I just can’t help it, every time the singer Adele bursts into the start of her song with the word “Hallo” I burst into Lionel Ritchie “Is it me you’re looking for” in the same verse she sings “I’m in California Dreaming” which has me warbling Mama & Papas Stylee “On such a winters daaaaaaaay”, It’s very hard to un-hear something once it’s been heard don’t you think?....………

Watford Observer:                     

Back in 2006 on the inner sleeve of one of my music offerings I wrote:

“Words That Start Wars, Break Hearts, Wound & Scar, Careless Words  Said To A Child That Damage The Adult Soul Forever, Words That Unite, Heal & Comfort, Words To Encourage, Bring Laughter. Words Of Wisdom That Help Us On Our Journey. The All Powerful Word. Choose Your Words Carefully, For Once Spoken They Can Never Be Taken Back”

And that’s why I was really pleased to hear this week that Emotional/Mental abuse is to be dealt with as a crime just like domestic abuse. Personally I’ve always thought it worse than physical abuse In some ways, because it’s often daily & habitually done in a subtle manner leaving no obvious or evident marks on the skin but a life time of inner damage, and while it’s often spoken about in the context of man/woman relationship I believe a great deal of it is dealt out in the home by a parent/s to a child.

As yet I don’t know how it’s going to work and I can’t see how it’s going to be policed, it’s unlikely that kids are going to shop their own parents because children are very perceptive and often take responsibility for a parent/s failings, a child often has a sense of love and loyalty and even though they know they are being treated wrongly, they’d rather suck up the pain than report their Mum or Dad. But for it to be made a criminal offence will at least offer them a choice, albeit a difficult one.

Onto Gizmo/Gadget/Gift of the week and you really have to see this one, The Amazon Echo , it’s a home audio speaker with voice assistant, so say hallo to Alexa, very much like Cortana and Google Now, only in a neat Cylinder gadget that remains on & connected all the time  with Wi-Fi which means it can  sit on your home network accessing cloud services & Bluetooth letting you stream music from mobile devices. Alexa is like a personal assistant, fulfilling spoken commands, answering questions, setting an alarm  etc but you can watch one of four short videos & read about all the cool things it can do for yourself on the Amazon site. Down side is it’s not available in the UK yet so if you order from the USA remember you’ll need to get a USA two pin to UK three pin adapter.   On offer at the moment for $149 :

 http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-SK705DI-Echo/dp/B00X4WHP5E%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJU5D7CIPKVAN4PHA%26tag%3Ddiabetdestro-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB00X4WHP5E?t=mustatab-20

Watford Observer:

 

Next up combining music & food which is all you really need in life is this LP shaped Pizza Cutter  from Gift Oasis £9.79

http://thegiftoasis.com/product/top-spin-pizza-cutter/   

Watford Observer:

Last up is a gift for your cat although it’s the kind’ve thing that would amuse humans too I’m sure, the frolicat is a block of cheese housing two mice who pop out from either side and pop back in again before the cat can get its mitts on them, runs off 3 x AA batteries, it turns itself off after 10-15 minutes, or the “while your away” mode allows it to run throughout the day, saving Puss  from boredom. £22.99 from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/PetSafe-FroliCat-Cheese-Cat-Toy/dp/B00VPYYR9A/ref=sr_1_6?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1448911815&sr=1-6 

Watford Observer:

As for M.E, it decided to pop up and say "Hallo" on an extremely rare visit into town recently . I‘d only walked from the taxi to the first shop when my body decided to run out of energy, I was thinking “Oh come on, I’ve only just got here, please don’t do this” I should just point out that when your energy goes, it’s hard and it hurts even to breathe. I was so angry at being controlled by this illness that’s followed me like a shadow for the last 25yrs that I rebelled and went onto the second shop, but M.E was having none of it, my vision and hearing started to go and I felt disorientated but determined not to give in.

Watford Observer:

I made it onto the third shop, but with my legs becoming so painful and heavy it was like dragging concrete. The exhaustion was so intense I wasn’t sure whether I was going to pass out or vomit. Thankfully there was a café, so I went and sat down and rang for a taxi to take me back home. It’s extremely frustrating and upsetting to be constantly  defeated by something you can’t see, it’s never a fair fight,  being permanently ill is not something you ever get used to.

However,I’m thankful that at least I had a childhood before M.E struck, many don’t,  & here on the Lets Do It For ME site http://ldifme.org/a-day-with-a-son-with-m-e/ a mother talks about what it’s like for her 10 yr old son  in  “A Day With A Son With M.E. for Movember” while she also tries to raise awareness and funds for Invest In ME http://www.investinme.org/

Watford Observer:

Also, and very importantly, today at 12 midday kicks off  the BIG GiVE .org.Uk Christmas challenge 2015 , they have a pot of £5000, and  they will double your donations up to that amount, WOO HOO! but once it’s gone it’s gone, so please help out the Invest In ME charity & get involved and donate as soon after 12 as you can, this is a great opportunity. You can read full details here: http://ldifme.org/double-donations-big-give-big-cause/ or go straight to the donation page: https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/donation/to/6239/24084/

Watford Observer:

In local news, will Watford County Council please plug their head into the mains  and engage their brains to power up some common sense and remove the traffic lights at the Dome roundabout?  The new software and adjustments still don’t stop it flowing like it does without lights. Without the lights there aren’t snarl ups and people are courteous, it just works blimin marvellous. This is just plain stubbornness and stupidity and it’s the public that suffers. So…how about adopting some Christmas spirit  and switching the lights off permanently?

                                      Til Next Week, Stay Blessed

                                            Back Before Elvis X

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