I won’t be very original by saying that I enjoy shopping and do chill out when doing it. I have noticed of late, however, that this pleasant activity is becoming more and more stressogenic! Since April till the end of June our little town was deprived of its only supermarket ( Somerfield ) as it was sold to its rival ( Morrisons ) and had to be refurbished to host the new store. Like most of the locals, I was rather fed up with the neverending traffic around the small shops in the area making it more than uncomfortable to do even the most basic grocery shopping. When finally the new Morrisons did open I was extatic, thinking to myself – I will save on petrol and the supermarket is known for good deals, etc. Little did I know nearly the whole Bedfordshire would come to shop in our local grocery mecca! When I entered the parking place in front of the store, I spent 20 mins looking for a space to park the car, forget the ones designated for people with kids – they are almost always taken by the lazy shoppers who don’t care about the safety of the little ones! Morrisons do employ parking attendants, but they seem to be busy getting a sun tan as the weather here is still very much summer like. Ok, I finally got inside of the shop… it was crowded beyond any logical explanation! At some point I realized it wasn’t just the customers that swarmed in every square inch of the store, but I was bumping into two or more Morrison staff in every single aisle. Now, how stupid is the idea to make them stock the shelves in the busiest hours of the busiest weeks after the shop opening?! You’d think the management of the retail chain would be experienced enough to know that this will eventually deter people from shopping in the supermarket regularly, let alone all the health and safety hazards caused by unnecessary crowd and trolleys with supplies for the shelves that can’t miss even one item.

It’s July already. Two weeks have past and not much seems to be changing in customer serice and general management of our brand new local Morrison. I will do my shopping there simply because it’s just 5 mins drive from my house, but spending my money there is far from therapeutic!

Yeah, yeah, there is NO such thing as the tripic of Elizabeth! Yet, for the past 6 weeks the UK has turned into an almost tropical country! I don’t even remember when it rained last, which is weird, you must agree, bearing in mind the stereotypes about the British weather!  Climate change will make Britain hot, wet, and wild says the Met Office! I am usually sceptical about such far fetched predictions, but from the look of things this summer, it seems to me there might just be a grain or two of truth in all that scientific mumbo jumbo!

It will be rather interesting to see tropical plants growing in the local back yards. Hopefully the rather reserved British attitude will get warmed up as well!

In the nearest future such sights may be part of the British fauna and flora and not just an artificial creation for bored yuppies in the City:

‘Staycation’ may be a pleasant option for the summer holidays break this year!

I have neglected my blog for the past few weeks, which is a good sign, actually. I have had more and more work and that these days is a blessing, isn’t it?

Anyway, a few days ago I heard a worrying story on the news. A woman from Devon was charged with sexual assault. Yes, it is shocking to hear about a woman facing such charges, but what makes it even worse is that she was a nursery nurse who seemed to indulge in paedophiliac practices. I must say I haven’t heard of female paedophiles before. As shocking as the whole story is, something else drew my attention to it. The moment the news appeared in all the media, the face of the woman was being shown everywhere and nearly all the time! Shortly afterwards, the media announced that the family of the accused have disowned her. Also, if you browse the news you will come across videos showing parents of the children attending the nursery where the teacher used to work, attacking the van which transported her to court. It was a proper witch hunt! Don’t get me wrong, please. I have two little kids and cannot even begin to imagine how I would react if I learnt they might have been subject of abuse in their nursery…. However, there’s one factor that immediately struck me as I heard about the allegations towards this Devon resident. In the UK, like in most western countries everyone has a right to a fair trial and is assumed innocent until proven guilty. I would say that the presumption of innocence is one of the best aspects of the so called civilisation. In this case, even if the woman is found innocent of direct sexual assault, her reputation and life, for that matter, are already tarnished beyond repair. Everyone in the UK has had a chance to have a good look at her and would recognize her anywhere, and her trial has not even started.

Correct me if I am wrong, but, in my opinion however shocking the particular allegations are, the personal details of the person in question should be kept sercet until the person has been found guilty in a fair trial…… I can’t help but feel that the concept of justice is becoming just one more, archaic term that has no practical use in reality.

