New neighbour … OK?

I mentioned in a previous post the TV prog (sort of like ‘Trisha’).  I have referred to this show in the past.  The presenter is a guy called Jeremy Kyle – 43 or so, failed first marriage and now happily married, to someone else, with a four year old daughter.  

I have added a YouTube vid – as I understand it the young (pregnant) woman is on the show to see if Jeremy is able to influence her 19 year old boyfriend.  It appears the boyfriend, like many of his age, has a chip on his shoulder, drinks ‘excessively’ and relies solely on state benefits to get through life.  Clearly, this sort of individual rattles Jeremy though Jeremy does try to remain detached.  It’s all very confrontational stuff and there are, broadly speaking, two views.  1.  Is Jeremy out of order, being provocative? or 2. Is Jeremy speaking for a large part of society?

The problem is, you see, that the young man on the show is typical of many others (here in the UK).  So, now we have generations (such as the young man), expecting the state to support etc him and his family, then you get the immigrants from the EEU that have no intention of working but relying, a la 19 year old, on state benefit and then you get the Gurkha soldiers, served the Crown and not allowed to stay in the UK.

Anyhoo, have a watch of the vid and, if you are minded to live in the UK (unless you were reasonably financially secure), ask yourself ‘how would you like to go work, struggle to make the pay check stretch and have someone like the 19 year old living next door?  Sadly, he reminds me, in not quite so bad a way, of #3.

Comments?

Other observations …

(Value for money today or what?!)

I very occasionally watch a TV prog involving people going the show to sound off their grievance about family members (a sort of ‘Trisha’ prog). I ‘came in’, today, when a man was being given a hard time by the show’s presenter about ‘his’ 19 year old daughter – abandoned for the last 19 years.  The mother then came on to the show and ran the man down to the ground – the abuse, violence, rejection and more.  She was followed by the ‘daughter’ who was, actually, quite a decent / sincere young woman.  The ‘father’ explained that he had undergone a DNA test, proved negative, though the mother had refused to get involved, despite, over the years, ‘calling’ this guy to anyone that would listen. Anyhoo, ‘proper’ DNA testing had now been undertaken, arranged by the show, and the result was announced.  The mother glared at the father, throughout, you could almost feel the loathing she had for him / what he had done.  Inevitably, when the result was announced ‘Tony, you are …… (long pause) …… not the father’, the mother ran off stage screaming at which the presenter in basic Yorkshire talk told her (as she disappeared):

‘That’s right, love, leave me to sort out the mess’

It was all powerful, moving, stuff and you could only feel for the daughter (a 19 year old mother) and the ‘father’ – he was so, obviously, distressed that he didn’t know what to do and had to be helped off stage by his own wife (not the daughter’s mother you understand).

On a much lighter note – have a look at this video.  It shows what we Brits will do when a hole suddenly opens up in the road – naturally we keep a space between ourselves and the road – yeah, right …. (‘scuse the intro).

Where’s ya bin ..?

In these economically difficult times it’s always pleasing to see the local authority providing value for money.

Sat here (in my PJs if you really need to know), drinking tea, looking out of the window to the street outside and soaking up the limited activity of this quiet suburb, I watched other residents wheeling out their ‘wheelie bins’.  The wheelie bin serving CS is attended to by The Elder. Every week I watch as, muscles flexing, she wheels the bin up on to the pavement outside, next to the road.  This, it appears, is a ‘woman’ thing as other women, at other property, perform the same task.  I wonder if their partner, like myself, watch their efforts and nod approvingly (whilst struggling to drink tea, eat toast, catch up on the news, stroke the dog and attend to all these other masculine tasks?). Anyhoo, to where am I leading?

Ah yes, the local authority.  Mmmmm …. The occupier of the house opposite has, we are given to understand, ‘special requirements’ and this means they (the female, of course), doesn’t wheel out a bin – no she carries out and deposits a black sack at the roadside. (Aaaaaggghhhh!! Will they ever be out of my life?!)  Other residents (female, of course), wheel out their wheelie bins and, finally, these same champions of domestic abuse then carry out and deposit two other sacks – one is white and one is red – the contents being plastic/tin or papers respectively – all destined for recycling.  So what?  At 0900 a heavy wagon drives up the road, it’s occupied by four heavy, muscular operatives (women?!).  One leaps out, picks up the single black sack, deposits it in the back of the vehicle and drives off with the other operatives.  About an hour later the procedure is repeated when another heavy wagon arrives.  The occupants (not the same as previous), leap out and the noisy process of wheeling bins to the wagon and their emptying commences.  Off they all go when, about an hour later, another heavy wagon arrives and yet another team jump out and collect up the white / red sacks.  Eventually peace, of sorts, returns and we all get on with our lives - put the kettle on, look for the biscuits / cookies, scratch your bum etc and all the other important tasks that seem to impose on the hard working members (male) of society. The peace is shattered by a large van arriving, the driver blowing the van’s horn as he attempts to sell fish (or something).  I have never seen anyone buy so much as a sardine. 

This is all too much and we, hard working retired, shuffle off to our respective bed to recover from the morning’s trauma.  The luckier (male) residents might be joined by their partner when additional tasks need to be pursued – though further discussion need not not occupy this worthy journal.

You can tell that I am bored and not able to be included with the ‘luckier (male) residents’ – such is life. Soon be lunchtime and soon be 1330 – oh yes :)

More about the US –

Later.

Income, decisions, decisions and other issues …

Rain, rain, rain …… Good morning!!  Yes ‘April showers’ are with us again – albeit on the last day of the month. I was awake @ 0400, listening to the rain: rain = water = rivers  = waterfall = sea = ocean = alarm bells!!!!  No good, this decrepit old male had to get up & do what had to be done.  Go back to bed?  Nah – I am awake now.  So, what to do?  Make tea!!  The Dog is away with the canine fairies, under my duvet and, him being increasingly deaf, he doesn’t wake up – a bit like a geriatric – he wakes up when you prompt him.  He’s a good boy.

So, with apprehension, it was time to see how my pay (pay day today!!) has impacted on my online bank account.  As always, you never get what you thought you would get.  There’s the annual rise in my ‘pay’ (local government pension) and I now pay slightly less tax each month.  How much am I better off? About $50 per month.  It could be worse. Any income is better than a bill.

On the subject of income, I have been headhunted – I mean – me?!  A guy I met last week, ‘networking at the conference’ don’t you know, asked me to submit my CV.  This was duly attended to and I sat back to wait.  Anyhoo, he has replied!!  He asks what I charge for the work I undertake – it’s a lot. Quality, professional, service doesn’t come cheap.  Not expecting to have heard from him I have to confess that I haven’t given the matter a lot of thought.  Now that there might be an opening – maybe three days each week, I have had to look at the advantages / disadvantages (in no particular order):

Advantages	Disadvantages
Greater income	Do I really need to work?
‘Keep my finger in’	Do I really, in the long term, expect / want to return to work?
Get a new(er) car	The car will be clocking up the miles (and costs)
More clothes	More clothes – an advantage? – Increased cost!
Live in the Midlands	The quality of life (well, the area) where I live is beautiful
Increased social activity	The opportunity to blog / travel to the US will be decreased
It will get me away from ‘the troubles’ here @ CS	Do I really want to be away when there is so much needs doing and what about The Dog?
Better use of time?	No way - it will be Tues, Weds & Thus – travel Mon / Fri.

Need I go on? What would you do?

A nutter on the loose …

The previous post, a quickie (you could say), was compiled and posted using yet another add-on to iGoogle – means that, from your home page, a bit like Twitter, you just type in the usual dross and click send – that’s it.  All clever stuff.

From the previous you will see that the old car started up and I am going to chance my arm running it to the local waste disposal point (I hope to return with it though not the vegetation contained within).

The Elder has received mail and you cannot help but see the ‘Try Before You Buy!’ heading contained immediately under her name in the address box.  So, looking it up, on the Internet, reveals a new trend in house buying and very interesting it is too.  Looking on the Internet, applying the sender’s name, I cannot see any local developments but, who knows?, there may be other developments – interesting – watch this space.

It’s been unlike me not to thank those of you that leave comments – well, OK, I guess I mean VofT – thank you very much indeed.

