UK Turned White!

It’s snowing again…

I am currently sat in my house, just outside Northwich, Cheshire UK about 30 miles from Liverpool and 30 miles from Manchester, looking out of my window I see a layer of ever increasing snow falling and settling on  the ground. It’s been snowing now continuously for about 8 hours.

As I am sitting drinking a much needed steaming cup of Strong coffee (it’s one of those days, when you just wish to be somewhere else or even someone else) I flicked over to one of the many 24/7 news channels and what are they talking about but “Snow”.

I don’t know, what it is about Britain and Weather

Maybe it is just me, but being born in Germany (Paderborn Barker Barracks) Where my Father was posted at the time with the British Army, snow was no great event.

You could pretty much run your life by seasons over there, expecting cold snowy winters, and warm to hot Summers and so on. But here snow seems to bring on panic attacks and over-reaction.

Many places around the world that experience snow, take it in their stride commenting “Blimey it’s a bit cold out there” but none the less just whack on a set of snow chains or a pair of sturdy boots and just get on with it. In Britain, any visitors from similar snow affected climates often look at us in amazement when they hear the stories of the Country coming to a complete halt.

Obviously there are times when snow and extreme weather cause disruption to events and public services, and I am sure this is true for all places affected around the world.

Where I live is quite rural but only 10 minutes out of town, we don’t get the “gritters” down here as it is a country lane, the council grit the main roads, so once you brave the Ice Rink that is our lane,  your on the main trunk routes your fine.

Living here you soon adapt to weather events, we still have regular power cuts in strong gale force winds, and when the lane outside is snowed up and Icy you simply re-arrange your appointments.  If you can you do if you can’t you don’t.

No Excuse for Cities and Towns though

All that said about the more rural areas of Britain, it is a price to pay for the location you live in I guess. The big cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham surely don’t have any excuse for a complete halt in public services?

A bit of snow shouldn’t halt the motorways or main roads, but in the extreme and rare occasions it does, they should surely have a plan to get the cities moving again.

I was at Manchester Piccadilly Station during “Britain’s big Freeze” this January, a meeting I could not re-arrange, I understood there to be delays due to snow, and just gave extra time at both ends, yes the train I was due to get got cancelled and I had to get a Bus that took 4 hours to get home again. But it was what I expected in those conditions,  just put up with it and got home eventually.

But people around me where getting extremely annoyed like it was some sort of personal attack that they were going to be delayed getting home to watch the TV soaps. I met one girl who was stressed out due to choosing to go shopping on the day when there was deep snow lying on the ground already and then nearly attacking the poor station staff member who informed us on the platform that our train will be cancelled and await futher information. Who would choose to go shopping on a day when weather is bitter and slippy anyway?

The business men and ladies all forced to work that day were all resigned like myself to a rather long and uncertain journey back to our homes, the News stated “Do not travel unless it is essential” for us it was, for the shoppers determined to go to the local mall for a day out it was obviously not a good choice of day. So please if you choose to travel against national advice then don’t get aggressive because you can’t get home on time. More to the point to that girl, don’t put it all on us while we have the unfortunate luck to share a train carriage with you. Just put up with it.

This weather is not great for anyone, while snow is enjoyable to the young and to us all young at heart, sometimes we just need to say “ok it is snowing” nothing I can do about it, it will have to wait until tomorrow. For the older members of society and to people who are physically and Psychologically upset, it can feel lonely, isolating, and depressive. All we can do is look out for those people and ensure they are ok. Then just wait for it to pass.

But let it snow let it snow let it snow. Sometimes there is no other option but to wait it out.

What are the first things that come to mind when asked to describe a Christian?

I’ve asked this question of some friends of mine in recent weeks, the main things my friends have mentioned when answering is…

• A Christian is someone who is concerned with making people who don’t follow  their beliefs “See the light.”
• They thought that a Christian’s sole aim in life was to preach the word of God
• They thought a Christian didn’t swear, smoke, drink or have a good time.
• They thought that a Christian lived soley in the pages of the Holy Bible.
• The ability to quote of the tip of the tongue a bible verse or two.

