When in doubt, use a hammer

It has been more than just a stressful week. It rained-a lot. When it rains, I have no balance at all-and my vision is even worse than usual. Friday I was in a dreadful mood-and just moped around, dropping things, and trying to stay upright.

My life seems to be about staying upright most of the time! I'm sure that anyone else with balance problems-or, indeed, any kind of disability- knows the meaning of frustration. It seems like I've taken two steps forward and about twelve steps back. So, as it rained most of the weekend, I was understandably very discouraged.

But-this is now two years and four months down the road, so I know what to expect: good days and crap days. I've experienced several of the latter!!

Yesterday, I braved the rain, the balance, the frustration, and went along to a conference about immunology (and Primary Antibody Deficiency). It was interesting, and informative - but, unfortunately, Hilary Longhurst was there, too. She was all phony and ickily friendly-and I just gave her a withering look, but decided to be professional (as much as I can be, under the circumstances). I was very uncomfortable, but decided to always keep in mind that, when (if) the case against Barts Trust comes to court, Hilary will be one of three doctors (witch doctors) who will be called to testify. Let's see how friendly she is when I have her issued with a subpoena!! Thinking about that made me feel less upset.

When this court case is behind me, only then will I be able to move forward. I know it's difficult, but that is the situation as it stands now.

I got home, worn out, at about 6pm. I tackled the remaining turkey (it really does look like I will have turkey until Christmas!! If I don't see a turkey for another year-or eight-I will be happy indeed!!). One thing I also bought was a big bag of nuts. That was another decision I might have considered more than once!!

I've got this nutcracker that works on a ratchet system. I bought this thing years ago, and-unfortunately-used it for something else a couple of years ago, and completely destroyed it! I feel a bit like the person who uses an expensive steak knife to open a can!! Anyway, after about a year of intensive detective work, I found another ratchet one, and I'm taking really good care of it. The problem is, some nutshells just don't want to crack, regardless of how hard you try.

Well, there is nothing like a little ingenuity-especially when combined with brute force! I used the trick from my student days: use a hammer. Of course, you can't exactly haul out a hammer to crack nuts when you have guests-unless they know you very, very well!! But that was fine; I was on my own, and this walnut refused to open-so I grabbed my hammer, gave it a good whack (nearly got my hand in the process!), and there were bits of shell all over the kitchen. I'm still finding nutshells all over the place-but I got the nut, so there you are.

It's like anything else in life that refuses to go your way: when in doubt, use a hammer. They will put that on my tombstone: that, and "she kicked, screamed and swore all the way to the end".

Never give up, and never let anyone else tell you what to do.

Thanksgiving: thanks for...what?

Well, happy Thanksgiving to one and all. I remember all the years of celebrating; the house was always full of people, and everyone ate and drank too much, and swore to never do it again-until Christmas, of course!!

I always celebrated Thanksgiving-even all the years I spent in this country. Whatever happened, in November I celebrated-and there were some really dodgy years, I can tell you!

But-two years ago, I stopped. For me, I had no reasons to give thanks. I  couldn't get out of bed without falling over. I couldn't walk. I couldn't wash or dress myself, or cook for myself, or even wipe my backside. That's how bad it was...so when I wrote previously that I wanted to sign up for Dignitas, I wasn't really joking. I went from being active, and in good shape-to being a cripple in one stupid move by incompetent doctors - a move that could have been avoided, and for which I never even received an apology. The only thing that kept me going was the refusal to let them win.

Even last November I found no reason to celebrate. I was still so angry, so filled with hatred, and anxiety, and fear-and hideous depression that has lasted the better part of two years. I was tempted to just quit; I just wanted to stay in bed, not eat, just see how long it would take me to either improve or die. And I have a feeling that many people who are disfigured, or disabled, or whose lives have been destroyed by others (whether accidentally or deliberately) can relate to the way I was feeling.

Now it is two years (and four months) down the road, and I have about 50-55% of my balance, although I am still visually slightly impaired and there are things I cannot do-and things I am told I will never be able to do. But-I am still improving, although it is an uphill battle, and much too slow for my liking. I know all the stories about the brain making new neural pathways, because the balance system is gone forever, etc, etc...that really doesn't make me feel much better.I just have to work harder.