Back to the USA – picture the scene: SEH, a timid, quiet, unassuming (and very modest) Yorkshireman is standing on a major road, albeit on the left of the road but, thankfully,on the ‘safe’ side of the road barrier.  Having confidently walked up the road for a mile or so I have, I forget to mention, arrived at a culvert / storm water drain. So what?  Well, there’s now a wide gap in front of me, quite a deep cutting and lots of water – the path (of sorts) has come to an end – it ‘picks up’ across the drain / culvert but that’s not a lot of help.  I could very quickly(!) jump over the barrier and run up the road, past the culvert, cross the barrier and continue my journey.  On my right is a road going off to a housing development – maybe I could turn right, follow the culvert, find a place to cross, walk back up the side of the culvert and resume my journey … mmmmmm, sounds like a lot of walking – summat that I haven’t seen a lot of so far!  Anyhoo, back to the obstruction – as you probably guessed, see previous, the decision was made for me when the car complete with flashing lights and huge occupant appeared – maybe a driver / resident had ‘phoned the police concerned about some nutter on the highway apparently confused (pretty good description!).

The police officer, for such he was, quickly realised that I was from foreign shores, nevertheless a friend – OK, we had previously been at war (many years ago), but we are all friends now – and he politely informed me that I would have to find an alternative route (duh – I already knew that!!).  He asked me where I was going and wasn’t too impressed when I said I wanted to speak to someone about making a male / female connection.  Backing away, slightly wary (‘leery’ – see I am learning!), he suggested that I either get someone to come and collect me (probably, he thought, wearing white coats), or find an alternative route – turn right and go through the housing estate – one thing he wasn’t happy about / prepared to accept was me continuing on the main road.  I agreed (wondering why he didn’t offer me a lift – hey! – that would have been good for the record – first day out on my own and I end up in a police car!!). We had met on the level and parted on the square and I watched as he drove off and I followed in his dusty trail.

After about two miles, well, it seemed that far, I arrived at the main town where, joy!, WBG ‘phoned me. She was able to give me directions and we agreed to meet, later in the day at another major store – no, not Walmart – I was about to be introduced to the exciting world of HEB.

‘Just up the road’ I was advised by a local resident – huh!  I was quickly learning that ‘drive everywhere’ Texans are not able to judge (walking) distance.  I arrived at HEB some time later, quite some. bloody, time later … First stop the small boy’s room …

More later …

Life in the old thing ...

Good morning, no (of course), I don't mean myself - oh, I dunno tho' :)

No, Dear Reader, having been up and about since the early hours, I have compiled a list of activity for the day - including taking a lot of vegetation from the garden to the local tip. All subject, of course, to the car starting up. Well, surprise, surprise it did just that - I drove out of the drive, along the road, returned and reversed down the drive - the idea is that the tailgate will be opened making loading the car that bit easier. Well that's the plan anyway.

Time passes quickly …

York’s talk (an occasional explanation of ‘proper talk’):

’Knacked’ (pronounced: Knackter (silent r)) – Knackered - ‘His motor’s knacked’ - ‘there appears to be a serious defect with his motor vehicle’.

I thought it might be a good time for me to remind you of the situation / ‘big plan’.  Here at CS there is The Elder and, also, POFM#3. POFM#2 has moved out.  SEH has previously purchased The Elder’s share of the former matrimonial home though, as part of the ‘deal’ it was agreed that The Elder & #3 may continue to occupy CS in much the same way as when we (The Elder & myself), were married.  Obviously there are material changes, now that we are divorced, but, to be honest, they were much in place when we were married.  One other occupant is The Dog – he is elderly and his welfare is one of the principal reasons that The Elder / #3 are still here & the house remains unsold (that and the state of the economy).  The present arrangement continues until the end of March 2010.  For G-d’s sake, we will have been divorced nearly five years by then!!

When I purchased The Elder’s share of CS I was confident that I would be getting a ‘good return’.  The words of my solicitor, at the time, continue to haunt me.  When I advised her of the sale price agreed by The Elder & myself, she cautioned me that ‘even in this period of rising prices, house prices might fall’ – she was, of course, proved correct.  However, life is a one time event and you are always able, well most times, to replace money – you cannot replace time.

In the ‘meantime’ The Elder scans newspapers etc identifying property for sale including property offered by Housing Associations where she could ‘part buy’ a property.  I have kept a respectful distance from her ‘affairs’ as I don’t want to be seen to be applying pressure.  A big problem, as you know, is #3 – she knows that I would gladly see her move out but, as a responsible parent (G_d – she’s 20+!), she knows I wouldn’t see her suffer.  To be honest she has made limited though welcome effort of late.  So far everything appears to be proceeding in a controlled way.  I am apprehensive that The Elder will try and extend her stay and I have informed her that her looking for property at the beginning of March 2010 will not mean that she is able to go beyond the deadline (end March 2010).  The other worry is that nothing is getting done in the house and after March 2010 I will have a lot to do / money to find for repairs etc.  ASAP, subject to the state of the economy and how much I am prepared to ‘write off’ the value of the house, I want to sell up and move, abroad – no, not Lancashire, sometime next year.

Although at times it has been difficult, I feel a certain degree of satisfaction that I / we have maintained a degree of civility to each other.  I don’t suppose many divorced couples could match us.  I do recommend that you visit Judith’s Divorce Blog for a good article (as they usually are!), on the subject of housing / divorce.

As the days count down, my occupying CS is likely to be interrupted – another 10 weeks, maybe (two periods), in the US and, in total, maybe another four weeks or so ‘working away’.  This is approx. three and a half months, with eleven months to go before the end of March it doesn’t take a lot of working out to see that I might only be with The Elder for another seven and a half months – time passes quickly as you get older.

Skyping and shopping and more …

There can be no doubting that communication, be it to the house next door or a cell ‘phone across the world, has seen a marvellous advance in technology.  When SEH was a young man (ha!), the quickest form of communication - apart from in person or by radio / telephone – was, and you won’t remember, if you wished to speak to someone abroad then you had to ‘book’ your ‘phone call via the ‘phone company’s operator.  This might, typically, be on Christmas Day when you would never have the ‘phone out of vision as you nervously waited for it to ring when the operator would inform you' ‘here is your long distance call’. On the subject of Christmas, there’s so much to tell you, later, about last Christmas when I was at Chez WBG, meeting her family for the first time – but you’ll have to wait for that :) Anyhoo, if you wanted quick communication you relied on a telegram and that would usually arrive the same day. These days we have e-mail, text messaging and more including VoIP. I have just written (and deleted) a few lines about Skype – on reflection it might bore you (you might already be bored!).  All I will say is that it’s brilliant and I am able to use any UK ‘phone to call WBG, in the US (from the UK) when a five minute chat costs about $0.10 or even nothing – it’s wonderful!!!

OK, calm down, get a grip :)

Yesterday I was boring you with details of fixing a leaking tap – you do remember? (I hope).  Having sorted out the intricacies of getting the male in to the female, it was decided that a trip to Home Depot was in order.  Here in the UK the largest retail outlet is ‘B&Q’ – it’s OK, I suppose, but it simply pales in to the background when compared to HD (and it has an unenviable record relating to store safety).  We arrived at HD and WBG, we always hold hands (isn’t that nice?!), walked me through the store where, every few minutes, I had to stop and ogle the goods, the range of equipment, the prices and so on.  I had already worked out what I needed, or would need here in the UK.  The items were much the same in the US but I quickly realised that all was not as simple as first appeared.  I needed a wrench, OK – no probs, PTFE tape – ditto but the pipe  / fittings thread had me stumped.  I needed to seek further advice before going on.  This meant, sadly, that we had to end our HD visit and stumble out in to the bright sunlight. No probs – I would call into a plumbing shop and get the advice.

In theory. 

Next day WBG was having the office Christmas bash and we thought it would be a good idea if I was dropped off in the nearby town, wander round the shops, buy some food and get a taste of the US (on my own).  WBG agreed to collect me later in the day.  0845 saw me wandering into Walmart (again) where, for the next hour or so I wandered up and down every aisle – shopping (not actually buying anything) in slow time – it was interesting, sadly, to see other men doing the same sort of thing (it happens in the UK too) – just wandering around – maybe it’s a hazard of getting old?  I didn’t have any US money and wasn’t too sure about using an ATM with a UK card (this was sorted later when WBG sorted me out). Anyhoo, it was only 1000, very cold and I was stood outside Walmart.  I knew there was a plumbing / builders’ materials shop ‘just up the road’.  Off I went.  Problem.  I arrived at the exit from Walmart where it joined the main road (which was carrying a lot of traffic!), Hmmmm, sez I, where is the pavement / footpath or whatever?  None available so I set off, in the face of oncoming traffic, though on the ‘safe’ side of the barrier, up the road towards the plumbing shop.  I was getting in to the swing when a car with flashing blue lights stopped in front of me – I mean right in front of me! Oh oh!!  I felt a Yorkshire fluffy developing.  The door opened and this huge man climbed out and walked towards me….

