US Election 2012

So, as we all should now know, Barack Obama was re-elected as US President for another 4 years. Many celebrated the news but some were less than enthusiastic about the result.

My opinion? If the majority of American people wanted Obama to remain president then so be it, they have the right to vote and they made their decision. They obviously believe he is the right man for the job and for solving some of America's worries. On the other hand though, maybe he got the majority vote purely because he was the better man. Whether or not people think he is up to the job, he is obviously a much better person than Romney and therefore got the majority vote.

Over here on the other side of the Atlantic, elections and the voting process differ vastly. For starters we always have three main parties running for election rather than the standard Democrats or Republicans over in the states. I've also noticed that the Americans vote using these digital voting booths which record each vote. I suspect this makes the whole vote counting process much quicker and accurate. Over here, we use the standard paper and pencil. We mark a little box next to our chosen candidate and pop it into a safe like chest. These chests then get emptied and the votes counted by hand. As you can imagine, this can be slightly inaccurate and a recount is always required. For a country as small as ours compared to the states, this process works fine and isn't too time consuming.

We also do not vote for who we want to become Prime Minister. We vote for who we want to be our local MP, or member of parliament. This MP obviously belongs to a party. When an MP is elected by it's local people, they gain a "seat" in parliament for their party. All of these seats are added up and as soon as a particular party gets the majority of seats they obtain power. The leader of this party then becomes Prime Minister. The next highest number of seats means the corresponding party are the "Backbenchers".

Unfortunately, what happened here in our last election was that neither the Conservatives or Labour gained the majority vote. We then had what's called a hung parliament. The next largest seat holder after these two parties was the Liberal Democrats. This meant that the Conservatives or Labour had to convince the Liberal Democrats to work with them in a coalition government. Once this happens, the relevant party would add the Liberal Democrats seats to theirs, meaning they would then have the majority needed to take power. The party with the most seats out of the two within a coalition would award their leader with the PM position, whereas the second party in the coalition would award their leader with Deputy PM.

We ended up with a Con-Dem coalition, making David Cameron our PM and Nick Clegg the Deputy PM. I won't go into my opinion on this because I'll be here all day and the post was supposed to be about the US elections.

When I first looked at how much money the parties in America spend on the election process I was really shocked. I mean, $3B just to get elected to power? Don't you have enough debt to sort out than adding your election bill to it! I see why they spend so much though, most of it goes on advertising in "swing states" - the states that are always undecided and make all the difference when it comes to voting.

The US takes election a lot more seriously than us. Live debates I think are a brilliant way to allow the voting population to hear what each candidate has to say about key topics. We have live debates in the UK but they're not nearly in the same league as the ones over in the US.

So, Obama has been granted another 4 years to try and sort out the problems with the US. I think the most important points are unemployment and the economy. If he can sort those two issues out then I think his reign may go on for another term after this. We'll see how he performs. Good luck Barack, you have a huge task on your plate.

Unexpected

I've just been on the M.E.N website, searching through archived news reports (don't ask why, because I have no idea) and I came across an article that really shocked me. It was detailing how someone that I used to go to school with, and sort of knew, had been jailed for 2 years for possession and supply of Class A drug, MDMA. 

It really made me realise that you never truly know someone. I mean, I wouldn't say he was the ideal student, like anyone he would have his moments and "act up", haven't we all done this? I would never have thought this would happen though. It's a scary reality, can you trust anyone anymore, do you really know someone as well as you think? All of these questions have now been thrown into my mind and I can't stop thinking things through over and over again. 

In reality, I shouldn't let such a story affect me so much. I mean, I hardly knew the guy, but I went to school with him, even had lengthy conversations with him every now and again and seeing his mugshot in a news article explaining his crimes was, quite frankly, extremely shocking.

Oh well, life is life and stuff happens all the time that we would least expect to. My circle of friends may be rather small, but it is full of people I care for dearly and would trust with my life. I like that about my circle. Although there isn't may of us, I can always count on them for anything that may crop up.

Anyway, it's time for my daily dose of YouTube before heading to sleep. On the agenda tomorrow is getting my tyre repaired/replaced. It has a slow puncture and the car is now gulping my fuel. I hope that once the tyre is sorted my fuel consumption will reduce somewhat.

Here's hoping...

Another day at the office

This mornings routine:

• Wake up, groan at the time and fall back to sleep
• Alarm goes off, groan once more at the time and fall back to sleep
• Alarm goes off again. Pull self out of bed and shuffle to the bathroom
• Wash face, brush teeth and sort hair (or attempt to)
• Shuffle back into the bedroom and get dressed
• *Walk* down the stairs to the kitchen, a vast improvement on the shuffle
• Eat breakfast
• Pack bag for the day with lunch, snacks and drinks. Also important to pack tea supplies
• Put on coat
• Get in the car, start the engine, switch on Real XS and drive to work

The above is my daily routine, not just this mornings as the title may have suggested. You didn't need to read it, I merely added it for effect. To break the ice! (remember my first post?)

