My Kind of Learning and Logic

My life has followed a vague sort of logic. I wanted to be a journalist. I thought travelling the world with British Airways, would be a good preparation for a career in journalism. So I then specialised in aviation and travel as a journalist.That makes sense doesn't it?
Using that same approach, I would even call it logic, I developed a real interest in policing and the criminal justice system. This came after working with the police and community locally for around 15 years. And so, it seemed right to start studying Criminology  - at Birkbeck, University of London - and I am loving it. 
It gives me a big kick, studying and finding that I still seem to be able to learn new things - and, most importantly, enjoy doing so. In fact I believe that studying, and enjoying it, is now helping to keep me young - in my mind at least! Birkbeck is a great place with a terrific range of courses. If all goes well, I hope to be picking up a Diploma in Criminology later this year, after managing to secure a Certificate in Criminology.
I think perhaps I am living my life backwards. I was in such a rush to get out into the working world that I ended my studying early - and I was living a champagne lifestyle throughout my twenties, and beyond for a while.  Now I am relishing being a student and, as most young students are poor, I seem to have managed to match that as well!!
Also, I seem to be overcoming that 'blue period', prompted by an acknowledgement of ageing.  I am genuinely discovering really good things about it - having the time to keep learning, for example.

Picture it!

I have been neglecting you again Blog, sorry.  I have been tied up with a few things that still have to be done on Active Link - mainly 'people stuff'. It will need support and people need to be convinced. 
I have also been playing with my new toy - a camera so that I can post many more pictures on both sites.  Of course, first I have to learn how to use it - and I have not exactly got off to a brilliant start.  I have acquired a FujiFilm Finepix S1730 - and apparently, to my amazement, I have chosen well. So excited was I to take a proper look that I took it out of its packaging immediately I got home and started by putting in the batteries.  Ready to go I thought - only not quite. I remembered that I had to load the software onto my computer.  And could I find it? No and I looked everywhere.  This set me off on another 'consumer adventure'!  First a call to Fuji - the first call anyway. I spoke to someone who was unhelpful, lacking in sympathy and said it would cost me £18 something. Back to Argos I thought and of course I was honest again about losing it.  This individual seemed more sympathetic, but told me I would need my receipt for proof of purchase.  That was reasonable, I just hoped that I hadn't lost that as well. Receipt retrieved and off the next day to Argos again - but this member of staff was unhelpful and told me, yes you guessed, I had to ring Fuji.  With gritted teeth I rang them this morning, steeling myself for another session with 'Mr I don't Care' - but to my pleasure, I ended up speaking to Dale in UK Technical Support.  He couldn't have been more helpful and went the extra mile to offer to send me, not only the lost software, but other help useful information as well.
I have thought before that any company is only as good as 'the last person you spoke to'. It is that experience that stays with you. It has certainly always been like that in the airline world. The times people have asked me to name my favourite airline over the years.  And that is definitely one that good or bad service from one or two individuals, particularly in the air, can make or break that airline's reputation - at least for a while. I would like to think that I usually won passengers over during my time with British Airways.  Although, I can remember the odd occasion when I was tested to the limit! I know that it was a good idea that I didn't continue with my flying career.  I just might have been done for 'air rage, the fightback'! But, today I can add another company to my list of 'saved by an outstanding member of staff'! Thanks Dale.

Will it be the knees next?

I have not turned into a pessimist, yet!  But I have had a few twinges in my right knee recently and my left shoulder has started hurting again. The steroid injection worked for about four months.  I now have to decide whether to have another one.
It is just like an ageing car I suppose. If I were a car and I had gone for my MOT, I suspect I wouldn't pass it.  OK, I know that I wouldn't pass it.
What is the market for spare parts like, I wonder.  I read a news feature in the Daily Mail recently on the Good Health pages - a must read for me these days. Apparently every year more than 30,000 knee replacements are carried out here in Britain.There is however a new high-tech support for the knee that may be a way of avoiding knee replacements.  The BioniCare Knee System is described as one that 'hugs', supports and electrically stimulates the knee.  The treatment is aimed at those with moderate to severe arthritis.  A study of the device has shown that, on average, the majority of patients showed significant improvement after 750 hours of use. That is the equivalent of wearing it for six hours a day for three months. I suppose that is  encouraging. New treatments are often announced for different parts of the body.  Perhaps I should ignore the twinges and keep walking and taking Glocosamine - and hope for the best.
Ageing is certainly not for the weak, it clearly needs imagination, positive thinking - and of course  a great sense of humour. Oh! and a regular supply of painkillers and massage oil.  
I am still working on Active Link. The ideas have come thick and fast and the words are being written.  When Active Link is launched I can get back to posting on this Blog more frequently.

