Chapel of rest.

Another piece for my FutureLearn.com creative writing course. This time for peer review.

She sat on the plush red velvet cushioned chair and opened her bag with a very loud click. He would always joke ‘There goes your hip again!’ and she smiled, even though she had heard him say it a million times and would never hear the words out loud ever again. She pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed gently at the corner of her eye stroking along the deep grooves of bygone years before pushing the handkerchief into the cuff of her blouse – She was bound to need it later, as the sound of her ‘hip’ was bound to echo in the chapel. She stroked out the creases in her skirt; she was at a complete loss as to what was expected of her. She was wearing a dark blue, square cut suit which her youngest grandson had called her sailor suit, on account of the large golden buttons and silver edging along the collar, cuffs and pockets. Beside her was the man she had spent the last fifty years of her life. He was also dressed in blue. He always refused to wear a grey suit as he said it made him look old. He had still a thick head of grey hair which sat upon his head like a blizzard blown left to right – he looked at rest. She let out a small sigh wondering how she would live without him. As if in response, there was a small apologetic knock at the door. ‘Are you all right, Mam’ ‘Yes, yes, love. Be out in a minute.’ Her family were collected in the room next door. She was very lucky. One daughter and two sons. They tried their best to be supportive, but they couldn’t possibly know how she felt. They were all grown up now, newly married. They loved their father dearly, and one day may suffer the same pain, but they couldn’t know until then. She stood up, ready to face the family once more. ‘Bye, my love. We’ll be together again one day – who knows I may have a new hip by then!’

Biofuel

This was written as a piece for a creative writing course on futurelearn.com

Farmer Brown stood leaning against the weathered wooden gate gazing out at the lush green field and ruminated over the coming season. He shifted the ear of corn from left to right in his mouth and gently nibbled the end, his ruddy cheeks like summer apples. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight; he pulled off his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow puffing slightly. The odd cow returned his gaze, but on the whole they appeared to be uninterested in his dilemma. Intensive pig farming didn’t sit well with his conscience, he was rather lucky in that farming had been in his family for four generations, because of this the farm was highly profitable and well maintained – He had some pigs already, but apparently there weren’t enough. The amount of organic material needed far exceeded the amount his meagre pig lot could produce, and modern pork production systems were ethically wrong in his view. If they wanted his help, they would have to do things his way. Cows produced methane, surely they could harness some of that? He had huge herds of cows. He had the land to extend the pig lot too, but it would be on his terms, or not at all. They might not like it, but it was his farm, and they chose this location for a reason – It was quiet and self-sufficient; no prying eyes. This was vitally important. He had never questioned his decision to help them – they had pleaded with him, but without undue pressure – they just wanted to get home. As he gazed at the landscape and though of the peace of mind it afforded him he could appreciate their wish. His mind made up, he straightened up and turned around to look at the work going on in the field behind him. The ship was under cover of a new, and very large barn. He couldn’t quite bring himself to use the term UFO now as it had been present on his land for a number of weeks. The aliens were just putting the finishing touches to shield it from view. He was sure that they would be disappointed to know that they would not be making the journey home in the timeframe they had calculated, but he would help them. They were resourceful – you don’t fly across galaxies without a plan B. Now was the time to put it in place, the B standing for biofuel!

Getting things done!

I have a book in my office entitled 'Getting Things Done' I have read around 30 pages as I think I'm too busy getting things done to be able to devote time to reading it!

We all know though that strictly speaking that this is not true. Last night instead of veging in front of crap telly I continued the process of repopulating my itunes folder. It will take some time, however its true what the old saying tells us about a watched kettle..

I've also dreamed of one day having an empty e-mail inbox and am proud to say that there are just 5 messages left. All of them have been read of course, they now just need deleting or filing. simple really!

Add to this all those little things I'd like to do, like write a novel, learn a new skill, read a book, join the public library, write a blog.. the list goes on, how do we get things done?

3 Simple rules:

1. Do somehing different!
Get out of the old routine and do something different. You'll tick something off your list, feel better for it, and you may even replace the mundane with something better.
2. Be Organised!
Things often collect simply because you haven't created a slot yet for it to go in. Devote time to organise your tasks/things and simply 'file' them away:)
3. Use your free time better!
Free time comes in various sized packages. A 20 minute tea break in the afternoon can allow you to pop in to town, do some writing/learning anything! I know its easier to think 'I'm tired, and can't be asked' but why not try it once a week, every Friday perhaps - Get those little jobs done!

Be productive!
Marc.

Technological scrapheap

How far has technology moved on in your lifetime?
In the news recently:

VCR+ codes are now no longer provided as of last week. Don't know if you ever tried using these, but they would allow your VCR to start recording via a broadcast signal, think Sky+ of yesteryear only more fiddly:), probably won't be missed!

Another major milestone is the demise of the floppy disc. "2011 will be the year the floppy disc goes extinct. Sony, which sold 47 million of the 3.5-inch discs a year at its height, is phasing them out in Japan" - According to READ/WRITE WEB. Again few will miss their pasing.

I wonder if we'll feel the same about todays 'Must Have' gadgets?
Personally I love my new iphone, and could not be without Sky+ which blows the VCR+ codes so far out of the water you would need a 3D camcorder to spot it dancing on the waves! We don't have commercial 3D camcorders you say? Yes we do! Panasonic have just launched the 3D Camcorder HDC-SDT750 which when hooked up to a 3D TV will display your home movies in glorious 3 dimensions. If that isn't enough for you, one of the holy grail gadgets nears commercial reality with the order books bursting for the Terrafugia Transition, a Flying Car! All that's left is the Jet Pack! But yes of course you guessed it, they're available too if you have the cash!
So whilst the demise of old favourites makes some lament, the future looks more exciting than ever!

