Don’t fear the reaper

Well, I’m back after my scare last week. Take it from me folks if you think every day is a good day to die then the reaper might just shake your hand to scare you from time to time. Since the age of 3 he has often visited me and tried to get me to follow him who knows where… The latest scares I’ve had are when I’ve woken up in the middle of the night/day unable to breathe. I’ve been to the local hospital to have this checked out and it seems I have a common ailment, sleep apnoea, which I’ve only heard of recently but, apparently it is becoming more common.

The fact of waking up when unable to breathe, or having a dream where you fall off a cliff and waking up before you hit the bottom, that has been happening all of my life but as it’s becoming more and more of a regular occurrence I decided to get it checked out. For the last 4 or 5 months I’ve only had sporadic dreams and generally wake up more tired than when I went to bed, the doc told me to lay off the caffeine as much as possible which is the only thing which gets me up off my ass and moving.

It’s just as well I don’t have a job as I keep having blackouts during the day, I also had these while employed several years ago and kept getting told off for the extended silences on my calls. I then started taking medication to keep me going and no I’m not talking about caffeine tablets. These worked but unfortunately proved to be too expensive to keep taking them all the time, and they are addictive, so I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone.

Just recently I’ve been thinking about holiday destinations I’ve been to and the two I’ve had the most fun on were in the USA, I stayed in Anaheim, CA which was close to two theme parks – Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm – but was also close enough to the border to head south to Mexico, where I visited Tijuana. The other place I really had a great time in was Paris. So much so that I was going to move there and become an author, however, the garrets were all way overpriced and with no employment I couldn’t have afforded to stay there.

The thing I really liked about Paris were the little out of the way cafe’s where Parisians go to get away from the tourists and if you try speaking French they are very happy with you and will help you as much as they can, not all Parisians speak English and my French is not very good. Made for some interesting exchanges I can tell you. I was advised not to go out on my own as Paris could be a very dangerous place, then I proceeded to go to bed about 3a.m. and get up at 6a.m. to go exploring. No camera, just me and the Metro, 1 Franc to travel all day at that time!

I was made redundant in 1992 and decided to go to the USA with my redundancy and worry about a job on my return, as luck would have it a friend of mine put in a good word with his boss and I had an interview (actually more of an informal chat) before I went to the USA, and was told he would write to give me a start date in late February or early March. This cheered me up no end and I had a great time in California, visited the beaches, as well as the Malls and several specialist shops to see what went on. I also went to both theme parks and enjoyed Knott’s more than Disneyland but that really had to be seen to be believed. Both theme parks are well worth the entrance fee and a lot of the rides are worth waiting to get on, in fact I queued up twice for some of them!

Anyway, I digress, following on from my harrowing experiences I duly went to the sleep centre at the hospital and have been given an appointment for a follow up CT scan to see what is going on in my head. Good luck with that doc, I don’t even know what goes on in my head most of the time and I live there! That’s when I started thinking about holiday destinations and I’ve done adventure holidays (two of my favourite destinations were quite an adventure). I’ve also had beach/pool holidays which I’ve managed to relax into but I do prefer going to see the sights rather than lazing around. It would be nice to go to some other places I’ve heard, and read, about before the reaper gets his hooks into me completely but I’m not sure I’ll have the money to do that. New York is somewhere I’d like to spend a few days in, visiting Strawberry Fields and the Dakota building as well as CBGB’s if that still exists. Arizona I’ve flown over going to the Grand Canyon which I then flew into but my film ran out and the driver wouldn’t let me go into the wing to get another one 😦 I would like to take a trip into the Canyon on horseback with a native to guide me. If there are many left as they do seem to be vanishing now which is so unfair, but that’s what the Europeans tended to do when they colonised a country – kill of the indigenous people.

I think that’s enough for tonight as my eyes are beginning to close now. Till later, take care and please treat people as you would like them to treat you.

