Jay Bird

I do wear specs but not the rose-tinted kind - honest. I came back with my eyes wide open, and I have to admit I am an optimist, hoping for things to have improved during my almost-four years in Purgatory. I am not disappointed...all those scare-stories are just that...tales from Brothers Grimm who have nothing better to do but exaggerate. Crime happens everywhere; the UK does not hold the monopoly on it. I am staying very close to where I used to live, and I honestly cannot believe the improvement. Gone are the gangs of hoodies who used to lurk at the corner of my house, gone is much of the mess and litter, gone are many of the derelict buildings and empty factories.......they're being converted into flats, or have been demolished to make way for hew housing.
Manchester city centre is so much cleaner, and still as vibrant as ever.....mind you the queues in Primark are still the same! I'm amazed at how safe I feel on the city streets.
I never used to feel patriotic, and in fact was quite scornful of others who were, but I just watched a programme tonight on the BBC called "Britain from the Air"......absolutely bloody amazing; once you learn a little about how this country works, from the water supply, to the telephone network, from transporting goods to the shops to keeping the power supply going, it makes you realise what a fantastic place this is. There's so much history and heritage right in our own backyards, and I feel quite ashamed for having taken it for granted when I lived here before. Never again.....I can't wait to get out there and explore my own country again.
I get heartily sick of people who have never lived away thinking that their own country is a pile of dog poo.....it isn't. If all those people who slag this country off would stop believing all the bad press, and just put their energy into doing something constructive, maybe they'd start to appreciate what they have

elfman

Sally Redux

I can make a quick flying report from London that England seems fine

Mally Lass

...and what about those of us who's opinions are based on real life situations, because we dont buy into the media rubbish ? (We don't buy newspapers, and rarely watch the news anymore !)

..Hmm maybe I should take up cross stitch, then maybe I'd appreciate the crap hole I live in (and yes we have lived away, extensively, many times)

Glad it's all worked out OK for you........ not everyone is in the same situation as you, and not for a want of trying !

TruBrit

tks sal, great news..... i'll be checking it out for myself tomorrow

Sally Redux

Have a great trip! xx

TruBrit

awww sorry about that, not sure of your situation but all doesn't sound too good. hope your situation improves

TruBrit

tks sal, it'll be great to get away from this dreadful summer heat and humidity. i am hoping for rain and cold weather

Sally Redux

You're just like my son, he's delighted by the rainy weather

TruBrit

the luxury of sleeping with my bedroom window open and listening to the rain...

Jay Bird

My reasons for leaving the UK when I did were also based on real-life situations.......we just couldn't take another day of stress in our own particular crap-hole, so we went back to Canada, only to find we were in a different kind of crap-hole. We dithered for a long time over whether or not to come back....based on what the media was feeding us; I now find that much of this is exaggerated. There will obviously be places where it isn't....but this is true of most countries....they all have crap-holes. As I said, this particular one has improved....why? Maybe the people here decided to do something about it and stopped blaming everyone else.

I'm sorry to hear of your own situation......I hope it improves.

TraceyW

So glad all is well back in the UK. Long may it continue

Ozzidoc

So you ARE alive - I was beginning to wonder

Fleaflyfloflum

Totally agree with you OB

I also watched that programme tonight and my hearthrob Jimmy prior to it, all about honey bees. Isnt it great to have the good old beeb and decent, interesting educational programmes to watch? I'm loving it!

Sally Redux

I'll probably be offline again for a while as my Mum lives in a street with older folk who don't have wireless to share and we couldn't connect to the phone line.