Tuesday 26 February 2008

Fair trade fortnight


Fair trade is an important step forward in the development of 3rd world countries and justice for all men. We should strive to be more aware of where our products have come from, and try to buy those which are ethically made. The next couple of weeks is called fair trade fortnight and it runs from 25th February to 9th March. Please do check out the website and see what is going on near you and use this opportunity to find out more about fair trade.

Sunday 24 February 2008

Child proctection annoyance

As I am writing this post I am fearful that this going to come back to me in a job interview someday so I pray to God that won't happen! My grumbling is about our countries current child protections policies. Do not get me wrong, I understand comepletely why they exist, and fully agree about their importance, but I have to be honest, I get frustrated with child protection sometimes.

I have been through so many child proctection courses for different things. Usually about 3/4 every year. To be perfectly honest they are not the easiest thing to stay focused in especially when you've heard the same thing so many times! What I don't understand is why I have to go through a separate course for every little thing that I do? Surely some of the previous ones should count? I think they should come up with some sort of certificate as they have with first aid and food health & safety, which can be topped up after a few years declaring that somebody has been through child protection training.

It seems unfair that for a few disgusting people in the world, the rest of mankind has to suffer for it. Besides what child abuser is going to stand up in one of these CP courses and admit they are one? The thing that annoys me most is that when a child is upset, or has injured him/herself, you are not allowed to initiate comforting that child in the fear the someone may perceive it as inappropriate. It's inhumane to not want to take care of an distressed child! It is against our human nature not to take sympathy and want to help.

It is right that we should extremely cautious when it comes to our children. Still we should strive to do more to meet the balance of protection and loving care for them. I wonder what Jesus would do?

Friday 15 February 2008

singletons day

Valentines day is many things, but in my humble opinion, it is not romantic....

What is so romantic about people being bullied by society into buying expensive gifts and paying twice as much as normal for dinner. Some might say that it is sweet to make the effort and it's the thought that counts, but it is hardly an effort to buy a stereotypical present, on a day you have been told to by everyone else; I mean where is the imagination in that! We should celebrate our love for each other every single day, not just one!!

I also have a certain distain for the day because it makes single people feel like crap. Melanie and I haven't really done anything big for vday. This year was kept low key in that we made each other dinner, and painted pictures for each other. I was proud of my effort in the cooking because I made a masala sauce from scratch!

Monday 11 February 2008

Anfield legends tour

My brother and I took my dad on the Ultimate Anfield legends tour (also paid for by my mother!) for his 50th *cough* i mean 30th birthday. It was a classic day out which actually started the day before. We flew over to Liverpool quite early on Thursday morning, so we were able to check out some of the sites and buy some souvenirs while we were there. We had a surprise for him lined up after lunch, as we invited his sisters to come join us. It was a really brilliant time just getting to know them better and hear family stories, seeing as we hadn't seen them in over 5 years! Interestingly I learnt that my surname in Viking means 'recorder' which is essentially what I do on this blog...record things! and what is weirder is my Grandad Scorah used to keep reams and reams of scrapbooks of all kinds of things like cricket, football, gardening!

Phil Neal and Alan Kennedy 2 former star defenders for Liverpool in their glory days back in the 80s (8 leagues and 4 european cups between them) were our legends for the day. They took us for a training session in the morning which I thoroughly enjoyed and probably played the best I ever played! My claim to fame is that I took the ball not once but twice, off the brilliant Alan Kennedy.

After lunch and a Q&A sesson with Al and Phil we headed for a private tour of the ground, where we learnt that Liverpool's dressing rooms aren't fancy or high-tech at all. The thing of note was that in the home teams room their was a cushioned surface so that players would not trip on their boots, but the away team deliberately had hard ground! In fact the whole set up was geared about intimidating the away side including the home teams door being smaller than the away teams; touching the this is anfield sign and so on.

I have to say it was a great day out, and it was just good to spend some time with my dad, brother and family. Come on the pool!

Friday 1 February 2008

where does stuff go when we flush the loo?

I came up with this question one day when I flushed the toilet and wondered to myself, where does that go?The actual answer is... it goes into a septic tank under your house, where it's broken down by bacteria. Then it's carried out into the sewage network to ferment for years to come. Toilet water can be recycled. In fact, sewage waste can be treated so that pure water molecules are extracted. It's expensive, however. The faucet water (from bathroom tap) you use has the same source as the clean water that pumps into your toilet after you flush.

You'll be glad to know that that was not the sole purpose of this blog post, rather this is what I am getting at. Maybe I am wrong but I reckon most people are oblivious to the huge process involved in getting rid of our waste, we just do our business and get on with our life. This an attitude we should not let infect the rest of our lives as every action we do has it's consequence.

Gal 6:7 - "A man reaps what he sows"
First of all I think we should thank God for sanitation! There are so many who do not get to enjoy such high standards. Moreover we should strive to know more about the everyday things we do; for example every light switch we forget to turn off leaving it's carbon footprint, dropping litter, buying food from the shops and not knowing the standards by which it was produced, or if their workers were ethically paid.

Sometimes it's easy to think that 'I am only one person, it won't matter if I do it', but then if everyone gets sucked into this apathy then it becomes a major problem not just for you but for the people who suffer its consequences. Instead we should do what the passage says ('sow into the Spirit, and from the Spirit reap eternal life'), and make a stand for what is right, then we can begin to change the world for good (<--- how is that for philisophical toilet thought!)