Love. It's A Precious Thing...

Love. It's a precious thing.
Happy Valentines Day...

I'm Dating An Invisible Boyfriend And I Think I'm In Love...

Ladies Get Excited! Maybe even Very Excited!
You may not know it but there's a new app in town and it lets you create your own, individually spec'd  'invisible' and unique, named by you, tall dark or otherwise, man of your dreams.
Evidently some women are paying $25 a month for this app and some even think they're in love.
And why not, he'll text you, telling you things you want to hear, won't leave the toilet seat up, will be a no mess Charlie, you'll never have to clean up after him, he won't fart in bed. Or snore.
Or interrupt your beauty sleep, unless you tell him to. He'll text you while you're in a meeting so that your colleague's think you have a hot man after you and won't come on to you and he'll make you laugh and feel well, wonderful.
There's more to know here and here.
The Invisible Boyfriend could be the boyfriend to have when you don't really want to bother...

Croatia Writes Off The Debts Of It's Poorest Citizens...

The Croatian government is helping an estimated sixty thousand of its poorest people get out of debt.
To qualify for this 'Debt Jubilee' their debt must be lower than 35,000 kina which is around $5,000 and their monthly income mustn't exceed 1,250 kina, about $138. And those able to take advantage of their government's generosity will not own any property or have any savings.
Their debts are owed mainly to banks and utility companies and it's expected that the debt jubilee will cost Croatia around $4 billion but on the plus side instead of the majority of the poor's income going to money lenders, it will go to local shops and the boost in retail spending will cause a ripple effect which will increase profits and the government's tax revenues. Very clever.
It's said that going into debt is a way of mining the future for wealth. It may also mean that eventually there is no future...
This is the two thousandth blog post.

A Swedish Company Implants Microchips In Their Staff So They Can Use The Photocopier...

A Swedish company in Stockholm is implanting microchips in the hands of their staff so they can use the office photocopier, open security doors and even pay for their lunches at the office cafe.
The future is now.
And yes it's scary Mr Toffler...

Mike Dodge Lives In A Tree, Travels Barefoot And Cleans His Teeth With A Pinecone...

Mike Dodge is a legend in his own lunchtime. And he's evidently, according to National Geographic's television series The Legend Of Mick Dodge, the Pacific Northwest Survivalist.
Twenty five years ago, so the story goes,
Mick Dodge walked away from the modern world, leaving civilization behind to live with nature's wonders in the Olympic Peninsula.
Following a primal instinct present throughout generations of his family, Mick ventured deep into the Hoh Rainforest, making his home in the trees and hidden in the moss.
There's more here about the back to nature life of Mick Dodge, a quirky character whose unique brand of Zen comes from living by his own code. Off the land and off the grid.
And so the story goes, this wild man philosopher cleans his teeth with a pinecone...

This Story Of Alan Barnes And His Fairy Godmother Katie Cutler May Help Restore Your Faith In Humanity...

Humanity is capable of much love and kindness and as we keep seeing with shocking frequency, much hatred and brutality.
This beautiful story of little Alan Barnes and his Fairy Godmother Katie Cutler may help to restore some faith in humanity.
This is a story of someone less fortunate being found by someone more fortunate. And how both their lives have been enriched by what started out with Alan being brutally mugged outside his home, to Katie making a simple and random act of kindness that has changed both their lives. And it will bring some hope and joy to those who take a moment to read more here.
Thanks Katie. You're a beautiful person...

Sabine Hellenbrandt. The German Tourist Who Came Back To New Zealand For More...

New Zealand is a country much loved and traveled by Europeans and German tourists especially. There seem to be hundreds of them here at any one time. I meet a lot of them and am delighted to be good friends with many.
The last time Sabine was here, she made headlines by falling many meters down a West Coast glacier in New Zealand's South Island and needing to be rescued. By a strange twist she had just been in Thailand where she learned Vepassana meditation which was a huge strength for her survival while she waited in much pain those many hours in the cold to be rescued. It was a very enlightening experience she told me when I saw her in the beautiful Far North recently. Sabine was on her way south to meet and celebrate her return with her rescuers, now her friends...