Politics , Political correctness and being 'PC' and people that don't agree with me.

Politics is always a dubious subject but I will only be skirting round the edges, like a politician really.

Local politicians are the worst type and social workers come into the same category, as well as campaign organisers and people that phone in to talk radio shows. They seem to be completely removed from reality.

The vast majority, and there's a phrase I will return to, have some sort of minor speech defect, have 'interesting' morals, wear the uniform of the unfashionable suit, once thought they were radical, think they can change the world and/or ..... make a contribution.

Although led by politicians, political debate seems to have been hijacked by those who are in the minority. For instance, imagine the silliest issue. I'll make one up for the sake of not picking on anyone. Lets say someone has been emptying their bin on the pavement. The local council are contacted by enraged householders, somehow the local paper/radio get hold of the story, then (and remember, this is made up) the national press/TV latch on.

Now, this is where I have been leading to (thought I had better say for the 'hard of thinking'). You can bet your life that after the enraged citizens have had their say, some bright spark will get their tuppence in about human rights (we'll come back to human rights..... oh yes) and the right to do anything they like, because they are taxpayers.

In the case of phone in radio, someone will call in, who has knitted their own cardigan from yoghurt, will be sporting a wild beard (male or female) will be wearing corduroy trousers, will be a vegetarian, will have had their holidays away from tourist areas and has a speech impediment and they will, without any doubt in their mind, defend the scumbag that empties their bin in the street because:

• a) its recycling and will make great compost
• b) the council should collect the said offenders bin from his scummy kitchen when its full, and
• c) why shouldn't he empty his bin on the street, its a free country.

Ok, all this seems a bit far fetched, but next time someone commits some anti social act or says something exceptionally stupid in public, just tune in, read the columns, someone will be in favour and stick up for the scumbag/criminal/politician.

The politically correct brigade too get too much coverage in the media. Who are they anyway, because they have us all brainwashed.

In the old days (pre mid 80's) you could say what you liked. You never thought if what you said might upset some Peruvian goat farmer. But now, you had definitely not complain about itchy jumpers because its racist and you have to put up with a bit of itching if you're going to support 'fair trade'.

So, if Rio Ferdinand says faggot on the radio, or George Osborne cracks a joke about autism, you'd better not laugh, or even ignore it. No, you had better send emails to someone high up , if not, you should certainly fume a bit.

Not only are these things part of modern life, language has changed for the worse too. I blame the PC brigade for this as well. You can't apply for a job anymore, no, you need to fill a 'role'. You don't phone for a man with a van anymore, no, you need to find a 'logistic solution's consultant'. There are firms all over the place offering 'solutions' for things.

It's not that long ago that people advertised 'services' and that was good. Now, if you look for services in the local rag or the yellow pages (ok, even the yellow pages ... aren't), the services you will find are normally at the back and Lola and bored lonely housewife are only too keen to provide whatever service you require, without any mention of a solution.

Back to 'roles'. It would seem if you are 'dynamic' or a 'team player' or even 'proactive', you are ideally suited for a 'role'. I thought you had to be an actor to have a role or even if you are a lorry driver you can probably have a roll .... with bacon on it.

To sum up, let's cut it out. We, I, am a majority. We can do without all this nonsense. Let's call a spade a spade or any other implement we want to call it. If you get hung up about that ......expletive deleted.

This rant is not intended to cause any offence to Peruvian goat farmers.

Shouting at the telly

First off, when I started this blog, I thought it would be the right thing to do to use international words, meaning words that the yanks would understand.
I.e, ass, not arse, or even bottom. Or, tomato not tomato, and of course TV, not telly. Well sod it, I've changed my mind ,if you don't understand , gowd blimey guvner, sod off.

So I have been shouting at the telly again. I do this a lot. They are trying to dumb us down, bring us down to there level and I'm not having it. Today DIY programs are on the receiving end.

Right, it seems to have spread, but who first started calling rooms 'spaces'. On every home improvement/make-over program its the same, they go into a room/garden/barn/field/small island and what's the first thing they say...Oh, what a lovely space.
That kicks it off for me. Rooms/gardens/barns/fields/small bloody islands have spaces within them, they are not spaces in them selves.
If bloody Laurence Lllyellen Silly Cuff's or Sahara Beanbag, or that one off the DFS advert ever go into a house and say...mmm nice living room, nice kitchen or lovely bathroom, my hat is eaten. I think the temperature of my head is safe.

While I write this, having mentioned bathrooms, I was wondering if anyone else has ever considered this to the extent I have.
Anyone got one of those shower puff things ?, you know the unfurled pot cleaner thingy. I,m sure like me you do. You cant have a sponge or a flannel these days, you can't buy such things nowadays, unless from Halfords and they have ' car washer ' written on them.
Is this the most common showering procedure....Put shower gel on puff ( lets not go down the soap road....) work up a good lather on chest ( or pubic area) then wash face, arms, legs in that order then arse. You obviously wouldn't wash the old back door first would you, it has to be last.
So, next day its in the shower again, where did you last wash with that thing.......

Anyway, that's a deviation from the telly shouting. Has anyone else noticed/get bugged, by the space thing . Maybe you never noticed . Bet you do now.


This rant is not intended to cause offence to the Yanks, or the ever pregnant Sahara Beanbag, who is welcome in my space anytime she likes.

