Bright but v. cold here today. Playing Brass Band music to soothe my soul.

When one door closes, another slams shut in your face. Herself had a weird ear problem and went to see the Doc. ‘Have this scrip’ he said. Then he said that there was a chance she might have a brain tumour and she must see a boffin and have a scan.

That’s put a distinct cramp on the weekend. What was I stupid enough to say in my last blog? Could this be a good year? Oh sxxt.

I have many vices but I never gamble. I would never take a 1 in 5 chance - but that’s what she faces. Please think of her in your prayers. It may well be nothing - but the wait to find out is going to be awful.

Dad

Mild and dull here today. Playing the ever dependable Chet Atkins to soothe me.

Firstly Mort’s Mom and Julianna very much in my thoughts - I hope you’re both OK.

Might 2006 be a good year? It’s about time I had one. Henry seems in outstanding form, his brother and sister likewise, and his Mum very chipper (and relieved) after the awful drama of her mastectomy. No further treatment indicated. Thank God. The whole thing - including the dead days of waiting for information must have been horrendous for her.

Meanwhile I’m feeling lousy. I think I might have a dose of the tummy-bug scourging Britain’s schools at present. However, the Coaching Session went off well this morning and I’m much praised for the clip art in my handouts. Huh. Never mind the content, feel the pics.

Have been giving Herself a hand with teeny-tiny making and admin as she powers up for a Dolls House Fair towards the end of the month. Must buy a new computer for her but can’t decide between a PC to replace the one that has died or a new laptop to replace the old one. We used to have a network here with 3 PC’s and a laptop + 3 printers. One PC went when the old business closed; one PC has died; one PC was replaced - so now we have one new PC but 4 printers and the old laptop. I wouldn’t mind but for the insane cost of Microsoft software. Given the volume of stuff they sell it should be £25 a shot - oh, and after all this time it should work perfectly like an old Victorian water pump. Round and round, day after day. Does it Hell!!!

I’m trying to buy the 5 classical CD’s in the D.Telegraph Offer for £8.99. It’s impossible. One of the key things about selling is to make it easy for people to buy. Why don’t these people know that?

I don’t know about you but I’m not at all happy about this Muslims v The Rest business going on at the moment. As a properly qualified Mediator I’m extremely grateful that I have no role to play - because I see the current chasm as unbridgeable. I personally dislike what I see as the steady decline of ‘the West’ into an absolute moral gutter. The list of things I find offensive is much too long for this small message. So the staunch support for Muslim standards has a resonance for me - except that I reject certain of their ’standards’. The treatment of women and the murder of innocents - worse, children - are but two. Indefensible on any grounds.

But how will this intellectual conflict play its way out? I suspect the answer is ‘brutally’. Something else I reject.

I believe in the right to freedom of expression. But that does not include the right to demean something as intrinsically important as a religion. So I believe that someone should be able to say that the Christian religion is a load of rhubarb. But not demean Jesus as happened in Jerry Springer or Life of Brian. An obscene step too far.

So in principle the Muslim and Christain faiths stride side-by-side with Judaism. In practice - not a chance. The challenge seems to be the problem of co-dependency. The Muslims accepting, from history, that the Jews have a long-standing link to the land of Jerusalem. And vice-versa. The West coming to terms with the fact that secularisation has destroyed standards of life and behaviour and restoring standards with or without the Christian religion.

Under Islamic (Sharia) Law , might our lives be much improved? No binge drinking. No assaults. No theft - unles you want to lose your hand (I like that one). No murder - unless you want to die and pay danegeld to the victim. Violent physical punishment to people who commit violent offences against innocents. Sounds good to me. Just tweek it a bit, that’s all. What do you think?

Just a thought. When taken by surprise, in person or on the phone, don’t react - just think - and then respond in the way that will be best for you. And never answer an e-mail you dislike without thinking it over first.

My love to you all - Dad

A cold and nothing-much kind of day down here today. I’m playing Brendan Croker to lift my spirits a bit.

Had a long, solid night’s sleep last night but woke up feeling nervous and fraught. And the feeling won’t go away. Worse still, I have a few serious things I MUST get done - and can’t can’t get my head around them. Quite the reverse from Henry’s new-found zeal - good on yer, ‘enery my boy. Keep it up!

Firstly the Personal Trainer bit. This seems to be getting along. Only problem - one knee is slightly wrecked and now I have an elegant but synpathy-demanding limp. Have reached my target on the treadmill of marching at 120 paces / minute and 3 mph. Just what I used to do in HM Forces. So that’s good. Just a question of doing it for longer and longer. I feel much better, I am much more cheerful (apart from today) BUT - I haven’t lost any more weight. Gloom. I want to wear my kilt without looking pregnant. Oh well, soldier on.

So what’s winding me up? Well I’ve got to create a Spring Programme of coaching courses for some internal sales people who don’t want to be sales people. And my mind is a total blank. I know them well now, having run a Spring and Autumn series last year - but. All they want to do is take orders and give information. I could scream!! Who pays their salaries? The customer. So we NEED as many customers as possible. Aarrgh!!

The other problem on my plate is this business of being a Mentor (in loco parentis) to Students and Companies participating in the Year in Industry scheme. I’ve had some personal problems to sort out for three of them - but that was OK. I’m just a kind of Dad with more authority than parents these days. Can you believe young kids having contraceptives provided and abortions done without their parents knowing or agreeing? Then there was the youngster taken to Court - again without anyone telling her parents. Surreal. Parents are parents. Which makes them responsible for their kids. Not the xxxxing State or some agent thereof. One major reason for all the trouble with youngsters these days is precisely because the State has dimished that responsibility in many ways. You couldn’t make up this lunatic state of affairs however drunk you were.

Anyway I have to make a State Visit to all the students in my group and their Managers for a mid-term round-up of how things are going. Wow, that’ll be fun!! So I’m getting my act together and preparing for whatever turns up. Wish me luck.

Which brings me to food. Yes, we’re Tesco-junkies and most of the time their stuff is good. We mostly buy / cook fresh stuff. But increasingly we’re buying over the internet from specialists. We’ve found an amazing meat source in Scotland. Properly hung (21 days) beautiful organic beef, and other similar stuff. Every meal is a total delight. Now we’ve hunted down a supplier of fishy things because we wanted good potted shrimps. There is a small sort-of Farmer’s Market once a week here but it’s not much cop at present. But in the future I can see us sourcing veg & salad direct.

Time to get back to work and stop avoiding it all.

Remember - perception is the only truth. So think about how you perceive others - and how others will perceive you. If you want to convince others you have to be perceived as the kind of person they want you to be. It adds a great deal of fun to your life.

Go gently out there today, people. Dad