More later.

Male into female problems …

York’s talk (an occasional explanation of ‘proper talk’):

‘Summat’ – Something e.g. ‘summat’s up wi’t’motor’ - ‘something appears to be at fault with the car’.

OK, the good news is that your very own SEH has recovered from the ‘jet lag’ resulting from his trip, not up t’north, but to the far east (of this over populated island). Leaping out of bed, this morning, to meet a cold, wet miserable and overcast morning.  Not to worry!  Lots to do :) Though the garage tidying, avec La Femme (Elder) is a no starter – I could be mischievous (what? moi?!) and suggest that we make a start in tidying the loft – mostly full of her rubbish.  She won’t want to play but it’s a job that has to be done (still no comments or whatever about her departure). Back to the programmed tasks -

First of all it was a case of sending a CV to a prospective employer – yes, I have been ‘picked up’ (at the conference), when a guy that I know asked me if I might be interested, for a short period of time, in a little bit of ‘contract work’ (don’t get the wrong idea!).  So, with muchus vigourus it was a case of set to and off it went.  Actually I used a CV that I prepared about two years ago when I was headhunted for a job in New Zealand – with other irons in the fire, at that time, I had to give it a miss.  Not to worry – I was able to recover the stuff that I had submitted although it was filed as pdf files.  Not to worry (again!), I have software that will convert pdf to other formats e.g. Word, HTML and more.  Once sorted (edited) it was then a case of making contact with as guy that has asked me to coordinate a conference that I hope to attend in the middle of next month.  So you see – quite a busy boy when I want to be!!

Car? Dunno.  I went out this morning (the car hasn’t moved since Friday) and, after a lot of effort it managed to start (and keep running – just on the drive).  I am tempted to go out in it this afternoon, 1315 or so, just to the nearby railway station (empty car park), just to give it, the car, a bit of a run (as we say). News just in:  I have been invited to attend another conference, in a few weeks – good stuff – I get paid for going and the funds all go into the golden pot (OK, the purchase of a replacement car).

I guess it’s time to tell you a bit more about the trip to the US? What to tell you?  OK, size matters … One of my pleasant tasks (all tasks were pleasant), was the opportunity to help out at Chez WBG. At the side of the house was a water tap (faucet) which was continually ‘running’ (as it had for some time presenting a risk of damage to the side of the house apart from being a waste of water).  One thing about the house was the ‘option’ to get underneath it – OK, not enough room to stand but quite easy to move about and check out the plumbing etc.  Anyhoo, (still with me?), the defective tap was connected to copper pipe (1/2” or 15mm as we say).  The end of the tap, where it connected to the pipe had a female opening (and, as you know male goes into female). The problem was, however, that the tap connected to the copper via a soldered (to the copper) / male threaded ‘fitting’ (see pic) and great care was needed to remove the old tap without twisting the copper pipe.  What to do?  Of course! I needed an introduction to the wonderful world of Home Depot – oh yes indeedy.  So far?  Nothing done – no tools, replacement parts – just lots of enthusiasm – tomorrow, therefore, it’s a trip to Home Depot – can’t wait.

More later.

People don’t change …

OK, greetings, a degree of ‘normality’ is returning – almost.  The saddest event is the accepting that my car is knackered – I suppose, if you adopt a more positive view, I don’t need a car to get to work (I don’t need to work!!), all the facilities that I might need are within walking distance, the large store (Walmart style), is a 2.5 mile ride away (mostly on the flat) and I have a bicycle (complete with bum splitting seat) and so on – it’s not like ‘oh my Gawd – how am I going to get to work or wherever tomorrow?’ – no, tomorrow is, hopefully, just another day.  I suppose I will have to start emptying the car – how sad.  Interlude – The Elder has just brought The Dog in to see me – he doesn’t like being steered and promptly growled at her.  I don’t tolerate this sort of behaviour (from The Dog) and dragged him out.  However, very quickly we are all friends again.

Big treat this evening (for us poor Brits) – lamb steaks … mmm mmmm or, to be more precise, sliced lamb from the fillet (the broad part off the top of the rear leg, if you must know).  It really was nice – this got me thinking, do you eat lamb over in the US?  I suppose you do but I seem to have fond memories of beef steak, pork steak and chicken – didn’t see any lamb (that I can remember).  At Walmart I spoke to the butcher who, with sadness, revealed that whilst he was a qualified butcher, his main task was simply to oversee where the pre-packed meat went on the display.  Asking him about fillet, shank (the lower part of the rear leg), rolled pork, shoulder of mutton / lamb simply caused him to become sad.  He could only refer me / us to specialist shops.  All very sad.

More sadness – The Elder has just returned, to my room, to explain (in an increasingly loud / aggressive voice), her opinion as to why The Dog started growling.  Simply agreeing with her, to bring the conversation to an end, merely causes the woman to be increasingly aggressive.  Adopting a firm response:  ‘Thank you, I would like to go to bed now’ simply caused her to storm out, slamming the door – another crappy start to the week.

People don’t change.

A bit out of sorts …

Having woken @ 0500 (nature was calling), I have endeavoured to go back to bed and will be doing after I have composed and posted this rubbish.  Yesterday …. not a good day.

My car ….. finished.  I went to the local library, parked up OK and on my return from the library started up the car.  Brakes off, immediate turn right and stop at a junction (only 20 yards away) – suddenly the engine wouldn’t respond to the accelerator. Nervous pressing of said accelerator and the engine ‘picked up’. Turn right, arrive at junction to main road, stopped (you have to do) and the engine problem re-appeared.  Thankfully no traffic behind me as the engine ‘picked up’ again but this time accompanied by lots of black smoke (the car is a diesel).  Back to CS where a great sadness descended.

OK, so ignored the car and turned to other chores – tidying my room and sorting out everything that I had taken away with me, to the conference, so that it will be ready next time (mid May – I guess I will be travelling by train).  A light lunch and then I fell asleep – a deep though restless sleep – waking up at 1600 or so with a mouth tasting like a postman’s sock.

Sharp words with The Elder, last week, about how the house remains a dump – when I think back to my aspirations and dreams that the house would have had some improvement by e.g. the end of May – just not happened.  Anyhoo, last week The Elder indicated that she would have made an effort with the inside of the garage (her mega rubbish etc contained within).  I was assured that it would be sorted while I was away.  Returning I find progress = zilch.

This and the car is probably why I feel a bit run down.  You have to have faith and trust in a partnership.  I seem to be in the band of those that naively trust people (not everyone has let me down – others have kept me sane – TY).

More later.

Such a small thing causes stress and worry …

Greetings and many thanks to VofT and Mel for your comments.  Arriving back, late, last night means that I have only now managed to get round to sorting out blog / post comments etc issues.

Returning from location on the SE coast, after a long drive, I just wanted to get changed, showered, fed and, without delay, crash out in to my bed – and this quickly happened. You may have noticed from the Twitter update that I was alarmed to have a dashboard light appear (come on).  Most of the lights, when they appear, at start up / switch on ignition, are red (‘alarm’) and the light that appeared was amber (‘caution’).  That said, I didn’t know to what it referred.  Of course I didn’t have the owner’s manual or ‘phone number to contact a dealer.  Telephoning The Elder became strained when she couldn’t find the dealer in the telephone directory. In the end it was found and there followed a worrying discussion with them:

SEH:  ‘Hi, I have a 2009 Lamborghini (I don’t, of course, but you get the idea), and there’s an amber warning light appeared on the dashboard just above the fuel gauge – what is it?’

Dealer: ‘OK, sir, that’s the engine management light' (huh?!). It displays if the onboard computer detects anything that might be out of order’.

SEH: ‘OK ….., such as what?’

Dealer: ‘It could be anything, sir, best you get to a ‘main dealer’ ASAP’

Huh! To be honest the car has been a ‘good runner’ and as no other warning lights were displayed, temperature was OK and, so far as I was aware. there were no oil problems and, more importantly, with only 70 miles to go before I arrived (not arriving meant I would forfeit the mileage allowance plus pay), I ploughed on with muchus worryus. I arrived and, the event was a great success.  All the time, however, was the worry of the return journey. Setting off. yesterday, the journey was completed at an average speed of 50mph or so – it seemed to take ages but it was completed without mishap.  Huge relief!  I promised the car that, from now on, I would faithfully wash her, check her fluids and make sure that she was firm etc. I did look up why the light should come on and a major motoring recovery service advises the light may be ignored if the vehicle is, otherwise, running OK.  The ‘problem’ could be insignificant and the only way to get it confirmed is to visit a main dealer, they stick a probe in the car, which generates a fault code after which they reset the light (switch it off).  Cynics might argue that it’s a clever way of generating income from apprehensive motorists. Anyhoo, let’s move on.  I have been up since 0500 and I want to go back to bed.

