I was watching some programme about germs today on television this morning (pleeease don’t go spreading it around; I don’t make a habit of watching daytime TV…) and it made me think about everyone’s personal hygiene. Personally, I can proudly say I am a clean person and that I always have been. However, some people appear to have a very different take on this. You know the ones I am talking about; yes, that’s right, those dirty mongrels who do not place much importance on washing themselves regularly. Yuk!

Being male, I never cease to be amazed at the amount of guys who do not wash their hands after they have been for a Jimmy Riddle. It wouldn’t be so bad, but what is the first thing that men do when they are greeting one another? They shake HANDS! Urk! And if you are saying ‘howdy’ to one of ‘the great unclean’ then that is NOT a very nice thought.

At least there are more men who are clued-in to personal hygiene issues these days. A lot of guys even use skin care products! It wasn’t so long ago that people would laugh at a man and call him a sissy if someone caught him with such a namby-pamby item in his possession. But guys should look after themselves, shouldn’t they?

And as for washing your hands after having a pee; well, it isn’t rocket science is it? Come on chaps, sort yourselves out! Just what would your parents say?

Wellies are great; as great as a super-hip purple bum bag no less! Wellies – or Wellington Boots, for those of us who have been living long enough to know this – are things to be treasured: they are the holy grail of the shoe world, and the holy grail yet to gain their deserved reputation. And, for some very obscure reason there is this idea that they should only been worn either when it’s a) raining, b) muddy or
read more from "Madam Trailblazer"

I hate it when men call us chicks. Almost as much as when my boyfriend can’t tell designer bedding from regular bedding. I don’t like the expression birds much either, but at least there’s something sort of sweet about being compared to a gorgeous feathery thing that flies high in the sky, overseeing the world in a way that no human ever could. Chicks on the other hand–Well, let’s just say that I am not a fan–

I know
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Girls do complain a lot. I know this only too well, seeing as I am a girl. Always have been, always will be. The reason I got thinking about this is because I hang about with blokes quite a bit and they discuss this opposite-sex kind of thing a lot (I’m a female mechanic, don’t you know). So you could say that I have infiltrated their very male world and seen girls from the other side, as a man. I like being in it, but the downside of this is that I can see their point on a few things, and how girls can be wrong about men. Also, I wish I felt more like a girl more often.

For example, I was in the pub after work the other day, wearing my overalls and with my hair up. A load of girls came waltzing in (from what they said I think they worked for Corporate events London) and they were wearing clothes that drew attention, should we say. Now, the girls didn’t notice little old me in the corner. They didn’t even look over. They probably thought I was a weird looking man, I suppose.

Then they started discussing how stupid men were and how they only looked at their bodies. Weren’t interested in their minds. This seemed like an odd statement for a load of girls who were putting everything on show.

Some time later, while we were all talking together, one of the girls looked over and said, "What you looking at?"Our Mark replied, "Nothing", because he actually wasn’t looking he was talking, and turned back to our group. You can guess what happened next…the girl took offence and it was left to me to sort out, again…

That’s why I understand both sides. Because both sexes can be a bit silly sometimes, that’s the truth.

I don’t know when it happened, but sometime or other (I think it was at about the same time that the whole world started to become obsessed with TV shows called ’Antique Hunt'and ’The property search ’), pink stopped being cool and girly and all things black took over! Just like that my world stopped revolving…and everything became confusing. Suddenly, everywhere I went, I was confronted by ONLY black things instead of the gorgeous pink things my heart truly desired.
read more from "Girly Girl"

If you find yourself in your vehicle lying on your car pillow wondering about these civil service strikes and if they will make a difference in your life, keep following thoughts in your mind. Civil service strikes have proven to be an effective way to get the government to pay attention to the needs and concerns of its employees, at historically. However, the new civil service strike that will be seen in the coming weeks, will serve only as a hindrance rather than a solution.

There is little change that can be made by striking directly before a federal election. There is little that can be done to change the future policies of both the Tories and the Labour Party, although the Conservatives are the ones to benefit, for the strikes coincide with their “time for a change” campaign.

In protest of the 30 per cent cut in redundancy payments, nearly 200,000 civil servants are expected to participate in a 24-hour national walk out. This stoppage will affect tax offices, job centres, driving centres, and benefit offices as well as ports and prisons. This has sparked a comparison to the “winter of discontent” of 1979, with the clever name “spring of discontent”. But will actually be accomplished from such a strike?

The Conservatives are dripping from the tooth in anticipation, as they feel the civil service strike will aid them. But will they actually make policy changes to appease the near 200,000 workers? It is unlikely. And the Labour Party seems even less likely to make any changes. The strike will only serve to cause problems for the average citizen.

There is also a threatened British Gas dispute which will not affect the elections at all nor will it issue in any significant changes. Most notable will be the negative effects felt by the millions of homeowners across the nation.

The National Rail strike will affect millions of passengers over the Easter Holiday. This again begs the question, “what will change and what will be accomplished with these strikes?”

The last time a guy came around asking if he could do the windows, I said “you’re not going to stare through my bedroom window are you?” While I have to admit that there’s a lot worth seeing, saying this was a necessary evil…

Very seriously, and with the kind of face that could betray fun all too easily (it was laughter wrinkled and he was an ‘old boy’) he said, “Of course not”.

I said, “if you do then
read more from "When The Plan Goes Wrong It Goes Very, Very Wrong Indeed"

When I was growing up I thought that language was supposed to be fairly easily definable. In other words, I thought that If someone said “Look at that tree, isn’t it a tall tree?” It would be up to me (if I was the one being spoken to) to look at the tree and go “yes, it is a tall tree. I concur”. But alas language, I found out, was and is subjective. That is to say that the words don’t always mean what they say. So in the case of the tall tree, my fifteen year old friend was actually saying, using his eyes more than his words, “look at the pair of legs and upper torso of that fine specimen of a woman!” Yes! It was a shock to learn that tree’s pertained to women’s various parts. And it wasn’t just Martin. Language was soon to become an obscurity: something that had to be analyzed constantly, otherwise you would miss the point by a mile.

So I missed the point, and often by an entire continent and thousands of miles. This went on in to my late teens (as I tried to decipher women speak) and in to my twenties (as I raged against that most difficult to interpret of things: the menopausal mother).

And I thought that laser treatment for acne was bad and that head-gear to correct my teeth was bad. It was nothing compared to re-learning the English language and ‘reading between the lines’. I’d have no problem with the saying ordinarily–only you’ll know yourself if you’ve ever tried to actively read between lines: there really isn’t much to read which makes any sense.

If you are a beginning human (under twenty) then I suggest you start reading this empty space as soon as you can, because there’s going to be a hell of a lot more to come–

It is so easy to upset the order of the world, you can do it with just a few well timed words. Fed up with my boring life and seeking the violent confrontation that working in an office rarely brings—not seen since getting my tie caught in the paper-shredder, something I do not wish to ever repeat—I set out the other day with the intention of stirring things up. The intention was, this time, for ME to become the paper-shredder.
read more from "The Great Upsetter!"

When you think of saving money (and saving energy) you think turning off lights, being more careful with how much water you put in the kettle, and not using the car when you could walk, right? While nobody can argue that these are all very important parts of energy-saving, there are other ways to save money which, for some unknown reason, seem to go virtually unnoticed. There are other less known places which can benefit from saving energy in a
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