How many stories are there? Less than we think I guess.

Originally posted on Wordpress.....

As an avid reader and watcher of film I have often wondered if there are a finite number of stories in the human imagination. I am not saying everyone who has written a book or made a film is committing deliberate plagiarism. It is undeniable though that  many films and books are retellings of older stories. Many are fairy tales set in the modern day and a large well known City. The same is true of Shakespeare's work. Romeo and Juliet, The taming of the Shrew and many others have been told multiple times in different settings.

Another repeated tale is that of the Hero, often a troubled or unloved soul, who battles against untold odds against an arch enemy of superior intellect and strength. Needless to say he always triumphs in the end-even if it takes a film trilogy for this to come to pass. This story is the basis of most super hero movies.

Even the Crime novel, no matter where it is set, follows the same pattern. Mostly these feature a baffling murder or death attributed to natural causes. A detective, normally with a sidekick, is assigned or works out that a crime has been committed. The sidekick is there in order for the slower reader/watcher to have things explained to them. After a twisted and tangled web is followed, with many false leads eliminated, the villain is revealed in a dramatic way. By and large the criminal is the most unexpected character and there has to be a twist in the ending. The hero must also be menaced occasionally.

An updated version of the Hero story is the type of thriller written by Dan Brown. The hero faces danger, violence and injury that would fell a lesser mortal. He/She is in  pursuit of a theory based around an ancient document or artefact. His opposition is a person or group whose interest is in suppressing the aforesaid theory. They are also quite prepared to kill the hero and sidekicks (Once again for the slower reader/viewer!). After Mr Brown the market was deluged by books of this type and they are still popular but are essentially the same basic plot.

The Romance novel has seen a resurgence with T.V. adaptations of classics and, inevitably, the updated modern versions. These are largely seen as women's books or films and are concerned with the rocky path to idealised romance. There must be angst, there must be opposition to the match, there must be a mysterious enemy of the couple who will do anything to stop the union but in the end there must be marriage or the modern equivalent.

There is a new breed of Romance novel typified by the 50 Shades trilogy which is essentially a love story but explores the more physical side of the relationship.

The list goes on, Disaster movies, Horror and Science fiction. All of these have different settings but most have features in common with the core stories I have mentioned Even these usually include a love story, a ruthless enemy and a hero.

I know that there are some original stories which do not quite fit these things. Dickens Christmas carol is unique in my experience but is about redemption which is a common theme in the aforementioned genres.

The fact of the matter is that we like having our favourite tales spoon fed to us. A truly original novel is rare but they are unlikely to be made into films because they do not have the dramatic plotlines. As a book they are enjoyable but that is all they will remain.

Given the Hollywood habit of Rebooting even recent tales, especially in the Super hero genre, you have to wonder if the 'original' story exists. I am a writer but find it very hard to come up with a plot which has not already been done to death.

Something to look forward too.

My posts lately have not been full of joy but a Blog is about expressing yourself, good and bad. I have a personality which occasionally bogs down in semi depression and it helps to write about it in (I hope!) a humorous way.

However it is time to try to  move on. I am basically a cheerful person and have been listing some reasons for cheer.

1. I am married to a lovely lady who puts up with me. She tries to fill all my needs and I do likewise.

2. While  I am not rich I am not destitute either and have some luxuries which others would love.

3. For every bad day there are 3 or 4 good days.

4. Food. I love my food.

5. I love the Autumn and Winter.

6. Maybe, just maybe, it will snow this year. I love snow.

7. I love Christmas, you will find this out nearer the time when I will mention it every 5 minutes. If it snows AT Christmas my cup runneth over.

8. I have 3 Grown up kids in whom I have great pride.

9. I have 2 Grandchildren who cheer me up all the time.

As Ian Drury said.....Reasons to be cheerful.

Reasons to be cheerful part 3

  

More bad luck......or is it?

I have mentioned several times about how my luck, such as it is, goes in cycles (Good then bad then Good!). I cam currently in a bad cycle but I thought it was coming to an end. How wrong can you be.

