Still settling in in Juggling with Hedgehogs

I'm off work today with some weird headache/nausea virus nonsense. I'm fine so long as I don't try to stand up, or do anything energetic. If I stand up, it's like someone dropped a pile of bricks on my head, and if I move about, the nausea kicks in. So I'm staying still.

I have a couple of rants.

The first relates to my step-daughter. She fucked up my Christmas plans - I can't even be bothered to go into how - suffice it to say she's a manipulative cow.

The subject of summer holidays came up recently and she asked her dad where we go every year. He told her we've fallen in love with Turkey, we have a favourite hotel, it's cheap, it's beautiful, the weather is guaranteed, and there's loads to do.

She asked for further info, which I supplied, and left her to it. Then she said 'we should go together!' - I replied instantly 'no thanks, those days are gone, your dad and I like to take our holidays alone these days'.

She went silent.

And then she booked her holiday so it FUCKING OVERLAPS with ours.

Hello? Why would someone book themselves on a holiday where they KNOW they are not welcome?

I'm beyond livid with her.

So there's that.

In other news, I'm active with a charity called Prisoners Abroad. People who know me from OpenDiary will know why. They will also know that I have little tolerance for people who see fit to judge anyone who is spending time in prison, or has spent time in prison, at home or abroad, when they have been tried and sentenced and are being punished for their crime. I don't believe anyone has a right to add to that punishment, whether that is directly or indirectly. So I have just fallen out with my sister, who told me before corresponding with a prisoner who is dying from stage 4 cancer in an Arizona prison and is having his pain meds withheld, she would need to know what crime he committed! I told her I've been writing to this guy for a good while now, and I've never seen fit to ask him about his crime. Because a) it's none of my business and b) he's more than paid for it - he will never see the outside world again, he is going to die in that prison.

So what earthly good knowing what he did will do, I really don't know. Other than none whatsoever. I prefer to treat Jack like the human being he is, I like to get his letters, they're intelligent, witty, and he is (for obvious reasons I guess) well-read and educated.

My sister felt it was necessary to know whether or not his crime involved children, because if it did, she couldn't write to him. There followed a heated discussion - to say the least - and I came away shocked and saddened.

In the end, I pulled the plug on the original Facebook posting that caused the discussion - which was basically an advert for Prisoners Abroad, and a call to action.

I realise that in supporting people locked up in hell-holes thousands of miles from their families and friends, I have placed myself in a minority, but it's a minority I'm proud to be a part of. It's called HUMANE PEOPLE.