Annoyed

I'm trying to work what has pissed me off more today. It is either the fact that the milk that I brought from a shop today had gone off so badly it had gone fizzy that I have no chance of being able to bring back as they will deny I brought it there without a receipt (because it's milk!), or people who don't say 'please' or 'thank you'. Thinking about it, the second one has pissed me off slightly more, as I think it is common courtesy to actually recognise that someone has done you a favour. I only spent 69p on the milk, and I could probably turn it into some kind of lovely metaphor for what I think about that certain institution if I felt like it. Then again, it is 69p that I could have spent on... oh, how about fresh milk!
I think this week is going slower because of the exams and the grey skies in May. Oh well, it feels like I have extra time to revise and knit.

Ideological preference.

Okay, so I have a blog. I look around at other blogs, and try to wonder how they have so much to say about the world, when all I do is eat, read and sleep in that particular order. I'm guessing that because I am a number of people who start this kinda thing and then wonder why, after a couple of months, I bothered. And so I am now going to use this underrated social platform (for me that is) to describe stuff I actually care about.

So, in no particular order.

1. The other day I saw a 50 second clip of the new Michael Moore movie on American health care on You-Tube. I have to admit, I find it bizarre that a country like the USA does not have a system designed to provide some kind of standardised health care for all.

Now, I am fully prepared to hold up my hands and state that I have not seen the film and feel like ranting at Michael Moore because he annoys me. I thought that Bowling for Columbine was very interesting, but the failing of Fahrenheit 911 was that it had no basis on facts. The fact was, everything in it was based on an idea you could write on the back of a napkin. If you weren't willing to buy into his ideas, then you ended up like me; feeling that it was a shallow idea that only gained any form of logic because of the wars that followed it.

The problem I had with this 50 second clip of the new movie was his insistence that hospital treatment for the Brits is free. This is not true due to tax, Mr Moore. I also admire the way you seemed to pick a particularly quiet hospital in the clip. Again, maybe I should watch the entire thing, but considering his insistence that everything in hospitals is 'free'-I can't help but wonder if he will give the subject any kind of bias.

2. I saw 'Look Around You' the other day (the first series before they tried that ill-advised version of Tomorrow's World), and think the British comedy scene is doing really well at the moment. I'm hoping to watch more Peep Show and Mock the Week soon, as the humour is very unpredictable. That's what I love-jokes where you can't see a punchline coming.

3. I played my first game of chess where I can claim at least 45%of a victory in chess. I played two games this evening-the first one wasn't terribly exciting, but the second was interesting as it was described to me as we played. The problem I have with chess is that I do not see the 'paths' of the chess pieces on the board. I just see areas where pieces should go as it gives them a bit of 'space', instead of thinking of ways of attacking and defending the pieces with the most points. I sincerely doubt I will ever win a game under my own steam just yet, but the way I see it Chess is a discipline. You have to learn how to concentrate and look at the board while planning ahead, which isn't something you have to do with knitting.

Ah, knitting. I never thought I would ever say I like it as much I do. At first, it was a struggle to even hold the needles, but once I got it and saw how quickly I could knit I was hooked (haha!). I think it is because it is relaxing for me to do something repetitive without concentrating too hard, but also because it is surprisingly sociable. Chatting and knitting is rather like riding a bike (but admittedly I do not get a lot done if I am talking)I'm tempted to turn this into a knitting blog in a way, so I can tell people what I have made. I finished a phone holder today, and I have to admit that it has turned out a lot better than I expected it to be.

4. I have nothing against ID cards. I can honestly say that as I believe that my government isn't that interested in the everyday life of everyone, and if it means I can go out somewhere without having to prove my ID-say, when I go into a bar-then I don't have problem with it. Also, you have to remember that the system won't work yet does have its practical advantages. I don't believe the bull crap about them preventing crime ('Hey, you! Biometrically scan your eyeballs before you rob this bank!'), but say if you wanted to travel abroad. You already use your driving licence to prove your identity, how about having a system where your ID card was used instead of your passport? Passports are nice and official looking, but wouldn't it just be nice to swipe your card to enter a country?
While I state this, I know there might be a reader or summat who will scream at me for naively trusting the Government, and I don't. I just refuse to wipe of the idea just because of the potential of an Orwellian state we should refusing the idea. To set up an Orwellian state, you have to assume that your Government doesn't trust anyone and that people can't think for themselves. Just because you might get an extra card in your wallet (or maybe even something onto your driving licence as I suggested) doesn't mean the government is out to get you. In the 'Orwellian' argument, people seem to think that the card means that people won't use your common sense, and you will have to show it everywhere you go. They also assume that the government will bother to do millions of background checks, which I refuse to believe.
'But what about the GDR?' someone says. The GDR was a closed Communist State of about 18 million people (according to something I read earlier on boingboing.net). No-one can ever be sure because of the amount of paperwork destroyed, but they reckon that they had at least 1 in 7 people informing to the government. Firstly, as much as everyone is scared of the world we are not in that society by any way shape or form so don't compare it to it. We have CCTV, but does anyone remember the original reason why they came in?

There is always a danger of looking back through history to some mythical age where we had more freedom. However, in our past we were also more likely to die of horrible illnesses and force children to work for food. We are not losing our freedoms and should be thankful for it.
I can write this, therefore I am free. Ipso facto.

5. Call me cynical, maybe I am. I just like to think of ideas instead of hearing about a perceived threat and thinking it signals the end. In spite of everything, I am a cynical optimist, I believe everything should go right eventually. I'm not cynical about everything-I'm not cynical about Global Warming (though my 'cute animals' theory of environmentalism wonders what animal will be concentrated on next) and believe in recycling to state just two things. I just believe that you should be able to figure things out for yourself.

So, now I'm going to bed. Maybe one day I will write about funnier things, and feel less ranty. Goodnight.

Jumping through hoops

I realise I said I would update this when I got back, and I never did. I will someday though. One day I will go into massive detail about what I have been up to.
I'd sum it up better, but I'm suprisingly tired and my brain cannot think in more than short sentences or descriptive catchphrases. Saying that though, I think I can sum up the Americans, by saying that for politeness and sheer cheeryness, Americans are great.
Leaving Jesse was very hard, but that isn't to say I had a great holiday. Everytime I think about it, a big grin develops all over my face. However, I got back to the UK having no sleep on the plane, and then remained jetlagged until at least the wednesday, before going back to University on the Friday. It was a bit of a rush I guess, but I shall head home after my exams to make up for it.
In some ways I am lucky this term-only 4 exams to deal with, and then at least 3 weeks of pure relaxation before the summer, but even then I'm stressed out by them. I think, once again, it is because of the unknown nature of them-I hate the feeling of jumping through hoops to maintain a grade. The idea that 2 essays and an exam prove your entire year is an un-nerving thought. Either way, it could be worse.