Well it's new year's eve. When we all wake from our alcohol induced sleep tomorrow morning, it will be a fresh new year with fresh new hopes.
I blogged yesterday about my new year's resolution, so I won't bore you with it again here. And I do intend to do something about it, but not until 24th January - those of you that know me and know what I'm doing for the next three weeks will know why. Then I have almost three months of uninterrupted time to focus on ME, and make it happen.
New Year's resolutions are odd things and probably not worth the time and angst that they take up. I wonder what percentage are broken within 7 days? What percentage within 2 days? I bet it's very high, maybe as high as 90%. And why wait until 1st January to do something about your weight / ambitions / relationship / job / etc?
To be honest, even if I only achieve limited success it will be more than I have achieved in 2011, which has been a pretty crap year all round. Hopefully 2012 will be better; we need things to start picking up or frankly we'll all be up s**t creek without a paddle regardless of whether we have a job or not. At least we can sit smugly in the UK and be thankful that we never joined the Euro; my poor Greek friends are really suffering and the trouble is (as it is everywhere) the people that are having to pay are not the people that caused the problems in the first place. But they keep smiling, smoking and drinking coffee! The fact that the Germans are trying to wage World War III by stealth with the French hanging on their coats tails is, of course, neither here nor there. I mean, why invade when you can take hold of another country's fiscal policies?
Healthwise, I need all my limbs to start functioning normally and be able to be more active and do some exercise. I don't want to compete as part of Team GB, just be fit enough to get through another year without anything hurting! There's a zumba class within walking distance which I'd like to do, and as I said yesterday I must go back to the gym. And I must do something about the fact that I'm a lardy-arse!
Of course there's plenty to look forward to in 2012. The Olympics for one thing, which even if you are not sportingly inclined will be a great spectacle (although a nightmare to get to work if, like me, you work in central London!). HRH's diamond jubilee, which if nothing else gets us an extra day off and a feeling of national pride. I read somewhere that satisfaction with the monarchy has never dipped below 70% even in their annus horribilus a few years ago, and with the Queen herself never gets below 80%. In an ethnically diverse and opinionated country like the UK, that's quite an achievement.
So let's go past midnight in a spirit of hope and enthusiasm, and all try to make the best of it. It'll be better for some than others, but overall let's try and have a good one.
Happy New Year, everyone, where ever and who ever you are!
Saturday 31 December 2011
Friday 30 December 2011
New Year's Resolutions - must lose weight
The excesses of the past few days are definitely catching up with me. Just like when you go on holiday, and a few days in you collapse as the adrenalin which has kept you going gradually recedes, I feel exhausted. My digestive system is groaning and I have an ulcer the size of Vesuvius on my tongue which must be the result of too much acid (ie wine!) in too short a space of time. Knowing it's my own fault for being an overeating, wine guzzling, chocaholic couch potato doesn't make it any better.
I am therefore determined that once we get into the new year (and probably after the panto which also involves an excess of wine and bad eating habits) I must do something about a) my weight and b) my general fitness.
How many times have I said that before? Well yes, several, but this year I really must. I can't go on putting on weight at the rate I have over the past decade for the next few years; if I do, by the time I'm 60 I'll be bigger than Hattie Jacques (you know, the fat one in the Carry On films - although by all accounts she was quite a girl with a voracious sexual appetite). And I refuse to buy clothes where the size label starts with the number two!
The big question is how to do it. I've tried Weight Watchers in the past and it wasn't too bad, but I was hungry quite a lot and it was expensive. The online version is OK, but doesn't have the discipline of the weekly meetings and tellings off by the 'Leader'. I've tried basic calorie counting but that's friggin hard work, weighing everything out and again, being very hungry quite a lot. I don't fancy the idea of food combining (too much thought) Atkins (gives you shocking wind and bad breath) or detoxing (don't like wheatgrass that much). I have obtained a supply of herbal appetite suppressants and colon cleaners from the internet which I'm going to try, but not for long because basically they give you the shits and you should never trust strange pills from strange men!
I'm also just going to eat less, cut out chocolate completely and cut out alcohol in the week. Think using side plates as dinner plates and halving the amounts I'm inclined to eat naturally. I'll hate it. I also need to do some exercise and I think that means I'm going to have to go back to the gym. Because of my bad back and knees, I can't run so I think some low impact stuff on treadmills, bikes and cross trainers is probably what's needed. Awful thought, and might have to get the Wii Fit back out, too.
I'm gonna hate this, and will need to be nagged. But I'm determined that by the time I go away in June, I will be at least a stone and a half lighter, be fitter and have more energy. At least, that's the plan.
I am therefore determined that once we get into the new year (and probably after the panto which also involves an excess of wine and bad eating habits) I must do something about a) my weight and b) my general fitness.
How many times have I said that before? Well yes, several, but this year I really must. I can't go on putting on weight at the rate I have over the past decade for the next few years; if I do, by the time I'm 60 I'll be bigger than Hattie Jacques (you know, the fat one in the Carry On films - although by all accounts she was quite a girl with a voracious sexual appetite). And I refuse to buy clothes where the size label starts with the number two!
The big question is how to do it. I've tried Weight Watchers in the past and it wasn't too bad, but I was hungry quite a lot and it was expensive. The online version is OK, but doesn't have the discipline of the weekly meetings and tellings off by the 'Leader'. I've tried basic calorie counting but that's friggin hard work, weighing everything out and again, being very hungry quite a lot. I don't fancy the idea of food combining (too much thought) Atkins (gives you shocking wind and bad breath) or detoxing (don't like wheatgrass that much). I have obtained a supply of herbal appetite suppressants and colon cleaners from the internet which I'm going to try, but not for long because basically they give you the shits and you should never trust strange pills from strange men!
I'm also just going to eat less, cut out chocolate completely and cut out alcohol in the week. Think using side plates as dinner plates and halving the amounts I'm inclined to eat naturally. I'll hate it. I also need to do some exercise and I think that means I'm going to have to go back to the gym. Because of my bad back and knees, I can't run so I think some low impact stuff on treadmills, bikes and cross trainers is probably what's needed. Awful thought, and might have to get the Wii Fit back out, too.
I'm gonna hate this, and will need to be nagged. But I'm determined that by the time I go away in June, I will be at least a stone and a half lighter, be fitter and have more energy. At least, that's the plan.
Thursday 29 December 2011
Where would you like to end up?
Had a lovely family lunch today at the Toby Carvery in Ewell. I hadn't been to a Toby in years; I'd forgotten how nice the food is, and how dirt cheap! A massive roast lunch (not really my choice just after an excess of roast dinners over the past few days, but the mother in law likes it and it was a day for her) for £5.95. Including drinks, puddings and coffee, it came to less than a tenner a head. I don't think you could make a big family roast for much less, the price of meat these days, and we didn't have to do the washing up.
We went because it would have been my late father in law's birthday, and this is the first year she has been without him. Originally, the idea had been to have lunch and then do something with the ashes, which are at present sitting in a rather unglamourous plastic pot in the cupboard under her stairs. But in the end she couldn't make up her mind what to do with the ashes, so we just went out and had lunch.
