Flickr and Making Friends Worldwide

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

　
I am supposed to be recording what life is like in 2011 well mine the last couple of days has been quite international. No I have not been travelling except by e-mail but have been in touch with places truly across the world and time zones. This has been through my interaction on the photo and picture site called Flickr.
At first I just was putting up my artwork with no particular thought in mind that anybody would look at it, rather like this blog. I met somebody in a local town who owned a café and we got talking computer digital art. She mentioned she was on Flickr too and I went to check her out. I saw she was on Groups which I hadn’t realised were there, I’m a bit slow in catching on with Internet sites sometimes. Still trying to understand Twitter and don’t have young people around to help me so have to work it out on my own.

I joined one group and suddenly somebody emailed me and ask me to put up my work on the group they ran. Wow! Somebody looked at my pictures. Now nothing is so good for an artist, amateur or professional, as somebody expressing interest in your work. I joined the group and looked for others that had a similar outlook or interest. Two or three others came in and again asked me to put up on their group. Wow again! One is called The Gallery of Fine Photos. Fine photos, Moi?

Now I started to get people making comments and sometimes I sent back e-mails of thanks. The upshot of this isI seem to have made several new e-mail friends right round the world, New Zealand, USA, Canada and some at home in the UK. When I started talking to them, by e-mail, I had to think, goodness he is just going to bed and she is in the middle of her night and here I am in the middle of my day. I know, millions and millions of people have done this before me but this is what I am doing now. I have had contact world wide before but this is all connected with a subject dear to me, digital art.


World News.
The scandal of the moment is the News of the World newspaper phone hacking scandal. Now the News of the World was, in my younger day, considered a scurrilous scandal rag. My parents would not have been seen dead with it. So when this scandal broke I was not really very surprised. Today the CE of the group, Rebecca Brooks, resigned and I can only hope she was nice to the people on the way up as she might meet or need them on the way down. The paper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, is being shot at from every direction, I understand they are looking into his papers in the USA now. That should be interesting. I think with him it could be ‘How the mighty have fallen’. Who knows, he is a very rich.

Obesity Problem Everwhere

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

I have to address this obesity problem in Britain and in many other parts of the world such as the USA. You may know from previous blogs I fight fat all the time or it goes back on at an alarmingly fast rate. I have lost about 4 stone in the past. Today my husband and I walked into Teignmouth with the dog and stopped to have a cool drink, Yes it's sunny now my holiday is over. Sitting outside a café I looked at the people walking by and had to say there was never a moment when there wasn’t a fat person passing by. What is more many were obese. They strolled by eating ice creams, sat in cafes eating high calorie foods and drinking canned sweet drinks. Don’t get me wrong I am not innocent in all this over eating. I am just as bad as the next although I think I have addressed it a bit more than most of them.

Today there is a news item that 500,000 children are at risk of liver disease due to being overweight. Many will die young from this and things like stroke and diabetes. But also they could get cirrhosis of the liver without alcohol being implicated. Wrong food, no exercise and sitting around with computers and sedentary games is the cause. There does not seem to be any answer to it. The poorer people are the more they eat cheap bad food and the less they exercise.

I wish I could help more but if people are not willing or even interested to listen then there is nothing one can do, only look after self and close loved ones as well as possible.
                                                                      ***
Going to have another go at learning my new graphics tablet later but a rest first. Well… I am 76 and I have walked to Teignmouth (about 3 miles).

Radio in my Pillow, Graphics Tablet

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525

If man is still alive

If woman can survive

They may find….. 

Most nights, or even every night, I listen to my radio via ear phones under my pillow. You can buy a pillow already set up with loud speakers in it but I started to make my own some years ago. Mostly I listen to BBC Five Live, radio Four, Radio Four Extra and World Service. I learn so much from the last one on that list, it makes me realise how lucky we – I – am in this country. On Radio Four Extra they have a lot of programs from the past, comedies, plays and so on. Listening to a 1980s show a character said something like ‘Dogs used to be man’s best friend, now it seems to be computers’. I laughed, I had been watching my husband sitting in his armchair with his new tablet computer on his lap and a very disconsolate dog eyeing him with a baleful look as if to say ‘that lap is where I should be!’. Best friend be blowed!

Another month of the year gone, it’s the 1st of July today. I woke up to a beautiful bright morning at 6.00 am but soon went back to sleep again. The rest of the day has been a bit more cloudy. I walked to Dawlish again so that’s four times this week. Dog went swimming in the brook in the grounds of the Manor but was frightened by a large German Shepherd dog which was actually a big softy.

