Thursday, June 30, 2005
Today's whinge:
(from The Guardian)
"The Prince of Wales's private income rose by 11% last year to more than £13m, according to figures published today in the annual review of his finances and official activities.
The Clarence House review also revealed that the prince had received government grants of £2,688,000 for official travel, communications and property maintenance, costing each taxpayer 4p a year."
Ok, so its only 4p a year each. There's not a lot I could do with 4p, but it might make a difference if I was 4p short for my busfare home. The article continues,
"The prince also donated some £2.5m of his own money to charity."
Well, no he didn't actually. His donation to charity is just slightly less than the money he got from the taxpayer. So he gave my 4p to charity. I suppose I'd rather he did that than spend it on bling for his missus, but all the same, it wasn't really his money, was it?
Anyway, I popped down to Out of this World at lunchtime to get my laundry liquid bottle refilled with Ecover. Ended up spending £20 on yummy healthy bits and bobs. They sell the most delicious basil tofu. Honest it is just scrummy - even my non-tofu eating teenage offspring will eat it. I also bought quinoa which I'd never tried before. I quite enjoyed it (with a tomato sauce, basil tofu, courgettes, mushrooms). But offspring didn't. Never mind - all the more for me. A jar of Traidcraft Chocolate Hazelnut spread also went into my shopping basket, although I'll have to eat mine on rice cakes while I'm avoiding wheat products. Do you know, I'm finding it almost as difficult avoiding the goodies in the local wheat emporiums (ie Greggs/Ainsleys) as avoiding tobacco! I do like an occasional doughnut/danish/bakewell tart!
(from The Guardian)
"The Prince of Wales's private income rose by 11% last year to more than £13m, according to figures published today in the annual review of his finances and official activities.
The Clarence House review also revealed that the prince had received government grants of £2,688,000 for official travel, communications and property maintenance, costing each taxpayer 4p a year."
Ok, so its only 4p a year each. There's not a lot I could do with 4p, but it might make a difference if I was 4p short for my busfare home. The article continues,
"The prince also donated some £2.5m of his own money to charity."
Well, no he didn't actually. His donation to charity is just slightly less than the money he got from the taxpayer. So he gave my 4p to charity. I suppose I'd rather he did that than spend it on bling for his missus, but all the same, it wasn't really his money, was it?
Anyway, I popped down to Out of this World at lunchtime to get my laundry liquid bottle refilled with Ecover. Ended up spending £20 on yummy healthy bits and bobs. They sell the most delicious basil tofu. Honest it is just scrummy - even my non-tofu eating teenage offspring will eat it. I also bought quinoa which I'd never tried before. I quite enjoyed it (with a tomato sauce, basil tofu, courgettes, mushrooms). But offspring didn't. Never mind - all the more for me. A jar of Traidcraft Chocolate Hazelnut spread also went into my shopping basket, although I'll have to eat mine on rice cakes while I'm avoiding wheat products. Do you know, I'm finding it almost as difficult avoiding the goodies in the local wheat emporiums (ie Greggs/Ainsleys) as avoiding tobacco! I do like an occasional doughnut/danish/bakewell tart!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Good evening people. I hope you are well, and that the weather isn't too hot/wet/cold etc where you are. Lovely and damp here today - my garden is singing with joy!
So what has caught my little eye recently? I've really not been paying much attention to the world beyond my garden and Haruki Murakami, but I noticed that the government has been tinkering with the people's recreational activities. They are making possession of magic mushrooms a class A drug.
"Section 21 of the Drugs Act 2005 amends Part I of Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 by inserting “Fungus (of any kind) which contains psilocin [a Class A drug] or an ester of psilocin”. It is an offence to import, export, produce, supply, possess or possess with intent to supply magic mushrooms whatever form they are in."
Now if you pick them you can be done for it. Before you could only get into trouble if you brewed them up in your teapot (or dried them, or prepared them in some way). They say that this is because they are bad for you. So when will they make Big Macs illegal? Or vodka? Or polyunsaturated margarine? Or tobacco? Etc etc etc.
So what has caught my little eye recently? I've really not been paying much attention to the world beyond my garden and Haruki Murakami, but I noticed that the government has been tinkering with the people's recreational activities. They are making possession of magic mushrooms a class A drug.
"Section 21 of the Drugs Act 2005 amends Part I of Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 by inserting “Fungus (of any kind) which contains psilocin [a Class A drug] or an ester of psilocin”. It is an offence to import, export, produce, supply, possess or possess with intent to supply magic mushrooms whatever form they are in."