The trouble is that my mother in law doesn't like making decisions, particularly if they are about something difficult or unpalatable, and this was both. I can see those ashes sitting there for years to come because she can't make up her mind what to do with them, as a somewhat grisly reminder of my father in law who was a very sweet man and certainly wouldn't have wanted that to happen. I bet next Christmas I'll be rummaging under the stairs for the bottle of port and trip over the bloody plastic pot, scattering him all over the carpet to be mixed in with the Shake'n'vac.
It does seem very odd, the thing about the ashes and what to do with them. Surely it would be better for the crematorium to charge an extra £500 (which sounds a lot, but the cost of funerals like everything else is astronomic so it won't make much difference) and automatically put a plaque up, or send them up in a firework, or whatever. But in essence to give you some definite choices, rather than just getting you to take them home to get them out of their way. In any case, they could just be any old ashes; I mean how do you know that what you've got is your loved one? The speed with which they process funerals through the chapels means that you could be getting anyone scraped out of the oven, surely?
Anyway, she's got them. And she can't decide what to do with them. But it's not healthy in so many ways (I don't mean they're infectious or unclean or anything, by the way) just to have them hanging about. There's something rather Victorian and gloomy about it, and no closure. I had the idea that they should be buried under a nice shrub in the garden; she likes gardening, they would produce a beautiful plant and still be close to her. But that was rejected. So back to racking the brains about it.
Personally, I think I'd like to be fired into the heavens in a firework. I've always liked flying, and there's something very attractive in the idea of being up there amongst the stars. Better write it into the will, so I don't end up in an undistinguished plastic pot in the under stairs cupboard too!
We went because it would have been my late father in law's birthday, and this is the first year she has been without him. Originally, the idea had been to have lunch and then do something with the ashes, which are at present sitting in a rather unglamourous plastic pot in the cupboard under her stairs. But in the end she couldn't make up her mind what to do with the ashes, so we just went out and had lunch.
The trouble is that my mother in law doesn't like making decisions, particularly if they are about something difficult or unpalatable, and this was both. I can see those ashes sitting there for years to come because she can't make up her mind what to do with them, as a somewhat grisly reminder of my father in law who was a very sweet man and certainly wouldn't have wanted that to happen. I bet next Christmas I'll be rummaging under the stairs for the bottle of port and trip over the bloody plastic pot, scattering him all over the carpet to be mixed in with the Shake'n'vac.
It does seem very odd, the thing about the ashes and what to do with them. Surely it would be better for the crematorium to charge an extra £500 (which sounds a lot, but the cost of funerals like everything else is astronomic so it won't make much difference) and automatically put a plaque up, or send them up in a firework, or whatever. But in essence to give you some definite choices, rather than just getting you to take them home to get them out of their way. In any case, they could just be any old ashes; I mean how do you know that what you've got is your loved one? The speed with which they process funerals through the chapels means that you could be getting anyone scraped out of the oven, surely?
Anyway, she's got them. And she can't decide what to do with them. But it's not healthy in so many ways (I don't mean they're infectious or unclean or anything, by the way) just to have them hanging about. There's something rather Victorian and gloomy about it, and no closure. I had the idea that they should be buried under a nice shrub in the garden; she likes gardening, they would produce a beautiful plant and still be close to her. But that was rejected. So back to racking the brains about it.
Personally, I think I'd like to be fired into the heavens in a firework. I've always liked flying, and there's something very attractive in the idea of being up there amongst the stars. Better write it into the will, so I don't end up in an undistinguished plastic pot in the under stairs cupboard too!
Wednesday 28 December 2011
Back to work today (briefly) before a few more days off. I'm really struggling to motivate myself, it all seems so DULL.
I'm sure the worthy residents of the wealthy central London borough where I work deserve to have their local authority open today, but actually it all does seem rather pointless. Most teams only have a skeleton staff available and things will just tick over. Nothing will actually get done.
I know lots of people feel really motivated and proud of their jobs, and indeed I used to feel like that. But more and more I can't really see the point of it all. After all, I'm not really making any difference to these people's lives and they are increasingly ungrateful and rude. It seems that the more we try to do for them, the more they expect and the less we get thanked. But perhaps I'm just feeling slightly jaundiced about the whole thing; I'm sure some of them think we are doing a good job and certainly if you work in the social services (for children, families, the elderly and the vulnerable) you really can improve and change people's situations. But planning, in Knightsbridge and Belgravia? Please! They're all filthy rich and most of them are foreign!
I've opened up my laptop today to 68 e-mails (not bad, but that's since 5pm last Friday), about half of which are rubbish, and half of the rest are whinges. I'm getting sick of it. Once, just once, it would be nice to open up an e-mail that says thank you.
I should be working now. Dealing with the problems and writing the reports no one wants too read. But I'm not, I'm writing this. The trouble is, jobwise I'm not sure what else I could do, and once you start to earn central London money, it's very difficult to move away from it because you take on commitments to match. I'll just have to make the best of it, won't I, and bide my time until I'm old enough to retire and do the things I really want to do. But by then I'll probably be too old and decrepit to do them!
So 2012 is a year of resolutions. I am shedding my commitments this year and focusing on ME! Weight, fitness and other general interests and leisure activities are coming first. That's my resolution! Let's see how long it lasts.
I'm sure the worthy residents of the wealthy central London borough where I work deserve to have their local authority open today, but actually it all does seem rather pointless. Most teams only have a skeleton staff available and things will just tick over. Nothing will actually get done.
I know lots of people feel really motivated and proud of their jobs, and indeed I used to feel like that. But more and more I can't really see the point of it all. After all, I'm not really making any difference to these people's lives and they are increasingly ungrateful and rude. It seems that the more we try to do for them, the more they expect and the less we get thanked. But perhaps I'm just feeling slightly jaundiced about the whole thing; I'm sure some of them think we are doing a good job and certainly if you work in the social services (for children, families, the elderly and the vulnerable) you really can improve and change people's situations. But planning, in Knightsbridge and Belgravia? Please! They're all filthy rich and most of them are foreign!
I've opened up my laptop today to 68 e-mails (not bad, but that's since 5pm last Friday), about half of which are rubbish, and half of the rest are whinges. I'm getting sick of it. Once, just once, it would be nice to open up an e-mail that says thank you.
I should be working now. Dealing with the problems and writing the reports no one wants too read. But I'm not, I'm writing this. The trouble is, jobwise I'm not sure what else I could do, and once you start to earn central London money, it's very difficult to move away from it because you take on commitments to match. I'll just have to make the best of it, won't I, and bide my time until I'm old enough to retire and do the things I really want to do. But by then I'll probably be too old and decrepit to do them!
So 2012 is a year of resolutions. I am shedding my commitments this year and focusing on ME! Weight, fitness and other general interests and leisure activities are coming first. That's my resolution! Let's see how long it lasts.