I went to see my mother in her care home. We had as enjoyable time as possible and returned to the car. It was parked with the wheels at an angle which allowed me to check the tyres. I had checked them when I bought the car and they had been replaced just before that by the previous owner. They were in good condition. Imagine how shocked I was to find they were now smooth on the inside rim. After a 1/2 hour drive home I took them to the tyre place and had them replaced at a cost we can barely afford. Once again I had, it seemed, been shafted. The tyres were both down to the metal layer and could have blown at any time. The previous owner had had new tyres but neglected to check the tracking. The tyre guy told me, rather condescendingly I thought, that the tracking was quite spectacularly out and this would explain  the rapid wear.


Needless to say I resent paying for that mistake but at least the car is safe. It was this that made me consider this bad luck thing. Rather than considering the bad luck of having to spend money we really can't spare, maybe I should think about the good luck of checking my tyres before they blew, possibly at high speed. I guess every cloud does have a silver lining.

Vengeance is mine. Or is it just coincidence.

 

 

 

 

Aside from the normal day to day niggles that beset us, there are times in your life when it is quite easy to believe in a vengeful God punishing us for an imagined yet undefined wrong. This usually takes the form of a run of bad luck.

 

Another theory of mine is that you can only have so much good luck. Despite my comparatively comfortable circumstances, for which I am grateful, I often feel I am being given some bad luck to balance it out. This is never more so than with finances. Those who say that money can't buy  you happiness fail to mention that having enough to deal with anything life throws at you is a big help. Having come from a poor family I think this type of luck is handed down and I am not likely to break the mould. So I repeat there has to be a balance. This last few days a case in point. A few things have gone my way in the last few months and I should have known payback was on the way. First some fairly important dealings with a government body completely failed to achieve their purpose and many plans were depending on the outcome. Now Mrs Bot and I both tend to get angry about this sort of thing and if we are particularly tired it erupts into very long and  heated argument. This inevitably followed. We are accustomed to this once in a while but it is very unsettling.

 

Today I got up and took Mrs Bot to work at 6.30 am and the weather was cloudy but dry. During the course of the morning it began to rain. It was the type of rain my grandmother called 'Lazy Rain' because it doesn't bother going round you it just goes straight through. Now rain in the UK tends to be short lived but not today. I was shopping and hence jumping in and out of the car every 15 minutes, my clothes got very wet each time. My glasses got covered in rain and steamed up every time. Ditto the car windows. I have never used the heating in the car but it is good, as is the rear window heater. Thank the deity of choice for that. On my last trip I was to top up the cards which run my 'Pay as you go' energy meters. I have done this hundreds of times without a smidgeon of a problem. Today I put my debit card into the machine, Pin O.K. and remove card as usual. Then take the receipts. Transaction failed.

 

"It's O.K." Says the harassed till person, "It won't go through.". I am very stressed by now and the £15 I have just agreed to give to the energy company is a lot of money. How does she know it won't go through. They try it again and again it fails and again I am assured it won't go through. That's £30 if they are wrong and still no gas and electricity. I am sure they have experienced this sort of thing often enough to be correct in their assumption but I am not comfortable spending £15 elsewhere when, as I am given to understand, it is the energy company that is at fault. Luckily we have one or two days reserve.

 

Added to all this the fact that one of our appliances is partially non functional, our sofa is no longer in the prime of life and the vacuum cleaner smells of burning every time it is switched on and you have some idea of my point.

 

 

This cycle eventually swings back to normal but while they last these periods where little goes right are a nightmare. So if you are the Deity responsible I ask respectfully that you stop it and if it is the luck thing I'd better batten down the hatches cos it's gonna be a rough ride.

Blues.

I am not normally a great one for admitting I am under the weather. I am not normally ill, beyond the effects of the stroke and other permanent problems. The weather here is that awful damp greyness so typical of Britain at it's worst. Altogether not the happiest of days.

For the last few days though I have had a backache which makes movement painful and my moods are up and down. Even turning over in bed is painful and I wake myself up 3 or 4 times a night. This exacerbates the mood swings and leaves me short tempered. Normally the idiots on Facebook are eminently ignorable but today I find myself railing at how infantile some of them are. They think themselves so cool with their rudeness and swearing or the casual sexism and racism (Black and white are equally guilty!!!!) It says so much about the moral decline of the world that these people with their amoral attitudes are actually proud of these childish posts. What happened to self respect.

You can see where I am mentally today so I will leave you with this thought. No matter how dark it is today, tomorrow may be bright. I hope so.

Winter cometh-And this year there are problems before it even gets here..

