Here were the questions that appear in the study costing the British taxpayer -
How happy did you feel yesterday? How anxious did you feel yesterday?  How satisfied are you with your life nowadays? What extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?

We have ran our own poll with choices for you to make. Please vote as you see fit.

You may not have guessed it, but yes instead of concentrating (or at least finding a page closer to the headlines) about the awful and disgusting theft of Kerry Needham (Ben Needham’s mothers) laptop which contained photographs, emails and documents relating to her sons disappearance in 1991, one of the major tabloids ran a story about the RBS boss feeling bad about giving back a £1 million pound bonus!

On the flip side of the coin (and on page 26 of the same paper that featured a major headline in 2007 about missing Ben Needham), now his poor devastated mum Kerry has lost her lifeline to Ben with the theft of this laptop. It may not have a £1 million pound value(in cash or bonuses), but we are certain that Kerry and Ben could never place a pound figure on the awful theft of that computer.

We have published this story in the hope that the culprits responsible have some decency to hand the laptop they have stolen from Kerry’s home into a police station, undamaged so this mum can continue her fight to find her missing son – Ben Needham

Links for Ben Needham are:
Find Ben Needham – The official website
Ben Needham – Mum’s torment
Kerry Needham – Home burgled

Links for Stephen Hester:
RBS Boss gives up £1 million pounds bonus

This has happened because like most pensioners he receives a state benefit which is paid every 4 weeks. It so happens that his retirement payment is made the same week when K&Co expect to receive their payment on his account. Even though he says he had asked them back in 2008 to adjust the payment date, they refused to do this, and even after a recent phone call, they again said they were unable to change their payment request date.

However, that has not stopped them from charging him 33 times since July 2008 a late payment fee each time of £12. When he has made his monthly payment (for example his statement dated 19th December 2011 asks for £51.84 due by 8th January 2012) shows his previous payment having been received, but because it was late, they show a £12 charge too.

On the same statement (19th December 2011) it shows this gentleman as having Exclusive Platinum Rewards -
Goods £98.64 or Cash £78.89
But nowhere on that statement does it say or suggest that if he fails to order any goods by the end of December 2011, that he will lose all the rewards that he has accrued over the last year or so. K&Co (like most catalogue providers) have a highlight box on the front of the statements usually. On this statement issued on the 19th December 2011, the highlight box merely talks about last dates for guaranteed Christmas delivery. It was only when he telephoned K&Co today (26th January 2012) that he was told that the cut off period for the rewards had been 31st December 2o11.

His statement that he has just received in 2012 dated 14th January, now only shows £4.80, and does not state if this is goods or cash, which he assumes it will be goods.

Because his last order placed was on 11th December 2010 (which was actually a high priced item) and he had not ordered since that time, but instead responsibly paid his monthly payment, he has in his own words “had his money stolen from him”. The saddest  part of this saga is that he had also intended to order a new cooker today at £529.00, and would have used his rewards to either make a payment, or use towards the value of the cooker.

On the 9th January 2012, he made a payment of £60 in cash from his statement issued in December 2011. On his statement dated 14th January 2012, it shows the cash payment being received by K&Co on 10th January 2012, but also another late payment fee of £12 plus a £1 payment fee for using PayPoint!

When he spoke with customer services on 26th January 2012 he was told by their representative Shelley that there was nothing she could do about refunding the rewards taken, or even alter the payment date for the account. He was told he could write to K&Co but to expect it to take anything up to 4 weeks to get a response, which hardly was surprising since it took more than 10 minutes to get through on the phone, and navigate the automated system there.

The address for written communication to K&Co he was given was:
Sandringham House, Sandringham Avenue, CHELMSFORD, CM92 1LJ

Would someone from K&Co care to respond?