There are more and more bitches all around – I both literally and figuratively. It’s probably one of the many signs of times. People becoming less and less friendly for one another, and more fond of animals instead. Oh dear, let’s talk about the weather, shall we?! What on earth am I rambling on about?! Homo homini lupus est is as old a proverb as civilization and it won’t get any better, BUT the weather in the UK does seem to be great this spring! WOW! That is something else, isn’t it?!

Last Sunday we decided to catch the day and the sun at the nearest beach, which, is in Norfolk. So, we set off for the seemingly short trip at noon and enjoyed the ride until the motorway ended and we had to go through the countless roundabouts on the way to King’s Lynn. I won’t repeat what I think about the way Brits drive, suffice it to say we got stuck in a long queue and our trip took 3,5 hours instead of two, which is a big difference when you travel with two lively kids who have to be buckled up for a few hours! :-O

We did eventually get to the beach somewhere close to Hunstanton, which was our target, but for the sake of time and to reduce the amount of tantrums and whinging in the back seat, we decided to go to the fist beach we found on our way. This is what we found:

tide out

rocky sand - walking on it is like walking on egg shells!

an English beach

It was a relaxing afternoon and most importantly the kids had fun, but we were far from being enchanted with the beach. I am not really surprised that holidays abroad, in Spain especially, are still much more popular here than looking for a coast in the UK where one would be guaranteed a great weather and views.

I musn’t complain, though! It’s still warm and sunny and that is much more important than sands on English beaches that hurt your feet when you stroll on them with no sandals or crocks:

You'll see crocks everywhere here, not just at the seaside. But without them exploiting English beaches can be a painful experience!;)

I am watching the Eurovision song contest right now. Kitsch and politics in a music show – it’s always pretty entertaining to watch, especially the voting part

I can’t help but wonder what on earth is Jade Ewen, the singer representing the UK doing there this year? I was even more bewildered to see Andrew Lloyd Webber himself accompanying Jade in her performace! It is more or less like serving gourmet French food in a McDonald! I fully appreciate the desire of the British to get more than 2 points this time, but am not convinced this arranged marriage of West End and Eurovision is going to produce the much wanted miracle! I may, of course, be wrong – we will know the results of the contest in about an hour.

Listen to the song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and performed by Ms Ewen, the winner of Your Country Needs You :

I, personally, like the song. Now, have a look and the Finnish performance:

The two songs seem to be from two different worlds, so to say, or is it just my opinion?

Anyway, let me continue watching the show and I will shortly update the entry with the official results of this years Eurovision.

Edit.: Well, well, well, the UK isn’t the winner of this year’s Eurovision contest, as I suspected, BUT the fifth place for Jade Ewen is not bad at all, I’d say! Congratulations Norway!

I have got a new motivation to get the British citizenship and that is to become an MP! Like most of the general public here, I have been following the latest MP claims scandal and my reaction to it all is by no means original! I’m gobsmacked and angry. I used to  run my own firm for years and remember very well that I had to stick to a list of what I was able to write off my tax as items necessary to perform my services and produce a profit. Biscuits, toilet seats, porn movies, expensive furniture, maintaining a swimming pool were not on the list…. neither, frankly speaking, should they be on the list of acceptable MPs’ expenses.  

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the rates of heart attacks will be on the rise now! A healthy heart can break at the sight of:

…money going down the drain, many drains of many MPs, in fact!

Being an MP is a great remedy for the ubiquitous credit crunch, actually! Not only one gets paid a salary, but everything, literally EVERYTHING they might fancy to use or consume in their life is sponsored by the tax payers. Isn’t that just cool?! I am not at all surprised that a UK man lands ‘world’s best job’ !  Perhaps he’s related to an MP and has acquired this fantastic knack of attracting easy money, huh?!

Anyway, even though some heads are already falling over this scandal with the ridiculous claims made by MPs, politics seems to be now perceived in its true, rather grey, colours by most people in the UK. What’s happening here is not very different from the openly condemned corruption of the third world countries’ governments, really. Only in the African or Asian countries few politicians make an effort to conceal their real motivations to hold on to power….