The nights are drawing in and getting colder. Not too bad yet but Mrs Bot has decreed 'Yea I am cold, and ye shall heat the house.' Normally, no problem, but this year a obsolete boiler and replacement for same is causing more than a little angst. Given the modern preference for naming such things let us  call it CHIP or Central Heating Instruction Problems. The boiler is OK it has several thermostats controlling it's on and off cycles. The water is on an 'On demand' basis. The problem is the controller. It has a simple on/off setting. This just switches on and off when told to by the thermostat, 24 hours a day. However we Bots dislike wasting money and heating empty rooms and also when we are snug and warm in bed. Therefore Mrs Bot further decreed 'Yea and verily (You don't think this is getting needlessly messianic do you?) Ye shall find me ye instruction manual and  I shall program ye controller'

No problem, except that the bag containing the manuals has disappeared into the black hole that is the loft, never to be seen again.

On to plan B. I spend 15 minutes trying to read the part number, written upside down and sideways on a tiny flap. The writing is likewise tiny. Given my eyesight this is no easy task. I fire up my auxiliary brain number three, my PC. It is affectionately known as 'Bloody machine.' for it's habit of refusing to do anything useful until it has finished booting to it's own satisfaction. Much cursing later and the computer grudgingly agrees to do a search. One or two websites later and I know more about controllers. More to the point I have found an instruction manual. One click later and it laboriously loads the PDF file. A few more minutes and it is loaded.

'Nearly there.' I scream to myself. But dear reader you know better. The printer goes through it's not insignificant boot up and then refuses to acknowledge it has paper. I can see the paper but no, it is adamant. Fifteen minutes spent at floor level jiggling the paper and nothing. So I take exactly the amount I need, one at a time and separating each meticulously, and replace it. It graciously accepts that it now has paper.

Sixteen pages later and we have the manual. The actual programming will be done by Mrs Bot, who despite my mastery of all this computer stuff, cannot believe I will be able to program a simple controller with a manual.

It set me to thinking of our distant ancestors though. The process for heating was a simple matter of starting a fire-something they were expert at. No bloody manuals or computers either.

I was bought up with a real fire and I know they are warmer, visually very attractive and almost hypnotic. Dirty yes but they do say fire has a soul. I bet the central heating doesn't.

Are we dumbing down or am I just becoming Mr Curmudgeon?

I am normally very confident in my opinions and certainly not afraid to express them. This one is a case in point. Today, a blog I read made me certain that we are, as a nation, dumbing down. I would like to believe that I am wrong but I fear not.. 

Cases in point.

1. 'A' level questions which would have been in 'O' level papers in my day.

2. Teens asked questions in voxpop news items to which their replies are worthy of a child.

3. Answers to similar questions which merely parrot the prevailing ideas on any particular issue without any supporting original thoughts.

4. Youths who have no idea of their own history (Often seen on quiz programs.)

5.Geeks who endlessly argue about which superhero is better or has better powers. I stopped doing this when I left Junior school. These guys live in a world of Games and Science fiction films, the real world does not impinge on their lives.

6. Those who believe that the money they receive from benefits are from some magic endless fund and never question whether they deserve it. This is usually followed by some incoherent comment about why a job is impossible to find for them though everyone else should be made to get one.

The list goes on. It rapidly becomes obvious that many young people today have no idea about Politics, their heroes are vacuous or violent fictional soap opera characters and celebrities with no real claim to fame and they cannot even express themselves without those dreadful Americanisms innit?

Go on Facebook and the ideas expressed by older members are often about politics and current events. Younger people post about said celebrities, post meaningless graphic jokes or parrot others who post (Often obscene) reactions to others.

I have strong Anti European feelings and wish to leave the EU as soon as possible. There are several reasons but a typical post from a younger person might be a graphic like 'Get us the F**k out of the EU.' followed by a comment, if pressed, like 'It's the immigration innit?' That is the extent of their explanation for their views. Interviewers have long learned to accept comments from youngsters but not to push them too hard for further explanations.

The most dangerous youths today are those who see racist information and who do not have the intellectual toolkit to realise they are being manipulated. Thus you have them being indoctrinated by the far right or terrorist organisations. They are ignorant of the futility of fanaticism and it leaves them wide open to this manipulation.


