For all Special School Staff... you do make a difference

This I wrote this for a colleague who was retiring but it is for all T.A's and teachers

WHERE IS THE CHILD?

Where is the child

With eyes filled with pain

Whose face never smiled

A voice never heard

But couldn’t explain

You gave them your hand

Where is the child

With hate in their eyes

Who always hit out

Who wanted it all

But couldn’t explain

You gave them your time

Where is the child

With despair in their eyes

Who failed to succeed

Who wouldn’t join in

But couldn’t explain

You gave them your strength

Where is the child

Who took your hand

The child now lives

Where is the child

Who had your time

The child now gives

Where is the child

Who needed your strength

That child has now grown

These are your children

Whose lives now move on

Who give you their hope

Who give you their thanks

Who give you their love

Who now can explain.

Excuse me..we are a customer

Life is strange..this time last year give or take both my kids were somewhere else and now they are both back...

They are both now joining the hundreds of others job hunting..a soul destroying task for many kids these days. If the academic achievers cannot find work how are the less academic supposed to. I mean look at places like amazon warehouse all being done by computers and robots...oh how we love technology and advancement  but at what cost.

NO Im not a Luddite but we cant have advancement without the consequences. I mean look at the coal industry.....my uncles, grandfathers, cousins worked in the mines but majority of families wanted better safer lives for their children and cheaper coal was preferred so bang goes the coal industry, steel industry, cotton industry, clothing industry in UK.  What do we manufacture in Britain now when it is cheaper in the third world.

Sorry wasnt going to get on my soapbox.......mind you was disappointed that the fact that people are naming their pets after OLYMPIC sports personalities is now classed as headline news to be talked about on BBC as if it as the same importance as news like change in law on assisted euthanasia.

Em has written brilliant blog about the treatment of customers in shops. We have sent three emails to various companies this weekend regarding attitudes, adverts and assumptive selling in various shops in Cambridge. I am not stupid and I expect to be at least listened to when I have a serious problem instead of which the assistant walked away when he saw that we needed help, was curt when answering my question and given that it could have been fraud did not even volunteer to check any information or advise on further investigation. I object to being ignored and I definitely object to be treated as though I was an idiot who really shouldnt be allowed out.

I was discussing this with 2 friends who had also had problems with staff in shops...so why dont we complain more often..I think because its time consuming, it's "not worth it".

Well I do and I am quite happy as is my daughter to help people who want to. I worked in a Sales Office and I made damn sure that all complaints were followed up usually by phone call and rectified. 

I am happy for shops just to apologise though sometimes they do send incentives to ensure you'd shop there again. I dont like the automatic apologies that mean they have looked at your email, letter but haven actually read it. If we dont change it, who will 

In the same area I have also sent letters of compliments, commendations to stores that have been really helpful or requested that staff are told when I have been impressed. Sorry thats not meant to sound as haughty as it does. One member of staff in a store went out her way and made it a really pleasant experience.. I thanked her personally but contacted the store to say how brilliant she was..well why not..we are happy to complain ( procedures of which are easier than  complimenting) so we should be just as happy to reward..it just doesnt happen as much.

OK finished my rant.....maybe the one person who reads this will hop on the wagon

Now Im pegging so gonna get cuppa
Enjoy your day  

Hi

I suppose everybody goes into shock when a close relative dies and Johns death was like a punch in the stomach to me..I think Iwas truly stunned so I thought Id post some things about the memories I ave of him. I remember his smile, his easy going attitude and the fact that no matter what was going on in family issues he always asked if I was OK.

Now lets see

Oh yes..I was in a relationship ( not that you could call it that) with a lad who wasnt exactly brilliant ( this is with hindsight) and John quite happily said he would go and say a Squaddie hello if I wanted ( i.e Punch his lights out).. didnt take him up on it but with hindsight ( wonderful thing that) I should have done.
And the night he was staying with the family when I had a massive spider over my bed ( yes I am one of those women who dont like spiders ..though I now have got to stage where I can put glass over and move with card..then its tays on side as everybody knows if you attempt to throw it out it will fly directly on your face) anyway I difgress. John was being the brave protector and decided he would get rid of spider for me...so he stood at bedroom door and threw something at it...it immediately fell down somewhere on my bed at which point hes says there you go" and walks off....thank you John

Late one night watching "Carrie" less than enthralled until the end when her hand comes out teh grave at which point John screams and nearly falls off the settee. Dad and I were in stitches ( not that he was scared you understand).