Visit to hospital

I have to visit the hospital on a regular basis for a long running ailment that I won't go into at the moment (it's not anything to do with bits better not mentioned) and having turned up at the correct time today, I had to wait the normal hour and five minutes or there abouts. That said, I had the chance to 'people watch' for a while. I am not any kind of pervert but one can't help but notice that nurses come in various categories.

1/ drop dead gorgeous. 2%
2/ stuck up 10%
3/ mumsy 88%

Now you may think this is harsh, but I think it's about right. Even the 'drop dead' ones are perhaps only 'drop dead' thanks to my appreciation of the modern day uniform. The stuck up ones are usually the ones bent on promotion and I would wager, bent as well.

The majority of nurses, according to the press, TV and word of mouth complain that they are under paid, under valued and over worked. I don't want to sound rude (sod it, I will) but I bet they are valued highly at the local cake shops, and work extremely hard achieving that value in their constant visits to such establishments. As for underpaid, well maybe, but spend less time in cake shops and your income would go a lot further, I say.

If this sounds cruel, sorry. But if you are going to keep me waiting for over an hour and give me the chance to think such things, well nursey, it serves you right.

Having said all this, most of them (Bar the stuck up/bent ones), nurses are good sorts, they work hard and move slow and more than likely tell their husbands (or partners, same sex or otherwise) what hard days they have had. They probably tell them of dour blokes with 'why am I waiting faces' who stare too much at them and probably tell them all this over a nice cup of tea and a lovely cream cake.

This rant is not intended to cause offence to anyone who works in the NHS or people 'who get on the other bus'.

First post

Well here we go, the first post.
I'm not really sure where to start, but I thought I would start this blog to rant on a bit about the everyday things that set me off.
I don't think I can be alone in this and having reached the grand old age of 45, I feel writing just might help reduce my stress levels, and give me something to do rather than shouting at the TV.


Its hard to know where to start, so many things are just so annoying. Its not just the fact that I notice these things, its the fact that these things are being accepted into everyday life without comment or question. I don't really want to just launch into a list of irritations ( but give me time, I probably will ) it's more than likely been done before anyway. What I will do in this opening post is ask the question....Am I grumpy? Or am I alone in my thoughts and attitudes.

Let's get going.

THE YOUNGER GENERATION.

Ok, I inherited twin boys , they are now 14, its a second marriage thing. I have already brought up twin girls ( my own ) and they have turned out ok. That is probably due to being brought up in the late 70's and 80's, things were good then. Oh yes.
Back to the boys, its not them , but the world they are growing up in. They have never thought anything for years, no, they have fought fings ' and been 'finkin about stuff ' .
Am I alone in wondering when the T H went out of the English language ? . Mind you, they are not half as bad as the 'nouveau thick' I oft hear out and about and on TV and radio.
Are the inhabitants of the inner city, people from da street, da youff, Or indeed kids from down the road, convinced I/we are deaf when they speak to us ?. Because when I hear them talk on the radio or TV, or indeed down the road, and they ask, 'you know what I'm saying' or ' you know what I mean' , at the end of, or in middle of each sentence.
I really want to tell them, why yes, I indeed do know what your saying and yes of course I know what you mean. You are saying you know very little and you have no confidence in what you are implying . What's more, you are hinting that you doubt if I have the intelligence to understand your incoherent babble . Oh and by the way, why don't you take those ear plugs out from underneath your hood, that way maybe you will be able to here what I am saying. Also, why are you talking in a Jamaican / London accent, you're from middle class downtown Swindon.
But no , I don't say that, I say nothing like the rest of us. I mutter a lot.

Hey, leaving the plot for one line, try saying 'beer can' without sounding like a Jamaican asking for bacon. It will bug you .

Come to think of it, did your mother ever tell you to put up the hood on your duffel coat when you were young?. If she did, and you complied, I bet you took it down pretty smartish as soon as you were out of her all seeing gaze, no matter how cold it was.
Did you ever have a sweat shirt with a hood, when sweat shirts were first invented? I bet if you did it was only ever an annoying hump underneath your jacket, because really, you wouldn't be seen dead wearing a hood. Or, what used to be called a pom pom hat. They love them these days. Why, I thought global warming was making it warmer?
Won't it be funny when strings attached to gloves that go through the arms of your coat come back into fashion, how will the youff know what we are laughing about.

Another thing about the younger generation and the not so younger generation that should know better.....Mobile phones.

Mobile phones are great things, they keep us in touch, they enable us let our wife's know when we will be home for tea, they embarrass us when they go off in quite shops with our carefully chosen and witty ringtones that cost only £1.00 to download, and £3.00 a week for the rest of your life.

All that's well and good, so why when a group of, lets call them 'the young', but they are not the only culprits, yes, why, if there's a group of ' the young' gathered together in social or recreational situations, possibly never to be repeated experiences, have they got there phones welded to there ears. Can they not enjoy the time they in, with the people they are with, it seems not.

In the good old days, we enjoyed a day/night out with our friend's and those that couldn't be bothered turning up, we may have spent 2p on phoning them later to gloat about what a good time they had missed. A small pleasure, but well worth 2p.

I have no doubt the subjects mentioned in this first post will be visited again, but that's it for this session.

No offence is intended to manufacturers of duffel coats, ringtone sellers or Jamaican's in this rant.