Today is the first Thanksgiving I am celebrating since 2009; I'm going to open a bottle of wine, have a glass or two, and remind myself that I have done a tremendous amount in two years. So what if it took two years? It isn't like I had anything to do in that time (well, I did, but I didn't do anything, because I was too busy trying to survive).

Every once in awhile I meet an acquaintance for a coffee-an accountant who works as a volunteer for the visually impaired. I was telling her about my trip to New York-this was on Monday-and she dismissed it as being "no big deal". That was what she said: it's no big deal, because I was picked up at the airport and I know my way around New York. So she said: "so what?". I was really hurt by that; she completely missed the point. It wasn't "no big deal" - it was a huge, cosmic-sized deal. It took me two years to be able to do that-and in one sentence, she dismissed it as being unimportant. People never cease to amaze me.

So-yes, I can give thanks, because I reached the point where I can travel; I'm not out of the woods when it comes to having both knees sorted out, but I will get there, too. I'm on the mend, even though I'm on the mend at a snail's pace...so I give thanks for never giving up, never quitting (no matter how many times I was tempted), never walking away. And I am dumping the nay sayers and starting over: I don't want people in my life who tell me it's "no big deal". I'm lucky that I have friends who are supportive...

I'm off to be a wino for the day. That won't be difficult; two drinks and I'm not on the floor. I'm under it!

And by the way...

I'm off to the storage unit tomorrow. I forgot to mention that; it's raining today, and when it rains, or when it's dark, I turn into a pumpkin.

The storage unit is highly entertaining to someone with no balance-especially since there are boxes piled up to the ceiling (about twelve feet high). I've already found huge amounts of stuff I can give away (or throw away).

Anyone want a thousand books? And, yes, I read them all. I never throw out a book-in fact, I rarely throw out anything. No wonder I've got a huge storage unit stuffed with-well, stuff-not to mention those six woks!!

On the fast-track to Hell

It's a case of "go to Hell, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars"-or pounds, or euros, or yen, or whatever. This is what happens when you forget to use the brakes between brain and mouth!

I've never been one for evangelizing-proselytizing-recruiting-I've never had time for the people who can't wait to tell you how they became Christians, or how they found Jesus Christ, or whatever. I just won't do it, and I don't mind people who do, as long as they leave me alone and don't accost me in the street. My beliefs have always been pretty private - well, except for blogging, of course!!

I remember being bribed by a neighbor to come to church with her. This was years ago, and I needed work done in the flat in East London (really, it needed demolishing, it was that bad; a couple of grenades would have done the trick nicely), and she said that her friend would do the work for free. All I had to do was come with her to Sunday service. So, fool that I was, I went. Two hours of screaming from the born-again minister, telling us we were all going to Hell if we didn't listen to him, and that God is a jealous and angry God, and so on, and so forth, and by the end of the service I wondered if my hearing would ever return to normal! When Liz asked me after the service what I thought (I can use her real name, since every third person in this country seems to be called Elizabeth. Even some of the guys), I said it was loud. And I questioned this fundamentalist belief that God is jealous - of whom, exactly? And why??

The outcome was that Liz told me she couldn't be friends with me, because I was a blasphemer. Pardon?? Oh, well...I question everything that makes no sense-and that stuff made no sense. At least, my ears stopped ringing, my hearing returned, and the constant badgering to come to church and repent finally stopped. And the work on my flat was finished...

So, I'm going to Hell because I have decided to stop going to the Baptist church. This is after months of sitting on the fence, feeling some guilt (call it Presbyterian/Catholic/Jewish/anyone else guilt, and I cover all bases. I'll just be damned by everybody), because church people kept stopping me in the street and telling me they are praying for me. I always want to know: for what reason? But nevermind, it was nice of them; they probably wanted another member of the church. Whatever!!

From the time I was a child and religion was shoved down my throat (oh, come on, my mother told me when I was little where babies come from - virgin birth?? Excuse me??), I questioned everything. It all sounded like a load of crap to me (very sorry to all my Christian friends, and anyone who is religious who is reading this, but that's the case), and I wasn't buying it.

