Apologies to my readers for taking so long to deliver the news. I'll come straight to the point: - I am pregnant for the third time! The baby is due to be born in the spring. We have already had scans done that have revealed that we are expecting a third son! I was delighted and so was Bilal: - he didn't waste time calling up his homies to brag about how he was a big enough man to accomplish this three times in quick succession!
I am doing most of my work from home at the moment: - I attend fashion shows, but I don't go to the office very often unless I need to. Bilal persuaded me that as a self-employed successful businesswoman, I should exercise my right to do this, particularly with current technologies (I work using a hybrid tablet/laptop that uses mobile broadband). With my third pregnancy and our oldest son walking and demanding lots of attention, he has been a bit worried about me lately, so I agreed I would spend more time at home to convince him I was relaxing, even though I have filled up much of the surplus time researching new fashions and hunting for the choicest ingredients in the markets! MDR!
2018-02-27
2018-02-09
My vision for our sons
In a recent post, I briefly alluded to how I would like our sons to turn out as adults and thought I would do a full article about it. It is natural for parents to have views on how their children will turn out, even if plans can very easily be scuppered. Firstly, any parent who wants the best for their children will want them to grow up in the Lord and become born again. We will provide our sons with the best theological education we can and pray that he will come to saving repentance, but under the principle of Unconditional Election, God has decided who He will bring to saving repentance and man cannot change His decision, so we can only do our best and pray.
The view of Bilal and myself is that there is no merit in treating boys and girls as if they were the same. Feminists want to get rid of gender differences, rather than celebrate them, which in my view makes them the misogynists. A girl such as myself is keen to make the most of her femininity, even if Zoë Williams dislikes the use of the word, though I think it is very good at communicating femininity. If I have a daughter, I will pass on to her all the beauty secrets that have been passed down through the family and make sure her first phrase is "la moitié, s'il vous plaît" and, although it is good for women to be ready for physical labour, we will still treat her as weaker vessels. On the other hand, regarding our sons, Bilal plans to trip them up and push them over (on soft, grassy ground, never on concrete), playfully punch them, throw them high in the air (obviously catching them afterwards), play "knuckles", "slapsies" and "mercy", tickle them and other ruff and tumble activities that ensure they accumulate lots of bruises. His expectation is that if they fall and hurt themselves, they will get up again for more.
I want our sons to be both rugged. Our sons will not be pampered wimps too accustomed to air-conditioned environments. In keeping with Touareg custom, they will begin training as a herdsman when he is three years old, as well as being trained at Bilal's farm near Marseille. Bilal's relatives have already agreed to have them during our spring when the weather is very hot, though Bilal has threatened very serious consequences if they so much as mention Islam to them. Bilal is also learning mountaineering, so that he can get them used to mountain environments in mid-winter: - Bilal wants to climb Mont Blanc (4808m above sea level) when he is able and take our sons with him. He also has homies from the Côte d'Ivoire and Congo in La Savine, through whom he is beginning discussions about jungle survival training: - Bilal is not used to jungle environments and wants to learn, so as to teach our sons. As our sons grow up, they will also ensure he spends plenty of evenings and weekends with his grandparents in La Savine, so as to get him used to gangland environments and toughen them up. This means operating in them, rather than mimicking their culture, MDR! Part of this will involve fighting skills and learning to box, which Bilal already knows a lot about. Ultimately, we want them to be unwilling to shy away from physical hurt in pursuit of noble aims, be this fighting for their country or stepping up to protect a lady falling victim to dangerous drunkards, rather than running away because they are afraid of damaging their nails, MDR.
