You know!

This fascination with other people’s lives and what they do with them, and the way they observe the world has given rise to a lot of “soul baring”. Which is fuelled in no small way by the rise in the popular `Blogs` that abound on nearly every site out there, and there’s nothing wrong with that of course. The question to be asked here is why do we do it?   Is it just plain old nosiness, or are folks wishing to find out how the other half lives?

Do we all need reassurance that we are the same as everyone else, that we are not freaks or weird in some way, just because we are taller, or shorter, or bigger or smaller than those around us? Is it because some are lonely, even when surrounded by a family of loved ones and friends who say they love us? It is possible to be lonely even in a crowd, but more importantly, do we crave reassurance that we are not much different to the rest of humanity?

Many questions that could have various answers and very possibly most of them could be right...just pick which one is right for your personality. There are, according to some blogs, people who wish to trumpet their point of view to the exclusion of everyone else’s. Then again, there are some which are a subtle cry for help, and one needs to read them very carefully to spot that.  Others just wish to communicate with somebody, anybody, to know that their feelings and aspirations don’t qualify for the `freak` or `weird` category.

Some may want to know that there are others in this world; who feel just like they do, and thereby feel a valued member of society and just want to be friendly, because it must be true to say that there are more good people out there than bad.   We just need to find them.

Now... what’s your question?

From the Captains (B)log

The pastime of being accident prone is not confined to any age or gender, you know.  My sister-in-law was one such person. Whilst taking a stroll through the park with the dogs one sunny day, we happened upon an elderly gentleman struggling to put up a deckchair.  Being of a helpful nature, my sister-in-law decided that some extra expertise was required to complete the task, and despite the man's protests, promptly took over this relatively simple procedure. I must, at this point dear reader, point out that she suffered from selective hearing!

This man was obviously of a very quiet nature, and didn't wish to make a fuss, bowing to what he perceived to be a higher authority on the erection of deckchairs.  During the ensuing gyrations in her attempts to find top from bottom, I observed the expression on the poor man’s face and his eyes getting wider and wider, by now resembling those of a Cheshire cat, and his face taking on a paler shade of puce.

Deciding by this time that his trust in this strange female was seriously misplaced, he decided that he would now attempt to regain the initiative, and carry on the task himself, with the unfortunate consequence of two legs and one arm becoming entangled within the bowels of the chair, with neither party quite knowing which belonged to whom, because after all, he had only opened it the wrong way, and was quite capable of righting it himself !

That's when I decided that they needed some help to extricate them both from the obvious painful situation in which they found themselves, but I had not reckoned that a fourth party might become involved in the shape of a large lady leading an equally large poodle. Now, the poodle, quite understandably, got very excited at the noise and shouting of three people trying to do whatever it thought we were trying to do, and decided to join in the fun.

The poodle decided to play tag with our dogs, and ran around the opposite side of the still collapsed chair. Why it's owner decided to retain her firm grip on the lead is something of a mystery, but her dog proved to be much stronger than her and promptly pulled her over, with the result that she managed to show her `harvest knickers` to the whole park, but with everything `safely gathered in` she managed to retain her dignity. Some praise is due to the paramedics for the speed with which they attended this fiasco, and assured the poor man that despite the profuse quantities of blood dripping from his fingers, that nothing was broken, and a full recovery was possible with no loss of the use of his hand.

They did make a helpful suggestion that perhaps my sister-in-law should accompany them to casualty to have some stitches put in her knee, and that in future she might leave things of a technical nature to those with a little more experience in such matters. I thought it would be a good idea to try to find the dogs, who by now had run off in something of a panic due to the noisy gyrations of these two people trying to put up the deckchair.

The dogs were found some distance away terrorising a group of children and young mothers, who didn't appreciate they were only wanting to play, and that I, as an innocent bystander was not responsible for the situation.  What some of those women carried in their handbags is a mystery, but I am sure the bruises on my head and back will soon disappear.

More musings from the captain’s (B)log soon

I've recently been privileged to a new experience in my relatively ordinary life. Kittens! Well not exactly kittens, but having to remove scrambled egg and tomato ketchup from the walls, and coffee from lots of other places, due to kittens.

