Giving Blood

 I was not originally going to write about giving blood today, as usually the same old stuff happens. Donate and leave basically! But today, the little pouch of blood used for samples got all blocked up and they had to stop my donation. You can't donate without this, as they fill up test tubes directly from the pouch, and later test your blood for diseases (so people don't get diseased blood transfusions). It's a pretty rare thing to happen, and knowing my luck, no wonder!

 I pretty much gave almost a whole donation too (one donation is almost a pint, your body quickly makes up for this). I just hope I don't get a big bruise on the donation site, like last time! It was huge and purple. That's what I get for having invisible veins, lol! But one good thing about giving is that I have a rare blood type. I am AB+, which only two in every hundred people have. I was told at today's session that this is a good insurance policy for me, if I am regularly giving blood, then I know there will be some of my blood type for if I ever needed it. Inshallah I don't, and who else would want a blood transfusion? But it's there to save lives when needed.

If you are interested in giving blood (it's always needed and appreciated!) then visit the NHS website at National Blood Service

Pass Plus

 Yesterday evening I did my third Pass Plus module, it was Night Driving. I have already done Town Driving and Dual Carriageways, although yesterday's session contained many dual carriageways, some with the national speed limit! I haven't gone that fast in a while, but it felt good! You have to get used to speeding up, otherwise you become a total wimp on the roads. I've seen it happen to people. Even my mum won't learn to drive now because she is afraid of driving on the road with other cars, which incidentally is pretty much what driving is all about, lol!

 I was lucky to be able to just go back to my instructor who I passed my test with. I say that because I have had many instructors. My first one, Elaine from AMC, was amazing. She hadn't yet passed her instructor test, but in my opinion is better than some qualified instructors! It's also really hard to find a good instructor when you only want a female, it really makes your search even harder. After a few more instructors I finally found Naz, of Ladies Driving School. She is so friendly, I feel like I'm with a friend in the car, best atmosphere to have really. I passed my test with her, eventually (it took me four attempts!) but she was always very supportive. Never stay with an instructor if you feel uncomfortable, it will become unbearable pretty quickly! One of my instructors, who shall remain nameless, actually shouted at me. I was quite new back then, and I feel she should have had been more patient. You are really in the wrong job if you can't stand a learner driver making mistakes!

Internet Safety

 I know not many people read my blog, but I had my brother's wedding photos up, with half the faces blanked out. Some people were not happy about this and I can only apologise. I thought it would be ok if I tried to hide faces. Also I figured my blog was safer than something like facebook, which is pretty much public. I understand you can hide certain things on there, but I notice you can still see people's profile pictures. Not as safe as they claim! One big reason that I don't use facebook. I think it's unsafe. A girl in my area was killed after meeting someone on there. You may think it won't happen to you, but you never know how carried away you could get if someone flattered you with a nice comment about your picture or something. Be vigilant!


I guess I was also embarrassed by the attention my blog was getting. I know I should get used to it if I want to be a journalist! When I first started writing this, I knew for a fact nobody was reading it. Even now I know hardly anyone comes on here.

 Yeh, you can tell I really hate facebook right? Lol! If I have real friends, I can call them or text them, I actually have their number, not their facebook page! End of my anti-social networking rant.....

Libya's Stolen Children

 A couple of months ago, Sky News were showing a documentary called 'Libya's Stolen Children', about mixed-race children kidnapped by their Libyan fathers to Libya. It just made me think a little about inter-racial marriage, it doesn't always work. I think these Libyan men come here, meet white women and they are swept away. Similarly, the white women like the exotic-ness (is that a word?) of these men. A lot of Libyan men have it in their mind that they will return home someday, even my dad is the same. It's not a good idea to marry someone like that if you don't want to leave the UK. Same with the Libyan men, don't marry a white woman if you plan on going back to Libya someday. Both parties have something to answer for, but of course kidnapping your own children is not the answer. It's also so easy to get away with it in Libya, no extradition, they can pretty much take the kids forever, because once they are there long enough, they are married off. No hope of going back to the UK after that. I do think these men should realise the importance of their childrens' mothers in their lives, they should be able to go to Libya at least twice a year to see their children. It's only fair after all the trauma they have gone through.

