Corrupt Bastards!

Speaking of his prison experiences, the doctor says he lived for two years in filth with only salty water to drink, sharing a cell measuring 1.9m (6ft) by 1.7m (5.5ft) by 3m (9.8ft) with up to eight people at a time.
The nurses were tortured with beatings and cattle prods.



So here's why I'd never work in any dodgy country no matter how good the money is.

This is the inside scoop, or at least it would be if I had any names, dates or places.

Around about the end of 2006, I was seeing a foreign senior staff nurse. She had previously working in a Libyan hospital. She knew most, if not all, of those arrested for the HIV blood scandal because the foreign workers tended to socialize together. Apparently, it was common knowledge that the hospital buyer was a favoured cronie, and had been buying cheep downgraded blood from Saudi Arabia and pocketing the difference. Naturally, when the diarrhea hit the turbo, he wasn't to blame.
On a slightly different note, she told me there was a culture of neglect in the hospital. Nurses would clock on at the start of a shift, then 'dissappear' until it was time to clock out. Many patients died of inattention.

Do you still want to go for that high paying Middle Eastern contract?

"Ich bin ein Berliner"

For the benefit of Hey Lady, I've included more photo's.

Or, any excuse to show my holiday snaps.

Firstly the site of the Imperial Royal Palace, which is now being rebuilt, with private funds. When the Soviets took over after the war, the Palace, being a symbol of imperialism, was destroyed and replaced with, Palast der Republik, The seat of the East German Government. Unfortunately, this was later condemned for having too much asbestos in its' construction.

It's possible to include Berlin Cathedral, the Fernsehturm and The Imperial Royal Palace in one shot.

Apparently the East Germans were big fans of Groucho Marks.

At 38 degrees, the animals is the two zoos were not too active.

At 22 Euro's, I just had to have this East German military hat.

Take one hotel court yard, add a lift in the middle, surround lift with tubular fish tank. How cool is that?

The Wall as a display. There are some small sections of wall that remain in place, but they are being picked away by souvenir hunters.

This library courtyard provided very welcome foot massage to everyone who staggered here on a very hot day.

This is the kind of detail I love. A working lift pump. It's about 8ft tall. It was a hot day, and I'll drink from anything.
Little Miss, "What does it taste like?"
Tickersoid, "Iron. It tastes like the cooling water at the steelworks."
Little Miss, "You mean like teaspoons?"
Tickersoid, "I'm not sure what you mean."
Little Miss tastes water.
Little Miss, "I thought so, it tastes like teaspoons."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tickersoid's guide to Berlin.

Bicycles are allowed on the U-bahn (subway).
Berliners are big on bicycles.
You can chain a bike up with it's lights attached all day and no one will steal your bike or lights or kick in the wheels.
Because of the bike culture, there are no fat people.
You can also bring your dog on the U-bahn.
German announcements are, unlike the more chipper British chimes, preceded by a death knell.
If you want air-con, you have to eat in Star Bucks. We have been living on cake, coffee and ice-cream for three days. We are now 16 stone and unable to sleep.
Motorcyclists don't have to wear a crash helmet.
The rules of the road are different in each half, this causes confusion and consequent accident's.
East Berlin is now shiny and new.
West Berlin is shabby in comparison.
Suppression of vegitation in urbun areas is meagre, consequently there is a 'post apocalyptic' look to the place.
Very little litter, lots of graffiti.
A lot of flats are made from prefabricated concrete and yet it works and actually looks attractive. My suspicion is that, unlike the British buildings of similar construction, the Krouts stuck to the rules and didn't cut corners with the steel corrosion proofing, the mix of the concrete or the burning off of steel lugs that didn't align on construction.
Being a reunited city, there are two of everything, that there should only be one of, such as two zoos and two airports.

This picture encapsulates my image of Berlin. The art deco surround, the bicyles, slim people, graffiti and grass trying to reclaim the site.

There is a lot of this kind of naff art-deco. I quite like it.

I also like the more considered art-deco such as this station.

The older buildings such as Berlin Cathedral all had to be reconstructed after the war.


Little Miss looking down on the Fernsehturm. They grow up so fast.


Of course, no tour of Berlin is complete without a picture of the Batternburg Cake.

Welsh World Champion.

On a day when a Welshman becomes a world champion, all the tabloids want to concentrate on is the Brits dismal performance in the Tour do France, (how can that start in England?) The British Grand Prix and Wimbledon.

So lets drink a toast to 40 year old, Bryan Evans of Bridgend. 2007 world bog snorkling triathalon champion.

To pronounce the 'LL' in Llanwrtyd, form your mouth as for an 'L' sound but don't engage your vocal chords, instead blow spit around the outside of your tounge in more of a 'TH' sort of sound.
Yes, I know, LL Cool J isn't quite as cool in mid' Wales.

So Llanwrtyd is pronounced 'Thlanour-tid'.

The falconer tells us how the word cadge comes from falconine. Apparently the cadge, is the frame on which the birds perch. At one time the cadge carrier would have been commandeered without expectation of payment. After the hunt some of the toffs might have tipped him. Hence the expression, ‘to cadge’ meaning to gain payment when undeserving. He also explained how the bird of prey was tied by leather straps to its ankle. Hence the expressions, 'to reach the end of ones tether'. Another expression comes from the hooding of the bird. This is known as 'hoodwinking'.

He went on to explain how the head cover was comfortable and the bird was happy wearing it.

I lean over to English Rose and suggest,

"That’s where we get the expression, all's good in the hood.”

OK, perhaps I’d been drinking too much nettle ale.

DIY

I've been doing a lot of DIY recently. Consequently, I won't be spending so much time on the inter....web....net....thingy.

Not so much because of the re-prioritisation of my time, but because it's difficult to type with band-aids on each finger.

“A turd by any other name would still stink like shit” We’ll attribute this to William Shakespeare even though we know he didn’t say it.

The phone rings.

Tickersoid, “Hello?”

Cold Caller, “Hello, Is that Mr Tickersoid?”

Tickersoid, “Yes it is.”

Cold Caller, “ Hello, Mr Tickersoid, I’m Nigel from ‘Golden Solutions’, We administer Gold Solutions credit cards and we blah, blah, blah, blah,…..”

Tickersoid, “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but what did you say you were from?”

Cold Caller, “Golden Solutions…..”

Tickersoid, “Now stop right there, that’s where you lost me, ‘Golden Solutions’ the name just screams at me, ‘We’re full of shite’.

Tickersoid hangs up.

God Bless America!

Happy 4th of July.
For all my American readers, a little razzmatazz.

Don't try this at home folks.

Emotional Inertia - Discuss.

I’m breaking my own rule again by blogging under the influence of alcohol.

But tell me, (no don’t tell me you can’t start a sentence with the words ‘and’ and ‘but’) is there such a thing as emotional inertia?

If someone is prone to getting emotional at the drop of a hat, are they also likely to have quick emotional healing.

Get upset quickly then be fine quickly.

Conversely, is it true, that those who seem to be more emotionally robust, are much more devastated when things, they have finally committed to, go pear shaped?