I tend to arise before the other bipeds in my house, battle silently with a reluctant dressing gown, and take a casual shuffle downstairs. The dressing gown is a vanity-thing, I don't often go commando these days, if you get my meaning, so the dressing gown kind of helps with my modesty. Anyway, a quick wash in the downstairs bathroom and then along to the kitchen, to open the kittens room (our front room actually) on the way. Nice and easy. Ordinary. Then I do whatever it is that I do at that early hour (I've generally no idea what it is I'm on autopilot).

That morning I fancied scrambled eggs with half a loaf of toast and fresh, dark frothy coffee with brown sugar sprinkled on the top. Kettle on, and  I’m greeted by two sleepy dogs as well. Now these kitten-things have developed a new and devastating method of warfare on large bipeds – leg climbing. Our kittens (Tango and Blue, boy and girl, but I can't tell the difference – they all look the same to me,) treat this as an Olympic sport, and I must admit that they are world-class. After a few surprise leaps, one kind of gets acclimatised to it however.

Ah, but their new trick now is attacking you from each side! They sneak up, and with great enthusiasm, launch at each leg clawing their way upwards to get to the highest point first. On this one memorable (for me at least) morning, the new kittens had (as usual) followed me into the kitchen. There's a sweet notion or tendency to think that they are greeting me in the way of cats on the dawning of a new day. However, I think it's more likely that they look at me and wonder if that great idiot making weird noises at us is going to feed us. Just a lumbering meal provider, I guess.

As they do, the mini-cats were play fighting when suddenly and probably from nowhere, they both launched into one of their leg-climbing marathons. One doesn't normally dress for breakfast in the traditional sense; so I was momentarily surprised by the feeling of tiny claws finding a grip on my flesh hence to haul their small bodies in an upward direction. Adding to my surprise was not only the realisation of where they were heading, but of the certain fact that I was far too slow to prevent them reaching too far up.

With alarming speed and accuracy, both kittens reached that point on a gentleman's anatomy where anything with sharp pointy bits and especially unrestrained claws, has, in my humble opinion, absolutely no business being. If that wasn't sufficient to make a bad start to the day it went completely Pete Tong after that. In my haste to prevent further embarrassment to the kittens and permanent damage to my own good self, I ignored the fact that, not only was I holding a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, but I was squeezing tomato ketchup on the stuff also.

The shock of this completely un-provoked attack somehow caused the scrambled eggs and ketchup to become closely intimate with the ceiling. My frothy coffee and mug became acquainted with the dining room table and floor, and my work papers and numerous other items that I am considerably happier about when not covered in sticky froth and breakfast fell over.

I've booked the decorators for a week on Tuesday, so it'll be fine after that, and I get my stitches removed the day after. Under the circumstances I've now decided to dress for breakfast – or at least to wear a pair of stout trousers.

FINANCIAL MARKETS WORLD CRISIS
Money Mess Makes Misery For Many.

The headlines are screaming this message, or something like it, every day now. Whether it is just scare mongering or just to sell newspapers I don’t know, but there is no doubt that things in the money market are getting tougher.

Everyone is now finding it very difficult to make ends meet, with a subtle and sometimes not so subtle increase in prices for the basics of life. Interest rates are such that even paying the mortgage, assuming you have one, is taking an ever increasing slice of one’s income.

This is of course happening all around the globe and isn’t confined to any particular geographical area, but the effects are the same...an increasing gap between income and expenditure, wealthy or not so wealthy alike.

The stress that accompanies such a weekly or monthly struggle is having a devastating effect on the health of people who are trying to provide the best environment for their families, mainly the women of the household who are the ones, normally, trying to balance this near impossible task.

For them the future is bleak indeed, because it seems as if they are caught in a financial trap with no way out, and the despair that can follow will undoubtedly take it’s toll on the family, especially if there is more than one child.

We all want the best for our children, and to give them a better life than we had...but how? When the pressure on the already harassed wage earner and homemaker is such that there always seems to be too much month at the end of the money, what can be done to ease the burden?

Not an easy question to answer, and certainly there is no quick fix. If there were then we would all take advantage of it for sure and there would be no crises to worry about.

Many things spring to mind of course...spend less or earn more...or both! Just two of the more obvious ways to keep the bills under control, but we all think we are doing that already. There are just not enough hours in the day to work any longer or harder, and we are already being paid what the boss thinks we are worth.

So what about spending less?  With not enough of the household income left after paying the necessary fixed amounts like mortgage, electricity, gas and other vital utilities what is left after the weekly shop for food is taken away? I would guess not much, if anything.

