, but now I can only laugh when i hear someone else talk like that. It is obvious they have a lot of awareness to grow into.
i know that the impression that i give to anyone reading is that i m casual about sex, sleeping with most anyone, and not very discriminating about it. Many gay guys feel they must sleep with someone gorgeous as it affirms their own self worth. They say,'I am not reducing my standards, i m not that desperate for a shag.'
I used to think that too, when i was starting out and have my ideal man, but now I look back on those days and just laugh at myself.
As joe orton said, (and i m paraphrasing) you should go out and get as much sex as u can when u r alive, because u will regret it when u r dead.
Now I find almost any man has some good points that i can find to excite me. Though it is easier if the guy is young looking, or has a nice body, or has a nice cock, (and it does not mean big, but what i think is nice) and knows what to do with it. haha.
Though, recently i found out I agree with what my friend Paul M told me... that as a bottom he does not really care what the guy looks like, as long as he has a cock large enough and knows what to do with it, but when it comes to him fucking someone, he prefers to do it to someone who has a nice bum, and body. I am finding out that is the case with me too. Somehow a fat bottom, on a guy with bad saggy skin, just dont have that zing visually and tactile-ly as a smooth, taut bottom of a chap with young looking skin.
I think this topic may be too much for some people, and I would advise them to move on if they have read this far in spite of the disclaimer at the beginning, and stop reading any further.
I think a gay guy will be well advised to look after his skin, oil it, moisturise it, not do too much sun bathing that will wrinkle it prematurely and dry it too much, so that he presents a young looking skin, and to exercise so he keeps a firm buttocks, and firm muscles that dont sag. It will be a great help in keeping himself attractive even into old age.
And then learn technics of sex that will make him a good lover, rather than rely on looks only. As u grow older, when the body gets less supple and taut, u may need to bring in personality and technic, and other skills to augment it.
A lot of old gays thinks that their being old is the one that gets them rejections, but from my own experience, it is not so. It is how well they look after themselves so that they look good even in old age, and how good their technic is. With viagra, it is easy to keep a hard on, something that pre viagra was a great deterrant to sex when u grow old. When u cannot get it up, it is a great deterrant to sex and being a top. So now that problem is more or less gone. An older guy can increase his sex contacts if he is versatile, so he can be both active and passive , give and take if needed.
There is more fun to be had and positions to get into when you are versatile.
I find firm muscles and taut skin is a huge turn on for me. But not someone who is totally fat free, because a bit of fat to smooth out the body is a good look. The really fatless body looks very dehydrated and hard to the touch. A bit of fat gives it a yielding softness which is very pleasing to touch.
I daresay many gays will have different things that turns them on. I can only mention what turns me on. And even then, it does change with the guy and the circumstances.
As for relationships, I dont think it is very important. Many long standing relationships i see have become friends, and do not have sex with each other anymore. It is inevitable, because unless each person has a lot of imagination to vary the sex between them, the sex soon becomes the same. I for one want variety in my sex life, and being monogamous with one person will soon exhaust the possibilities and i shall be bored with it. I know of only one long term relationship of a gay couple whose sexlive is as fantastic if not more than when they first started out. They do it by cruising together and having threesomes. I have lost touch with them now so not sure if that is the case still.
I think an open relationship where either or both can sleep with others is a more practical one which will enable the relationship to continue. Some gays might say that is not a relationship anymore, if no sex is involved, but a friendship, or a companionship. I think they would be right. It would not matter to me, as I think a relationship is not very important. I can be very happy with or without a boyfriend. I dont feel i need another person to make me complete. But lots of gay guys dont agree. They think they must have someone to love, or be loved by, before they are complete. I think it is a fallacy.
Warning! This is a explicit posting and if u r of a sensitive disposition, better skip it.
I have read lots of gay guys saying they are just waiting to meet their one true love and life would be perfect after that. Or they talk of people they reject just because of the frivolous reason that they do not support the same band.I used to think like that and reject people whose interests are different from mine, but now I can only laugh when i hear someone else talk like that. It is obvious they have a lot of awareness to grow into.
i know that the impression that i give to anyone reading is that i m casual about sex, sleeping with most anyone, and not very discriminating about it. Many gay guys feel they must sleep with someone gorgeous as it affirms their own self worth. They say,'I am not reducing my standards, i m not that desperate for a shag.'
I used to think that too, when i was starting out and have my ideal man, but now I look back on those days and just laugh at myself.
As joe orton said, (and i m paraphrasing) you should go out and get as much sex as u can when u r alive, because u will regret it when u r dead.
Now I find almost any man has some good points that i can find to excite me. Though it is easier if the guy is young looking, or has a nice body, or has a nice cock, (and it does not mean big, but what i think is nice) and knows what to do with it. haha.
Though, recently i found out I agree with what my friend Paul M told me... that as a bottom he does not really care what the guy looks like, as long as he has a cock large enough and knows what to do with it, but when it comes to him fucking someone, he prefers to do it to someone who has a nice bum, and body. I am finding out that is the case with me too. Somehow a fat bottom, on a guy with bad saggy skin, just dont have that zing visually and tactile-ly as a smooth, taut bottom of a chap with young looking skin.
I think this topic may be too much for some people, and I would advise them to move on if they have read this far in spite of the disclaimer at the beginning, and stop reading any further.
I think a gay guy will be well advised to look after his skin, oil it, moisturise it, not do too much sun bathing that will wrinkle it prematurely and dry it too much, so that he presents a young looking skin, and to exercise so he keeps a firm buttocks, and firm muscles that dont sag. It will be a great help in keeping himself attractive even into old age.
And then learn technics of sex that will make him a good lover, rather than rely on looks only. As u grow older, when the body gets less supple and taut, u may need to bring in personality and technic, and other skills to augment it.
A lot of old gays thinks that their being old is the one that gets them rejections, but from my own experience, it is not so. It is how well they look after themselves so that they look good even in old age, and how good their technic is. With viagra, it is easy to keep a hard on, something that pre viagra was a great deterrant to sex when u grow old. When u cannot get it up, it is a great deterrant to sex and being a top. So now that problem is more or less gone. An older guy can increase his sex contacts if he is versatile, so he can be both active and passive , give and take if needed.
There is more fun to be had and positions to get into when you are versatile.
I find firm muscles and taut skin is a huge turn on for me. But not someone who is totally fat free, because a bit of fat to smooth out the body is a good look. The really fatless body looks very dehydrated and hard to the touch. A bit of fat gives it a yielding softness which is very pleasing to touch.
I daresay many gays will have different things that turns them on. I can only mention what turns me on. And even then, it does change with the guy and the circumstances.
As for relationships, I dont think it is very important. Many long standing relationships i see have become friends, and do not have sex with each other anymore. It is inevitable, because unless each person has a lot of imagination to vary the sex between them, the sex soon becomes the same. I for one want variety in my sex life, and being monogamous with one person will soon exhaust the possibilities and i shall be bored with it. I know of only one long term relationship of a gay couple whose sexlive is as fantastic if not more than when they first started out. They do it by cruising together and having threesomes. I have lost touch with them now so not sure if that is the case still.
I think an open relationship where either or both can sleep with others is a more practical one which will enable the relationship to continue. Some gays might say that is not a relationship anymore, if no sex is involved, but a friendship, or a companionship. I think they would be right. It would not matter to me, as I think a relationship is not very important. I can be very happy with or without a boyfriend. I dont feel i need another person to make me complete. But lots of gay guys dont agree. They think they must have someone to love, or be loved by, before they are complete. I think it is a fallacy.
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