Today I had to say goodbye to an old friend ... yes, my old Volvo had to go to the scrapyard. After blowing the head gasket, given all the other niggly things as well as it's age, repair was uneconomical.
I now have a "proper" car - '51 plate, shiny, lots of electronic wizardry ... but I am heartbroken.
I've finally submitted my tax return! And waddya know - they owe me £106!
Won't buy me a new (for "new" read "another second-hand") car though! Mine's terminal :-(
That was our picnic table...
Oh what a surprise! There's still s*** outside. We have about 18" and the world is falling apart! No buses, no trains,schools closed...
It's so quiet outside (not just at this time in the morning). I notice it because there is a bus stop and a cash machine (where cars usually park inconsiderately on the double yellows) virtually outside my house so I am particularly conscious of lack of traffic.
I'm guessing there'll be more blogging as people are stuck at home with not a lot to do. What about when we get the inevitable power cuts? What will kids who have only ever known electronic leisure do with themselves? They might find they have to actually talk to their families face to face or play Scrabble or Ludo or Trivial Pursuit!
We started to build an igloo in our front garden but it's virtually covered by fresh snow. We couldn't face getting frozen again yesterday. I'd forgotten how much my feet hurt when they are really cold! I am wearing two pairs of thermal socks inside my furry slippers, t-shirt, jumper and cardigan the central heating is on. It's this bay window that's the problem, not draughts, just cold emanating from it. Oh look, my spellchecker obviously thinks I should spell it "drafts" - I'm English for Christ's sake!
My son walked into work yesterday and waited outside for an hour and a half but no-one else turned up. No communication at all from the boss. He was frozen by the time he had walked home again (all uphill) and took a long time to thaw out. He has chilblains for the first time, poor thing! No contact at all from his boss ... he's going to go in again today and hope he can get in this time.
I suppose the good thing about this enforced incarceration is that I have no excuse not to get all my paperwork/mending etc etc done. I'm glad we got the new felt on the shed roof before D went off to the States! I'm keeping up to date with the washing, ironing and vacuuming as you never know when the electricity's going to go off! (You'll notice I don't "hoover"; that's another one of my pet hates. "Actually it's an Electrolux, not a Hoover" - I can see a spate of comments coming...)
So much for getting things done...
Don't seem to have much to say these days. I've been feeling that I shouldn't be so negative, sarcastic and piss-taking, but then I don't seem to have anything to say...
Well, the Teenager didn't get the grades he'd been hoping for in his AS's (should that apostrophe be there?) so applied for and got (well done him) an apprenticeship in a computer shop, retail and repairs. He works 40 hours for £100 - that's £2.50 an hour! - and to be honest I can't see he's actually getting very much training. He only gets Christmas Day and Boxing Day off (which is really only one day as the shop doesn't open on Sundays anyway). I think he's being exploited. Oh, but he looks so grown up in his shirt and tie!
D's off to the States again just for a couple of weeks to wind up his business there and by the time he comes back it'll be nearly Christmas again. I'm getting more and more cynical about the whole thing. I really don't want to be involved in the crass commercialism that it has become. Family only for prezzies and cards this year, and I'll try to make the cards (I usually run out of time) and I refuse to buy anything which is labelled as a "gift". A gift is just whatever you want to give someone, not what retailers think you should buy. i.e. something that you would otherwise never dream of shelling out money for! (I know, preposition at the end of a sentence...)
Hey, I've got another moan - why can't the spellchecker on Blogger recognise English English? It has just told me I have spelt "cheque", "recognise" and "labelled" wrong. Grrr!
This is it! As of 45 minutes ago I am now the mother of an ADULT!
Where did those 18 years go?!
I'm pissed off with phoning companies/government departments etc because I want to speak to a REAL PERSON or ask a question to which I can't get an answer on their website to be told "You can find information on our website at www.whatever."... OBVIOUSLY if I could have got the information from the website I wouldn't be ringing you now, would I?!
(Steam coming out of ears...)
And now another month is slipping by ...
AS results tomorrow, and my son will find out whether he is going back to college for the second year ... if not he will have to get a job!
Let me see, what shall I moan about today ... oh yeah, greedy Freecyclers! for example:
"Wanted: TV. Must be at least 26" and flat screen ... Wanted: Tent, sleeping bags, camping stove, etc for our forthcoming camping trip..."
Excuse me, but why would you plan a camping trip if you hadn't got these things???
