Swines before pearls

Ok so i have just been to the usa where i bought some pearls for someone
I drank margaritasI had a cold the whole time i was out there
AND i have some bacon in my fridge?

Au secours! i must have swine fev....erm... flu! NOT!

Look good people of Britain.
Be sensible. Wash. Sneeze in to hankies. Wash. Don't go to fucking A&E (call your own GP).
Wash. Dose yourself up (echinacea is fab). Wash. Don't go to A&E (bl**dy infecting every other bugger under the same roof) Wash.
In short - be sensible you panicking load of hypochondriacs.

the end.... but not for me - j'espere! eeek! ;0)

Swines before pearls

Jumping the Pond

April Fool's Day - hey yeah! let's go to the good ole U S of A!
J and I had already driven up to Runcorn to stay with M & S (hmmm! ....) S & M I mean.
(even bigger HMMMM!) Ok ok - the Hs. We stayed there overnight so we wouldn't have too early a start on wednesday morning to get to Manchester Airport.
We safely dropped Js car at the shuttle park and we were soon in arrivals joining the long queue to get thro' checking-in and going thro' security checks.
"Did you pack your own case?"
"No i asked a chap in funny headgear with a distinctly afghan accent brandishing an AK-47 and 3lbs of semtex explosives if he wouldn't mind doing the honours."
FFS! What a fucking stupid question. It demands a damn stupid answer but these people do NOT have a sense of humour.
So U S AIR
We don't care!... well actually, they were great. The stewards/esses were jolly without being unctious. The food was tasty. Quite a feat considering the loss of tastebuds whilst flying in a tube 40k above the planet.

interior of an airbus A330

As you see films are watched via the screen attached to the back of the seat in front. Not such a new idea but it is to me as i've not done long haul since the very early 90s.
This allows viewing of films, documentaries, shows. Or, listening to music.
I opted to watch MAX PAYNE (mark wahlberg) and THE DARK KNIGHT (christian bale and heath ledger). I preferred the latter but by god it's lonnng!
Soon we were winging our way into Philadelphia on time. Good bloody job.
We found ourselves in a lonnng queue to go thro... yes you've guessed it... fucking security.
Now let's think this thro - we've been on a flight with no access to anything else. We were checked at Mcr by US security. When on earth were we gonna acquire another 3lbs of semtex? or a couple of AK-47s? or whatever it is the scares the beejeebus outta these americans.
Oh silly me - the british invented Dr Who and the TARDIS. DOH! that must be it.
:::::::::::::sigh:::::::
So - whilst we queued for ever and a day we almost didn't make our connection from Philly to Chicago. If we'd be any less fit/slower then i'm not sure if we would've made it.
Marks DOWN for Philly security.

Woosh! an easy flight to O'Hare and we landed in one piece.
Everything was so simple there.
Never mind the break down.
And F had cooked us a wonderful turkey roast as a welcome to Illinois/USA/her home etc.
We were landed.
The next day, K, J and I(me) eL'd into downtown Chicago.
The experience had begun.
The architecture of Chicago is experiemntal and it works brilliantly. The old mixes in with the new. In that it reminds me a little of Paris

the Silver Bean (Millenium Park, Chicago)

How cool is that? you can go underneath and look up which makes for a great photo as well.
The food we tried was wonderful. K got us in to margaritas as well. OMG! Helloo america!

The next day our trip included F who took us to the John Hancock building (below)
This is home to the highest obsevation deck in the city despite the Sear's Tower being the daddy of the high rise in Chicago.

John Hancock building, Chicago

The next day was breakfast - american style. This was in Andersonville at Ann Sathers. Andersonville has strong connections with Sweden and is home to a slightly bohemian community. It had a good feel about it.

street furniture ANDERSONVILLE style

_____________________________________________
Welcome to WASHINGTON DC

We arrived by use of UNITED for a change. And it was a roomier flight which was nice.
A shuttle van took us to the hotel RED ROOF INN in Chinatown. It was great ebing able to see so many famous sights. noteably all the monuments that DC has.
Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial.......!

F had told us of a place that she and D had stayed in when they'd been in DC for the inauguration in january. Gordon Biersch. A brewery in it's own right with good food and plenty of teles to watch whoever was playing whichever sport that evening.
Space was at a premium when we entered but we made ourselves comfortable at the bar whilst waiting for a table to come free. I sampled the in-house beer whilst J and K reverted to margarita-ville ;0)
In the event that anyone stick their head on this and so happens to be visiting DC then GB is opposite the International Spy Museum! yup! I kid you not. Only in Washington DC!. That ain't a complaint either. It just amuses me.

Our one full day in the US capital had us board a double decker bus to tour the capital with a view that we should be able to hop on-hop off whenever we wished. Less said about that advertising the better!