Introducing me to Nick ( a very brief week relationship) but worth every minute!.

Coming home in Gibraltar when I was on holiday with them. Maggie and I had hit the alcohol ( whatever was in their cabinet at that point...all of it) and still being sober with John being giggly as he'd been out and had a couple of bevvies.

John buying up all the green eyeshadow on Gibraltar so he could go to fancy dress as incredible hulk.

I would like to thank him for his love for my sister....not many people can argue with her and win ...Ive tried doesnt work.

For all the love and support he gave my mam and dad and in brief time he knew him, my brother Neil. For being a great uncle to my kids...who didnt see him as much as theyd like. Finally for being a brother in law who was really a brother.

I wish you peace

Long Time

Hi again

bet you thought Id given up...nope just a bit pre-occupied with doing lots of nothing. well actually sorting about birthday presents for a 50 year old male who'd like nothing better than bits of obscure metal, objects that he could mackle into whatever hes thinking off at that particular moment in time and then spend hours ( well it might be minutes but seems like hours) explaining to me what that particular microscopic component does amongst all the other bits of micromponents. which is a bit silly as IM still working on imperial measurements and millimetres and micromillimetres mean nothing to me ( Ok   micromillimetres might not actually exist but to me they seem as probable as millimetres. 

Yes Emma Im well aware there is no grammar in this blog but not bothered at minute.

OK what else havent I done..well I didnt vote. Actually that is a bit strange as through all my voting years I felt obliged to vote because a lot of people went through a lot of stuff to get me a vote but this year I decided that I had a right note to vote rather than waste a vote so I chose not to vote. Perhaps if someone in government decided that they take responsibility instead of blaming it on previous governments we might have a decent system but that is so not going to happen. Hey even I wouldnt mind getting into power if I could just turn round and  say "T'aint my
fault he did it"

OH and according to the news today universities dont give value for money...dur no kidding.

What else well Ive actually managed to read 4 books this month which is vast improvement on last couple of years. But I have succumbed (stupid word to looks like lazy cucumber) 3 heavy colds within 2 months which have driven family bananas.

Lets see Im being very sympathetic with my daughter who' has her last exam tomorrow and is feeling pressure.

Son is still "looking" for job..ha ha he actually believes job centre is so called cos they will find him job otherwise why are they called job centres. Dont expect they are now its probably some high falutin name  to give them sense of importance. 

Right now Ive upset job centres, unis and governments  I'll sign off. 

The thing is with blogs you can be talking to yourself and nobody gives you strange looks.

Family History and all that Bumph

Hi everyone

Today I am going to try and stick to one subject but knowing how I get distracted........

Anyway given thats its been Easter Holidays I decided that I would try and break down the inevitable brick walls you hit when doing family history research. Dont beleive all you see on TV the only way its that easy is if you pay millions of pounds for somebody to research for you... and no you cant just hit Ancestry.com or Find my past and it flings things in your face.. you have to subscribe and also have a reasonable idea of who, what, when you are looking. And if you have Smith, Brown, Cooper or Evans (welsh) then you are in for long haul. 

OK so you have an unusual name...no problem you think....our ancestors were not literate and had stronger accents so depending what the transcriber knew depends on what he wrote down. Up North Scartho is Scather. Thriplow is Triplow  oh and county boundaries changed..
 If your relative was known by another name then you may be looking for wrong person. My aunty Flo was Gertrude on her birth certificate even my sister asked who she was. Next door neighbour was known by a totally different name as cousin of same name died young so they didnt use that name. Servants had their names changed if they were too flamboyant. 

If you are serious then allow for certificates which cost £9.50 but watch you get onto right order site 
because its not the first one that comes up when looking at search engine.

Good sites are FreeBMD,
www. familysearch.org ( this is mormon church site and they have extensive records)

Genes reunited is good but they have now started charging. 

Try Rootsweb and get on relevant mailing list
 or BBC site ( cant remember offhand) 

If you are new ask questions but give as much information as possible, You may be lucky and someone has done previous research into your family.

Birth Certificates should give mothers maiden name, fathers name and occupation, date of birth and address

Marriage Certificates should give bride and grooms father name but only if the kids know it. ( my grandafther was Alfred but down as Frederick on marriage certificate.. also dont bank on them being truthful especially if they are illegitimate they are just as likely to put grandfathers name or make name up. As for them being honest in their marital status ..dont bank on that either ( bigamy was a criminal offence) . Sometimes witnesses are useful..they could be relatives.

