Cultured Views

A vacuum is a girl’s best friend…WHAT!!

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As you all know I own and operate a small hotel in a rural area and until I arrived here I never thought that cleaning and housework would become such a central part of my life - I am doing it all the time!

Those who know me very well will be surprised by the thought of me down on my hands and knees scrubbing toilets, clearing cobwebs and performing that task which all intelligent and educated women hate to do…vacuuming!! but yep, I do it on a daily basis and I wanna know one thing…if science can put man on the moon…if science can create aircraft which break the sound barrier…if medical science can enable attractive women to turn into ugly men and get pregnant -  then why can science not invent a vacuum that lasts more than four weeks in my trade ? (!!)

I deal with dirt on a daily basis; people who ignore the doormat and walk their mud and stuff through the building and rooms. I never thought I would say this but my best friend these days is a good and reliable vacuum. I have spent hundreds on ‘great brands’ in the past and have found them all wanting… but what I really rave about now to all who will listen is my Dirt Devil. Yeah, ‘he’s’  a ‘devil’ for ‘dirt’ is my new friend.

I once had a dog who we called the canine vacuum as he went around the floor after the kids were finished eating; he cleaned up anything and everything they dropped and never left a crumb. I never thought I would find something which could equal ol’ Roopy for sheer Energy Star rating…he cost very little to run and ate up everything in his path. Now that’s what you want in a vaccum people!

Other than that, does anyone know where I can get a talking doormat which shouts ” Wipe your darn feet as you come in !! ”

Tell me when you do…over to you modern day science !

Popularity: 18% [?]

‘Mummy made me do it’ - when good Dad’s go wrong…

This depressing trend for children being murdered by their own fathers in the form of being gassed to death in Dad’s car - along with Dad himself - has seen two more innocent children in the UK become two more tragic statistics.

And what has made this latest case even more heartbreaking is that it occurred on the recent Father’s Day weekend.

The scenario’s all have a grim common thread running through them; a bitter divorce, custody disputes, property disputes, deeply aggrieved men…and underneath it all an unfriendly, anti-male family court system. There is no doubt that the majority of family court decisions in the UK are tilted in favour of the mother; the father is reduced in many cases to an occasional visitor in his children’s lives and a faceless source of cash flow to his children’s mother.

It’s wrong and it has got to change.

Whenever one of these tragic situations occurs the usual shock and disbelief is expressed by the man’s family and friends: ” He was a good Dad”…” He lived for those kids”…”We cannot believe he could do this”…”He couldn’t take anymore…”

I am always in two minds when these things happen; Yes, men do generally get a poor deal in divorce and custody cases; women certainly can  be nasty, greedy and vindictive bitches towards their ex-partner. Very often women do use their kids as a weapon against their ex-husbands - to get him back - to get more money out of him. When some women decide to end a marriage they expect their husband to just conveniently disappear from not only her life but her children’s as well; he is expected to not just hand over his keys to house but hand over the actual house itself - and the car - and a monthly sum of cash - and half of whatever else he has. Oh, and he is not entitled to see his kids that easily either…

The Family Court backs her up to the hilt. He spends thousands fighting for his rights, his property and his kids - and all the time hits a brickwall. No-one listens to him, no-one helps him so he becomes frustrated and angry to the point of…..wanting to kill someone.

Granted though there are some men who do need to be kept away from their children and their mother in order to maintain their welfare - but in nearly all of these tragic killings the father had enough adequate, unsupervised access to suggest that they gave no hint of being in any way a danger to their children.

There is no doubt though that frustrated dealings with the Family Court system were experienced by all these men, but even so, it beggars belief that an otherwise loving Dad can turn on his own beloved children in such a cruel and malicious way. Even if he does it to wreak revenge on ‘her’  in the end it is the children who pay the ultimate price. Just as they always seem to do.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Getting the green light for that green card…

My cousin’s 21 year old daughter, Lucy, works as a children’s nanny and her very first position two years ago was with a family in Denver, Colorado. She had never lived away from home prior to this and the family were quite anxious about her living so far from her home in Australia and taking on the huge responsibility that her job involved.

But she did brilliantly and the family she worked for just adored her. Lucy had a permit to stay in the States for twelve months and when her time was up the family tried to keep her on by attempting to get an extension on her Visa…but to no avail. Lucy had to leave and when she returned to Australia she really missed the family, especially the little two year old boy who had been under her care.

They had really taken her in and made her feel a real member of the family and not just an employee. She went along on their ski holidays, a trip to Hawaii and even to Florida so she really had a good time whilst being paid as well. Now she is waiting for her green card so that she can return to Colorado - the family would love to employ her again and have just purchased some Winter Park real estate in the form of a holiday home right in amongst the mountains and lakes. They want to spend more time there and need their Aussie Nanny back to help out with the kids…another baby has been born since Lucy left them.

So Lucy sits and waits for that elusive green card - she has been waiting now for almost a year and is biding her time working for a family in the Outback on a large property - and you have to admit you couldn’t get two more contrasting landscapes than the Australian Outback and the mountains of Colorado!

Popularity: 17% [?]