USA comment?  Shopping at Walmart I was amused to see that all eggs (from chickens – duhhh!), were all the same colour – white.  No shades of brown, attached feathers or chicken poop, nope just regular, all the same, 100% white. At another store, ‘SAMS Club’, WBG & I took great delight in tasting the various samples – typically small portions of cooked whatever available to hungry shoppers.  Most of the helpful staff were little old ladies that, I guess, helped out on a Saturday – they were all wonderful!  No, no, not true --- one such dear, I think she was Hispanic, was so miserable I think WBG & I became depressed.  Things brightened up, however, when we arrived at the wine tasting counter.  This guy was promoting bottles of something red and delicious – I think it was $9.99 or so a bottle.  He continued to endorse the high quality and suggested that it was superior to bottles costing four times as much.  My suggestion that we ‘crack open’ a bottle of this other, more expensive, stuff to undertake comparison fell by the way and was accompanied with looks of loathing – reminded me of The Elder!

More later.

Home and away …

Monday morning, 1045, bleary eyed SEH.

But first … many thanks to VofT for your comments and to Mel for your comment (see previous title),  ‘….book by it’s cover …’ – you got me there – that’s the last time I simply copy and paste from another site. I was going to include a link to the reference page, at the time, but, obviously, I didn’t.  Oh well.

The weekend, away from CS that is, has been quite good.  I have been with a large number of people, each occupying one professional level or another.  There’s just been the one arsehole that’s got under my skin.  I am graded above him and this rankles him.  People like this, and we all have to work with them, don’t we?, just make life so unpleasant.  The weather has been glorious though I was driving with the sun in my face for about five hours, on the return journey.  Driving there (and back), I used my cheap SatNav - ‘Garmin Nuvi 200’ – these things are incredible.  You just enter your destination, choose from shortest or quickest and that’s it

Returning to CS, late last night (though not before some clown had bumped my car, in a car park, by misjudging the length of his car (front) and gently coming to a rest on my tow bar – at least he got out to apologise – nothing wrong with either car), but, where was I?

Arriving back to CSA, late, I so desperately wanted to get out of my clothes (steady) and in to the shower.  Ah, however, mmmm - #3 likes to have a shower late at night, ~2300, immediately before going to bed.  My shower @ 2200 meant that, in her opinion, supported by The Elder, she would have to wait, maybe two hours – why?  Who the hell knows?  It’s all part of the OCD from which she appears to be suffering. What did I do?  You will be proud of me – I informed her that I would disable the shower @ 2305 – she called my bluff so at 2305 I removed the fuse from the shower.  Result?  A lot of shouting, hysterics and finger pointing – sod ‘em all.  I couldn’t care less.  She knows ‘next time’.

A bit more about the US?  OK, I learned that ‘salad’ is (was) mostly, almost 100% lettuce – hey! Where’s the chopped cabbage, cucumber, onion, tomato, radish, carrot, beetroot and celery?! There are many types of ‘dressing’ available (all bad for you!), that a lot of people didn’t need to use a knife (I couldn’t get the hang of it) – mealtimes require both hands to be used (unless it’s fish & chips ‘out of the paper’ then fingers only are quite in order!).

OK, must get on – going to another gathering of professionals (and many others).  I will be away until Thursday PM.  The good news is that I enjoy going AND the arsehole, to whom I previously referred, will not be in attendance. 

‘Tweets’ should appear from time to time  - how nice.

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover …

I rarely watch TV, let alone talent shows Here, in the UK, we have ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ (well worth a visit – have a look @ Fabia), and I think, in the US, it’s called ‘American Idol’.  Anyhoo, via the Internet I enjoy watching / reading the news from the BBC.  One article today referred to a 47 year old, unmarried woman, unemployed – you might not look at her twice.  So what? Well, she had been auditioned to appear on last week’s show and she has caused a sensation. You really should watch / listen to this video. I would, normally, include the video but it’s been configured, on YouTube, to not be able to be posted on a blog – more’s the pity.  Please click on the link – it’s well worth it.

Once you have listened, assuming you have feelings for the underdog, the person that life has passed by, the person that never, for one reason or other, never got the breaks, then you might find yourself sharing the views of over six million viewers, this week alone, that have been fortunate to view / listen and reason that, somewhere in this crappy society that we survive each day, there is a spark of something that makes you feel good.  Watch. Enjoy. Here ends the lesson.

On other, more mundane matters, yours truly has been awake since about 0530 working on restoring the new laptop – restoring as in starting from grass roots – restoring factory settings, re-installing software and generally being a busy boy.  Today has been a good day.

What to tell you about the US?  It was a shock to find that you are able to drive practically anywhere, for certain purchases etc, and not have to get out of your car.  I learned that a visit to the doc, resulting in a prescription being issued, was dispensed by going to a named pharmacy (chemist) where the item would be waiting for you!  I learned that going to a bank involved driving thru’, stopping alongside a voice box thingy, speaking to a member of the bank staff (via said voice box thingy) and sending your money / cheque (check) or whatever via an air tube system – hell – how easy do you want it?!

More later.

Death of a laptop ...

Good morning - and what a difficult period it has been since we last spoke (so to speak). Many thanks to VofT for your comments - really appreciated.

Unusually, for me, I am compiling this dross via Blogger and not using the prog (Live Writer) that I regularly use. Continuing problems with Office 2007 (Outlook in particular) and the crashing of Internet Explorer (Firefox and or Chrome) has caused a significant event: 1. The old laptop has died. Bugger.

Luckily I have a spare laptop and I have restored previous settings to it so that we are up and running again. The second major disaster is that my newly purchased 'SanDisk Cruzer' flashdrive has failed - big, bloody, time. It does nothing except get very hot. If I seek a refund (it's only a month old) the store will probably agree on condition that I hand over the defective item so that they may send it back to wherever for a refund of their own. The 'frig' factor is that I have all my passwords etc stored on it and I don't want to provide an opportunity for some Chinese engineer to recover my data (Chinese = manufacturer - OK, I am being silly but, hey! I have been up and about since 0430). It's a sore disappointment.

I mentioned, recently, how the cost of food was less, in the US, than the UK. Imagine my surprise to learn that this also applies to consumables. I am minded to buy a camera - the model I have seen is available from a major outlet here in the UK - prices at the store are as cheap as anywhere (in the UK). The camera is about £160 (including tax) that's about $225 or so. In the US I understand the exact same product, with a 2Meg memory card thrown in, is available for $160 (including tax) - a saving of $65 on the UK price (don't forget the freebie memory card either). Little wonder why Brits visit the US, make bulk purchases and even after paying custom charges, there's a lot to be saved. Sheer madness.

More later (probably).

Way to go …

Good morning.  I have now recovered from The Dog’s savage intervention of my 0500 communicating with nature.  The stupid animal was, obviously, asleep,woke suddenly, and his confusion being aggravated by deafness he probably thought, for once, that he was earning his keep.  Mid micturition this was not a good time for him to intervene.  He’s presently sulking in his basket while I dig out some new PJ’s – oh bugger this, I might as well get up & dressed.

Wal-Mart (thanks to Mel for your comment), as a couple, it’s rather strange, the first time, shopping for groceries.  Well, it was for me.  I was in this huge store, shelves packed with goods not available in the UK but, huh!, where was the Branston Pickle? There’s no doubt that the cost of food especially meat was considerably cheaper than in the UK. I simply marvelled at the opportunity to buy large pieces of beef or steak at costs well below UK prices.  US 1 – UK 0.  Naturally I adopted the alpha role (huh!) taking aggressive control of the trolley and walking alongside WBG.  Another revelation!  The Elder identifies ‘offers’ that are marked down – practically at the end of shelf life and which have to be eaten that day.  Plays hell with my menu planning.  WBG, on the other hand, would carefully compare prices / volume of one brand over the other and apply other practical, some might say ‘Yorkshire aptitude’ – most encouraging!

The dawn is breaking, The Dog is forgiven and has gone back to bed.  The birds are calling each other and yours truly is going to join The Dog.  It’s a public holiday today and so the world is quiet.  Programme for today?  Think about that later.

Now, what to wear in bed?

Technorati tags: Micturition, savage dog, Walmart, shopping, dawn, birds

K.I.S.S. …

Greetings.  A lovely day today – the back of the house (south) has been drenched in sunlight – raised temperatures, lovely.  The front of the house (including my room), remains very cool (I am minded to say cold).  Some shock news - #2 has identified alternative accommodation and is minded to move without delay.  The fact that she will lose her deposit (1 month’s rent paid in advance when she moved in), at the existing place doesn’t seem to bother her.  I have washed my hands of the matter.

