I've Been Rasterized..and I liked it!

Yep, I have to admit it, I have been openly rasterbating, and boy have I enjoyed it. I rasterbated this morning and have been rasterbating this afternoon, and I have played with rasterbator this evening too. No, get your minds out of the gutter, I didn't need to enter any credit card details - it was free!!

Actually, I think I'm all rasterbated out! OK, let me explain.

Whilst reading through a 'Money Saving' weekly email I receive, I spotted a link for 'The Rasterbator' which briefly explained what it was, but I was still intrigued, so being the nosey cow I am, I went for a peek. After all, I thought, what harm can a quick peek at a bit of rasterbating online do? Yeah, yeah, I know, my mother told me the same thing!! I clicked the link that took me to the website, and began to read the instructions. Hey, there's nothing wrong with a bit of light reading to make sure you're doing it right! Then I began to rasterbate too. It's a pretty neat idea, and now I have a picture of my rasterbation I'm going to stick it on my wall so I can admire my handy work!

Why don't you have a go too? Go on, it doesnt have to take long, just a quick rasterbate now, and I guarantee you will want more! I have put the link in below, and will add it to my list of fun sites in the side bar.

http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator


I will also add a link in my side bar to the Money Saving newsletter/site for any of my fellow Brits that are interested. You can sign up to a weekly email, and can easily scan what money saving tips are included so that you only need to read the bits that are relevant to your needs/interests. The site is owned/written by Martin Lewis, the guy that had a show on CH.4 recently where he helps couples with Money Makeovers.

It regularly features the latest/newest deals and explains which are best and why, on things like Credit Cards, Bank accounts - Current, Savings and ISA's, insurance, utilities etc etc. There is always a section which gives you 'loopholes' in loyalty/bonus schemes, and he is the main weight behind the 'Ask your bank for the last 6 years charges back, they are illegal' campaign. Last week, he was first to break the news about Virgins new Gatwick to New York route, and to celebrate Virgin were offering seats at £160 return. Yes you read it right. I went onto the Virgin website, and they weren't even promoting it there, not a mention.

So you see, it's not just useful if you have loads of money to invest, it always has loads in it which is a must for ordinary folk like me!

Why Dad's Shouldn't Babysit

I was checking through a big batch of emails I have from a contact who keeps me well supplied with jokes and funnies. I can get anything from half to a couple of dozen a week, and of course, they don't all appeal to my sense of humour but there are some crackers amongst them.

Whilst opening some of them up looking for a particular email that was a play on words and mirrored text I came across one entitled

Why Dad's Shouldn't Babysit

I couldn't help but laugh to myself at the pictures, even though I have seen them before they really brightened my day, and so I decided to share them with you all, and have added a caption for each one just for fun.

Maybe you can come up with some other 'Captions' for one or two of them. Leave me a comment and let me know what you would have put - I would love to hear some alternatives





How long before dinner Dad?
Maybe I could just share Fido's!
Oh boy, maybe you should ask Mommy for some cookery lessons Dad, this Sucks!!






I think I've mastered it Dad, does it go like this? Yeahhhh! Wait til I get home and show Mommy what a clever boy I am!





Mommy always said you couldn't multi-task, she'll never believe me when I tell her she was wrong Daddy, now where did that dishcloth go?




OK, we've been good girls, we stayed quiet and amused ourselves so that we didn't interupt you and your mates watching the game and having a beer. Can we go to the park now, please.





And my all time favourite!!





I don't think this is what Mommy meant when she said "If he doesn't settle, take him for a ride, that always calms him down"
Dad... DAD... D-A-D ... SERIOUSLY, I'M NOT FEELING TOO CALM RIGHT NOW!!

Larry, you were brilliant

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963)

I have been having great fun exploring the world of blogging. As you may have noticed there are frequent additions and/or alterations to my layout and design. I am sometimes like the little girl in a candy store who wants a little bit of everything she can see, and still wonders if there is anything else she may have missed. Heck, who am I trying to kid, I'm always like that! I so badly want to make my blog interesting, not just for me but, for all the visitors who may stop by, that I need to try everything out and see for myself what works, what doesnt etc. Exploring the different sites that give you the opportunity to have site counters, photographs montages and other fun stuff is for me, just like being let loose in the sweety store, sometimes I get carried away and have far more than is good for me.

I currently have photos here from my holiday last year to the USA. What a fantastic country, and contrary to the sometimes misconceived idea the British people have that Americans are obnoxious, loud and rude, I would like to set the record straight. DON'T believe everything you see and hear on T.V. My husband and I travelled to Boston, MA and took an anticlockwise tour to Lake Placid, Niagara, Washington DC and New York. We found, almost without exception, that the American people are in fact extremely warm, friendly, inviting and very hospitable, and you have the most fantastical breakfasts, my husband thought he had died and gone to heaven every morning! The other thing that was obvious is that Americans are totally passionate about their country. We brits have a tendancy to 'always look on the dark side' of the governments failures, to always point out what's wrong with the way the country is run, or how this policy or that amendment does not go far enough to deal with a certain problem. Americans on the other hand, although blatantly aware of the shortfalls in their systems, are only too pleased to tell you about the great and the wonderful too.