There is, of course, that great standby for such times when the money refuses to stretch any further. The Credit Card; a wonderful way to ease the crushing burden immediately, instant cash at the touch of a button, everything sorted at a stroke.

But that brings its own problems...we are all familiar with the saying `buy now...pay later`.  I would re-phrase that to `buy now...suffer later`. The circumstances of such an action are compounded by the fact that the credit card companies have the cheek to want their money back!

So now the problem has got worse, because the inevitable has only been put off  until a later date, and none of us ever manages to `catch up` and remove ourselves from the clutches of the money trap.

A second income: That’s the obvious answer.  But if the wage earner is already working long hours and doing as much overtime as is available, then what?  You need yet another part time job?  Some are already doing that. 

Some are even doing three jobs! Now we are back to the effect on family life...never seeing the children or our partner except at weekends, and sometimes not even then, not to mention the strain on the wage earners own health.  These actions can also lead to the break up of family life...stories abound of just such things happening.

It is nearly impossible to see a way out of the morass when one is so busy trying to make a living that there is no time to make any money.  But there is a saying that much good comes out of despair, and I have proved that to be true in my own life.

As a humble sailor I travelled the world and saw for myself the dreadful conditions in which some people lived, and even though many years retired, those images will never leave me, indeed they have given me strength to count my blessings....and they are many.

When I am asked about the financial state of the economy, and the way things have got better or worse over a lifetime, I point to the fact that I have managed to master the intricacies of a computer, even at such a late time of life, and to use it to make an income.

Research has led to many part time, and even full time opportunities to add to one’s income, thereby lessening the pressure on many household budgets and proving the old adage that one is never too old to learn. Anyone with an internet connection can do the same...it’s not rocket science. It is possible to substantially increase one’s income just by working from home, using the computer and a little knowledge.

Many stay at home Mums are doing just that. It has the very obvious advantage of being able to work when you want to, and balance family commitments to suit yourself.

I have done a lot of research on this subject, and most require that you buy and sell, as in a shop. But if you have no money to buy stock, or storage room for it, what then?  Most of us anyway have very little knowledge of buying and selling or stock control or any of the other hundreds of other things we may be required to know.

So that’s why I went looking for a business that involved no buying or selling or stock or staff etc: with the very minimum of financial outlay plus the added benefit of a free website, free help, and much, much more, and all with very little technical knowledge required from me. Which is just as well!

I eventually found a few that seemed to fit the bill completely, but only after I had done  much `digging around` to see what the advantages and disadvantages were did I finally find one that would be relatively easy for one of my advanced years to operate. If you want to check it out for yourself, please do,..don’t just take my word for it...go here www.jakesway.com and have a good look around. It won’t cost you anything, and it may just do you some good.

But of course, one has to take the long term view...no free lunches with anything, and no promise of making a million pounds by teatime! With a little patience and diligence it is possible to fit this in around one’s existing lifestyle and make quite a difference to the household budget.

I would be interested to hear from anyone with comments and feedback on how this could help, and perhaps we may get some discussions on the merits of working from home. That website again, www.jakesway.com
  
Until next time.
The Captain.

Did you know the word diamond comes from the Greek – adamas – meaning unconquerable, and throughout history there has always been a sense of ‘fight worth’ diamonds? They are supposed to provide fortitude, courage and victory in battle, purity and eternal love. The histories of famous stones read like adventure stories and fairy tales, daring men and beautiful women who were also daring. The official perception of diamonds; is a girl’s best friend or a good investment.

A diamond is very possibly the oldest thing you will ever hold in your hands. The full value of a diamond is determined by three things, colour, clarity, and carat weight. The rarest diamonds are blues and pinks, or greens and reds, and then there are greenish blues, oranges, browns, and even black diamonds. Certain mines produce certain colours of stones but the diamonds we are all familiar with are white diamonds and these come in a large variety of shades and grades.

There are two sources of diamonds, alluvial and kimberlitic, and both were created hundreds of millions of years ago by an explosive force such as volcanic activity that sent diamond-bearing kimberlite shooting up through the earth to a level approximately one hundred and fifty to two hundred meters below the surface. Over time several things can happen. The covering layer may be eroded by the elements, exposing the diamonds to the air. Then the diamonds are carried by rain and streams sometimes hundreds of miles from their original site, very often ending up at the coast. These are called alluvial diamonds, (deposited by moving water).