The computer drives me crazy and I reformatted one of my laptops, restored an image (of a previous set up) to it only to find that the various drives and partitions had all been renamed – serious stress!

I have compiled a list of jobs – all minor but necessary and I will be getting started tomorrow.  I asked The Elder if she would help me tidy the garage today but was not surprised when she informed me that ‘it’s far too hot’. Surprise, surprise.

K.I.S.S. ?  Keep it simple Stupid.  I have decided my blog posts are far too long – unless you are a real fanatic (thank you!), I guess most passing readers simply switch (move on) after the first few lines.

More later.

Mines a .45, what’s yours ..?

Another Saturday night… well, hello!! Greetings to you out there in cyber world.  It’s been a glorious day – weather wise and an equally glorious day, WBG wise, when we had a great chat via Skype – all makes the day that bit more special.  As you can see from the Twitter I was up, twice, during the early hours – the latter I decided to stay up and got dressed.  The 0300 (or so) visit to the loo saw The Dog sneak into my bed meaning, when I returned, I found something black and hairy between the sheets – ah well, beggars can’t be choosers :)  As he, The Dog, is getting on in years he quickly falls asleep and I returned to find him spark out, snoring, huh!, and with suspicious odour being emitted from the region of his tail.  Undeterred I slithered between the sheets and fell in to restless dozing.  It’s a strange sensation, being in bed, feeling a hairy back resting against your back :) I rose for the second time and, as you now know, remained up / out of bed and climbed in to my clothes.  The Dog was oblivious to all this and would have remained asleep but for me prodding his bum when he woke and rushed outside.  He’s a lovely boy!  Once fed, he crawled back in to bed and stayed there for most of the morning.

Moving on with ‘the family’ (I wish they would move on), I forgot to mention that #3 received a bulky letter from a Housing Association – A4 size and quite thick I suspect it’s an application for / brochure for applicants seeking housing (as rent paying tenant).  She might be on strong ground because I have given her Notice (as I have The Elder) and she might be able to claim, justifiably, that she is about, through no fault of her own, to become homeless.  I sincerely hope that something positive develops.

Just a quick aside – I thought you might be interested in annual motoring costs here in the UK (excluding payments for the vehicle and repairs).  Each vehicle, once it reaches three years of age has to have an annual inspection to determine it is roadworthy.  This is undertaken at specialist outlets and the test costs about $60.  If the vehicle fails the standard test it may be removed, by the owner, the repairs undertaken and taken back for re-testing.  The re-test fee is another $60.  If the vehicle is left at the test centre, having failed the test the first time, the proprietor of the centre will undertake the repairs ($$) but not charge for the re-test. Cynics always suggest that every vehicle will fail, which allows the centre to ‘pick up’ a cheap repair knowing the vehicle owner will not want to have to pay another $60, if they had taken the vehicle away, and possibly have the vehicle fail again. ‘Gas’ is approx £5 per gallon that’s about $7.25.  Insurance, per month, varies but my insurance is about $25 per month.  Tax, for using the vehicle on public roads, is (in my case) about $300 per year. It’s sickening!

Out to the Wal-Mart type store today.  There was a display, it being Saturday, where a store employee, a middle aged woman, was inviting customers to sample a piece of cheese and a taste of red wine (French or Californian).  Naturally I sampled.  The wine, only a mouthful, went straight to my head. I was in a good mood as, after all, I had been speaking with WBG.  Anyhoo, returning past the display I saw that the middle aged woman was replaced by a young man (another employee).  Naturally, taking advantage, I wandered over to sample again. And so I did.  The young man, don’t forget he’s a store employee, asked me what the wine was like.  Not being in any way an expert (other than being able to drink the stuff with ease), I advised that I wasn’t sure.  He surprised me by telling me I should have another sample and he would join me – at which he poured himself a fair measure!!  I had visions of him being p….d by the time he went home! 

Anyhoo, talking of Wal-Mart I have to comment on changes at the Wal-Mart store which WBG & I visited (regularly!).  My first visit, initially, left me unimpressed except for having to look with amazement at the number of pick-ups in the car park.  My, but you can tell gas is cheap over there.  Entering the store we were greeted by an employee who wished us good morning and asked if we wanted a trolley (cart or whatever you call them).  We settled for the trolley and began our first shop together – how romantic!  We arrived at the part of the store where mobile ‘phones were on sale.  I needed a ‘phone in order WBG & I could exchange etc whilst she was at work (and I was resting / relaxing / reading etc at Chez WBG). My eyes were drawn to a sign that offered a mobile ‘phone and 300 minutes of credit, on the ‘phone’ – a “pay as you go ‘phone”, for about $39.99.  Hey!  This looked good.  A quick calculation with ‘phone charges back in the UK and I calculated that to call & talk for 300 minutes would cost about $55.  A quick sale followed.  It was only when I subsequently looked at the small print, back @ Chez WBG, I learned the 300 minutes were for ‘air time’ and were not ‘talk time’.  This meant that if I received a call the time involved came off my 300 minutes.  I quickly realised that I would be called, auto calls, from insurance, finance and other organisations – a sort of telephonic spam and I lost a fair chunk of my 300 minutes to these incoming calls.  Bummer!

Turning to the firearms section – wow!  Small arms, rifles and shotguns on display with ammunition.  Two male employees were serving and we waited a few minutes until it was quiet at which time WBG asked the sales people if I could, being a naive Brit, if I could ask a few questions.  No problemo – in fact this was something I was quickly coming to terms with – that is, the US people were polite, wanted to help (this idiotic limey) and almost went out of their way to make my experiences a happy event.  The same occurred in diners, other shops and with friends, lovely people, of WBG.  Anyhoo, back to the guns.  I learned that all that was required was to identify what your purchase was going to be, fill in a form and continue with your regular shopping.  In most cases you returned to the gun section when you found out that your form had been ‘processed’ and the sale was completed – simple as that.  You cannot begin to compare with the procedure in place here in the UK – absolutely 180 degrees difference.

Let’s wrap this up with another surprise – with a trolley full of groceries (no guns) – I will talk about how we shopped next time, we made for the tills and I was surprised to be directed by yet another employee to till #whatever – she kept an eye on which tills were about to be ready for the next customer and steered you to the one with the smallest queue.  Gallantly, the first time, I paid for the groceries, by credit card, and was surprised that you only have to sign (on a screen thingy) – over here we have a PIN system.  The last, memorable, experience was leaving the store and being thanked for shopping by yet another employee (who used the opportunity to discreetly check the receipt).

All in all a memorable experience – much different to what happens here where, often, the sales assistant at the till will be morose and, given the chance will be chatting to the till operator on the next till.  The customer has to fill their shopping bag whereas, in Wal-Mart, they did that for you.

Sorry to go on so much – if this rubbish is too lengthy then please let me know & use the opportunity to tell me why you haven’t linked me on your blog :) !!

PS – I am saddened to see that Laura, From UK to US, has ceased blogging.  We wish her well.

Peace … (some of the time) …

Hello and I hope you are enjoying a peaceful day, whatever your religious leanings.

Myself?  Oh, not bad, not bad.  I woke, early, with a blinding headache and this follows a heated ‘discussion’ with my Mam, who lives up t’north – this discussion occurred last night. It’s not necessary that I go in to details but the core grievance, on her part, was that I had ‘gone somewhere overseas and she didn’t know where I was, was worried senseless about my health and what would happen if something occurred ‘over there’ (as indeed it did – more on this later).  The problem was that, like a fretting child, she couldn’t simply get said what she had, in her view, she had to say but – oh dear … she went down a path of frustration where her comments were becoming increasingly ‘unhelpful’, shall we say?  At one stage she even hung up the ‘phone as I was talking.  I ‘phoned her back and we managed to reach a truce where we cut each other some slack.  I rang again after about 30 minutes and she (and I) had ‘recovered’.  Nevertheless, I went to bed with a thumping head and it – the pain (and the head), was still there this morning.  In fact, unusually, I went back to bed @ 0830 (as The Elder went off to work), not surfacing until about 1030 – hey, ho – these things are sent to try us.  I have ‘phoned her this evening and you wouldn’t know that there was an ‘event’.  So, calm has been restored (until the next time – when I hope not to get so easily drawn in and subsequently ‘stuffed’).