Death certificates can list next of kin and birth dates/area again based on what any relatives have been told.

Is it interesting..yes depending what you are interested in. Is it frustrating ..oh yes but if you hit one brick wall you can always side track on another family side. 

Think about it..I have 4 grandparents, each of those have 4 grandparents who in turn have 4 grandparents each let alone siblings.

If you are very lucky you might have photos or get in touch with people who might have photos or you might be only one researching.

The one thing I have learnt is that our ancestors were not paragons of virtue that our parents/grandparents would have us believe...they lied, cheated just as much as modern society.

OH and the chances of you being even remotely connected to royalty is very very slim but who wants to be anyway.

I wish you luck if you want to have a go

Universities and all that

OK like many people Ive been hit by this flu virus thingy whatever. Nough said.


Well its hard to believe but its daughter's final year at Uni..June and its all over. OK we've got to get over graduation day yet and no Im not wearing hat or fascinator, which by the way is a stupid word for a stupid item...apologies to those who think they are fantastic items .

Anyway daughter is having to fill in a havent we been fantastic university survey. For my half pen'orth I can disagree,,not going to effect my employment status but apparently undercurrent from Uni lecturers is that if you dont play nicely could effect students prospects. (for her comments http://khinjarsi.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-khinjarsi.htm)


Given the costs of going to University these days I think the universities need to stop hiding behind manipulated information. In fact like other businesses. I think they should be forced to do an itemised bill explaining how they have spent individual students fees. If you have 3 lectures a week how can this be on same level as those that have  6 lectures etc. As for new students having to pay up to £9000 (and it was quite obvious that once one University started charging that much every other one would (apologies to any that havent) I would be interested to see how that is allocated..

Also university accomodation is not always great  ( and not always near campus)...luckily daughter managed to get decent house accomodation for these last two years. Mind you the old saying that personal items accrue to fill space might cause a problem given that we no longer have People Carrier.

If the University is close this is not a problem...my daughter chose to go to one as far away as possible ( OK slight exaggeration).

On another note...his lordship continues exploring his mid life crisis in the guise of 9 hour DVD Old Grey Whistle test. Some of the music I dont mind but others are very depressing..only teenagers could have listened to that..actually if you look back at your teenage music..you suddenly realise its not only your teenagers that can have the label    "from another planet" its not puberty we hit ..its acclimatisation to Earth.

OK Ive given up hope of his lordship actually putting kettle on so thats what Im going to do

Have a good weekend

Liz

Mothers Day

Well thats a non starter, son is still in the depths of Duvet land and doubt if hell reach summit till this afternoon. Daughter is making me card at some point..well thats that.

At minute we are watching some sort of universe programme..looking at stars that are different to years...ago  and let me digress for a minute not that Im digressing really as  I have yet to start a topic. Now talking about constellations..ok I wasnt but I am now so pay attention just in case it makes senses ( at this point I will pause a minute to let those people who know me pick themselves up off floor and stop the hysterics as its very off putting) right if we are ready to carry on.. talking about constellations...what were they called before we gave them all the roman gods/godesses names ( OK some might be Greek but its all greek to me..sorry couldn't resist that) anyway they are called something else by Native Americans and aboriginal people and they probably ave more interesting names and who decided they were shaped like archers , lions etc. The only one I know is Orions belt and the Plough which doesnt look like a plough in this day and age...I mean with technology how it is and the advances in machinery it is better to called it flag although I have a funny feeling its called a pan somewhere though actually looks like an axe to me. And Orions belt could just as easily be traffice lights although I think there is a European country that has traffic lights in a triangle (Might be wrong there).
They are also discussing the meteor hitting Russia. Apparently if it had been a different trajectory and different year it would have hit UK

OK on another subject Ive decided to go contract phone ( dragged his lordship into phone shop so they can technically bamboozle him and he can drool over phones) now Ive a smaller sim card..a nanosim instead of microsim!!!! and need an adapter. Also got new phone number..yeah yeah I know I can keep old one but Ive now got new one...so all Ive got to remember is who I need to give number to apart from friends ( yes I have a couple honest)

We have snow..its wrong kind of snow..it being wet and drizzly so everything looks dirty..I have a feeling that there is some washing on line but as its my sons he can go and fetch it in..I'll lend him torch :-) (nope still havent found emocions.

Right you can all go now and enjoy your Mothers day ( i'll sit in corner sulking and spitting feathers )