Reading this blog would you be surprised to know that I am a Christian, I mean I attend Church regularly, twice on Sunday, and at least once a day in the week.

It may come as more of a suprise to people (as it did my friends) when they realised I could not quote a Bible verse of the cuff that was perfect for any conversation.

They were equally surprised to see me living like a “normal” person and not keep “harping” on about the life and glory of Jesus.

Christian Fanatics:

You know the type of person: Stephen Baldwin comes to mind in recent days with his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother here in the UK, maybe some people will feel me being overly harsh to this man for the strength of his beliefs. However, I whole-heartedly disagree with his approach in attempting “conversion” on innocent bystanders in that house.

His only aim was trying to force the word of God on his fellow housemates, when one fellow housemate challenged his opinion he retorted “I am speaking the word of the Lord!”

There you have my biggest problem, as a Christian we are meant to spread the word, I do that, without forcing scripture down peoples necks, trying to answer questions in a none biased way.

My personal journey to Christianity was through asking questions, discovering and also disagreeing.

I live my Faith with the principle of trying to answer peoples questions as openly as possible, without bias or judgement, if that person asking questions of my belief leads to them experiencing a deeper understanding of Christianity and then deciding to take the plunge in becoming a Christian then that’s fantastic.

The Difference

Being open to people’s questions, just listening, being calm, being focused, steady and friendly is the biggest “spreading of the word.”  When you choose to take on the Christian faith (More in a later article). It is essential in my opinion to stay stuck on the ground. Still living in the real world.

It’s very easy to get carried away with this new discovery of God, you can become a bit floaty, thinking that you are “saved by God” and now your living a clean blameless life and no matter what, you have Him on your side.

In reality it is not that simple, taking on the faith is hard work, it opens you up to ignorant ridicule, it forces you to examine your life choices and the attitudes towards life.

In my opinion God waits for you to acknowledge His call to you, and from then he works with you to attain what he has planned for you. There is a lot of changes (talking from experience) and you can easily get totally lost in your own thoughts. This is where I am eternally grateful to my/our Parish Priest, the support and space to learn and sometimes ask the silliest questions has formed up my faith.

It did me well to remember that God never drops you in the deep end, no matter how much you feel like your drowning in a new world, of consiense realisation and discovering new moral values. He never gives you more than you can handle. That’s not to say he doesn’t give you a challenge or two, I mean look at Haiti!!!

You may often hear how “God changed my life” type stories. This is totally true, however in my opinion God works within you! Not outside of you, I have apparently changed a lot since finding God, but I still haven’t lost my own original identity, instead I feel that my old self has been developed matured grown and definitely enhanced.

Where it can all go wrong

I know how easy it is to be a bit carried away with the discovery of Jesus, and it does take a bit of concentration to stay grounded. With this new faith you have taken on it can feel like a “God Rush” (I will dedicate a article to this as my next posting).

You can begin to feel a bit above other people, you can start being judgemental towards people who do not believe in your Religion and extremely close minded to others opinions.

This is what I personally call a “Jesus Freak” someone who will inhale the bible and live strictly within the scriptures, blindly believe in what the scriptures are saying and dare anyone challenge the word then they who dared are damned.

Where am I?

Well I love the Bible, I completely believe in God, and actively live in the faith, I do not want to preach to the none believers, I don’t want to impose my opinions and beliefs on anyone else. But I would love to preach to people who wish to listen, see there’s the difference! I want to walk the walk of Christian life with people who want to discover, support people who are searching.

I think Christianity is the never ending journey, there is no end, you only keep discovering, I am neither right nor wrong, I am not better than another person. I am no worse than anyone else.

I respect people for who they are, not what they believe in. If people feel my religion is a cause for personal insult then so be it, it is them with the problem! For those that want to ask questions I am only to willing to share a conversation, I don’t have the right answers but a conversation is also a great education for both of us.