For reasons best known to others, the Odiogo thingy, y’know – the (blog) text to speech thingy hasn’t worked for the last couple of posts – if this is stressing you then get out more! please accept my apologies :)  You might have ‘picked up’ that the blog has been played around with?  I have included a link list and it would be nice, as I have added you to my link list, that you add my blog to your link list.

Today has been a really good day, weather wise, and SEH was a busy boy in the garden.  #3 stayed in bed all day, The Elder has been at work and, interestingly, #2 is minded to leave the rented room that she occupies in the nearby city and look for accommodation elsewhere.  I have invited her to return to CS until she finds somewhere else.  I tried to get her to see that she would have to give a month’s Notice (where she is presently) or else have to accept the new place, move out of the ‘old’ place and lose a month’s rent.  It just goes over her head.  Ah well, at least I offered.

The trip to the US?  More tomorrow – this knackered, decrepit, old Yorkshireman needs to be tucked up in his bed.

BFN

Technorati tags: Mother, Good Friday, Odiogo, linking blogs, gardening, daughters

Chez WBG …

OK, (Hi!), another early-ish start (0500) – it was, therefore, up and out with nimble, lithe and graceful movement (yeah….dream on).

Some good news – you might recall the bank failed to collect the payment of my credit card from my cheque account (aaaaww, come on, wake up!, it was only yesterday’s post).  Anyhoo, checking online this morning I find they repaid the interest that would have been charged PLUS credited me with a compensation of £12 ($17 or so) – excellent!  A good start to the day.

So, what can this retired, old, fart get up to today?  The Elder is at work from 0930 and #3 will be in bed – as usual.  On the subject of #3 there has been some though, room for improvement, progress.  She continues to be awkward though her timetable (cooking / shower) is much improved. Softly, softly … and all that.

Today will see me finish tidying my room, making a movie (huh?), providing information that a major organisation has asked of me (two weeks ago), taking out The Dog (for a walk, not bumping him off), enjoying a long distance ‘phone call – isn’t Skype wonderful?! and maybe making an effort to tidy the garage or the garden (or even both).

Back to the US. OK, we had driven, for miles (on quality roads – what we would call ‘trunk’ or A roads) and it was obvious that we were about to turn on to a less busy road. And so it came to pass.  Driving up this road we passed signs warning of deer and I was struck by the huge number of cacti growing on the parched land – oh yes. Where was the greenery – I mean, in the UK we would be heading into the worst part of the winter.  After about, maybe, 4 miles – hey!  I was impressed to see the US mail boxes with their little purty flags! Where was I? Having passed the off road mail (apologies for the picture quality – it’s off Google Earth), I guess you call it, mail boxes we turned sharp left on to a rough road that climbed uphill. Mmmmmm. On we climbed, past land belonging to WBG, until we arrived @ Chez WBG. We drove through the (wide) gate and on towards the house.

Parking up under the large canopy, alongside the other two vehicles, the spare vehicles you might say, we exited and made our way up to and in to the house.  Mmmm I was impressed.  The view, out of all the windows was fandiddlytastic. I was conducted around the house, taking note of the bathroom downstairs and the two bathrooms upstairs.  The main bedroom overlooked the panoramic view outside – lovely.  The large double bed looked very inviting but, as I sat on it (to ‘test it’), I was alarmed to feel it moving under me – groovy baby!  My case was unpacked and my clothes hung in the fitted wardrobe – all very nice and then it was downstairs to continue the tour. The house was immaculate and spotlessly clean unlike the property here in downtown UK.  I was quite humbled (again).  Everything had its place and well need I say any more?

It was about now I learned that the vehicle, used thus far, was a hire vehicle – oh!  The vehicle had to be returned and so off we went.  Down the rough road and on to the main road before heading to the nearby town where the exchange from one quality vehicle to another (WBG’s) quality vehicle occurred.  I am not sure where we went after that – maybe it was Walmart or HSB (see, I am learning).  In the event we didn’t go far at all as there had been a traffic accident out on the main road.

Tomorrow I will tell you about Walmart and my shock at how easy it is to purchase a firearm.

Technorati tags: Walmart, firearms, divorce, hire car, US mail, deer

From the north …

I don’t refer to myself (on this occasion).  No, Dear Reader, the wind is whistling down from the north, through the ill fitting windows, up the leg of my ill fitting trousers and distributing unpleasant effects around the family jewels.  But, are we now down hearted – are we?  Too bloody right we are. Anyhoo, let’s move on – sooner I get this rubbish posted the sooner I am able to snuggle under the duvet (or whatever name you apply to something, not being a person, that keeps you warm in bed).

Seriously, ha!, even The Elder has noticed that I seem to be feeling the effects of the cold more than she or #3 is.  This prompted me to look at the information supplied with my medication – it’s not good reading. Suffice to say I am likely to experience, amongst other effects: coldness of the fingers / toes, runny nose, dizziness, difficulty in sleeping, depression, flatulence, tiredness and impotence. Mmmmmm …. there you have it – a cold, windy, sad, tired and ‘fire out down below’ individual.  I am trying to smile – but the depression has kicked in again!  (Of course, as you know, I jest – you have to get on with it – just enjoy each day as it comes.)

On an equally serious note – money problems.  I recently opened a new bank account together with the bank’s credit card.  I arranged for the credit card balance to be automatically paid, in full, on the due date.  Payment was due (only the second), yesterday and it hasn’t happened.  A call to the bank revealed ‘we don’t know what’s happened but we will take the money today’ – huh!  It was little comfort to learn that I would not be charged interest on the ‘late’ payment though I was cheered when I was advised that I would receive financial compensation for the ‘phone call ‘etc.’.  Gentle enquiry revealed the ‘compensation’ amounted to £1 (about $1.44). That’s all right then.

I have been messing about with the blog – I don’t have a list of links (as such) but the blog does have a list of sorts (all my links are included) and it does show the link’s latest post and a pretty picture if the link has a pic in the post.  I knew that would cheer you up.

Finally thanks to Dylan @ ‘A Brit out of Water’ for the Twitter link.  I do recommend readers visit this blog – I wonder, given time, if I will be experiencing the same problems (not all of them, thankfully), being experienced by Dylan.  Let’s hope not.

More tomorrow, when I tell you about the first hours @ WBG’s place. Exciting huh?!

Technorati tags: Cold, medication, side effects, money problems, banking errors

Progress (or not) …

Tuesday morning, 0820, a fine morning.  Hi and welcome back. A good day, so far, resulting from a reasonably good night’s sleep. Woke up a couple of times through the night but was able to drift back to the land of nod – yeah!!  It might have been helped by finding earplugs, not the ‘best’ earplugs but clearly an improvement on nothing.

So, what progress, yesterday, involving CS?  Actually, not bad, not bad at all.  One of my strange ways is that I don’t like clutter or mess, despite (most of the time) not being able to adhere to my desired standards. In a perfect world I would like everything I own or, more importantly all the items that I need to have if I relocated – I need to have them to hand.  The ‘ambition’ (“ambition is a curse” – Mansfield 1907), is to have my material items boxed, catalogued – basically, I want to know where everything is if and when I want it.  I want to have everything in the one room so that I am able to clean  / paint or whatever the house without having to move and possibly misplace things.  Stepping off the clouds for the moment, so yesterday I went through boxes of papers, journals, magazines, handouts etc from my university days – practically a whole life – and I threw away the lot.  When I say ‘threw away’, the stuff is in a big black sack (aaaaggghhhh!!! The return of the black sacks!!) and I will be having a serious shredding episode.  It makes me feel good.

The Elder has ceased complaining about stomach pains which, I guess, is good news.  She has to attend hospital, late this afternoon, to have her blood checked.  I think it’s called a complete blood count and the medical people are looking to see that there is nothing out of the ordinary with her blood.  You can only share her apprehension – the test is undertaken today and the results should be communicated to her within 14 days or so.  The last test, four months ago, involved a wait of nearly eight weeks before she received her (favourable) results and only then following intervention by her local doctor.

The weather has changed and this means that my scheduled tasks are getting further behind.  One task was the tidying out of the garage – honestly you are hardly able to get in the thing – The Elder’s problems include being unable to throw out things.  For example, over the years she has built up a large collection of plastic containers, ‘Tupperware’, cake boxes, microwave dishes (all of it is plastic and it’s never used).  Last summer #2 visited and helped The Elder sort out, for disposal, part of the collection.  Honestly!! It was like trying to get blood out of a stone.  #2, to her credit, a bit like myself maybe, placed her Mother ‘out of the way’ and gathered up the items, she didn’t bat an eyelid, before dumping the stuff (in a black sack!). The Elder, knowing she couldn’t remonstrate with her daughter as she could with me, sat there and wept.  So what?  Well I just wonder how she will cope with the stuff in the garage?  Tiny bicycles, tiny blackboard and easel, little chairs and so on (used by the kids as they grew up).  It will never be used again and she is simply pretending it’s not there. How do you cope with people like this? 

