Newsletter

Who really ‘rules the roost?'

We should all reflect on the purpose of life, as we all live it to the best of our abilities with all of its ‘trials and tribulations'. However, life is not that straight forward, not just because of our doing, but because of someone else's intervention which upsets the so called ‘apple cart', which of cause, most people can do without and certainly do not want!

If you as a responsible person had full control of life, for yourself and your family, life would be easy; however, things don't always go to plan. I.e. when you are on the receiving end of ‘things going wrong', life can become intolerable especially because of unruly antisocial behaviour from yobs or those who have no respect for other people, their property or the law.

The Two Oak Trees

The two oak trees towered above the other trees as they stood guard over the hillside above the stream for hundreds of years. Their shade provided a patch of coolness the hot summer days, and their acorns provided abundant food for the squirrels during the long cold winters. One day in early summer I noticed a small crack in one of the trees. Over the following weeks the crack became deeper and wider. An ice storm the previous winter had deposited an inch thick layer of ice on the branches. The wind storm that spring had added to the stress on the tree and it began to crack. As time went on I found I could fit my hand into the crack, then my fist, and eventually a splinter about a foot wide and six feet long separated from the tree. Over the following weeks that summer I could measure the widening gap as the tree leaned farther and farther out over the hill. The ominous creaks and cracks and pops and groans emanating from the tree became more frequent until one night the tree was giving out almost constant noise, and I could see the crack getting larger by the hour. That night, about three in the morning, the tree fell with a mighty crash. The following day I examined the tree and discovered that although it looked solid on the outside, the heart of the tree had rotted about halfway through its massive four-foot girth. The tree could have stood for another two hundred years if it had not been for that ice storm followed by the wind storm. Those two events, added to the tree's own massive weight contributed to its downfall. The tree was rotten at its heart, where it needed to be strongest to withstand the stresses it had to endure.

Production:

The Kemnay Newsletter is produced by Kemnay & District Community Association for and by the People of Kemnay. It is distributed each month to approximately 2150 homes in and around Kemnay.

We are always looking for interesting local articles.
If you would like anything included please note that the closing date for both copy and advertisements is the 23rd OF THE MONTH.

Now that I'm Older ...

God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Now that I'm older (but refuse to grow up) here's what I've discovered:

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests itself:

I decided to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the hall table. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, sort the bills from the junk, put the junk mail in the bin under the table, and notice that the bin is full. So I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the rubbish first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the post box when I take out the rubbish anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take out my chequebook that is on the table, and see that there is only one cheque left. My extra cheques are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the bottle of soda that I had been drinking. I'm going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the soda aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the soda is getting warm and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the soda, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye – they need to be watered. I set the soda down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, we will be looking for the remote, but nobody will remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the lounge where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I splash some water on the flower's but most of it spills on the floor. I set the remote back down onto the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm bottle of soda sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one cheque in my chequebook, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys. Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

If The Earth….

Serious Scam Warning

Below are the details of a scam currently doing the rounds.
The Police have requested that as many people are alerted as possible. Unfortunately it's a genuine scam. The reason this is working so well is that it plays on your good will!

Picture the scene: - You are sitting at home and there is a knock at the door. On answering It you are confronted by a respectable looking woman in a suit, who is slightly distressed. She explains that her car has broken down further down the road and she needs to contact her husband to come to her aid. Is it at all possible to use your phone to call him?

You allow her to use the phone, but being the suspicious type you stand with her as she makes the call. She dials the number and asks to be put through to Mr Smith/Brown/Stevens (whatever). She holds the line for about 30 seconds and then continues, "In that case can you ask him to leave the meeting for a minute I need to speak to him quite urgently." She apologises to you again and explains they are getting him out of a meeting.

A couple of minutes go by and she starts to speak to her husband, she explains the situation to him, tells him that she is annoyed because she now can't get to her meeting, and asks what should she do now. She listens for a few seconds and then says "Well as soon as the meeting finishes can you come to (whatever your street name), where the car has broken down. Another few seconds go by, "OK, I'll see you in about 20 minutes then."

She puts the phone down and thanks you ever so much for your assistance, even offering you a pound for your trouble, but of course you decline, saying it's no trouble. She leaves and everything is fine, or is it?

The day or week before knocking on your door she has set up her own PREMIUM RATE Line with a telephone company at a cost of about £150.00, and she has dictated that calls to that number should be charged at £50.00 per MINUTE . She has dialled that number. The conversation she has had with her husband is entirely fictitious, there is a pre-recorded message on the other end of the phone to give you the impression she is speaking to someone. She has been on the phone for about 5 minutes. That Call just cost YOU about £250.00, the majority of which goes into her pocket., and the first you know about it, is when you get your phone bill a month later!

To rub a bit of salt into the wound, she hasn't even committed a criminal offence! You gave her permission to use your phone.

There have been 5 occasions in Luton where this has been reported in the last couple of weeks.

Would anyone reading this please pass it on to friends and colleagues etc. (note*), otherwise it could cost someone a lot of money

note* = Please do not start an E-Mail chain as this constitutes a virus in itself!

Below are some the articles which have appeared in the Newsletter. There are many different subjects, but are all worth reading!

From time to time special editions of the newsletter have been printed most notably the 300th anniversary edition which was produced in June 2005. The 300th edition featured the first ever Kemnay Newsletter in it's entirety along with some insights into what it took to produce in the beginning.

Not quite sure we'll get all the entries transcribed here, but from time to time volunteers might add some of their favourite articles in here

It was with sadness that I read in the June [2002] issue of the Newsletter about the hunter and his two sons who searched for a wolf. Having found her they killed her and the two cubs she had been protecting.

This did not seem to be a case of self defence - but hunting in order to kill. It is a form of blood sport which is cruel. I am well aware that wild animals are dangerous; but there are always two sides to a coin as the following true story will show.

I read recently of a wolf who had been very badly wounded. He found his way to a ranch where he sought refuge in the hollow of an old oak tree which was near the house. Mary, the three year old child of the house found him, gave him bowls of water and cradled his head on her small lap.

Her mother and one of the hands came to see him; they did not kill him but sent for the veterinary surgeon who injected him to deaden the pain. He returned the following day and operated on his shattered hip. Ralf, as Mary named him, recovered but was lame for four months. He was devoted to Mary and they went for short walks.

Ralf was sad on the day the bus came to take Mary to school. He lay in the yard till the bus returned and Mary came out. Great was his joy. He lay in the yard like that all the years of her school life. He and Mary were inseparable When they were both 15 years of age, he returned from one of his spells away - again wounded but not so seriously as when he was a young wolf. He did not recover and was buried in one of the fields. Mary missed him as she would have missed a faithful dog. He had however, brought one of his cubs to the ranch where he had been loved and cared for. There the cub grew up in safety.

To my mind - this is a TRUE heart-warming story - a story I will never forget.