He was injured. Injured bad.

Have watched this about 10 times today. It just made me smile at first but each time I watch it, it gets funnier!

P.S.

I have just realized that if you click on each photo, it will take you to a bigger version. Handy. However, it has led to the need to retract my previous statement about that being a tame photo of me and my girls. Very, very unsure what is going on there. I'll leave it to you guys to draw your own conclusions. Suffice it to say we are all, to my knowledge, just friends. Heterosexual friends. If you're eagle-eyed, you will also spot in that photo a very fresh burn on my leg, courtesy of the muffler on Travis' motorbike. It is still healing now, nearly a month later. I feel it will add yet another scar to my extended (and grudingly loved) collection.

Ooh. And it has let me download my bruise picture. Yeah.

Photies

Greetings all! I am back from a lovely 4-day weekend, whisked away to beautiful Wales to enjoy breathtaking scenery and generally revel in not being at work. Also, the job application is done, dusted and submitted. Feeling fresh, I am willing to give this photo-posting another try. So will this work? Hope so. I have had to post them as minis, I hope they are viewable. If not, I will have to find a Plan B. In the random order in which they appear, they are:


All of us at our farewell dinner at The Cattle Baron. Mike said to me this weekend that this was the best meal he has ever had, so chalk one up for real Alberta Beef! On the right in the orange is my Aunt Carol, my Dad's sister, visiting for a few months from Zimbabwe.

Mike and I at the Osooyoos Golf Course, where we went for an amazing meal overlooking the Okanagan Valley, and enjoyed watching an electrical storm during 35+ degree heat followed by a double rainbow.
Me and the girls, of course. This is one of the tamest ones of us I have ever seen!
Mike canoeing on Lake Louise. Doesn't it look like a movie backdrop? Having been to Lake Louise at least once a year for my whole life, I can honestly say it is still jaw-droppingly stunning each time I see it.

Moi - on the other side of the canoe! My weak girly-arms meant Mike did the lion's share of the rowing, bless him. Aforementioned double rainbow over the Okanagan. So beautiful.
At the beginning of our whitewater rafting trip. We drove at previously unreached land-speeds to get to the Canmore McDonalds in time to meet the guide. (Admitting to criminal acts in blog = wise? Do they monitor this kind of thing?)

For various uncertain reasons, I cannot upload the piece-de-resistence, a fullsize shot of possibly the most impressive bruise I have ever earned (those who know me well know this is quite a claim) after an unfortunate run-in with a mailbox (Legal proceedings against the box mean I can say no more.) So you have been spared. Hope the rest were worth the wait? (She smiles hopefully, if pathetically, into the vast void of Webland. Silence. The wind blows. Tumbleweed rolls by. Are you out there, readers?)

Well, I am just about to go to bed, the quicker so that tomorrow comes and I can rush back to a 14-hour day at work, after a 4-day weekend. It's like Christmas! (Feel sorry for me?!) Just waiting for my songs to finish downloading. Uhh... Legally, of course. (Mercifully heavens, this is turning into some kind of confessional forum!) If my posts suddenly stop, you know they have tracked me. While we're confessing, I have used the Alberta Beef icon without permission. May I use this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge and grovel to the Alberta Beef people?

Chat to you soon folks. My bed calls.

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Switch

ARGH! Job application time. They are the most awful things in the world, with the possible exception of the interview itself.

Personal Highlights: (Dream Sequence)

• The guy who asked, "And what else?" after every answer until I was forced to poke him in the eyes with forked fingers and bellow that when I stop talking, it means I'm done!
• The guy who, having applied for a job while still at school and therefore having padded my CV with hobbies etc., said, "You did ballet? I thought ballet dancers had to be, you know, skinny and petite."
• The 2 charming ladies who interviewed me in Sheffield, opening with that nursing-relevant gem, "So, what are your hobbies?" (answer: fat-girl ballet!!) and finishing the interview abruptly and with a certain stony silence when it was established that I had no surgical nursing experience because the job I applied for was not a surgical nursing job. ("Well, yes, we did advertise for a different position, but we have since decided that we need a surgical nurse instead. So, you say you have NO surgical experience...hmmmm...")

Not bitter at all.

Hate, hate, hate applications. So, I turn to you, dear blog readers, to keep me sane and allow me to procrastinate. A very good site for this, incidentally, is www.freeonlinegames.com. May I recommend "Stack the Cats", a tetris-esque game involving stacking cats (thus the name, I guess.) Type the title into the search bar of that website and up it pops. Play with sound turned up for funny cat mews and screeches.

Must go and sell myself. Note to self: Putting blog URL on application form NOT a good idea - may reveal craziness. Note to self #2: Check what URL means to ensure you are using it correctly.

PS - Yes, I know I was supposed to be posting holiday pictures. But they won't work. So, I'm not right now. Mutter, mutter...

Care Bear Stare!

Welcome to my new-look blog. Black. Minimal. Not sure that I love it. It will do until I find something else. Watch this space.

So. Are you sitting comfortably? Then it's time for some pictures. That's right, holiday snaps for you, my dedicated (albeit entirely imaginary) blog-readers. They don't seem to want to post in this posting so I'll finish this one then open a separate one. Technology fun.