Last night I splashed out and have bought a Wacom Graphics pad for my art work on computer. It is an A4 size and something I have wanted for a long time. It is coming in the morning and all I have to do now is learn how to use it.

The pound and a half I put on over my holiday week has gone again. It has been hard to eat very small portions for a while. I need to lose at least half a stone by September ready to wear something nice for my Ruby anniversary.

Yesterday the public workers went on strike and a lot of schools closed. It is a row over pensions. They should be so lucky. My husband is going to have to go on working past retirement age and I have less that half a pension.

Ram Raid and Strikes

Holiday at home has been over for two days now and I still feel exhausted. Not what you are supposed to feel after a restful holiday. Caught up with the washing and now have a large pile of ironing for tomorrow. But tonight I have to go and face fat club with something like 3 extra pounds on my body. Ugh! I now have two and half months before my Ruby anniversary to get it off and fit into some decent clothing. I have walked to town and back with the dog yesterday and today. Hope that helps.

There has been a ram raid on a little Post Office the other side of Dawlish. I am not surprised. They said on the news that crime was creeping up due to the bad economic conditions. There are no jobs, something like 80 people or more going for every job. A friend’s husband applies but does not even get answers.

Public workers are going on strike tomorrow, mostly school teachers but others are joining in. Schools are closing and airports are in trouble as the immigration department are closing. I am not surprised. They want them to work an extra 8 years before retirement, pay more than now and get less! I don’t think they will win any reprieve as there is no money in the national kitty.

Twittering, Grand Prix weekend, Diabetes 2 cure?

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525

If man is still alive

If woman can survive

They may find….. 

I am becoming quite a good social twitt – er. I have been collecting followers lately who seem mostly to be reacting to the fact I have put ‘writer’ in my profile. Now in the shape of things five followers is so minimal as to be almost the same as none. When I go on these ‘followers’ sites they have thousands of followers and follow thousands more. I think they will be most disappointed in me. Still it a bit of fun in my quiet life. I am maybug76 on Twitter.

It’s a Grand Prix weekend so cars squeal across my room today and tomorrow. I can stand it for about half an hour then I disappear upstairs to my bedroom, the only other room I can go to in our small house. Even dog knows not to bother my husband on GP days. Oh yes, it means I have to get the food ready without any help at all, surprised he can find his mouth to eat it! I get so bored with it – yak,yak, yak from the presenters. Still, I suppose it is a male thing - cars.

Had a problem with Google Chrome browser in the Cloud Printing. Tried to start it but it would not work and I got left with an error message that still won’t go away after many tries to reset. Think It won’t work from anything but tablets and phones yet and I shouldn’t have tried it. Have to take it to my IT fellow to mend it.

My weight saga. Not having much to do this week of holiday due to the bad weather I have stuffed myself with goodies. The scales this morning groaned and I screamed. Oh dear, right back were I was a months ago. Weeks ahead on ‘The Plan’ which is supposed not to leave you hungry – BUT DOES.

Interesting news yesterday re Diabetes 2 cure. Due to so many obese people having gastric operations which cut down drastically what they eat, they have found if they had diabetes 2 it went away. So they now think if you starve at about 600 calories a day for about 6 to 8 weeks (Boy, you’d really be hungry) it kick starts the pancreas producing insulin again. The fat around the pancreas had stopped it  and eventually causes the illness. It would be great if something as simple as cutting down calories was a cure. For years they have said don’t eat this or that but this is just the amount you eat. I haven’t had this problem myself but might have had I stayed at the 4 stone heavier that I was. I am now only need to lose half to one stone but have been in this no man’s land for some time now. Must try harder so I am at my best for my Ruby Wedding anniversary in September.

Anniversaries mean  a lot to us in 2011 and I would not be surprised if they still do in 2525. It seems to be a very human thing.

The drama of the new tablet computer

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525

If man is still alive

If woman can survive

They may find….. 

I am supposed to be telling you what it is – sorry it was – like in 2011. It is my premise for this blog. I liked the idea because I have no one that will be interested enough to read my doings and happenings so I can make up for it by addressing people in the far future of 2525 and beyond. The good thing is they can’t answer back or criticise. So Here is what we are interested in 2011. Gadgets. Particularly computer type gadgets. Though I like others like my new halogen oven and my electric cheese grater.

