Melp

Yes, Abby lives there and it is indeed fantastic Oooh you need Aunty Melps. I'm very good at the signals but usually only to those people whose bones I really do not want to jump so on second thoughts you probably don't need me Have you even spoken to Mr I haff a crush apart from Hello?

I have a stonking headache and am about to do 5 hours shopping with a wheelchair bound chappie.

Two of Trevs employees have been confirmed with swine flu. He's been in very close proximity and is starting to feel unwell. Guess where my kids spent the weekend? Che aka Sumo [my freind who died last week] is being cremated next wednesday. There'll be a huge bike procession. Its at 3pm and is the day of Ellis's school play so I can't go but I imagine it will be very touching.

Abby, how many poo costumes have you seen? My child tax credits are finally through. Yay! Still no Income Support though. Booo

congratulations!

Oh God, what colour is it this time? [i've had some blonde bits put in mine but I don't think I like it] Casper has gone home I do love that dog

Oi! How very dare you! I am sweet and innocent and have never been rood in my entire life!!! I missed the norty word game so can I come in with a late entry of pissflaps? Me and Casper have been to a BBQ today. He has spent several hours in a Barbie paddling pool with a 3 year old girl. At one point he wore a barbie rubber ring on his head but then he popped it and made his noo freind cry

I can empathise with this. I felt guilt for many many years after I left home because I left my sister there. It's only in very recent years that I've felt marginally better and only then because my sister didn't blame me. We were unlucky enough to be born into a family where violence, alcoholism and sexual abuse were the norm. We were taken away from that and placed into a "safe" foster family where both parents were physically and mentally abusive [not sexually] They would lie to the school and social services about bruises on us, we were kept off school with ailments we didnt have, just so as no-one would see the marks. I was the only child in my school to have chicken pox 3 times and NO-ONE questoned it! This went on for years and years with neither my sister nor I able to tell social workers what was going on in case they left us there and we got worse! I was sent to a child psychologist for an eating disorder I didn't have. On leaving school I weighed 5.5 stone yet no-one ever thought to ask if we were being fed properly, they just beleived the lies they were told that I was "awkward and fussy" Luckily for other children, when my sister ran away at 15 [i had been gone for 2 years by then] she did report them to social services and while no charges were ever brought, they were never allowed to foster another child. What always astonishes me is that neighbours and freinds suspected and in some cases knew full well what was going on, yet not one person ever reported it or tried to step in. Not one. Anyway I've wandered off the topic. I'm lucky I guess in that I've grown up to be fairly normal, as has Alex I think My sister is also reasonably well adjusted but a lot of kids and I include MJ in this, either never break free or are so badly damaged that they will always be "different".

I don't think this is road tax is it? thought it was import tax. You're right though, if it is road tax then the cost won't fall on the disabled person anyway.

It is not irrational. It doesn't matter whether the abuser is carrying a weapon or not, the balance of power is always theirs simply because they are the abuser and you are the victim. If you have been abused regularly the fear of another beating or sexual encounter is very real because its happened before TO YOU. Its not a fear that it might happen, its a fear that it will, because its happened before. How can that be irrational? Its unfair to expect other members of the family to step in. They were children for goodness sake! As an adult you were in an abusive relationship and you may well have taken steps to stop your partner hurting a child, but many people don't and can't. Whilst I don't know anyhing about Michaels mother, she may also have been living in fear, she may also have been as bad as the father! As a child I watched my own sister being beaten and vice versa. Neither of us could have done a damn thing to help each other because the consequences would have been too great. We were CHILDREN just as the Jacksons were children. I am now 44 years old and have been away from that abuse for 27 years yet if I were to bump into my foster parents even now I would feel [and probably be] physically sick with fear. Now I will accept that my fear of them NOW is irrational. I'm an adult, physically and mentally stonger than they are and I KNOW they cannot hurt me or my family.

for Stan. Greyhound Gap have the most stunning dog in at the mo. His name is Flake and he's byootiful

This bill is due for a second reading in October. This affects all dog owners no matter what breed.

Stevie is it possible to place bids in advance via here?

Sorry Carole, have to disagree with you here. The fear you feel when you live with an abuser, whatever form the abuse takes is NOT irrational. Its very likely that the entire family feared the father and wouldn't have DARED put Michael into bed. It doesn't mean they didn't love him and I don't think its fair to make that assumption.

Oooh never thought of flushing stuff down the loo! Good idea.

Di I'm so very sorry

No I don't think public transport is fantastic for disabled people. I work for a disabled person and know how difficult it can be for him to get around. My chap has just got a motorbility car and has an electric wheelchair. The car was taxed [it came from Holland] I'm not saying its right, my point is that cars, including motorbility cars are taxed so if its wrong to tax scooters why isn't it wrong to tax cars and vice versa. I do know that Michael can get transported to where he needs to be if he can't get there by public transport, electric wheelchair or car. I don't know if thats the same for all disabled people or whether it depends on the severity of the disability.e

Second reading in October. This affects every single dog owner in the UK no matter what breed you own!!!!!

Found out today that someone I knew died on saturday. I didn't know him well but he was a great bloke. He was a biker and superb tattooist. He was on his bike and hit a car head on. Stupid stupid man had been drinking and was on the wrong side of the road. The poor car driver must be devastated. He was also injured. The force of the impact shoved the car engine backwards into the drivers legs. Che was killed instantly and all because of alcohol. Why don't people learn?

Cars and motorbikes are taxed, whats the difference?

This heat is killing me. I neeeeed rain

Angela stop worrying! I am so hot I may melt. Hot enough to have worn a bikini to a freinds BBQ this evening. I also wore orange armbands, blue swimming goggles and a straw hat. My children luff me loads

Feck off. He's too far away

I'm not dead in a ditch We had coffee, then we had lunch an we chatted about shite. [really we did, we discussed disposing of dog poo ] He's nice. He's also very short and very thin but he has all his own teeth and smells nice. He wants to meet again but I'm not sure....Help

Certain songs take you back to periods in time, either happy or sad. As already mentioned in rmf, I dissolved this morning to Cat Stevens-Morning has broken. I can't remember what was happening in my life at the time this was in the charts [cos itwas soooooo long ago] but it gave me a happy feeling so it can't have been anything hideous. Big 'memory' songs for me [and not always in a good way] are George Harrison-My sweet lord. The Beatles-Hey Jude [memories of My real mum, travelling in the sidecar of her boyfreinds motorbike] Sinead O'Connor-Three babies [i had 3 cats at the time and had just lost my youngest to a car accident] U2- With or without you [memories of my first love] Wings-Mull of Kintyre [Loved this at the time] Coldplay-Fix you [reminds me of Sam Squirrel and the London bombings] John Denver-Leaving on a jet plane [i used to sing this as a kid, must have been about 4] it makes me cry The Scaffold-Lily the pink [No idea ] Probably loads more.