I am sure there are a lot of younger people out there who are not like this but they are definitely in the minority.

Recenly discovered 1912 exam paper which would give me problems today.


'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down uponthem. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both,
and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom,

Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol'

I may be Mr Curmudgeon but I am sure that I have very good reason to fear the dumbing down of society.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Everything is turmoil Chez Lifebot today. One of the delights that life and advancing age have inflicted on me is a Cataract. This means, for those who have not had the pleasure, that my vision is poor and T.V has become almost impossible to watch from the place our present sofa resides.

So it meant that there is only one thing to do. We moved the sofa nearer to the T.V. If only it were as simple as that. Anyone who has done this will now that several other things get in the way. So it meant a complete rearrangement of the living room. Two or three hours, a major bout of hovering and much swearing later and we have a freshly arranged, hovered and tidied living room.

Cue our gorgeous but ever so slightly naughty 2 year old granddaughter. The toys cam out, the crayons came out, several books now decorate our carpet. The whirlwind that is Laicey has struck and all our good work is now a bit of a mess. Best I get the vacuum cleaner out again.

There will be fireworks.......Mr Curmudgeon rides again.

 

Fireworks, Great aren't they? Organised displays are a lot of fun. Leeds castle in Kent has one synchronised with classical music. I have no problem if it is my choice to watch fireworks and I do understand that you cannot help hearing them around November 5th. I also know that all kinds of occasions merit fireworks. New Year, Guy fawkes night, Christmas and birthdays have all become worthy of displays. Why I don't know, we didn't need fireworks to celebrate at least three of those before.

OK so I'll put that down to change. What has changed for the worse is that there are fireworks going off for at least a week before and after some of these events. Around November the fifth there are fireworks nearly every night. Around Christmas there are fireworks randomly around the holidays. What this has to do with a religious holiday is beyond me but these days the same can be said for the  season itself., We even hear fireworks at Easter.

So people have so little fun in their lives that they need to let off fireworks to celebrate anything. The shops start selling them in early September and I understand many companies sell them all year round. This would tie in with the multiple events they are used for.

We are in a state of Austerity and many people claim not to have money for essentials yet packs of fireworks start from about £20. They get a lot more expensive. So how on Earth can people justify sending all this money up in smoke.

When I was a child fireworks were pretty and if they were going to make a loud bang they were called bangers. Modern fireworks seem to be judged by how loud they are. Many would not be out of place on a battlefield. Often we are seated watching TV and we are subjected to a barrage of bangs loud enough to rattle the windows. Given that this can be any time of year we never know when. A neighbour had fireworks at his barbecue in the summer, presumably to celebrate his not burning the food. Those with pets and small children must dread this time of year.

There is also the unregulated nature of home displays. There is no doubt that Children can get far too close to fireworks and, in November, an unguarded, large bonfire. Ask The fire or ambulance services if you don't believe me. They have to deal with the fallout. These things are dangerous and should only be seen at organised displays. Much as you feel you know what you are doing, fireworks and bonfires can be lethal. Fireworks were invented in China as weapons.

Oh yes and before you buy a super banger designed to make noises akin to a field gun, think about those who are forced to listen to it and who may not enjoy it as you do. And keeping this up from 7 or 8 till well gone midnight is anti social to say the least. Go to a display!