When the Baptists kept saying how JC died for our sins (didn't he have any sins of his own?), and how only people who love and worship JC as the saviour, etc, will be loved by God and get into heaven (assuming, of course, that there is one), I finally decided that I don't buy that stuff. That means that the vast majority of the world's population are on God's shitlist because they believe something else. And, frankly, I find that offensive. That is why wars are started: in the name of something (or someone) that makes killing justifiable. Genocide is never justifiable, in any name.

Am I an atheist, or an agnostic? No, I'm not. I believe in a higher power, but-I believe that power is genderless, isn't male, or female, or black, or white, or is a Big Mac, or whatever. And I don't believe that power is jealous, or angry - I believe that power is accessible to everyone, regardless of belief system, religion, or any other characteristic used to separate people.

What makes me angry is the fact that religion is such an excuse to harm others. So I'm going to Hell, most definitely, because I won't conform to others' belief systems. I suppose that makes me a Unitarian - if I have to put a label on myself. Perhaps it just makes me someone who just wants to be a decent human being. One who falls over a lot. And I don't half swear when I do!!

Once more, into the fray!

I will stick my neck out-as usual-and say that someone needs to pass a law that bans butt-cracks in public. Really! There seems to be a trend, and not only in this country: boys (and young men, who really should know better) are walking around with their jeans/trousers with crotch down to their knees and their butt-crack showing for all to see. It's nice for them, I'm sure, but very gross for the rest of us!

Now, am I wrong in saying that nobody really wants to see someone else's butt-crack being flashed in public-especially before breakfast!!-because it does definitely put us off our food? I've been behind guys who have backsides full of acne, or just really unattractive-and, guys, all the hair! It isn't a rose bush you are growing, you know!!

Add to that the fact that these guys are typically very ugly-and very repulsive. Women are far too sensible to show off like that-unless, of course, they come from Essex. And guys who show off their ugly, fat, hairy, acne ridden butt-cracks aren't attractive. In fact, they are decidedly un-sexy. There is nothing sexy about having your trouser crotch hanging to your knees and your butt-crack flashing those of us who haven't eaten. It's only sexy to people in Essex-not to anyone else-but then, those people have absolutely no taste anyway.
So, guys, use a belt. Pull up those trousers, stop flashing us. Wear a mask. In fact, wear a paper bag over your heads. On second thought, make it a plastic bag! Have sympathy for people with weak stomachs.

You can see what kind of a week I've had! I did go to the gym, and to see my friend the acupuncturist (yesterday); I've had to fight with my lawyer to get her moving on this court case, too. I seem to be fighting a lot in that area-but it's better to stand up for yourself and fight than be a wimp and have people walk all over you!!

It has been three weeks since I returned from my trip to New York-and it feels like I never left. It's back to business as usual. Would I go back if I could? Are you kidding? You bet I would-but the prospect seems very unlikely. So I have to learn - as my friend NJ advised me - to find something positive and to focus on that. I can offer that good advice to everyone-because otherwise you drive yourself into depression, and I know that from experience. I've spent long enough being depressed. It doesn't change anything, it just wastes your life. All you get is older. And you feel older, too.

I'm getting ready for my bionic knee, and I guess that will happen within the next few weeks (allegedly). I think I have until the middle of December to get very strong-so that is why I'm doing the gym four days a week. I'm not feeling bionic; I'm feeling knackered!! I was in better shape before the gentamicin, of course-now I'm like a big lump on the treadmill. That will change in four weeks!

All this exercise-I'll need to go into the hospital. I'll need the rest! I did ask Mr. Skinner to put me on morphine until Easter, so I don't feel any pain-he just laughed at me. Well-it was a good idea, anyway.

Notes from an EX-cripple

I understand-and not for the first time-that I have gone about everything the wrong way-or, rather, the least productive way. For two years (and three months or thereabouts) I have felt like both a victim and a cripple. And that hasn't served me at all. That has only made me feel more and more depressed, alone, isolated. I can tell you from experience that these feelings don't help the healing process. In fact, they impede it.

