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Red Writing
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There is a certain amount of irony surrounding the finding of the plans of David Blunkett's house, outside a pub in Sheffield. I wonder how he feels about civil liberties now? Read more about him here where, according to Hugo Young of the Guardian, "Blunkett may be a listener, but he's certainly no liberal" Quote of the Day: "After a year in therapy, my psychiatrist said to me, 'Maybe life isn't for everyone'." Larry "Bubbles" Brown Final update on the subject of insurance and road tax...........I GOT IT Now I am mobile again. I promise I will try to post something more interesting soon. ...Continued saga from yesterday. In a masochistic sort of way, am very pleased I was woken up at 07:30 this morning by the postman with the recorded delivery letter. (No, of course, I didn't go down to answer the door - it's Saturday! Stangely, I don't think SO was quite as happy as I was to be woken by the bell!) A little, white, A5 envelope was unceremoniously thrown at me and yes it did have the little red sticker on it to prove it had been sent recorded. Which is good really, because at least it gave SO a real sense of having complied with the regulations surrounding that procedure! I opened the envelope with the same amount of trepidation that thousands of students have when opening results letters. Was it going to be the right thing? Would I get the hat trick and receive a third certificate for last year? The excitement was too much. Opening my eyes, was somewhat harder. However, it did appear to be the correct thing and I can breathe a sigh of relief that my expensive ornament may be taxed and roadworthy soon. Cup of tea and a bath later, I am about to embark on the next exciting episode in the lengthy procedure called the trials of keeping a scoot on the road. *wavey line thingy so you know you are jumping back in time* When I originally went to renew the road tax (two weeks ago -and without the certificate)...the nice lady in the post office, (No....let's be real about this. In true, Graham Norton style, she was not a nice lady. She was not a nice lady at all. Infact, she was a nasty, nasty lady with whom I had a fairly severe 2 minute conversation, through her bullet proof glass. She growled and spat at me and generally was most offensive, whilst she was refusing to give me my new tax disc). Anyway, this "lady" took my documentation and stamped it before she decided she was NOT going to give me the disc.....After she had humiliated me infront of the very lengthy queue and my SED (significant elder daughter) I retreated, red faced, angry and stamped documentation in hand. I just know now that I have to go back and face her. I have to tell you, I am scared. I am very scared. Why do some people do that to you? Or perhaps it's just me! Put them behind a glass screen and it immediately takes away their compasion and humanity. I guess it's the caged animal thing....and who can blame them really. I am very sympathetic to the plight of zoo animals. But I digress...I now have an irrational fear of this next errand . I know my rights, I am entitled to purchase my road tax....but the "lady" stamped the bloody form and THEN refused to give me the disc......I just know she's going to say she can't give me another one and I will have to spill out the whole ugly saga of the last two weeks. Most people would rationalise that no-one in their right mind really wants to pay for two tax discs but on the same basis as the little red sticker on the envelope denotes my letter was sent recorded delivery, she may argue that her "official" little circle of black inked date of two weeks ago is proof indeed that she has complied and supplied my disk. If they refuse again, I may just end up a snivelling, driveling wreck, draped over the counter, distraught, arms and legs flaying....I just know it's not going to be a pretty sight...I know I am panicking, Nay, I am being totally irrational now........ I have read the daily motivator again and I am trying to psych myself up to do this. Perhaps I could offer to make the morning tea for the next week and do all the ironing and housework and anything else that needs doing and thus try to tempt SO into going instead of me?...*note to self- Deep breaths, calm, be firm, polite, charming even*......tbc Wise words indeed from the Daily Motivator (see links) "Imagine it, and then go beyond imagining to make it so. Set your mind, your heart, your intention and your passion on the very best, and that is where you'll go."