Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

Grandad is appealing

Grandad November 24th, 2007

I have a good friend called Jonathan.

I have known him for some years now.

On February 29th 1996 he and his wife had a baby son called Jack.  A Leap Year Baby.

 baby2

Sadly, Jack had severe problems almost from birth.

I quote from their website…

The senior pediatrician in the hospital was brutal but most honest. Asked for a route map of care for Jack once he left their intensive care unit, he made it clear that there were simply no services in Ireland available to a baby like Jack. Indeed he cautioned that inadvertently Jack’s needs would threaten the marriage and certainly damage the childhood of his healthy brothers and sister. To escape this trap he advised the only way out was to take him home, then get him admitted to one of the children’s hospitals, pack his little bag and take him to the hospital knowing that they were going to abandon him. Then and only then would the State have to take responsibility for him.

Jonathan and his wife Mary Ann, couldn’t just abandon Jack to the state, so they brought him home.

They had a terrible time with lack of sleep, and no help whatsoever.  The state refused to grant any kind of aid.  So they were left to cope by themselves.

Jack died after 22 months.

Most people would grieve and move on.  But not Jonathan.  He was determined that no other parents of severely disabled children should suffer like he and Mary Ann suffered.  So he set up the Jack and Jill Foundation to provide respite care for other parents.

jandj_logo

Since then, he has worked tirelessly.  He always keeps a low profile, so few know his name. But the Jack and Jill Foundation goes from strength to strength, as sadly, its services are much in demand.

I have witnessed first-hand the work they do, and they are literally a lifeline for parents.  They do fantastic work.

But unfortunately that work costs a lot, and they depend almost entirely on voluntary contributions and fundraising.

I do what I can for them, but I am asking you to do something for me….

  • Go and ask your parents for your inheritance now.
  • Go rob a bank.
  • Go mug a granny [but not a grandad].
  • ‘Borrow’ someone’s credit card.
  • Be inventive

Make a donation.

Every little helps

I’ve been tagged again

Grandad November 11th, 2007

Our K8 has come up with a new meme.

And, bless her little cotton socks, she has passed it on to me.

She wants me to write a post that uses every tag. It’s all very well for her - she only has a few. I have loads. The cow!

Now I may be getting old but I find these difficult. I had a hard days blogging yesterday, as I had a good rant on a podcast to America. That was after I did my post on Cully and Sully.

So today I went for a ramble around the garden, trying to think of a topic. No go. There was no inspiration around the house either, and I’m damned if I’m going around the village or around the town for something so trivial.

Back in the 70’s life was a lot simpler. There were no computers or Internet, or even television so there were no memes. I had no irritating daughter in the family either. We found our pleasures in simple things. I remember learning to drive so we could go on holidays touring in the West, with no worries about flying and Global Warming. We had such simple sports as children in times past, like watching spiders spin their webs, and the designs they’d make. We’d go for rambles through the woods and have picnics of tea and spam sandwiches. We were a lot healthier for it.

Nowadays, work is the new religion and people have lost the use of their imagination. People only get worked up over celebrities and smoking out corrupt politicians. They panic over property prices and have lost sight of the soul of life.

No.

I can’t think of anything.

I elect not to do it.

I’m going to file this under Uncatagorised.

Maybe Sixty should have a bash at this?

Or how about Kirk at Just Thinkin’? I haven’t tagged him before.

And it’s a while since I annoyed Grannymar!!

tag-award

F*cking memes….

Charity links

Grandad June 23rd, 2007

I have been tagged again.

Cormac has asked me to nominate 5 charities of my choice, which is a hell of a lot better than asking for “a list of five things I wouldn’t do in front of Herself”, or whatever.

This Charity Link Meme was started by SEORefuge on May 16th.

The rules are simple, copy the list of charities and links (grab it from whomever tags you) and add your 5 favourite charities or non-profit organizations to the end (link to their sites with anchor text of the causes they champion). Of course finish things off by tagging 5 other webmasters/bloggers and then publishing the post or the webpage.

-oOo-

The big problem is that he nominated my charity of choice as his number one, which leaves me in a quandary. So what I will do is list my charities and say why I think they are deserving, even if they are already on the list below.

My first choice has to be the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation. They do great work for that forgotten niche in society - the parents of severely handicapped children. If you have a handicapped child, it is frequently a 24 hour job looking after him or her, and that is a very isolating experience. You get no respite, and damn little help from the government [the governments attitude is that there is no point in providing aid for a child under two, as it will probably die anyway. That's pushing bureaucracy a bit far].

When our Sean [my grandson] was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy they were a lifeline for our K8. They provided invaluable help and advice, but most of all, they provided respite care, so that K8 and TAT could have a day or a night off from time to time.

I have persuaded Ron to host their web site and to look after it, as their previous hoster was actually charging them for hosting [and for their domain name, which should have been free because they are a charity]. Ron didn’t take much persuading.

Another, which is already on the list is the Irish Cancer Society. Again I had the misfortune to have close experience with their work, as my father died of cancer over thirty years ago.

Yet another, which is already there is the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. This is another charity I would love to work for, but I don’t have the patience for training dogs. If I can’t get our Sandy to behave, then what chance would I have training these marvellous dogs that are a lifeline for so many.

One charity I think gets a hard time is the RNLI. The lifeboats save so many lives a year, yet it is all done on a voluntary basis. All the crews literally put their lives on the line to save others. I think the ‘Royal’ in the title tends to put people off in this country, but the RNLI make no distinction as to nationality.

Another one I admire is the Barretstown Castle [Hole in the Wall] Camp. This is the one set up by Paul Newman. This provides a break for children with cancer, and if anyone deserves a break, then they do.

So that’s my five. I’m afraid I have only actually added two, but the others are so important to me [especially Jack and Jill] that I had to give them some emphasis.

Here is the full list so far….

Now I have to find five more people to annoy.

So here goes -

  • Michele Neylon, because he is loaded and hates these tags.
  • Richard in Red Cardinal, because I haven’t heard from him in a while.
  • Ian, because if anyone knows about charity, then he does.
  • IrishFlirtySomething, to take her mind off men for five minutes
  • And finally, to prove that there is a glimmer of humanity underneath that crusty exterior [and I'm taking my life in my hands here] - Twenty Major. Come on Twenty. I know you have a rule about these things but it’s for charity!!

And if anyone wants it, here is the latest list - updatedcharitylinks.txt

Here goes

Grandad October 1st, 2006

Well, here I go.

I’m not a blogger by nature, and this is my first toe in the blogging water, as it were. I have to do some tidying up to the look of the blog for a start.

Don’t have any rants or grumps just at the moment. It’s a good day. But all that will change no doubt.