Tuesday 27 December 2011
Wedding anniversary
Today is my wedding anniversary. Eight years ago at 1pm on 27th December 2003, I married my gorgeous hubby at the stunning Nutfield Priory. We have been together for over ten years now, and married for eight and they have been the best years of my life.
Most people thought we wouldn't last eight weeks, let alone eight months or years. To be honest, I think we doubted it ourselves, and the pressures were immense (purely of our own making of course) but we stuck it out and I'm so glad we did. It's still not always easy, but it's worth it.
Celebrations were a bit low key; after Christmas we're always exhausted. And after yesterday's long walk in the fresh air the backs of the old calves were aching a bit. So we went to Hever Castle. It was lovely and almost deserted - aren't places nicer without loads of other people in them? We went round the castle itself and then wandered round the grounds admiring the lake, the topiary and just the beauty of the place. We saw loads of ducks, swans and a few rabbits, and had a nice lunch in the cafe. Tonight we're going out for dinner, just the two of us.
I do think it's important, in the busyness of life, not to forget to create a bit of quality time with your partner. We're both a bit older, tired-er and fatter, but we still more than like each other's company. Probably more than ten years ago. Time together is precious, so switch off the phones, ignore the doorbell, or go out into the fresh air to do something you both enjoy on your own (ie don't take the kids or the elderly family!) and remember why you love each other. We don't always agree, and we argue like anyone else, but we always make some time for each other on a regular basis. And no more important time than now, on our wedding anniversary.
So we're here despite all the malicious remarks and nastiness we've gone through, and good health permitting we'll be here in eight years time. It's nice to know you make the right decision sometimes, isn't it?
Most people thought we wouldn't last eight weeks, let alone eight months or years. To be honest, I think we doubted it ourselves, and the pressures were immense (purely of our own making of course) but we stuck it out and I'm so glad we did. It's still not always easy, but it's worth it.
Celebrations were a bit low key; after Christmas we're always exhausted. And after yesterday's long walk in the fresh air the backs of the old calves were aching a bit. So we went to Hever Castle. It was lovely and almost deserted - aren't places nicer without loads of other people in them? We went round the castle itself and then wandered round the grounds admiring the lake, the topiary and just the beauty of the place. We saw loads of ducks, swans and a few rabbits, and had a nice lunch in the cafe. Tonight we're going out for dinner, just the two of us.
I do think it's important, in the busyness of life, not to forget to create a bit of quality time with your partner. We're both a bit older, tired-er and fatter, but we still more than like each other's company. Probably more than ten years ago. Time together is precious, so switch off the phones, ignore the doorbell, or go out into the fresh air to do something you both enjoy on your own (ie don't take the kids or the elderly family!) and remember why you love each other. We don't always agree, and we argue like anyone else, but we always make some time for each other on a regular basis. And no more important time than now, on our wedding anniversary.
So we're here despite all the malicious remarks and nastiness we've gone through, and good health permitting we'll be here in eight years time. It's nice to know you make the right decision sometimes, isn't it?
Monday 26 December 2011
Boxing Day - back to basics
After the excesses of yesterday (alcohol, turkey, alcohol, trifle, alcohol, cheese, alcohol, cake, alcohol, The Queen, not sure what came next but have a feeling Strictly was in it somewhere!) really felt like we needed some fresh air today. Not raining, and not very cold, so new Barbours on (mutual Christmas pressie - lovely) and rumaged amongst the 'walking' books for something not too far or too taxing that would take a couple of hours.
Found a lovely walk from Godstone to Tandridge and back across the fields, past streams and ponds with ducks, herons, rabbits but not a car in sight. I have lived round here almost all of my life and had no idea that some of the footpaths I have walked along today existed, nor the pretty ponds and picturesque lanes with enormous mansions hidden behind high hedges. Why haven't I found them? (Actually I know why - I am a lazy cow and go everywhere in the car).
It took us a couple of hours to gently stroll about six kilometres through beautiful farmland, during which time we talked to each other, laughed and got some exercise into the bargain. To get out and do that took a concerted effort of will not to be sidetracked into chores and boring jobs, but I'm glad we did. All we really needed was a labrador to run along beside us - maybe we should have stolen one.
I cannot believe that after all the shopping everyone has done over the past few weeks, and how much they are all complaining that they have no money, thousands are flocking to the sales today. I find it positively obscene that one major fashion retailer (alright, Next) opened its doors at 6am this morning in a desperate attempt to get shoppers through the door. Their poor staff have had barely 24 hours off. It shouldn't be allowed, by law! I really hope people stayed away, but I'm sorry to say that probably the sad gits didn't in the vain hope that they might get a bargain.
Let's face it, we don't really need any more clothes, kitchen gadgets, CDs or anything else come to that. The post (or increasingly pre) Christmas sales are commercialism and exploitation run rampant. I'm sure I will go to the sales, maybe next week, and complain that everything decent is gone, but as I didn't need anything anyway, I'll then keep my money rather than put it into the pockets of retailers who overcharge most of the time anyway and ought to be taught that we don't have bottomless pockets.
Now, where did I put my visa card?.....
Found a lovely walk from Godstone to Tandridge and back across the fields, past streams and ponds with ducks, herons, rabbits but not a car in sight. I have lived round here almost all of my life and had no idea that some of the footpaths I have walked along today existed, nor the pretty ponds and picturesque lanes with enormous mansions hidden behind high hedges. Why haven't I found them? (Actually I know why - I am a lazy cow and go everywhere in the car).
It took us a couple of hours to gently stroll about six kilometres through beautiful farmland, during which time we talked to each other, laughed and got some exercise into the bargain. To get out and do that took a concerted effort of will not to be sidetracked into chores and boring jobs, but I'm glad we did. All we really needed was a labrador to run along beside us - maybe we should have stolen one.
I cannot believe that after all the shopping everyone has done over the past few weeks, and how much they are all complaining that they have no money, thousands are flocking to the sales today. I find it positively obscene that one major fashion retailer (alright, Next) opened its doors at 6am this morning in a desperate attempt to get shoppers through the door. Their poor staff have had barely 24 hours off. It shouldn't be allowed, by law! I really hope people stayed away, but I'm sorry to say that probably the sad gits didn't in the vain hope that they might get a bargain.
Let's face it, we don't really need any more clothes, kitchen gadgets, CDs or anything else come to that. The post (or increasingly pre) Christmas sales are commercialism and exploitation run rampant. I'm sure I will go to the sales, maybe next week, and complain that everything decent is gone, but as I didn't need anything anyway, I'll then keep my money rather than put it into the pockets of retailers who overcharge most of the time anyway and ought to be taught that we don't have bottomless pockets.
Now, where did I put my visa card?.....
Sunday 25 December 2011
It's Christmas.
It's Christmas. After all the planning, shopping and stress it's finally arrived.
We hosted a family party yesterday and guzzled on a massive Greek meze feast. Special request of the kids, who didn't want anything Christmassy. About eight hours in the preparation, 10 minutes in the guzzling. But never mind, they enjoyed it. Similarly with the pressies - weeks worth of planning, shopping and wrapping ripped apart in two minutes flat.
