Sunday 22 January 2012

Good News

I was going to start off this post with 'Like most people I enjoy waking up in the morning'.  It occurred to me, however, that there must be a great many people in the world for whom waking up at any time just brings them into a world so anathema to them that waking is the last thing they want to do.  For many who are starving, ravaged by war, persecuted, ill to the point of no return or in terrible pain and doubtless for many other reasons too, waking must be terrible.   Mentioning starving suddenly made me realise, too, just how unbelievably self-indulgent was my post on not wanting to eat fruit because I'm a Lazy Eater.  People would, and doubtless do, kill to be able to eat what I throw away in a week.  So I'm feeling a bit ashamed of myself.

However when I woke this morning - which is where I was originally going with this post - I was greeted by two personal emails (as distinct from the dozens I look forward to relating to Blogland) both of which were bearers of two items of good news both related to sea-going people close to me.  Firstly  Gaz has become a Chief Engineer.  Secondly the daughter of Very Close Friends has been given the management of the on-board retail side of a new cruise liner that is yet to make its way into service.  How good is that?

All that and the fact that the promised rain has not yet appeared and the sun has come out again are making this a Very Good Day.


14 comments:

  1. good news for you!
    On the other side,the obesity we have in America is so sad when one considers how so many people are starving.

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  2. How nice to start the day with such good news from friends!
    Although you can not personally help to improve the lives of all those poor and afflicted people to whom waking up means nothing good, their plight is not really your fault and therefore you need not need to feel ashamed. On the other hand, throwing away food IS something to be ashamed for, and I am sure that you can easily avoid that with a little bit of careful planning as what to buy when.
    Not that long ago, I've read an article in my weekly paper about the amount of food that is wasted each year (the figures were for Germany but I am sure it is rather similar in other, similar affluent countries). It was shocking but, sadly, not surprising. And I am glad to say that my contribution to that figure is practically non-existend.

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  3. Excellent news....congratulations to them both.

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  4. Norma, when I was in California I was astounded by the quantity of food served and eaten. Breakfast served in a diner typically contained as much food as I generally eat in a day. When I asked in one diner for a small portion they said that as I had to pay for a usual portion they might as well serve that portion. The quantity actually put me off. I left more than I ate.

    Meike, I'm ashamed to say that I invariable overcater. When the family comes down for dinner each week it's often something that I can't re-heat and eat on another day. The rest of the time I always have enough food around to cater for anyone who calls in and happens to be around at meal time. I could manage food more responsibly and I always have good intentions but somehow I always fall short. Left on my own and with no consideration for diet I'd probably live on nuts, bread, cheeses and tomatoes and the like which would not be a healthy option!

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  6. Oh, nothing wrong with nuts, bread, cheese and tomatoes! On the contrary, it means carbs (from the bread), fat (from the nuts and cheese), minerals (from the nuts and cheese) as well as vitamins (from the nuts and tomatoes), so go ahead :-)
    If I had surprise guests around meal times (an extremely rare occurrance), all I'd be able to offer them would be pasta and tomato sauce, unless it would happen to be the day I've done groceries shopping.
    And of course, I always have the leaflet of the nearby pizza service here :-)

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  7. Great news to wake up to. Don't be ashamed about throwing food. It was definitely not intentional, so its alright. Have a good day!!

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  8. It'd hardly be a balance diet if eaten all the time though Meike. When I worked I used to have enough variety of food in the house to cater for any number in any way. When I eventually retired finally I realised that I had so much food in the house that friends used to call it the friendly corner shop. I've cut down dramatically but even here Wendy remarked the other day that I had more in my cupboard than she had in hers (but then she has 6 raiding it all the time and 6 mouths to feed every night). It's something I'll have to address. Sometime!

    Thanks Ruby. No I never intend to throw food away it's just poor management of resources.

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  9. It bodes well for a good day.

    SP

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  10. Actually, my dear Graham, one does not even have to be "starving, ravaged by war, persecuted or ill to the point of no return" to not always feel all thrilled to wake up to a new morning... Maybe one should be, but that's a different matter! ;) ...Just like many of us know that we could or should probably eat less, and at the same time never let anything go to waste, which makes an impossible equation to solve; especially in the morning, because facing such problems first thing when we get out of bed might make us unable to decide what to have for breakfast; and then we soon starve and lose energy while our food goes bad; and the next morning we'll wake up even less happy...

    All that aside, I'm very happy for Gaz, and for the daughter of your friends, for their promotions; and for you and your friends as Proud Parents! I hope the rest of your day was good as well. The food included! :)

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  11. PS. Now I'm hungry. And I forgot to tick the little box for follow-up.

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  12. I have lots of food in the house for droppers-in! It's nice, I think.

    Congratulations to Gaz and friend. Wow. Chief engineer! Wonderful.

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  13. Yes, SP and Monica, it was a Good Day.

    Yes Katherine it is nice to be able to offer hospitality at the drop of a hat.

    And thanks for the congratulations all, I'll pass them on. Actually I shouldn't need to they will probably have read them direct!

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