Whilst in Washington, we were lucky enough to take part in a guided tour of the cities most historic landmarks, monuments and buildings. I will never forget the man who headed the tour. His name was Larry, and I have never before or since met a man who was so passionate about his job. This man could list every single Amendment in the Constitution, maybe not that incredible, but he could also tell you how it came to be a part of the Constitution. He could tell you the name of every single man, in order, that had ever been elected to President. Nothing strange for a considerable number of Americans I'm sure, but could you also tell us which college they attended, what they studied and when and how they entered into politics. How about the exact date they were elected, and how long they served, or the names of each and every one of their wives. Larry gave incredibly detailed information and descriptions of the many and varied statues, monuments and buildings that we drove past or stopped at, way beyond what was necessary to meet the requirements of his job. But do you know the most amazing thing? Not one person on that tour went back to their hotels that night without having gained an unexplicable infectious interest in America's rich politics and History. Not one.

So, Larry, thank you, it was an honour to ride on "Dolly" with you as our guide.

How Rich are You?

"No matter what you have done to this moment, you
get 24 brand new hours to spend every single day." - Brian Tracy

How many times do you wake up in the morning and think to yourself

'I really wish I didn't have to go to work today'

or maybe something along the lines of

'Hell, if only I hadn't drunk quite so much last night'.

Maybe you awaken some mornings with a heavy heart, with regrets for things you have done or a longing to do something you have never done before. Do you ever sit at the dinner table and discuss what you would do if you won on the lottery? How you would spend your millions. How you would make all your wildest dreams come true if you were rich? Which car would you buy? What would your holiday of a lifetime be? Would you buy a new house far from where you live now?

All those dreams, all those desires, all those plans. They are just that - dreams. We all need dreams don't we. We need to believe there is something in this life that's better than what we have already. Everyone aspires to better themselves. My question is this - how do you quantify what makes you 'better'. What makes one of us better than another? Is it being rich and being able to buy all those material things you dreamed of buying when you won the jackpot on the lottery? I don't believe it is.

I believe that we are all equal. For sure, some people are lucky enough to have more opportunities than others to pursue the career of their choice. Some people may be more intellectual than others and some will be more practical. Where would the sense be in having an architect draw up plans for a beautiful building if there are no men with the skills to build it? Some will be followers and some will be leaders. Whatever your strength is, recognise it. Use it. Allow it to benefit someone else but always remember that no-one is better than you and you are no better than anyone else. We are all human, we all need to feel useful. Each and everyone of us needs to feel wanted, loved even. We all dream of being rich.

I am rich already of course

And so are you, if only you knew it.

I have a wonderful husband of 20 years whom I am still very much in love with and 3 wonderful, well adjusted children who are now all independant (just about). I grew up with parents who always loved me unconditionally and a sister with whom I am very close. I have neices and nephews who smile and get excited to see me and I have a handful of close friends who will always spare me time to talk no matter how busy they are. So, you see, I am richer already than I could ever dream of being.

On a completely different note to end, a friend referred me to this fun little web site http://www.oceangram.com/ which is basically an online "Message in a Bottle" service. Pick an empty bottle, write something meaningful, something you want to get off your chest, a little joke or some amusing anecdote, the possibilities are endless. When you have written your message, place it in the bottle and toss it out to sea. Where it will end up nobody knows. You can leave the window minimised whilst busy with other things, but check back once in a while and you may find that a bottle has washed up on your little piece of the shore. Open it up. What will it say? How will you reply? Add your own message to the previous one and toss it back again. You could travel all over the world without even moving from your computer! Go on... give it a go.

A Thought To Touch Your Heart

I have finally joined Blogland! I may be slow but I get there in the end.

My blog to me is merely a place to lay down some of my thoughts and happy memories. A place to muse over those insignifcant, useless pieces of information we collect along our journey of life.

We have a desk calendar at work that has those little rip of pages each day, and every day I lean down and squint at the tiny writing on the bottom - that little inspirational thought for the day. Sometimes you wonder exactly what 'inspiration' you are supposed to draw from the seemingly meaningless line and other days you find yourself nodding in agreement, or raising an eyebrow and thinking "oh how true that is" and when someone asks what it said you realise that you actually said it out loud!

So, I have been rambling pages on the web in search of some inspirational gems, and I came across this one:

"A life is never ended until all the lives it has touched have ended too."

It made me stop and think. We all lose people we love and care about. When our friend or relative has lived a long and happy life we say we are grateful that at least they had a good innings (I wonder where that saying came from?) When our loved one is not quite so old and has not had such a full and happy life it can be so easy to dwell on the what if's, to feel that they were cheated in some way from what might have been. In fact, I guess, it's those of us who are left behind that feel cheated, feel a huge sense of loss, of grief, of sorrow.

So to all of you out there who have temporarily lost contact with someone special, remember this:

"A life is never ended until all the lives it has touched have ended too."