Bad start.

I woke up this morning at 09.30 as the alarm went off. It had been a rough night as I had been having strange dreams of travelling to work on a bike. I had left my brief case at home, but it was too late to go back for it because I couldn’t go up the motorway on my bike and had to go the long way round. I had left the wife with a group of her friends in a café, they were having a great time. As I cycled away people, dogs etc were getting in my way, and I was already late.
Weird.
After the alarm woke me I turned it off and thinking I was wide awake I had a brilliant idea. As its Friday I set the alarm ready for Saturday, as I get up at 7 and not 6.30. Eventually I toddled off downstairs to the kitchen, let the dog out, make coffee etc. Then I heard this strange noise. Oh shit its 7am and its not Saturday. Of course the stupid alarm clock is not like a palm – it doesn’t know its not Saturday. Shit. I bound upstairs, but too late. The bloody thing has now woke everyone else in the house.

Snow.
I looked out the window at 06.30 this morning and it was wet and dark with no snow.
I exit the house at 07.15 and the snow is coming down like the clappers. A positive blizzard. So off we go to work. The nearer Manchester I get the slower the traffic. As the speed varies from 20 mph to stop I mange to look around at pedestrians, busses and the like. I can now see around because I have been queuing for so long that it is now daylight. People are hobbling about in the snow as if they had never seen it before, certainly never had to actually walk in it before. Rather like the drivers in front of me.

Eventually I manage to park up and leap out of the car. Nice to get out and stretch my legs. The snow is surprisingly thick around here. I make a snowball and throw it into the park. A long time since I have done that!!

Roll into the office an hour late for a meeting.
Now its back to the old routine till tonight.
I think about BW sweating in HK.

How’s the weather where you are?????????

Not another piggin Virus.

Good luck to BW Jetting off to sunny Australia. I am sure she will have a really good time.

My weekend viral diary.

Friday I felt a little under the weather. Bit of a snotty nose and a little lethargic. I thought to myself “If this is a cold I can cope with this quite nicely”.

Saturday morning I felt like shit ! Just felt like staying in bed and curling up under the covers and hiding from the world. But. Life has to go on. So I was up and at it. Had some decongestant/paracetamol type tablets and soon I was functional. I was ok until the afternoon, then I started sneezing and my nose was running like a tap. At then end of that I felt totally wasted.

Sunday, not quite as bad this morning., just a herd of miniature elephants behind my eyeballs trying the push them out. My nose with no skin left on it, even though I use the tissues with balsam+. A good dose of tablets soon sorted the elephants out. Must make th effort today as we are off to Prestatyn for a spot of indoor bowling. I don’t normally participate, I just sit and watch. Today I have been dragged in to have a go. I got slated – still what can you expect when I haven’t done any bowling for over twenty years. Also I wasn’t really in the mood – not with this grotty cold.

Monday, the weekend has gone, its cold and frosty. Thank goodness I put the car in the garage. More tablets and drag myself off to work. The drive to work was amazingly normal. No huge queues like when its raining.
So now its just a case of limp through the day. (I am not allowed any more time off work sick, as my sick record is already crap. So the company have withdrawn permission for me to be ill).

Isn’t it a sorrowful story?

I have been reading Ron's commentators list. It has some interesting facts?? about the people on the list.
I noticed a bit of a coincidence. Ian at simeworld had a handle of Bookworm when he was on CB. Well begger me!! What a co-incidence ....So did I.

Blow me!! what a small world.

lose weight,lose weight,lose weight. -- If I wish hard enough will it work????

My sis went back to the hospital. She had a bleed in the eye. Now she has to see her usual specialist next Tuesday to see what has caused this and what can be done about it.

Bad news, Bad service

My sister-in-law has major problems with her vision. A couple of years ago her eyes suddenly deteriorated when in her ‘good’ eye the retina became detached.
She was rushed to Liverpool eye hospital and had lots of treatment over a long time. They could not re affix the retina because it was in such a poor condition and terribly thin. She had to spend quite a while with special oil injected at the back of the eye to try and force the retina back into place.
The other eye is beyond repair, so her vision is very limited.
She still manages to get around, she has a guide dog and that helps with her personal freedom.
She was told by the hospital that if she has any problem with her vision that she should come back and it would be treated as an emergency as she could easily become totally blind. These things are best dealt with as soon as possible.
Yesterday she woke up and her other eye had gone worse. She described what vision she had as ‘covered in spiderwebs’. So her husband took her to the eye hospital. They arrived about lunchtime. After waiting 5 hours to see a doctor they went home. They were very upset and fed up.

