Not even trivia

Not a lot to report in the last few days at this end. My grandma's still in hospital, as they keep finding new problems which though we were told can be sorted out are keeping her pretty under the weather at the moment.

Otherwise I'm opening the box here and just seeing what appears, as if someone else is writing it, as I frequently do. I will say I've noticed recently all but one of my comments have dried up. I know I often read blogs and only comment on a few, but I do wonder what else I could write about to liven things up besides what's actually happening. The old regulars have mainly stopped posting on theirs, so there's nothing to return on, but I've made sweeps of others, particularly in London, with not a bite since the first time (and that was basically 'how did you find my blog?'- and this from someone with an education...).
Blogger has gone peculiar on its profile search function. It used to list recent posters first until it got to the people with profiles and nothing else. Then it decided to split lists in two, and half the familiar names didn't show up until I searched again. And then they just showed bloggers in no order, with pages of 'posts 0' before I could even find something to read. And I still haven't found how to list the damn favourite blogs down the side like everyone else has. I suspect it needs HTML and I'm not up for website designing, or I wouldn't have 4 ready-made sites up.
I hope a fellow blogger may help on these technical points, I usually just try and remember the selected blogs to return to but it would be a lot easier to list them here.

Technically, as far as my 'personal growth' is concerned, I am gradually shifting into an awareness where I don't project into the future and try and wait till something happens first before thinking about it. The fact there's been fuck all ahead has actually helped and now I should be able to do it quite easily regardless. It's worth doing for everyone as it's of no practical help at all to imagine the future. It's a habit most of us assume is unavoidable until we're told it isn't. It also means not worrying about when I'm going to meet the next woman, and any other nebulous thought that I couldn't control the outcome of. Instead I try and use the time I have to the best I can, doing the garden, painting and next I'll be learning how to play Abba properly from the music I just bought rather than by memory, which isn't going to be good enough for anything that complicated (believe me, it is).

Nothing's changed on the outside, but I am beginning not to care at last, that's all there is. I am going to call one woman who has serially ignored me since I said I wasn't overjoyed to be saved by Jesus, just in case I can build a friendship without that as a blockage. I thought of every single (as opposed to taken) woman I knew and she was the only civilised one left who hadn't blown me out totally, ie there was just a single thread left to hang onto.

Finally (this could easily be a separate post but I'll say it quickly), I am amazed how so many bloggers are news focused. The news since I was born and long before is a rehash of the same stuff which until the aliens land is not new or surprising. It would be surprising if it didn't happen, and apart from local London issues and the oil price doesn't affect me or 99% of the other observers. A diary is personal, so I write about my life here. If anything in the news affected me, it would be included. I may comment on it from time to time but it's just not usually worthy of comment. Global warming affects me as the shits that flood the media with scare stories have put our taxes and energy prices on a meteoric rise, and as people with little probes measuring every aspect of world temperatures, combined with a history of extreme climate swings have between them shown this theory to be a political fraud, and as I have spent years digging up the data to prove it I have to put it anywhere it'll be read. But news? I'm sure I said already I one read a paper at my grandparents house and thought 'wow, every crap story is contained in this paper, it's why I watch Ceefax every day and cringe'. I then saw the paper was about 30 years old.

The little news snippets we just had where the combined minds of science and industry had just managed to discover a) aspartame may be harmful and b) speed cameras may not stop accidents just highlights the sadness I view society in general. When my cat could have told everyone both these things had she been able to find an interpreter, and not have waited ten years to do so as these boffins have. One glass of aspartame-rich squash told me all I needed to learn in an hour than any scientific study. My bladder almost felt like it was burning, and I knew exactly what did it. It even tastes metallic, and certainly not sweet in any sense of the word. It's an artificial chemical that I would imagine most animals would avoid if even a trace was put in any of their meals. So, because the law was changed allowing this shit into regular food and drinks as well as diet, this affects me as I have to trawl through bottle after bottle until I find the rare example without sweeteners.

The speed cameras is another joke. I, along with a million other drivers a month, know the location of every camera on the North Circular, and slow down and speed up every half a mile to stop being caught. But it's a safe road. Apart from the fact there are only a few hours a day when you can reach the speed limit, let alone exceed it, it's now a wide road with good visibility and junctions, and some stretches as good as any motorway but with a 40 mph limit. Anyone doing 40 on the Staples Corner flyover risks every lorry and coach driver, let alone taxis and local hooligans more or less driving you off the road. The flyover under it (there are three road levels) on the A5 is four lanes, and 30 mph, and anyone doing under 50 are liable to be rear-ended as few do less than that. Londoners tend to drive pretty well as the roads, like in Finland, are so damn dangerous you won't survive long if you don't. The speed most take is whatever's safe at the time. This is proved on 50-60 mph roads with one lane each way and serious bends where only someone with a Porsche or similar would risk going over 40. You drive at the safe speed at the time, and that can change for the same spot every few minutes. For reasons unknown, our country lanes where I rarely leave 3rd gear are still mostly 60 mph. A few local nutters approach this (and a few of my friends when I used to stay in Devon), but as you can't see what's coming and the bends are more like a roller coaster the blanket 30mph we have on roads in London beyond dual carriageways would be far better there. It's bad driving, usually by not concentrating, rushing or being lost that causes accidents. Going above a speed limit is usually because it's been chosen for average road conditions, not thinking about the times where it is actually safe to go a lot faster. People know the difference, they all passed a test and can't afford to wreck their cars, let alone their bodies, driving faster than experience tells them they can. It's an acquired awareness, like walking. Oh blimey, Ken'll read this now and we'll have a speed limit on our pavements next. Oh shit!