Cheering Myself Up!
I’ve just cooked myself two sausage, bacon and bean pies; one for tonight and one for the freezer.
Two Sausage Pies
This always cheers me up, but it would be so much nicer to cook one for me and one for an attractive, intelligent lady!
I’ve always done something practical, when I was feeling down at Christmas. I can remember at about 17, I painted the wheels of my car, a fetching shade of blue! And then, when I was developing software, I’d always fix a tremendous number of bugs at every holiday.
The trouble with programmers today, is that they don’t have that level of dedication.
The Ten Things That Annoy Me Most In This House
I’m getting increasingly annoyed with some of the features of this house.
1. The Front Door
It doesn’t shut properly in the wrong sort of weather and sometimes, I inadvertently leave it open. It also sometimes locks me out, when I say put something in the bin.
I’ve had three people come to quote to fix it, but I’ve never received a quote and it’s as bad as ever.
2. My Bathroom Cabinet
Virtually, every time I brush my teeth, I bump my head on it. In one case it did this when I got up from the toilet.
3. The Lack Of Handrails on the Staircase
I was trained in how to avoid accidents at ICI in the late 1960s and consequently, I always use handrails for safety. But I want them, in brass to match the theme of the house. People look at me, as if I’m mad, but I’m just safety and design conscious.
4.Poor Lighting Everywhere
Where I’m typing this is dark, unless She puts the big light on and every room has some of the worst lighting I’ve ever seen. One of the problems it’s not fixed is that I can’t find any lights that satisfy me. I’ve searched all over London and there is nothing.
5. The Mixer Taps In The Kitchen
If I’m washing up in the sink and want some cold water, it’s impossible unless I run the water to get it really cold. The spout is also so low, with anything in the sink, you can’t do something simple like fill a kettle.
6. The Small Fridge In The Kitchen
The fridge is just too small. But at least the one I bought, is better than the one that was supporting the work top, when I moved in.
7. The Lack of a Freezer In The Kitchen
I suppose I could have one if I had a small one in the fridge! But that would make the fridge smaller.
8. The Inaccessible Cupboards In The Kitchen
The idiot who designed these needs to be banned from any design or building work, for serious crimes against practicality and design.
9. The Inability to Control Temperature and Humidity
I’ve had a new control system and boiler installed and am running a big humidifier, but still the humidity won’t go anywhere near the value I want. There must be an expert somewhere, who can tell me what to do.
10. The Lack Of Lights In The Wardrobes
Try finding the right clothes in the dark.
And those ten, were just for starters!
A Miserable Start To The New Year
I went to bed last night about ten thirty and slept well, as I generally do.
I got up about seven and sorted out my e-mails and checked my finances. But where was the news on television and radio. It seems the world stops for two weeks, when in reality it just goes on.
And why do we get endless reviews of the year? It doesn’t get any better the second, third or fourth time round.
I can’t wait for next Monday! At least, I have made my first New Year resolution and that is to make sure, I’m not at home by myself next year. Or in fact ever again!
I had thought about going to Australia to see the cricket this year. So at least I called that one right!
I needed a bit of shopping this morning. But of course my usual Waitrose isn’t opening today. So I walked around the corner to the small Sainsburys and bought the few things I needed.
And I got wet in the miserable rain!
I didn’t get any meaningful e-mails, except spam too!
At least I’ve got football this afternoon. But I suspect that will be miserable too! I wonder what odds, I canb get on them losing six-nil?
Will We Ever Get Rid of This Worthless Bank?
This report in the Guardian is depressing reading for the New Year.
If we look at the figure of £14.5bilion out of pocket, that means that all sixty three million of us will have to contribute around £230,000 each. I know some of that money will come from corporate taxes, but where do the big companies like BP, BT and Vodafone get their profits from?
If we look at the performance of the two state-controlled banks, we see that Lloyds is actually improving both in value and share price, but RBS is still an impossible basket case.
More and more, I’m coming to the conclusion that Gordon Brown’s decision to save RBS was one of the worst pieces of political judgement ever, that ranks with when Neville Chamberlain thought Hitler was a good bloke to be trusted.
I wonder how many idiots, still bank with RBS or their accident-prone subsidiary; NatWorst?
I know of one supposedly sensible guy who does, but he got a mortgage with NatWest, in the good times.
With RBS, the bill would have been lot less, if we’d put the bank down and compensated, all those individuals and companies, who’d lost money as a result.
But if he’d done that, Gordon Brown would have have lost every Labour vote in Scotland to the Nationalists.
He might though have retained power in 2010, as the rest of the UK, would have applauded his courageous action.
The Anonymous Widower 