It's funny; when I was diagnosed in late 2004 with CVID, and I was informed that the lack of antibodies was genetic (and therefore incurable), I didn't feel any anger toward my parents. I felt only relief, because at last I knew why I have been rather less than robust my entire life. It didn't matter whose family was "at fault" - nobody knew that CVID even existed. So blame was useless. At least I knew I had been handed a poisoned chalice, as it were.

Two years ago, the matter was entirely different. I ended up with no vestibular mechanism because the doctors in charge of my care were incompetent, uncaring, and refused to listen to me...as it turns out, I was right, but they still ruined my life. There was never an apology-but they can shove their apology. I was angry, frightened, bitter, and very, very depressed.

Depression is now classified as a "mood disorder". I know this because Matt, my consultant, puts all diagnoses on the first page of every letter he writes to my GP. He now has included "mood disorder". I can say that this really wound me up; it seems to me that if someone else's incompetence - indeed, malpractice-destroys one's life, the patient would normally be depressed. You are unable to get out of bed without falling over for 18 months; you are unable to wash yourself without help, to cook for yourself, to wipe your own behind, to walk...all this could have (and should have) been avoided. If this doesn't make you angry, frightened, depressed and bitter-there is definitely something wrong with you!!

I thought of myself as a victim of medical stupidity and malpractice (which is true), as a cripple (which was the case) - and then I decided to go to New York and see how well I fared. If I got sick, if I got knocked over-well, then I got sick, or knocked over. But at least, I forced myself out of my comfort zone and took the risk. I took the risk; that was the important thing.

I didn't see everything (or everyone) I wanted to see; I didn't go everywhere, or do everything, but I didn't sit in the hotel every day, and I was a bit afraid that I would go all that way and be afraid to go anywhere. Even though I had terrible jet lag for the first four days, I still pushed myself to get out and walk around-to walk the mile and a half to Diane's house, to walk to the park...I walked. And with only 50-55% (55% on a good day) of my balance working (thanks to all the exercises I've been doing over the last two years), I didn't fall over. I was wobbly, and I staggered a few times, but I didn't fall over. And I could never have done this journey six months ago-so that proves that the nerves in my legs are starting to take over some of the work of the vestibular system that was completely destroyed.

Too bad that nobody has figured out a way to transplant a chicken's vestibular system-since chickens are the only species with a vestibular system that regenerates!! LOL-I can see myself clucking...

I don't label myself as a cripple anymore. I think that is so damaging to self-confidence and self-esteem. I feel that those labels (crippled, completely disabled, etc) do more harm than good. I know that I might never get any better than I am now-but I think that, with a lot of effort and a lot of time, I will get more back. It takes patience, a ton of hard work, a lot of swearing, dedication-and a strong belief in myself. And that is what I brought back with me from New York. All the museums will wait for me to return.

I went back to the gym on Saturday. Eeek! I worked the upper body-and I saw quite clearly that I need to work really hard, because I've got muscles the size of a sparrow's kneecaps (and about as strong as a few overcooked noodles). Yesterday I was too sore to do much of anything, but today I am back in the gym.
I will be working with a trainer twice a week, and I will be working in the gym on my own an additional two times a week. I get to have my bionic knee within the next four-five weeks, so I need to really push myself.  I cannot afford to fall over and damage anything-and I will have to use crutches for a few weeks, which will be highly amusing, given that I have no balance system as it is.

This will be a real challenge coming up-but I'm still here, because I have met every challenge in my life (and there have been more of those than you can possibly imagine), and I refuse to back down or roll over and give up. I didn't come this far, fight this hard, endure this much, only to quit now.

Ciao for now, I am off to the gym. If nothing else, I will be taller!!

Ode to the big one

It hit me on Wednesday: I'm in for yet another surgical procedure, and this one is going to be one humdinger of an op! Is everyone involved a wee bit nervous? Well-not as nervous as I am!!!

Wednesday was one of those awful days-and I wasn't thinking about anything except self-preservation. Am I scared? It's more appropriate to say that I am terrified. First of all, falling down flights of stairs and landing on my knees for eighteen months (post gentamicin) has torn the cartilage in my left knee, so that will need to be repaired at some stage. But the big one is the right knee, which has been rather destroyed. It's no fun falling and landing on one knee, as anyone who has done so (especially repeatedly) will testify.

