It was my birthday last friday.!!

It was my birthday last Friday, May 24th, and what a miserable day it turned out to be, weather wise that is!

I got up late and went out to do my rounds of the charity shops to see if there were any bargains.. nothing that day... then I came  home, and got all dressed up for a lunch at the posh restaurant which is just across the road from us.  We didn't have to book a place, but it was still very busy indeed and a whole party of ladies were sitting at the top table having great fun nattering all together.

John and I sat and were waited on by a charming young girl.. I had a super lunch and it was quickly delivered and the taste was great too. We were so full up afterwards that we had no space for puddings or coffee to finish the meal. We paid and made our way home, which took all of three minutes!

it was a cold and rainy day , and as grey as nasty outside, but I was very happy with the gifts I had been given and the cards that everyone had sent. I knew that there would be other messages, but on face book, and since the day before, the computer had been down.. so no interaction with the web.

Some people are happy that they do not have to rush to click on line, but me, I miss it like crazy... The odd thing is, that it was all supposed to be so different.
I was  having a mobile upgrade to another company that was part of the group where I had the mobile from originally. So, I received the upgrade, a Blackberry Z10, and then because it was so difficult to get to work, went to the shop and got the sales people there to make it work.. then they suggested that I move providers over to them, and I would be having a hassle free transfer, money back scheme, and much lower bills all round...
 Ha, well that will have to be looked at later when I get the bills...

 Because even though they have me down as being connected from May 17th, and sent me a router to work it, my current account at the previous provider, only cut me off on May 23rd, just the day before my birthday.. so that will be an interesting situation when it gets to discussing... anyway, the land line was stopped as well, so an engineer was booked to come to my house on the Tuesday following..

which she did, a girl, that managed to complete everything fast and was so pleasant too... but did my broadband work immediately... no it did not... this was then the start of many hours calling on my mobile to see what could be done to connect me with the Internet... and this took until late yesterday evening...

 then today I had a remote server help me get the emails all up and running.. but I have been left without being able to use flash or other downloads, because in order to download them I have to get rid of my security instructions which leaves me open to all the nasty virus in the universe...

so here I am still, not very happy with my new provider, and very very annoyed at all the running around on the phone I have had to do... we shall hear more of this I am sure..

So, Friday was my birthday and a whole new year starts... I shall ignore all the fuss about the broadband or mobile phone and say, I am so ready for a change... I hope this year will be better than last and I will make every effort to make it so.. Don't laugh, I really am going to try and make this year different and next year, I will be able to tell you out in blogland, just how much I managed to keep to my plan!

The right to decide?

I am not going to develop this idea into a long monologue of ideas and thoughts, just to note down, and state that 24  hours ago, I was asked, by someone close to me, that if they wanted to decide to die, would I help them..

I sat  back and thought very deeply about this question. A question that is not asked in the cold light of day usually,but being asked to say whether I would assist because that someone's suffering  they cannot bear to go on for a moment longer..

So this question was hyperthetical..[ I think that is the word.]. .....an ask, that required an answer that the person asking could depend on it happening, should the time come.

I do believe that we are all put on this earth to achieve something, that sometimes life decides a different road, but mainly that we are here to reproduce ourselves and continue the immortality that we feel we are entitled to.

That taking a life is such a terrible and worrying thing to do...

However, when we see an animal is in deep distress through old age or accident, we  do reserve the right to assist them in their journey out of this life however upsetting that might be, and it can be absolutely awful to lose a domestic animal that you have grown to love..

When I see older people suffering with Parkinson's, or Dementia or MS or any other awful illness that will make them die in a horrible way.. I ask myself what right do we have to make them live on until they are totally worn out and die naturally, instead of helping them achieve a peaceful and dignified exit of this world?  To be just sitting in a chair, or lying in a bed shaking with illness, or crying out loud because you have lost words, or weeping because you cannot remember anything.. how is it right to be just waiting for death to come and claim us..

Approaching old age very fast, these thoughts are more and more on my mind. There have been several cases taken to the High Court in London, where the patient asks for the right to decide when they die, and that if their family or carer assisted them, they would not be punished...

 Up to now, the courts have decided to deny these people their rights to die in a manner of their own choosing.. How is this democracy, if that person has the deepest right taken away from them>?

Of course it is true that every case is individual, but I'm sure that anyone in a dire situation, that has no quality of life, that is screaming inside for it all to end, that their bodies a shell and not able to move,  do have the right to decide their own exit.


I would not be able to find it easy to make a decision to assist anyone who asked me to aid them in committing suicide, but I would find it also very hard, not to agree to their wishes, and if this meant that the Law would choose to punish me, I think I would stand firm on my rights as an individual to help a fellow human achieve a peaceful and dignified way to die...

What about all my blog fellows out there, do you think we should reserve the right to help another person take control and decide when they wish to leave this life?

It is a very deep question, but maybe after you have examined your conscience you will find as I did, that helping someone to retain their dignity and human characteristics,might overrule what the law of the country actually allows at the moment..

Of course I trust that I will never be placed in that situation, but I rather surprised myself in hearing myself agree to aid if the situation warranted it..