Most of the time we don’t think about prisons. Occasionally we are reminded of their existence when we hear in the news that someone has been convicted and jailed for their crimes. Some cases spark more public interest and scrutiny, and when they do, it’s usually because of a perceived leniency, inadequate to the severity of the crime. Another aspect…
Since last summer I have been in two minds regarding my old dog. On the one hand, it was clear that his age was catching up with him; on the other hand, he was still doing well considering his grand age of 15+. Recently it became increasingly painful to watch the dog struggling and eventually I had to bite the…
The rapidly expanding popularity of online services collectively known as “social media” is one of the defining moments of this century so far. Those services have dramatically changed the way we get our entertainment, consume news, improve or learn new skills, and how we communicate with others. When I started working in Scotland, talking to my poor mother one thousand…
Over the last two weeks or so I have been stalked online. Virtually every time I opened a website, an advert was popping up nagging me to “get your red nose”. I knew of two ways to get it done. The first one requires remaining in freezing conditions for a while but that’s hard to achieve, even in the infamous…
A good friend of mine suffered years of spasmodic attacks of violent coughing. Obviously, it badly affected his health and also his social life. For example, it was hugely embarrassing when he started coughing in the cinema, theatre or church. He was seen by various doctors and underwent various treatments. Some of those brought some relief, others worsened the condition;…