Where did it all go wrong?

What ever happened to fidelity? What happened to marriage vows actually meaning something? Since when did children become so un-important that it's become acceptable to drag them through relationship after relationship? Where did 'for better or for worse' go? Why, why, why, why, why has it become 'ok' to meet someone have kids then leave them for someone else (repeat cycle until your sexual appetite is no more)?

I ask all these questions as recently I have had two people come to me with situations I would rather not know about. Both involve extra curricular activities of a kind that you wouldn't expect from people in their situation (married, children etc).

Situation a) - Person A has been playing away from home for a period of time without their partners knowledge. Sadly Person As games partner seems to have told the whole world what's been going on. Person A now has to either tell their partner or risk them finding out from someone else. Either way the relationship is most likely going to be over even though Person A doesn't want that. You see, it wasn't just a drunken snog, it was calculated - which means they deliberately set out to do it. That makes me sad.

Situation b) - Person A is leaving Person B for Person C. Long standing marriage, mortgage, 2 kids blaa blaa blaa, the details of the situation I shan't post.

When did society make this acceptable? Was it when Blair promoted the career choice of 'Single Motherdom'. Thou shall be housed, thou shall receive money... (note I fully understand not all single mothers rely on Blair each month, but a growing number take it as their absolute right to be supported if they choose to have a child). Britain has the highest single mother rate in the developed world I believe. And that is because as a society we have made it acceptable for women to leave their husbands or vice versa, and for children to be born out of wedlock etc, although these days the vows of marriage seem not to be taken seriously.

I have children. I know that sometimes its better to be seperated and happy than together and unhappy. But I also know it is better to sort out the unhappiness and stay together and be happy.

My point of this rant - I have no idea (and I certainly have not covered every opinion that this post may ignite). To hi-lite my unhappiness with the state of the country? Maybe... Many many people manage lifelong relationships. It can be done.

theflynnmeister

Secret Ninja Practice

The PhlatBall(R) Sagas

I had a blog on an MSN space, but to comment you had to have a .net passport. Which is no good as I want people to tell me how funny I am with my literary wit.

On this blog I wrote a tale of the PhlatBall(R) that lost its Phlat. I recount these tales for you here for your enjoyment.

18th July (Part 1)

So I had my boys at the weekend and we popped in to town Saturday morning for some more Yu-Gi-Oh cards. While in WH Smiths the boys saw a Phlatball Jr for £3.99 (£1 off woohoo), so I purchased one in preparation for the afternoon trip to Dunorlan Park.

(Oh a Phlatball is ball that squashes flat and mid flight changes back to a ball).

So anyway the long and short of it is..... The boys were super excited about the flat ball, and after 10minutes of play the Phlatball broke. basically there is a spring and sucked inside connecting(or not) the Phlatball together. The idea is that the sucked sticks the sides together and the spring forces it apart....Well the sucked is permanently stuck to one of the sides, but it broke off so the Phlatball was no more.....

I e-mailed the Phlatball boys and await their response

[Email Start]
Good Morning!!!

At the weekend I purchased a 'phlatball jr' at the request of my two young sons as apparently it looked 'wicked'.
It appeared to be a suitable toy to play with in the park that we were planning to visit in the afternoon. All the way home from the shop they argued about who would carry the new toy home and when they could play with it.
As we walked to the park they had to take it in turns to carry the 'phlatball jr' as they were so excited, so much so that they had to swap almost every minute as neither could wait much longer before it was their turn. So, when we finally arrived at the park Mr Phlatball Jr was finally released and the games commenced - for about 10 minutes.
My oldest son(5yrs) noticed that Mr Phlatball suddenly was just Mr Ball..... there was no phlat left in him. On Inspection, the sucker that puts the phlat into phlatball had broken off on half of the ball so no longer could perform its duty as Chief Phlat Officer.
The disappointment was, as you can imagine, greater than being snubbed by Simon Cowell after performing your best rendition of 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'... The pain that crossed my boys faces was terrible. The only solution left for any father in this situation.............
Ice Cream and the promise of a fixed phlatball.
Its not the cost of replacing this toy, but more of the anguish it caused on my children that bothers me. Instead of taking great memories of fun with Mr Phlatball back to their Mothers, they took the story of The Ball that lost its Phlat.
A one off incident with your product.........maybe. Another sad sad customer....... definitely.
Yours
Ben Flynn

[Email end]
See the Phlatball in action - www.phlatball.com

18 July - 4 hours later (Part 2)

(If you haven't read part 1 then you really must right now!!)