The worst part is that Mr. Skinner has decided to do this before Christmas. So I had to run around and get information for the RNOH Stanmore, because there is no time to write letters back and forth. I just about had a stroke because of the obstinacy and the total lack of cooperation on the part of my "team" at the Royal London. Was it necessary for them to be so obstructive? No-but they were. Of course, I do know that, with the court case coming, everyone would dearly like me to change hospitals. I won't do that; they will have to treat me very carefully, and I am unwilling to start over somewhere else. I could be jumping from the frying pan into the fire-I'm not that stupid (hopefully)!!

It took endless phone calls and two days before all the information was with the pre-admission people at Stanmore. I understand that I am being fast-tracked; this is due to the CVID, and the bilateral vestibular hypofunction (destruction of the balance mechanism, I just wanted to show off. Scuse me for that!!LOL). While my lungs are still okay and I am chest-infection free (someone knock on a piece of wood, please), Mr. S wants to replace the knee. And I have less time than I thought!!

Mr. S said "before Christmas"-this Christmas- so I thought, okay, I've probably got until mid-December to get to the gym every day (no excuses this time!!) and exercise my little socks off. I might not have that long before I find myself in the hospital. And, since Mr. Skinner's office will liaise with the Royal London and the London Chest Hospital-and they are far more efficient that these plonkers-it may be sooner, rather than later. No wonder I was a bit depressed and overwhelmed. How am I going to handle crutches when I have no balance mechanism? Nobody has thought about that yet!!

I went along to the Neurology Hospital at Queen Square yesterday morning. I was supposed to finish vestibular physiotherapy in May-but I was in the hospital, the physiotherapist moved on, everyone was very busy-and yesterday I saw Ben, the final physio in my treatment schedule, for the last time. He checked me out and said that I am still improving, although very slowly now. He gave me a few more killer exercises, and told me that I am on my own now. It's funny: I saw a vestibular physio (four times) at the Royal London, and she was useless. I saw one at my GP's surgery (four times) and she was useless, too. But the people at the Neurology Hospital are the very best-that is why there is such a huge waiting list. If I hadn't gone there, I would never have come as far as I have. And I have to go the rest of the way by myself. It's a little daunting-but I will step up and do the work. Is there an alternative!

Ben advised me to get to the gym as often as I can, and to work the muscles in my legs until they are rock solid. He also suggested that I strengthen my arm and shoulder muscles; at the moment, they are about the size of a sparrow's kneecaps. So I have some homework (and gymwork) to do!

Well, this is just another in a series of huge challenges. My life seems to have been a series of huge challenges! So I've got another battle on my hands-and now, it's off to the gym.

I did ask Mr. Skinner on Wednesday to knock me out with drugs-and to keep me on drugs until there is no more pain-until, maybe, Easter. He just laughed at me. Well, I should get credit for trying!!

The bread and water diet

Tuesday was, indeed, a very bad day for America-and Americans-and, by extension, for the rest of the world. I had a strong feeling that Odious Obama would be re-elected-better the devil you know than the devil you don't- even if this lying git will "take his people forward"-over the nearest cliff, no doubt. Obama is to the USA what Tony Blair was to Britain: a modern-day Nero, fiddling while his country burns, and stealing and spending as much of the taxpayers' money as he could get his hands on.

Well-I said we will all be on bread and water, so I think we should all learn how to bake!! And I have beaten the subject of this pathetic election to death-except to wonder how we could allow a billion dollars to be spent on re-electing a dirtbag. In fact, how could we allow a billion dollars to be spent on electing anyone?? The mind boggles; that billion could have gone into healthcare, housing the homeless (nobody in America should be allowed to be homeless!!), and a dozen other things that need help. It is just plain wrong. Am I the only one who thinks this is not just wrong, but obscene?

We will know who bought and paid for Obama soon enough-when we know the identities of his cabinet, his advisors, and, of course, when we see what deals he tries to make. Whoever bought him will soon be in his face, expecting to be paid. Too bad that we are the ones who suffer.