Virgin Mobile Carol to the Rescue

My blog-name is The Optimist and that suggests I like to find a silver lining. I certainly am a glass half-full girl and I tend to believe the best in people. And so, my latest battle with modern life seems rather a small matter to provoke a rant, but I'm afraid a rant is what you are going to get. 
A very helpful individual called Carol at Virgin Mobile has now solved the problem for me. I only know her as Carol at Extension 2816, but hopefully that is sufficient for her managers to give her the recognition she deserves. This little saga has taken more than ten days, endless attempts at trying to speak to a human being or deal with an intransigent web site. I suspect that if I had not eventually ended up with 'helpful Carol', after holding on in 'horrified fascination' for one hour 25 minutes this evening, I would not have been able to answer for the damage I could have inflicted on my home.
It started off as a seemingly minor matter some ten plus days ago.  My bank - RBS, and I'll come back to the bank later in this rant - decided to refuse my direct debit to Virgin Mobile. It would have taken my account something like £2 over its limit for around 48 hours - and so you can see how fair and rational an action that was.
OK, so I thought it would be a quick phone call and life would be back to normal - a mistake, a big mistake.
I'll try to keep this saga short and be as fair as I can be.
Attempts to get through to Virgin Mobile on 789 from my handset - approx four, and waiting time at least 20 or so minutes each time. Eventually, I got through to someone and I paid my enormous bill of £10 20. I decided then that a direct debit is an irritating device, as there seems to be quite a 'window of opportunity' for the company to extract my money - over say four or five days. And so, I thought the best solution would be to cancel the direct debit and register on line and pay that way - easy, me back in control. Oh no!  the struggle continued. I tried, really tried,  to register on line. I had messages to say my account was suspended and so I couldn't register - despite the fact that I had just paid. I got my hopes up one day, only to discover there was a technical problem on the web site. I decided to try again - back to the phones - and we have all been there haven't we? You have five options, then four, then five, then however much time you have to wait before there is any chance of speaking to a human being. It is good to have options sometimes, but NOT on automatic telephone systems. I was even told that I could select the music I wanted to listen to. Soothing classical had to be the only option there. Oops! clearly another technical problem because classical music it was not! I had decided to give myself a day or so off such difficult decision-making, not to mention the time-wasting element,until I got a text this evening to say my service had been suspended again. Back to the web site, no solutions there and so it just had to be the phone again - and this time I would NOT give up. One hour, 25 minutes later, dear Carol managed to reduce my blood pressure and sort things out.  Apparently things are 'system driven' at Virgin Mobile and so if you don't have an active direct debit, you don't or can't have an account.In this climate, you would think they would be grateful for any method of payment, wouldn't you?
Back to the bank. I have been on record a number of times in the last year or so savagely criticising the banks for their obscene approach to charging. I have always felt sorry for the staff on the front-line. They get all the flak and the idiot fat cats who made the bad decisions, that almost drove their banks into extinction, slither  away with their bonuses.  And so I could tell, that the individual at the bank I spoke to about the returned direct debit, was just waiting for a tirade. From little old laid-back me - never! First of all I accepted the inevitable, because of course banks are also 'system-driven', and so I asked politely if they would be charging. "Well, the charge will be £5", she said nervously. "Oh that's OK." I said.  I could sense the shock over the airwaves. I explained that it was  reasonable, unlike the previous obscene amounts of £38 and rising. We all know that it was the fat cats in their ivory towers that made those mistake". I told her to spread the word and enjoy the rest of her day.
I can just feel the tension draining out of me - a great feeling.
A BIG thank you to all you human beings in call centres, and banks, who so often take the flak when it is really 'the system' at fault. 
I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

OK to admit...