So 4 hours later and a response

[Email start]

Hi Benjamin,
Thank you for your email!
Your comments are very important to us and a detailed reply will be sent very soon.
Kindest Regards,
Sharon
Phlat Ball® Customer Service

[Email end]

Watch this blog!!

21 July (Part 3)

How well the Phlatt Ball customer service started... well its been nearly 3 whole days since the first reply. Time for another email I think. Just a quick reminder that I haven't forgotten!!!!

[Email start]

Hey there
My 'detailed reply' seems to have been lost in the post, damn Royal Mail again tut tut!
Any chance you could resend it?!?
Thanks very much
Ben Flynn

[Email end]

Tally Ho!

28 July (Part 4)

I got to work this morning to be greeted by a pleasent email from the infamous Phlat Ball (R). Made me smile despite the hangover .....

They ask for me to tell them which part of the ball broke... I think I did in the first email, I will have to check. They also incinuate that I wasn't playing with the ball properly! That's naughty... I mean - what exactly is 'hitting play'?? Still there reply for your entertainment..

[Email start]

Hi Benjamin,
Thank you for your e-mail and for purchasing Phlat Ball®. We are sorry to hear that your Phlat Ball has broken.
Please know that Quality Control and Customer Satisfaction are very important to us, and that each ball is inspected prior to leaving our factory. Under the circumstances, we will be happy to arrange for a replacement Phlat Balls to be sent to you. We will send you two Phlat Ball Jr. balls, so that each of your sons will have his own ball.
Because we go to great lengths to make our products durable and to withstand the play for which they were designed, we are disappointed to hear about this and would like to learn more about how your Phlat Ball broke. Can you please let me know what part of the ball broke?
It is important to note that Phlat Ball is designed for a certain type of play. As is indicated on the back of the package, "Phlat Ball is a throw and catch toy. If you play with it in other ways, you could damage it. Phlat Ball is not designed for kicking or hitting play."
Please reply with a confirmation of your mailing address, so that your new Phlat Balls can be sent to you. We look forward to your reply.
Thank you again for purchasing Phlat Ball.
Kindest Regards,
Sharon

[Email end]

I shall suitably reply with the information that they need. Possibly this will have a happy ending. Let's hope the new ones don't break so quickly!!

theflynnmeister

The Final Reply

[Email start]

Good Morning
Thank you for your reply.
My sons will be over the moon when I tell them this exciting news.
When we were playing there was only throwing, no kicking or hitting!!!!.. But the Phlat Ball(R) may have been dropped causing the injury to itself.
I would like to think they can withstand the odd drop to the ground though! After all, what happens if Chandler Bing wants to come and play with you??!?
The part that broke: This was the 'sucker' that sticks the Phlat Ball(R) together. The part of the 'sucker' that is permanently fixed to one side of the Phlat Ball(R) broke away, thus removing the Phlat from the Ball. I hope that description is good enough for you to understand which part broke. I think it would be very difficult to take a picture but it may be something that can be achieved. I hope this fault has been a one off incident though!
My address is:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx
xxxxxx
Thank you for your help

[Email end]

The one that wouldn't send last night.

The inside of the davs. Where it all goes bad.

The end

Up early. Doh

I knew her once.

Her name is Nat and she went to the school across the road. Great.

Whats that coming over the Hill?

Is it a monster? No its a Unit :D

Let the Davs discussion commence!

Davs beckons - but who goes? I don't think Currah looks convinced!

Naughty forty

James wanted this one... sadly it was the closest he could get. I think its called the Oedipus complex or something.

Still going.

Now its getting dark. Is the flash working.

Oh dear!

It will only get worse

James' lover ant

Oh dear thats only one pint!

James

In the beggining there was james

A new beggining

So I got a new phone....

A Sony Ericsson K800i. It has a photo blog feature apparently, so therefore I am going to test it on a Thursday night in town with the boys!