So, enough doom and gloom...Tuesday was bad enough. For me, Wednesday wasn't too great, either.I went to  Stanmore, only to discover that I do need double knee surgery. What a bummer!! This is all from the times I fell down two flights of stairs (due to the gentamicin-so much for Sofia Grigoriadou, whom I now have nicknamed 007-licensed to kill ), and from 18 months of falling over, knees first much of the time. I have completely destroyed one knee and have torn the cartilage in the other.

I rang my solicitor after the appointment. She was very sympathetic, but also a bit pleased, I think. The longer Barts messes around, the more things go wrong because of the incompetence of the three doctors who should have known better, the higher the settlement will be-so my lawyer and I are both hearing the sound of ker-ching. I'm going to hit them for as much as I can get out of them, and I'm not going to settle for a pittance. Too bad we don't have class action suits in this country!!

My consultant, Mr. Skinner, wants to do the surgery (the major one first) before Christmas. As he pointed out, while my various conditions are relatively stable, we can really make me hurt (no, he didn't say that-I did!). I had a little cry when I got home yesterday-but I have approximately four weeks (I hope) to really get in shape for surgery. On the bright side: once I have healed completely (six months or so), as long as I don't fall on my knee again I should feel a lot better.

How about that: I will be bionic by Christmas!! Pass the wine. And the Jack Daniel's (not together!!!!).

One thing I forgot to mention

I forgot to say happy Guy Fawkes Day! It's Bonfire Night tonight...in honor of Guy Fawkes, who did his best to blow up Parliament (how prescient of him, even though he failed!). Ah, but there is still time......

Say hello to Black Tuesday

It will be Black Tuesday tomorrow: it's the day that Odious Obama will be re-elected to spend another four years doing nothing but taking taxpayer-funded vacations with his taxpayer-funded (read expensive) family, preening like a sick peacock, flexing his muscles for the media (scary at best; vomit-inducing at worst), and generally doing nothing but lying and taking credit for things he didn't do. A typical politician: a liar, a hypocrite, and a useless prat.

It's Black Tuesday: he can spend the next four years with his head up his ass-just like he spent the last four years!!! This is what happens when voters are left to choose the (perceived) lesser of two evils-or, better the devil you know than the devil you don't. And we still haven't learned our lessons!!!Sad, isn't it?

Britain and the United States have one thing in common (apart from a similar language, that is): we have leadership that is absolute crap. Apart from Maggie Thatcher, Britain hasn't had a strong leader since Churchill. And we haven't had a strong leader since Franklin D Roosevelt. I don't count Kennedy, a man who couldn't keep it in his pants (and ditto Clinton, who will forever be remembered for his pointing to the cameras and telling a huge, cosmic-sized whopper about Monica Lewinsky-what a blatant liar!!!).

Then there is Barack the Useless, who calls himself a man of the people. Whose people?? Not mine (Americans), that is for sure. He was quick to take credit for Bin Laden, when the credit belonged to the Special Forces - Obama had nothing to do with any of it. What a lying, disgusting pile of crap he is for doing that!! But where was he when everything else (like the banking fiascos) took place? Playing golf? On the beach? Taking yet another vacation? Being smarmy and smug for the cameras, and placing the blame on anyone he could find? I say: it was the last choice. And this is the stinking pile of shite we are going to put back into the Oval Office for another four years of the same.

Obama will do to my country what the hated Tony Blair did to this one: dig a hole and dump us so far down it that it will take years (decades, even) to pull ourselves out. Blair screwed his people something rotten-and Obama is doing the same. Our two countries have something else in common: we never learn, do we?

We need to boot this prat out of the White House before he does any more damage. I say give someone else a chance-and if he is useless, get rid of him in four years and get someone else into power. I think that is called democracy: we have a vote, so why not use it?

Obama will go down in history as being mediocre, at best-and being a useless, lying piece of crap at worst. He is our first black president-and he will probably be the last for a very, very long time. That will be his legacy: ruining the chances for any other black people who just might be - capable (unlike Obama)!! Some legacy, indeed. Too bad Colin Powell didn't want the job; I would have voted for him in a heartbeat.