In this blog, I have explored the advantages that come through taking time to do things properly, time to plan, time to think and so why do I feel guilty about taking time to 'rest'? I may have been able to party all night at one stage in my life, work all night on a jam-packed aircraft flying in from Hong Kong, New York or Miami, even serving breakfast before landing, but where did all that energy go? If only we could bottle energy and save it for another day, another week, another year. 
Well, I suppose it is something else to accept about ageing.  I felt tired all day yesterday and again today.  I took 'siestas' - just as good in a cold climate when the body needs the rest. I have just been thinking about why I might have been so tired. Only two meetings concerning my voluntary work with the police, three hospital appointments and a funeral in two parts - for my friend Robert - in just four days. Could it be normal to feel rather tired, whatever the age with a schedule like that?  I think I may have always been unrealistic about my use of time.  I have just got to convince myself that it is ok to be human, ok to be tired and ok to rest - now I am older and I need it. And, of course sorrow and mourning are prime energy-drainers
But what I really must do is get rid of the 'guilt trip', when this little voice says, I should be doing something meaningful, productive and taking another item off my 'to do list'.
Perhaps, another item on my 'to do' list has to be give up 'to do lists' - or at least be relaxed about a more flexible approach, maybe even add 'rest' as an item? Now there's a novel idea!

Snow in London and Saying No

It seems strange to see snow settling in London, but it did today. Snow in Kensington today pictured here. I really need to perfect the art of taking photographs with my phone and then transferring them in under ...........??? minutes. So I took a few detours, but I got there in the end. In fact, on my wish list is a real camera. My last two were sold, annoyingly, for next to nothing when I was in the depth of EPS (empty purse syndrome).  Well, it would be good to get newer technology. It might even be easier to use.
I was reflecting today, again, on how I have changed in the last year or so. I have said 'no' so many times recently.  Now you may find this a strange thing to boast about, or not as the case may be.  It seems particularly amusing when I look back on my early days in London.  There I was, living in Chelsea in 1966, in Beaufort Mansions, Beaufort Street - 'Swinging London' it WAS, come to think of it.  I had joined the Chelsea Players - a highly thought of 'amateur dramatic society'. It was the Christmas variety show.  Those of us involved in the show were allowed to choose our own numbers!  Looking back it was, until recently, a prescient choice. There I was, centre stage, wearing a black leotard, fishnet tights, high heels and a string of pearls, singing that wonderful Marilyn Monroe song, 'I'm just a girl who can't say no'! I confess I have found it easy to say Yes to, well, many things in my life. But, no longer, I can really say NO at last.  No, to the 'must have' brown outfit, No, to a self-indulgent meal at an above-modest restaurant, No, I don't need these things, I may quite like them, but I don't need them. Of course a dramatically reduced budget helps the decision-making process. But, I confess I have started to find it a fun pastime. What next? How much more sensible am I going to get?
Watch this space!!

It's Only a Week!

This is not a week that I shall care to repeat.  Three hospital appointments, two serious meetings and my friend Robert's funeral. Add to that the freezing energy-sapping cold and a tendency to look like Michelin-man when I go out, then I would suspect that this is not going to go down as one of my favourite weeks.
Robert's funeral is on Thursday. It will be a very sad day, but what a life we'll be celebrating and how privileged I feel to have known him.  We can't avoid losing friends, but we can value them when they are with us and celebrate their lives when they leave us.  It is what I call clean and honest pain.  
We might all be forgiven for thinking the only topic for the mainstream media is the weather. But, I managed to find an interesting item that, sadly, I had no problem in believing.  Cases of violence against retail staff has risen dramatically in the last year.  According to a report in HR Magazine, the number of thefts from shops rose by a third in a single year with an incident occurring nearly every minute, 24 hours a day - while incidents of violence and abuse against shop staff doubled. The findings are from the British Retail Consortium's (BRC's) Retail Crime Survey 2009. Stephen Robertson, BRC's Director General commenting on the doubling of violence and abuse against retail staff said: "It should never be regarded as 'part of the job'. Punishment must be strong enough to deter and the police should measure workplace violence when they assess business crime in the community and determine local policing priorities". Well that puts paid to the 'no increased crime in the recession argument'!
I was planning a little modest, retail therapy myself  - of the strictly gentle kind.  A couple of my friends pleased me immensely by giving me token at Christmas from 'our M & S'. But, with this weather, I invested my tokens in more thermal underwear! Ah well, I suppose it is another indication of advancing age.  It means comfort first.