A good friend of mine an atheist, said to me over a pint or two, “I don’t believe in your Religion, I don’t believe in your God, but through talking about it, I can see God does exist although I can’t follow I have a new respect.” For me that was the biggest compliment, and to you who said it and you know who you are Thank you.

Happy New Year!!

Well here it is early January 2010, a new decade, and another new beginning!

I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year, today in Britain we are covered in a layer of snow and have had a week of freezing temperatures, up North near Manchester where I currently live we have had a constant temperature of -2 oC to -8oC.

The weather people at the Met office in London are saying it is the coldest winter in Britain since 1987 and snow like this has been seen since 1976.  It always gets me though that as soon as it snows Britain seems to ground to an absolute stop.

I was born and lived in Germany due to my fathers posting to Paderborn with the Army, over there in mainland Europe and most of the world, snow brings a different routine rather than a complete breakdown in public services as in Britain.

Still it is a lovely experience waking up to proper snow that crunches under your feet. It really feels like winter here at the moment, people enjoy it and stop complaining about not being able to get to work or on public transport. In this weather have fun if you can’t get somewhere then stay at home.

What on Earth:

It’s only January 7th 2010, and already I think I have stumbled upon the most pathetic craze since Pokemon!

It’s called the choking game amongst other things. It’s crazy,  basically it is literally what it is says, a kid or maybe 2 or three strangles them self until they pass out.

They say they get high from it, in fact it is simply that they are cutting off the oxygen to the brain and it can cause all kinds of problems like heart failure to stroke to epileptic fits!

I mean is life really that boring?? Whats worse is it’s all over youtube at the moment with friends filming the happenings as there friends or brothers or sisters go some way to killing themselves.

Honestly if you want to kill yourself for fun, then jump of a building on to a solid surface. Or play Russian Roulette.

No I am not making light of suicide but these kids don’t realise that they are simply killing themselves and may even cause brain damage!

I’d hate to see the youtube video when someone films their friend playing this game on to realise that in fact the friend is no longer on this earth.

But kids playing with their lives is not my concern am just giving my support to the people out there who are trying to stop people from doing this crazy pass time.

This year:

I’ve made a resolution this year, I am going to write more to this site, I’ve been really busy during 2009, but now things have settled down again in to some normal routine.

I’ve had a few emails recently asking me questions about Christianity, I am not a Priest but I will do my best to answer the questions to the best of my knowledge.

Of course there will be plenty more rants and raves coming during this year, and if you have any comments I love to read them and your emails to.

Happy New Year Everyone

Here’s a video of the New Years Eve fireworks in London this year enjoy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdU-YUSzkUI

Till next time….

Gordon Brown and the Governement plans to Cut the British Forces Post Office (BFBO) in Mainland Europe!

Reading the Newspaper this morning I noticed an article in The Daily Telegraph, regarding the governments plans to cut/close the British Forces Post Office in Mainland Europe! Here’s the link to the article .

I agree completely with what Simon Heffer says in his article.

Having had first hand experience of the BFPO it is one of the most essential services, for servicemen and women and their familes worldwide.

My family are all ex services, and it was during my Fathers posting to Barker Barracks in Padeborn in the then (West Germany) with REME (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers) that I was born.

The posting to Germany lasted for over 6 years, during which time you live completley in that countries territory and by their standards and laws. The BFPO enabled us to send parcels and letters home as well as receive from home.

The men and women serving out in these Countries surely deserve a first class dedicated postal system, lets face it, although you choose to join the Army, there isn’t much choice in where you are posted.

Whilst abroad on a posting you are working/serving your Country, why should a member of the Services or their dependants and families back home be forced to use that Countries existing postal services!?!

Another Cut to cover their inadequacies

The Government again, seem to be attempting to make cuts to recover some of their losses due to this so called “Credit Crunch” or Economic downturn.

They seem to have an obsession with Postal Services, they like to shut down Post Offices on Mass, maybe now they found that they can’t at present shut any more down, so to avert any political backlash they are trying it with the BFPO!!!

In my opinion

The BFPO should remain untouched! OK it may not be financially viable, but then what is in todays financial climate?