OK, let’s turn to the US trip. We woke up and it’s our last day together (steady on), before we set off to WBG’s place. Breakfast was not included at the hotel, if I remember correctly – it was available for about $15 (each).  We opted to go to Denny’s again – hey I like it!! I think the menu included a fixed price breakfast – in reality it was about the same price as at the hotel but the atmosphere was wholly different.  To me, a Brit, it was the internationally recognised image of a waitress coming to our table ‘what can I fix you folks?’ (or something like that) and yours truly desperately resisting ‘give me the (whatever)’ but, instead, remaining ‘British’ and politely asking for this, that and the other.  The serving was large – too large but, as this Yorkshireman was doing the paying, then not a crumb was wasted.  Yeah, I have soft spot for Denny’s (more later – when I departed the US, next Feb.).

Back to the hotel where we, now working in harmony, were able to get packed up, out to load up the car and we were off.  WBG was on familiar ground, thank goodness, and soon we were heading out to the open country.  The miles rolled by – the space was vast. The roads were wide and the tension was building.  All too soon, well actually, it was a long-ish journey, we arrived at our destination and my eye’s took in WBG’s house and (considerable) land.

More later.

Technorati tags: Denny's, San Antonio, Cancer, blood tests, clutter

Living history …

Greetings cyber chums and welcome back – your visit makes my effort really worthwhile.  It’s been another long Sunday.  Where to begin?

Unusually I stayed in bed until about 0630 – hey! This is more like it – almost.  The fact is I was awake from about 0400. #3’s bedroom is above my room and I suspect she is wandering around, at that time, probably knocks something over and the noise wakes me – simple as that.  Of course I am unable to identify the noise and all is quiet after I wake so, short of going upstairs to confront her (and probably finding her feigning being asleep), it’s something I have to live with.

I hate MS Vista.  There’s no more to say about it.  I have restored my older laptop (XP) and it works well – I have promised myself not to tweak, improve or even use it as much as I have previously.  I would be lost without access to my mail!  The plus point is that, in an emergency, I am able to access my mail via my mobile ‘phone so all is not entirely lost (should the worst happen).

Let’s cut to the chase then – guess you want to know more about my / our US experiences?  OK.  As I recall we had arrived in San Antonio where WBG’s navigation skills were superbly demonstrated.  We had found our way to the hotel where we quickly settled in.  A quick wash etc and we had gone out to eat before returning and crashing out.  The next day – lots to do! Having eaten @ Denny’s – I was seriously impressed, we drove to a huge shopping mall – it might have been the Rivercenter. The weather had changed, it seems to do that a lot in Texas!, and it was quite cold. Very much enjoying each other’s company we wandered round – I was more like the ‘wife’ – stopping to look in practically every shop window.  Rather conveniently we found the ‘refreshment room(s)’ where we each, hurriedly, attended to our individual needs. Suitably refreshed we continued the tour – our goal being to attend the IMAX theatre (UK spelling rules!).  On our way there we stopped someone to make an enquiry, I forget what it was about, and we were ‘hooked’ by this smooth talking guy.  He led us to the IMAX, where he had a sort of display, when we were offered various goodies – whatever they might be.  To cut a long story short he was offering a free hotel stay (sounds good!) all of our interest promptly ending when we realised he was trying to sell timeshare property.  We thanked him for his help and went to watch the movie.

Well, Dear Reader(s), I have to say that I was very moved by the movie – not so much the acting, though the ‘props’ were brilliant, but the history, drama and sacrifice of these men.  It really brought a lump to my throat and I felt choked and humbled.  The (48 minute) movie ended and we, and a few others – we collectively occupied about 2% of the seating, shuffled out and back in to the mall.  We knew we were going to go to the Alamo itself and I was looking forward to it.

Once back in the mall we stopped at the information desk to ask for something or other and we were targeted, again, by some timeshare agent.  This time, however, we knew what questions would be asked and were able to bounce back much of the same that we were receiving – such fun!.

Outside, in the cold, we found our way to the Alamo and all I will say is that it was quite spooky to walk where men had fought and died.  The ‘building’ and new buildings were very well maintained, the staff were pleasant and answered all the questions. 

I was quite moved to see, within the main hall, flags from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (and others).  All in all I was quite humbled.  Naturally we had our photo’ taken before wandering back (when we eventually worked out where we were!), to the vehicle and a drive back to the hotel.

The evening meal was at a buffet venue (see a previous post).  Tomorrow the ‘holiday’ would, sort of, end and we would make our way back to WBG’s place. How much more to tell you? You’ll have to let me know your feelings – anonymous comments are fine.

Technorati tags: Alamo, Denny's, San Antonio, IMAX

Grand plans …

Good morning!  It’s a bright, cool morning.  An early wake up (0400 or so – I am sure that #3 is moving about and despite her efforts she makes noise that wakes me - sigh). All that aside I finally lurched out, from a dozed (dazed) state when the necessary and regular tasks were completed.  Having sat in front of the PC since about 0700 I now have a blinding headache – silly, silly SEH!  In a couple of minutes I think it will be time for breakfast – how does poached eggs on toast sound? (Sounds good to me (said The Dog).) I wonder if the punctuation is correct in the previous sentence?

One of my many, strange, ways is that, if there’s a job or task (several jobs or tasks) to be completed, then I make a list.  To my embarrassment I realise that I have procrastinated, since my return from the US, grand ideas of tidying up, organising, decorating, or at least stripping wallpaper and so on (and so forth) and that none has come to fruit.  OK, I put my back out recently but, I have now been back @ CS for two months and I don’t have a lot to show for it.  So, the big challenge today is to draw up a list of tasks and some form of timetable when I hope to get these completed started.

But first, breakfast.

Technorati tags: DIY, divorce, headache, noise

Flustered …

What a long day.  The sharp eyed amongst you may have noticed a ‘Tweet’ @ 0450 (or so)? Yes, it’s true, I woke sweating and very uncomfortable.  The sweating, or should we say ‘perspiring’, must have resulted from dreams or something and which we need not discuss further at this time.  The other reason, well need we ask? Anyhoo, it was up @ 0400 or thereabouts, much to The Dog’s delight (though he was starving @ 1230 when he gets his lunch).

This morning I spent what seemed an age messing about with Internet Explorer even upgrading to version 8 – but it still continued to ‘act up’.  Words, best not listed here, were being issued by SEH and, in the end, I simply put my laptop back in its box.  Not strictly true, I have to copy various files etc. on to a flash drive and, in the meantime, I have recovered my older laptop, using Windows XP (rather than Vista on the new machine).  Hopefully the stress will be reduced.  On the subject of stress, I have been a good patient and have regularly taken the medication that I have been prescribed.  I purchased a (cheap) blood pressure monitor, last year, and have started to take regular measurements.  Assuming the device is reasonably accurate the results are encouraging – all around the ideal of 120 over 80 (sometimes slightly higher and often much less).  It’s encouraging but, it has to be remembered, the tablets are keeping the levels down.  It saddens me that I might have to remain on the tablets for some time (how long is ‘some time’?).

The Elder was out, first thing taking #3 with her.  I was informed that she would be leaving at 0845 and, of course, she was starting to lose it at 0905 when #3 was still not ready to go.  Huh!  In such circumstances I always tell #3 that I will be leaving at, in this case, 0845 and she knows that if she is not ready (OK, I allow her a minute or two), then I will leave her.

I am just smiling to myself.  It was in about October, last year, that I casually mentioned to my Mother that I would be going ‘abroad’.  I was speaking with her over the ‘phone.  ‘Abroad?’ she asked.  I replied this was the case and, of course, she asked where about ‘abroad’.  I replied ‘Texas’ and I will never forget the silence, over the ‘phone, as she tried to take on board what I had said. ‘Texas?’ she asked and I replied in the affirmative.  To say she was confused would be an understatement.  The only ‘Texas’ that she was aware of was a large, local, store, bit like Home Depot, and she couldn’t work out the connection.  In the end, of course, the penny dropped. 

On the subject of Texas, you will, eagerly (I hope), be looking forward to tomorrow when I ‘pick up’ what we got up to in San Antonio. Hope you are looking forward to sharing.

Technorati tags: IE7, IE8, Texas, Home Depot

Memories …

More of the same.