Links that you may like to visit:
K&Co Rewards – The small print

Dead Blackbirds – Arkansas Times
Blackbirds fall dead from sky – The Mirror

Perhaps when the Mayan culture predicted a time of change, they were actually referring to events that would unfold, not at the hands of a powerful god, but of man himself. Albeit the prophecy seems to suggest that a Mayan God, Bolon Yokte, will return to Earth on that date. As a God of creation and war people must “prepare the ground” for his arrival, or so the prophecy goes. Come with us on a day by day countdown and see what happens, and why not all things in life are that good, nor do they have to necessarily be bad. As we say:

Sometimes shit just happens

The sad truth is that there is no definitive answer as to why this happens, and even if there was, what could have been different that perhaps made the person think there was perhaps a way out. If you are feeling like this, then some links that may help are the Samaritans, a non profit organisation with dedicated professionals who can help, just talk with you, and offer you an answer in your troubled times. There is no need for you to suffer in silence, and if this post just helps one person, then it has helped them for a life time.

Oh by the way – comments on this site are moderated. This means that a human being checks to see what you’ve written, and if we believe that it is just spam, then unfortunately it will never see the light of day (well not here anyway).

We all (maybe not all) may enjoy drinking. However, drinking to excess can be a danger for any of us, and even more so, when that excess becomes an addiction. As we become more reliant on alcohol, the dangers can become so frightening, that not only can the intoxicated person end “their day” with a drink, but also “start a new day” with more drink. Before people realise they have become alcoholics and totally dependant upon drink.

As the addiction grows, they may suffer epileptic fits (resulting in seizures) and these seizures can be brought on by drinking too much, or by sudden drops in alcohol levels, by stress, by severe anxiety, lack of sleep or tiredness, irregular meals and other factors. The seizures can last from 30 seconds to 3 to 4 minutes, sometimes even longer in severe cases, and during this time, the person who is having the seizure may severely injure themselves, bite their tongue, damage their head as they fall and generally end up in a very bad way.

Looking at the 2 sides of the coin, so to speak the person having the seizure will probably have no warning at all that they are about to enter a fit. It has been suggested that some may experience warning symptoms for a short while before a seizure. This is called an ‘aura’. The aura can take various forms. For example, odd movements, odd sensations, or intense emotions. However, many people do not have auras, and a seizure commonly occurs without any warning. A tonic-clonic seizure is the most common type of generalised seizure. The following gives a typical description -

Your body becomes rigid due to strong muscular contractions (the ‘tonic’ part). You lose consciousness and fall. Your chest muscles contract and force air out of your mouth, often with a grunt. Your jaw muscles contract and you may bite your tongue. Saliva may escape from your mouth. Your bladder may contract and you may pass urine. This stiff or tonic phase soon passes into the clonic (shaking or convulsive) phase. This is when the muscles repeatedly contract and relax. Your whole body appears to shake. This may last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.

When the seizure has stopped, you gradually regain consciousness, but you may be confused and dazed for a while. The time taken to recover varies. You may have some soreness due to the muscular contractions. You may have a headache and want to sleep after a seizure.

From the prospective of the onlooker (especially family members) all they can do is try their best to prevent you from injuring yourself by supporting your head, and re-assuringly talking to you, and hoping that you will eventually come to. If you have bitten your tongue several times during the seizure, they will notice blood trickling from your mouth, and they will hear your breathing being deep and laboured, then suddenly shallow and almost as if you are just asleep. It may take up to 10 minutes before YOU wake up, but even then you’re still not really awake, and your eyes will look vacant, and be staring widely because of the seizure that has occurred within your brain. Even when they can begin to sit up, they will be confused, disorientated and completely unbalanced in their movements and walking. This is because the brain has had a burst of abnormal electrical activity, and the only warning an onlooker may get is the person shrieking before they go into the seizure, and literally that is a second, maybe two.

It is not a pleasant nor desirable thing to witness, or have happen to you, but the true measure of an alcoholic is someone who knows they have fits, but just because they cannot see what is happening, or because their addiction is stronger than their will to get better, the results are pretty awful, and quite frankly, unbearable.

Well I’m really surprised that it seems to take so long for people to realise just what a mess we seem to be in. Ask most small businesses, or just average everyday people who are struggling to make ends meet, and you will really get to know the truth – this country is screwed. And the stupid thing about it all is politicians and those who are earning lots would try and have you believe otherwise. Please wake up and come down to reality. Not only is the country in debt, but so are most people – just chat to your friends, and your family. Someday we might actually have “normal” people in charge who are not making huge piles of money on bonuses, and who don’t think that expenses claims are a gold key to making a second salary.