Canny lass

I’m sensing a feeling of exasperation. I understand. Should we try a spot of fishing perhaps? They seem to be biting extremely well today.

You are feeling threatened. I understand. Shall we try a spot of reading? A Short History of Decay by E M Cioran (whose mother is said to have told him that had she known how miserable he would be, she wouldn’t have given birth to him at all)! Sounds just about right for reading in these troubled times. On second thoughts, maybe not. How about Dreams1900 – 2000: Science, Art and the Unconscious Mind by Lynn Gamwell. Riveting reading!

You are unhappy. I feel your pain. Take solace in the fact that you are not alone. Millions in the world are unhappy with you. Should we look at some funny cat videos on YouTube? That usually works a treat for my grandchildren when they’re unhappy.

You are upset again. I understand. have you ever considered taking up poetry? Losing oneself in the flow of the verse can be quite soothing. Just now the local poetry group is reading the works of Kipling. Yesterday we read his wonderful poem ‘If …’, I’m sure you know it, the one that begins: If you can keep your head while all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you … Of course I read it many years ago in school but with age and experience in my rucksack it somehow takes on a whole new meaning. Do try it.

I feel the vibes of your happiness and am happy for you.

Most people answer 'the day my first child was born'. We all have our priorities.

Yes, it's free for you but you don't have to have your hair done and a new dress everytime you Skype a friend. You men have all the luck!

I don't know if this will help, Chris, but when we abandoned the house phone we bought mobile broadband 4G. Internet via the phone company cost us the equivalent of 30 quid a month and they promised a speed of 8Mbit/sec. We never managed to get more than 2Mbit/sec (between 1 am and 8am andwith the wind in the right direction) but most often it was below 1Mbit/sec giving extremely poor quality. OK, it was an unlimited amount of surfing but that's not so important for us. Internet via mobile broadband 4G costs us about 15 quid a month. The speed has never been below 23 Mbit/sec and is more often around 30 Mbit/sec. The quality is superb. However, we do not have unlimited access. We buy 50 Gbit/month and it's enough for our needs. Hubby watches a couple of hours international TV each evening via the net and surfs around about an hour a day. The grandkids probably use the same amount. We've never managed to reach the limit. We have an option of 'topping up' at extra charge should we need to, or we can buy more on a regular basis: double up (100 Gbit/month) would cost us 30 quid but we are offered a 20% discount because of our 'advancing years'. We shyed away from getting rid of the house phone for years purely because of losing Internet but we haven't regretted it. Definitely worth looking into.

Not at all, Webtrekker. The building material is a natural commodity in abundant supply all year round here in the frozen north and the council is only too happy to let anybody, resident or not, take care of it - it saves them the job - and people building and owning their igloos are saving the council the cost of building and maintenance.

No, no, no, mercuryg. It's not the jobs they are after it's the weather - more like their own.

Sounds wonderful! Myself, I'm enjoying this all too short summer here in the frozen north. Unfortunately i blinked yesterday and missed half of it! I would like to think we'll get a few more sunny days so that I don't have to start stoking the boiler but alas, I'm thinking that will NOT now happen. Only this morning I heard rumours of polar bears roaming the streets of Gothenburg and eskimos seeking residence permits in Stockholm.

I understand that you are feeling stressed. Try to relax. Think of something pleasant - w I understand that you are feeling stressed. Try to relax by thinking of something pleasant - what was the happiest day in your life for instance?

I forgot to add, we use Skype for many of our personal contacts as most of them live in other parts of the world. It works well, is cheap and it's lovely to be able to see who you are talking to or to show something you are talking about. I'd recommend it to anybody.

I sense a feeling of dispair. Try to think about something else for a while. Try one of those lovely ice-cream sandwhiches - soft ice-cream in a bread bun - that they sell in Sicily. Do they sell them on the mainland as well?

I think I'm understanding that you are irritated. Try to think of something other than politics for a while. How's the weather in Italy at the minute? Are you still caught up in the middle of a heatwave?

Have you got r(em)ain? we're singing and dancing in 28 degrees of sunshine!

Got rid of our house phone too. It was just standing there like a white elephant collecting dust. We manage just as well without. We've always had two mobiles, though. One for work and one for personal use. The work phone is, and always has been, switched off between the hours of 5pm and 9am and doesn't accompany us on holiday.The Chinese, Russians and Americans don't appear to realise that my old man lives in a different time zone to them. I worry about where the i-phone is taking today's youngsters. A few months ago I sat in a waiting room and watched two young girls, obviously friends, text messaging each other for almost 15 minutes. There was only ONE seat between them.

Many years ago i was extremely frustrated when assigned the care of delusional patients. I asked one of my nursing tutors how i could avoid this frustration. He gave me the following advice: listen to what the patient has to say acknowledge the patients underlying feelings don't engage in argument - the delusion is pathological always bear in mind that at the end of your shift your peace of mind will be restored. The patient's will not. It was good advice then and it's good advice even today. Delusional and paranoid thinking can not be influenced by discourse so I gracefully bow out of this discussion (I use the word loosely). I will listen, acknowledge underlying feelings and refrain from engaging in what is a meaningless persuit. That may also give a modicum of peace of mind to the delusional and paranoid.

They come from a patriarchal society where females are not deemed capable of making the journey. Young males, in any animal group, have a higher hierarchy placing than women and old males Working on the principle that the strongest of the species will survive, the young males are chosen to emigrate. It’s not more complicated than that.

"an establishment cover up", eh? My word you do have inside information on a lot of things - number of islamistic activists in the UK, number of rapes in Sweden, direct lines to the tory government and now this! You may just have read way too much Enid Blyton as a youngster.

In order for credibility to be compromised, credibility must first exist.

That's guaranteed to raise a few hackles.

Now, now mercuryg, give credit where credit is due. He did actually admit to not knowing something and I think that's a breakthrough worthy of applause.

MY cortisol levels are just fine. Get yours checked.

No you didn't. You claimed that the article must be correct because you knew of "direct lines to the Tory government". That does not make any newspaper article authorative. You havent yet been able to prove the existence of these direct lines or indeed that the information which they convey is correct. I await the names of these s.c. 'direct lines'