Zombies, Zombies Everywhere

Ok so there are no zombies, I'm just getting hyped up for the new season of The Walking Dead (which isn't even until the middle of October). Kinda weird since I've never liked zombie movies or shows - Vampires and any other horror stuff yes, zombies, not so much. But then again it's not too surprising since Frank Darabont had a big hand in it and he was behind some of my all time favourite movies: The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Unfortunately it seems that he's now parted ways with the show. It's also kinda weird that I like the shows since I will always picture Andrew Lincoln who plays the lead role of Rick Grimes as dweeby Egg from the UK series "This Life".

In other Zombie related news, apparently Brad Pitt's controversial adaptation of "World War Z" is partly going to be filmed in nearby Glasgow's George Square (filling in for Philadelphia -wtf? - hey ho, hope it brings some much needed cash flow to the city). We also apparently have "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" based on the book reworking by Seth Grahame-Smith to look forward to that may or may not star Keira Knightly, erm, wasn't Natalie Portman signed up to do something like that way, way back? I always get those two actresses confused for some reason anyway so no matter.

Pride, Prejudice and Zombies Cover Poster
by quirkclassics

More official gear here.

Anti-Bullying Campaign steps up a gear.

Though I can't profess to like "Jedward", I do have to applaud them and other celebrities for stepping up and offering their time and fame free of charge for the current campaign by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC). Jedward, along with other including Louis Walsh (the nicer version of Simon Cowell) stepped up and had makeup applied to make them look as though they had been physically beaten for the new campaign on Anti-Bullying. And while the campaign has been the inception of the Irish charity, it's impact will surely be equally as beneficial across the UK.

That being said, I do think it kind of misses the mark on non-violent bullying, which can be in person or cyber-bullying. I have personally been bullied 3 times in my life and only one of those times was it physical. In fact, since I was an adult on the other two occasions, I didn't even realise that was being done to me WAS bullying. I had to be told that that is what it was when I sought counselling for the way I felt as a result of it.

I was bullied in the workplace (a professional workplace environment) by the three other girls who were in the same team as I. So what happened and what made it bullying? It started out small, the three of them discussing work strategies at coffee breaks whilst I was off in the smoking room and then dictating the plan of work to me when I returned; having whispered conversations between themselves to deliberately exclude me; not replying when I walked in to the office/lab each morning and said "Good Morning". Over a period of around 9 months it continued and progressively deteriorated to a point where not one of them would talk to me on a personal level at all right down to where they would not talk to me about even the most important of work issues. On more than one occasion, the leader of the bullying trio became very aggressive and abusive towards me - for not cleaning up after her. Though I went to management twice about the problem and even asked my Union representative for advice, nothing was done and it got to the point where I could no loger cope. I was off work for the next 5 months. During that time, management decided what they should do about the situation - move me to another group. Nothing happened to the three bullies and in essence, since payment and promotion depend upon performance, I was the one that was penalised - firstly because of my absence and secondly because I had to start builing up my professional reputation and standing in the new team of people whom didn't know me, what I had done previously, or what I was capable of. When I did return to work, I was placed in the office/lab right next door to the bullies, with a connecting door between the two. I had to go and clear my own desk in my old office space and move my own PC. The day I did that, I stayed in work until 7pm so that I could go into my old office area AFTER they had left for the night. Later in time at a work's social function, one of the bullies had the nerve to come up to me abd berate me for doing that, telling me how awkward I made it for THEM by coming back to work. I tried to put it all behind me but passing those three girls in the corridor every day or in the canteen was hard. After a while I managed to be able to smile to them when I passed them but until the day I left, I got nothing but an evil look from the ringleader. The bullying was a big contributing factor in why I lost my job. I never fully got over the incident or how the girls had just gotten away with it. After I was sacked on health grounds as being incapable of doing my job (yeah 12 hour days without overtime to help the team makes me incapable) I tried to take the company to an employment tribunal. Funnily enough, not one person that had witnessed the bullying could remember anything about it, others had moved on to work at other companies and basically it left me with no corroboration. The fact that I had said I was happy in my new team counted against me. The counsellor whom I had seen at the time had destroyed her notes on the case. It did come out in the communications between myself and the company however, that the manager to whom I spoke to twice about the bullying during the time that it was happening didn't take it seriously and decided not to do anything about it! The same manager had blocked my getting a promotion some time after the bullying had taken place, citing my sickness absence as the reason.

To know that management as much as condoned the bullying, and knowing that I was the one penalised for it still  makes still feel sick to this day whenever I pass the building I used to work in. I don't go to the grocery store at lunchtimes or immediately after working hours because I know that some of my former colleagues may be there at those times.

Bullying is not just a physical thing and it's not just kids that do it. Bullying ruins lives. Let's stamp it out.

Anti-Bullying Alliance UK
Beat Bullying UK
No Bully USA
National Bullying Prevention Center USA
Bullying. No Way! AU

Stop bullying badge	Take a Stand Poster
Stop Bullying Stickers	STAMP Out Bullying SHIRT
Dignity Wins	BULLYING SURVIVOR

Consumer Rights - Warning for UK Residents - Thermal Roof Coating

In a weak moment, I was conned into having work done to the roof of my house by a ruthless company of rougue traders. The work was shoddy, the product ineffective and it took around 9 months to have my roof look resonably acceptable. The company? AQUASHIELD, based in Glasgow, UK but operating under the guise of a national company by using multiple franchises. After/during my experience I wrote and article over at Squidoo to warn others in the UK about this company and the sneaky ways in which they manage to escape any recourse for their unscrupulous methods. They are now operating as PROTEX THERMAL SOLUTIONS and PROTEX ENERGY SOLUTIONS, THERMAHOME, PV SOLAR and FREE ELECTRICITY 4 U.

