Shopping centre Newry

I think that a new shopping centre in Newry is needed badly. Possibly somewhere out of town. You ever go shopping in Newry on a Saturday ? Then you know what I mean. Sure It is the same in most cities, But Newry does not have any real clothes or food supermarkets out in the suburbs, away from all the traffic congestion in the city center. Their is no real escape for Newry shoppers in Newry. If you build it they will come !

Arsenal v Chelsea

I was very impressed with Arsenals young guns yesterday. I think if that team was to stay together, they could rule Europe for years to come. Any way, congratulations to Chelsea on winning the first trophy of the season. Also, it was good to see John Terry was O.K. after the K.O. he received yesterday. All that fighting near the end of the game was uncalled for and spoilt a pretty good game.

Houses for sale in Newry

Houses for sale in Newry. Yep the prices are going up. If you have not got a house buy now, you are looking at an interest only mortgage loan like myself. I could kick myself for not buying a house when I was in my early twenties. I would have no money worries now if I did. The price of houses and all that comes with it, is just too much to think about these days. But if you don't buy a house now at these prices. What are you going to do next year when they cost even more ?

I need sleep right now

I need sleep right now. I am so tired, my head feels like it is going in a different direction to my body and everything is fuzzy.

I can just about see this screen as I write this post. I have not talked much here lately, so I wanted to catch up on a few posts.

I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow to start writing because my brain is on shutdown at the moment.

Everybody is making money - Good money

Everybody these days seems to be making good money. All my friends and all their friends. Then their families and so on etc, etc.

I personally seem to be always struggling when it comes down to making money of any real value. I always seem to have bills that have big red writing on them and the phone is always ringing from debt collectors of one sort or another.

I think I am destined never to be out of debt. I do not think I will ever have enough money to retire and I really believe that if I am alive when I am 90 years of age, I will have to work at least two jobs to pay off what I owe.

Diet coke addiction

I've recently ditched the fags and seem to have replaced one addiction with another - Diet Coke! At the moment this fizzy drink is filling the hole left by ciggies. I can't seem to give up drinking it. I love it , I need it , I will have it!

Seriously, I think I now need to give this up as much as I needed to kick cigarettes. I thought giving up smoking was tough. But this is just as much of a problem.

I actually didn't know how addicted I was to diet coke until I gave up smoking!

Drinking it seems to take my mind off smoking. I'm getting through a litre or more a day, more if I go out and quaff a few cans while shopping, driving or whatever.

I must try and ditch the coke, because it's time to get fit and healthy. No point in fooling myself that the diet version is ok - surely the chemicals in all fizzy drinks are harmful?

Maybe I'll switch to water,100% juice or... beer. No not beer. I'll have to replace it with something though. Any suggestions ?

Global Dimming ?

What is global dimming ? Well, I found out this week, to my horror. In short, Global Dimming means less sunshine hitting the surface of the earth over the last few decades.

I'm not an expert on this but this is a topic that needs to be looked at by everybody. Global dimming is as much of a problem as global warming.

Read, learn and let's do what we can for the generations to come after us. Let's leave them a world they can safely live in, one where mankind can survive for centuries to come.

Best hangover cure for alcohol

I need sleep today, I am so hung over from the weekend. Got to find myself the best hangover cure in the world today. How do we get a hangover in the first place ? It is usually when we drink to much alcohol. When we are out parting and drink too many alcoholic drinks we may feel sick the next morning and have a headache. I came across a good list of best hangover cures over at www.rateitall.com.

Again it would be advisable not to drink in the first place. One of my friends takes berocca for his hangover and another drinks a pint of water at night. I think we all have to find or own individual cures or remedies. If you have a problem with drinking too much alcohol, maybe you should contact your nearest Alcoholics Anonymous.

The cigarette dream

Dreaming of cigarettes again last night.

I don't think I will ever smoke again but my dreams seem so real.

When I wake up after a smoking dream I feel so bad and disgusted with myself that I smoked.

Then I realise with great delight that I am still off them and have more of chance everyday of staying off them for good.

I hope I am not heading down that road again where I will talk myself into smoking again !

Soccer results

England lost to Spain 1 - 0 and the fans showed what they thought at the end of the game by booing the team off the field.

Stephen Ireland scored in the 94 minute for the Republic of Ireland to beat San Marino 2 -1 in this Euro 2008 qualifying game. Kevin Kilbane opened the scoring for the Republic of Ireland, but Manuel Marani struck four minutes from time for San Marino to equalise. Steve Staunton's men left it late to win this one.