...........That's me, I'm going for it. I'll let you know if I get there. The most exciting thing to happen to me for a while is this! Yippee *grin*. I wondered why the hit counter had taken an uncharacteristic leap. Now I really feel I have a Guardian angel. Good news indeed. Especially on a morning when I had just had yet another battle with the insurance company who have supposedly been going to send me my certificate for over two weeks. (Am I allowed to name them here, without being sued? Interesting thought....Oh here goes anyway - such is my wrath..... Clue - two names, the first sounds a bit like a character in Gone with the Wind and the second is almost a brand of cigarettes!) I did think my luck was in when two certificates arrived this morning, but alas they were both for last year (which is good really because they never did send me one last year. This being the reason for the Post Office people refusing to renew my road tax, the result of which is that I am now unable to take the scoot out of the garage. It is now the most expensive ornament I own!) However, both certificates (and I am wondering about the merits of having two identical ones?) run out at precisely 23:59 tonight. Short of having another tantrum over the phone, I managed to persuade the very nice lady at 08:30 this morning that she WAS going to send out the proper one today and it WAS going to be sent recorded delivery. She did sound most appologetic and very reassuring, but then so did the other seven people I have spoken to recently. Perhaps it was the way my rage unexpectely brought a quiver to my voice as I choked back the tears of frustration. If it doesn't arrive tomorrow morning you will all know about it... and they will know, you will know. Well short of going to the press, perhaps the internet would be a good way of warning you all about the merits of this company.......tbc £49.5m is the highest amount ever paid for a painting - Rubens' Massacre of the Innocents, was sold to a private collector at Sotheby's last night. Perhaps one day 500 years from now my masterpieces will earn that amount.........interesting thought. Today's interesting snippet..... in 1875, the Institute of Bankers in Scotland was formed - the first such body in the world......and talking of bankers (!) The Scottish Executive was last night accused of using millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to promote its policies in the run-up to next year's Holyrood elections after new figures showed its advertising campaigns bill has more than doubled to (GBP) 7.2m "Almost £1 million was spent on a campaign entitled, "Do a Little - Change a Lot", which encouraged people to conserve energy - by putting less water in their kettles and saving fuel by leaving their cars at home." .....Sorry, think I missed that one. Judging by the increased traffic in and around where I live, so did a lot of people. But I do believe in charities, so I'm really, reallly pleased all my hard earned money is going to such a good cause. On this day in 1948, Clement Attlee's Labour government introduced the National Health Service, inspired by Aneurin Bevan. It supplied free medical treatment and free prescriptions for glasses, teeth and wigs. But according to a team of scientists from the University of Sheffield the secret to longevity is celebacy! Linking their research to nuns; Dr Michael Siva-Jothey, the leader of the team, said: "Nuns tend to have a longer lifespan than women with children and most people know of someone with a maiden aunt who seems to live forever. The question is, why? WHY?!...Which planet has this man been living on?! Let me think.......... Mmmm, here's a choice... could it be a) quiet life in a serene place, after a hard day at work lots of time to yourself, no responsibilities, no stress or b) the joys, pleasures, stresses of juggling family, career and personal life, not to mention what to wear every day!!! I wonder which would be less stressful... Can't think. The research was also based on the sex lives of mealworm beetles! Reassuring. But it's better news for women (depending on how you read this!); The findings are just one in a long line of evidence that suggest that males live longer if they abstain from sex. Poor men *grin* but it is doubly reassuring to know that this little gem of evidence was based on the study of nematode worms!! Talking of the Sims - see below. My significant elder daughter bought herself one of the expansion packs with her birthday money. This would have probably given her endless hours of fun during the summer holidays had it not been for the fact that it didn't install properly. The instructions on troubleshooting this occurrance (in the "EASY install guide"!!) suggested that in order to reinstall you would first have to uninstall not only the expansion game but the original game too. So being helpful I thought, that's easy. I can do that. And I did. Mistake! When I tried to reinstall the original a nice wee box appeared to ask for the serial number (which it said was on the back of the box). Mmm....