However, as well as rugged, I want them to be gentlemanly. I don't like much about Britain, but the traditional British gentleman culture is something I want them to learn. This will involve learning how to conduct themselves in different social situations, how to dress neatly, how to be properly groomed and everything else. People often misunderstand what being gentlemanly means: - some view it as flirting with women one has no intention of pursuing and making them swoon. We will want our sons to understand that being gentlemanly is the complete opposite: - it means avoiding excessive familiarity with women unless they are seriously pursuing them as a potential wife and not leading them on. Providence enabled Bilal to find a wife who loves him for who he is and isn't offended in the slightest when he refers to attractive women as "well buff wifeys" or "bufft'ings", but I want our sons to know how to refer to women properly, just in case ladies they desire are sensitive about that sort of thing.
We will make sure they are extremely diligent in their academic studies. We want them to be brains as well as brawn. We want them to graduate from university in useful vocational subjects, rather than a Mickey Mouse arts degree. Maybe they will be enthusiastic enough to do PhDs? Who knows. Oxbridge and Ivy League institutions are very prestigious, but Bilal and I would worry about our children being deep in cesspits of liberalism such as these. They aren't exactly known for their tolerance of different points of view. Bilal liked the fact that studying engineering at university meant he was relatively free of the social scientists!
We haven't got fixed ideas about what career our sons ought to go into, though we have got some ideas about what careers might use the various skills we intend to teach him. A commission in the Foreign Legion might be one way. I would love to see them in blues uniform and the ladies swooning over them! I also wouldn't mind them becoming rolling stock engineers like their father and grandfather: - the TGV network is one thing that makes France great.
The view of Bilal and myself is that there is no merit in treating boys and girls as if they were the same. Feminists want to get rid of gender differences, rather than celebrate them, which in my view makes them the misogynists. A girl such as myself is keen to make the most of her femininity, even if Zoë Williams dislikes the use of the word, though I think it is very good at communicating femininity. If I have a daughter, I will pass on to her all the beauty secrets that have been passed down through the family and make sure her first phrase is "la moitié, s'il vous plaît" and, although it is good for women to be ready for physical labour, we will still treat her as weaker vessels. On the other hand, regarding our sons, Bilal plans to trip them up and push them over (on soft, grassy ground, never on concrete), playfully punch them, throw them high in the air (obviously catching them afterwards), play "knuckles", "slapsies" and "mercy", tickle them and other ruff and tumble activities that ensure they accumulate lots of bruises. His expectation is that if they fall and hurt themselves, they will get up again for more.
I want our sons to be both rugged. Our sons will not be pampered wimps too accustomed to air-conditioned environments. In keeping with Touareg custom, they will begin training as a herdsman when he is three years old, as well as being trained at Bilal's farm near Marseille. Bilal's relatives have already agreed to have them during our spring when the weather is very hot, though Bilal has threatened very serious consequences if they so much as mention Islam to them. Bilal is also learning mountaineering, so that he can get them used to mountain environments in mid-winter: - Bilal wants to climb Mont Blanc (4808m above sea level) when he is able and take our sons with him. He also has homies from the Côte d'Ivoire and Congo in La Savine, through whom he is beginning discussions about jungle survival training: - Bilal is not used to jungle environments and wants to learn, so as to teach our sons. As our sons grow up, they will also ensure he spends plenty of evenings and weekends with his grandparents in La Savine, so as to get him used to gangland environments and toughen them up. This means operating in them, rather than mimicking their culture, MDR! Part of this will involve fighting skills and learning to box, which Bilal already knows a lot about. Ultimately, we want them to be unwilling to shy away from physical hurt in pursuit of noble aims, be this fighting for their country or stepping up to protect a lady falling victim to dangerous drunkards, rather than running away because they are afraid of damaging their nails, MDR.
However, as well as rugged, I want them to be gentlemanly. I don't like much about Britain, but the traditional British gentleman culture is something I want them to learn. This will involve learning how to conduct themselves in different social situations, how to dress neatly, how to be properly groomed and everything else. People often misunderstand what being gentlemanly means: - some view it as flirting with women one has no intention of pursuing and making them swoon. We will want our sons to understand that being gentlemanly is the complete opposite: - it means avoiding excessive familiarity with women unless they are seriously pursuing them as a potential wife and not leading them on. Providence enabled Bilal to find a wife who loves him for who he is and isn't offended in the slightest when he refers to attractive women as "well buff wifeys" or "bufft'ings", but I want our sons to know how to refer to women properly, just in case ladies they desire are sensitive about that sort of thing.