Then there are the kimberlites, (a kind of peridotite containing diamonds). Kimberlitic diamonds are mined from deeper underground. Some of the uppermost geophysical layer will have been eroded, but there will still be a need to sink mines to get at the diamond-bearing kimberlite, which forms in what is known as a diamond pipe (a carrot-like structure, that is wider at the top). These mines can be hundreds of meters deep and as wide as half a mile across. Some of them are huge, some small, the best can produce hundreds of millions of pounds worth of diamonds a year.

Once it is thought that a diamond pipe may have been found, rock samples have to be tested in a laboratory to see if they show a high concentration of indicator minerals which strongly suggest the presence of diamonds. If positive, the next step is to do some core sampling which involves drilling at a forty-five-degree angle hundreds of feet below the surface. This means that a large amount of money is now required and usually a company is formed and floated on the stock exchange in order to raise it so that a basic drilling station can be put together and the core tests can be done, if these tests also come back positive the next stage is bulk sampling to determine whether diamonds are present in sufficient quantity and grade, to make sinking a mine economically viable.

Annual sales of diamonds amount to over forty billon dollars. In the background there is the Central Selling Organization and about eighty per cent of the worlds’ annual diamond production passes through this single channel. These diamonds are sorted, graded and sold at 19, Charterhouse Street, London, DeBeers’ main base outside South Africa.

It is often said, “There is nothing new under the sun”, and how true this is, remains to be seen. For what we think of as new today is often proved to be just another turn of life’s circle by the discoveries of our historians and archeologists.

One of man’s great achievements was the written word; it enabled him to keep records and eventually was replaced by the printed word.

A discovery was made in China during the 14th century of a small revolving tray containing wooden blocks which had been used for printing documentation. It is rather more complicated than the 96 character set of a daisy wheel as it contains characters on four different levels instead of only around the edge. But precisely how this complex arrangement was fully utilized still remains a mystery.

The Incas had an unusual substitute for the written word. This was called a ‘quipu’, a tasseled bundle of different coloured knotted cords which were used for making reports on population, produce etc. It was said that the records were so exact that if a sandal went missing in any part of the extensive Inca Empire the specialized quipu ‘readers’ would know about it from these bundles which were transported around the Empire. The multicoloured mass of knotted cords could be made from cotton or wool but the more important ones were made from twisted coils of tinted metals such as copper or gold which retained their colour so preserving the information for many centuries.

The simplicity of coloured strands and knots could be an incredibly complex system; this Inca numerical device used a base of ten and in design was based on an abacus. Each colour, coil thickness, tufted ends and type of knot, all had significance. Quantities and distance were recorded and historical events were also included.

A green coil signified land, a blue coil the sea, yellow the desert and so on. Brown, blue, and yellow coils indicated the passage of time over distance. Small orange knots evenly spaced on all these coils symbolized the sun or the length of day. Large white knots between the orange ones coincided with phases of the moon and astronomical moon cycles were calculated to give certain dates. On the opposite side of the quipu were cables matching the same blues and greens but with a different number of knots and shorter spacing which represented journeys and difficult or stormy voyages.

This information retrieval system was a detailed calendar as well as a text and numerical system which somehow skipped the alphabet and went straight into computerization. As the last quipu ‘reader’ has not lived for many years there are still areas of the quipu coils where its meanings can not be clearly defined and probably will forever remain a secret of the lost Inca civilization.

The sun brought the sleepies to consciousness quite early on a Bank Holiday Monday which I thought was going to be an uneventful day, but after breakfast we received an invite from friends to go to the Bog Snorkelling Championship event. Never having heard of Snog Borkelling, we thought it might be worth a visit. So a picnic lunch was hurriedly packed ready for the outing.

Our friends said the event was taking place at Llanwrtyd Wells but not being sure of the exact location we went round in circles until we saw a banner displayed on the outside of a pub, then after receiving the correct directions; we followed the little yellow arrows which took us through some unmentionable places.

Going to the bog in this part of Wales has a whole new meaning to the well known one. My first introduction to the content of the bog was to observe it was as black as night and tiny creatures could be seen making a kind of wash as they struggled along slowly in this very murky water, lord only knows what they were, one could well imagine a few prehistoric creatures or maybe piranhas in there.