Happy Days

Work was a very happy place to be today. Full of joys and jubilation.  The contact centre has turned 1 and everyone was in high spirits. There was free cake and snacks, as well as a raffle for some goodies! It's strange to think that it only feels like yesterday that the ribbon was cut on the new site and we all poured in for the first time. It just goes to show how quickly time flies!

Head Shave

One of my colleagues took part in a sponsored head shave today. I won't post the pictures for his privacy as I haven't asked permission but it was an event enjoyed by all spectators. He did have quite long hair so it was a stark contrast to the norm. Surprisingly, the new do suits him quite well - he also raised just under £200 so a big well done!

Scary Moment

This evening my cat escaped the house and went on a little adventure. I wouldn't mind, but for the fact she is completely deaf. We keep her in because of this and so she isn't seasoned to the outdoors. As you can imagine, I was petrified that she was going to get run over or lost. 

She gave us the run around for at least an hours before eventually just waltzing in, as if nothing had happened and we were just being silly! The cheek of her!

Anyway, I'm glad she's safe and sound, tucked up in bed with me as I type. She has her flaws but I wouldn't be without her. She's like a best friend to me and I don't care how silly that sounds. Owners get a real strong bond with their animals and in some way I feel connected to her. Here's a picture of her in all of her beauty.

Her name is Belle, in case you were wondering.

Alas, we're at the end once again

Once more, that's another day over and the key moments condensed into a manageable post for reading. Tomorrow is going to be good, it's the last day of the week, I'm on an early shift and I have the whole weekend to look forward to. Although I am doing some overtime on Sunday for a little extra moolah.

Ciao for now.

All Hallow's Eve

Alas, tonight is All Hallow's Eve. The time when all children congregate on your street and furiously knock on your door, one after another, trick or treating their way to a late night vomit.

I have to admit thought, some costumes were actually really decent and some of the children were adorable. My best of the night though was this little girl, probably only around 4 years old, with her mum and dad. She was dressed as a witch and said the usual "Trick or Treat" when I answered the door. I thought I'd play a little game with her and bring out some of the fun involved. I said to her, "we're all closing up now, but if you say the very magical word I might just be able to conjure some up for you". Bless her, the first word out of her mouth was "please". Manners, I like this one.

"Not quite, but please is always nice. It's a really special magical spell and only the most powerful witches can cast it. Are you a powerful witch?", "Yeahhhh, I'm the powerfullest witch ever!" was her reply. Adorable. "Okay, it's two words, and it's a really powerful spell so I'll need your help with it. I'll give you the first and you say the next. OK?", "OK". "Abra...", "KADABRAAAA!" she shouted, jumping up and down. I couldn't resist any longer so held out the tub and let her choose. She only picked the one! More manners, I like this a lot, you don't see much of it in the youth these days. I urged her to take more because she was my last customer of the evening. With that she took a handful, smiled, said a big thank you and went off on her way. 

She made my night!

It made me think that there is still hope for humanity. As long as we have the polite, caring ones in society it can rebuild itself and carry on if all else fails.

That's me for the night, Peer of the Year gets announced at work tomorrow and top prize is a Nexus 7 tablet so I'm gunning for the top. Let the battle commence!

Charity

So, I wanted to make this post all about charity work. It's fresh in my mind because I have taken part in a mass charity event at work today. My workplace supports The Rainbow Trust (http://www.rainbowtrust.org.uk/) which is a fantastic charity that helps young people with disabilities. Earlier in the year we met with a representative from Rainbow and discussed what we wanted to do over 12 months and set a realistic target of £6,500 to be raised.

Since this meeting, 3 of our staff members successfully completed the Three Peaks Challenge. We've done the Manchester 10k and people have had sponsored head shaves/leg waxes, etc. Today was another fund raising day. It is the site's 1 year anniversary so we decided to commemorate the event by raising as much as we could towards our total.


Myself and two others donned the suits of Zippy, George and Bungle from the children's TV show, Rainbow. I spent around 2 hours in this suit in total, running round collecting money from people, having pictures taken and generally having a good laugh. It is extremely hot inside these suits by the way. Someone should create a weight loss program that specifically consists of wearing these suits all day - the amount of weight you'd drop through sweat is unthinkable! 

Anyway, the day went down a storm. We've not actually had chance to total up the donations just yet but I am immensely proud of my workmates and their generosity!