Anyway, instead of investing in a pension plan or making savings in a bank, I might just go for the job of an MP once I get the British citizenship! The benefits that come with the job are just too tempting!!!

Blog Stats

I started writing this blog a year ago to the day. I have to say I am proud of myself for being more or less (I like to think it is more rather than less) faithful in posting my thoughts here regularly. Yes, I still live in the UK and I have made myself at home here. I do not feel like a foreigner anymore, however, I have not yet lost the attitude of an observer of everything that is happening around me, which hopefully will prove to be a source of more ideas for posts in the Anglopole Ponglish World!

Let me present you with some statistics about the blog, then.

Total views: 20,943

Busiest day: 471 — Monday, March 9, 2009

Totals

Posts: 48

Comments: 192

Categories: 11

Tags: 258

I am sure experienced bloggers would giggle looking at the stats of my blog. Nevertheless, I am more than satisfied as my blogging adventure is still fairly new and, even though I am no longer a blogger fresher, I still have a lot to learn to make my writing mind blowing!

Top Posts

Russell, the new Brand of the famous British good manners? 5,798 views

The Isle of Dogs 3,040 views

The British Sense of Humour 932 views

What a gaming nation! 920 views

UK postcodes open and close many doors 498 views

Degraded Polish or upgraded English? 202 views

Prosperous 2009 to all! :-) 193 views

About 191 views

I would be soooooo happy to know why these posts and not others have proved so popular! It seems to me that the more controversial the entries, the more readers they attract. Or am I wrong? Surely enough, I am shocked I have proved to be Rusell Brand\’s secret publicist! Wow! Over 5,700 views of this post alone – isn\’t that something else?

Let me use this opportunity to encourage all the readers of my blog to leave comments as they are the much needed feedback which can help me work on the contents of the blog!

 

edit.:  I forgot to kindly request all those who dislike this blog to simply ignore it and focus on those of interest to them, rather than try to post rude and even obscene comments. I do moderate the coming comments and those with inappropriate content are deleted.

 

 

I work for social services a lot, assisting clients with interpreting in various situations. Last week I assisted a client as her ‘Aaron’ at a health centre where she is a registered patient. She has got quite a few health problems and so communicating with her doctor is essential. So, off we went to the surgery and waited quite a long time (30 mins past the appointment time is long for me, there!) before finally being called by the doc to enter his medical shrine. I, then, brought the list of all the issues  the social worker helping the family had asked me to pinpoint to the doctor. If looks could kill I would be dead, really – this is the way the doctor penetrated me with his scientific look! He then announced, he could only help the client with one problem and the problem was a skin condition as this was what she had booked the appointment for. Nevermind the fact that the poor woman was suffering from a serious stomach upset and a fever. He just plain refused to deal with anything other than the small growth on her eyelid! I won’t write here the words that came to my mind when we were being treated like that! We had no choice but leave the surgery after the 4 minutes visit, out of which 3 minutes were devoted to the doctor telling us off for expecting him to help the woman sort out more than one medical problem (sic!).  I took the client back home and helped her find some medication for diarrhoea in a pharmacy. I didn’t have to do it, as my job is to do interpreting only. Had I had the NHS kind of attitude towards my clients, I would have left the woman there and then to walk 3 miles back home in pain… after all, I am not paid for taxi or medical services, am I?

The NHS is an institution that is supposed to be helping people, right? Therefore, well-being of patients should be the utmost priority, shouldn’t it? Mind you, the services are not exactly for free, as we do pay national insurance and taxes. How many times did I myself go to see a doctor about a health issue, only to hear I should buy paracetamol, which seems to be the magic cure for all kinds of ailments here. Having kids means one is constantly put to test when dealing with NHS! Yes, I am in a whinging mood today! God forbid you need to see a consultant, eg. an eye doctor, or obstertrician! If you do, gird yourself for a loooong wait… I mean LONG! We have been honoured lately with a much needed appointment with a speech therapist for one of our kids. We have been waiting since September last year = 8 months, which is like an eternity in a life of a young child. Sad!