On a more serious note: Never one to be political, I must nevertheless say how disgusted I am at the news reports that a group of holidaying Britons refused to board their flight home until 2 Asian gentlemen were removed from the flight by security. Apparently they thought the men, 'looked suspicious and might have been terrorists'. An already deep-seated racism that has been allowed to run rampant, fuelled by the media. I think it is so wrong. Where will it stop? It doesn't seem so far-fetched that Asians will start being tagged, like the Stars of David pinned onto Jews during WWII. Makes me ashamed to live here. Someone needs to teach these people that not all Asians are Muslims, and by no means are all Muslims terrorists.

And if I may, newsflash to the Limeys: It is not the terrorists who wish to bomb your cut-price flight from that tacky European holiday destination (they have bigger fish to fry!); it is the long-suffering locals at said holiday destinations who have had their beautiful islands ruined by your boozing, clubbing and generally atrocious behaviour that makes Britons the most hated tourists in Europe, bar none.

Ok, rant over.

Does anyone out there remember the 80s sitcom, Perfect Strangers, with that American guy and Balki? No idea what reminded me of it, but there you are. Random.

Oh, and the post title? Because I can. Randomness rules today.

I must now go and watch Neighbours.

I'm getting old!

I was reading on Canada.com about the new trends taking over from body piercing and tattooing. It mentioned that people are going to the lengths of having their tongue split so it forks like a lizard tongue, then having magnets implanted or something (hey - I didn't say I read it carefully!). I tutted quietly to myself, just about to say to no-one in particular how crazy these people are to mess with themselves like that - after all, if you did permanent damage to your tongue, you might never be able to speak again. But here's the thing: As I tutted, my tongue stud banged against my front teeth... And it hit me. Weren't those very words spoken to me those many years ago when I went to get my tongue pierced? And didn't I sigh (in that adolescent way), roll my eyes and dismiss them as old fuddy-duddys? Maybe this is a sign I'm getting old! :(

On another note, if you are bored (and let's face it, if you're reading this, you must be!) go to google.co.uk (or your preferred Google), go to the image search and type in yours truly (Lindsay Atkinson). Check out pic. numero uno. My namesake - lucky him!! (Or is that lucky me?)

I have only had one comment on my blog so far (thanks Jani - true blue!!) Is anyone out there?
Must go get my car tires balanced. I really am old...
Ciao

Some sad news

Just wanted to take a moment to say how heavy-hearted I am that yesterday, my family took the sad decision to put Jemma down. She had deteriorated so much recently, apparently even more so just in the short weeks since I was there visiting. She was really struggling to move, and although she still had that same old "spark" to her, when the vet found she had osteosarcoma (bone cancer) we knew it was time.

She died just 2 weeks after her doggy-friend Pickles and on the 8th anniversary of my brother Greg's death, so I can cheer myself with the thought that maybe they were there to meet her, arms open/tails wagging.

Thanks, Jemma, for being a fantastic family pet for the past 14 years and for bringing us so much cheer and so many smiles!!

And isn't it ironic...don't you think

Is this the best example of irony yet? I was in the supermarket the other day, and glanced over the ads that people had hung on the board. You know, where they try to sell old couches and puppies etc. There was an ad that started,

"ARE YOU TIRED OF NOT BEING ABLE TO SPEAK OR WRITE ENGLISH PERFECTLY?"

"Ah", (I thought to myself, for I try to be a stickler when it comes to correct English), "someone who wants to teach people to use the language correctly. How wonderful." I then read on, where it went on to say,

"DO YOU SOMETIME FEEL ASHAME OR EMBARRASS OR IS WHEN YOU WANT TO SPEAK ENGLISH WRITE ENGLISH SAY ENGLISH , WHEN YOU TRY TO READ ENGLISH? WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ABLE TO WRITE ENGLISH CURRENTLY CORRECTLY?"

Is that the best example irony?! Obviously, I took down the number and will be calling this person immediately, the sooner to correct my ashame and embarrass..

Baby Crazy

Very belated, but I have to take the chance to say HUGE congratulations to two sets of proud new parents:

Holly and Matt Hildebrant, in Grand Prairie in Canada, who welcomed KATELYN JUNE to the world on June 14th weighing 6lbs 6oz. I got to meet her, yeah!! Check out some really cute pics on http://www.hollhil.blogspot.com/

Also to Ruth and Steve Sorrell, in Hertfordshire in England, who were delighted to welcome AELFRAED CHARLES EDWARD SORRELL (Freddie), born on June 26th weighing a handsome 9lb 12oz.

Well done you guys :)

Holiday over

Hi kids. Wow, it's been a while. Well, I'm back from 3 wonderful weeks in Canada. I wish I could describe just how much I enjoyed it. WHAT an awesome time! Loved the weather, did some whitewater rafting, canoeing, seadooing, camping...
So many thanks to my wonderful family who bent over backwards as usual to make it the best trip. Also to my fab friends, I know I didn't see you as much as I would have liked but it is always so much fun. I think retro-ironic trips to Outlaws should become a regular gig. Special shout to Holly and Matt, I finally got to meet their little sweetie, Katelyn June (more on that in the next post). Thanks to Mike for coming along, it would not have been the same without him, we had such a good time together and hardly fought (yah!). The post could not finish without a special mention of my little Jemma - still trucking at 14 years of age, and, as Laura pointed out, probably one of the only surviving dogs from our collective childhood pets. She is so cute. So old.

It was sad to come back to England and back to work. I laughed when I read my last post about being on nights and arguing over pizza orders, cause that's pretty much what is happening right now too! Speaking of which, some nursing to be done. Over and out...

PS - Jessie - Love your milk jugs, baby!