We will make sure they are extremely diligent in their academic studies. We want them to be brains as well as brawn. We want them to graduate from university in useful vocational subjects, rather than a Mickey Mouse arts degree. Maybe they will be enthusiastic enough to do PhDs? Who knows. Oxbridge and Ivy League institutions are very prestigious, but Bilal and I would worry about our children being deep in cesspits of liberalism such as these. They aren't exactly known for their tolerance of different points of view. Bilal liked the fact that studying engineering at university meant he was relatively free of the social scientists!
We haven't got fixed ideas about what career our sons ought to go into, though we have got some ideas about what careers might use the various skills we intend to teach him. A commission in the Foreign Legion might be one way. I would love to see them in blues uniform and the ladies swooning over them! I also wouldn't mind them becoming rolling stock engineers like their father and grandfather: - the TGV network is one thing that makes France great.
HS2 and comparing with France
Apologies to my readers for leaving such a very long time between posts. There have been various things happening at home and work that I will discuss. I started many stubs for posts, but didn't have the time to bring them to completion, so I am clearing out the backlog, updating them for current events as need be.
For several years in Britain now, a high-speed line between London and Birmingham (initially) and beyond has been under discussion. I was reading an article about the effects of high-speed rail in France, discussing a study that claims high-speed rail only benefits the managerial classes. As a successful businesswoman, I am very aware that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. There are several factors about France's high-speed rail system that they have ignored.
The TGV system is designed to benefit French society as a whole, not just the wealthy. Spain has pursued the opposite direction until the past week, when it announced its EVA brand, which is intended to serve outlying areas of Barcelona, similar to France's Ouigo service. The service will go from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha to Camp de Tarragona and El Prat de Llobregat stations (the latter not yet being open for high-speed traffic). Austria's RailJet service, though it has economy offerings, pursues the business market aggressively, as indicated by the huge reclining Premium seats. These take up enormous amounts of space: - RailJet trains in normal composition are around 205m long with 408 seats, but Westbahn (the Austrian open-access operator) is purchasing Stadler 6-car (around 25m per car, therefore 150m long) KISS trains with 526 seats.
On the other hand, France concentrates on the fundamentals: - high capacity, good-value offerings and great journey times. A Frenchwoman doesn't like garish interior decoration, so the relatively simple furnishings even in first class have been highly appreciated. The TGV Euroduplex sets have 560 seats and the TGV Océane sets have 556 seats. Also, there are the Ouigo services operated directly by SNCF and the Izy services operated by Thalys which SNCF part-owns. Ouigo keeps costs down by serving underused stations, whereas the Izy services do this by travelling on slower and cheaper conventional routes: - both have Ryanair-style baggage policies. Given how impossibly dainty we are, we Frenchwomen have little need for the super-sized Premium seats that OEBB/ÖBB (the Austrian state operator) uses on RailJet services, but they are still cool!
That is not to say that the TGV system doesn't appeal to successful businesswomen such as myself: - we appreciate being able to get lots of work done on the train using our tablet-laptop hybrids whilst we zip between important meetings (as well as fashion shows, in my case). As France typically has a 35-hour week, the quid pro quo is that high productivity rates are necessary if we want a high standard of living. We Frenchwomen accomplish this effortlessly. When I lived and worked in London, was still frowned upon for leaving on time, even though my colleagues wasted lots of time in useless tasks and got half as much work done as me!
