Trying to Stay Sane

Reducing stressors has become a must.
I've made some rules for myself which I am more or less following.  Mostly regarding politics, religion and related social issues.

I have stopped trying to read everything as it is simply impossible to start with and I am finding that the themes repeat and repeat.  I have canceled several of my regular newsletters or whatever you call them.  Ezines is a horrible word.

If the tone of the headline or beginning of the article is ugly I stop reading it.  If it looks like it might be reasonably intelligent, well argued and that I might learn then I will attempt to read it.

One of the things that depresses me is the knowledge that the real enemy is not the person or problem in front of you that "hates you and wants you dead".  These are honest and can be dealt with.  It is the people who are supposedly "on your side" that are the true enemy, that seem to do everything to prevent success of the stated goal, caring only for their own vanity, position, wealth etc..  Ask any soldier.  Or anyone who ever worked in any kind of bureaucracy.  Hence my frustration with the "Luddites of the Loony Left" who divert energy from the more important goals of social and economic justice.

Instead I look for stuff that makes me smile.  DogHeirs website with cute puppy videos is great (I know cute puppy videos aren't news, Doonesbury, that is why I watch them). GoodNewsNetwork is another source of smiles.  And of course, FaceBook is loaded with cute pictures of dogs, cats, lids and other critters.  Jango is a great "radio station" in the net with all of my favourite music.

And I will steer very clear of serious stuff on this blog.  So much as is possible.  Three of my regulars commented yesterday about the overload of politics in America being depressing.  I need to keep up more or less with politics in four countries.  Canada and Ukraine.  America and Russia.  Not a pleasant prospect.

Oh, I have a couple of consulting projects ahead of me AND have begun reading my backlog of books.  History and otherwise.

Our holiday in Turkey was the best ever and that will fill a couple of blogs.

Tanya and I in Turkey on my 65th birthday

Starting again

To my readers, thanks for staying with me while I took a much needed break.  I have been on my new meds for two months; Tanya and I are back from our annual holiday in Turkey and I am ready to face the world again.

Now to catch up on reading everyone's blogs that I missed over the past five weeks.

To those of you who are receivers of spam because of linking to my blog I am truly sorry about that and have no idea how to cure it.  My ISP is People.net which is a Russian owned company I believe and I know that a great deal of spam gets routed through their servers though I don't know where it originates.

Me off my meds

Me on my meds

Maddy is a Cockapoo.  Having raised five litters of pups, which was one too many according to her, she has little patience.  She is quite protective of her owner which used to be my oldest daughter (MayB in her blogging days) and now belongs to MayB's sister-in-law.  She has a ferocious fake snarl and bite but wouldn't hurt anyone.  I think the kiss-and-make-up was genuine.

Joining the 21st Century

Today we changed our ISP and our hardware.  It isn't high-speed internet but it looks awfully good after what we have endured for so long.  We can use Skype without long pauses, garbled sound and frequent dropped calls.  I actually watched a video on YouTube without having to take 15 to 30 minutes to download it first.  Web pages load in seconds instead of minutes.  Not only that but we got a D-Link wireless so we can use our laptops anywhere in the house and only have one account. 

Hospital Number Four

Schools and Hospitals in Ukraine are numbered.  Streets have names.  Like Lenin, Karl Marx, Heroes of Stalingrad and the Glorious October Revolution.  Changing street names is fairly low on the priority list.  Repairing them is only slightly higher.

Tuesday, Tanya made an appointment for my annual check-up with one of the top Urology specialists in Dnipropetrovs'k.  Prostate glands are the bane of men and angels. Angels, you say?  Certainly, there is even a song about "Let angels' prostates fall".  I think it is in the Hymn about the Royal Duodenum that my cousin Lorne and I used to sing 40 or 50 years ago. But I digress.

The appointment was for 11:00 and at 11:2O we were ushered into his office on the 3rd floor of Hospital Number Four near the west end of the city in the industrial area.  At 11:40 the examination was over and at 11:45, with hand written report to put in my medical records (individuals, not the doctor's office, are responsible for maintaining their own records) and having paid him $25 we were on our way home.  With a clean bill of health and the satisfaction of having done my duty as an aging male and actually gone for a check up.

And I'll put in another plug for my Number One Son-in-Law who is growing a one month wonder mustache to raise money for Prostate Cancer Research.  You can donate HERE.

Happy Faces in Ukraine

This year in Ukraine, with a population of about 46 million people, some 530,000 babies were born, a record number.  Obviously people believe in the future of this country.

I had noted the number of little babies in Zhovti Vody this year and thought maybe it was just  a local phenomonon but apparently it was all over Ukraine.  Baby carriages (do they still call them that?) are everywhere.  Good business to be in as most that I see are pretty fancy new rigs.  Kids stores are everywhere too.  Clothes and toys.

The economy shrank by 12% in 2009 yet people keep looking to the future.  I guess that is how Ukrainians have survived the last 1000 years or so.  It is "next year" country.

Speaking of which, the big grocery store was crowded today with folks buying for New Year's celebrations.  The line ups at the tills were several people deep.  Poor economy or not, there is money for holiday feasts.

Good Things Still Happen

Good News Network is a great newsletter that doesn't cost much to subscribe too and fills a void left by mainstream media.  I hope they pick up on this story from Russia.

On November 27th, terrorists derailed the Nevsky Express between Moscow and St Petersburg.  Twenty-six people were killed and over 90 injured as several cars went off the tracks at high speed.  An old grandmother who lived near the tracks had the front of her cottage destroyed by one of the derailed cars. She spent the night hauling all her blankets and spare clothing, other than what she wore to the people who were waiting to be rescued in the winter cold.

Today we watched on the news as she was presented, courtesy of the Russian state,  with a brand new cottage in gratitude for her help that night.  The cottage is lovely,  modern and completely furnished, including gas and running water which she had never had before.  Watching made one fell like tonight she is the "Grandmother of all Russians".  All the people they interviewed talked about how good she was to them that night and how glad they were that she was recognized for her selflessness.