Schizophrenia keeps me company

I was at the doctors the other day and he asked if anyone in my immediate family, apart from myself, had ever suffered from insanity? So I told him that actually, in the main, we found it quite enjoyable.
The only downside, for me personally from my own illness, is the voices I keep hearing which stop me from sleeping which I think is causing my blackouts. I’ve mentioned this to my doctor a few times now but they won’t put me back on the sick in case that starts my depression off again. How can I get a job if I keep falling asleep and wake up fighting for breath?

What’s all the fuss?

Ok, so yesterday they discovered the secret Higgs boson that joins atomic particles together. “the Higgs boson is the only visible and particular manifestation of an invisible force field that permeates space binding the Universe on a molecular level” Science Today
“It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together” Obi Wan Kenobi.
Now that the force has been discovered how much longer will it be until mini-clorians are found in blood? Is anyone going to join me to build up a new religious order of Jedi? Is there anyone prepared to assist me in my quest for a superior being who will teach us how to love everything around us?
Yes I want to develop a light sabre, after all out of strength comes peace. I don’t want to fight anyone but I want to be able to defend myself should some one threaten me. I also would like to build affordable spacecraft and space stations in order to explore nearby galaxies and see who is out there.
They called me crazy in college for voicing these ideas but now things are beginning to come together with micro-physics so maybe the time is now after all!

Happy 4th July

Today, as if anyone doesn’t know, is Independance day. The day when Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum kicked some alien ass and saved the planet for another year. It’s also the anniversary of when the fledgling USA threw off the mantle of the British. I’m so pleased they did because we now have become closer than would have been thinkable in the late 18th century.
The world is still shrinking and no country can stand alone and be completely self sufficient, the current recession is affecting everyone and every country has to adapt to spending and borrowing cuts, some countries are getting close to bankruptcy, a few cities in the USA, including Stockton CA, have declared themselves bankrupt already. In the last two or three recessions it was the USA which led the recovery, now more than ever, even they are struggling to find a way out.
I don’t claim to be an economist as I can’t see a way out for anyone since no-one will bite the bullet and offer billions to get countries back to work and ease the recession.
I studied economics for both my Scottish qualifications, an SNC in Business Studies and an SHND in Accounts, as well as studying the subject again for my AAT professional qualification. I found that whatever political stance you take an economist can be found who will back; and even justify; the political stance you propose to take.
The founding father of economics seems to have been the Scot, Adam Smith. There have been others since who will tell you he was correct at the time because imports cost less than the revenue generated by exports. In case you’re unaware of Mr. Smith, what he suggested to end a recession was to pay two teams of labourers, the first team would dig a hole one day then move elsewhere and do the same the next days and weeks. The second team would follow a day later and fill the holes in. Because both teams would be paid more for working that meant more money locally being spent in shops, pubs and other establishments helping to fuel the economy.
If this is going to work today then all nations will have to pool their workforces and economies but there are very countries where the governments can agree with the opposition so they are allowed to govern. It’s good in theory but would never get off the ground. If you don’t think I’m right just look at the conflicts within the Eurozone countries. Could all of the current problems of recession be traced back to Hong Kong and the first rogue trader? Or perhaps it’s all down to 9/11 and the terrorist attacks on the USA?

Another Sunday with nothing to watch

Why do I pay a tv licence fee? Wouldn’t mind so much if there were program’s on the BBC when the other channels have nothing on that appeals to me. Wish I’d set Quadrophenia: The real me to record instead of watching it :(.
Why did both ITV and the BBC have to show the final from 7pm? If I’d wanted to watch it then not a problem, as I didn’t there was lots of rubbish on the other 350 channels so I went back to reading some eye-witness accounts of 9/11, pretty harrowing tales and the one which explains the reasoning behind these attacks is total BS. The qu’ran, the Islamic bible which preaches love, has been thrown out by these militants in favour of war against every non-Muslim on this planet. They will only be stopped by killing them or being killed by them!
Anyway, it’s getting late, I’m tired, my eyes are aching so I’m gonna call it a day… Monday seems as good as anything else!