MPs

Not Military Police, Members of Parliament.
They are elected to represent the interests of their constituents. However, it is only on TV, and in the minds of script writers that "landslide" victories occur.
 There is always a section of the electorate who vote for one of the other candidates, and some don't even bother to vote.
So, in an ideal world, the elected MP would consider ALL their constituents before making a choice in a vote, and it is naive in the extreme to think that they will always follow the wishes of the section of their constituents who voted for them.  They should consider the other constituents, especially if they wish to keep their position in the next election.

Wanting a simpler life

Every now and again I think that I would like to live in a much simpler time, and, or, place.
Before I started reluctantly collecting health problems I wanted to live on Skye, it's such a beautiful island. So peaceful and quiet.
However, now I am less physically able to do certain things, perhaps somewhere in the Scottish borders would be more sensible, but I would love to be near the sea still, or maybe certain places in Wales.
It's all just a dream though, as I am in no position to make it happen.
Maybe one day, who knows?

RIP tricycle

Three and a bit weeks ago my tricycle died.
It started by dropping the chain, so I ended up walking more than cycling. Then on the 13th of February, I set off to go somewhere. I thought that the chain had dropped off, again!.....but no, the gear assembly had come adrift, and after around 25 miles, my tricycle is no longer operable.
I am more than a bit unhappy about this. I ended up walking further than I can, and consequently have ended up back on my crutches, as I did something to my foot that means it hurts to walk with just a pair of sticks.
The vendor has briefly replied to my email, asking me to wait. But that's three weeks ago. I don't want it repaired, or replaced. I just want a refund of my money, as the tricycle is not fit for purpose. C
If they don't reply soon, I am going to leave extremely negative feedback on eBay, plus I bought with my visa card, so I might involve them. I really hope that I don't have to resort to that though.
As well as being angry, and hurt, I am sad that the tiny bit of freedom I thought that I had has been taken away from me.

Random acts of kindness

Last week there was a "Random Acts of Kindness" day. (RAK day)
At the weekend, one of the radio stations was encouraging listeners to ring in and describe their own RAK.
I have a few problems with this, and what I heard on the radio.
But.......before you jump down my throat telling me that RAK are a good thing, yes, I know that they are, but the radio phone in was all wrong.
RAK were originally supposed to be anonymous, with the act making the recipient smile. I have carried out RAK in the past, I won't say who, or what, etc.
But asking people to ring in and tell about their RAK, to me takes away from the act, in my eyes.
Another problem I had was people were saying that they did X for family member Y, and so on, but to me, it's natural to be kind to your family members.
Another facet of the original idea was to make a random stranger's day by your act.....not one person rang in udescribing their act to a stranger.
Being kind to others comes normal to less and less people, which is a shame, as the world we live in is becoming increasingly harsh, which is a great pity.

Colour of the year?

Every year, someone picks the "colour of the year".  It's Pantone who pick this colour. Not entirely sure who gave them the licence to pick the colour, but they do, and fashionistas all over the globe slavishly use the COLOUR in, interior design, furniture, housewares and clothing.
I have possibly missed something out, as I am not a follower of fashion, I do my own thing.
But there are people with more money than sense who will keep the colour at the forefront of their minds when choosing clothing, etc.
I don't blame Pantone, after all we live in a materialistic society, where money drives everything else, often at the cost of happiness, health and peace of mind.
Some people HAVE to have items in the colour of the year, which creates a market for them.  My question is, what happens to the things that are the "wrong" colour? And isn't there something wrong with a society where furnishings are bought because they are "this season/year's colour/design" and the existing furnishings are deemed unfashionable?
Love it or hate it.....and quite frankly, clothingwise living coral does nothing for me, it's a pretty colour this year, but having everything in this year's colour would be weird. Like living inside a body, or something.
If the colour had been chosen in order to help raise money for a related cause, I could get behind some random group of people choosing an annual colour.
Imagine how much money could be raised for the upkeep of the world's actual living coral if just say 5% of each branded sale was donated to a global organisation caring for coral reefs around the globe.
Anyway, if you want to know more about this colour......that only looks best underwater, surrounded by tropical fish.....here's a link to Pantone.

New superpowers......probably?

So, as the years roll by more and more things that were once taken for granted are disappearing from every day usage.
I wonder if you can add any to this list?
Common sense is fast dying out, you only need to pick up a pack of peanuts, turn them over, and there it is......MAY CONTAIN NUTS! It's a packet of peanuts, what else do you expect?
The next two go hand in hand, for me. These are courtesy and good manners.
Yesterday, I was having a hobble to Morons, using crutches, when a young man was walking towards me.  We were both on the same line of walking, and if neither of us took evasive action, we would have collided.
Now, when I was his age I would automatically have walked around the person, (me,) for two reasons....1) being younger than them, and 2) more mobile......did this young man walk around me? Well, yes, eventually, but he gave me a filthy look.......unfortunately I can't change direction easily any longer, due to my ankle/foot, osteoarthritis and sometimes my spinal stenosis can affect my mobility.  I would have thought that elbow crutches are pretty noticeable......perhaps I should have a large sign printed stating that my crutches, or sticks, are not an affectation, but are actual tools/aids that help me get around, and without them I can't walk so far.
So....common courtesy and good manners are also dying out.
Can you suggest anything that used to be almost automatic and no longer is in every day use?

Fitness trackers

Yes, I'm going to mull over fitness trackers. As many jobs become sedentary, and lifestyles do, the health service, at least in the UK, have become concerned that people are not getting enough exercise. Shortly after this, fitness trackers started popping up for sale.
I'm not against them, used properly.  They are meant to keep track of your activities throughout the day.  The people who bought them, who already kept themselves fit, in whatever way are not the focus of this post. That's because they were already keeping fit, and I believe that the more expensive fitness trackers record heart rate and periods of in activity, etc.
It's the cheaper ones that just count steps, and let the wearer know how many calories they have burned that I have a problem with. The cheaper ones tend to react to any motion of the arm, so if the wearer waved enthusiastically to attract the attention of someone, it would record activity and calories burned that weren't actually used.  Recently the researchers have found that fitness trackers can be inaccurate.  I could have told them that, and saved them the research money for something more important.
Here's my take on fitness trackers. You find that it's usually people who think that they should keep fit who buy them, and they are constantly watching how many steps they have done. Look.....just walk short distances instead of going in the car, don't have endless email conversations with work colleagues, go and discuss the subject with them if a single email doesn't sort the matter out. 
Using technology to track fitness isn't the answer, taking a break from technology is a saner answer.
Also, wearing a fitness tracker won't make you fit, actually doing some exercise, even if it's just walking will make you fitter.
By the way, I'm not completely against them. I have a friend who has angina, and she keeps herself fit by walking, cycling and dancing, plus her job is very physical.  Her fitness tracker keeps track of her heart rate and I believe that it has an alarm that she can set in case her heart is in danger of an angina attack, which I think is good use of the tracker.