Jefferson Memorial with Washington Monument in the background

Lincoln Memorial
big memorial for a big man

The Washington Memorial
- looking from the Lincoln and the scene of FORREST GUMP fame -

We took our chance on our final morning to visit Arlington Cemetary. The acreage is huge so we only had a chance to cover a fairly small percentage of the ground
Below, is the eternal flame that marks the JFK memorial

The Lockerbie tragedy ( as it's known in the UK) is also marked here. They brought over stones from Scotland for the memorial.

________________________________________________________
PENNSYLVANIA

Now was the time to chill a bit more. This was almost home-from-home. Chester Hills will carry a different set of happy memories in all our hearts.
we visted places but here was no rush. We ate american food and drank american drinks and enjoyed american hospitality at it's best.
Thanks to all the various members of the HOCKING family

In Amish areas they are quite apparent as they go about their daily business and everyone respects each others wishes whatever one's beliefs

Chevrolet CORVETTE 5.7L
American musclecar

What a great sound. And the roads around there would suit my wee 5 (Miata as they call them over there)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I have left out great chunks but it will trigger enough fond memories for me.
Despite having a cold I had a wonderful time.

Safe 'n' Sound

A quickie to say howdy to my blog.
Dear Blog - i am back. I am fine. How are you?
well... didn't quite get the info right.
Was met by katie and chap from over there at Chicago O'Hare as
opposed to meeting at Philly.

I will recount in significantly greater detail at a later date.

This is what got us out there.... Airbus A330 US AIRWAYS (of Hudson River splash fame)

This is what got us from Chicago to Washington DC mid-stay
A UNITED AIRLINES Boeing 737
And, repeat script - this is what returned us safely from Philadelphia to Manchester.
Well, this is the starboard engine of the A330 anyway.

That'll do for now
HAPPY DAYS!

Gone missing

In 25 hours i will be outta here.
En route to Cheshire with a view of catching a plane on wednesday morning.
Jan B and I will fly to Philadelphia where we'll meet up with Katie in the airport and then we'll fly on to Chicago.
I haven't started packing but i'm working my way thro' bits of ironing and i can slowly begin to collate that which i am taking. Clothes, paperwork, entertainment etc.

Behind me i leave my wee cat and my wee motor. However much i feel bonded to my machine it is my cat that i am gonna miss BIG TIME!




Here, Storm sits alongside 't' Vixen at Churchstoke
Cool huh? :0)

No wonder i'm so screwed

Below is an interesting report which i have lifted from another blog.
All acknowledgements shown via the link below.
And, thanks to Tom Reynolds at Random Acts of Reality for bringing it to his reader's attention

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/nightshift.html?cid=151336285#comment-151336285

To create circadian disruption, Scheer's team put test subjects on a 28-hour cycle for eight days, each day waking them four hours later than on the previous day. The researchers took hourly blood samples when test subjects were awake, and monitored their blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and oxygen consumption around the clock.

The subjects' bodies soon produced less leptin, a hormone secreted from fatty tissue that signals a body to stop eating by triggering feelings of satiety. They experienced increases in blood glucose and insulin, which are linked to diabetes. Levels of cortisol, a hormone released during periods of stress and linked to nearly every disorder in which night work has been implicated, shot up. Test subjects' blood pressure also rose.

"The surprising finding for us is that even so brief a misalignment caused quite impressive changes," said Scheer.

Night shift workers often attempt to keep semi-normal hours on their off days, said Scheer, preventing their circadian rhythms from ever becoming settled. Van Couter added that even a small exposure to daylight while commuting could continually re-set their biological clocks.

Scientists are not yet certain how circadian rhythms regulate metabolism, said Van Cauter, but animal studies have found circadian machinery in the hypothalamus — a brain structure linking the nervous and endocrine systems — and other parts of the body, including the glucose-regulating pancreas and leptin-releasing fatty tissue.

But Scheer cautioned that the experiment only approximated shift work.

"The future question is whether changes in these mechanisms would be maintained after chronic exposure and observed in a more lifelike situation," he said. "Our study was highly controlled and mechanistic. Now it's time to do something less controlled and more realistic."

If the findings are replicated, researchers will try to find therapies capable of restoring metabolic order. The best therapy of all, said Van Cauter, would be a permanent move to night work.

"That's better than shifting between day and night work constantly," she said, "but very few people want to always be a night worker."

Citation: "Adverse metabolic and cardiovascular consequences of circadian misalignment." By Frank A. J. L. Scheer, Michael F. Hilton, Christos S. Mantzoros, and Steven A. Shea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106, No. 9, March 2, 2009.