I mentioned before that we have exchanged our holiday going out places from home, eating nice meals out and visiting places for – a new tablet computer for my husband. Well….. it’s been raining all week and it is not supposed to get better until next Sunday so …

From the moment that the button was pushed and the tablet computer – an Acer Iconia tab A500  with Android Honeycomb OS – was ordered it’s been - looking up the delivery times, yes it’s been sent, yes its coming tomorrow, I had a voice mail. ‘Jule, it could be here anytime from 8’. ‘I’m taking the dog out don’t have your bath yet.’ ( As it was raining again I had decided to have a long morning soaking in a bubble bath and reading this month Digital Photo mag.).

The morning went by and no delivery van. ‘He’s got lost’. Then my husband went up stairs to the loo. That did it. ‘Jule quick, quick, answer the door, there’s a big green and yellow van outside’. Thank goodness for that. The parcel was soon opened and the tablet put on charge. The rest of the day has been ‘Look at this Jule – come and see this – you must see this, its really great’  only to be presented with a picture of a woman that gradually lost her muscles, blood system and on down to her bones – Oh yes, she revolved as well. ‘Lovely dear’. (OMG)

As I write this at half eleven he is still trying to work it all out as there were absolutely no real instructions at all. I belive you can down load a manual online but that would indubitably be too easy!

Me, I had a short walk with the dog, read my new downloaded book (very sexy) and have been very lazy. I have continued to eat nice holiday things and drink white wine. The latter two thing are usually not allowed as I put on weight very easily. Tomorrow is another day.

Rainy day on our so called holiday at home

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525

If man is still alive

If woman can survive

They may find….. 

It has rained and rained all day. We did get as far as PC World/Currys big store in the outskirts of Torquay when the heavens opened. We looked at fridges and then tablet computers. This led to a disaster in the evening of buying a tablet computer for my husband online, one he had seen in the store but cheaper by £50.00. Well I can see this week is going to be wet, wet, wet so the money might just as well go on something tangible and what he wants (We would have to buy it sometime anyway and the money is available now). So I hope the fridge will work OK for a while longer.

Then we went and looked at a big pet store and bought the dog a new water dish that holds a litre of water in an upside down bottle and lets it out gradually and a food mat. Next door is a household store and we bought a glass oven dish to go in our new Halogen Oven. That’s like a big glass bowl with the heater in the roof. We are hoping that it will save on power. So far it seems quite good. I had wanted to go into Torquay proper but by now the rain was, to quote an old saying, stair rodding down so we went back via Newton Abbot stopping at Asda’s to pick up some nice food to cheer us up, pizza and nice bread. I bought a Bra and Phil bought some socks and then – we went home where it rained and rained and as far as I know is still raining.

Dog was not very sure about the new water bowl as she thought the feet on it were toys that she couldn’t get at. She spent the rest of the day barking at it but later did drink from it.

In the evening there was nothing on TV so we watched a silly film on a DVD we bought some years ago and never watched. What was good about it as far as I was concerned was it had George Clooney in it.

Apologies for not writing this blog

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525

If man is still alive

If woman can survive

They may find….. 

I have not done too well with this blog for posterity, half a year gone and mostly I have not posted anything even as short as a Tweet! Do you still have Twitter? It is writing a short blog on a web site called – Twitter. You can follow other Tweeters and lately I have followed the presenters of a TV Programme called Spring Watch, about wild life in Britain. Most people have actual friends who follow each other and keep in touch with what’s happening to them. I haven’t got anybody that as daft as me to tweet, well not in my age group of friends. Most of them can hardly use a mobile phone yet. Then my few followers are hoping for some kind of pecuniary happening i.e. to sell me something. I have no idea how they find me but I expect there is a program that if a particular thing is mentioned they latch onto it. But it has gone on to greater things and is part of the worlds happening, particularly in the Middle East revolts along with Facebook, more bloggy. Oh, I am maybug76 on Twitter

So this is not a Tweet, it’s a blog and I people don’t get to hear of a little old lady writing in a small town in southern Britain and I have not kept up with my idea to tell the future about life in 2011. I have brought down my notebook computer from my bedroom as I realised that my downstairs computer is often monopolised by my husband. Today we are technically on holiday but have not gone away. We are supposed to be going out for days but the weather is very rainy and cold for June and so far we have stayed in. Hence not being able to get to the downstairs computer. I am determined to go out for a little bit of retail therapy today, whatever, so have sent husband and dog out for a longer than usual walk and then we can leave her to go to Torquay Shopping or at least window shopping. Torquay is a famous holiday resort and is only just over a couple of hills from home. So I can pretend I have gone away. Actually going to look at refrigerators as we have just discovered ours has a bad cracked casing.

