Would you Want to see Me?

This is how I choose to portray myself to the world on this site and with this in mind I have a question for you all. My eldest daughter has just discovered the delights of ‘Skype’ as a close friend of hers has just moved abroad to work and they can keep in touch using the video version of Skype so they can see each other while they chat, at no charge as it comes via Broadband on the PC or Mac. We have used it a few times and found it to be very good, seeing the Grandkids and Mrsoldmovie’s brother in Cyprus as two examples. Now it occurs to me that we all rub along pretty well on this site and I’m sure there is a programme out there in software land that would enable us all to ‘video chat’ on some giant conference call type facility….but would you want to? Would the magic melt in a flash as you literally come face to face with reality, could you bear the shock of having your hopes dashed as the stark truth is revealed in the form of a pot bellied, wrinkled, scarred, cauliflower eared, bloodshot eyed apparition looming and leering out of the screen in front of you, and some of the men on here could be just as bad! As the Stones once sang, ‘Be careful what you wish for”.

Tomorrow is ‘P’ Day

The Apple iPad hits the stores tomorrow but only in the States, queue’s are forming already as Mac fans and future fans wave dollars in the air to be first with the new. Us fans in the UK and the rest of the world have to wait until later this month to get out fingers on one. I have heard of a few who, as you view this, are winging their way over the Atlantic from the UK to be the first on these shores to have one, I’m keen but not that keen. Will you be first in the queue when they arrive? Or will you wait for the next generation of iPads to emerge which will have a few of the things missing from the launch model as per the iPhone a few years ago. I came across that picture this morning which just about sums up the iPad for me, do you know which film the iPad has been added to in the pic? It fits to perfection. If their are any Americans reading this, have a happy ‘P’ day.

The new picture shows queue’s building up nicely in New York, can I offer anyone more shares in Apple?

World Autism Awareness Day

Today, April 2nd is “World Autism Awareness Day” it is unfortunate that this year it also happens to be Good Friday, our schools are closed for the Easter holidays and no events are planned for today.

Last year we had a concert, invited local and provincial dignatories and culminated with a party and a balloon release.

How do I recognise autism in my child or grandchild ? I hear you say, here’s a short checklist from one of our brochures:- Continue reading “World Autism Awareness Day”

Ladies and Gentlemen

I noticed that Pseu subtitled her Post on Hand bags, (…one for ‘the girls’). She used quotation marks which to me, indicated that she was expressing caution when using that phrase to refer to the female members of this site. It made me think about the difference in the use of monikers as employed by the two sexes.

Continue reading “Ladies and Gentlemen”

5 years and counting

I first decided I wanted to come to China when we studied Chinese history at O level.  Everyone else did the traditional WW2 gig, for some reason our teacher decided on an alternative path.  We hurtled through the dynasties, paused for breath at the Boxer rebellion and rolled on to Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-Tung before he changed his name) and Jiong Jieshi (the politician formerly known as Chiang KaiShek) before grinding to an abrupt halt at 2nd December 1949. It was if nothing of interest happened after that as far as the Oxford Examination Board was concerned.  We still had time left so we padded out our knowledge with British parliamentary reform in the 20th century.  I think our class must have had the most warped perspective of any examination candidates that year.

Continue reading “5 years and counting”