Me and OCD

The picture above is a nice easy way to show what O.C.D. does, but if you don't suffer with it, you won't really understand. I am a sufferer and it is at times of insecurity and when I am tired that it slinks from it's cave. As an intelligent person it can be triggered by the smallest thing that I consider abnormal in day to day life. I offer this example.
I was just going through my new phone's capabilities and had the earphones plugged in. Then the onscreen headset indicator, showing that it was plugged in, disappeared. Straight away I thought something was wrong. Now you dear reader would probably think that it was a software glitch and shrug it off. My somewhat twisted mind thought it was a sign that the phone was possibly broken. I unplugged the headset and plugged it in again. The indicator appeared and stayed there so I listened to a song or two and unplugged it. Then I thought maybe I had damaged the socket removing it and plugged it in again. This happened 15 to twenty times. A classic example of the cycle in the picture. Anxiety about my phone, compulsive action removing and replacing the headphones, very temporary relief from anxiety and renewing the anxiety by wondering if I had damaged it by my actions.
My conscious mind knows there is unlikely to be a problem with a brand new phone, and the irony is that you are likely to cause more damage with this obsessive action of constant plugging in/Unplugging.
But we are not finished yet, once I eventually convinced myself that it was OK I began wondering about the earphone socket on my tablet, I hadn't used it for ages. sure enough I went through the same ritual with my tablet. Another 15 or 20 plug/unplug cycles later and I managed to stop myself. Great, except that I tried both again first thing this morning and nearly slipped into the cycle again. Luckily, being more awake, I managed to stop it more quickly.after maybe one or two attempts.
I won't even tell you about how much of this behaviour I went through setting the phone up. Every time I had a moment of anxiety about it's operation would lead to constantly using that particular function again and again till I was sure all was well.
At one time I had the keys to my workplace and was entrusted to lock up. At the time I was in a fairly bad place with my 1st marriage and my job. It wasn't unusual for me to stand there locking and unlocking the door on the premise that the last cycle would finally convince me that I had locked the door properly. Then I started again, worrying that I had somehow not done it properly last time. Once the lock was dealt with there was the shutter. Once it was down I would lift it to check that the door was really secure and shut it again. I once stood there for an hour doing these robotic and unnecessary tasks. it took a major intercession from my conscious mind to stop it. Basically I had to tell myself I was being stupid again and again and eventually the mind won.
I cannot tell you how tiring and soul destroying it is to try and convince yourself that your actions are futile while your unconscious is hinting about the disasters that will befall if you don't get it right.
I don't suffer permanently from this but when it happens I am drained and irritable afterwards. Many see OCD as a comical disorder but, to sufferers there is nothing funny about it. Next time you watch a documentary and feel like laughing about the antics of the sufferer, bear in mind they are stuck in an infinite loop and getting out of it is so hard. Some live like this every day.

Why is theft still a problem-the technology of today should deter criminals?

I was messing about with my new phone today when I noticed that one of the preloaded apps was actually useful (As opposed to the usual bloatware which the developer has paid the provider to include. It all takes up space on your phone and is 90% useless.).

The App in question is a bog standard antivirus. It does the job but also prompted me to set up a password for tracking. I have never done this before but I thought what the hell. When I logged on to my PC today I went to the site thinking it was a cheap and cheerful map with a large area circled showing approximately where the phone was. To my surprise the indicator of the phone's location was right where it should be. I could even change the map to a satellite image of the location and see my house. I often lean out of my window backwards and wave in case a satellite happens to take my picture but it's never happened yet.

This set me thinking. Of course I could find the phone using this, if it was stolen. Any mobile is capable of this using it's inbuilt GPS and the software is included. Tablets and many laptops are capable too. These devices are readily available for Vehicles, Handbags Children, Pets and so on.  You just need some software to track the GPS devices. One system actually lets you log on to your stolen Laptop from another computer and take pictures of the thief.

 I recently saw a news item about a lad who volunteered to have a GPS tracker fitted on release from prison then burgled several houses not knowing how accurate they are. He was soon behind bars again.

Home burglaries can easily be prevented with a simple alarm and camera system. they needn't be diabolically expensive. One company is now selling an App to make a discarded mobile into a home camera capable of transmitting images to your phone, tablet or PC. Even a simple thing like upgrading your locks helps.

As regards street crime, we all know that Shops, Businesses, Car parks, Public Buildings and most major streets have  monitored CCTV. My wife's company monitors it's staff and outside it's premises all the time. Surely criminals know that the chances of being spotted at or near the crime are very good.

Smart water is a way of identifying your stolen devices if recovered or in a system where criminals are covered in it if committing a crime where it is used. It can only be seen in ultraviolet light but lasts for months.

There is a paint you can buy which looks normal on drainpipes or roofs. If it is disturbed by someone climbing on it the surface breaks and makes it very slippery. It also transfers onto the criminal aiding identification.

 



But crime is still with us-Why?

I think that it is the old Chestnut-'It'll never happen to me.' All the deterrents rely on you spending time setting them up, or money buying the systems and items mentioned. Many haven't got the money or don't feel they need to spend it on something that may never happen. That said, many councils offer smart water free or can offer security advice.

As for street crimes and CCTV, criminals by their nature are arrogant enough to believe they won't get caught  but with modern technology it will become much more difficult to avoid arrest.

