United States

I wrote a thread last week and in that thread I mentioned how "Heart Of The Matter" is my Anthem, written by (Don Henley And J. D. Southers) the song is about forgiveness, and AGAIN I find myself a bit of a hypocrite in it the practice of forgiveness and understanding. I said in that thread that one should try to live their life without regrets. Well I have regrets about some of the post's that I made last week. I am not going to make excusses I would just like to take this opportunity to apologize to all of you and especially Mark Phillips, even tho we both speak the English language I believe our cultures are so different that it is easy for us to mis-understand each other.
Mr. Phillips I hope you can except my apology.
I am a very proud citizen of the United States Of America and sometimes can take offense to what people say about our country, and I probably misunderstood some of your meanings. The words I said to you were hurtful and I am sorry I typed them and also some of my threads sounded whiney regarding the Hurricane recovery down here.
I am glad to say that we are in recovery mode here, they just started to rebuild the beaches on the Island (Galveston) there are still some people living in tents but Fema is just now starting to help with the clean up of some of the harder hit areas, as you all know FEMA over reacted at the Katrina response and just started throwing money at the situation and in Ike's response they did just the opposite they under reacted while a lot of people suffered and that is hard to watch when you are there, coupled with the news, economic downturns people losing their jobs right at Christmas time (my wife works at U.T.M.B. Galveston) and we sat on pins and needles wondering in limbo if she would be layed off, she was one of the lucky ones.
All I can say is thank God for music, it is food for my Soul!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well-spoken, JH. No worries, my man. We all jump the gun occasionally...well...at least I have a time or two...LOL...It's good to recognize & rectify it, when you can.

I know you been stressed J. But you are a gentleman for comming foreward this way. I am proud to share a little of MY STATE with the likes of you.

J-Haley is a gentleman and a fine guitarist. Later...

J-Haley is a gentleman and a fine guitarist.

Agreed.

....but his avatar blows!

Black Hole Sun, won't you come
And wash away the raaaain...

Thanks for your understanding and continued patient, and thanks for the nice things you guys have said, I really felt bad about the things I said about Mark Phillips and I will never ever post while consuming spirits again, (well I'll try) and if I do I will watch my tongue.
Hey Crip I'll work on my avatar.LOL

Greetings Yankee cousins,
I hadn't realised I had triggered so much consternation till I found a message from J. Haley on the UK thread today.
It had never even occured to me that anything had been said that someone would later feel they had to appologise for... all just good across the pond banter to me, and I am a bit of a wind-up merchant so I was probably getting my just deserts!
I have also noted, that email lures us into spurious assumptions, from which we read what we believe we're reading!

So a merry Christmas to everyone across the pond!
Mark...................

Glad to see you coming back on the forum Mark, I thought maybe we scared you off. Happy holidays!

Hello Bob,
And a merry Christmas to you across the pond; I am sitting in front of a log fire with my dad and my daughter, while my wife Annie is at work keeping us and the UK going!

I wasn't scared off, being not thick-skinned, but fairly much impervious to derision... I think I did wonder for a day or two if the USA side was a bit too sensitive for my rather more explicit approach, and so I kept to our side of the pond for a day or two, but as all the same correspondents post on both sides there is little point getting fussed.

It is grey and dry here Bob, and cars drone past to east and west along the A267 between Eastbourne and Tunbridge Wells; they sound slow and uncertain if they really want to be where they are headed.
In an hour we will be off to take my five year old daughter round to entertain the nuns and old folks at the priory where my wife works as a nurse... then tonight we eat Chinese style crispy duck (my wife is asian) as we had chicken last night.

Not a flake of snow to be seen this Christmas, though we had a bit a month ago; tomorrow it gets colder though, as the wind swings round to come from Eastern Europe and southern Russia... snow perhaps? We will see!
Cheers Bob,
Mark.........................

Snow? Whats snow?
Mark if your wife is a nurse she must be an angel as well.
Being a nurse in the States really sucks most of the time.
God Bless her. (do not take offense bro)

Hello Mr Shoeheel,
I never take offence, I just keen causing it!
Yes my wife was on shift this morning round at the priory nursing mostly critical old people... though she is no angel, as you suggested she must be!
I am no expert, but it seems that in the UK in our dear old creaking NHS, that some people become a nurse and love it for life, while others get fed up after a year or so... horses for courses I guess!
There is a famous nurse at the Priory called Angie Dawson; she is the wife of an airline captain, but she arrives early for her shift, and leaves late, and sometimes tells my wife to get off home early and she will finish up... she just loves every minute, and she's actually the nicest sanest woman I have met in my life!

Why does nursing in the US suck so badly?
I imagined it was all fantastic private hospitals funded by huge insurance policies, with vastly paid nurses driving Cadilacs?
Please enlighten me?
My wife earns £6.80 ($14?) per hour, but our fairly generous socialist government gives back a working family, a tax credit that tops up her salary a bit each month.
Cheers to all on this Christmas evening at 18.51

ps. It sounded like I said my wife is in the NHS (national health system), but she works for a Catholic charity run primarily by unpaid but well qualified nurse nuns (imagine working for just a wooden bed in a tiny room!); but NHS doctors come in to treat patients, and sometimes an NHS ambulance takes a patient on one of his or her final rides!
Though many die on the ward with my wife singing to them... she has that effect on me sometimes!