HS2 has been criticised as being just a luxury line, but this fails to take account of what the line is intended to do. It is intended to be a relief line for the congested West Coast Main Line: - the commuter trains are already very packed and the freight capacity is squeezed. There are passenger trains (e.g. the cramped Pendolino services operated by Virgin) which go a long way north before stopping anywhere: - some London Euston services don't stop until Warrington Bank Quay (near Liverpool). Such services have no need whatsoever to be on the conventional West Coast Main Line south of Crewe (opening 2027, a year later than the first stage to Birmingham), so HS2 would be useful for such services.
According to an article Railway Gazette recently published about the findings of the "Conseil d’Orientation des Infrastructures" and its recommendations for future direction in railway construction, some lines should be prioritised: - http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/capacity-enhancement-at-hubs-is-spending-priority-says-infrastructure-council.html . I am delighted that they recommended prioritising the Marseille-Nice line: - I love going to places like Nice, St. Tropez and Monaco because of how ritzy-glitzy they are! On the other hand, it is a shame they aren't specifically recommending taking forward the LGV Montpellier-Perpignan: - I often have have business in Spain and Bilal loves to visit his homies in Seville and we would love to be able to do this all the way.
Anyway, we shall see what happens with these schemes in the UK and France!
For several years in Britain now, a high-speed line between London and Birmingham (initially) and beyond has been under discussion. I was reading an article about the effects of high-speed rail in France, discussing a study that claims high-speed rail only benefits the managerial classes. As a successful businesswoman, I am very aware that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. There are several factors about France's high-speed rail system that they have ignored.
On the other hand, France concentrates on the fundamentals: - high capacity, good-value offerings and great journey times. A Frenchwoman doesn't like garish interior decoration, so the relatively simple furnishings even in first class have been highly appreciated. The TGV Euroduplex sets have 560 seats and the TGV Océane sets have 556 seats. Also, there are the Ouigo services operated directly by SNCF and the Izy services operated by Thalys which SNCF part-owns. Ouigo keeps costs down by serving underused stations, whereas the Izy services do this by travelling on slower and cheaper conventional routes: - both have Ryanair-style baggage policies. Given how impossibly dainty we are, we Frenchwomen have little need for the super-sized Premium seats that OEBB/ÖBB (the Austrian state operator) uses on RailJet services, but they are still cool!
That is not to say that the TGV system doesn't appeal to successful businesswomen such as myself: - we appreciate being able to get lots of work done on the train using our tablet-laptop hybrids whilst we zip between important meetings (as well as fashion shows, in my case). As France typically has a 35-hour week, the quid pro quo is that high productivity rates are necessary if we want a high standard of living. We Frenchwomen accomplish this effortlessly. When I lived and worked in London, was still frowned upon for leaving on time, even though my colleagues wasted lots of time in useless tasks and got half as much work done as me!
HS2 has been criticised as being just a luxury line, but this fails to take account of what the line is intended to do. It is intended to be a relief line for the congested West Coast Main Line: - the commuter trains are already very packed and the freight capacity is squeezed. There are passenger trains (e.g. the cramped Pendolino services operated by Virgin) which go a long way north before stopping anywhere: - some London Euston services don't stop until Warrington Bank Quay (near Liverpool). Such services have no need whatsoever to be on the conventional West Coast Main Line south of Crewe (opening 2027, a year later than the first stage to Birmingham), so HS2 would be useful for such services.
According to an article Railway Gazette recently published about the findings of the "Conseil d’Orientation des Infrastructures" and its recommendations for future direction in railway construction, some lines should be prioritised: - http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/capacity-enhancement-at-hubs-is-spending-priority-says-infrastructure-council.html . I am delighted that they recommended prioritising the Marseille-Nice line: - I love going to places like Nice, St. Tropez and Monaco because of how ritzy-glitzy they are! On the other hand, it is a shame they aren't specifically recommending taking forward the LGV Montpellier-Perpignan: - I often have have business in Spain and Bilal loves to visit his homies in Seville and we would love to be able to do this all the way.
Anyway, we shall see what happens with these schemes in the UK and France!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)