Of Shoes and ships and sealing wax, Of cabbages and Kings.

In other words a few stray thoughts loosely bound into todays post.

Yesterday I took delivery of a new smartphone. Setting this up trumps anything else I need to do and requires all my concentration, hence no post yesterday. I now have it as I want it but It bought into sharp relief all the other things that the act of blogging has driven from my mind lately.

Thus this morning I sorted out some issues with my Tablet P.C. Then there was the oil and water in the car which definitely needed doing. Certain personal grooming jobs followed this. More jobs beckon after this which shows how addictive this blogging lark is.

One other thing which I must record before I forget. I visited my dear old mother last week and the staff were feeding her dinner. They were all from the first wave of immigrants into the U.K. Mainly they came from European countries Like Poland, Lithuania etc. and may even be 2nd Generation. Now we face an influx of refugees from Syria. A few years ago we were decrying the uncontrolled immigration from Europe and it is still an issue for me. We only have finite resources.

What amused me was the fact that these nouveau English were watching a news item abut Syrian refugees and were making the same arguments about keeping them out as we did about them. I guess being English is highly contagious.

Having Just thought of another job needing my attention I'd better stop randomly blogging and start thinking about something more witty and wonderful for tomorrow. However I would like to pay my respects to P.C. David Phillips, a police officer killed by a car thief running him down to avoid capture. He had a wife and 2 children. I hope it was worth it for the cowardly thief, David's colleagues will hunt him down.

Also my respects to the victims of the Oregon College shootings. If the shooter did commit suicide he is also a coward, if not the guy who shot him should get a medal. But if I may offer the opinion of a Brit, maybe this love affair between Americans and their guns should end. Too many have died.

No blog today

New phone, playing, back soon

Today I am channeling-------Mr Curmudgeon

curmudgeon

kəːˈmʌdʒ(ə)n/

noun

noun: curmudgeon; plural noun: curmudgeons

a bad-tempered or surly person.

 

 

After my galactic revelations yesterday I am back to my lovely self. Well actually  I have gone the other way. I shall explain. Phil Towers is located in an area of (To use the delightful euphemism.) Affordable social  housing, Someone who grew up when and where I did will know it better as a Caaaaaannnnncil estate. Younger readers my know it better as a housing association property. Basically it is rented accommodation for those who cannot afford to buy. There are good estates and there are the ones which were used in the 1970's. to re house people displaced in the slum clearances of the time. Other groups were also placed in them. Now they tend to be Family homes but also single parent dwellings. Single men or women and older couples live in flats in these areas. There are a high proportion of people who are on benefits.

 

 

Now I am not one to automatically assume that all who are in receipt of benefits are automatically anti-social. There are a lot of people who have genuine problems, or in this Austere climate cannot find a job. Many are victims of the Labour policy of rewarding people who produce children, thus causing an epidemic of babies with parents who cannot afford to keep them. There are hundreds of genuine people for every benefit cheat.

I like to judge everyone on their merits. However it is not of benefits I wish to speak. There is no doubt that the type of people who are on benefits tend to exhibit the kind of behaviour I am about to discuss but it is by no means restricted to them.

There is no doubt in my mind that many bought up in the 90's and Noughties has been given to understand that selfish behaviour and rudeness are quite acceptable in themselves but not in others. They are not effectively disciplined by doting parents. This may seem harsh but I have plenty of evidence and cases to study on this estate.

Example 1. There are many enclosed 'Courts' which are paved and have large green areas for children to play in. Yet many of the teenage boys who claim to be poor can afford motorcycles with no tax or M.O.T. (Yes I do know this for a fact, they openly boast of it.), and they wear no helmets or protective gear. They use these courts, which are blocked off with bollards, as shortcuts despite the danger of hitting children and pollute the air with these elderly machines. The noise is incredible and all summer you smell the oily stench of two stroke engines.

Example 2 There is a young man nearby who seems to think I like his choice of music so much that I want to hear it every day in the summer. Recently he had the music, which had heavy bass content, blasting through a boom box in the back of his car for 3 hours. It was drowning out my T.V. to such an extent that (To my shame!) I shouted from my window to turn the F*****g music down. Next I had an irate young man threatening me, waving a finger in my face, swearing and screaming that he could do what he liked. He did, among all this, say that I could have just have asked him calmly. To my way of thinking it was his behaviour which was the catalyst and he must have known that it was. However if I want to be known as a tolerant person he was right, I could have asked. I still feel that the mental torture of non stop loud music was a good excuse for my outburst but I went out and discussed it calmly. He accepted that and turned it down. Since then things have been better with him but there are many who play such loud music, day and night.