It’s been a good day and I have spent the last hour or so wasting time by cruising around YouTube.  As you do I came across a link to some of my favourite music – one example was Simon & Garfunkel and their release of ‘Bridge over troubled Water’ (my, but I was only a young teenager when this was released).  I had to post a link to the following, which is when they first sang the song (live) … It moves me so much.  Memories.

Another weekend …

Greetings!  Another fine day, the sun has shone and SEH has been busy in the garden. Well, OK, not that busy.  The property next door has a brick garage that is situated at the end of their garden and the side of the garage forms part of the divide between their property and my property (just love saying that!).  The problem is that vegetation, especially ivy, grows up, from my garden, and the shoots find their way in to next door’s garage (via small gaps between the flat roof of the garage and the brickwork at the side). Anyway, being neighbourly, I found my garden hoe and began levering the ivy away from the garage wall – bugger!  My zealous efforts saw me push the hoe through the soffit - oh dear!!  Luckily the ‘damage’ is slight but best I move on (there’s no reason to doubt that the ivy didn’t cause the damage – well that’s my excuse if I am asked!).

I continue to be driven to distraction by Internet Explorer – it performs OK but, from time to time and for no apparent cause, when you click on a link or try to open another page – it doesn’t.  You can see the little circle going round as it ‘loads’ the page – but it never finishes the page load.  Only option is to reboot. It drives me mad.  I have installed a previous image of my system, sort of like a ‘system restore’ point.  I am not sure what causes the problem (just look on Google:  Internet Explorer, hangs’).  Anyhow, let’s move on, you must be bored with this.

This afternoon, at about 1600, I heard #3 getting up and, to help her, when she came down I had the kettle boiled so she could get herself a hot drink with her breakfast(!).  I used the opportunity, when she started to make her drink, to ask if she would make her Dear Old Dad a cup of tea – and she did!  Mighty fine tea it was too and I told her so.  Presently #3 is in the kitchen (it’s 2045 UK) and I have previously directed that she be finished cooking and washing the dishes by 2100.  Last night she did try, a minute or two late, to be out of the bathroom by 2300. Early days, early days.

This morning, as I sat in my (cold) room, looking out of the window, I saw an old woman walking to houses across the road.  She was carrying a basket and I though ‘oh, oh – gypsy’.  She disappeared from view and then I saw her walking down my drive. The door bell sounded (The Dog doesn’t hear it anymore – previously the sound would make him go berserk), and I went out to see.  Outside, carrying a basket with what looked, inside the basket, like embroidered handkerchiefs, was an old woman.  ‘Good morning, kind gentle, Sir’, said she, 'would you like to buy to assist a poor travelling family?’.  Honestly, as she spoke her teeth, far more than mine, glinted in the sunlight and I swear at least 80% of them were capped or dressed with gold.  She reminded me of the guy, ‘Jaws’. from the James Bond movie.  I politely declined and she smiled and left.  I hope she doesn’t put the X on me – best check nothing has dropped off or shrunk – mmm, 10 hours later - all seems OK.

Back by popular demand, from Sunday, I will start to add bits about my trip to the US – there, that’s something for you to look forward to.

Technorati Tags: Gardening,gypsy,hex,gold

Hanging around …

Technical problems – more of them!  For some time I have ‘suffered’ problems with Internet Explorer suddenly, for no obvious reason, simply ‘hanging’.  The only solution has been to switch off and re-boot. Once I had installed Firefox and experienced the same problem then I knew it must be a software problem or other conflict It’s a well documented problem as a Google search for Internet Explorer, hangs, will reveal.  I am hoping that I have sorted the problem.  The solution appears to be to disable the add on programmes (that work with Internet Explorer).  Anyway, with everything disabled I am hoping I have identified what’s what. 

Today?  Well, apart from having to re-install earlier versions of Windows, (preventing me from using my computer), I have felt incredibly tired – practically falling asleep during a telephone conversation – an important telephone conversation at that!  Indeed, this (late afternoon) I had to rest on my bed when my eyes gently closed and I drifted off.  Waking, slightly refreshed, I decided to check out air fares to, for example, the USA and bummer!  All the prices have risen – probably as the result of the government raising the rate of fuel tax.  Maybe, as the market and economy improves the prices will fall?  Who knows?  Two weeks ago I could fly, London to Dallas (return) for about $400.  The price now is about $575.  I am not impressed.  Have you noticed how I am trying to avoid brackets, dividers and obscure words?  I like the Odiogo text to speech thing and, while it’s useful (and bloody clever), it’s not happy trying to interpret obscure words.  So, let’s apply the KISS principle shall we?

This afternoon, via YouTube, I watched a TV movie about Pierrepoint the last UK executioner.  It was shocking and very thought provoking. I have attached a short extract where Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall) has to hang a woman (Ruth Ellis). Whatever your views on capital punishment the film (movie) certainly makes you think.  Apologies for the reflection effect – I think the extract was copied by someone using a hand held video camera in front of a television.

What else? As expected #3 has remained in bed all day.  Prior to going to work, this morning, The Elder asked if she could discuss #3 with me.  Of course I agreed.  The Elder endeavoured to describe the personal problems affecting #3 and asked if my ‘demands’ could be deferred until Monday giving #3 a couple of days to ‘adjust’.  I have no problem with that as I had already informed #3 of this.  I have to confess that I am disappointed that she has not made the slightest effort to make a start, of any sort, towards meeting the objectives.  Roll on Monday . Do you honestly think there will be any change?

On reflection, I have made the archives visible though they might be in a mess – the date, of posting, may be messed up.  One of those things.  Also, thanks to those that have responded, I will continue to recall and present experiences of my recent trip to the USA. So, who’s a good boy then?

Technorati Tags: Death sentence,hanging,Pierrepoint,IE7

Crisis? What crisis ..?

(Received this as an email, posted with acknowledgements.)

The Financial Crisis Explained In Simple Terms . . .

     Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers — most of whom are unemployed alcoholics — to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

     Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar.

     Taking advantage of her customers' freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most-consumed beverages. Her sales volume increases massively.

     A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit. He sees no reason for undue concern because he has the promissory notes of Heidi's customers as collateral.

     At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then sold and traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.

     One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager of the bank, (subsequently fired due to his negativity), decided that the time has come to start demanding payment from Heidi for the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar.

     Unfortunately Heidi's customers cannot pay back any of their debts to Heidi. Heidi cannot fulfil her loan obligations to the bank and claims bankruptcy.

     DRINKBOND FUNDS and ALKBOND FUNDS drop in price by 95%. PUKEBOND FUNDS perform better, stabilizing in price after dropping by only 80%.

     The suppliers of Heidi's bar, having granted her generous payment terms and also having invested in the securities are faced with a new and desperate situation. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy and her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.

     The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties. They came up with a miraculous rescue plan that saved the bank.

     The funds required for this massive rescue are obtained by levying a new tax on all the non-drinkers . . .

    Easy …..

Changes ..? (Get real …)

Greetings fellow bloggers (and highly valued visitors).  It’s been a good day – oh yes….

Here at CS when the sun shines – well, it’s just glorious – the rear garden is a sun trap, enclosed and just begs for me to get my fingers green.  But first, up early (as usual) and a’checkin my finances on my online bank(s).  I knew, approximately, what my financial status was but realised I needed to fire up Microsoft Money and get my accounts squared up.  It wasn’t difficult but it seemed to take quite some time – anyhoo, eventually all sorted. That was only the beginning – the rest of the morning was spent, (no pun intended), settling various outstanding bills / accounts, writing letters and so on.  Suddenly it was nearly midday and I had only eaten a couple of biscuits / cookies – begad – the man is wasting away!

Lunchtime saw me sorting out washing and getting ready to cut the grass.  Steady, SEH, don’t be knackering your back again!  A natural break followed, early afternoon and then, struggling – so tired …, it was out to get the grass cut followed by hanging out the washing to dry – I love bringing in clean, wind dried, laundry.

I had to go out, this evening, to the local branch of The Organisation - #3 wanted a lift to a nearby location and, I don’t have a problem with her request, I demanded she was ready for 1725 – yeah, dream on…. At 1735 she bimbled out to the car and I fulfilled my part of the bargain. Bargain?  Huh, I thought #3, following yesterday’s meeting, might have made some effort / show willing.  Oh, come on!  She has been in bed all day. Roll on Monday.

I managed to get to the meeting, on time, and had a great evening except beer is £2.50 a pint – yikes, when I was (much younger) I could get drunk for £1. It was noticeable how many others, sat down to eat, settled for the one drink.

Apart from tweaking the blog, well, that’s about all for today.  It’s late, I am tired and I wanna go bed!