The company phones me on a weekly basis, even though each time I tell them that I KNOW they are Aquashield and that I want my telephone number remover from their list - it is now bordering on harassment.

A full account and photographs of the terrible experience that I AND many other people have had can be read at: http://www.squidoo.com/AquashieldCowboys

Please do not let these people sucker you or your loved ones into having any work done.

The new company claims on their website "For your total and absolute peace of mind Protex is a reputable company and has over 30 years experience in the roof and wall coatings and UPVC replacement industry." Yet the "Protex Thermal Solutions" company was only formed in February 2011:

And "Protex Energy Solutions" in May 2011:

What they fail to say on the website(s) is how the previous companies owned by the same people were HIGHLY disreputable and how they simply operate multiple franchises in order to get out of fixing their mistakes or refunding customers.

Inspired by my boyfriend

My boyfriend was over here in Scotland for 6 months from the USA and he LOVES cooking out on the grill/barbecue. Even when it was cold or raining, we'd eat from the grill 2-3 times a week. So when he'd gone back home and I got back to designing for my zazzle store, I suddenly became inspired to create a couple of barbecue designs.

The first was a little cartoon back yard BBQ scene that I then used as a 4th July invitation and in another of my stores as a cute children's party invite:

The second design was more of a cheeky little dig at my bf since whenever he cooked for anyone over here they went crazy about how good his food was - even the fussiest of eaters enjoyed and devoured his food! Of course on the product the text can be changed so no-one has to work around with my bf's name on their shirt, lol. I'm not sure if he's managed to see the design yet but he was flattered when I told him about it on messenger.

Not really, but .....

It is not very widely know that Scottish Bagpipes are actually animals. In fact, they are a form of cat that make a vey high-pitched wailing noise when angry. The animal has a very unusual pelt, ofetn brightly colored and featuring a number of stripes in a grid-like pattern. As it's such a ferocious beastie, many Scotsmen like to catch Bagpipes and exhibit them in a manner akin to lion tamers in order to show off their own machismo however the bagpipes take serious offense to this and let their feelings be known very vocally indeed! On rare occasions some Scotswomen also tame Bagpipes. In order to prevent the captured bagpipes from making an escape, three of their legs are often tethered with a tassled rope.

Bagpipe Tamer Funny Cartoon Vector T-Shirt
by ArtformTheHeart

Rising Petrol Prices

I got this email about petrol prices in my inbox today. I'm not convinced that the idea will work, people tend to put convenience over saving a few pennies, but nonetheless I think it's a good idea and worth sharing. For my part I don't purchase petrol from any of the big sellers anyway.


Here is an interesting idea to think about (and act upon?)...unless you've already received the same message independently!

We are hitting 129.9 pence a litre in some areas now and soon we will be faced with paying £1.50 per litre. So Philip Hollsworth offered this good idea:


This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the 'don't buy petrol on a certain day campaign' that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to hurt ourselves by refusing to buy petrol. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work.


Please read it and join in!

Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a litre is CHEAP, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS - not sellers control the market place. With the price of petrol going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come down is if we hit someone in the pocket by not purchasing their petrol! And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. Here's the idea:


For the rest of this year DON'T purchase ANY petrol from the two biggest oil companies (which now are one) i.e. ESSO and BP.


If they are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact we need to reach literally millions of Esso and BP petrol buyers. It's really simple to do!!

My first catch!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything. It kinda makes me feel guilty!! I have been busy though, so I have lots to write about even if it is a bit out-of-date now, lol.

A few weeks ago I went fishing for the very first time. I've gone quite a few times before but just watched my boyfriend and his dad fish. This time I actually took part. We went to a local lake/pond that had just been stocked with trout so it's kinda cheating; with the odds of catching something totally stacked in my favour, lol. Having said that, I did do exceptionally well!! My boyfriend cast the first line for me and even hooked the fish but he let me reel it in - I told him that it didn't count as me catching it so from then on I did everything myself. I went on to catch another 4 myself in the next hour or so!! My boyfriend wasn't fishing himself and his dad only caught one fish the whole time so I think I did pretty darn well for my first time out!! I wasn't all that keen on getting my photo taken though, since I looked rather rough that day, lol. Here's my catch though:

Fishing is Serious Business Fishing Shirt
by UTeezFishing

A week or so after the fishing expedition (lmao) we went over to War Eagle, Arkansas and visited the mill and the caverns.

The mill and surrounding scenery are really beautiful, and it was such a gorgeous day!! (I really wished that I had a better camera to do the place justice but my photography skills are, well, non-existent, so I really can't justify the expense of a quality camera.) We wandered around the mill inside and out. It seems to be a pretty darn unlucky place!!  It's been built and rebuilt four times in 1832, 1838, 1873 and 1973 due to flooding and fires!!!

After the mill, we went on to the War Eagle Caverns. We didn't go into the caverns themselves as we'd gone to do the gemstone panning at the visitor centre. I've loved gemstones since I was a kid and used to have loads of fun at the Creetown Gemstone Museum near Stranraer, Scotland (guess I was always a bit of a geek, lol). The bag of dirt for panning was around $10 and you know it's pre-loaded with a few inexpensive gems but it was still a fun experience and I did actually get excited to see the loot, lol.

Colorful Gemstones Poster
by RebeccaBrittain
Poster printing from zazzle

Anyway, now you know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth; I'm just in Arkansas, lol.