*pause for thought as to where the box might be* Several minutes later after digging around under the pc in the depths of what might (loosely) be described as a pc cd collection. (the nicer alternative to looking under S.E.D's bed!) I did indeed find the box. No serial number there. A bar code, yes - but no serial number. Then I looked on the back of the above mentioned guide and found a serial number. Yippee I though, that'll be it. But no. This was the serial number for the expansion pack. I don't know about you, but my family are unable to keep things like instruction books and information etc with the thing it pertains to. So looking for the original booklet which was bought at least 18 months ago was not something I relished. I was right. No one in our house has a clue where said booklet might be - if indeed it is still in our house at all. Shouldn't these things come with a warning...........DO NOT INSTALL UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN ANAL ENOUGH TO RETAIN THE ORIGINAL INSTRUCTION BOOKLET. So now we are left with several SIMS disk and no way of playing with them. I don't know about you but I have an ever so slightly, teeny weeny annoyed feeling because now I envisage endless calls or emails to help centres and technical support thingys and perhaps by the end of the summer someone might have figured out how to let us reinstall it. But of course as soon as I embark on this process the booklet will emerge from under a bed, probably covered in moisturising lotion, nail varnish or bits of chewing gum.......eugh! Think I'll make that call. Found a really great site today, for those who are struggling to know which colour to decorate rooms in your house, or like me, too lazy to search endless aisles of magnolia and colour swatch cards. Visit the interactive Duluxmouse painter site. Here you can change the colour of your rooms without all the nasty mistakes and endless repainting over the strawberry pink you thought would look nice in your kitchen! I have found my true identity as a diy for the pc geek. Not only did I get absorbed in the satisfaction of changing the colour of what would be an ideal room compared to my very "lived in" house, with the click of my mouse, but I even managed to feel I was living there for an instant. Bliss, a house with no people, nothing scattering the floor and absolutely no fingermarks on the walls and around the door handles. I wonder if the people at dulux realised what a wonderfully relaxing experience they have dreamt up. There must be a bigger market for this kind of thing - or was that the idea of the Sims, if only they had the same choice of colours! For those of you interested in the civil liberties debate on ID cards send your comments here Big Brother: Not to influence the voting you understand but .............Jade really has taken up enough space on my tv screen over the last few weeks. Summer Holidays: Are you wondering what to do with the children over the long summer months?.....Well, apart from just enjoying the peace and slower pace of not having to shout in the mornings to rush the little darlings off to school, why not have a look at this Children at Play site. I am not advocating the religious side of it but I did look at the quizzes and thought they might be useful to take on holiday to while away a rainy day. I have pondered over what to write above this poem, which was written by a friend for a friend. It is a sensitive subject and I felt that the poem speaks for itself. Please take a minute to read it. Time to leave Dedicated to Durenda Kay Gorham The sun will set for me one day and I shall no longer see, a day shall dawn, when I am gone, who will remember me. Springs and summers will all pass, winter, autumns too, let them pass before me now, I may not see them through. Please don't be sad for me, though tears will surely come, think of me smiling, happy, who never left things undone. Life may not have been so kind, more things left to do, think me outside a door, that I have just passed through. Let every day be my smile, each moon my sleeping face, let all stars reflect my dreams, for this lovely human race. Remember me each passing day, but your life must go on, let my departure be with love, like the ending of a song. Let me be that tune that stays, humming in your mind, a warm thing, a lovely thing, who has left you all behind. I shall then live on forever, within memories you recall, in your voices I speak and through your eyes I see you all. It seems that my credit card expiry date expired and the nice people who take the money off me every month for the privilige of posting to my blog saw fit to cease all forms of communication with me. That's fine, I really wouldn't have minded, had it not been for the fact that THEY DIDN'T TELL ME! What sort of logic is that? To make matters worse I never knew where to contact them because all the information was in my email files - which they had also stopped me getting into. Now I think I have sorted it, but there is another, more pressing problem. No-one seems to be visiting my site much!Yes, yes I appreciate that no posts do mean for a rather boring blog, but even the regulars have given up. You could have kept me posted by using the comments. So, tell me - what can I do to this blog to make it interesting enough for you to want to read it? Answers on a pc..............well in the comments box or email me and let me know. The site is due for a major revamp in the summer, so if you don't give me any input I won't be able to put on the things which interest you. You are a voice......be heard, even if you have surfed in for the first time.....what would make you come back? Today in 1999 the Queen opened the new Scottish parliament in the Assembly Hall at The Mound, Edinburgh, saying Scotland had stepped "across the threshold of a new constitutional age"......... Three years later, do we believe her?? |
