Well, not having had any gainful employment for some time now, I decided to start researching my family tree - what a fascinating subject.

One of my great great grandfathers was born in 1837, although there seems to be some doubt whether he was born in Whitchurch Canonicorum or Wooton Fitzpaine, 2 English villages about 2 miles apart. How much more "Thomas Hardy" could you get than those two Olde English village names? LOL.

I've traced another branch of the family back to my great great great great great great grandfather whose Christian name was Guibiel, born in 1650.

Well I think it's interesting anyway.!

Almost every day now, I see a story on Facebook or in the news "shaming" people who don't tip or leave a very small tip for the wait staff in US restaurants.

In almost all the countries I have visited, a tip is given by a customer for superior, or "above & beyond" service, not to somebody who merely does their job (often not very well or with a surly or downright objectionable attitude).

I realise the reason for this rather unusual attitude to tipping is that the staff are often not paid a "living wage" by their employers, but surely that is the solution - mandate a minimum wage and enforce it, not expect customers to make up the shortfall. While doing this MAY require a rise in prices in some establishments, at least customers would know what they are buying and what they are paying for it instead of the current robbery by stealth.

OK, rant over.

A discussion in Status reminded me of one of my favourite songs from the early '70s - "Melting Pot" by British band Blue Mink

It was originally written as a "peace" song in the flower power era, but I just saw a comment (not on NN) that it would probably nowadays be seen as racist, due to some of the terms used. It was intended as exactly the opposite. Interesting how public perception and PC has changed over the years.

Still a great song with a great message in my opinion.

THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY "THOMAS COOK VACATIONS" FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS:

1. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."

2. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food."

3. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."

4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price."

5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."

6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."

7. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallartato close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned."

8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."

9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers."

10. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun."

12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair."

13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller."

14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort.' We're trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service."

15. "When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners."

16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning."

17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."

18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes."

19. "My fiance and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

Well, it's been an eventful two weeks - a fortnight of mixed emotions. Two funerals and two weddings. The cycle of life!

I finally got to sit down and contemplate it all this evening. Spent the evening with my three and a half year old granddaughter watching the Minions movie (again) and sharing a bowl of peanuts - eating them with chopsticks (I'm sure she scored more peanuts than I did. Lol)

It's a funny old world, innit?

Thought I'd post this beautiful song sung by a lady with a beautiful voice:


According to wiki (so it MUST be true), she performs songs in English, Irish, Welsh, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Latin, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and and of course Maori - a very talented lady

One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behaviour that was going on. So he called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time.

When he returned, he told God, 'Yes, it is bad on Earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not.'

God thought for a moment and said, 'Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion.'

So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time.

When the angel returned he went to God and said, 'Yes, it's true. The Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good.'

God was not pleased. So He decided to e-mail the 5% that were good, because he wanted to encourage them, and give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what the e-mail said?
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OK, I was just wondering, because I didn't get one either.

Hahaha, seems NN can't count, there are a few of us!
XXXX


[IMG]http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r83/Sidney_R_Burbridge/TWL200000_zpsc5e23287.jpg[/IMG]

It has been brought to my attention that a certain NN member recently blogged the ill informed and rather provocative question "why do so many child molesters live in Thailand?" The blog was strangely titled "here klltty klitty", whatever that means.

Being a long-time resident of this beautiful country, I feel I should respond to the question.

I have lived here for more than 20 years and as far as I know, have never encountered or even seen ANY of these "so many child molesters" referred to in the blog, although I'm sure that some DO exist, as they do in all countries.

Apparently the blogger is more intimately familiar with the subject than I am, so I would strongly urge him to contact the appropriate authorities with the details he obviously has (names, addresses etc), so that this disgusting practice, where it occurs, can be stamped out.

On the other hand, if recent worldwide news reports are any indication, the incidence of child abuse is far more widespread in the blogger's own home country than it is in Thailand, so I commend him for his vigilance and would further urge him to keep up the good work closer to home.

Please note that the HSBC Bank is installing new "Drive-thru" cash point machines, customers will be able to withdraw cash without leaving their vehicles.
To enable users to use this new facility the following procedures have been drawn up.

Please read the procedure that applies to your own circumstances (i.e. MALE or FEMALE)and remember them for when you use the machine for the first time.
MALE PROCEDURE
1 Drive up to the cash machine.
2 Wind down your car window.
3 Insert card into machine and enter PIN.
4 Enter amount of cash required and withdraw.
5 Retrieve card, cash and receipt
6 Wind up window
7 Drive off

FEMALE PROCEDURE
1 Drive up to cash machine
2 Reverse back the required amount to align car window to machine
3 Re-start the stalled engine
4 Wind down the window
5 Find handbag, remove all contents on to passenger seat to locate card.
6 Turn the radio down
7 Attempt to insert card into machine
8 Open car door to allow easier access to machine due to its excessive distance from the car
9 Insert card
10 Re-insert card the right way up
11 Re-enter handbag to find diary with your PIN written on the inside back page.
12 Enter PIN.
13 Press cancel and re-enter correct PIN.
14 Enter amount of cash required
15 Check make up in rear view mirror
16 Retrieve cash and receipt
17 Empty handbag again to locate purse and place cash inside
18 Place receipt in back of cheque book
19 Re-check make-up again
20 Drive forwards 2 meters
21 Reverse back to cash machine
22 Retrieve card
23 Re-empty hand bag, locate card holder, and place card into the slot provided
24 Restart stalled engine and pull off
25 Drive for 2 to 3 miles
26 Release handbrake