The Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

Tower Poppy buyers - when yours arrives, it seems that you will receive the petals only with no stem or centerpiece. These can easily be added and adapted to suit ones own needs. There are already people saying this is 'ridiculous' or 'bad drills'. Am I so terribly out of step with the rest of the world that I don't see it as an issue and that we take should take comfort in the fact that a lot of money has been raised for charity and that, for a short time, people were involved in a unique event either by actively installing or uninstalling, or donating.

Somebody Said It Couldn't be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
   But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
   Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
   On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
   That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
   At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
   And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
   Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
   That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
   There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
   The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,


It Couldn’t Be Done by Edgar Albert Guest

This was spoken at tonight's BBC Sports Personality of The Year as the Team Award was give to Paralympics GB and Team GB.

I think it may be something to keep in mind.

Some Sunday Afternoon Thoughts

It's strange how the mind works. In this past week, I've finally sorted out my business accounts (with the help of a Quickbooks expert), I've attended one interview, have one booked and hope to get a third. And since all that has come to pass, I feel a little more relaxed, a little less anxious. Weekends are always easier but this is a much stronger feeling.  What a pleasant and novel sensation.

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I attended my interview as an London 2012 Olympics Games Maker yesterday afternoon - a volunteer helper in everyman language. My brief and easy interview was undertaken by a lesbian ex-Israeli army sergeant tank instructor who works for McDonalds. Who'd have thought?

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A friend ended their life this week. Whilst it became necessary for them to separate from their partner because of the effects of their troubling condition, their love for each other was, never  has been, in doubt. My friendship developed over a few short weeks, and was curtailed by 2 distinctly separate careers. We met a couple of times over the following 25 years and that friendship seemed to persist. I met the partner but once having tried to help at a troubling time. Since the suicide I see their posts on social media and I wish I could help more.
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I'm edging back into my running again, and it's almost enjoyable! (I have a place in the 2012 Virgin London Marathon). I seem to have got into a habit of running in the dark in the early evening. It seems to make the run shorter but sooner or later, as I up the miles, and as the days get longer, I'm going to have to venture, blinkingly, into the daylight. It just means a change of a barely formed habit. All do-able.
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Friendship's an odd thing. You can meet someone for a short period and then go your separate ways for many years and yet be permanent friends. Other friends come along and the friendship endures over many good years, and you see them intermittently but enjoy the time you spend with them, and wish those opportunities were more frequent. But then there are those people with whom one strikes up a friendship, who are likeable and whose company one enjoys and then you find out they're not quite who they say they are. It's clear it's a pathological thing that makes them fabricate but does that make them any less likeable? Time spent is enjoyable and a break from the routine and provided they don't perpetuate the stories they've spun, it seems churlish to cut the tie, even though one has been misled.