One mother greets her children and little grandchild in Libya

 

  It just makes me glad that my dad was not of those people who ran away with me and my siblings. I am glad we have been able to grow up in the UK, but don't get me wrong, I still love Libya, but for me it's strictly holidays only! I feel as a mixed-race person I have the option of choosing where I want to live, and the UK is most definately my home. I once had a marriage proposal from someone half English, half Libyan who had been taken to Libya by his father when he was five years old. Nothing came of the proposal, but I remember he told my dad that his mother wasn't too bothered about him and his sister being taken. Somehow I doubt this, she may have felt helpless, so didn't really do anything about the situation, but I bet you anything she missed her kids like crazy. What mother wouldn't? I am aware some mothers have done the same thing, and taken their kids, but this post is not going to cover all that.

Scottish mum Lisa Osman's son is upset after leaving his mum

 

 One particular story that touched me in the documentary was that of Lisa Osman. She was married to a half Scottish, half Libyan man. They had two children and went to live in Libya. Lisa was promised they would be able to return to Scotland if she did not like life in Libya. This turned out not to be true, and she ended up leaving Libya herself, with her two sons left behind. Some may say she shouldn't have left Libya alone, and part of me thinks that too, but we don't know what her life was like. I remember reading a comment Lisa's mum left on the Sky News site, she said she was against the relationship and thought it wouldn't be good for Lisa. Still, who thinks their children are going to be kidnapped by their own father? 

Death Row Dating and a Long Christmas

 I have recently got addicted to the Crime and Investigation channel on cable TV. So many gripping programmes about murders, murderers, missing people, details of crimes etc. I have recently gotten very into true crime, and I especially like to know details, like what motivates someone to kill, and the impact on victims families. May sound quite grisly, and I do not sympathise with criminals, but I just find these programmes really very interesting!

 Recently the Crime and Investigation channel was showing a programme called 'Death Row Dates', about British women engaged or married to men on Death Row in America. I have heard such stories before, and I really think some women just have something inside them where it thrills them to be in a relationship with a criminal, maybe even a murderer. I don't understand why though. Especially the woman who was divorced with three kids. What the hell was she thinking, getting engaged to a killer?! She might just be crazy! I was surprised to discover she allows her young daughter to speak to a convicted murderer on the phone when he calls, she can't be a very good mum if she is going to expose her kids to stuff like that. Her older daughter initially wasn't keen, but later softened when she saw her mum was serious about it. Serious or not, these women are seriously deluded. Although they sit and cry because they can't often see their incarcerated fiances for real, I actually think they enjoy the drama involved with it. I think they like sitting down and thinking, "wow! Look who I'm getting married to!"

 One of the women engaged to a killer

And of course they MUST know they will never be able to even touch the guy, nor have him present at his own wedding! It's just all kinds of ridiculous, and they honestly deserve any negative comments that come their way for being so irresponsible. What even drives someone to get a pen pal on death row? These guys are killers, they threw away their right to have friends and a life the moment they killed another person. The best thing was seeing one of the women at the end, kissing and touching her criminal husband, as he lay dead after a lethal injection. She can't say she didn't see that one coming.....

 Long Christmas Holidays! aka fed up...

 I feel like this year the mick has truly been taken out of the Christmas holidays. Not only was there an Xmas and boxing day, but because they fell on a weekend, we had TWO bank holidays, ONE AFTER THE OTHER! All I can say is, I'm glad the shops were open at least. But I do think this country generally takes the mick with Christmas holidays. Do kids really need two weeks off school? For Eid the kids have pretty much one day off and don't complain. I wouldn't stretch Eid into a long holiday either, I know I would get sick of it, a few days is enough really. Also New Years' Day should NOT be a public holiday, it's only the first day of the new year, is it really that important? Since we will be getting William and Kate's wedding day as an official public holiday, we don't really need to add even more days off to the year. I remember having a driving lesson on New Years' Day last year, because my instructor didn't see the point in celebrating it. It was fantastic, I had lovely very quiet drive through some neighbouring towns. Thank you for staying inside people, especially the chavs, last thing I ever want to see whilst having a leisurely drive is one of their neanderthal faces, lol! But regardless.....