Will try hard to keep in touch from now on even if it only as short as a Tweet

Saint & Sinner

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

Wow! Two days in a row. Well something pretty momentous happened in the early hours of this morning – well early in Britain.

First I must explain, probably again, that I have my radio on with earphones under my pillow all night long. When I can’t sleep a droning voice sends me back into dreamland. I usually awake several times in the night as I am now nearly 76 and need the bathroom during the night. I awoke this morning about 4.15 a.m. to hear men talking about Osama Bin Laden. Couldn’t make out for a while why it was as not much has been heard of him for some years. Then it was said that the President of the USA was to speak. He made a stunning speech announcing that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I woke up and took notice.

I turned on my new bedroom TV and sure enough citizens of Washington were already outside the White House shrieking their delight at the news. ( I have to remark that people everywhere look the same when they are demonstrating something, Yells, chants, shaking arms in the air, waving flags and jumping up and down in rhythm.) Anyway they all seemed very happy. To them it was justice for the tragedy of the Twin Towers on 7/11, just under ten years ago. It has taken that long to smoke out the perpetrator.

Today the news broadcasts are full of it but I have been doing other things. (Buying paint.) Do I think it will make any difference to the terrorism in the world? No, not really. As mentioned nothing has been heard of this bogy man for sometime and he was almost forgotten. Obviously not by President Obama which I think was a good thing. Now they say he has been buried at sea so as not to make a martyrs grave to be visited. This latter has not been confirmed at this time of writing. I think it would be a good place for him, the deepest trench they can find! But I expect an upsurge of attacks.

One interesting fact is that he was found in Pakistan not Afghanistan. Something not quite right there.

Other news. Pope John Paul the II was ‘Beatified’ in Rome yesterday. On the road to sainthood – very fast tracked! Not going to give an opinion as I am not a Catholic. However I do understand what the principle is as I attended a convent school in my youth.

I don't want a picture of either saint or sinner so I will give you my latest photo painting called

Meconnopsis

Royal Wedding - Middle East wars - Garden makeover

PLEASE NOTE that this is not a diary but an attempt to leave writings intended for future social historians in 2525 and beyond. The 2525 is taken from the song by Zager and Evans,,,,

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…..

It will not come as a surprise to anybody that this is my first blog in something like two and a half months, it won’t be a surprise as nobody reads my blog and therefore can’t be missing it! Why have I not been blogging? Partly me and my health which has been a bit on the down side but mostly because everything has been so sad, bad and horrid that I didn’t feel like commenting on it.

I finished on the Arab uprisings which have steadily turned into full blown wars. They don’t call them wars but that is what they are. Deaths and misery in so many places. Libya is the worst and no more than I expected. Syria is not far behind. Some of the other countries do seem to be putting governments together and may come out of it OK but, as I anticipated, the whole of northern Africa on the Mediterranean coast is a powder keg. Last night the ‘no fly zone’ in Libya became a ‘get Gaddafi zone’ They missed him but killed his youngest son and three of his grandchildren. Bad! But how many children and grandchildren have his men killed? Hundreds. They say he was there but they missed him, as we used to say in the war ‘his number was not on it’. As I said it is all to evil and terrible to want to write about it.

USA is suffering from terrible tornadoes that have torn up Alabama and six other states. The President has visited and promised help.

So this weekend we in Britain shared with the whole world something lovely, charming and beautiful. The wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton. It was really gorgeously done. Everything went so well which seem to make most of the country and even the world a happier place – just for one day. They are now to be known as Prince and Princess William of Wales, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Plus a couple of other titles. The only thing that seems to have gone wrong is getting off on their honeymoon. Never mind I am sure they will get plenty of lovely holidays in their life time. I wish them happiness and all the support they will undoubtedly need.

At home we have given our little garden a make over. The decking needed a deep clean after the terrible winter and we have taken down some bushes and so on to make life easier. I have given our gold fish away and filled in the pond to make a raised flower bed. I had a new fence built for privacy and we went out and bought a lot of plants. It cost more than I care to mention but now looks very colourful and pretty.

Really not done much else. Easter has come and gone and so probably has our summer. April has been wonderful sunny weather but now the clouds are back. Actually we need rain. Last year we had a brilliant spring and a lousy summer. Hope its not repeated this year!