Before Christmas one of the consultants has died suddenly and yesterday was the funeral.
All afternoon? Why did they not arrange some kind of cover?
Maybe it would have been good manners for the hospital staff to advise them of this when they rang before they went to the hospital.

They are going back today. Lets hope they are treated better today.

Language

When I read a phrase like “they shouldn’t go hungry” I am struck by the odd grammar.
Surely it should read “they shouldn’t be hungry” or “they shouldn’t experience hunger” , but to use go in that context doesn’t make sense to me.
Its one of these things that are in general usage but without any particular reason.

On Sunday I was fitting a new intruder alarm system in the house. The old one has been playing up and limping around for some time. On its last legs one might say.
The new one is a much more sophisticated one, it has wireless sensors, PIR’s, magnetic contacts, smoke alarms etc. When it is triggered it rings, texts and e-mails up to 3 different contacts. It has an ear splitting internal siren that is painful. It uses the internet! It even makes the tea.
Simple to install. Yes. (in theory).
It took me all day. That did include removing the old alarm unit, wiring and sensors etc., patching up the décor, and installing and commissioning the new one.

Well I did it and it works
*smug feeling*

Political Suicide

Is the government trying to bring the country to a grinding halt?
Has a motorist offended Blunkett?

Why the new campaign against the motorist?

Parliament have been discussing a national blanket speed limit of 40 mph on all B roads. This will be enforced by speed ramps and more cameras.
Adding extra taxes on speed camera fines and other motoring fines.
Very quietly increasing the tax on fuel.

Well we all know that speed cameras have absolutely nothing to do with safety and everything to do with revenue.

Just another method of back door taxation.

Do the government realise just how many people they are pissing off?
Maybe they don’t want to be re-elected.

What have I forgotten?

Last night in the shower I became embroiled in my thoughts. Showering on auto pilot because I was so deep in my thoughts. Then afterwards when getting dressed I suddenly realised that all my brilliant ponderings had evaporated like a dream. I had that feeling that I had lost something.

This morning I dragged myself out of bed. Did all the usual. Then suddenly I was ready to leave for work. I say suddenly because I was 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Maybe some kind of time warp. I checked my palm, the diary and the to do list, all clear. The wife was still in bed so I set of to work early. Wonderful missed most of the traffic and arrived at work even earlier. But I still have this nagging feeling that I have forgotten something.

Is there something wrong with e's blog site or is it just me? - every time click on her site my internet explorer kicks out with an error message.

I like it so I post it

a bit of wishful thinking

Chris Addison
Saturday September 27, 2003
The Guardian

There follows the text of a letter which I received last Wednesday, second post:
Dear Mr Addison, I am writing to you to express our thanks for your more-than-prompt reply to our latest communication, and also to answer some of the points you raise.
I will address them, as ever, in order.
Firstly, I must take issue with your description of our last as a "begging letter". It might perhaps more properly be referred to as a "tax demand". This is how we, at the Inland Revenue, have always, for reasons of accuracy, traditionally referred to such documents.
Secondly, your frustration at our adding to the "endless stream of crapulent whining and panhandling vomited daily through the letterbox on to the doormat" has been noted. However, whilst I have naturally not seen the other letters to which you refer, I would cautiously suggest that their being from "pauper councils, Lombardy pirate banking houses and pissant gas-mongerers" might indicate that your decision to "file them next to the toilet in case of emergencies" is at best a little ill-advised.
In common with my own organisation, it is unlikely that the senders of these letters do see you as a "lackwit bumpkin" or, come to that, a "sodding charity". More likely they see you as a citizen of Great Britain, with a responsibility to contribute to the upkeep of the nation as a whole.
Which brings me to my next point. Whilst there may be some spirit of truth in your assertion that the taxes you pay "go to shore up the canker-blighted, toppling folly that is the Public Services", a moment's rudimentary calculation ought to disabuse you of the notion that the government in any way expects you to "stump up for the whole damned party" yourself. The estimates you provide for the Chancellor's disbursement of the funds levied by taxation, whilst colourful, are, in fairness, a little off the mark. Less than you seem to imagine is spent on "junkets for Bunterish lickspittles" and "dancing whores", whilst far more than you have accounted for is allocated to, for example, "that box-ticking facade of a university system".
A couple of technical points arising from direct queries: 1. The reason we don't simply write "Muggins" on the envelope has to do with the vagaries of the postal system; 2. You can rest assured that "sucking the very marrows of those with nothing else to give" has never been considered as a practice because even if the Personal Allowance didn't render it irrelevant, the sheer medical logistics involved would make it financially unviable.
I trust this has helped. In the meantime, whilst I would not in any way wish to influence your decision one way or the other, I ought to point out that even if you did choose to "give the whole foul jamboree up and go and live in India" you would still owe us the money. Please forward it by Friday. Yours sincerely, H J Lee, Customer Relations.