The highlight had to be my granddaughter excitedly attempting to carry a massive unwrapped box of Playmobil across the lounge (the playmobil zoo, which frankly I can't wait to build and play with), and then playing with one plastic lion all afternoon.
For the first time in many years, I went to the children's carol service at the local church, which was magical. I've never seen so many children dressed as shepherds (an abundance of Ikea tea towels as head dresses), angels (excessive amounts of tinsel) Kings (old curtains with gold embroidery) and sheep (wearing the fireside sheepskin rug) with entranced faces, singing away at carols they had learned at school and totally immersed in it all. It really takes you back to what Christmas is all about, away from the food, alcohol and commercialism.
It also made you spare a thought for those on their own, lonely, or without anything this Christmas, something so easily forgotten in the busyness and excitement.
I had meant to go to midnight service last night, but was too exhausted. I've made up for it this morning by listening to carols from Kings - how traditional and middle class is that!
Merry Christmas everyone, and a happy and prosperous new year. Let's hope it brings you what you want, and its an improvement on 2011!
We hosted a family party yesterday and guzzled on a massive Greek meze feast. Special request of the kids, who didn't want anything Christmassy. About eight hours in the preparation, 10 minutes in the guzzling. But never mind, they enjoyed it. Similarly with the pressies - weeks worth of planning, shopping and wrapping ripped apart in two minutes flat.
The highlight had to be my granddaughter excitedly attempting to carry a massive unwrapped box of Playmobil across the lounge (the playmobil zoo, which frankly I can't wait to build and play with), and then playing with one plastic lion all afternoon.
For the first time in many years, I went to the children's carol service at the local church, which was magical. I've never seen so many children dressed as shepherds (an abundance of Ikea tea towels as head dresses), angels (excessive amounts of tinsel) Kings (old curtains with gold embroidery) and sheep (wearing the fireside sheepskin rug) with entranced faces, singing away at carols they had learned at school and totally immersed in it all. It really takes you back to what Christmas is all about, away from the food, alcohol and commercialism.
It also made you spare a thought for those on their own, lonely, or without anything this Christmas, something so easily forgotten in the busyness and excitement.
I had meant to go to midnight service last night, but was too exhausted. I've made up for it this morning by listening to carols from Kings - how traditional and middle class is that!
Merry Christmas everyone, and a happy and prosperous new year. Let's hope it brings you what you want, and its an improvement on 2011!
Friday 23 December 2011
I've just made a major mistake! I have been checking my money (or rather lack of it) as part of my 'not working and catching up at home' admin day.
Christ it's depressing how much things cost isn't it? I'd really decided to make an effort and not overspend this Christmas. We've cut out the stockings for everyone (cue outraged cries of "What? No stockings? But we ALWAYS have stockings on Christmas morning. Where am I going to get all my deoderant / moisturiser / sweets / make-up / pens / plastic crap for January from now? I'll have to go and buy it!"), not overbought on the yummy but fattening snacky food from M&S (Christmas is the only time I buy food for the family from M&S because it's so frigging expensive) and not bought myself any (well, not many) seasonal treats. But the credit cards still seem to have taken a hammering!
I suppose it's my own fault. I like treating people, probably too generously. And I like to be organised so I thought it was a good idea to get everything straight before the weekend then I wouldn't be worrying about it. As it is I'll still be worrying, but differently.
Anyway, there's nothing else to buy now, and we could probably survive a seige for a month by using up all the food and drink in the cupboards and the freezer. Meals would get interesting to say the least, but we wouldn't be hungry. And if all else fails I have three full 1 litre bottles of Bombay Sapphire out the back (they were on offer, it seemed silly not to) with which I could drink myself senseless and forget about it all. But that does seem rather extreme, and hopefully won't be necessary. After all, we have paid Thames Water their extortionate bill for the year, so at least we'll still have water coming out of the taps!
Unless the pipes burst in the cold, which seems to happen every year to someone. Nothing like that has happened to us for a few years, so it must be our turn!
Christ it's depressing how much things cost isn't it? I'd really decided to make an effort and not overspend this Christmas. We've cut out the stockings for everyone (cue outraged cries of "What? No stockings? But we ALWAYS have stockings on Christmas morning. Where am I going to get all my deoderant / moisturiser / sweets / make-up / pens / plastic crap for January from now? I'll have to go and buy it!"), not overbought on the yummy but fattening snacky food from M&S (Christmas is the only time I buy food for the family from M&S because it's so frigging expensive) and not bought myself any (well, not many) seasonal treats. But the credit cards still seem to have taken a hammering!
I suppose it's my own fault. I like treating people, probably too generously. And I like to be organised so I thought it was a good idea to get everything straight before the weekend then I wouldn't be worrying about it. As it is I'll still be worrying, but differently.
Anyway, there's nothing else to buy now, and we could probably survive a seige for a month by using up all the food and drink in the cupboards and the freezer. Meals would get interesting to say the least, but we wouldn't be hungry. And if all else fails I have three full 1 litre bottles of Bombay Sapphire out the back (they were on offer, it seemed silly not to) with which I could drink myself senseless and forget about it all. But that does seem rather extreme, and hopefully won't be necessary. After all, we have paid Thames Water their extortionate bill for the year, so at least we'll still have water coming out of the taps!
Unless the pipes burst in the cold, which seems to happen every year to someone. Nothing like that has happened to us for a few years, so it must be our turn!
Thursday 22 December 2011
Almost there
Well now I do feel very smug. I felt pretty smug last week, but today the smugness has reached epic levels. Because I am ready for Christmas. ALL the shopping is done - food as well. I was in Morrisons at 7.15am this morning filling up my trolley with vast amounts of unhealthy food and alcohol, and now it is all stashed away in the cupboards awaiting the weekend. Yum. In fact YUM.
Ready in other ways too. Last panto rehearsal before Christmas was last night and did the whole thing without my book (one prompt, but you can't have everything and there is still three and a half weeks to go). Last working day today (on hols tomorrow) and finishing off lots of tedious annoying jobs which have been hanging around for ages and feeling good about them (not sure all my colleagues will, when they get the e-mails and requests for information, but never mind, they'll get over it), pressies all wrapped, washing and ironing up to date. The only thing left to do is clean the house, which I'll do tomorrow, and make my Greek Meze for the family 'do' on Christmas Eve, which I will enjoy doing.
Of course I have been lucky this year (well, in a way) in that I was signed off work for six weeks during October and November because of my knee arthroscopy, so did a lot of internet shopping and organising then. But even without that, I usually do manage to be organised reasonably in time. It's just the way I am - I dislike putting myself under unnecessary stress and pressure by leaving things to totally the last minute. After all, Christmas isn't a surprise is it - I mean it happens on the same date every year - so it ought to be possible to plan for it. The reason I got up and went food shopping at an unfeasibly early hour when it was still dark this morning is because I planned it - I didn't want to have to fight my way round the aisles with the rest of the town at 11am, and I have better things to do tonight.