Britain has Cameron and Clegg-talk about useless and hopeless, and out of touch!! - and we have Obama. What have any of us done to deserve them? Mind you, I suppose we get the government we deserve, after all. We need to all start thinking before we elect idiots like these; we need to start voting with our feet.

In four years - unless there is a nuclear war, which will, of course, be Obama's fault - I will be able to say I told you so!! By then, all Americans (except Obama and his friends) will be on a diet of bread and water, because the state of the economy will be that bad. Well-at least we will all be thin-very, very thin.

I am, of course, joking about nuclear war (or am I?). But I will still be able to do something I never do: to everyone who voted for Barack the Useless, I will say: I told you so!!!

Meanwhile, I am stocking up on bread, just in case!

Oh, and another thing!! Again!!

I hasten to add that I am neither Democrat (I used to be, in my distant youth) or Republican. I'm a registered Independent, so I can vote for the person I think will do the best job-or, as in recent years, the less terrible job!!

Now, I just want to leave town - I wonder if all the islands everywhere have been taken!! Probably-everyone else is fed up, too.

Vote for the mouse

Ten days ago I was in New York-standing at Ground Zero, staring up at the Freedom Tower; I walked around Wall Street and Chambers Street, and when I finished at the memorial, lit a candle at St. Paul's Church, and had my little walkabout, I went into the subway tunnel without a second thought. I very nearly stayed days longer. Imagine- I would have been able to see the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. I predict that Sandy will not be on the top list of baby's names for a long time to come!!

This hasn't been an easy week; I have had severe balance issues, and my eyes went completely funny (to use a technical term!)-I think I might have picked up a bug on the plane, which wouldn't be a surprise, since that is the best place to get something nasty (except, of course, for hospitals). I'm on the mend now, I think.

Now that the media has criticized the handling of Sandy for nearly a week (as if those idiots could do any better!), we are on to the Presidential election. Do I have an opinion? Come on, is the Pope Catholic??

I never liked Obama. I didn't trust him, I didn't think he had any experience, and my feelings have been completely verified, as far as I am concerned. The second he took credit for the Bin Laden capture-what a set of stones the man has!!-I thought he could never be trusted. He offended his people, he seriously insulted the security forces (who spent so much time and effort, and whose bravery is without question-unlike the president), and I was irked, but not surprised. Odious Obama, Barack the Useless-he has turned out to be rubbish in the White House.

And he will probably get in for a second term, because people will think of him as the lesser of two evils-or, better the devil you know than the devil you don't-rather than someone who is capable of doing a good job - which he clearly is not. I'm 100% with the people who say he is a liar, a hypocrite, cannot be trusted, and is a man of the people-but only a small percentage of the people. I think Obama will lead the people of America (and probably the rest of the Western world) over the edge of a cliff.

We can, of course, vote someone out of office after four years. We can tell him to get his tail out of the White House by going to vote and letting his opposition put his money where his mouth is. The beauty of a democracy is that, if someone makes a million promises and doesn't even start to deliver in four years (but spends his time campaigning and taking holidays, and posing endlessly for photo ops), we can send him packing just by saying no.

I think we need to give Romney a chance-although I'm not crazy about him, either. If he fails to deliver, or even begin to deliver, he needs to know not to get too cozy in Pennsylvania Avenue, because he will be out on his behind in the next election.

Personally, I would have voted for the mouse if I could have written in a vote: Minnie Mouse, not Mickey Mouse. This country had Maggie Thatcher, a strong leader if there ever was one-she had more balls than all the politicians in Whitehall (easy to do, since they are a load of wusses anyway). She didn't pussyfoot around, she called it as she saw it, and scared the living crap out of all the people around her.

Get rid of Pinky and Perky (Cameron and Clegg, the useless duo in charge of the UK), get rid of Barack the Useless, and put women in charge. We don't do all the chest thumping, or the testosterone-induced posturing and basic BS - we just get the job done.

And do we ever have jobs that need doing!! Blair and Bush drove both countries to near-destruction. We need people who are honest, and ethical, and very ballsy to pull both nations out of the toilet.

Then again, saying "honest" and "ethical" in the same sentence as "politician" - hmmm...we are kind of screwed, aren't we??