Wednesday Hodgepodge 8/7/15

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at 

 From this side of the pond

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1.  When did you last 'swim against the tide'? Explain. 

Before I left my job I felt like I was swimming against the tide.  Whatever most of us were doing wasn’t good enough for the new boss.  I was working over my hours and doing my best but it never seemed enough.

 
2.  What's the last self-help or self-improvement book you read?

Haven’t read any of those type of books recently but read several handouts when I had a course of therapy recently on such things as coping with stress, dealing with depression etc.

 
3.  "Tolerance is a tremendous virtue, but the immediate neighbours of tolerance are apathy and weakness." (Sir James Goldsmith) Agree or disagree? Discuss. With civility please, because I think we have a good thing going in our very diverse (in geography, age, religion, political persuasion, ethnicity, marital status, upbringing, and cooking abilities) neighbourhood here on This Side of the Pond.

I can agree that tolerance is a tremendous virtue but I’m not sure that its neighbours are apathy or weakness.  I think if people are not tolerant they are more likely to be outspoken.

I hate intolerance.  My daughter is gay.  I know that would be difficult for some people to come to terms with.  When she came out to me it wasn’t something I was expecting.  I had little time to prepare my response but what was immediately clear to me was that her announcement hadn’t changed who she was.  She was still the same person that I know and love and that’s what I told her.  In October she will marry the love of her life and I will be there as the proud Mother of one of the brides. 

4. What is one of your most vivid memories of the kitchen from your childhood?  

I have memories of my mother doing the washing using a twin tub washing machine.  How hard that was compared to the automatic washing machines we have now but how easy my mother thought it was compared with a scrubbing board and spin dryer.  I also remember my Dad baking apple and blackberry pies after we’d been blackberry picking in the nearby forest.  Or decorating celebration cakes – he was a good cook and would often make cakes for family members.  I also remember him cooking beetroot.  That’s a smell I won’t forget.

5. How did/do your own children's summers compare with your summers as a child? If you're not a parent, answer as it relates to what you've observed about the current generation of children vs. your own childhood.

We had a lot more freedom as children.  We had friends on the street and we would be in and out of each other’s houses or just out on the street on our scooters and roller skates.  We didn’t have the electronic games devices that kids these days have.  We relied more on our own imaginations and things to hand.

6. Tell us what body of water you would most like to be on or near today, and why?   

I would just like to be near the sea, any sea.  I like spending time at the coast just walking along the beach or on coastal paths.  I’m not a boat person though so just looking at the water is good enough for me.

7.  Share a favourite song about water, or a favourite song with the word water in its title, or a favourite song to listen to as you sit beside the water.  Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over troubled water”

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have an extended family member who has been diagnosed with cancer.  So far they are coping brilliantly – they are being really positive and a great example.  It puts a lot of perspective on some of the issues we have in our own lives.  I hope if I am ever in the same situation I can cope as well.