It really does feel like Christmas now, doesn't it? Although the weather isn't very Christmassy! As you will know if you have read previous postings on this blog, I don't like snow one little bit but it would be nice to have it bright, crisp and frosty on Christmas morning - the sort of weather where you can see yourself breathe and it's so bright the world sparkles. You can never have enough glitter, as far as I am concerned, and if Mother Nature can provide more, even better.
Just off to finish a few more e-mails and then to make some mince pies! Excess rules in this house, even though we will regret it in January. But that's a long way away, isn't it!?
Ready in other ways too. Last panto rehearsal before Christmas was last night and did the whole thing without my book (one prompt, but you can't have everything and there is still three and a half weeks to go). Last working day today (on hols tomorrow) and finishing off lots of tedious annoying jobs which have been hanging around for ages and feeling good about them (not sure all my colleagues will, when they get the e-mails and requests for information, but never mind, they'll get over it), pressies all wrapped, washing and ironing up to date. The only thing left to do is clean the house, which I'll do tomorrow, and make my Greek Meze for the family 'do' on Christmas Eve, which I will enjoy doing.
Of course I have been lucky this year (well, in a way) in that I was signed off work for six weeks during October and November because of my knee arthroscopy, so did a lot of internet shopping and organising then. But even without that, I usually do manage to be organised reasonably in time. It's just the way I am - I dislike putting myself under unnecessary stress and pressure by leaving things to totally the last minute. After all, Christmas isn't a surprise is it - I mean it happens on the same date every year - so it ought to be possible to plan for it. The reason I got up and went food shopping at an unfeasibly early hour when it was still dark this morning is because I planned it - I didn't want to have to fight my way round the aisles with the rest of the town at 11am, and I have better things to do tonight.
It really does feel like Christmas now, doesn't it? Although the weather isn't very Christmassy! As you will know if you have read previous postings on this blog, I don't like snow one little bit but it would be nice to have it bright, crisp and frosty on Christmas morning - the sort of weather where you can see yourself breathe and it's so bright the world sparkles. You can never have enough glitter, as far as I am concerned, and if Mother Nature can provide more, even better.
Just off to finish a few more e-mails and then to make some mince pies! Excess rules in this house, even though we will regret it in January. But that's a long way away, isn't it!?
Wednesday 21 December 2011
Feeling jaded
I'm feeling a bit jaded today. It's a busy time of year, work is frantic and there are lots of issues at home which need to be sorted and have deadlines on top of the norm. All that's on top of trying to rehearse for and learn lines for panto in a month's time. It's exhausting.
I know much of it is my own fault and self imposed. I wanted to do the panto, regardless of the major commitment it is because when you actually get to the run, it's tremendous fun. I've made my own choice of job which involves commuting and which, given half a chance, I'd change but it's my own choice to stay there for now rather than get something lower paid and be poor.
I seem to have less and less energy but perhaps that's the price of getting older. I cannot begin to imagine how I managed when I was younger doing two or three shows at once, looking after children and running my own business. I must have been mad!
But I do think the pressure is getting more these days. If you've got a job, you're desperate to keep it and if you haven't got one you're desperate to do so. Life keeps getting more and more expensive and pay has been frozen for the last two years, and looks like a 1% increase only next April (and the year after) despite inflation running rampant. We're working longer hours for less money, and likely to have to work more years and pay more for a pension that will make retirement worthwhile.
At least it looks like they are getting closer to an agreement about local government pensions. I know those who work in the private sector are now saying we don't know how lucky we are with our index linked final salary pension, but what they forget is the years past when the private sector raked in huge salaries by comparison and fat bonuses and we didn't. And we all chose our professions on the contractual terms and conditions on offer at the time - you could have worked for the puiblic sector too, you know, but you chose not to.
I'm not really carping. I'm just tired and ready for a break after all the busyness and health issues of the past few months. I expect Santa will be kind as usual, and I'll eat and drink too much (at least I hope so) and there will be some nice things to do. Cinema, long walks, perhaps a trip to the seaside or the zoo - lovely. So a good chance to recharge batteries ready to face 2012 and all it's challenges. Bring it on!
I know much of it is my own fault and self imposed. I wanted to do the panto, regardless of the major commitment it is because when you actually get to the run, it's tremendous fun. I've made my own choice of job which involves commuting and which, given half a chance, I'd change but it's my own choice to stay there for now rather than get something lower paid and be poor.
I seem to have less and less energy but perhaps that's the price of getting older. I cannot begin to imagine how I managed when I was younger doing two or three shows at once, looking after children and running my own business. I must have been mad!
But I do think the pressure is getting more these days. If you've got a job, you're desperate to keep it and if you haven't got one you're desperate to do so. Life keeps getting more and more expensive and pay has been frozen for the last two years, and looks like a 1% increase only next April (and the year after) despite inflation running rampant. We're working longer hours for less money, and likely to have to work more years and pay more for a pension that will make retirement worthwhile.
At least it looks like they are getting closer to an agreement about local government pensions. I know those who work in the private sector are now saying we don't know how lucky we are with our index linked final salary pension, but what they forget is the years past when the private sector raked in huge salaries by comparison and fat bonuses and we didn't. And we all chose our professions on the contractual terms and conditions on offer at the time - you could have worked for the puiblic sector too, you know, but you chose not to.
I'm not really carping. I'm just tired and ready for a break after all the busyness and health issues of the past few months. I expect Santa will be kind as usual, and I'll eat and drink too much (at least I hope so) and there will be some nice things to do. Cinema, long walks, perhaps a trip to the seaside or the zoo - lovely. So a good chance to recharge batteries ready to face 2012 and all it's challenges. Bring it on!
Tuesday 20 December 2011
Why are people so rude these days?
I find it staggering how rude some people can be these days, whether it be pushing and shoving to get to the front of a queue, not saying please or thank you, staring at you, poor personal hygiene such as sneezing or yawning without covering mouths or noses, or being totally inconsiderate with mobile phones or personal music. Only this morning, an oik (of almost 50 wearing a posh suit and tie) almost pushed me over in his haste to get the last train seat in the carriage. I almost kicked his shins in frustration and rage, but good manners prevented me.
I don't consider myself particularly old fashioned and I've not a great deal of respect for conformance to a cultural norm just to please others, but I was bought up to have good old fashioned manners and to show consideration to others in a public place. I feel great frustration that now, that doesn't seem to be the case - for instance groups of teenagers chattering and making a racket throughout the beginning part of a movie at the cinema (and the abuse you get if you tell them to shut up), noisy music through tinny headphones on the train right next to you (yes, I could listen to my own ipod to block it out but sometimes I just want peace and quiet at the end of a long and busy day), people discussing intimate details of their personal or working life at the top of their voices on the train.
Not so long ago, I sat opposite a chap who clearly had one conversation with his mistress (all lovely dovey and kisses over the phone) and then another conversation with his wife (irritated, intolerant and demanding). Not only was it embarrassing, it was nauseating. But he wasn't embarrassed in the slightest.