_____________________________________________

I have no doubts that i have a bad-temper or become irritable at certain things in this world and life.
I also believe that my seemingly less rational explosions at things could stem from shift working for 22 years. 16 of which included archaic on-call system.
I know that my eating habits are all over the place but, worst of all, my sleep pattern is totally wayward.
I can stay asleep and i rarely sleep more than 4 hours in a block before waking and being aware that i am awake.
I cry for no reason.
What do i need? other than to do my job between the hours of 08 - 22... a better diet, a good sleep pattern and to re-acquaint myself with one of my best attributes. My sense of humour cos it is distinctly losing it's direction yet has been the one inner thing that has maintained my sanity.
I also wish that my friend's who wouldn't know a shift system if it slammed them full in the face would make a few more allowances and unerstand why it is soooo fucking frustrating when that which keeps me fed, clothed and housed also prevents me from partying with them and how fucking damaging it is to my mental health when they shrug it off.

the nearest they have a sense of what happens is attending an event during the week which means they don't get to bed much before 0100 yet the poor lambs then have to get up at 0700 to be at work by 0900.
Gee! boo-fucking-hoo!
I say it's time to party midweek to give your average 9 to 5ers a taste of what it's like to miss out.
play music until 0300 on a week night. they whinge that "Hey! it's a work night!"
"Well that didn't shut you up when i had to be up at 0600 the other sunday" or "That didn't stop you from wielding your chainsaw at 0900 on sunday morning when i had been in bed less than 4 hours"
See... that'd be like me mowing my lawn at 0500. You'd all be whinging pretty quick then wouldn't you?
Oh... hang on... but you want me to be nice to you at 0250 (10 minutes before i knock off) when you're pissed up and fallen over and broken something.
And no, despite what you may think I don't get paid for the fucking privilege tho government and management would have you believe just that.
Why do i have an almost new car outside my house?
because for 22 fucking years serving the pricks of this fair land i have paid my dues. I have saved. I have lived within MY means. When i borrow i know that it can and will be re-paid. In 2013 i will also own the house in which i reside. Everything in it is bought and paid for - as i will my car that sits outside. My car that i have had for two months yet someone has already deemed "unfair" and has put some deep scratches in to
Cheers fukwit! may Karma be your guide when you least expect it!

Yes! I am angry. I am tired. I am also sick and tired of Blame-Claim Britain. We have an incredibly beautiful country but it is constantly desecrated with peoples vile finger-pointing lack of responsibility.

We owe you NOTHING. Get off your arse. Do a decent day's work and then do another and another and another. then a year's gone by. Then a decade. Yes. Work for YOUR living. For it really is NOT my responsibility to keep you at home smoking and drinking yourself to death whilst you flick thro' a 1001 sky channels wondering why life is so fucking boring. Life is not boring. You are!
So - Mister and Missus and Miss Chav... sort it. Do something useful and productive for your fellow Man. WE may even thank you for it tho' whether you recognise that short sentance is yet to be seen.

Rights - food, shelter, clothing, warmth. that's the crux of it all.
Everything after that is a bonus.
Having said that i do reserve my right to feel aggrieved at the lazy fucks who contribute nothing positive to this world.

Word of the day: FUCK and all derivatives thereof.............

Three cheers to therapy.
Blog = therapy :0)
Oh - and i do love my friends... honest

An unSULLYed Man

New York sits at the confluence of three major bodies of water. Most noteably, for this tale is
the Hudson river.
On 15th January of this year an amazing incident took place.
An A 320 Airbus marked up in the livery of U.S.Airways made an emergency landing into the Hudson river.

Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was the pilot in charge with FO Jeffrey Skiles riding shotgun.
155 people were aboard the aircraft when, shortly after take off from La Guardia, the twin engines suffered birdstrikes in both sides. The plane had no chance of making the distance to any form of airstrip in the vicinity. Sullenberger quickly recognised that there was only one option to give them all a fighting chance. The Hudson river.

It was a scary sight for witnesses as well as for those going thro' the event on board.
2001 and the dropping of the twin towers isn't so far away. And now, another airliner is about to crash in New York.

Sullenberger calculated his rate of descent, the angle he needed to drop the plane in to the water with the tail entering first.
The Hudson river ferry captains were alerted along with all the usual 911ers.
The water was just 2 degrees above freezing.

Of the 155 people on board 155 survived. Those that did suffer injuries were fortunate to not suffer anything too serious.
Many called the good captain a hero. He, rightly, said he was only doing his job.
I agree. Less a hero and more an experienced pilot who used all that experience to carry out the most incredible heroic measures!

He was not the only person to bring about such a happy conclusion to a potentially horrific incident but he was the man in charge and on the spot at that time.
I salute all involved.
I salute Sully over and above.