But the Armed forces are working for this Country, they are sent there by Government, The Forces are already stretched, and they seem to be asked to do more with less money!

I understand why our forces are out in Afghanistan and Iraq… and it is NOT 100% political, we are out there fighting to keep the terrorists out of Pakistan, where if they successfully infiltrated the insurgents have easy access to Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons, this is why it is important for free elections, so that the the terrorist groups such as the Taliban and Al qaeda forcefully getting political control and forcing their way through.

But we forget the Forces on Posts in Europe, such as Germany, yes maybe originally we were and still are primarily there as an occupying force from World War II but even so we are still there ready for mobilization, they are still separated from family, and remember though it is a choice to Join the Armed Forces, it isn’t their choice to be posted where they are.

Surely considering the Government are deploying the Servicemen and Women to all corners of the world they deserve their own postal service.. Does it matter if it is down the road or in a neighbouring Country?

If the Government in the attempts at cost cutting withdraw the BFPO, and say “use the Countries service” what will they do next?? Withdraw BFBS Radio and Television and say “Use the Countries broadcasters?”

Come on… It seems that the bigwigs are more concerned about developing London’s East End for the 2012 Olympics rather than keep our Armed Forces in a bit of home comfort!!

For me the General election cannot come soon enough, agreed it is a difficult economic environment to work in at the moment, but won’t the pending increase of Value Added Tax to the minimum of 17.5% or more and another few pence on a pint of Beer or Tobacco not compensate for the running costs?

Save the BFPO Online Petition

There is a petition on the official 10 Downing Street Website asking the PM and the Government to scrap this plan!

If you live in the UK and are a UK Citizen Please consider adding your signature. To date there are 41006 signed already the more the better!

The Petition and all details can be found here

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveBFPO/

Until next Time….

Well the battle of Saturday night television is here again, ITV 1’s weekend prime time Television is once again dominated by Simon Cowell’s X Factor!

This years series has been great so far, there were the quite frankly tone deaf people thinking they can actually storm to the top of the charts! What is still hilarious is that when the panel of Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dani Minogue and Louis Walsh, give the contestant their feedback, the contestant still looks totally bewildered by the comments! Sometimes I wonder if the auditionee has in fact joined the wrong cue, whilst waiting for the “Liquid Trunction” Jab and appeared on a stage in front of a few thousand people in the audience and many more millions on the television at home.

The addition of audiences at the auditions has made this series much better this time around. It is a long the lines of another of Mr Cowells TV Train, “Britain’s got Talent”. But for some weeks watching the X Factor has been the ideal accompaniment to the weekly take away.

Personally I don’t watch a lot of Television but Saturday nights were a time when as a family we all sat and watched this programme together. A few weeks later the BBC announced the new series of Strictly Come Dancing, another programme some of the family like to watch. These two programmes have been a staple of our Saturday night viewing pre pub.

Strictly Come Dancing or (Dancing with the Stars) in the USA

BBC 1 have decided in the infinite wisdom to pitch this show directly against the X Factor on ITV 1. Whats more is they have actually pushed the length of the programme to over 2 hours of Prime Time television. For anyone still in the dark about Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars (US Version) A group of Minor Celebrity personalities are paired with professional Ball Room Dancers.  They are then judged on their weekly performance, the results of all couples dances are also voted for by the Public and the two couples with the lowest combined judges scores and the lowest received viewer votes has to dance again in a “Dance off”.  The Judges vote to who they want to save for the following week. This part of the proceedings I like to call Strictly Come “Who are they” The better known celebrities are always saved… It’s true, lets face it if you could save someone from your favourite pop group or a retired athlete from 10 years ago who would you save??

But the point is, the BBC have decided to run this show directly against X Factor, so I’m sure I’m not the only person or family that is finding that one evening a week when you sit with your family love or loathe them, and actually enjoy each others company. They have actually caused half the people to disappear in to the other room to watch some bad excuse for singing or some daft dancing.