Another example is when I was shopping in the supermarket not long after having my knee op. I was still wearing the bandage, walking with a stick and clearly uncomfortable. An old woman, who was aged but sprightly, pushed in front of me at the checkout queue for no good reason than she couldn't be bothered to wait and she thought she had a right to go first. In fact, she had no right, and simply didn't care about anyone else. So bad manners are not the preserve of the young; quite a few oldies could do with a lesson in politeness and living in harmony with your fellow man too. .
Often it's me that gets up from my seat on the tube for an old biddy or a clearly tired and suffering pregnant woman while all the men sit with their heads firmly esconsed in their newspapers. I make a point of saying please and thank you in shops, although I'm not sure why I bother because no one bothers to be pleasant back.
I think it's time for a return to old fashioned civility and courtesy. We should be correcting our children (and maybe others too) when they fail to be polite, teach them respect for others not just because they are children and other people are old but simply because the world is full of other people, we have to live with them and we might as well make it pleasant. I'm reminded of the fairy tale character I read about when I was a child, Mrs Do-as-you-would-be-done-by. I think it's time she came back.
I don't consider myself particularly old fashioned and I've not a great deal of respect for conformance to a cultural norm just to please others, but I was bought up to have good old fashioned manners and to show consideration to others in a public place. I feel great frustration that now, that doesn't seem to be the case - for instance groups of teenagers chattering and making a racket throughout the beginning part of a movie at the cinema (and the abuse you get if you tell them to shut up), noisy music through tinny headphones on the train right next to you (yes, I could listen to my own ipod to block it out but sometimes I just want peace and quiet at the end of a long and busy day), people discussing intimate details of their personal or working life at the top of their voices on the train.
Not so long ago, I sat opposite a chap who clearly had one conversation with his mistress (all lovely dovey and kisses over the phone) and then another conversation with his wife (irritated, intolerant and demanding). Not only was it embarrassing, it was nauseating. But he wasn't embarrassed in the slightest.
Another example is when I was shopping in the supermarket not long after having my knee op. I was still wearing the bandage, walking with a stick and clearly uncomfortable. An old woman, who was aged but sprightly, pushed in front of me at the checkout queue for no good reason than she couldn't be bothered to wait and she thought she had a right to go first. In fact, she had no right, and simply didn't care about anyone else. So bad manners are not the preserve of the young; quite a few oldies could do with a lesson in politeness and living in harmony with your fellow man too. .
Often it's me that gets up from my seat on the tube for an old biddy or a clearly tired and suffering pregnant woman while all the men sit with their heads firmly esconsed in their newspapers. I make a point of saying please and thank you in shops, although I'm not sure why I bother because no one bothers to be pleasant back.
I think it's time for a return to old fashioned civility and courtesy. We should be correcting our children (and maybe others too) when they fail to be polite, teach them respect for others not just because they are children and other people are old but simply because the world is full of other people, we have to live with them and we might as well make it pleasant. I'm reminded of the fairy tale character I read about when I was a child, Mrs Do-as-you-would-be-done-by. I think it's time she came back.
Monday 19 December 2011
Why go to work if you are ill?
I am convinced I now have a life threatening virus.
This morning, I caught an unusually early train. One of those nights when you just don't sleep well, wake up early and know you're not going to nod back off, so might as well get up and go to work. The 6.54 was full of people that ought to be in hospital, or at the very least confined to their beds with something steaming, hot and lemony.
The cacophony of coughing, sneezing, and sniffing was almost deafening. I dread to think how many germs were on the tables and seats because people were blowing their noses and then wiping their mucussy hands everywhere. One person stank of Olbas oil, another of TCP (yes, I know, only suitable for the drains!).
Why are most of these people going to work? They are ill, they should be at home! Their workmates won't thank them and neither will their employers if they give their diseases to everyone else. I suppose they must feel under pressure to be there - pressure to perform, to meet targets, not to let their teams down, to ingratiate themselves with their managers because they are worried about keeping their jobs.
There's only one thing for it. Tomorrow, I will take an antiseptic spray and as I get on, liberally spray it round the carriage, focusing it at all the sniffers and snufflers. I will hand out bottles of antiseptic hand rub and spend the journey with my nose firmly wrapped in my scarf so as to avoid breathing in the noxious bugs and smells. In that way, maybe I'll get to Christmas bug free. After all the expense, that's the least I can hope for.
This morning, I caught an unusually early train. One of those nights when you just don't sleep well, wake up early and know you're not going to nod back off, so might as well get up and go to work. The 6.54 was full of people that ought to be in hospital, or at the very least confined to their beds with something steaming, hot and lemony.
The cacophony of coughing, sneezing, and sniffing was almost deafening. I dread to think how many germs were on the tables and seats because people were blowing their noses and then wiping their mucussy hands everywhere. One person stank of Olbas oil, another of TCP (yes, I know, only suitable for the drains!).
Why are most of these people going to work? They are ill, they should be at home! Their workmates won't thank them and neither will their employers if they give their diseases to everyone else. I suppose they must feel under pressure to be there - pressure to perform, to meet targets, not to let their teams down, to ingratiate themselves with their managers because they are worried about keeping their jobs.
There's only one thing for it. Tomorrow, I will take an antiseptic spray and as I get on, liberally spray it round the carriage, focusing it at all the sniffers and snufflers. I will hand out bottles of antiseptic hand rub and spend the journey with my nose firmly wrapped in my scarf so as to avoid breathing in the noxious bugs and smells. In that way, maybe I'll get to Christmas bug free. After all the expense, that's the least I can hope for.
Saturday 17 December 2011
Christmas
Well, one week to go until the big day! I mean Christmas Day of course, with all its glitter, tinsel, over-indulgence and stress! And I'm ready!!
Personally, I love Christmas. It's an opportunity to spend time with people that I care about and be generous in a way that I never would for the rest of the year because I'm not rich and I simply cannot afford it. But at Christmas, I splurge!
I must also confess to being rather fond of the traditional bits of Christmas too, the carols and religious elements that make it such a warm and uplifting occasion on top of all the commercialism. I'm not religious (I have my doubts that the big guy up there exists, but I'm not sure he doesn't, either) but there is something so innocent and gentle about Christmas in church and I will always try and either go to a teatime carol service on Christmas Eve or the Midnight Mass.
This year, I feel incredibly organised and rather smug sitting here typing this when lots of others are still struggling round the shops or fretting because they aren't finished with arrangements. But my advice would be, don't worry. No one is going to disown you if you don't make things absolutely perfect and you won't do yourself any good at all health wise if you wind yourself up into such a frenzy you are ill next weekend. There are only so many hours in the day and you only have one pair of hands.
I feel sorry for those that are struggling financially this Christmas - the economic situation is really hitting some very hard and prices in the shops, despite the much publicised early sales, are soaring. It's a fact that as your kids get bigger, their preferred gifts get smaller and proportionately more expensive - swop jigsaws for ipads! Food prices are hideous - I went to Morrisons the other day and managed to spend £150 on a trolley which was only half full. And no, it wasn't full of gin!
However you are spending it, try and make it peaceful and fun, filled with kindness and laughter. And this week, in the run up, be calm!