Government and charity
In my opinion, the Government don't do enough to support charities. In fact, they hardly do anything at all bar make it easier for people to locate the genuine from the fake. There must be some spare cash they can donate each year to charities. This shouldn't be out of the public pot either, it should come from the corporation taxes and the sponsorship they get from private organisations.

It doesn't even have to be much, after all it is the thought that counts.

So it begins

I thought I'd start with a brief introduction about me, my career, hobbies, etc. This should swiftly and harmlessly bypass the dreaded "ice-breakers", you know those silly conversations that new employers make their new recruits engage in. I find ice-breakers truly uncomfortable. I am much happier being left to my own devices and making allies/foes on my own. Thanks for the attempted assistance, however.

About Me

Name: Nathan Cashman

Age (at time of writing): 20

Job Role: Second Line Technical Fault Analyst

Drive: Yes. A Citroen C3 (don't dare make jokes, I've heard all of them before)

Relationship: Yes. Baby numero uno en route.

My Job

I work for a well know telecommunications provider, delivering second line support for all technically related issues. These issues range from a simple log in problem with an email address, to a faulty cable within a telephone exchange. No two days are exactly the same and this is what I love most about my job. I interact with many different people each day, whether I'm speaking to them over the phone or replying to their emails.

Sometimes the going gets tough, like everything. I just look past the hard times, seek out ways to improve the situation and just get going. I do genuinely adore my job and I wouldn't change it for the world. I have only been there just over a year but I have never felt so happy to walk through those office doors each morning (immensely sad, I know).

Relationship

I've been with my girlfriend for almost 2 years now and I love every aspect of her. Her body, her mind and spirit. She always does good in everything she participates in and it's great to be with her. We don't live together unfortunately, which can sometimes be a real pain. The worst part is being together non-stop for a week and then spending the next few nights apart.

When I found out I was going to be a father, I was utterly shocked. I didn't know what I was going to do and I was genuinely worried about the whole thing. I guess that's normal but I sure as hell didn't think so at the time. Sam (my girlfriend, if you hadn't guessed when I used the name) had missed her time of the month and this was the first sign of something occurring. She was almost never late. We bought a test, which conveniently had two in the pack, and both came back positive - I was going to be a father.

To be perfectly honest, I was secretly loving the idea but dominating that suppressed feeling were mixed emotions of worry, guilt and anxiety. My main worry was finances. We couldn't even afford our own home, how on earth were we going to afford an extra mouth to feed. The guilt was down to my age. For some stupid reason I felt that I had let my parents down by entering parenthood so early in my life. The anxiety was the not knowing. I hate not knowing things and this was totally out of my comfort zone.

Me and Sam talked it over to great lengths and at one stage both of our minds seemed set on a termination. Looking back, I am so glad that we did not travel this path. After finally deciding to keep the baby and give a real go of it, we spoke to the Doctor and got ourselves booked in at the hospital to see our Midwife. I'm going to fast forward a few weeks now as I am already rambling. When I attended Sam's dating scan I didn't really know what to expect. All these emotions were starting to boil again. However, the first time I laid eyes on my unborn baby, moving about within the womb I was awestruck. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

Anyway, Sam is the best part of 19 weeks now and on the 9th November we will be going to the 20 week scan. This will be the most nerve racking part of the pregnancy thus far - it is the time they check for physical abnormalities with the baby. We have already been told it is a low risk pregnancy, and all of Sam's vital readings are perfect so I don't really have any major worries. A slight worry will always be there and again I have attributed this as being "normal". Who knows what the future holds, I only hope there will be something of it left for my child to grow up comfortably and successfully. I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens.

Hobbies

In my spare time, I partake in a lot of reading. My favourite genre being fantasy. Witches, ghouls and things that go bump in the night, but all from totally imaginary worlds. I have to say, without a doubt, my favourite of these has to be The Spooks series. If you haven't heard of these then I implore you to give them a go. It's one of those stories that draws you in and keeps you there until you have read every little word and sentence. I will often stay up well into the early hours without realising, thinking to myself "I can't stop here, one more chapter". It feels like that one more chapter never materialises!

I also have a keen interest in programming and gaming, my platform of choice being my Xbox 360. Part of me sometimes feels like I'm not a real man. I hold no interest in sport, bottom of my list being football. To me, they are just a bunch of super-sized babies being paid rediculous sums of money to kick a round piece of fabric/leather/plastic, whatever it is, around some grass for 90 minutes. /Rant

Alas, the end

If you have read this far, congratulations, it looks like we will get on quite well! I thank you for taking the time to acknowledge this and delve into the life of Nath. I appreciate your time, and until I next ramble, take care.

-Nath