Yes the invention of Sky + and Freeview/Digital Recording means those who have it don’t miss either show but it does mean that the Beer night starting at 9pm is eaten up by having to watch the show which ever you record a later, which then means we (Well I am getting more thirsty.

But what about those without Sky plus or Freeview +? Well they are are stuck! What is more annoying is the BBC is paid for by the viewer using the licence fee, for those outside UK think of the Television licence as a subscription you have to pay. Another annoyance is in the UK you must have a Television Licence in order to watch all channels although on the BBC use the fee to fund their programming, it also applies to listening to BBC Radio stations too!

Whats even more annoying

Simon Cowell, Judge of X Factor and also the man behind X Factor’s production company is willing to talk to ITV about moving the show out of the slot so it would mean that Strictly doesn’t clash with X Factor. The BBC is stubbornly not moving Strictly because they are out for viewing figures! Does it matter? We pay for thier programmes where as ITV and all other channels are supported by advertising revenue. So it’s pointless the BBC will not loose out by moving Strictly. It’s just the BBC trying to get a bigger Audience Share it matters to the board no doubt.

The BBC have even moved to starting Strictly 30 minutes. earlier than X Factor in a move (in my opinion) to net the viewer share for the X Factor!

But seeing as neither channel are willing to budge then we are left to make the choice that viewers of both shows can’t make. Do you prefer Simon Cowell, Dani Minogue, Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and Dermot O’Leary, or Bruce Forsyth, Tess Daly, Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman, Alesha Dixon, Craig Revel Horwood and a set of Scarsly clad dancers with a group of total novice celebrities.

At least Xtra Factor (Yes you got it X Factors little brother) on ITV 2 has a 1 hr time shift so we can still watch the adorable Holly Willoughby.. at least that brightens my Saturday night anyway!

All I know is it nearly comes to blows about who has the remote control in our house on a Saturday night.

Top marks BBC… (I’m being Sarcastic)

Heres a couple of Video’s of X Factor and Strictly Which do you prefer??

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoAfXc-g7_M

Thanks to the BBC Youtube Channel

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHyL8sD7XfQ

Thanks to Fitrut for this video From Xtra Factor “This man needs some series mental help but hey it takes alsorts”!

Until next time…

Whats this all About?

Welcome to

Billboblaggins.com, I’m Bill (not a Hobbit and don’t live in Middle Earth). So why Blaggins… Well life is strange, things happen and mostly we don’t notice it. We are left then to have to work with life and sometimes we have to simply “Blag it”! This is a place just to spill my thoughts about anything and everything from what really irritates me or what really makes my mind tick.

What I hope to write about?

A bit of Celebrity Happenings

News Items

Politics

Religion

Music

TV and Media

Emotions and Psychology of life!

The list is endless and will change regularly, I hope to make a place for a bit of everything if you know what I mean?

Not just another pointless place to republish news articles!

No! What makes this site different in my opinion is that each and every article you see on this site will be written by me and will be MY view on what I see, and I admit now that my opinions are sometimes not very “PC” but they ARE honest. I have no intention of “Slagging people or subjects off. I simply like to share my views and hope I entertain you in the process?!?

The site is totally organic, I intend to begin writing and see where things lead. It will have some structure but it is not a sole focused “Niche” Site. Literally taking what life throws up in my face and writing about it, whether it be A massive Rant or venting my annoyance at something. It is all real.. A Trip into my Mind.

I write a “Niche” Blog over at Great Britains Past and Present and will continue to write to the two sites. Think of this site as a personal journal with a difference.. I will aim to update this site every day or two. I would love to hear your opinions on what I am writing whether you like it or hate it you can mail me through the Contact Page RSS is all up and running also there is an option to subscribe to my updates by email.  This service is provided by Google Feedburner and a link to that is at the top of the site.

And Finally…

I really hope you enjoy visiting, reading, there are many updates to come and hope you enjoy them all if you have any ideas for content please let me know and I will add them, eventually I would like to set up a “Guest Author” section the Worlds the Oyster as they say.

“The Mind is a weird thing lets see where it takes us.

Until The Next Time…..