During my vacation I had access to satellite TV. Amazing technology. 626 channels, most of them unfortunately encoded. I watched everything from CNN, BBC World, to Korean TV, Maroccan TV, Al Jazeera (both english and arabic), Al Masriya, etc. Was most impressed by Al Jazeera because the propaganda we are subjected to in my country portrays the picture of an extremist TV station, led by bearded and hooded terrorists with AKs in their hands while on air, filming in caves. The truth couldn't be farther from this propaganda, the main anchor is a beautiful young middle-eastern woman, impeccably professionally dressed in a western style suit (no trace of hijab anywhere), obviously very intelligent and educated, with an accent that shows she received her education at a british university of high calibre, other anchors are mostly Caucasian, with british accents (either born Brits or only schooled there), also quite intelligent and highly educated. The expertise of the anchors and support staff and the quality of the programme itself is on par with the best western TV stations. Most of the anchors are Brits, or Brit-schooled (heavy Brit accents, not faked, but learned by living there) and they even have a British noble working for them, Sir David Frost with his show Frost Over The World.

The world truly is but a small village. If that is good or bad is on you to decide.

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Loved all your reviews, please keep them up.

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The next day he made good on his promise to himself about looking for some books about pregnancy written for the fathers-to-be.

Thinking it would be easier to just ask the person manning (or is it womanning) the register he did just that.

The blank look he received in return had definitely not been what he'd expected.

He'd expected some kind of help and certainly not that incredulous look that just demanded 'Why the hell would there be books about pregnancy for men?'

He'd barely stopped himself from snapping at the woman that, yes, men ARE usually fully involved in pregnancy when their women are pregnant, are not just sperm donors who's job ends when the woman is impregnated, but most of them are full-time fathers, being there from the first vomitting into the toilet to their kids going to college and thus they need some kind of manual for it.

Pissed off he went to look for the book himself.

Getting there he saw he was right, the books were written with the mothers in mind, couples at best, but no books for fathers only, fathers being only on the fringe of the writer's awareness.

He wanted and needed a book that was about the father's POV, that explained in plain terms what was and what would be going on with Loren and how he could help, what he shouldn't do/say and an honest and straightforward explanation of what kind of behaviour a man has to expect from his pregnant wife/girlfriend.

After much looking he finally found it.

Hidden in the corner, as if ashamed of it's own existence (or because of the cashier's belief that men don't have anything to do with the pregnancy beyond donating genes), was the book he'd been looking for, the only of it's kind.

Harm gratefully grabbed the volume titled "A man's guide to pregnancy: How to live with a pregnant person and get out of it alive." by John Zakour.

It was exactly what he'd been looking for, the answer to every expectant father's prayers and the end to his search for help.

Written by a man for other men, written by a guy who's already gone through it for those who were about to go through it or were going through it already. As he later got to find out the added qualifications of the writer were a Ph.D. in Human Behaviour.

Gratefully he grabbed it and headed for the register, glaring defiantly and triumphantly as he handed the book over to the cashier.

With a relieved grin he paid for his purchase, ignoring the woman's glare, and left the shop with a satisfied gait.

In the following months he would be worshipping the writer of the book as a god for writing it, for it would get him through many a scrape alive and prevent him from doing mistakes or saying something that would result in him getting a clothes-iron to his head, which was what had happened to Chegwidden during Marcela's pregnancy.

Later, when Loren was already asleep, he retreated to the living room, leaving only a small lamp to create light for him so he could read in peace.

From what he read in there he was damned glad he and Loren had gotten together while she was already in her second trimester and not sooner or later because it seemed to be the least dangerous to his physical and mental well-being of the three semesters.

Besides getting informed and educated he also got very much amused by the writer's wicked sense of humor, to the point that he decided to reschedule the reading because of the danger of waking Loren up with his laughter.

It was not a thick book, like some other pregnancy books are, but it was more informative and helpful than any he'd ever seen. It was well worth what he'd paid for it, he would've bought it even had the price been ten times bigger than it had been, it still would've been worth it.

Harm namely loved living, especially since this enigmatic woman had entered his life, and he had the feeling that this book would insure his continued existence.

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