The media are loud about the importance of diagnosing medical problems at their early stages as that only can help to deal with them more effectively. How is that to happen when the medical care services provided by NHS are the way they are?

The latest news about the swine flu make me wonder, really, about how such a pandemic would be controlled here? Yes, there’s plenty of pills containing paracetamol around so it should help, right?

I really think NHS is more of a National Health Sham than service. I could write books about this topic, for sure. Suffice it to say, the UK is not only a country unfriendly for hypochondriacs (which is good), it is also far from being patient friendly. More and more Brits seek medical care in other countries in EU. I honestly don’t blame them! I also understand why this society has been described as fearful lately.

Rounding up these musings of mine, remember, when in the UK try to suffer from one medical condition at a time and if you do end up in a hospital, follow the example of Lady Macbeth and wash your hands everywhere and at ALL times never allowing anyone to touch who hasn’t washed theirs too!

I am not going to be very original writing about the last episode of Britain’s Got Talent show!  It’s been in the centre of media and general attention not just in Britian but around the world, really! All the amazement millions of people are under at the moment is due to one stunning performance of a very nice Scottish lady named Susan Boyle.

Here’s the video clip of the performance:

As you have surely noticed Susan was welcomed by both the audience and the judges by scornful laughter and giggles, which were becoming worse as she lost her words while introducing herself! Hey, I know I know…. in Britain hardly anybody gets nervous and becomes gobsmacked when under stress, right? It is a nation of superheroes, after all! I am being cycnical, yes, as the ubiquitous sarcasm and cynicism here simply get my goat! I loved what one of the judges, Amanda Holden, said when making comments on Ms Boyle’s superb performance: “I am so thrilled as I know everybody was against you! I honestly think we were all very cynical and this is the biggest wake-up call!… I just want to say that it was a complete privilege listening to that!”

We all know the proverb: don’t judge the book by its cover, don’t we? Yet, the opposite is so common here, in the UK, when it comes to perceiving others, hence such an extreme surprise of the audience of the show mentioned above to hear such an angelic voice coming out from a woman most people would consider hardly attractive, to use a politically correct expression!

I did write about sarcasm and cynicism before. Now, it is the Brits themselves that see how both can blind our eyes and make it impossible to see all the gems around us = people who have so much to offer but are never given a chance to present their talents and personality assets. When you have time and desire just read the thousands of comments left under the video of Susan Boyle’s audition. Just in the past few days over 20 million people have watched her perform and the number of viewers is growing.

Britain definitely has got talent – all we need is to become more humble and open to notice it in  the common people around!

You go Susan! I too am under the spell of the unquestionable beauty of your voice and your great sense of humour, all dressed in pure humility!

The long Easter weekend has commenced! Many happy holiday makers are already in their vacation destinations ready to chill out and make the most of the break. The sofa sales are in full swing again – after all, the two bank holidays are in fact sofa/bed days again. Another item you will bump into everywhere you go is chocolate in the form eggs (tiny, medium or huge ones), bunnies, lambs, etc. That’s why I think it would be better to rename the holiday as chocster!

Somewhere amidst all the sales and holiday trips there’s Easter, the main Christian holiday,  the reason we have this long weekend in the first place.

As I follow various internet forums, I have noticed a new fashion, namely making fun of anything that is Christian, like the coming Easter. It seems that people desperately want to be perceived as cool and mocking Christianity is becoming a platform to acquire this image of a cool, rebellious person. Funny enough, hardly anybody ever tries to do the same with Islam, I wonder why?

Anyway, I’d rather all these cool atheists didn’t rub their belief in no-belief in everybody’s faces! They can just ignore all the celebrations of this weekend and go to work on Monday, after all why should they have a time off work when this holiday is not theirs, eh?

Nevertheless, regardless of what you believe in I want to wish everyone:

You don’t have to believe in Jesus Christ being a resurrected Son of God! If nothing else just join in celebrating life this Easter: live and let others live AND believe what they want to believe!