Headline Smashers

I'm bored already, so I'm spending a crazy amount of time in front of my computer randomly surfing the net.  That means I'm coming across some amazing stuff though

My two favourite headlines of the week so far...

Man rescued after getting stuck in hole he dug himself

and

Angry swinger can't enjoy "a cup of tea and BDSM" due to club's new sex rules

I've linked them but the actual stories don't do those headlines any justice!

Ready for the next adventure!

Before I post about Japan, I have other news...One Wednesday a few weeks ago, my workplace announced redundancies, my job was one no longer included in the company after the proposed restructure so by the following Friday I had already put in my application for voluntary redundancy.

Also by that Friday, the information of which jobs were placed at risk had leaked out and people started giving me the side-head "I'm sorry" speeches. It was a bit awkward because I'm really not unhappy about it so I responded with a cheeky grin and an explanation that I view this as the universe simply giving me a nudge to go and move on to my next adventure.

I feel like I have the whole world at my feet right now and honestly, that's quite exciting. I know that I'm lucky, I have very few commitments, so this is a great freedom for me whilst I understand that for others it could certainly feel like their world is crumbling.

A few days before I left for Japan I got called into the boss' office and they gave me the best news - My application was being accepted and I was being put on garden leave from the following Tuesday (I needed to come in and see my direct boss before I could officially go anywhere and she was off on leave).  I admit that I didn't do anything from there onward that might have constituted work for the next few days.  My team were shocked at the speed of the process (from announcement to final decision in less than a week) but it was far better for me not to have it drag on.

So now, I'm free....

I'm feeling a little odd about it, if for no other reason than I've not been unemployed since I was a teenager. 

I often said that in this situation I might consider starting my own business - I still might - I've not even started to decide yet. At the moment, I'm planning on taking a few months off and going on a couple of trips with Mr B before I really start to think about getting back to the grind. 

Goodbye 2018...Hello 4th Decade

Well, 2018 was a bit of a rough year.  Throughout most of it my geriatric cat - Tori - was very ill.  A liver condition that we knew she wouldn't recover from.  She kept going until August when it all became too much.  She followed my grandfather who also finally gave into his illness at the ripe old age of 97.  I'll admit that both of these instances left me emotionally drained and it is taking a while to build up those reserves again - but I'm working on it. 

I turned 40 at the beginning of 2019 - yeah, I can't quite believe it either.  Hopefully, my 4th decade will be as filled with growth and fun as my 3rd but I'm not quite sure it's sunk in yet (whatever "it" is - I still seem to have the mind of a teenager so I don't think I will ever grow up now!)

Anyway, to help me get back to being more...me, I have booked myself a trip to Japan and a holiday to a sunny spot with the lovely Mr B in the coming months. I know that getting back to Japan and some good training will be highly beneficial and a sunny holiday always does everyone good.  I just have to brush up on my Japanese and dig out my bikini!

I will likely have lots of upcoming ramblings about Japan after my trip - if the excitement gets to me you may get some pre-trip too! - and probably some photos of the sunny holiday (not of the bikini though - no one needs to see that)

Barbies Chocolate Conspiracy

I've noticed something - don't panic, I'm quite astute when I think about it - but listen up - chocolate makers are trying to sucker you into eating more. 

They might argue otherwise but on the majority of bars now they show a portion size...

Looks good right?

Helping you to know how many pieces count as a portion and what the calorie intake is...The problem with this is shown in the following photo....

So, 3 pieces is a portion...but there are 4 pieces in a strip....


WHO THE HELL BREAKS OFF ONE STRIP AND THEN LEAVES A SINGLE PIECE?!?!

No one.

 So to know how much you've eaten you need to either do maths (Hard option!) or eat 3 strips to make a total of 12 pieces (or 4 portions).  (Easy option!)

The chocolate companies are trying to make me fat!

It's that time of year again!

I love October, the wheel turns as the leaves do, and the whole place is beautiful... and we have Halloween!

As a kid I loved the dressing up and as an adult ...I still love dressing up!  As a Pagan, it's an important time too, not only because I start to find really weird stuff online from people who have some strange ideas about the holiday... todays top find has to be this:

 

WOW...This is a new one to me..... Satans Birthday...I really can't explain how many holes there are in this idea.  Thankfully a young child has covered some of them for me...

A friend posted this on Facebook and received some every interesting discussion (possibly from the teacher mentioned above!) 😞

I would post extracts from the discussion here but as the commenter (as usual) ended up falling back on petty insults when they were obviously outdone, I won't give them the space.

I will provide one quick easy lesson in basic logic however:

Satan is a construct of Christianity.  Pagan is an umbrella term for pre-Christian religions.  Therefore, Pagans aren't Satanists. 

Simple huh?!

Streamworld

No, it's not a new place to visit.  Recently (thanks to Mr B) I have been watching quite a lot of streams. 

Our platform of choice is Twitch, and there are lots of options there.  Like I said, lots of gamers for all types of games - some awesome ones and some not-so-awesome too.  There are some massive streamers out there who EVERYONE has heard of (the likes of Shroud and Ninja) but its fun to watch the smaller guys, who are working themselves to the bone to build up a fan base and entertain people. some of my top picks - in no particular order - would probably be these...

Jimb0 - plays various games and has some brilliant effects that chat can play with

Rovefogle - PUBG gamer who really should be better known than he is 

 ^^^^  this dude is an awesome shot!

RTGameCrowd - Insane guy who loves making his Sims miserable.  Simply hilarious!

Mostly people play games n stream, but there are some other channels too - its a little amazing what people put out there.
There's a whole selection of IRL streams - mostly people chatting/opening new stuff/chilling in front of a webcam...

IRL stream selection 

These guys are streaming breakfast. Yes, breakfast.

 and of course...there's a Bob Ross channel

Bob Ross - the legend!

What you can't really see in the photo above is just how many people were watching when I took that shot......

7pm on a Sunday and 1,725 people are watching a Bob Ross Marathon.  That number in grey is total views.

So next time you're bored of watching the same old TV, or you're looking for some inspiration why not go and have a peek at the wonderful streaming world you probably didn't realise was there.

Conspiracy Barbie

I love a good conspiracy theory.  A GOOD one, not the Avril Lavigne one or flat earthers (They're just crazy people ;) )

Today sparked a bit of conspiracy in my mind though, everyone was complaining about being tired, like they hadn't slept well last night.  It's a pattern I've noticed a fair bit recently too.

Obviously, my brain went straight to aliens...maybe all of my work colleagues are being abducted....maybe there's a government test going on at night that disturbs your sleep in the area....maybe we all just had a heavy weekend....maybe it's just Monday...but it could still be the aliens.