Example 3 and the reason for this rant. All our houses are, by their nature, tightly crowded together. It is possible to see that, on a day such as today, washing is out in nearly every garden. And yet one of our neighbours has decided to have a bonfire, putting out thick dark smoke. Of course this means all our washing will now smell of smoke. If we wished to have a fire where I grew up you always made attempts to let people know.

I know that the code we observed with our neighbours regarding potential nuisances when I was young are impossible now but there are things you can do. A fire can be lit at a time when washing is unlikely to be out. If you are doing something noisy such as DIY, a word to the neighbours helps. Sunday being a day of rest is long gone. I have heard people hammering on Christmas day before. A little consideration goes a long way.

This rant will achieve nothing. I have to accept that the code of behaviour I grew up with no longer applies. People do exactly what they want, when they want. Even if you remonstrate peaceably the discussion often turns ugly. Until parents once again discipline their children as I was disciplined things will not improve. Still we can always drug them till they are old enough to begin the whole cycle again.
 

Inspiration from space.

My fellow sapient carbon based life forms, I know that life is sometimes not exactly as we would like it. We all know it. I know about depression and worries. I know that it is difficult to find your happy place when things go badly.

Maybe I can help. I was perambulating gently around what is optimistically named the Riverside Country park this fine autumn morning. I happened to look up just as the Sun cut through a cloud and it nearly blinded me. You can imagine I wasn't amused but it began a random chain of thought. It has to do with the futility of complaining about the Sun doing whatever it damn well pleases but also about miracles.(You should be aware I am in a more facetious mood than is usual for me.)

Out there is a bloody great Universe, you have no hope of learning much about it without a few million lifetimes or Warp Drive.¹

So somewhat smaller then. The Galaxy. Same applies. Maybe a few less lifetimes. Or a sublight spaceship and committing a fair few of your descendants to a lifetime in space.²

Ok now we're cooking. The Solar system. Our neighbourhood. We have already visited another planet like thing viz the moon. Mars is coming within our reach. At it's centre is the Sun which is about 94.5 million miles away. This body provides gravity  which holds 8 planets and hundreds of minor moons and asteroids in orbit around it. For my purposes the most important is Earth.³

Now this wonderful sun radiates heat across these millions of miles. It reaches Earth with enough energy to cause us to complain how hot it is. Yet without it the Earth would be totally lifeless, plus you and the rest of humankind (Past and Present) would never have existed. It is the basis of our industry and agriculture, our lives are regulated by it's presence or lack of presence in the sky. All life depends on it.

Next then the Earth. it's down there beneath your feet, look down and there it is. Not much is it? But hang on. It revolves very fast generating gravity. You don't even feel the rotation but it's happening.  Gravity. Stops you from flying of into space. Then there's Electricity. Properly harnessed it provides more heat and light when that pesky Sun goes. Properly chopped into little pieces it powers our beloved machines. Chop it up a little smaller and it provides communication between those machines.

Then we dig minerals, gases and metals to make more machines, specially those wheeled devices which we use to go 100 yards to the shop or do the school run. The oil removed from the Earth and grown by energy from the Sun provide them with their power. Gas provides cheaper heating.
The atmosphere protects us (Despite our best efforts!) against radiation and stray asteroids. We are reasonably assured of that protection until our bodies eventually wear out. Maybe one day we will make new ones.

Not very inspiring so far? Well try to imagine all the energy and effort that the universe goes to in order to maintain the Galaxy. The galaxy does the same for the Solar system. The solar system looks after the Earth and the Earth looks after you. How can you think you are not loved or that no-one cares when all that energy has ben expended to ensure that you can live your life. It's bloody miraculous?

1. It would be nice, if ever Warp drive or Matter transporters are invented, that those responsible give credit to Gene Roddenberry for the concept.
2. I like star Trek, Deal with it.
3. I've been there, it's rubbish.

The galaxy song By Eric Idle, explains all this faster and with much more wit than me. Still Meh!