I was feeling a bit down this morning, but after reading Blue witch.and all the post etc over the weekend it really cheered me up.
I liked the funny bits not the health issues.

Thanks BW.

I fell asleep and missed it.

I decide to take a post Christmas Blog holiday and look what happens.
I just managed to miss everything !!!
Cor bimey…one blink and the world moves on.

I was pleasantly surprised to see I received a mention by BW.
I was unpleasantly surprised by reading that BW has been suffering with RSI, but pleased to see she is (in her usual business like manner) dealing with the problem and pressing on regardless.

I think I might try swapping my mouse to the left to see if I can get used to it.

Since the recent hike in energy charges I have been shopping around for a cheaper supplier of Gas and Electricity. My present suppliers are British Gas for electricity and Powergen for Gas. Using this and this on the internet.
The only one cheaper than my current suppliers (Like the pun) are Virgin Home energy dual fuel.
With a wonderful saving of £40 per year. Hardly worth the hassle of switching suppliers. Don’t think I will bother.

Thought for the Day

Its not the things we do that count, but the decisions we make.

Local pollution

Yesterday the wife has a fracas with one of the neighbours – and we have plenty of neighbours.
Let me explain.
The bottom of our garden butts on to the village cricket field, as do about another thirty houses or so. We are located near a corner, so we have a lot of gardens at right angles to us.
It started when she noticed a horrible smell permeating into the house. She went outside to investigate and discovered that a neighbour was having a really smelly bonfire and the smoke was drifting directly towards our house. This neighbour person has lit a bonfire on the cricket field !! Not his own garden. He had waited until the wind was blowing away from his house to burn all his smelly rubbish.
She approached him and explained that it was causing a nuisance and asked him to put it out. He told her to get lost. She saw red and came back with the hosepipe. The problem is it only reaches to the bottom of our garden and would not reach the bonfire. She filled a bucket and threw it on the bonfire, I think he let her because he didn’t think she would do it. This just made is smoke even worse, so she tried another bucket of water. He pushed her back and became physically abusive blocking her way with a rake and holding his fist up to her. She threatened legal reprisals if he harmed her and stood her ground. He tried to jam out gate with a piece of wood. At this point she gave up.

I spoke to the local environmental health. There is no actual law against having bonfires but they can be prosecuted for causing a nuisance. They are gong to write to him advising him to stop causing a nuisance.

Why doesn’t the silly old git take his rubbish to the tip like everyone else. The council even supply special bins for garden waste, for composting - and he prefers to burn his.

Back to reality

Well its Monday morning again, its back to work again. After almost two weeks off it is a horrendous traumatic experience diving into the rat race once again.
No I am not exaggerating. I found it particularly difficult and stressful battling the traffic. Maybe it was worse that normal? Maybe I am just not yet into the swing of things?
I think it may be the contrast with the week leading up to Christmas. That week was so quiet at work and the roads were just heavenly to commute – It was taking less that half my normal drive time.

I was so so stressed out this morning, and now I am beginning to relax a little and as the adrenaline is now working out of my system I am feeling really drowsy and tired, like I haven’t slept for a week.
Ahh Coffee coffee….
This decaf is useless.

----------------------------------------------

Although doing much shopping over the Christmas period, we are running out of a most important item.
Something we have never run out of before. I think it must be a result of eating more than normal, and having guests staying over the Christmas period.
We are running out of toilet rolls
Maybe the guests have pinched them ??
At least they didn’t leave the taps on.

I tried to get on blogspot on NY eve but it was all blogged out.
Hope everyone had a really good new year.
Sadly Monday is looming.

Our Rights

The underlying philosophy of assertiveness training is based on the premise that we are all equal and that we all possess the same basic rights.
Many people seem to have forgotten, or never have been told, that these rights exist.
The goal of assertiveness is to stand up for your rights without violating the rights of others.
A good starting point is to remind yourself of some of these basic rights.

1. I have the right to express my feelings.
2. I have the right to express my opinions and beliefs.
3. I have the right to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ for myself.
4. I have the right to change my mind.
5. I have the right to say, ‘I don’t understand’.
6. I have the right simply to be myself without having to act for other people’s benefit.
7. I have the right to decline responsibility for other people’s problems.
8. I have the right to make reasonable requests of others.
9. I have the right to set my own priorities.
10. I have the right to be listened to, and taken seriously.
11. I have the right to make mistakes and feel comforable about admitting to them.
12. I have the right to be illogical in making decisions.
13. I have the right to say, ‘I don’t care’.
14. I have the right to be miserable or cheerful.

Can you think of any other rights of assertiveness?