Now if you pick them you can be done for it. Before you could only get into trouble if you brewed them up in your teapot (or dried them, or prepared them in some way). They say that this is because they are bad for you. So when will they make Big Macs illegal? Or vodka? Or polyunsaturated margarine? Or tobacco? Etc etc etc.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Still Thursday.
Merrick posted a comment and a link regarding giving up smoking. And useful it is. I read an article in Chaos International many years ago about addiction demons, which I had forgotten about until I read Gyrus's article. At the moment I'm not fighting the nicotine addiction because I'm using nicotine patches to beat that, so I'm only fighting the cigarette habit. But soon I will have to face life without any nicotine. And that is what I really want. I want to do without the craving to smoke, I want to be without the smell of tobacco smoke, and the clogging of my lungs that goes with it. But I have lots of happy 'smoking' memories which the demon uses to encourage me back into the habit. I also want to opt out of supporting the tobacco industry. I'm already very fussy about where and how my food is produced - have been for a long time - but I ignored what I knew about the tobacco industry because I was addicted to cigarettes. Tobacco farmers don't have an easy time of it - it hardly improves their quality of life. My buying tobacco just exacerbates their problems. Yes, I want them to be able to participate in a profitable venture - but not one that makes them ill! I smoked for years, knowing that it was damaging me and the people who produced the tobacco. But I couldn't help myself. Or rather, I wouldn't because of my demon.
Anyway, I'm still trying, I'm still positive. And I really appreciate all the encouraging messages I've received.
Merrick posted a comment and a link regarding giving up smoking. And useful it is. I read an article in Chaos International many years ago about addiction demons, which I had forgotten about until I read Gyrus's article. At the moment I'm not fighting the nicotine addiction because I'm using nicotine patches to beat that, so I'm only fighting the cigarette habit. But soon I will have to face life without any nicotine. And that is what I really want. I want to do without the craving to smoke, I want to be without the smell of tobacco smoke, and the clogging of my lungs that goes with it. But I have lots of happy 'smoking' memories which the demon uses to encourage me back into the habit. I also want to opt out of supporting the tobacco industry. I'm already very fussy about where and how my food is produced - have been for a long time - but I ignored what I knew about the tobacco industry because I was addicted to cigarettes. Tobacco farmers don't have an easy time of it - it hardly improves their quality of life. My buying tobacco just exacerbates their problems. Yes, I want them to be able to participate in a profitable venture - but not one that makes them ill! I smoked for years, knowing that it was damaging me and the people who produced the tobacco. But I couldn't help myself. Or rather, I wouldn't because of my demon.
Anyway, I'm still trying, I'm still positive. And I really appreciate all the encouraging messages I've received.
Yes, still here. Been reading in the sun in my back yard. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Surreal.
Not been smoking tobacco, apart from a couple last week when I was suffering with raging PMS and felt completely bonkers. And when my head feels that strange, a bit of tobacco doesn't seem to matter. Anyway, I'm now experimenting with a wheat free diet for a couple of months to see if it will help the fizzing in my brain to go away.
There are some interesting noises in the tunnels underneath the railway station. Apparently. I walk through one of those tunnels on my way to work most mornings, but I haven't heard anything out of the ordinary. I continue to hope though.
Not been smoking tobacco, apart from a couple last week when I was suffering with raging PMS and felt completely bonkers. And when my head feels that strange, a bit of tobacco doesn't seem to matter. Anyway, I'm now experimenting with a wheat free diet for a couple of months to see if it will help the fizzing in my brain to go away.
There are some interesting noises in the tunnels underneath the railway station. Apparently. I walk through one of those tunnels on my way to work most mornings, but I haven't heard anything out of the ordinary. I continue to hope though.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Unrequited love. I love my pc, my pc don't love me. My pc is old and tired, doesn't always do what I want it to do. Dementia seems to be setting in. Bah - might have to spend money on sorting that out!!
Was hoping to go to see Sin City tonight but we made a bit of an error - hoped to get tickets just before the film showing so we didn't hurry from the pub. Got to the cinema a bit late to find looonnng queue. So we went back to the pub instead - very nice - beautiful early summer evening here in Yorkshire. But no movie. Oh well, next week hopefully!!
Was hoping to go to see Sin City tonight but we made a bit of an error - hoped to get tickets just before the film showing so we didn't hurry from the pub. Got to the cinema a bit late to find looonnng queue. So we went back to the pub instead - very nice - beautiful early summer evening here in Yorkshire. But no movie. Oh well, next week hopefully!!
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Aren't lungs brilliant? And oxygen too! Excellent stuff. My body is really enjoying being tobacco free.