Personally, I love Christmas. It's an opportunity to spend time with people that I care about and be generous in a way that I never would for the rest of the year because I'm not rich and I simply cannot afford it. But at Christmas, I splurge!
I must also confess to being rather fond of the traditional bits of Christmas too, the carols and religious elements that make it such a warm and uplifting occasion on top of all the commercialism. I'm not religious (I have my doubts that the big guy up there exists, but I'm not sure he doesn't, either) but there is something so innocent and gentle about Christmas in church and I will always try and either go to a teatime carol service on Christmas Eve or the Midnight Mass.
This year, I feel incredibly organised and rather smug sitting here typing this when lots of others are still struggling round the shops or fretting because they aren't finished with arrangements. But my advice would be, don't worry. No one is going to disown you if you don't make things absolutely perfect and you won't do yourself any good at all health wise if you wind yourself up into such a frenzy you are ill next weekend. There are only so many hours in the day and you only have one pair of hands.
I feel sorry for those that are struggling financially this Christmas - the economic situation is really hitting some very hard and prices in the shops, despite the much publicised early sales, are soaring. It's a fact that as your kids get bigger, their preferred gifts get smaller and proportionately more expensive - swop jigsaws for ipads! Food prices are hideous - I went to Morrisons the other day and managed to spend £150 on a trolley which was only half full. And no, it wasn't full of gin!
However you are spending it, try and make it peaceful and fun, filled with kindness and laughter. And this week, in the run up, be calm!
Friday 16 December 2011
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And if you've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
And that's exactly what it's doing at the moment. Just a bit. Fat little flakes which are now starting to settle on the grass and pavements but (not yet) on the road. Nasty, wet, slushy muck which would be laughed at by tough alpine dwellers or those in countries where they get tons of the stuff every winter. Yes, its pretty when it's all white and sparkly, but what's the betting it causes chaos, even after the lessons of the last two winters when for a few days the country ground to a halt.
I hate the snow. I'm a Mediterranean beach person, most comfortable at about 90 degrees fahrenheit. I hate getting wet, I hate being cold, I hate not being able to get anywhere and I HATE not being able to go out in my trendy little soft top car safely. And when it snows here the road becomes impassable (it's steep, faces North and never gets gritted) so we have to leave the cars at the bottom and walk the last 500 yards. And this is suburbia, for Christ's sake, not some remote part of Northumbria.
I hate shivering on station platforms only to get into a train that is so overheated I have to strip off several layers of clothing and still feel like I'm in a sauna. I spend most of the winter looking like a sort of bag lady version of the Michelin Man.
Because I have a bad back and dodgy knees, I am terrified of falling on ice or snow, so spend most of my time shufflling around like some old biddy of 95. In fact I'm thinking of getting some prosthetic old lady features from the stage makeup shop and wearing them all winter so that people help me across the road and get up from their seats for me on the train (although that's a rare event these days!) and I can park in the disabled spaces at the supermarket (of which there are far too many).
I hope it stops soon. I have to go out tonight and if it's icy I don't like driving (I'm a bit conscious I'm sounding like a right wimp here, but just in case you haven't quite got the message yet, I DON'T LIKE SNOW) (or ice!). I was definitely born in the wrong country, wasn't I?
Roll on retirement. I'm going to sell up and move out to my house in Crete permanently. It snows there about once every ten years and even then it only lasts for about 24 hours then the sun comes out and its 20 degrees again. I'll clearly be much happier. But I expect I'd only find something else to moan about.
But the fire is so delightful
And if you've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
And that's exactly what it's doing at the moment. Just a bit. Fat little flakes which are now starting to settle on the grass and pavements but (not yet) on the road. Nasty, wet, slushy muck which would be laughed at by tough alpine dwellers or those in countries where they get tons of the stuff every winter. Yes, its pretty when it's all white and sparkly, but what's the betting it causes chaos, even after the lessons of the last two winters when for a few days the country ground to a halt.
I hate the snow. I'm a Mediterranean beach person, most comfortable at about 90 degrees fahrenheit. I hate getting wet, I hate being cold, I hate not being able to get anywhere and I HATE not being able to go out in my trendy little soft top car safely. And when it snows here the road becomes impassable (it's steep, faces North and never gets gritted) so we have to leave the cars at the bottom and walk the last 500 yards. And this is suburbia, for Christ's sake, not some remote part of Northumbria.
I hate shivering on station platforms only to get into a train that is so overheated I have to strip off several layers of clothing and still feel like I'm in a sauna. I spend most of the winter looking like a sort of bag lady version of the Michelin Man.
Because I have a bad back and dodgy knees, I am terrified of falling on ice or snow, so spend most of my time shufflling around like some old biddy of 95. In fact I'm thinking of getting some prosthetic old lady features from the stage makeup shop and wearing them all winter so that people help me across the road and get up from their seats for me on the train (although that's a rare event these days!) and I can park in the disabled spaces at the supermarket (of which there are far too many).
I hope it stops soon. I have to go out tonight and if it's icy I don't like driving (I'm a bit conscious I'm sounding like a right wimp here, but just in case you haven't quite got the message yet, I DON'T LIKE SNOW) (or ice!). I was definitely born in the wrong country, wasn't I?
Roll on retirement. I'm going to sell up and move out to my house in Crete permanently. It snows there about once every ten years and even then it only lasts for about 24 hours then the sun comes out and its 20 degrees again. I'll clearly be much happier. But I expect I'd only find something else to moan about.
Thursday 15 December 2011
Suicide or selfish
I am one of the ranks of harried commuters that put up with the vagaries of the train system day after day. When I took my job, I anticipated being a commuter for a couple of years - so far I've worked there almost seven years!
Yesterday, on the way home, it was chaos. Someone had jumped on the track from a bridge between Clapham and Croydon and must have been sprayed everywhere by an express train, because the whole network in that area was at a halt.
I have never understood why you would take your own life. It has always seemed to me that for an adult that does not have a mental illness (and therefore by implication is fully in control of their actions), suicide is the ultimate in selfish acts. It devastates those you leave behind and doesn't really solve anything except for the person that does it. The fallout lasts far longer than a death by natural causes or accident. And to commit such an act in a way that inconveniences thousands of others really pisses me off.
Don't get me wrong; I don't underestimate the despair that financial difficulties or failed relationships can bring. I have been pretty low with both problems myself at some stage or another of my life. But always, at the back of my mind even in my lowest moments, has been the knowledge that in many ways I have much to celebrate in my life. My children, my resilience, my health and my ability to make success out of nothing, even if it takes a while. When the whole world seemed to be against me, there was always something and I wouldn't have made my family suffer by imposing the guilt they would feel if I had topped myself.
Whoever it was that jumped, well I'm sorry for your trouble but actually, not as sorry as I could have been if you'd been less selfish, sought some help and sorted things out with people that care about you or in the remote chance you don't have any of those, proper professionals. You may have felt you had nothing to live for, and you have now shared that feeling with your family. And inconvenienced about half a million people in the doing. Well done.
Yesterday, on the way home, it was chaos. Someone had jumped on the track from a bridge between Clapham and Croydon and must have been sprayed everywhere by an express train, because the whole network in that area was at a halt.