Jack Frost pays a visit

Jack Frost paid us a visit this morning and gave us all a big hello here. Put me in the mood to go right back into bed and to stay there till summer.

But as the day progressed my friend the sun made a most welcomed appearence and kept us company for most of the day.

I hope this winter is not a long one and that spring brings a nice cool refreshing change from the long hard months we have endured weather wise lately.

Man blamed for Global warming

Hopefully, the majority of us already knew this, but Friday's report on global warming from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) puts mankind firmly in the frame for the increasing rate of global warming.

According to the report, mankind's industrial activity since the mid twentieth century has almost certainly been the main catalyst in global warming. In fact, the report states this industrial activity as being 'very likely' the main contributor - more definite than the last report in 2001 where it was 'likely' to be the cause. This means the scientists involved now believe that there is now a greater than 90% chance that human industrial activity has been the main driver of global warming and climate change. Ok, most of us had this sussed but the importance of this report is that placing the blame unequivocably with humans, and backing it up with scientific fact, means governments MUST sit up, take notice and DO Something.

Representatives from 113 governments – including the United States – signed off on the summary's conclusions, so it now seems that world leaders cannot claim they don't know enough to make decisive moves against climate change as the report covers clearly the consequences to be seen now and in the future. The IPCC report should surely be the biggest and most important item on any government agenda - that remains to be seen.

Its findings concern the future of the entire planet for generations to come and it would be callous and beyond careless of us to disregard this impact simply because we may not be alive to personally experience the more devastating effects of our legacy - let's hope policymakers globally feel the same and make moves NOW to tackle this issue.

Of course, the magintitude of the problem raises almost mind-boggling challenges but goverments MUST rise to these, and we, as keepers of the planet should find out as much as possible about what we can do, we need to think outside of our own locality and consider the worldwide implicatoins of rising sea-levels, tropical cyclones and much more devastating changes ahead.

Bird flu hits britain

Bird flu reared its ugly ahead again this week, with an outbreak at Bernard Matthews plc Suffolk farm. It's the biggest outbreak ever in Europe, with an estimated 159,000 birds culled as a result.

I remember around this time last year, there were various rumblings about bird flu, and the possible pandemic it could cause. As leaflets were distributed and news items galore warned of the possibility of mutation into the human strain, I must admit feeling mildly panicky. I was pregnant at the time and may have over-reacted in my maternal state by constantly needing to discuss it with my partner, detailing all the possible doomsday scenarios. Eventually, the subject seemed to die down, there were no more news items about it and I recall commenting last summer that 'bird flu died a death'.

Now its back and I'm reading about the same issues, although now on a much larger scale. I'm comforting myself by agreeing with government calls for calm, thinking it's logical to assume we've nothing to fear when it hasn't even mutated into the human strain and even if it does it's extremely difficult to contract -

"At the moment in the United Kingdom, the general public still have more chance of winning the lottery than getting bird flu," said Jim Robertson, a virologist at Britain's national institute for biological standards and control.

Good ol' Jimbo - that makes me feel much much better..... Until I come across another field of thought where 'Scientists' believe it is only a matter of time before the present strain H5N1 mixes with human flu, mutates and then spreads from person to person! Although the estimated death toll from this varies greatly, from 50 million to 100's of millions worldwide, all of a sudden my chances of winning the lottery seem to have soared!

How to get rid of mice from your home

Recently we had a problem with mice in our house. There were mouse droppings everywhere in the house. Behind all the furniture, in the kids' bedroom and even on the kitchen worktop. We were cleaning the house constantly, trying to leave no crumbs for them to nibble on. We tried mice repellants, snap traps and various other traps. Nothing worked, until one day, after discussing my problem to a friend, he suggested I buy pre-baited snap traps or traps that have attractant for mice.

So, after weeks of trying to get rid of the mice, I bought three of these traps. I placed two downstairs and one upstairs. The next morning the two traps downstairs had caught two mice. I bought more pre-baited snap traps and set them up around the house. To date we've had no more little visitors and no more mice droppings.

Indianapolis Colts win Super Bowl XLI

The Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 to win Super Bowl XLI. Both teams slugged it out in the pouring rain, to see who would be victorious. Not much interest here as I am a soccer addict and anyway the 49ers are my team in the nfl. San Francisco will always have a place in my heart. As for ever getting to see a super bowl live, I don't know. Maybe the next time the San Francisco 49ers reach the super bowl. We love you Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.