Lunch time arrived early as the smell of organised cooking made all of us feel hungry and ready for the picnic. Our food was unpacked and each person was handed a dish of salad, but where were the forks? In our haste we had left then at home! Well, it was too late now so we had to do the best we could  with fingers and wet wipes, which was a rather a tricky exercise when trying to eat coleslaw not to mention the beetroot. Nevertheless we managed and eventually returned with red fingers back to the snorkelling event which was now in full swing.

Over a hundred people kept arriving from all over the World, each hoping to win the trophy for this timed event. Because of the murky bog water and a rule which said heads could not to lifted, they would not be able to see where they were swimming, and hopefully not what they might swallow if they got parted from their snorkel. But the cheering and encouragement from the spectators and fellow competitors, the joking and laughter made the day memorable for everyone.

Looking at the video back at home, I had some very good footage of the grass and the conversation during lunch; I thought the battery didn’t seem to last very long!

When I think of Los Angeles I think of sun, hot nights, Daiquiri’s, Margarita’s, iced lemon tea, and last but not least, Jason. We had been good friends since our younger days so when he invited me to spend a holiday at his new house in Santa Monica I was delighted to accept. There were landscaped gardens with a sea view and three grass sculptured levels, the top one having steps down to the second level but from there on it was a 12ft drop to the next level and another 3ft drop to the small private beach, more steps were intended but as yet the garden project had not been completed.

Late one very hot evening, Jason and I thought that it would be nice to sleep under the stars with a lovely cool sea breeze blowing over our bodies, so we headed out to the cooler and private second level of the garden and stretched out to chat over the events of the day and reminisce about the days gone by, like you do. Well, one thing kind of led to another and neither of us noticed how close we were to the edge, suddenly, Jason was gone! I peered over the edge and was relieved when he assured me he was not injured.  Now being as nature intended and in a bit of a state he thought the best idea would be for me to join him but looking at the drop I declined and suggested he take a dip in the cold ocean instead and I would go and find a rope, or something, so he could climb back up.

A rope could not be found but eventually I located a ladder in the garage, unfortunately, opening the large door had attracted the attention of another guest who immediately joined me and insisted on carrying the ladder to wherever it was going. After we placed the ladder and a dripping wet Jason emerged out of the darkness, our guest intruder thought this all quite hilarious, and as all three of us carried the ladder back to base he suggested he might join us.

We assured him that the moment had passed, and now back at the house we all bid each other good night.

Did I tell you about the time I shut my head in the car door?  It was the afternoon we were meeting new club members at Poole Harbour to give some useful tips about racing a 22ft boat.  I know it sounds impossible but in trying to see what the arms and legs of two children and two dogs were up to in the back of the car, I lifted my foot off the ground and managed to pull the door shut before I had quite placed my bum on the seat, and all I saw were stars.  In spite of this minor mishap we duly arrived at Poole and pumped up the rubber dinghy to ferry everyone on board.

We all knew the date coincided with the September equinox, which was the highest rise and fall of the year but to seasoned sailors it should not have been a problem. Unfortunately after a few hours the wind had completely died down and there was no alternative but to confidently make our way back to harbour using the outboard motor which was always kept well serviced in case of emergencies. Professor Sod was also sailing with us that day; because while making headway against a very strong current, the outboard bracket broke, leaving us at the mercy of the Old Harry rocks and its race.

Our first introduction to this white foaming water was a sound like an express train approaching, in fact it was the other way around; we were speeding towards it. All on board were firmly secured before the boat was tossed about like something demented, why were we here instead of at home safe and warm I asked myself?  One dog tried to dig his way out through the bottom and the other one relieved himself on the unclad leg of one of the  would-be racing sailors who remarked that he had suddenly gone quite warm. Apologies were waved aside as we threw a bucket of sea water on his legs, he gasped how very glad he was that the boat had now emerged at the other side of the race safe and sound.

The plight of our craft became apparent to a passing Motor Cruiser Captain who very kindly offered us a tow, only for disaster to strike again when the tow rope went slack and wrapped itself around the shaft of his propeller. Now there were two boats going nowhere, and darkness was falling fast as we drifted into the small harbour of Swanage where we needed to moor up for the night and hopefully find a place to get some food.

After mooring we all climbed ashore when suddenly a grumpy pier attendant jumped out of the darkness and promptly blocked our exit to the town by locking the pier gates. This left us with no alternative but to pump up the dinghies and row over to dry land where we were kindly offered help from a member in the local scuba diving club who spent half an hour underwater cutting the thick rope free, and to whom we are forever grateful.