I have never understood why you would take your own life. It has always seemed to me that for an adult that does not have a mental illness (and therefore by implication is fully in control of their actions), suicide is the ultimate in selfish acts. It devastates those you leave behind and doesn't really solve anything except for the person that does it. The fallout lasts far longer than a death by natural causes or accident. And to commit such an act in a way that inconveniences thousands of others really pisses me off.
Don't get me wrong; I don't underestimate the despair that financial difficulties or failed relationships can bring. I have been pretty low with both problems myself at some stage or another of my life. But always, at the back of my mind even in my lowest moments, has been the knowledge that in many ways I have much to celebrate in my life. My children, my resilience, my health and my ability to make success out of nothing, even if it takes a while. When the whole world seemed to be against me, there was always something and I wouldn't have made my family suffer by imposing the guilt they would feel if I had topped myself.
Whoever it was that jumped, well I'm sorry for your trouble but actually, not as sorry as I could have been if you'd been less selfish, sought some help and sorted things out with people that care about you or in the remote chance you don't have any of those, proper professionals. You may have felt you had nothing to live for, and you have now shared that feeling with your family. And inconvenienced about half a million people in the doing. Well done.
To euro, or not to euro
Poor old David Cameron is getting quite a battering isn't he. It seems he can't please any of the people any of the time. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
Personally, and this is nothing to do with my political persuasion, I think he should be applauded for standing up for the UK's interests against the German bullies and French self servers. The treaty which was vetoed would lead to greater integration, our taxes and financial affairs decided in Brussels by a bunch of bureaucrats who know nothing about the UK and probably hate us anyway. You've only got to look at the voting patterns in the Eurovision Song contest to see how much the rest of Europe dislikes us!
Don't get me wrong. I know this is all about the banks and I'm no fan of banks and bankers. But why should a country which is doing its damndest to drag itself out of trouble and which contributes a significant amount to the EU's coffers already put its hand in its pocket again for something which has no guarantee of success and which could make it worse off in the future?
"Oh", the pro-Europeans cry, "The UK will lose out. Business will go elsewhere. We will lose our export trade because we won't be competitive". Rubbish. The rest of Europe likes much of the UKs products because they are good quality and unique. Our financial services and the remainder of the city will survive because they have vast reserves at their disposal and widely spread interests. Yes, there'll be a dip, but trade will come back. Stop panicking!
"Stop the UK's rebate" , they are shouting in Brussels. Punish the selfish British gits! Well perhaps we ought to remove our contribution altogether, and see how they like that in France where our contributions help subsidise their farmers and cottage industries that refuse to modernise and become competitive. Maybe, just maybe, its time to see whether the benefits of pulling out and spending all those billions on ourselves outweigh the disadvantages. And as for those pro-Europeans, well if they like Europe so much, why don't they go and live there .
Personally, and this is nothing to do with my political persuasion, I think he should be applauded for standing up for the UK's interests against the German bullies and French self servers. The treaty which was vetoed would lead to greater integration, our taxes and financial affairs decided in Brussels by a bunch of bureaucrats who know nothing about the UK and probably hate us anyway. You've only got to look at the voting patterns in the Eurovision Song contest to see how much the rest of Europe dislikes us!
Don't get me wrong. I know this is all about the banks and I'm no fan of banks and bankers. But why should a country which is doing its damndest to drag itself out of trouble and which contributes a significant amount to the EU's coffers already put its hand in its pocket again for something which has no guarantee of success and which could make it worse off in the future?
"Oh", the pro-Europeans cry, "The UK will lose out. Business will go elsewhere. We will lose our export trade because we won't be competitive". Rubbish. The rest of Europe likes much of the UKs products because they are good quality and unique. Our financial services and the remainder of the city will survive because they have vast reserves at their disposal and widely spread interests. Yes, there'll be a dip, but trade will come back. Stop panicking!
"Stop the UK's rebate" , they are shouting in Brussels. Punish the selfish British gits! Well perhaps we ought to remove our contribution altogether, and see how they like that in France where our contributions help subsidise their farmers and cottage industries that refuse to modernise and become competitive. Maybe, just maybe, its time to see whether the benefits of pulling out and spending all those billions on ourselves outweigh the disadvantages. And as for those pro-Europeans, well if they like Europe so much, why don't they go and live there .
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Just starting out
This is very exciting. Starting my own blog! I've been meaning to get round to this for ages but never had time until now.
It's striking me at the moment how much rubbish there is on our TVs. Last night I was channel surfing for something decent to watch and all I came across was 150 channels of utter trash (my husband would disagree - Chelsea were playing on Sky1). This idling is entirely due to a minor op which has rendered me temporarily immobile, but which has allowed me time to confirm my views that the TV companies, with the possible exception of the Beeb, think we all have the attention span of a five year old and the intelligence of a brain dead zombie. I know I'm sounding like my mother (awful thought), but there really is nothing to watch.
And on top of all that, I now see that a few small minded people are throwing criticism at the Beeb's mighty and wonderful 'Frozen Planet' for using a small amount of zoo based footage of baby polar bears. What would they have preferred? That the nursing mother was disturbed ftrom her hibernation in her frozen winter den, possibly breaking it open and exposing her cubs to the harsh Arctic winter weather or, even worse, injuring them or killing them in her panic about alien wires and lights intruding into her personal space. If any of these pathetic individuals had 1% of David Attenborough's knowledge (and of course, we all know that David Attenborough is God in human form), his skill in front of the camera and compassion for the creatures that he showcases, then they would be lucky. But as it is, they don't. So perhaps instead of sitting in front of their PCs whinging about one of the most fantastic programmes of the year they should get out there and do something interesting, entertaining and educational. If they can!
It's striking me at the moment how much rubbish there is on our TVs. Last night I was channel surfing for something decent to watch and all I came across was 150 channels of utter trash (my husband would disagree - Chelsea were playing on Sky1). This idling is entirely due to a minor op which has rendered me temporarily immobile, but which has allowed me time to confirm my views that the TV companies, with the possible exception of the Beeb, think we all have the attention span of a five year old and the intelligence of a brain dead zombie. I know I'm sounding like my mother (awful thought), but there really is nothing to watch.
And on top of all that, I now see that a few small minded people are throwing criticism at the Beeb's mighty and wonderful 'Frozen Planet' for using a small amount of zoo based footage of baby polar bears. What would they have preferred? That the nursing mother was disturbed ftrom her hibernation in her frozen winter den, possibly breaking it open and exposing her cubs to the harsh Arctic winter weather or, even worse, injuring them or killing them in her panic about alien wires and lights intruding into her personal space. If any of these pathetic individuals had 1% of David Attenborough's knowledge (and of course, we all know that David Attenborough is God in human form), his skill in front of the camera and compassion for the creatures that he showcases, then they would be lucky. But as it is, they don't. So perhaps instead of sitting in front of their PCs whinging about one of the most fantastic programmes of the year they should get out there and do something interesting, entertaining and educational. If they can!
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