Mabel With Catnip Banana

Mabel with catnip banana a video by LadyBanana on Flickr.

Working As A Geriatric

What age do you consider to be a "geriatric"?

I've been googling this question and there seems no set age although some sites say the over 65's, I'm not really sure.

The reason I ponder this question is that if the age is 65 then it won't be long before most of our services are staffed by these "geriatrics", myself included!

Not long ago the retirement age was 60 for women with the added bonus of a free bus pass, which I must say did make me happy.

But the government snatched that away raising it to 65, and not long after that to 66 and depending on your current age you will still be forced to work until 67/68!

The government shouts about the fact that as a general population we are living longer, I'm sure this is true generally but I personally know a several people who have died in their 50's and 60's.

Working in a GP surgery I also meet a lot of people in their 60's who do not enjoy good health, yes, they maybe alive but they have multiple health issues which impede their lives significantly.

I worry that myself and others will either not live long enough and healthily enough to have the opportunity of a good retirement, that we will have to drag ourselves to work with our Zimmer frames and incontinence pads, not being able to do our jobs properly because of age related cognitive decline and feel quite inadequate.

Will the companies that employ us be happy for us to have time off to go for our physio,  forgive us when we wet ourselves,  overlook our mistakes as our poor brains can no longer keep up?

Or would it be better to let us retire at 60, to employ some of these younger folk who are currently unemployed as there are no jobs available as they are blocked by the oldies?

Then the money the government are spending on unemployment benefits could be re-routed to the retired people and everyone more people would be happy!

My Current Fave Tune!

There were quite a few good music tracks in the film Eat, Pray, Love, but this is the one that has stuck in my head. 

I can't get enough of it at the moment, I think the scene it was played in has probably influenced me a little, not too sure, but I just *love* it.. 

 Neil Young - Harvest Moon

 

Eat (sneeze) Pray (sneeze) Love

Very rare for me to watch a film, but as I feel so crap I watched this.. It was OK, pleasant to enough to watch and took my mind off myself for a couple of hours..

 

I Haz A Cold..

After having had a sore throat for 4 days I now have a full blown cold.

It's the first for a very very long time, I'm usually pretty resilient to such things.. ahh well, not going to let it get me down..

It's just annoying as I had things to do and places to go this weekend and now I'm really not feeling up to it..

Would You CHOOSE a Caesarean Birth?

It's a long time since I gave birth.

My first child was in a breach position and I was told I would have to have a c-section.. I was devastated, however, good little boy he was, he shuffled round at the last possible moment and I was allowed to give birth normally, as I also did with my 2 girls.

Over the years it seems to have become more fashionable and more acceptable to have c-sections though, for many reasons, too posh to push, not wanting to overstretch the vagina, scared of the birth etc..

It has been fairly difficult for women to choose this over a normal vaginal birth when there is no medical need.. Until now..

It has now been decided that women should be given free choice to deliver by caesarean irrespective of need..

Caesarean is a major op, not just cutting the abdominal wall but through the uterus which in itself I would have thought carried risks which far outway giving birth the way nature intended. There is a longer recovery period and more risk of pain and infection in the wound.

Granted, vaginal delivery can be a painful and traumatic experience BUT it's part of the package, it's normal, it's nature at it's finest, it is an amazing experience which no one can possibly imagine, it's the most fulfilling thing a woman can do..

And yet some choose what they think is the *easy way*

Why are we as humans always after an easy way out?

This is one of the options I do NOT understand unless there is a definite medical reason with risk to either the mother or baby...

How Do You Iron?

Do you iron as you need things or do massive loads once a week or so?


I do mine as I go.. If I did a load at once I think it would get creased before I used it due to having such tight storage space!


-Posted from a mobile device

What Happened To Dolls & Train Sets?

Apparently, according to Nielsens these are the things children aged 6-12 are hoping Santa will bring them!



How times have changed!

My Twitter Birth Certificate

Twitter Birth Cert, originally uploaded by LadyBanana.

I've been Tweeting longer than I realised!

Get yours HERE

Art By Shazia

A few weeks ago I was passing an art gallery/shop in the West End and in the window was one of these striking paintings.

I took a second look and found out it was by an artist named Shazia.

Since then I've come across her work in other places and I just love them!

Mac Users, Do You?...

Do you use Time Machine back-up on your Mac?

I'm thinking of using it but is it worth it?

Is it simple and straightforward?

Evil Shoes

New Shoes, originally uploaded by LadyBanana.

I bought these shoes last week from the online store Javari.

I loved them and wore them the same day even though they were a teeny bit loose around the heels.

BIG MISTAKE!

They ripped the skin off leaving me blistered and sore.

Determined to wear them, as by now I had ruined my chances of returning them, I bought some heel grips and waited till my heels were just about healed.

So this morning I tried them again.

Sadly about 100 yards down the road I had to change them (thank goodness I had been awake enough to remember to carry a spare pair)

Once again, my heels are sore :(

I'm not too happy now as it seems I will have to throw them away, they are evil and just want to destroy my feet!

Proposal On The Train!

How funny, South Hampstead is my station! Just wish I had witnessed it myself!

Freaking Freaky Kitties!!

If you had the attention of the entire world for two minutes, what would you say?

Be nice to each other, we are only here on this planet for such a short time, let's make it a beautiful, happy experience for each and every one of us!

No exceptions!!

Too Old For Vans?

Am I too old to wear shoes like these?


Actually don't answer, I know, I am way past it..

But I do wish we had had shoes like this when I was young enough..

If you would like to wear these and are young enough they can be found HERE

(By the way, this is not an ad of any kind)

The World At 7 Billion

The world's population is expected to hit seven billion in the next few weeks. After growing very slowly for most of human history, the number of people on Earth has more than doubled in the last 50 years. Where do you fit into this story of human life?


 This is me:

To find yours visit the BBC

1.11.11

Can you believe it's already November!?

It is actually hard to believe as the weather is so beautiful, it's sunny and quite mild at 15c (59f) the leaves are golden and absolutely beautiful and... I can now say, next month I'm going to be a GRANNY! Whoo hoo!!