Lessons in life

Today I was going to talk a little about Technology and how times have changed, but I will defer that chat for another day. Instead I'd like to tell you something that happened after I posted my last entry.

As you know, I painted a somewhat dissolutioned portrait of how selfish people can be, and how two opposing views mean as much to each person despite an obvious selfishness on the part of one party. On Wednesday however, I experienced a slice of absolute selfless kindness at a garage forecourt of all places. A place not normally known for courtesy and good natured people.

Before I enlighten you, Do you believe in fate? Do you often find that life sometimes throws you a bone when you most need it? Read at least the first part of The Celestine Prophecy to see what I mean. You can buy it for a penny plus postage at Amazon.

Anyway, it could be just a small thing like an impromptu spur of the moment shopping trip provides you with a perfect gift or pick me up, or it could be an out of the blue e-mail from a friend which cheers you up.. These things do happen all the time, I'll leave you to decide why or whether its pure coincidence.

ANYWAY, to get back to my original point. I was saying how selfish some people are, and days later I find myself in a garage forecourt, oweing £50 for petrol with only £30 in my wallet, no mobile phone and so no way of acessing PIN codes for credit cards, and with no debit card, and no one at home to come to my rescue! I was stuck and unable to pay.

How did this happen? well I unusually paid for groceries the previous evening and put my card into my jeans pocket instead of in my wallet. That morning I had put my phone on charge and left it in the kitchen, and I don't recall when I took money out but I had had that cash in my wallet for at least a week. All these events led me to the point whereby I couldn't leave the garage without paying. I also unusually had my drivers license on me but I was still not allowed to leave. Add to this chain of events that I called in at Aldi on the way home which added 20 minutes to my usual journey.. AND the previous Friday there had been a conversation in our tea room at work about just this type of situation and how you would get yourself out of it. Nobody said the following..
That a stranger would ask me how much I needed and then give me the £20 to pay my bill, not only that, but that he would just leave his phone number on trust that I would get in touch and return the money!!
He didn't even take any of my details! I later called round to his home and gave the money to his wife with a sense of relief and renewed optimism that there are good people out there and that "Fate" will often step in and remind you of this fact:)

Something to think about next time you feel that life has been dumping on you a little too much:)

Attitude and opinion, who’s right and who’s wrong?

Some months ago I watched a portion of an Eastenders episode where a bunch of kids were making a fuss and claiming they had been ‘disrespected’ because they’d been told to keep it down. In effect therefore they were disrespecting the rights of the other patrons to sit and enjoy a drink in a nice peacful environment, a fact that obviously didn’t register with the characters. The landlord is therefore called to make a judgement call, but either way someone will lose face.

I wonder how much globalisation has played a part in how the rights of the young and old alike are worked out in the modern world. These days it doesn’t take much effort to discover and connect with like minded people all over the world and therefore validate and reinforce your point of view, rightly or wrongly, young or old. Another story in the news this week which tells of two sides at loggerheads is a crisis hit British Airways, who are expected to post its biggest ever losses at the end of the week, versus the Unite Union. Have Unite never heard the phrase United we stand, divided we fall? I wonder why these people can not see the bigger picture right now? We’ve just come out of recession, there’s a volcanic ash cloud closing airports, pressure on people not to fly due to the environment, and the company is losing money hand over fist.. Its strange how people power often overcomes common sense. Look at the bigger picture Unite for god's sake!

And to sign off this post I’d like to announce my idiot of the week: Ex-treasury minister Liam Byrne. For writing the ‘joke’ note to the new Treasury minister. For those of you who haven’t heard this, the note reads: “chief secretary, I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left,” Joke or no joke? Ask the people who are paying close to three times as much council tax as they did in 1993, and 25p more per litre in fuel duty than they did in 1995!

There are two sides to every story, however increasingly they’re poles apart in common sense and decency!

First (past the) Post

The general election still hangs in the air like an uncollected bin bag, which you know will have to wait until next Monday for all to be cleared up.

The reasons why 'so and so' should become prime minister will vary greatly depending on who you speak to, but whose interests do they serve? All parties talk about dealing in the 'National Interest', when deep down they are all vying for a vision of their own and the mandate to pass this vision on to us whether we agree with it or not. What is clear is that Gordon Brown has fallen on his sword at last, perhaps because he believes he has failed in the fact that he did not get a large enough share of the vote, or perhaps purely because a deal with the lib dems would not happen any other way. I know which one I believe, and I fail to see how proposing a government coalition without knowing who would head the government can be in our best interest.

I look forward to the final outcome in the coming days/hours/months?

...and present you with this tribute to Gordon. Please sing along to the tune of the Stranglers 'Golden brown'

Gordon Brown, smiles like the Joker
Ruled the nation, with a big iron poker.
Stomped on the ground,
Smashed his fist down,
Always a frown, with Gordon Brown.

Every time he made a blunder,
The economy shook with a big roll of thunder
Shops closing down,
Unsettles the town,
Always a frown, with Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown, final decision
Through the door he’s heading.

North
From Downing Street
Stayed for three years
Always a frown, with Gordon Brown

Morale goes down,
There’s crime all around
Always a frown with Gordon Brown

copyright 2010 Marc Duggan