In sickness and in health - or not

An Indian bride has stunned her family and wedding officials by marrying somebody OTHER than the man she intended to marry.

This all happened in Uttar Pradesh in India, where the bride and groom turned up as expected at the venue.  The groom, who was epileptic, had a seizure at the moment he reached out to put a garland on his bride to be, and he had to be taken to hospital.  So naturally you'd expect his fiancee to hot-foot it to the hospital too?

Not a bit of it - she was apparently so angry that he had kept the information about his condition from her that she decided to marry someone else then and there.  She asked a guest, who was a member of her brother-in-law's family, to step in and marry her instead.  He agreed!

When the original bridegroom recovered and returned, he pleaded with his former fiancee to still marry him, but by this time she was married to the other guest.

Well, at least they didn't waste the big day, eh?

I warned you about Facebook

I know I bang the drum a bit about Facebook and other social media - but just to prove a point, this week a bigamist from Bristol was tracked down and prosecuted after being dim enough to share photos of his new bride on Facebook, despite the fact that he hadn't divorced his first wife.  Neither of the women knew anything about his deception or the other wife.

Adrian Linham happily married his second wife, Hayley, in Mexico but failed to mention he was already married.  Meanwhile his first wife, Liz, was used to him 'working away on business'.  The first she knew about his new marriage was when his mother wrote to say how sorry she was about the divorce and to let her know that he had remarried.

Adrian Linham's solicitor could only say that he had got carried away.  "He was putting the cart before the horse".

He was sentenced by North Somerset magistrates for 18 weeks.  He has now started divorce proceedings, presumably from his jail cell...

Valentine’s Day? Let’s get unromantic…

As an antidote to the red roses, smooching couples and loved-up teenagers who will be everywhere on Saturday, how about these 6 unromantic facts about Valentine’s Day?

1. According to a poll by Offers.com, half the men polled want to ‘spend quality time with my partner’.  Which is fine.  However, nearly a quarter reckoned they mark the day out of a sense of obligation or because they’re hoping to ‘get lucky’.  Hmmm, not so romantic!
2. It’s going to get worse - fiancés get the most money spent on them, then newleyweds, and then it really goes downhill.  Not surprising, probably, but a bit sad…
3. In the USA Americans will spend $700 million.  On their PETS.  This is according to the US National Retail Federation.  What on earth are they buying?  Heart shaped doggy biscuits?
4. 1 in 5 women buys a Valentine gift for herself.  I’d dispute this.  The chocolates I have ready are NOT for me.  However, if one is offered to me then, yes, they do just happen to be a flavour I like…
5. Flowers will go up in price.  Yep, that’s a given.  And restaurants will jam an extra table in and the waiters will be stressed.  One of my colleagues goes out with her husband on the 13th February - she says they always get great service and a lovely meal with relaxed staff!

Whatever you’re doing on Valentine’s Day - enjoy yourself!

How's it going?

A psychologist at the University of Washington has discovered four key signs that all is not well within a partnership…  

1. Contempt - seeing your partner as beneath you.  Your partner does something you don’t agree with, do you chat about it and decide that both your attitudes are reasonable, or do you immediately think ‘he’s an idiot’?  The latter might suggest you have contempt for him - not a good start…
2. Criticism - turning a behaviour into a statement about his/her character.  Say your partner has a habit of leaving half filled coffee cups around the house, do you find that endearing, realise he/she must have been busy, or gently seethe, thinking ‘what kind of person am I living with?’  Not good…
3. Defensiveness - playing the victim, even if you weren’t.  Suppose you turn up late to meet friends and immediately say ‘it wasn’t my fault’ (even if it was) means that you’re not taking responsibility for your own actions.
4. Stonewalling - blocking off conversations - do you ever do this, or does your partner?  Something’s amiss, you begin to discuss it and then one of you answers your phone, starts to text, or walks off.  You’ve got to communicate to sort through these problems, stonewalling is not the answer!

I think we can all say we’ve done one of these (or, let’s face it, all four!) at some time - but if it’s happening continually, you might be in trouble.

Forewarned is forearmed, maybe?